Sunday August 4^th – Interclub Match, Whitehouse Farm – It Can Only Get Better…

Another 2-match report this week starting with the midweek Costcutter Match at Windmill Fisheries.

With 18 anglers in attendance, it was another full house affair consisting mainly of the usual suspects. I wasn’t too bothered about where I ended up so long as it wasn’t either peg 1 or peg 2, although anywhere from pegs 23 down to peg 14 would be a nice change. So into the mysterious bag of mixed fortunes and out comes peg 10. Okay, that will do! I haven’t been on this peg for a while. It’s one of those that can produce good weights sometimes and mediocre weights too so anything could happen.

When I arrived at my peg there were patches of rising bubbles here and there, which was a good sign if ever I saw one. There were also a few carp cruising about in the upper layers so I was cautiously optimistic. I set up a maggle feeder for fishing off the edge of the island, just in case it got hard. I also set up a slapping rig for those basking on the surface and in the upper layers. I opted for one 7-metre line out in front at full depth for fishing paste and of course, the 2 edge lines would come into play at some point.

On the all-in, all the bubbles stopped bubbling and all the cruising carp stopped cruising. Funny that eh? So, I began slapping an 8mm pellet at 13 metres but had no takers. I added another tube and went out to 14 metres where I immediately hooked one. About 10 minutes later I had another but then nothing else. At this point, I was doing okay with 2 carp in the net and nobody else around me having caught any. Next, I dropped in a large ball of Scopex and micros over the 7-metre line, followed by a ball of the same down each edge. It wasn’t long before the 7-metre line was fizzing with signs of life.

I baited my size 14 Guru Kaizan hook with a small ball of paste and dropped it into the rolling water out in front. About 15 minutes later, a small skimbo put in an appearance but I couldn’t get anything else. My float was indicating little knocks and pulls but there was nothing worth striking at. I rang the changes with maggles, expander pellets and worm but still nothing. Very strange… and others around me were feeling the strain too. I dumped in some more groundbait and then had a look in my left-hand margin with corn on the hook. That got me another carp of around 4lbs.

A look over the right-hand edge with meat brought an instant bite with a foul hooker quickly lost. I decided to abandon this line and focus on my left-hand edge instead because I felt like I was stretching myself too thinly and not allowing enough time to build a swim. A quick look over the 7-metre line again and nothing. So, I decided to abandon this line too in favour of my left-hand edge, which was showing signs of activity. I began loose-feeding corn only and fishing corn on the hook. Eventually, I had another carp of around 5lbs. Then, I noticed the anglers on the 2 end pegs, 11 and 12, began catching steadily. The angler to my right on peg 9 also started catching well as the session progressed.

Meanwhile, I’m still plodding about catching the odd fish down the edge but nothing of any size. I decided to give it a rest and chuck out the maggle feeder to the edge of the island. I didn’t have to wait long before the tip shot round but on the strike, I cracked off. The line had caught on something and all was lost. FFS! Can it get any worse? Well, I just plugged away on the edge line and landed a few more small carp on both corn and worm but I knew it was all over for me. I had hoped the 7-metre line would have produced on paste but it didn’t happen. I ended up with just 44lb 7oz and a “thanks for coming.”

Well done to Mat Taynton who despite being biteless in the first 90 minutes finished up with 92lb 10oz for a clear win.

Interclub Match, Whitehouse Farm

Alcove AC played host to the Kingswood RBL in this annual interclub match fished across both lakes at Whitehouse Farm. With only 6 anglers representing the Legion, so it was agreed that only Alcove’s top 6 weights would be counted. I would have preferred to be drawn on George’s Lake but Margaret’s peg 7 was blindly beckoning. I was quite happy with that, especially as it had an island chuck and hopefully the chub would play ball. Andy Gard drew next to me on peg 6, which is arguably the best carp peg on the lake. Andy Brookman drew peg 13, another good peg and Mike Nichols drew my most favourite peg of all time on Margaret’s Lake, peg 17.    

So, the plan was to target those big chub that live around the island. They are 3-4lb fish so you can quickly build a weight with them… if they show up! Sadly, they didn’t. After 40 minutes on the maggle feeder, I only had 2 small perch and a roach. I changed to a method feeder and after another 40 minutes had just 1 small skimbo. FFS! This was not what I was expecting! So, plan B was to fish a long line at 13 metres out in front, which is around the middle of my side of the lake. Also, I fed a shorter line at 8 metres should the long line not work. I cupped out some Scopex and micros to both lines and went over the longer line with paste. I had a small bream of around 2lbs soon after.

Then I had a few small roach and skimbos before it died. A look on the shorter line brought an immediate response from a pound skimbo, quickly followed by 2 more but then nothing else. This was all going unusually slow for this peg. I could see Andy Brookman catching carp from near the island on the feeder so I had another go on the method feeder only to catch a roach of around 8 ounces. It just wasn’t happening out there for some reason. So, it was now time to look down my left-hand edge. The right-hand margin was unfishable due to overhanging branches so this was my last frontier.

I dropped in some corn and went over it with double corn on the hook. My first fish from here was a roach about 10 ounces. This was followed by a big skimbo of about a pound. It was too slow down the edge so I started catching small fish on the 4-metre whip. I was fishing 2 feet deep throwing in a handful of maggles at every cast. This produced a string of small roach and rudd plus a bonus 2lb F1. Alas! It was a day’s fishing with just 9lb 12oz to show for all my efforts. Andy on the fancied peg 6 had a frustrating day and ended up packing away early. Andy Brookman won the lake with 68lb of mostly carp. Well done to him. You need carp to get anywhere on this lake. On top of that, the Legion were beaten by more than 7lbs. [Alcove AC 194lbs – Kingswood Legion 187lbs]

Well, it’s been difficult fishing for me just lately so things can only get better… or will they? I’ll be at Windmill Fisheries again on Thursday and I’m not 100% sure where I’ll be on Sunday yet… I have 2 options. Keep you posted!

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