Sunday 25^th May – Alcove Club Match – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm – Luck Of The Draw!

Before I get into my report for Sunday’s match, here’s what happened midweek. Still reeling from my previous 2 outings at this venue, I fished another Windmill Costcutter Qualifier last Thursday. Having previously drawn on a good peg (peg 10) only to crash and burn, I next drew on my most unfancied peg on the lake (peg 3). So this time, I was hoping for something with a little more opportunity. I was rather taken by pegs 12, 14, 16, 18 and 25, any of which would have delivered the goods, I’m sure, but what I ended up with was not at all what I expected. I drew peg 4. FFS! Peg 4 is pretty much on a par with peg 3. So, it looked like I would have to have a day fishing for silvers whether I liked it or not.

When I got to my peg, there wasn’t much to see. A bare far bank and no inside cover in the margins, meant I was in for an open water attack, or as we say in the trade, another fooking sh*t day. Still, you have to be positive, as anything can happen on this lake…right? Okay, so I set up a shallow rig as the carp were moving around in the top layers. I also set up a full-depth rig for fishing worm at 9 metres in front and over to my left. The same rig would be used for fishing at 9 metres with meat and pellet over to my right. These were my optimistic lines. My reality line was 6 metres directly out in front for silvers with maggles. I did have a few pinkles left over from my match on the canal and so if it got super hard, then they would come into play.

For my 9 metre lines, my rig consisted of a 4×18 (0.75-gram) Chianti float, 0.22 (9 lb BS) Guru N-Guage mainline and a size 16 Guru Kaizen hook to a 0.19 (7lb BS) hooklength. Some people might think this is all a bit too heavy, but to them I say, come and fish at Windmill and experience the thrill of losing fish after fish. My silver’s setup comprised a 4×16 (0.5-gram) pencil float, 0.15 (5lb BS) mainline and a size 20 Guru LWG hook to 0.11 (3lb BS) hooklength. Although I’ve landed carp up to 8 lbs on this rig, with a size 8 elastic, it can take forever to get them in the net. So it was a bit of a compromise, as carp totally dominate the catches here at Windmill.

On the all-in, I cupped out a large pot of chopped worm, groundbait and micros to my left and some micros, pellet and meat to my right. For my short silvers line, I dumped in a small ball of groundbait laced with maggles and pinkles. During my last match, on peg 3, I couldn’t get a bite on worm or pellets and so when I started fishing with pinkle out in front, I was getting a carp a chuck. Needless to say, I lost a boatload on such light gear, but I did manage to land 2 or was it 3? Seems so long ago now. Anyway, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to this sort of silly tactic today. I began the session by slapping an 8mm pellet as carp were moving around everywhere, but after an hour of slapping and several wishful mugging attempts, I threw in the towel on that method. I had a quick look over the worm line and nothing, same with the meat and pellet line, so I lobbed out the bomb with 3 maggles on the hook.

I could just about reach the very edge of the reedy bank, which was well over to my right, and where I could see lots of movement, but with almost an hour on that and nothing but a few liners to show for my efforts, I gave up. So, my options were now being narrowed down to the two 9-metre lines and the short silvers line. Another look over the worm line brought a couple of enquiries but resulted in a foul-hooker. However, I was encouraged by this and so I carried on for another hour until I finally netted a 6-pounder. Then, as usual, it was really hard work to get a bite anywhere, while doing anything and everything. I abandoned the meat and pellet line after giving it 30 minutes without so much as a flicker. My short line did produce a micro perch, but nothing else.

So, with 90 minutes left on the clock, the only option left was an all-out worm attack or pack up and go home. I cupped out some more choppie and went straight over it with two dendras on the hook. Within 5 minutes, I hooked into a lively big common, which must have gone all of 10lbs and more. As usual, this fish fought every inch of the way to the landing net. When I had it in the net, it was still fighting like crazy and so I had to put my top kit down as I needed 2 hands to draw the landing net toward me. As I slowly slid the net handle backward, the fish managed to leap out of the net. I had to make a quick grab for my top kit as the fish shot off across the lake, still attached to the rig. Well, it was a brief encounter and we said goodbye all too soon. FFS!

Well, over the remainder of the match, I hooked into 7 carp and landed 4 of them, which gave me 5 in total to present to the scalesman. That gave me just 26.3.0 for 5^th place. That one lost carp would have propelled me into second place, but would still not have been enough to qualify. Well done to RB Legion clubmate, Kev Much, for taking the win with 57.15.0 from peg 14 and a place in the final. So, I’ve still got it all to do, but with no qualifying match next Thursday, it will give me a chance to go somewhere else for a change and maybe get some much-needed practice in.

Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm

It’s always a pleasure to fish these club matches at Whitehouse Farm, even though the fishing can be tough at times, especially on Margaret’s lake. At least there are plenty of different species to target, so you’re always in with a chance of framing whatever you do… as long as you get it right on the day. So, we had 15 turn out for this one, which is just about the right number of anglers for this lake. We also had a little “Super Pool” running today with most anglers putting in a quid for a winner-takes-all all payout on top of the usual placings. The favoured pegs on this lake are 5, 6, 8, 13, 14 and 17, with peg 6 being the best of the bunch. I drew peg 6 on my last match here and won the lake with just under 30lbs. Carp definitely play a big part in the final results and so you have to go for them if you want to win, regardless of what peg you draw.

Okay, so into the draw bag for a little fiddle about and out pops… ta da! Peg 6! Well, the Lake Gods, Water Spirits and Lady Luck herself must have got together and decided it was time I had a bit of fun. Peg 6 is exactly the peg I wanted and all I had to do was exactly what I did last time… right? Well, not exactly. So, the rigs I set up last time would be the same for this session, which included a feeder rod for targeting the chub just off the edge of the island. Also, a skimbo line at 11.5 metres together with both edge lines, with the right-hand edge being favoured to produce a few carp. This edge is actually a feature that juts out into the lake at an angle of around 60 degrees. It’s what’s known as a spit or a cape or a headland or a peninsula… or something. Well, whatever it’s called, it’s a brilliant holding place for carp.

On the left-hand edge is a small bush that overhangs the water and is another feature that can sometimes throw up a few surprises. So, here was the plan… I would fish a maggle feeder over toward the island for chub. They average about 2.5lbs here and I had 5 of them last time. My silvers line was for targeting mainly skimbos and at 11.5 metres it was just over 6 feet deep here. From about 1.5 metres from the bank, my right-hand edge slopes up gently toward some reeds and it’s around 12-24 inches deep here. I set my rig at 18 inches so I could lay it in, ensuring the bait would lie in the middle of the slope. Beyond 1.5 metres the bank drops down suddenly. At the bottom of this drop is a flat shelf, which is a great area for catching just about anything during the cooler months.

My bait choice for the margins was meat and corn, with worms and maggles for the silvers line. Now, the problem today was wind… I mean the gusty type… not that other rather foul-smelly type of wind. The weather forecast was for fresh winds, but this was more like a force 9 gale at times. Unfortunately, presentation on my silvers line was severely hampered by the wind and I was only able to have a quick look between gusty spells. The wind also made the lake tow from left to right, prompting me to add a further 9 inches of line to my rig. Well, with an hour into the match, I hadn’t had a bite from anywhere. I decided to focus on fishing the maggle feeder out toward the island as I was sure the chub would show up eventually. My first fish from there was a micro perch… it was all going wrong!

Over the next hour, I had another perch, which must have been close to a pound or so and then I hooked into a carp. I’m pretty sure it was foul-hooked as it was soon off and away. I plugged away at this line relentlessly, but there were no signs of chub. I kept looking over the silvers line too with a dendra on the hook, when the wind allowed, but I had no bites there either. It wasn’t looking good at all. I checked out both margins with no signs of life there, but I could hear a few disgruntled words being bound around the lake and so I reckoned everyone else was struggling a bit too. Then the match secretary, Jason, came over to see what was going on. He confirmed that everyone was struggling for bites and so I thought a carp or two might be just enough to win today.

I thought I’d have one last look over the 11.5 metre line before calling it a day on that one. This time, instead of worm, I put 3 red maggles on the hook and laid it in over the feed area. To my surprise, the float went straight under and I thought I had hooked a big skimbo. As I was pulling it across the lake toward me, I thought it was more like an F1, but as it happens… it turned out to be a chub pretty close to 3lbs. So, I had spent a couple of hours on the maggle feeder fishing for chub up against the island, only to get one out in open water… WTF? The wind had now put paid to any more pole fishing at that length and so with 2 hours left on the clock, out went the feeder again. Despite the wind, I had been hitting the same spot against the island for more than 2 hours and so I was sure a chub would show soon. Well, the tip shot round and I was in… to a carp.

It took a while to drag the fish all the way across the lake, but eventually, I slipped the landing net under a handsome 7-pounder. It was now time to concentrate on fishing my right-hand edge to see if I could add a few more. I had been cupping in meat and micros at around 6 metres between 2 groups of lily pads and so that’s where I lowered my baited hook. I had a couple of indications before the float suddenly disappeared and I was into a big girl. She was obviously late for a date and didn’t hang around for very long. So, now it was carp one, me one. I repeated the process and soon delivered a lovely 8-pounder. I lost the next one due to a hook pull. It was defo hooked in the mouth but not hooked enough for a firm hold. So, now it was 2-2. With time running out, I was desperate for another and so I went out a little further to around 9.5 metres, which is the limit of my margin pole.

I cupped in some corn and micros and baited the hook with 2 grains of corn. That did the trick and I was soon into a chunky common of around 8lbs. So now it was 3-2 to me but that soon became 3-3 as another much bigger munter headed for the car park, never to be seen again. So, in went more corn and within 5 minutes another carp was on the hook. This one was much more manageable and although it was nearer the 10lb mark, it was a lazy old slob and gave up quite easily. Now, with about 30 minutes to go, I would have been more than happy with one more and although I did hook into another one, it came off after a brief struggle and so that was that… 4-3 to me!

I reckoned I had about 35lbs altogether, which was a little better than last time, but would it be enough to frame today? I had no idea what had been happening on the other side of the lake and so I remained cautiously optimistic. I know that Tony Welsby on peg 5 had at least one carp and Windmill Ace, Kev Murch on peg 7 had at least one. Other than that, I didn’t have a Scooby Doo about how the others had fared and so it was a case of wait and see. Well, surprise, surprise… victory at last! I finished up with a total weight of 37.10.0 for first place and also collected the winner-take-all pool.

Well, TBH, it was simply the luck of the draw today. Peg 6 can be a great peg on the right day and I just happened to be on it. In second place was Steve Sewell with 28.11.0, which included a 20-pounder from peg 18. Well done to him and all the other framers! And guess what! We’re back on Margaret’s Lake again next week for another one. Could I do the treble? No way, Hosé! Keep you posted!

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