April 21st – Lady Luck Smiles Midweek Then Kicks Me In The Goolies On Sunday

Here’s another double-whammy match report, both concerning my wicked Windmill Fisheries fetish. Yes, I’ve been fishing at Windmill so much this year anyone would think I’m in love with the place. Well, all I can say is I love a challenge and if you haven’t fished Windmill before then believe me… this place can be very challenging. So, I had some good fortune on Thursday but then got clobbered on Sunday… read on to find out what happened…

Thursday 18th – Windmill Fisheries – Costcutter 500

It was a chilly day for the 22 anglers who turned out for this one, with a north wind blowing up the lake. I would have preferred to have been drawn on peg 10,11,12 or 14, with the wind off my back but instead, for the third time this year, I drew peg 1 again. The last time I drew here I lost 2 rigs in the right-hand reed bed together with 6 or 7 carp so I gave up and went for the silvers. The angler on peg 2 that day was Tom Baker who knocked it out of the park and I was never going to keep up with him so a day on the silvers was my only choice. As it happened, it was the right choice as I won top silvers that day with over 9lbs. So, what would today bring?

Well, silvers had to be a main consideration and so I set up a full-depth rig to fish at 8 metres and the same again for 11 metres. Groundbait choice is my 50-50 sweet and fishmeal (experimental) together with F1 micros. My bait choice was maggles and 4mm expander pellets. These 2 rigs have seen a lot of action this year and have become my standard silvers rigs for Windmill. They consist of a 0.4gram (4×14) pencil float, 0.15mm mainline with a 0.10 hooklength and either a size 18 or 16 Guru LWG hook. I also set up a feeder rod for fishing out toward the edge of the island with either a maggle feeder or a method feeder.

And what of the reed bed to my right-hand side? Well, yes I had to set up a rig for here as it was alive with carp right from the off. So, because I lost some kit down that edge last time I decided to play it safe and set up 2 shallow rigs. One was for a banded 8mm hard pellet for a little slap around the fringes and the other was for 10mm meat pellets dropped in amongst the reeds. On the all-in, I cupped out a large ball of groundbait laced with dead red maggles to both the 8 and 11-metre lines. I didn’t put any bait into the margin as it wasn’t necessary. The carp were already there and would likely stay there all day. So I punched out the feeder rod for the first 30 minutes but there were no takers on that.

Next, I had a quick look on both of the silvers lines but they produced nothing either, although it was still a little early. So, with an equal measure of trepidation and reluctance, I had a tentative little slap at 8 metres down the right-hand edge. Three slaps later and I’m in only to lose it in the reeds. FFS!!! I just knew that was going to happen. Well, at least I didn’t lose the rig. So I had another go, this time moving a bit further along the reed bed to 10 metres as this was where most of the activity was. A quick slap and I’m in again. I held on tight and managed to pull the fish clear of the reeds, finally netting it a few minutes later. This one was about 6lbs.

I carried on slapping an 8mm pellet all along the edge of the reeds but didn’t get any more takers. It seems the carp had now moved in tighter to the reeds and if I wanted to catch them then I would have to go in there after them. While I pondered that thought I had another look on both silvers lines. It was slow but I did get a 2lb skimmer after about 30 minutes. My feeling was it was too slow and it just didn’t feel like it was going to be a silvers day on this peg today. That only left me with the one option… it was going to be a rumble in the jungle with the big boys. Well, fortune favours the brave and so I picked up the meat rig. However, there was just one thing that needed changing…

The top kit! I had originally set this rig on a 14-16 elastic, same as the slapping rig, but I decided to change to an 18-20 short top 2 so the carp had less chance to get deeper into the reeds. I knew it might cost me a couple of fish but at least I would be able to get them into open water quicker and subdue them quicker too. I also changed to a heavier, beefed up rig. The float was a similar 4×10 dibber but this rig consisted of 0.22mm mainline and a 4 inch 0.17mm hooklength. The whole rig was set at just 12 inches deep. So here goes… I put a pellet of meat onto my size 14 quickstop hair rig and gently lowered it right into where the reeds were moving around. I didn’t have to wait long…

About 5 seconds later I was into a good size fish. I managed to quickly get it out into open water and the rig proved its worth, taming a hefty 10-pounder within a few minutes. So, I repeated the process and had another 6 carp over the next hour or so before losing a couple of foul hookers. I decided to rest the swim and have another look over both silvers lines. With nothing doing after 20 minutes, I knew I had made the right decision in going for carp today. However, when I went back into the reed bed for some more fun and frolics, the carp had moved away. They moved further down the reed bed and beyond a thick clump of reeds where it was impossible to reach them.

So, I spent the last hour twiddling my thumbs, scratching my head and wondering what else to do. I had nothing else shallow, nothing short, nothing on the silvers lines and nothing on the feeder. As the angler on the next peg (25) didn’t fish down his left-hand edge the fish moved in there for safety. I could see the reeds moving violently but the fish were just out of reach… end of. No matter… I ended up with a total of 57lb 14oz for second place overall and some welcome beer tokens, so I was well happy with that.

Sunday 21st – Windmill Fisheries – Bonanza 1000 Qualifier

Another 20 anglers lined up for this one and it was a very different day today, at least weather-wise. It was actually warm and sunny but the north wind was once again relentlessly blowing up the lake. Oh for a peg with the wind off my back… please! Nope, I got peg 3. This is another peg I’ve drawn before and I’ve struggled on but mainly because of the side wind and the fooking snags. It’s one of those pegs where you have to fish at a full 16 metres right up against the far side reed bed. The fish were there as I could see all the tell-tale signs but thoughts of my previous session, where I lost a couple of rigs and seemed to spend most of the day pulling for breaks still haunted me.

In my opinion, peg 2 is a better peg in that respect as you can fish a little off the edge of the reeds and still get a netful. You just have to stay clear of the nasty snag to the left. Well, I had a job to do and so I set up a slapping rig, a shallow rig at 12 inches deep and after plumbing up, I set up a rig to fish at 4 feet deep on the slope… all at 16 metres. My edge swims were pretty much non-existent so I didn’t bother setting up for them. My only other rig was for fishing down the middle at 9 metres in 8 feet of water, in the hope I could catch a few big skimbos and rescue the day should all else fail. On the all-in, I cupped out some groundbait and dead red maggles to the middle line and then went over to the reed bed at 16 metres.

I had Legion clubmate, Jason Pitman, on my left who was doing the same thing. On my right, I had Nick Sanders, who knew exactly where the fish were and wasted no time in connecting with them. A near 200lb net came from his peg a couple of weeks ago and I expected to see a ton plus from it today. So, I dipped and dobbed my 10mm pellet of meat all over the reeds and as expected got caught up in them, having to pull for a break. Luckily I got everything back. Now, psychologically I’m desperately trying to avoid getting snagged up and not really concentrating on catching fish. I knew I was going to be in for a frustrating day today.

That sentiment was wholly confirmed when I hooked and lost my first carp in the reed bed. FFS! So next, I tried slapping short of the reeds and finally, took my first prisoner, a carp of about 8lbs. However, a further 30 minutes of slapping produced nothing more. The wind began to get up a bit with a few strong gusts thrown in just to make it even more challenging. On top of that someone down to my left, maybe on peg 5, 6 or 7 was smoking whacky baccy all day and that was enough to make me feel a little delusional man… far out! Cosmic… WTF? Actually, it just gave Jason and me a headache all day. How can you fish when you’re stoned out of your head… man?

Anyway, I’m back out into the far side reed bed and I soon had another snag to contend with and yes, I lost my forking rig. It was time to rest the far bank, lol… and have a go down the middle. On my first put-in, I caught a small skimmer. This was followed by 3 more in quick succession but then nothing else. Despite going through my whole repertoire of baits, I couldn’t get another bite on that line. So, it was back out into the graveyard of dead rigs and soon another carp was hooked and lost. Meanwhile, Nick on peg 2 was catching with impunity and there was no way in the whole wide world that I was ever going to be a threat.

It was time to do something different. So, I set up a feeder rod with a 25 gram maggle feeder and lobbed it out toward the lone tree on the far side. I started getting indications right away and it wasn’t long before the tip shot round and I had an angry carp attached. It was nice one too at about 10lbs but unfortunately, it was the only one I managed to get on the feeder rod. I did try bomb and pellet but they simply didn’t want that. Well, that was the prompt I needed to call it a day on the long line. It just wasn’t going to happen for me and with only 2 hours of the match left, I decided to focus entirely on the 9 metre line. I was now in desperation mode and I would be more than happy just to catch anything.

Funny that, as on my first put-in with double red maggle on the hook, I latched onto a nice perch, which must have been a little over a pound. Anything and everything was welcome at this stage of the match. I started feeding the line quite heavily with maggles and micros in the hope I could attract a carp or two and it worked. I had 2 out in the last hour but that only made it 4 carp in total and less than 3lb of silvers, so a poor day at the office for me. Jason also struggled on peg 4 and didn’t bother weighing. I ended up with a total of 26lbs for a proverbial kick in the goolies. Well done to Nick on peg 2 for knocking out 105lb 11oz for second place, and losing more than 2lbs as one of his nets was over the 55lb limit. Well done to Leighton Palmer on his win with 109lb 7oz.

Well, I’ll be back at Windmill again next Thursday for more fun and frolics and again the following Sunday in my desperate bid to qualify for the Bonanza 1000 final… can I have peg 14, please? Keep you posted.

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