On a roll.....

Whinwhistle Summer League- 5/7/09

Sunday saw the 5th round of the summer series at Whinwhistle. After four matches I was top of the league but only two points ahead of Andy Shanks who was hot on my heels in second place. There is then a big gap to 3rd place so it's looking very much like it will be a two-horse race. Arriving at the venue at around 7.45 I quickly demolished a breakfast before paying my pools and getting ready for the draw. We were to be on Keepers lake this week which is generally quite fair although there are one or two pegs that are far more likely to hold a few carp. I dipped my lucky left hand into the draw-bag and out came peg 24.....a flier!! It is one of the pegs that usually holds carp as it had a large bed of lillies straight out at 14m with a fair bit of open water to the right. The only trouble is it can be a bit of a tackle graveyard as most people lose fish in the pads. Andy drew it last time and lost 5 carp shallow in the pads before catching 3 on the deck in the last 30 minute's to win the lake with 14lb odd. He was placed on peg 6 this time which has a very decent margin to fish and I knew he would get points from there.

As soon as I drew the peg I made the decision to fish 'proper gear', as I wanted to give myself the best chance of landing everything I hooked- far too often people fish too light to features only to get smashed to pieces and then wonder why. Commercials hold a good colour through the summer months and I personally don't feel line diameter make's that much difference-always better to err slightly on the heavy side when fishing to features. Therefore the first two rigs I set up were for fishing against the pads at 14m. The first rig was a 4x12 scone Jubleez on 0.22 to a size 3 Tubertini 175. This was shotted with a small bulk of 10's and one dropper, set to fish 3 inches over-depth in four feet of water. The second rig was for fishing shallow- a 4x10 Scone AM wellardz on 0.22 to a size 16 Fox Series 2 with a band on a hair. Both rigs were set to red J-Range elastic (beastie stuff!). As it was a league match I couldn't rely entirely on the carp so also planned to fish for the silvers at 3m. I set 3 rigs for here- a 4x12 KC Porth on 0.12- 18 Gama pellet matched to double 5 and two shallow rigs- 4x10 Chiantis on 0.12- 18 Drennan eyed barbless matched to double 4 slip. As I had a bit of room to my right I also set up an edge rig at 8m. There were a lot of cabbages under the water in close and the only clear spot I could find was around 5m out- not ideal but atleast it was clear and flat. The rig for this line was a 4x10 Scone GAZE on 0.18- size 3 Tubertini 175 and Wilkie Orange elastic. Finally I set up a pellet waggler rod as there were one or two carp cruising about down to my right. Standard set-up: 11ft carbonactive,Daiwa 2503CU with 3lb Maxima,0.18 trace to a size 20 Fox Series 2 with a band on a hair. For bait I had two tins of 6mm meat,a tin of corn,some 6mm pellets,a pint of caster and some worm.

The all in was called at 10am and everyone began potting bait into their swims. I've been doing well lately by loose-feeding as oppsed to potting in so catapulted 3 bits of meat to the pads and went out with a single piece of corn. After feeding another 3 pieces of meat and lifting the rig the float buried and a lift was met with solid resistance. By shipping back quickly the fish was in open water before it knew what was going on and a minute later I had a 5lb common in the net while everyone else was still potting in- nice! I then fired another 3 pieces of meat out and repeated the process. After 2 minute's or so the float buried and again I lifted into resistance. This clearly wasn't a carp but the 2lb skimmer that was soon in the net was very welcome! I quickly fed some caster at 5m and around 10 cubes of meat to my right before catapulting another 3 pieces to the pads. I shipped back out and after around 5 minute's the float dipped before disapearing and again a lift was met with firm resistance. The fish sat there for a second or so in which time I had a few metres of pole behind me and had the fish in open water. Three or four minute's later a scrappy 6lb common was in the net. 10lb is always my target weight at Whinwhistle for good points,with 15lb usually needed to win. I was now 15 minute's into the match with around 13lb in the net- not a bad start!

The next 30 minute's saw a few missed bite's and a few small skimmers. Although I was using pretty crude gear the big hook meant I wasn't bumping the skimmers and had a couple of 1lb+ fish and a few smaller 6-8oz fish. I was happy to be adding weight to the net although I was suprised I hadn't had any more carp after 2 hours. I noticed a few carp swirling down to my right and had been pinging the odd pellet down there. A quick look on the caster-line yielded a few small perch but they weren't really worth fishing for. I decided to continuously feed 3 or 4 casters on this line hoping to get some of the better roach shallow. I had a quick try with shallow meat to the pads but only managed a few suicidal rudd. I was reluctant to spend too long shallow as that is how most people lose fish in the peg whereas I had hooked two on the deck and got them both out without any fuss. As I had been regularly pinging meat to the pads I decided to give the 14m line a rest and have a look on the pellet wag to my right. It was hard work as there wasn't a breath of wind but after continous casting and feeding I eventually hooked one as the waggler splashed down but frustratingly the hook pulled after around 20 seconds. Something didn't feel right and I suspect the line had caught over the carps back. With 2 hours remaining I decided to try the method feeder as there were clearly a few fish down there. It was already set-up in my ready-rod bag so I quickly dampened some micro's and attached a new hooklength (0.18-Fox series 2:20 with a spike on a hair).

The first cast down to my right was biteless as I was on the phone to Andy Shanks finding out how the top end was fishing- not well by all accounts! After re-casting I didn't even have time to put the rod in the rest as a carp took the 8mm white boilie within seconds. A few minute's later and a nice 7lb common was in the net. No more fish showed on the line so it was time to try the caster line where I had been religiously feeding 2 or 3 casters every few seconds. First drop in and the double 4 slip was streaming out of the pole as a 12oz roach hooked itself. Second drop in and I had a rudd of some 10oz followed by a few dumpy roach. Although it wasn't fast and furious I was happy to be adding more weight to the net.

I had completely rested the 14m line as I felt the constant feeding of meat had brought too many small skimmers into the peg. I shipped out with a single grain of corn and was pleased to see the float sit there for a few minute's without being knocked around. After 5 minute's I catapulted 3 or 4 cubes of meat out and lifted the rig a foot or so out of the water. Within a few seconds of settling the float buried and another carp was on. With little fuss it was soon in the net at around 4lb and the rest had clearly worked. No more bite's were forthcoming so I fed another small amount of meat before dropping in down the edge where I had been feeding small amounts every 20 minute's or so throughout. After 5 biteless minute's I decided to sack this line and spend the remaining 40 minute's fishing to the pads. I added a few more skimmers for around 2-3lb but unfortunately no more carp when the all-out was called at 3pm.

From what I could see it had fished hard for most and I was pretty sure I had done OK. My silvers net went 9lb 8oz before my four carp went 21lb odd giving me a 32lb 4oz total. I followed the scales round and it had fished harder than I thought with most people weighing around 7 or 8lb. Phil Timms on peg 14 put 15lb something on the scales which was enough for 2nd place until we got to Andy. His 2 carp and a few silvers went 16lb something which was eventually enough for second. It transpired that he had a carp jump out of his keepnet so it would have been a bit harsh if he had been ounced into 3rd!

So all in all an enjoyable day and I doubled the weight of 2nd place which can't be bad can it! I felt I fished a tidy match as I didn't lose any fish to the pads and caught off a couple of line's. I could have done with Andy dropping a few points but that's something I can't influence- I can't do anymore than winning on the day. Another advantage was topping up the weight difference between us which now stands at around 40lb- quite significant at Whinwhistle as there's every chance it will come down to weight between us.

I seem to be on a bit of a roll lately where everything goes to plan and I'm winning matches quite comfortably. I think alot of this is down to feeding. I have been feeding small amounts of bait regularly as opposed to dumping it in and it certainly hasn't done any harm. I've had 117lb of fish in the last 3 matches at Whinwhistle which is almost unprecedented and I feel sure alot of that is down to the feeding. I'm hoping to get back there for the Wednesday evening match- let's hope the run continues!