January 7^th – Windmill Fisheries – Hi-Ho Silver Lining!

Hello and welcome to my first official blog of 2024 and a happy New Year to you all.

So, as mentioned on the Fish Wag Facebook Page, I should have been fishing on the river Avon at Keynsham on Sunday but with the river well over the banks, the match was predictably cancelled. That meant I was either going pleasure fishing or I needed to get my name down for the next match at Windmill Fisheries… which I promptly did. I was joined by Legion clubmate, Jason Pitman, and only 8 other hardy souls who were brave enough to endure 5 hours of icy winds rattling up the lake. Needless to say, the cold conditions made fishing for bites extremely difficult.   

At the draw, Jason and I decided to hold back until everyone else had drawn. So with just 2 options left, I dived into the draw bag, picked up a bottle top, dropped it and then decided to pick out the other, which turned out to be peg 8. Not to put too fine a point on it that was the last peg I wanted to draw due to my previous unpleasant experience… yes when I fell in! Well, I suppose it’s best to put my demons to bed early instead of prolonging the dread and trying in vain to avoid drawing this peg again. Anyway, what turned out to be a little more disturbing was that Jason drew peg 14… the one I dropped.

Some good weights have come from peg 14, mainly in the spring and summer months but it can still produce the goods in the middle of winter so was I jealous? Oh yes! Good peg… good angler… there can be only one result. So, moving on. When I got to my peg it looked so different to last time. There was a nice, non-slip platform in place complete with a buffer stop, which helped put my nerves at ease. The wind wasn’t too bad and so I plumbed up at 16 metres, which was still 2-3 metres short of the far side reed bed. I also plumbed up at 11 metres and 7 metres. All the lines had depths that varied between 6 feet and 8 feet so I set up very similar rigs for each. 

I suppose the only slight difference between the rigs was hook sizes because I would be trying single maggle, single and double pinkle, corn and soft pellet. My plan was to fish for carp on the 16-metre line and the 11-metre line and then target silvers on the shorter 7-metre line. However, my main line of attack would be in the gap between the 2 islands with a maggle feeder, alternating with a bomb and maggot approach. On the all-in, I cupped out a few maggles, pinkles and micros over the 16 and 11-metre lines. Now I mean a few… each pot consisted of about 5 maggles, 10 pinkles and 20 micro pellets. On the 7-metre line, I cupped out a half pot of groundbait with a few pinkles.

While I was waiting for these lines to settle, I chucked out a maggle feeder to a patch of calm water behind the first island. This area was sheltered from the wind and as it had a line of reeds along its fringe, it looked ideal for carp. Well, after 30 minutes there were no signs so I changed to a bomb and maggle. After about 10 minutes I noticed a liner, so I knew there was at least one fish in residence. However, with an hour gone and no bites, it was time to try the 16 metre line. The problem was, the wind had really picked up now making it impossible to hold the pole steady, even with a bump bar attached to my box.

I had no choice but to abandon this line, which I feel lessened my chances considerably. That left the other 2 lines, both of which were given a good session but with still no bites emerging I was beginning to feel a little despondent, which is just a fancy word for feeling pis*ed off! Another quick look on the feeder rod with just a single pinkle on the hook brought another liner but no takers. With half the match now gone and no bites, I noticed that Andy Gard who was on favoured peg 11, with the wind off his back, had just landed a carp. That didn’t help my case. I was even more perturbed to see Jason landing fish with impunity from peg 14. I mean c’mon… WTF was going on here? What was I doing wrong?

Well, I’m no quitter so I cupped out another loose-feed offering to the 11-metre line and went over it with double flouro pinkle. About 5 minutes later I was playing a hefty carp on a number 8 elastic to 0.15 mainline and size 20 hook. I was desperate to land this fish so took my time. After about 10-15 minutes, I finally slipped the net under what looked like a 9-pound common. I was off the mark at least but with time slipping away fast, I had a lot of work to do. After landing that fish I cupped out more loose feed on the 11-metre line and then went over to the 7-metre line with a single pinkle. I didn’t have to wait long before I hooked into a nice size skimmer… phew! Just what I needed.

After putting that big kipper safely in the net I cupped out more groundbait and pinkles onto this line and then went back over the 11-metre line, again with double flouro pinkle. I suppose 15 minutes had passed before I hooked into another carp only for it to come off after about 2 minutes… Shiza! I decided to give both lines a rest and so went back over to the island with bomb and single pinkle on the hook. After a couple of casts with some tantalising liners, I finally latched onto a carp. As I netted it, I reckoned it was about 5lbs… maybe a little more. After that I didn’t get any further indications so went back onto the 7-metre line and once again a single pinkle was the offering. With about 40 minutes left on the clock, my float dinked and I was into another big skimmer. I knew that 2 big skimmers were priceless in any match on this fishery so things were looking up.

However, after trying all the lines again several times and with several different baits and combinations, I didn’t get another bite. On the all-out, I thought I had about 18lbs in total, which wasn’t bad on such a hard day but nowhere near good enough to win the match. I did quietly hope my 2 big silver kippers would convert to cash but was yet to see how it all panned out. Well, the scales said 4-4-0 for my 2 skimmers and 15lbs for my 2 carp. Jason won the match from peg 14 with 54lbs of carp caught on various baits. Sean Townsend was second with 53lbs 6oz and I won the top silvers with my 4lbs 4oz of skimmers. So, although it was a real struggle, it turned out okay in the end… soooo lucky!

Now then, I took a photo of peg 8 but it came out all blurry so I couldn’t use it. Instead, I found an old photo of the peg, which is shown here, marking out where I fished. Also, here’s a picture of the match results for the day. It shows my silvers weight as 4lb 12oz but in fact, it was 4lb 4oz. I’ll be back at Windmill again on Thursday for the Cosctcutter match and then I’m on The Clamp, which is just a stone’s throw away, for the next round of the Alcove Winter League on Sunday 14^th. I hope it doesn’t get any colder… anyway, keep you posted.

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