17th may 2009

Milemead open.
I was pleasantly surprised that Just about 20 of us pitched up for this one including a few of the lads staying at white acres for the Maver pairs. The matches at this cracking little fishery are run very well & they deserve good attendances.

At the draw I was reasonably happy to pull out peg 9. With peg 10 left out, it effectively became an end peg along the straight bank. With Adam Rooney occupying peg 11 & Richie Hull on the flier peg 21, we had our work cut out. Pegs 7, 8 & 11 have beds of Lilly pads directly in front of them, which although hold lots of fish they can be restrictive, limiting options, especially if the wind is strong. Peg 9 however has plenty of open water with the addition of an island chuck approximately 30meters away.

Initially I intended to fish the 2 lines on pole & hair rigged hard pellet. But I also decided to set up a small method feeder to the island as back up for when the pole lines needed a rest. Pole rigs were the ever dependable Drennan carp 5’s in a size 4x14. Just about heavy enough for the depth & conditions. Hooks were the ever reliable Kamazan eyed B911’s with a .14 trace. The feeder was of the Fox mini variety, fished free running on 6lb Daiwa sensor with a 6 inch trace of .16mm, again to a size 16 eyed B911 & hair rigged 6mm pellet. This was fished with my trusty ABU Suveran feeder rod at 11 foot & coupled with the incredible Daiwa procaster reel. I must quickly mention the Daiwa, because for 30 quid you get an exceptional piece of engineering. It is slightly on the heavy/large side, but because it’s primarily a spinning reel, the power & smoothness is incredible. Hook a carp on this thing & you can literally put the rod to one side & reel it in all the way to the net effortlessly. The front drag clutch is reasonable & the line lay is acceptable. All in all it is an exceptional feeder reel that offers unbeatable value for money.


Anyway back to the first job of the day, soaking some micros for the feeder. Ordinarily I like to pre soak the pellets at home to ensure they have the perfect consistency. Too wet & they mush to a paste on the feeder, too dry & they do not bind well enough to resist the cast. But today I would just have to play it by ear. With the pellets out of the way I proceeded to set up the pole rigs & have a good plumb about. I settled on 2 lines, both at 9m, with one at 10 o’clock & the other at 2 o’clock. The depth was the same so I only had to set up 2 rigs. I did however use 10 & 12 latex, just in case.

By the time the whistle went for the all in the wind had become gale force with some torrential rain. I cupped in some micros with a few sixes on the pole lines but to be honest I didn’t fancy the pole at all. So out went the method feeder. I decided to sandwich the hook bait in-between 2 layers of pellets & squeezed them on quite hard in order to withstand a good chuck. Clipping up ensured a degree of accuracy; however the wind was so bad that I had to take it into account & aim to my right & feather the feeder down tight to the island, avoiding an overhanging bush & the vegetation. I caught fairly steadily in the first hour, with six fish. Nothing spectacular, but on a hard day I was pleased. The first half of the second hour was slow however, so I gave the pole lines half an hour. With only a few skimmers for my efforts by lunchtime, it was an easy decision to stick it out on the feeder. With hardly any liners & bites coming slowly it was a case of being patient & waiting for the tip too wrap around as a fish or two came onto that particular line. What was noticeable was that unless I got within a foot or so of the island, bites were even slower. Accuracy became key.

Throughout the next 4 hours I had a little look on the pole lines when the wind allowed, but more out of curiosity than anything else. Because I hadn’t really been able to feed them as I would have liked, I didn’t have much of a touch. Each time I tried, the wind would cause problems. So after it was pretty much an uneventfull match, apart from swapping the B911 for a Fox series 2 after the B911 opened out on a lump. At the whistle I had stuck it out on the method for +-30 fish including some skimmers & roach for just over 50lb & third. First was Ben Wright with a very good 70lb+ on the pole from a sheltered spot, so I was quite a bit of the pace. However it was an enjoyable afternoons fishing.