With the glorious weather we've been having these past few days I had no hesitation in booking in for the mid-week evening match at Whinwhistle. I managed to get away from work at 4 and after heading home to pick up my gear (and the mrs!) I pulled into the fishery gate's at around 4.50pm. The weather was boiling with temperatures of 32 degrees and bright sunshine. The match was to be held on 'The Square'- the first lake you pass on driving into the fishery. The lake used to be connected to 'The Islands' until it was separated last Autumn with the use of boulders in wire cages. The lake was then netted and all carp removed with the idea being that it would be a good silver fish water. Come 5pm and we were ready for the draw. I wasn't really that fussed where I drew as it's a pretty fair lake and I would fish pretty much the same way on every peg. My hand went into the bag and out came peg 20. It always used to be the best peg on the lake as it had a good edge to the left that always held carp. I had heard rumours that a few carp where still in the lake so I fancied it for a few. The last evening match on there was won with 14lb which is a pretty good weight....until I found out it also included a 10lb carp!!
I was just leaving the lodge when the call of 'RE-DRAW' rang out. There had been a mix up with the pegs so it was time to do it again. This time I came out with peg 23- opposite 20. I've never known it be pegged in a match so wasn't sure what to make of it. Upon arriving at the lake it was clear that somebody had left the back door open...there were carp cruising everywhere!! I had always done well on The Square fishing pellet very light for the 4-6oz skimmers. After seeing the amount of fish near the surface I decided to change my approach and target the better fish (that weren't supposed to be in there!) After setting down my box and making sure my girlfriend was comfy it was decision time. I wasn't sure that the fish basking would be interested in feeding so decided to cover my options. Firstly I would fish meat at 5m at an angle of 10 o'clock. My 2nd line would be straight out at 13m where I hoped I might get a few shallow. My final line would be down the edge to my right at 7m where there was a bit of grass hanging into the water. My 5m deck rig was a 4x12 KC Chimp on 0.16-0.14 and a 16 B911. It was shotted with a bulk of no:10's and a single dropper and matched to yellow Drennan Bungee. The Square is a very flat lake with depths of around four feet. At 13m it was only around 3 inches deepr than at 5m. This was perfect as I could use the same rig on both line's- just touching bottom at 13m and 3 inches overdepth for the meat line. I always prefer to fish pellet just touching and meat just over so the rig was absolutely perfect for both line's. I also set up two shallow rigs- Malman MTD1 dibbers on 0.14-16 Drennan eyed barbless with a band on a hair. One was set at 12 inches and one at 2ft- both were matched to yellow Drennan Bungee. Finally I set up my edge rig. I had around 3ft of water a metre or so from the bank- just on the edge of the grass that was hanging down. For this line I set up a 4x10 Scone GAZE on 0.16 to size 2 Tubertini 175. This was shotted with a bulk of 10's and matched to red vespe bi-core. For bait I had a tin of 6mm meat,a tin of corn,some damp 4mm pellets and some hookers.
On Sunday I found that the fish didn't want bait dumped in, and pinging small amounts regularly was far more effective. With this in mind I decided that I wouldn't feed any bait with the pole pot,preferring to either feed by hand or catapult. The all-in was called and I flicked 6 pieces of meat in at 5m, the same down the edge with a pinch of corn and started to fire pellet out at 13m. I dropped in at 5m with a single cube of meat and followed the rig down. No bite's were forthcoming so I flicked another 3 pieces in and dragged the rig slightly to the right. This did the trick as the float buried and an 8oz skimmer was soon in the net. I flicked another 3 pieces of meat out and again waited for a bite. I repeated the process of slowly dragging the rig and as soon as the float settled it dipped and a gentle lift was met with solid resistance. The fish slowly moved out of the peg as I flicked in another 3 cubes of meat.
A few minute's later I slipped the net under a pristine 6lb ghost carp- Nice! I then threw another pinch of meat and corn down the edge,followed by 3 more bits of meat at 5m. All the while I had also been constantly pinging 4mm pellet out to 13m. I stayed on the 5m line for the another 30 minute's taking a few small skimmers but as nobody else was catching I was happy to be topping up the net.
With 45 minute's of the match gone I felt it was time to rest the 5m line and try out long where I had been feeding every two minute or so. First drop on a 4mm expander saw a 2oz bottle-top skimmer. With better fish about I decided to slip on a grain of corn. As soon as the float settled it kept on going and a flying 2lb skimmer was soon in the net.
A few smaller skimmers long were followed by a couple of missed bite's prompting me to pick up the shallow rig. This just saw the bait being ragged by the bit's so I came off the long line but kept feeding it. Back at 5m and two missed bite saw me spread the bulk out as I felt there were one or two fish off the bottom. As I followed the bait down I had a bite and a gentle lift saw a proper bream come flying out of the water! It was soon safely in the net and at a good 4lb it was a nice bonus. No more bite's on the near line saw me back out long where I had a quck run of four 12oz-1lb skimmers.
With an hour to go I guess I must have had around 18lb in the net and nobody else had really caught except Andy Franks on Peg 17 who had caught a few skimmers. I had been regualrly feeding the edge with small amounts of bait every 5-10 minute's and it was now time to give it a go.
I layed the rig in with a single grain of corn and after around 30 seconds the float buried and a carp was on. As the fish swam out of the peg I threw in around 10 cubes of meat and 3 grains of corn.
After 5 minute's or so I netted a carp of around 6lb and flicked a few more pieces of meat down the edge. I repeated the process and again after around 30 seconds the float vanished and another 6lb carp was soon in the net. Whilst playing the fish I flicked a bit more meat down the edge as they seemed to be responding to the regular feed.
At this stage I decided to feed a new line at 13m down the edge to my left. I wanted to see if the fish would respond to potting the bait in so fed a full pot of corn,meat and pellet. All the while I was still feeding my 5m line as I wasn't sure if the edge would dry up. After 5 biteless minute's down to the right I fed a small handfull of meat and then swang around to the long edge line to my left. No bite's had me back on the right hand line and after a few seconds the float vanished and another carp was on.
This fish was again a good 6lb and I was starting to put a decent weight together. I was now into a rhythm of feed,lay rig in,hook fish,feed,net fish,feed.....
What was particularly pleasing was that I hadn't missed a bite or foul-hooked a fish- every fish was square in the top lip. I dropped back in and again took a similar sized fish straight away and repeated the routine-netting the fish a few minute's later. Next drop in saw no signs so I fed another small amount of meat and a few bits of corn before swinging around to my left at 13m. One missed bite was all I had to show so it was back down to my right with 15 minute's to go. As soon as the bait hit the deck the float buried and another carp was on.
After netting the fish (again around 6lb) I dropped back in and immediately hooked another. After safely adding another 6lb to the keepnet I checked my watchand saw there was just 5 minute's left. Time for one more? YOU BET!! After a bit more feed the float dipped followed by the familiar sight of elastic pouring from the pole. After 5 seconds or so the rig pinged back! Even though I knew I had comfortably won the match I was still annoyed (that's the competitive streak in me!) I dropped back in with just two minute's remaining and as the clock ticked down the float vanished with just 30 seconds remaining. Another carp was on and my final 6lb was added to the net some 5 minute's after the whistle- a beautiful fighting fit common.
The all-out was called and I reflected on the match. It was one of those days where everything went to plan. I lost just one fish and caught from all 3 of my line's. I began packing away and when the scales got to me Andy Franks was winning with 22lb from peg 17. It was clear I had more than that and with my silvers going 11lb odd and my seven carp going 42lb odd (I told you they were all around 6lb!) I had a total of 53lb 8oz. I was even more pleased to find that this was a new venue record beating the previous best of 49lb that had stood for 4 or 5 years- and that was from a 5 hour match! I was even more pleased when I was reminded that the previous record holder was my old mate Andy Shanks....a quick phone call was soon in order!!
After packing away I headed to the lodge to collect my winnings and savour a well earned cup of tea. I was pleased with my decision to loosefeed as opposed to cupping in as it was clearly the right approach on the day. Other anglers that cupped in either caught very little or foul-hooked a single fish. By spreading the feed out a bit and regularly having bait hitting the water meant that by the time I went down the edge the fish were lined up. I think too often anglers simply pot bait in without giving it much thought as it's what they always do. Some days it is the right thing to do but on many occasions spreading things out a bit is far more effective.
The one small thought niggling away was should I have gone down earlier? It's hard to say as I could have gone down half an hour earlier and taken a quick fish but then spooked them out of the peg. By the time I went down at 8pm they had thrown caution to the wind and were feeding confidently,meaning I took 6 fish in the last hour.
On the drive home my girlfirend asked is it always that easy?! She has now sat behind me three times and I've had two firsts and a second....she's adamant that she's my lucky charm!!
1 comment:
You always were lucky...2 end peg draws in one match...typical!
Well done mate!
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