Sunday, October 6^th – Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm – Just For The Fun Of it

I have 3 reports for you this time round, starting with a silvers-only match at Windmill Fisheries. Then a little friendly knock-up at Whitehouse Farm, followed by a match with the Hobnob gang at Harescombe Fisheries near Stroud.

Thursday, October 3^rd – Windmill Fisheries Carp Lake – Silvers Only Match & The Ups & Downs

So, first, I was involved in a silvers and small carp catch and move match on the Carp Lake at Windmill Fisheries. It was actually a silvers-only match with the intention of moving everything we caught over to the Match Lake, which is definitely wanting in silver fish. Any small carp in the 2-5lb range would also be transferred but none were caught. We had a good turnout for this one with 14 anglers fishing including some of the really well-known names like… er. Well, I know their faces anyway…lol! (Don’t worry I won’t reveal your identities).

I drew peg 11, which meant diddly squat to me as I have never fished this lake before and only had a brief glimpse of it early last year. Next to me on peg 10 was Windmill maestro, Paul ‘Bonanza’ Barnfield, with Kev Winstone on peg 12 (peg 13 wasn’t drawn). So, the weather forecast was good with dry, sunny weather on the cards but would the fish be up for it? Here’s how my day panned out…

I set up a 4.5-metre whip for fishing maggles up in the water to my right-hand side. I also set up a full-depth rig for fishing at 9 metres out in front and also to my left. I had a ready-made-up feeder rod on standby just in case things got desperate. So, long story short. It was a piss-poor performance by yours truly, finishing up with just over 3lbs. In my defence, I struggled to buy bites all over my peg, even on a single maggle offering. What was needed was some big skimbos and a tench or two if you were lucky.

Well done to Mick Gale who managed to find the quality fish, weighing in 16-1-0 for top place. The top 5 rods all had double-figure weights. The highlight of the day was back at the Ring o’ Bells with free drinks and rolls on the management plus some gutsy banter thrown in by the competitors. I always think of the period after a match as being the analysis hour, where we talk about what went right and what went wrong.

However, while John Smith and Jeff Grant discussed the size of Lucy the barmaid’s corned beef baps, me and Barney were left wondering what the bowls of crunchy, curly crisps must have tasted like. We only caught a fleeting glimpse of the 2 large bowls that were laid on the tables before the contents were devoured in seconds. The lowlight of the event was someone walking off with Barney’s landing net handle. Whoever it was… it’s time to give it back please.

Sunday, October 6^th – 4-Angler Knock-Up On Margaret’s Lake, Whitehouse Farm

With no matches to fish this weekend, I decided to go to Whitehouse Farm with Jason Pitman for a silvers-only gig. Julie and Bruce Taylor wanted in on the action too and so we had a 4-way knock-up bunging a quid each into the kitty… winner takes all. I needed to restore some self-esteem after my latest silvers tragedy so this would be just the ticket. In the morning, we decided to fish adjacent pegs to make it fairer. We selected pegs 6,7,8 and 9 and I ended up on peg 8. All the pegs had an island chuck and there was about 18 inches difference in depth between the 4 pegs.

As usual, I set up a feeder rod for fishing maggle feeder toward the island. Chub would be the main quarry, although for some reason they haven’t shown up lately. I also set up a full-depth rig at 10 metres for fishing worm and caster plus a shorter rig at 7 metres over to my left for fishing with 4mm expander pellets. On the all-in, I lobbed out the maggle feeder to within a metre of the island. I had a small roach after 3 chucks, then a skimbo followed by a small perch. If there were any chub present, I’m sure I would have known about it so I only gave it 30 minutes before going onto my short pole line.

I had already fed this line with Scopex groundbait, micros and a few 4mm pellets. I spent another 30 minutes on this line without a single bite. At this stage, it looked like we were all going to be in for a tough day. There had been some pretty heavy rain during the last 24 hours and that was to blame… or at least that’s what we had all agreed on. So it was time to try my 10-metre line. I had already primed this line with chopped worm, casters and some Sonubaits Worm Fishmeal groundbait but at this time I couldn’t see any tell-tale signs that fish were present.

Nevertheless, I dropped my rig in with half a dendra on the hook and waited. After 30 minutes there was still nothing so out went the maggle feeder again. With nothing but a small perch coming to the feeder and nothing on the shorter line with soft pellet, I decided to try and make something happen. I cupped out a large ball of choppie, groundbait and casters to the 10-metre line and put a whole dendra on the hook. Within 10 minutes I had a good skimbo of around 2 lbs. That was more like it.

I attached a large cadpot to the top of my top two and dumped in some feed at every put-in. It wasn’t long before the swim was fizzing like a jacuzzi and I was soon into another big skimbo. In went more feed and out came 2 more quality fish before I lost 2 in a row. After that, it all went a bit quiet so I left the swim alone for 5 minutes while I made a brew. That seemed to work because when I went back out there I had another decent-sized skimbo. In went more feed and once again I was rewarded with a couple more skimbos around the 2-pound mark.

Then in the last 30 minutes, I didn’t get another bite. They had simply moved away and the swim fell silent. On the all-out, it began to rain and fook me did it rain. Needless to say, we all got a bit damp at the end. On the weigh-in, I managed to sneak my way to the top with 14-11-0 of mainly skimbos. The other weights were 7lbs odd, 6lbs odd and 3lbs odd. So I picked up a little extra dosh to go toward my maggle bill for Tuesday’s match at Harescombe. Happy days!

Tuesday, October 8^th – Harescombe Hobnobs Match – Doughnut Lake

These fortnightly matches are run by Tony Cook, who does a great job organising them. He is always looking for a few more bods on the bank, so if anyone is interested just contact him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557420923568

I’ve only ever fished the Doughnut Lake once before and that was on a hobnobs match too, so at least I had a good idea about what to expect. Last time, I drew peg 10 and I fished paste but that was in August when it was warmer. I ended up with 45lbs and a section win on that one. This time, after all the cold rain had gone in I decided I would fish mainly with maggles regardless of where I would be drawn. As it happens, I drew peg 12, which is obviously not a million miles from where I was last time. I must admit I don’t like these middle pegs as there is no cover on the far side but that said there are carp everywhere.

So, I set up a feeder rod with maggle feeder to fish right over. I also set up a 9-metre line for fishing worm on the deck. It was 7 feet deep here and I opted for a 14-16 elastic. The rig for this line consisted of a 0.5-gram (4×16) Chianti style float, 0.15mm Guru N-Guage mainline and a size 16 Guru Kaizen hook to 0.14 hooklength. My only other rig was for fishing short at 5 metres and consisted of a 0.4-gram (4×14) Preston F1 maggle float, 0.15mm Guru N-Guage mainline and a size 18 Guru Super MWG hook to 0.13 hooklength. The shorter swim was 6 feet deep and my elastic choice was a 12-14.

As we were getting set up, I could see a very dark cloud peeping over the hill just opposite me. The wind was beginning to pick up and rain was imminent. So up went the brolly and sure enough the rain had arrived. With the wind in my face and the rain being blown straight at me, my thoughts turned to home and the warm bed I had reluctantly left just a couple of hours earlier.. why… oh why… oh why… do we do this thing? When I pulled myself together, I knew I had to put all thoughts out of my head and fully concentrate on the match… lol! FFS… the RAIN!

On the all-in, I started by cupping out a big ball of choppie and Sonubaits Worm Fishmeal groundbait to the 9-metre line. Then I lobbed out the maggle feeder toward the far bank, stopping about a metre short. I spent the first 30 minutes on this and only had a couple of liners so that was the end of that. Next, I began loose-feeding maggles at 5 metres down to my left-hand side. This allowed me to turn my face away from the prevailing wind and also hold my pole tip just beyond the float for the best possible presentation.

I had brought 4 pints of maggles with me so I could afford to be overly generous with loose feeding, especially as it was only a 5-hour match and we were just coming into the second hour already. So, for the next 15-20 minutes I just kept feeding maggles until finally, I got a tentative bite. I suspected something wasn’t quite right so I added a few more inches to the depth of the rig and then I had a proper bite but lost it. I had been fishing with double maggle on the hook, so I tried fishing with a single red. That did the trick! Carp number one was soon safely netted. It was then just a case of feeding every minute regardless of whether I got a bite or caught a fish.

The fish began to come steadily for about an hour but then everything went a bit quiet. So, I went out onto the 9-metre line and dropped a worm-baited hook over the chopped worm and groundbait. I started getting indications right away but once again I sensed something wasn’t quite right. So, I added a couple more inches to the depth and I went in again. Bingo! I had the best fish of the day at about 4 lbs but it was all too slow on this line. So it was swiftly back onto the maggle line and it all kicked off again. These carp were averaging about 1-2lbs so you really do need a lot of them to make up any decent kind of weight. The expected winning weight today was 60lbs!

Well, I just carried on doing what I was doing and all the time the rain was lashing down on us, bouncing off the surface of the water and I was getting wetter and wetter, colder and colder. To be honest it was fooking horrendous. I’ve never seen rain like it, not even in Ireland. The wind certainly had it in for me that’s for sure by blowing the fooking rain under my fooking brolly and swirling it all around me like a fooking scene from gone with the fooking wind. I kid you not… this was serious rain!

Anyway, I soldiered on, just like everyone else and tried to brave it out till the end. And when the end came, it rained even more FFS! Well, I was really glad when it was all over and even more overjoyed when I learned that I had won the match with 51-7-0. But there was even more weather to contend with… On the way back toward the motorway, many of the country roads were seriously flooded and some motorists obviously considered them impassable, as they were turning back in droves. Thankfully, my 4×4 Landrover Freelander just ‘sailed’ through the 2-3 feet deep puddles. I love my car!

When I finally got onto the motorway it was still hammering down! The sky was black with rain, the roads were awash with rain and some cars were aquaplaning across the carriageways. FFS! It was a nightmare scenario and I could sense a major disaster at any minute. I slowed right down to between 40 and 50 MPH as I couldn’t see much further than 20 yards in front of me. That was one long tense journey home and was I glad to finally pull up outside my house. I don’t need too many more experiences like that FFS… I’m getting too old for this stuff.

Well, my next match, if it goes ahead will be on the Crane stretch of the river at Keynsham with the Kingswood RBL club. What can I say? Keep you posted!

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