21^st January – Alcove AC Winter League, Fishponds Lido – Late Tiddler Snatching  And A Point Of Contention

 

Welcome to my latest blog! My match on Sunday was the fourth round of the Alcove Winter League and this one was held at the Fishponds Lido. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this lake is practically devoid of fish but it isn’t. It’s just not a very good winter fishing venue. In the same match last year, only 2 out of 12 anglers caught fish. This year we fared slightly better in that 5 anglers caught and 5 blanked. There was ice on the surface on both occasions but last year we had to break it.

 

So, it was like Groundhog Day for me, as I drew peg 5, which was the same peg I drew last year. This peg is known as the pontoon swim because it is built on a large wooden raft that used to be attached to the old ‘Fisherman’ pub. When the pub fell into disrepair and was abandoned, we demolished it and the shell was taken away but the wooden raft was so heavy it couldn’t be lifted from the water. So we attached a rope and dragged it over to this swim and dropped 40 tons of rubble on top of it. That was covered with about 10 tons of clay and topsoil then turfed over. Anyway, I decided to set up a waggler for fishing at distance, a rig for fishing at 9 metres and a rig for fishing at 5 metres to both my left and right.

 

The Lido is very deep with an uneven bed. You can plumb up and find say 9 feet of water then move a metre either way and it drops down to 12 feet or more. Plumbing the Lido is an art in itself. So at 9 metres I found a relatively flat area, which was 11 feet deep. For this line, my rig consisted of a 1.5 gram Chianti style float, 0.15 mainline, 0.12 hooklength and a size 20 Guru LWG hook. I would fish maggles, pinkles and soft pellet on this line. The shorter lines were both 6 feet deep. For these, I set up a 1-gram Chianti-style float with the same mainline and hooklength. It was going to be very windy today so stability was the name of the game. I also had a dobbing rig set up for fishing bread.

 

On the all-in, I cupped out some very sloppy dark lake groundbait laced with a few maggles, pinkles and micros to the 9 metre line. Nothing went in anywhere else. For the first 30 minutes, I dobbed around with a 6mm disc of bread to no avail. Next, I tried putting the waggler out with a single maggle and then a single pinkle on the hook. I must have given this an hour before I had to give up due to the wind… and a massive tangle! It was time to try the longer line. First, I baited the hook with a single red maggle but no takers on that so I changed to double flouro pinkle and then a single pinkle but no takers on that either. Next, I put on a 4mm expander pellet. I think it was around this time that my thoughts turned to going home…

 

However, as you know I’m no quitter so I made a cup of tea and soldiered on (what a fool). Anyway, with 3 hours now gone and not a single bite to get excited about, it was time to try the short lines. First to my left under a tree. Hard on the deck, up in the water.. maggle… pinkle… the same old routine and nothing. I had seen Julie Taylor on peg 7 catch some small fish and also Steve Dawson on peg 10 was catching tiny fish regularly. With a quick glance to my left, I caught sight of John Dursley catching some tiny fish too. 

 

Now, on peg 6 was Pete Watkins who so far has had it pretty much all his own way over the last 3 matches and has scored well on the points system. Today, however, he didn’t fare quite so well. He hooked and lost 3 big carp during the match and was the only angler to hook into them. Any one of those fish would have delivered him the spoils and points but hey… Sh*t happens I guess. 

 

I had now decided to scale right down to a size 22 to 0.7 hooklength. This is my canal setup FFS! So, I dropped my rig, baited with a single pinkle into my right-hand side swim, which in effect was a little bay and quite sheltered. I did see an indication but not a proper bite. BTW… the ice had all blown toward me by now and so I was iced in, except for this little bay. I changed to a single red maggle and once again I did get an indication of sorts but not a proper bite. So, I’m thinking there are some fish there and they are almost interested so I just need to do something different. Well, I rang the changes until… finally… bingo!

 

I had put on a single bronze maggle and immediately I had a proper bite and then a fish in the net. It’s absolutely amazing how a little change can bring an instant result! So, in the last hour, I managed to catch 9 of the little blighters, including one that fell off and dropped onto the ice. I quickly scooped it up with my landing net as anyone would have done under the circumstances… wouldn’t they? I must admit I was so relieved to catch something today… even 9 tiny roach! Well, those precious little roach weighed 6 ounces and got me a joint third place and some welcome wonga. Steve Dawson ran away with it putting 3lbs 1oz on the scales and Julie was second with just 8 ounces. So my third place also got me 3 points and in this league, the fewer points you get the better but to my amazement, those who didn’t catch anything still got 5 points each! WTF! How can you get rewarded for not catching anything? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m sure this points system will need to change next year.

 

So, looking at the results table, after 4 matches I don’t think I have a cat in hell’s chance of winning anything in this Winter League. Coming up… I’ll be off to Windmill Fisheries on Thursday for the midweek cost cutter and I’ll be back there again on the following Sunday with a couple of my old Legion club mates, who usually take the place apart. With higher temperatures, light winds and gentle rain forecast between Thursday and Sunday, I’m expecting to catch… something… keep you posted!   

 

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