Welcome to my fishing blog… November 2022

November 20th – Winter League #1 – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm

This was the first of a series of 6 matches to be fished across all lakes and for me, it was a non-starter. I had drawn well, pulling out peg 13, which on the right day can be a winner. My first thought was to target the resident chub, which patrol the island margins, with a maggot feeder. I also set up a pole to fish hard on the bottom at 9 metres plus inside lines to both my left and right, which were about 1.5-2 metres from the bank. So my 9-metre line was all of 8 feet deep and the inside lines were 3 feet deep.

Although it turned out to be a sunny start to the day, there had been a frost on the previous Friday evening and some cold rain had gone in the night before, so I wasn’t under any illusions. This session was defo going to be hard. At the all-in I cupped out a tiny ball of micros and groundbait, laced with dead reads and a few pinkies. I didn’t put anything in on the inside lines, preferring to wait until the sun had warmed the water a little. The plan was to leave the 9-metre line for an hour while I tried the island.

I baited my size 18 Guru barbless with 2 dead reds and launched the maggot feeder out to about a metre from the edge of the island and waited. Nothing… I cast around pulling back from the island a little here and there and even trying halfway across. Nothing! Not a single bite on dead reds, live reds, 2 pinkies or corn. So, it was time to explore the 9-metre line. I put a small pinch of groundbait and micros into a cadpot, baited my size 20 Guru hook with a single pinkie and lowered it into the swim. I waited a few minutes but nothing. I was already thinking about how nice it would be to be sat at home in the warm, watching TV but hey… who dares wins right?

Well, a good hour and a half had now gone by and finally a bite. A very small, freezing cold roach came to hand and at least I hadn’t blanked. I kept looking around at the other anglers and I couldn’t see much action so I thought we were all in for a slow start. By the end of the second hour I had 5 small roach in the net. I then decided to start loose feeding my right hand inside swim with dead reds and a few grains of corn to my left-hand side. At around 12.30pm I had a decent skimmer on a single live red maggot on the pole line, which cheered me up no end. My excitement was short-lived though, as I glanced over towards Andy Brookman who was slipping the next under a big fat chub.

So, out went the maggot feeder again but still no takers. Meanwhile, Andy seemed to have a shoal of chub in from of him as another was netted. I’m sure he looked over at me with a wry smile on his face as he slipped the net under yet another one soon after. All I could do was watch in awe. Then to my left, Steve Dawson got in on the act and landed a big chunky chub. It’s strange how the chub seem to stay on the flanks and not venture down to the bottom of the island. Anyway, I had no choice but to give up on the feeder Mullarkey as I was getting nowhere fast. At this point the wind got up, the rain started lashing down and then my brolly got blown inside out. Oh, what fun we had!

A quick look down my right-hand margin and a small perch quickly obliged followed by 2 roach on live reds. Then nothing… so a look down to my left-hand side with a single grain of corn and whallop! A lovely roach about 12 ounces but nothing else after that. So for the last hour, I plugged away at the 9-metre line, catching a few more roach and then pulling out of a big skimmer. With just 15 minutes to go, I missed a series of ultra-fast bites and then time had simply run out. Another very frustrating day as I tipped just 2lb 5oz into the weigh net and finished with a massive 6 points.

You get 1 point for a win, 2 for second, 3 for third place etc, so the least points you finish up with the better. However, only 5 of the 6 results will count and so you can drop your worst performance. Needless to say, this one will be dropped unless of course… disaster strikes again. The next winter league match is in 2 weeks’ time on Georges Lake… gulp!

Join our Facebook page HERE

About me

January 2023

…………………

June 2022

July 2022

August 2022

September 2022

October 2022

November 2022

   6th – Alcove Poppy Match – Whitehouse Farm

   13th – RBL Poppy Open – River Avon Waters

   20th – Winter League #1 – Whitehouse Farm

December 2022

www.billysblog.co.uk

© Copyright – Bill Knight

All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy

Web Design by Anglox