Sunday, December 1^st – Winter League Round 2 – Georges Lake, Whitehouse Farm

Well, I’m back on the trail and now firing on all cylinders and so Windmill Fisheries was to be my next port of call on Thursday, November 28^th. There were 16 anglers in attendance for this one and nobody was quite sure how the Match Lake would fish today. On the previous week’s match nobody had a bite and today the lake and surroundings looked like a Christmas card after a hard overnight frost. The morning banter was mostly dominated by catching silvers on pinkle with carp not really featuring much in the conversations. However, little did we all know we were all going to be in for a big surprise…

I was looking forward to this match and fancied one of the deeper pegs around 23 to 25 or peg 1. When I dived into the drawbag, I dug deep down and pulled out peg 14. Okay, so it’s a good peg on most days and one I have framed from on several occasions. The peg has plenty of options and so I had to be content with that. I had Kev Bush on peg 16 to my left and Tony Ponting on peg 12 to my right. Paul ‘Barney’ Barnfield was on a flier again at peg 11 and he was directly in my line of sight. So, I was able to keep a close eye on him and watch his every move…lol!

As I was getting set up, I noticed cat ice in the margins and reckoned there wouldn’t be any fish coming in close today, unless the sun came out and warmed the water a little. However, I did set up a margin rig for my right-hand side edge, to fish close to the reed bed should it warm up. My only other pole rig was for fishing at 9 metres in 7 feet of water with silvers being the target. For this rig, I had a number 4 elastic, 0.15 mainline and a size 20 hook to a 0.8 hooklength. On my side tray, I had maggles, pinkles, bread, 4mm expanders and meat cut into 6mm pellets. However, my plan was to fish bomb and bread for the first 30 minutes just off the edge of the island.

So, on the all-in, out went the bomb. I was getting liners straight away, which was a good sign and on my second cast, I hooked my first… carp! Well, I wasn’t expecting that! Next, I cupped out a small ball of groundbait laced with micros and dead reds to the 9-metre line and then went back out on the bomb and bread. Once again, I was getting liners but this time I got a little too trigger-happy and struck way too soon, foul-hooking a carp, which was promptly lost. (Defo my own fault… fooking plonker!) Well, I couldn’t get any more bites or even see any more signs of fish after that. So, it was time to go silver fishing.

The carp I had caught went about 5lb so as far as I could see I was doing okay down my end of the lake. I baited up with a single maggle and dropped it in over the pre-fed area at 9-metres. It was about 20 minutes before I noticed an indication and then the float slowly sailed away. Fook me! It was another carp! I didn’t stand much chance with my light setup and it broke me within less than a minute. Well, I was sure it was either foul-hooked or it was just a fluke and so I just put in another ball of groundbait, put on another hook and went out again. About 10 minutes later the same thing happened and another vital fish was lost.

Well, with 3 carp lost now and just one in the net, it was time to re-evaluate the situation. It was beginning to look like a carp day and not a silvers day after all but being a fooking slow learner, I had already found this out to my cost. So, I got out another top kit. This one was fitted with a number 14 elastic, to which I attached a much heavier rig, consisting of a .3-gram Chianti float, 0.19 mainline and a size 16 hook to 0.17 hooklength. I put a 4mm expander on the hook and lowered it in. Around 10 minutes later I hooked another carp and it was safely netted. Then it all went a bit quiet… Yeah, just when I thought I had sussed it!

So, now I’ve got 3 carp in the net and then I noticed both Tony and Barney catch one each. I couldn’t see what Kev, over to my left, was up to but I did see his landing net handle upend a couple of times as he was obviously putting fish in his net. Now I’m thinking, everyone is catching and I’m not! So, it was time to try down the edge. I cupped out 6 pellets of meat close to the reed bed and lowered a baited rig over the top. I started getting indications after a few minutes so I was sure there was at least one carp in residence. Then before I knew what was happening I was in. This next carp was at least 10lb and just what I needed.

I had 2 more from the reed bed on meat before losing one in the reeds. I thought I was in for a section win, at least until Barney hooked and landed a good 9-pounder right on the all-out. Well, I ended up with 42lb. Kev had 44lb and Barney had 46lb and they both won their sections. So, I was piggy in the middle and deserved nothing more for being so negative at the start, which cost me. Another lesson learned! Well done to Mike Nicholls for doing us all with his magnificent 113lb carp haul.

Winter League, Whitehouse Farm

So, onto the next match, which was attended by 12 anglers this time, as 2 were marked down as sick. After heavy rain, it was all looking a bit squidgy and mucky around the lake and especially the access track between the lakes. The levels on both lakes were up and the water was quite coloured, which was okay. So, onto the draw…

I quite fancied pegs 1, 6, 10, 17 and 19 but ended up with peg 4, which in previous matches has produced a carp from under the tree to the right of the peg. I had veteran Dave Rugman to my right on peg 3 and club bailiff, Mike Reid, to my left on peg 6. Match secretary, Jason Pitman, was on a flier again with peg 19, which is the deepest peg on the lake. In my line of sight was the legendary Andy Brookman on peg 14. So, my plan of action was to fish 2 lines for skimbos at 9 metres, left and right, with maggles and pinkles on one line and 4mm expanders and corn on the other. I also set up a serious margin pole rig for under the tree, where I would fish meat or corn on the hook.

On the all-in, I cupped out a ball of 50-50 Lake Black and F1 Sweet to both lines and cupped in 10 pellets of meat and 10 kernels of corn under the tree. I started on the 9-metre line to my left with double pinkle and soon had my first fish, which was a roach of around 3 ounces. A change to red maggle brought a skimbo of around 8 ounces, followed by a couple more before it went quiet. So, onto the right-hand line with a 4mm expander on the hook and after a couple of indications, the float slid away and I was into a nice 2lb skimbo. However, no matter how hard I tried and whatever bait I put on the hook, I could not get another bite from this line.

I spent well over an hour trying for a carp under the tree but there was nothing doing there. Meanwhile, Mike had a near 10-pound carp, which was followed up by Jason who had a 14-pounder soon after. So, it was obvious a carp was needed to frame but I didn’t want to waste any more time going for them so I spent the remainder of the match, fishing the left-hand, 9-metre line. I alternated between maggle and pinkle, picking off the odd skimbo here and there before the bites went a bit iffy. I began missing lots of very tentative bites and time was getting on. Then I hooked into another big skimbo in the 2lb range but disaster struck…

My lash had gone around the tip of the pole and the line had become trapped against the pole pot. That meant no elastic was able to come into play and the fish was pulling directly against the end of the top kit. FFS! That was all I needed! Well, after a couple of head shakes my prize fish broke free leaving me with no choice but to spit out some very Anglo-Saxon words. Well, as I was beginning to miss bites and lose fish, Dave on the next peg was caning it on the whip, dragging out what seemed like an endless supply of quality skimbos. As I continued to get some very dodgy bites toward the end of the match and missed them all, Andy Brookman only went and hooked a carp in the dying seconds. WTF!

Well, when the luck is against you, there’s not much you can do but suck it up! So, I finished up with 8-13-0 of mainly skimbos and 6^th on the day. Well done to Jason for winning the match and well done to Dave for taking my section. So, it turned out to be another near miss on a section win and so I must try harder in the future. The law of averages says I’ve got to get it right soon. Okay, so my next match takes me back to Windmill on Thursday 4^th for another Costcutter, and then I’ll be at Bitterwell Lake for the Kingswood RBL Christmas Match on Sunday 8^th. Keep you posted!

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