Whinwhistle Evening match- 24/6/09

Due to personal commitments I find myself fishing Whinwhistle almost exclusively these days and while I do well there and pick up quite frequently I feel as though my fishing has become a bit stagnant and it is time to go back more to what I used to do. From August onwards I will be able to start travelling further afield and will be fishing bigger opens on a wide range of venues and I must admit I'm looking forward to it. I will continue to fish the remainder of the Summer League but have made the decision not to fish the 2009-10 winter league.

Nonetheless the evening matches are still appealing as it is the only venue I can realisitcally fish of an evening without taking half a day off work. After getting away from work at 4 I made the 15 minute journey home,picked up my gear and the mrs and made it to the fishery at around 4.50 in time for a 5pm draw. This week we were on Keepers Lake, and I really fancied either peg 8,10 or 28. Into the bag I went and out came.....23. Not a peg I would have chosen but I still fancied it for a few fish. After trudging my barrow around and making sure the mrs was comfy I began setting up. (I forgot the camera this week so no pics-bad angling!!)

Peg 23 has an island at 14m but I decided to ignore this as I've never had much success fishing the area in the past. I decided to cover my options and set up 5 top kits. My first plan was to fish for the silvers in close at 3m where I had a good 5ft of water. For this I set up 3 rigs- a deck rig: 4x12 KC Carpa on 0.12- 18 Gama pellet matched to double 5 slip. I also set up two shallow rigs- 4x10 Chiantis on 0.12-18 Drennan eyed barbless and a knotless knot matched to double 4 slip.

I hoped to fish for the silvers for most of the match but knew I had to target a couple of carp swims in case others were catching a few. With the wind pretty strong my first carp line was at just 7m where I had 7ft of water where the slope flattened out. I planned on fishing paste here so set up a Big H 4x12 paste float on 0.18-Tubertini 175 size 5 matched to red vespe bi-core. My 2nd paste rig was for either edge and was on the same line and hook but a 4x10 pattern matched to wilkie orange. For bait I had a pint of caster,some worm,2 pints of hemp and some paste. The all-in was called and I flicked in 30 or so casters at 3m before putting a full pot of hemp and 3 bits pf paste in at 7m. I decided not to feed the margins for the time being. I kicked off on the deck rig at 3m with a small segment of worm and as I followed the rig down the bulk was held up and a small perch was the culprit. A few roach on the way down led me to try the 2ft shallow rig. I was feeding 3 casters every 5-10 seconds and after a couple more fish was soon on the 12 inch-deep rig taking a few roach shallow. I hooked a decent fish that plodded off taking a good 10ft of elastic before the hook pinged back-probably a dog roach. I didn't want to take any chances with the hook so put a new rig on (the trouble with fishing straight through!) and next drop had a decent 10oz roach. There was a decent ripple on the water which I always find beneficial when fishing shallow and I started to get a few. I quickly set up a new top kit with a shallower rig- 6 inches of 0.12 line to an 18 Drennan eyed barbless to double 4 slip. The tiny drennan carp 4 dibber was massively over shotted with a BB shot. First drop the elastic was pulled from the pole and a pristine 12oz roach was soon in the net. They never really got going though and after an hour I decided to rest the line and try the paste. I couldn't see everyone from my peg but from what I could see no-one was catching and I guessed I had 5lb or so in the net.

First drop on the paste and the float had barely settled before burying. The strike was met with thin air but a 1lb+ skimmer came flying from the water. I repeated the process and after 5 minutes or so a 6oz skimmer was soon in the net. I started to feed a pinch of hemp through the pot every put in and soon added another skimmer of some 8oz. It was pretty clear the carp weren't in the peg so I re-fed with a decent pot of hemp and went back in at 3m where I had been constantly feeding 2 or 3 casters every few seconds. First drop on the 12 inch rig saw a 6oz roach followed by a couple of 3oz fish in the next few casts. The lad opposite on peg 18 caught a carp fishing to the pads but it looked quite small at around 3lb or so. Next cast he hooked a fish that tore into the pads and after a lot of pulling for 10 minute's or so everything went solid. A young kid happened to be walking past so he gave the pole to the kid and ran to the lodge to get some gloves to pull for a break. When he came back the kid was playing the fish as it had somehow come out of the snag and after a few minute's another 3lber was in his net. I'm not sure what the rule is on such a thing as I personally thought that you are not allowed to leave the boundaries of your peg or have assistance in playing a fish?

I tried to put such thoughts to the back of my mind and after putting the 35th silver fish in my net it was time to try the paste at 7m. It was now 7.45 so each margin got a full pot of hemp with a few bit's of paste. After 5 minute's at 7m the float vanished and I hit a fish some foot off the bottom. It tore off before the rig pinged back with a big scale on the hook! I didn't swear much....
I dropped straight back in without re-feeding and after less than a minute the float buried and a fish tore off. I knew it was hooked in the mouth and after a few minute's I had a scrappy common in the net that I guessed was around 4lb. Straight back over the same line and after 5 minute's the float yet again buried......I'd be lying to you if I said I was pleased with the 6oz eel hooked in the tail!! With 45 minute's to go I put 1/4 cup of hemp in at 7m and dropped in down the edge to my right. A few silly bite's from bits was not what I was after and the same thing happened down to my left. I decided to feed a full pot of hemp to my right and nothing else to my left as I wanted to see if feeding would put the silvers off or draw more in.

I went back to 7m and a quick bite saw a flying 1.5lb skimmer soon hit the net that was a useful fish. My match fizzled out in the last 30 minute's as both edges were solid with silvers and the 7m line just produced the odd tentative bite. The lad opposite on peg 28 hooked his 3rd carp with 10 minute's to go and netted it a few minute's after the whistle. It looked a good 7lb and deep down I knew it would be enough to beat me.

The scales made their way around the lake and when they got to me 9lb odd was winning from peg 8. My silvers went 9lb exactly and the 4lb 4oz carp gave me a 13lb 4oz total. I guessed I had around 12lb so was pleased with the final total but I knew it would be close as I guessed peg 28 to have 13-14lb. His weight was finally called out at 14lb dead- that dubious fish had cost me the win knocking me into 2nd place. I decided not to say anything as I wasn't sure on the rules and as the lad has only just started out he was made up with the win.

I'm back at Whinwhistle on Sunday for the 4th round of the summer league and as I'm lying in joint first place I'm hoping for a decent draw that will give me a good chance of a high section place.