So the guys had invited me to another match at Watergate
Farm and I was looking forward to trying to improve on my result last time, the
breakfast went down better this time and I managed to have a good chat with
some of the old guard that I have not seen for a while. I drew peg 10 and this was next to where I
had fished last time.
My plan was to set up a feeder rod in case the wind
picked up so that I could still fish across, I also set up a pellet rig to fish
across and found a nice spot at the join of my 14.5m section and the dolly butt,
so that was sorted. I also plumbed up
two short lines left and right but due to the make up of the bottom they were probably
three meters from the bank left and right so I didn't put in a margin line.
Bait for the day was to be expanders, 4mm, 2mm pellet as
feed and at the last moment I also pulled some corn and hemp out of the
bag. At the all in I fed both of my
short lines and then went across on the pellet rig, after about 20 minutes I still
had nothing to show in the net but I was getting frustrated with liners due to
the depth, it was three and a half feet deep so to try and alleviate the liner
problem I sent out the feeder.
I had three carp in three casts and then again liners
started to become an issue, so I decided to reduce the size of my feeder to the
smallest Guru Pellet feeder. This alas
didn’t have the desired affect and the liners continued so it was time for a
quick look short. Fish were being caught
all over the lake, although John to my left was struggling on the peg I had
been sat on last time, he was still beating me at this point though.
The inside line was not good and I was struggling with my
expanders that I had made the night before, I had decided to try something new,
I have since decided that if it isn’t broke don’t fix it! I started to feed a bit of corn on the left
hand side and put a quarter of a big pot on the right hand side before going
across again on pellet to see if I could start to string some fish together,
the quick answer is no and it seemed as though the fish were up in the water as
I foul hooked a couple well off the deck.
Frustrated I got off my box and had a quick think, I was
going to try shallow with pellet but stopped myself just before I started to
thrash pellet into the swim, the plan changed to dobbing bread so the guru Bait
board was fetched and a dobbing rig put on the end of the top kit. I shipped a 6mm punch across the lake and had
to wait all of 30 seconds before carp number 1 was on his way to the keep net. I had a really good run over the next hour
with a number of fish responding to the bread, I ended up catching the biggest
fish 18 inches off the bottom, which was an eye opener. When the fish dried up
in my first spot then a move along the bank to the right saw another handful of
fish into the net but it was getting hard.
I rested it by having a look short but again this was slow, so I fed the
right hand side with another small hit of bait and then went back over on bread
for another couple of fish. Even though the
wind was becoming troublesome I should have got off my ass at this point and
put another section on the end of the pole to go left and chase the fish that
way, my new toy was standing up really well in the wind so it would have been
an option.
I came for another look short as the bite had dried up
across again, this time I decided to try and make something happen, so I was
toss potting corn on both lines and fishing for indications and the right hand
side started to respond. It was not hectic
but I was getting quick runs of 2-3 fish all on corn so I changed my elastic to
something a bit beefier and started to get my head down on both lines. The right side was far better, I may have
been getting better presentation as it was up wind, not sure but time started
to fly and I was starting to think that I might be able to claw something
back. Unfortunately, the fish dried up
again and for another half an hour I was left searching for fish on all my
lines, I managed another one across and then with about half an hour left to go
I had another run of fish off the right hand short line.
The all out was called and I had no real idea about how
much I had caught, I had managed a few fish but they had come in spells so
there are never as many as you think when that happens, as it turned out I had
74lb which was enough to beat left and right, but the match had been won with
joint weights of 142lb! With a 115lb
third the rest of us had no chance but it had been a nice February day with
plenty of fish in the onion sack, thanks again to the guys who ran it as I enjoy
those small matches at this time of year.
Looking ahead I am off to Shearwater again this week and
then a couple of days on the canal before I need to start fisho prep.
What would I do different?
The conditions leading up to today should have told me to
go softly, softly, I ignored that and although I don’t believe the peg was
worth 140lb I may have done a ton.
I shouldn’t have been lazy and I should have got the 16m
section on when I lost the dobbing fish.
I need to start clicking my fish so I can get used to
counting the fish/ weight in my keepnets.
Tackle used:
Feeder:
Rod: Drennan Series 7 10ft carp feeder.
Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012
Line: 8lb Sensor to 0.16mm hooklength
Hook: 16 QM1
Feeder: mini 24g Guru Hybrid feeder then a micro 24g Guru
Pellet feeder both inline.
Pole Long pellet:
Elastic: Pink Vespe
Line: 0.15mm to 0.10mm Cenex
Hook: 16 B911 F1
Float: 0.3g AS5
Pole short:
Elastic: Double No. 5 slip – changed to Blue Colmic later
Line: 0.15mm N Gage to 0.12mm Cenex
Hook: 16 B911 F1
Float: 0.4g AS5
Pole Dobbing:
Elastic: Pink Vespe
Line: 0.15mm to 0.12mm Cenex
Hook: 16 B911
Float: 0.3g AS4
