Sunday 26^th May – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm – Getting Back To Normality… Well Almost!

I can never really make up my mind whether I prefer Margaret’s Lake or George’s Lake at Whitehouse Farm. They are so very different. I didn’t fare too well on my last match on Georges but that was down to me forgetting half my kit and not having enough of the right bait. Today, however, I had all the right kit and plenty of bait, especially maggles. So, I was hoping to draw a peg with an island chuck so I could target the chub…

That didn’t happen! At the draw, I waited until the end and took whatever peg was left. That’s what’s known as trusting in fate… or being a twat as all the best pegs were drawn while I just stood and watched. So I got peg 15, which is what I deserved and it doesn’t have an island chuck. This is a corner peg and has produced some excellent weights of skimmers in the past but from experience, I know that if the skimbos don’t show then I could be in for a really tough day. As it happened, it turned out to be the latter.

With nobody on peg 16, I had lots of room out in front and to my left, so I set up a rig for fishing under the tree on my left-hand side. This peg also has a very sexy-looking right-hand margin with a small bush, some irises and an overhanging tree at the end of the swim. So, a proper beastie rig was set up for this one to fish corn, meat and pellet. For my silvers attack, I set up a rig for fishing hard on the bottom at 13 metres and at 6 metres. Maggles and soft pellets would be presented on these lines.

Finally, I set up a shallow rig for catching anything up in the water at 4 metres with maggles. A continuous stream of loose-fed maggles often brings in a quantity of roach, perch, chublets and rudd so I was sure of catching something at least. On days like this, you can often catch small fish non-stop but still only end up with 10-15lb of fish after 6 hours. All that hard work could very easily be wiped out with just one carp.

There was a brisk wind blowing down the lake toward me, cold enough to have me reaching for my overcoat, and showers were also forecast. It had rained heavily during the night so I expected this to have some bearing on things today. Nevertheless, I was eager to get going and to start putting fish in the net. On the all-in, I cupped out a 50-50 mix of Black Lake and Thatchers Original with a few grains of corn to the 13-metre line. The same size ball of groundbait plus a few 4mm expanders went in on the 6-metre line.

While I waited for that settle I lobbed out a maggle feeder to the middle of the lake and made a cup of tea. After 15 minutes it was time to try the 6-metre line so I baited up with a 6mm expander pellet and lowered it in. My rig consisted of the usual 0.3-gram pencil float, 0.15 mainline and a size 16 Guru LWG hook to a 0.11 hooklength. The full depth here was just over 7 feet. I started getting indications right away but it turned out to be small roach. A change to maggle on the hook immediately confirmed this.

Well, I spent 30 minutes on that line but only ended up with 3 roach and a tiny perch, which was not a good start. So, it was out onto the 13-metre line with a single grain of corn. This swim was not quite as deep, probably nearer 6 feet. It then shallows up as you move out toward the island. Well, I stuck at it for about 20 minutes before I finally got a tentative bite. It turned out to be a nice skimbo nudging the 2lb mark. I was hoping that this was the start of a long run of fish but it just wasn’t to be.

I didn’t get another bite on this line despite changing baits to maggles and then worm and finally soft pellet. So, I dumped in some more groundbait to both lines and decided to do something else. I could always have another look on these 2 lines throughout the day, although hope springs eternal!

So, it was now time to look down those inviting edges, especially as I had just seen John Dursley on peg 11 (or should that be peg 12 lol), catch a carp. Soon after, I noticed Kev Murch on peg 7 land a few carp in a row. Now I had some serious catching up to do. My left-hand edge was first choice with a 10mm pellet of meat over micros. I almost had a heart attack when the float shot right under just as I was lowering it in under the overhanging tree. It turned out to be a 1-ounce perch FFS!

After that, all I was getting was infuriating little knocks and short pulls, so there were only small fish in residence I guess. After another wasted 30 minutes I had to try the right-hand edge, especially as John Dursley had just landed another and Kev was also dragging them out consistently. I decided to try 2 lines along this edge, one at 5 metres and one at 10 metres. I had already cupped in some micros and corn on the shorter line and some meat and micros on the longer line. Now it was time to see if anything had arrived.

I started on the shorter line at 3 feet deep with a grain of corn and after about 10 minutes I began to get some vital signs. Soon after, the float disappeared and the elastic was being pulled out before I had realised what had happened. Well, this one was properly hooked and didn’t stand much chance against my old Garbolino margin pole, 24 elastic and 0.22 mainline and hooklength. That one turned out to be close to 10lbs, so I was off the mark proper now.

Well, 20 minutes later and with no more signs of life, I tried the 2 lines out in front again. There was nothing doing on either of those lines so I gave up on them. A quick go at catching shallow brought me about 20 small fish for about a pound and a half, which was just about enough to keep my interest going. Then John Dursley came over to weigh a big carp as I had the scales. It went 17lb 8oz. That was a wake-up call! With less than 2 hours of the match left, I decided to focus entirely on my right-hand edge with corn and meat.

I began loose feeding some grains of corn over the top, which brought a big fish into the swim. I could tell it was big by the swirl, which knocked my rig right off course. Seconds later I was in but… as it shot out into the wide open expanse of water, we parted company. He left his calling card by way of a 2-inch scale. Undeterred, I carried on doing what I had been doing and 10 minutes later I was in again. This one fought for every inch of the way but was once again easily subdued by my carp-stopping machine. This one was close to 9lb.

For the next 15-20 minutes I couldn’t get another bite on this line so I moved out along the margin toward the overhanging tree. I now had a nice fresh pellet of meat on the hook and began slowing lowering and lifting around the edge of the tree and toward the bank. Bingo! A quick take on the drop and a very big fish, which darted under the tree branches only to be lost forever… Sh*t!.. B*llocks!.. Fook!

Well, that was it for me. I didn’t get any more bites or indications in the last 15 minutes so I don’t think I could have done any more today. I ended up with 22lb 3oz for 4^th in the match and a section win as a consolation. The (controversial) win went to John Dursley with 57lb 14oz. Kev Murch was 2^nd with 48lb 2oz and Julie Taylor (The carp queen) finished in third place with 23lb 4oz. I’m hoping to get back to Windmill Fisheries on Sunday for another go at the Bonanza 1000 qualifier. Dare I say it? I have a cunning plan… keep you posted!  

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