Sunday 25^th January – A Roundup Of January Events Including Disasters On Ice And Winter Washouts

Thursday 8^th January

Well, let’s start with the Thursday Costcutter Open at Windmill Fisheries on the 8^th January. It was cancelled due to the Match Lake being frozen over. End of!

Sunday 11^th January

Moving on to round 3 of the Alcove Winter League, held on Margaret’s Lake at Whitehouse Farm on 11^th January. I drew peg 6, which is arguably the best summer peg on the lake. I broke the ice and spent the next 5 fooking hours praying for a bite. It didn’t happen… enough said.

Thursday 15^th January

So, onto Thursday, 15^th January. The Match Lake at Windmill Fisheries had now unfrozen and so we were able to go ahead with the match, which included a Blind Pairs event, carried over from the previous Christmas match. Confused? So was I. Well, my partner was none other than the Winter Maestro himself, John Williams, who drew peg 1, which is undeniably a flyer of a peg. I drew peg 19 for the second time in a row and so I was counting on John to do the business for both of us. On my last match on this peg, I struggled right up until the last hour, which isn’t unusual, so this time I decided to go for silvers as a backup, just in case.

On the all-in, I set up a silvers line at 11 metres to my left and fed a small nugget of Black Lake groundbait laced with a few dead pinkles. My rig for this line consisted of a top kit loaded with a number 6 elastic, 015 mainline, a .75-gram (4×18) Chianti float and a size 20 hook tied to a 0.11 hooklength. This was for fishing with live or dead pinkles. My carp line consisted of a top kit with a number 14 elastic, 0.17 mainline, a 1-gram (4×20) Chianti float and a size 18 hook to 0.15 hooklength. My main offering on this line was maggles, both single and double. I also set up 2 inside lines for the edges, but I would only give these lines a fleeting glimpse throughout the match, as the fish will just not come down the edges on any peg at the moment.

Well, long story short…

I spent 3 hours without a bite and then I hooked a big, hefty carp on my silvers line. FFS! I hung on for dear life and prayed the tiny size 20 hook and frail 0.11 hooklength would hold. All I could really do was let the fish swim up and down until it tired itself out and then gently coax it towards my landing net. It must have been at least 20 minutes before I finally got its head up and slipped the net under it. It was a big, fat mirror and at least 12 pounds. I had to give myself a virtual pat on the back for getting that one out. Then about half an hour later, I got a bite on my carp line and it turned out to be a 2lb plus skimbo… WTF! I was sure it was just going to ping off or do a flip and get away, but it didn’t. As I slowly inched my pole backwards on the roller, it just hung on and hardly put up any resistance, which made netting it a breeze. I really needed that and I was hoping nobody else had caught a silver fish.

Then, with an hour to go, I totally gave up on all the pole lines and chucked out the maggle feeder toward the edge of the island. After 3 or 4 chucks, the tip shot round and a feisty 3-pound carp was soon kicking and screaming all over the lake. When I finally netted it, it was almost time for the all-out and so that was it. Well, surprisingly, there was some cracking winter weights with the legend that is, Andy Greenham, plucking out 103-9-0 for an easy win on the wag and mag from peg 8. In second place was my old Legion clubmate, Kev Murch, with a lovely net of fish for 85-01-0 from peg 25 and again on mag and wag. In third place was my Blind Pairs partner, John Williams, with 75-08-0. Unfortunately, my contribution to the pairs was just 17-04-0 but my skimbo was enough to take the top silvers pool and a nice little pickup. Sorry John!

Sunday 18^th January

On Sunday, the 18^th January, I should have been fishing a Kingswood RBL club match on the river Avon Crane stretch at Keynsham, but with the river running very high and further rain forecast, we had no choice but to cancel this one. Instead, my good self and Alcove Match secretary, Jason Pitman, decided to get ourselves off to Georges Lake at Whitehouse Farm for a cheeky little practice session before the next Winter League match on the 25^th. Alcove ace matchman, Andy Brookman, had the same idea. The fishing was tough and left us with no doubt that the forthcoming match was going to be a real grueller.

So, moving on…

Thursday 22nd January

And it was off to Windmill Fisheries once again. After last week’s match, with a winning weight of over 100lbs we were all feeling a bit enthusiastic… that is all 6 of us! This match had clashed with a Pairs event being held at Landsend Fisheries in Wedmore, Somerset and most of the gang had decided to go there instead. So, the pegging was restricted to the top and deeper end of the lake with pegs 1,2, 20, 22, 23 and 25 in use. I wanted to draw peg 25 and that’s exactly what I got, but sometimes you need to be careful for what you wish for. John Williams drew peg 1 again and was looking forward to netting another 70lb bag, but once again… you must be careful what you wish for, especially on this Match Lake.

Well, I had to set up a waggler as my main line of attack, as Kev Murch pulled out 85lbs on the wag from this peg just 7 days ago. I also set up a 13 metre line out in front in case the wag didn’t work. The margins here are deep, and so, I set up a rig for both sides, but I didn’t have much faith in catching from the margins, as they haven’t been producing since about September of last year. So, from my vantage point, I could clearly see everyone, which can sometimes be a psychological disadvantage if you can’t get a bite but everyone else is bagging.

On the all-in, I cupped out a small ball of Scopex groundbait laced with a few dead reds to my 13 metre line. Then I chucked out the waggler, fishing a single red maggle at about 4 inches over depth. I fed lightly with just 4-6 maggles over the top about every 10 minutes or so, but after an hour, I hadn’t had a single indication. So, I went out on the pole line with double pinkle on the hook and wham! I had a bite straight away and soon landed a 3lb plus common. At that point, I was WINNING as nobody else had caught a fish. So, I carried on fishing the pole for another hour but didn’t get another touch. I kept thinking… I just need a couple more and I’ll be in with a shout, but it just didn’t happen, no matter what I did. I went back on the wag, tried down the edges, fished long to my left-hand edge, but nothing.

Then, in the last hour, I noticed Kev Murch, who was on peg 22, land a munter of a carp on the waggler. He had another soon after and so Kev was now leading the pack. Then Andy Bright on peg 23 landed a carp right out of the blue. It wasn’t a biggie and I wasn’t sure if it was bigger than mine… size does matter, guys! Then, in the dying minutes of the match, Kev had another carp and it was definitely game over for me and everyone else, for that matter. So, 3 anglers caught and the other 3 didn’t get a bite all day. What a contrast to the previous week. Kev won the match with 22-13-0, Andy Bright was second with 5-01-0 and I was third with 3-11-0. What more can I say?

Sunday 25^th January

Finally, onto round 4 of the Alcove Winter League, which was fished on George’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm. As usual, we had 14 anglers in attendance, which is pretty much the limit for this temperamental lake, especially at this time of year. The deeper pegs, including 17, 18, 19 and peg 1, are the regular favourites, but with the weather being as it has been and with a bitterly east wind to contend with, it was anyone’s guess how the lake would fish today. So, with a quick fumble around in Jason’s draw bag, I pulled out peg 17. Well, I’ve said more times than I care to remember that there’s always at least one big carp to be had from this peg at any time of year. All I had to do now was simply catch it.

I had Jason for company on peg 16 and with the previous Sunday’s dire catch still firmly implanted in his mind, he decided to go long for some skimbos and anything else. With overhanging trees to my left and fond memories of landing my best George’s carp of 22lbs from this area, this would be my target swim for most of the session. With no leaves on the trees, I was able to get right under the branches at 11 metres, where it was around 4.5 feet deep. My elastic choice was a number 16 and my float choice was a little 0.3-gram dibber. Mainline was 0.22 and hook size was a 16 to 0.17 hooklength. My bait offerings would be maggles and meat. I also set up a line at 13 metres straight out in front for skimbos and a short line to my right, under a small tree, for anything else. So, the stage was set.

On the all-in, I dropped 3 tiny pieces of meat and 6 maggles under the tree to my left. Then I cupped out a small ball of Black Lake groundbait laced with 6 dead pinkles to the 13-metre line. Also dropped in 3-4 live pinkles under the small tree to my right at about 6 metres. I spent the first 90 minutes watching a totally motionless float under the tree to my left, with meat or red maggles on the hook. I needed to have a quick look over the 13-metre line with a single live pinkle, but after 20 minutes I gave up. Feeling desperate, I chucked out the waggler with a single red on the hook, but after about 10 minutes of battling the wind, I gave up on that, too. A look over the 6-metre line under the tree to my right brought a bite, but I missed it. Another look with a fresh pinkle brought a small roach. Jason had about 3 small roach by this time, but I couldn’t see anyone else catching anything. Anyway, as far as I was concerned, just 1 carp would do the trick today… but where was it?

I went back under the tree into the carp’s lair and tried a variety of baits, but after another 90 minutes had passed and still no signs of a carp. I was back to roach snatching. I managed to catch another 4, making 5 in total with a further 4 coming off, but I didn’t want to carry on with this… I needed a carp. Young stand-in, I noticed Mitchell Sewell on peg 1 had a carp on, but after a lengthy tussle, it broke free, much to the “disappointment” of the rest of the field. That spurred me on to keep plugging away and hoping for a carp, an F1, or even a goldfish would do. Well, it just wasn’t to be. My final tally for the day was just 5 small roach. Jason managed to find a small skimbo to go with his roach haul and Alan Oram stuck to his guns, fishing at 16 metres throughout, to finally be rewarded with a couple of big skimbos and win the match.

Well, what a hard day that was. Even a couple of the top drawer Superstars managed to blank. Alan weighed 3-04-0 for first place, Tony Welsby was second with 1-04-0 and Jason had 15 ounces, which gave him the top silvers pool. Mitch Sewell was third with 7 ounces. Amazingly, I won my section with 5 ounces and Kev Murch won his section with just 3 ounces… honestly, you couldn’t make it up! Well, it aint gonna get any easier that’s for sure, with more rain and bitterly cold winds forecast for next week. I’ll be at Windmill again on Thursday, 29^th [ No, I won’t, just got a text message saying it’s cancelled] and then it’s Georges Lake again on 1^st February for round 5 of the Winter League. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it… plus another quid for Jason, me thinks. Keep you posted!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Hey guys! I really appreciate you all reading my weekly blog and thanks for all the positive comments. It’s nice to know you enjoy reading about my rants, my ups and downs and my general take on events. Please keep those likes coming and don’t be shy in sharing, as all this stuff helps to keep my blog on top of the Google rankings. Cheers!

NOTE: If reading this blog on a PC, you can enlarge the images by right-clicking on them and selecting “Open link in new window”

If you enjoyed reading this blog, then be sure to join the Fish Wag Facebook group HERE for blog updates. Also, please Like and Share… It’s very much appreciated! Check out the links to my older blog posts below…