January 14^th – Alcove AC Winter League – The Curse Of Karma At The Clamp

Before I get into my report on round 3 of the Alcove AC Winter League at The Clamp, I fished an open match at Windmill Fisheries on Thursday 11^th, so I’ll cover that one first. The temperature was at sub-zero at the time of the draw, with ice all over the carp park so nobody was in much of a hurry to get to their pegs. I drew peg 11, which I was happy with mainly because I would have the wind off my back and a nice sheltered section of water to fish. Andy Gard had drawn peg 14 to my left, which was the winning peg on the previous Sunday and I had Mat Taynton for company to my right on peg 10, which is another good peg. My plan was to start on the bomb and maggle right over toward the island. I also set up a rig for a 13-metre pole line right in front, an 8-metre line at 3 o’clock to my right and a margin rig for fishing against the reeds in the right-hand margin.

So, on the all-in, I lobbed out the bomb, stopping about a metre short of the island. Hookbait was double red maggles. Within a few seconds, I was getting indications, which turned out to be liners so I reeled in a couple of metres. I was still getting liners so I kept reeling in more line until I was clear. However, I was now fishing halfway between my bank and the island. I lifted the rod to recast and immediately foul-hooked a carp. WTF was going on? Next, I cast out again to the middle of the lake and once more I was getting lots of indications and then another foul-hooked carp, which was promptly lost. I carried on with this for about 40 minutes, changing baits and casting nearer each time but with 4 carp now lost it was time to go out on the pole line.

My 13-metre pole swim was about where I ended up with the bomb! I tried maggles, corn and pellet here and finally hooked and landed a small carp of about 5lb on corn. After that, I couldn’t get a bite but there was obviously a lot of fish mulling around in this area but unfortunately, they were not in the mood for feeding. So I changed to the 8-metre line and went through the motions once again but there was nothing doing at all on this line. I saw Andy land a couple but Mat was struggling at this point. I couldn’t see how the others were getting on but guessed some were having a hard time of it. I kept a close eye on the reed bed to my right and when I noticed some movement, I dropped my margin rig in with a single red maggle on the hook.

It wasn’t long before I was into a carp but it must have been another foul hooker because we soon parted company. I shortened the length of the rig so I was now fishing 12 inches off the bottom and within a few minutes I was in again. This one was hooked properly, safely netted and went about 6lb. I felt as though I had faffed around for long enough so I decided to focus just on the margin swim for the rest of the match. I had to wait a long time between bites and it was into the last hour before I netted my third and final fish of the day. However, Mat somehow managed to find 2 big carp from his left-hand edge in the last half hour, which left me trailing. Andy had done well, catching steadily throughout the day. At the weigh-in, my 3 carp went 15lb 10oz, which was nowhere near good enough. The top weight was 65lb 15oz from peg 8, all caught on pellet between the islands on the bomb.

Andy made the frame for second place and Mat took the section. Amazingly, there were no silvers caught so as this match pays first and second for silvers, the extra pools money was split between the framers. Personally, I feel it should have been paid out to those further down the line because there would have been 6 payouts anyway if silvers were caught and so there should still have been 6 payouts. Okay, so I would have won my section but I’m not moaning… heaven forbid!

Alcove Winter League

So, onto the main event. With 14 booked in for this one, the whole lake would come into play, which is bad news for those who might be drawn at the car park end. Now, pre-match banter and leg-pulling are all part of the psychology of match fishing, as we all know. Well, one angler, who shall remain nameless, was certain that I had put the ‘heebee jeebees’ on him by suggesting he might draw near the car park end. Unfortunately, he did… but that’s not the end of the story. I drew peg 10, which is quite a good draw. However, Karma has a way of turning the tables…

In my opinion, pegs 5, 6, 11 and 12 are the go-to pegs on this lake, especially at this time of year. Peg 10 however, can produce when the water is warmer. It’s a relatively shallow peg with lots of silt and rubbish lying on the bottom as it’s on the flight path to the overflow. I was still feeling confident that I would catch but I didn’t expect it to be soooo slow. I started at 13 metres, fishing a single pinkle to a size 20 fine wire hook. I had cupped out a very small nugget of groundbait at the start with about 6 pinkles over the top but had to wait almost an hour before I got my first bite. This turned out to be a micro roach of around a half ounce. I began switching between 11 metres and 7 metres with the same approach but all I was getting was the same stamp of fish. I cupped out some groundbait and micros to a 13-metre line and would give it a look now and again to see if any F1s or carp had moved over it. I wasn’t really expecting to catch on this line so I didn’t give it more than about 15 minutes in total.

Well, with about half the match gone all I had was 6 or 7 tiny roach in the net. I could only drool as I watched match secretary, Tony Welsby, on peg 8 to my right, land a couple of nice skimmers. Kev Murch on peg 7 opposite me was doing really well and Jason Pitman on match-winning peg 11 (again) was also doing well. I tried down both edges with maggles as small chub often patrol the shallows but they were just not there today. My last 2 hours were really frustrating as getting bites was just so difficult. I think I had another 6 or 7 tiny roach in that time, finishing up with just 13 ounces in total, and being absolutely trounced on all sides. Karma? Bad angling? Getting too old? I don’t know but whatever you might want to call it, this was definitely a p*ss poor performance by yours truly.

My next Winter League match is next Sunday (21^st) and that one is on the Lido. FFS! Another gruelling 5 hours to look forward to… Arrrrrrggghh Nooooo! Keep you posted!

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