Sunday 20th June 2010.
17 of us turned out for this one, which is reasonable for this little fishery. There are currently 3 golden pegs running with 2 of them capped at £100.00 and the other at about £40.00 odd.
I drew peg 22 and although optimistic I never really believed I had much of a chance, especially when Paul Carpenter told me he'd drawn peg 1 and John Hetherington had drawn 20. Anyway I went about my business setting up 2 margins rigs, an open water paste rig and a method rod for the island. The problem with this peg is that's its on the wrong side really and with 2 of us pegged in this little section and a flat calm surface, the carp were never going to settle. The fish in this lake have grown on well, but they are no longer naive and so take some catching. In fact i saw fish swimming in and out of this area all day and once they saw the nets or a reflection they just bolted off. After the all in I fed my lines and started on the method, but after a blank 15 minutes i had a look on my right margin as i fancied it for a few. one chub was all i could manage on meat, and after another 15 minutes i had a look on the paste line. First put in resulted in decent skimmer which in reality is a bad sign as you really need to get into the carp from the off. After another half an hour and just 1 carp on the paste i had a look on my left hand margin, but strangely didn't even have an indication, so it was back out on the method. This too was proving fruitless and so after a desperate first 3 hours i decided to concentrate solely on the paste line, with a little look in on the margins in the last hour. I decided to cup in some soft micros mixed with ground bait and fished small pieces of paste over the top and for the last 3 hours i caught a steady procession of skimmers and tench. With everybody else going for carp i had one eye on the silver fish pool. By fishing out the feed i kept the skimmer coming along with 5 more carp and finished up with 22lb of silvers and 15lb of carp and took the silvers pools. It was a bit of a frustrating day as i was fired up for the carp but never the less i taught myself a great deal about the peg and this particular area of the lake and it should stand me in good stead for the future. Tony Steele fished an absolute blinder and won with over 90lb on catmeat and paste and i was really chuffed for him, especially as he had been dreading this peg for weeks. Paul came in second from peg 1 with his usual professional display. The golden pegs have rolled over for another fortnight and Nick Gilberts paste floats performed brilliantly again as per usual. Full frame placings can be found by going to http://www.milemeadfisheries.com/
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 6
Thursday 17th June 2010.
1 was to be my peg tonight and with the wind blowing down this end all week i fancied it for a few fish. Problem is i have never fished it before and so went about things lacking in confidence. Peg 1 is in a corner and has an aerator and an over flow outlet for features, as well as a curvaceous reed lined margin. My plan of attack was to fish 13m to the concrete overflow outlet and a paste line at 9m. To cut a long story short i really struggled for the first 2 hours and didn't even have an indication on the paste line. I had missed a few bites on the margin line but felt i was feeding far to positively which had the effect of scaring the fish off. Anyway, i began potting in small amounts of soft micros with paste on the hook and began to catch steadily, missed bites were still a problem and i cursed myself for not bring any corn, as this would have been far more durable. With the carp in residence here i am sure a single grain over micros would have got me more bites as i would not have had to constantly ship in and out with the paste. I caught well in the last hour and finished up with 27lb, but it took me far too long to work out and i finished up well down the list. Still at least I know now what not to do next time. Worse still though, i have slipped to third in the league, now 2 points behind second place. I need a bit of luck now at the draw bag and really need some good results.
1 was to be my peg tonight and with the wind blowing down this end all week i fancied it for a few fish. Problem is i have never fished it before and so went about things lacking in confidence. Peg 1 is in a corner and has an aerator and an over flow outlet for features, as well as a curvaceous reed lined margin. My plan of attack was to fish 13m to the concrete overflow outlet and a paste line at 9m. To cut a long story short i really struggled for the first 2 hours and didn't even have an indication on the paste line. I had missed a few bites on the margin line but felt i was feeding far to positively which had the effect of scaring the fish off. Anyway, i began potting in small amounts of soft micros with paste on the hook and began to catch steadily, missed bites were still a problem and i cursed myself for not bring any corn, as this would have been far more durable. With the carp in residence here i am sure a single grain over micros would have got me more bites as i would not have had to constantly ship in and out with the paste. I caught well in the last hour and finished up with 27lb, but it took me far too long to work out and i finished up well down the list. Still at least I know now what not to do next time. Worse still though, i have slipped to third in the league, now 2 points behind second place. I need a bit of luck now at the draw bag and really need some good results.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 5.
10th June 2010.
Last week was weird but this week was just plain bizarre. I drew peg three again only this time the wind was blowing down my end of the lake and It was also an end peg. Following on from last week i set up 2 paste rigs with different colour tips for just the one line a meter short of because of the wind. On the whistle out i went feeding 8mm and fishing paste over the top. To say is was slow was an understatement, as i only had 2 carp and half a dozen skimmers in the first hour. During the second hour i tried varying my feeding but to now avail as the carp were elusive. By now i was regretting not setting up a margin swim as a back up. I persevered on just the one line and got my head down to get as many skimmers as possible, but liners were a nightmare and a very strong gusting wind made presentation challenging. With half an hour to go I decided to put a walnut size lump of paste on and hey presto, carp first put in. I had a total of 5 carp and 2 big skimmers in that last half an hour and i couldn't put a big enough piece of paste on, the bigger the better. I finished up with 41lb for third again , 21lb of that was skimmers and managed to hold onto 2nd in the league overall. Trouble is, although pretty consistent I am just not doing good enough and need to work on increasing my weights.
Last week was weird but this week was just plain bizarre. I drew peg three again only this time the wind was blowing down my end of the lake and It was also an end peg. Following on from last week i set up 2 paste rigs with different colour tips for just the one line a meter short of because of the wind. On the whistle out i went feeding 8mm and fishing paste over the top. To say is was slow was an understatement, as i only had 2 carp and half a dozen skimmers in the first hour. During the second hour i tried varying my feeding but to now avail as the carp were elusive. By now i was regretting not setting up a margin swim as a back up. I persevered on just the one line and got my head down to get as many skimmers as possible, but liners were a nightmare and a very strong gusting wind made presentation challenging. With half an hour to go I decided to put a walnut size lump of paste on and hey presto, carp first put in. I had a total of 5 carp and 2 big skimmers in that last half an hour and i couldn't put a big enough piece of paste on, the bigger the better. I finished up with 41lb for third again , 21lb of that was skimmers and managed to hold onto 2nd in the league overall. Trouble is, although pretty consistent I am just not doing good enough and need to work on increasing my weights.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 4
Thursday the 3rd June 2010.
What a strange match this turned out to be. The wind had been blowing down the end of the lake all day and by the time we got to our pegs it was very gusty. I drew peg 3 at the wrong end, although it was an end peg and immediately decided on a method feeder approach to the island with a paste line as back up. The paste line was at 11m just past the bottom of the near shelf in about 7 feet of water. On the whistle out went the feeder for 6 minutes without a bite. Second cast and the tip flew around with a decent carp. The problem is that there is a ledge close to the island but it drops of quickly. The wind was making casting difficult and i pretty much wasted the first hour and a half by persevering for 3 fish. First drop in on the pole with paste over 8mm pellets and the float buried with a 5lb munter. I caught steadily for the next 2 hours but never really got going. I ended up with 44lb for fourth but kicked myself for wasting that first hour and a half, and stupidly pulled out of 3 decent fish out of sheer frustration. Top weight was 86 followed by an 83 then a 47 and my 44. I am still second overall, but only just, by 1 point, so i really need to pull my finger out and get my arse in gear. Stupid decision making and a careless attitude has cost me again.
What a strange match this turned out to be. The wind had been blowing down the end of the lake all day and by the time we got to our pegs it was very gusty. I drew peg 3 at the wrong end, although it was an end peg and immediately decided on a method feeder approach to the island with a paste line as back up. The paste line was at 11m just past the bottom of the near shelf in about 7 feet of water. On the whistle out went the feeder for 6 minutes without a bite. Second cast and the tip flew around with a decent carp. The problem is that there is a ledge close to the island but it drops of quickly. The wind was making casting difficult and i pretty much wasted the first hour and a half by persevering for 3 fish. First drop in on the pole with paste over 8mm pellets and the float buried with a 5lb munter. I caught steadily for the next 2 hours but never really got going. I ended up with 44lb for fourth but kicked myself for wasting that first hour and a half, and stupidly pulled out of 3 decent fish out of sheer frustration. Top weight was 86 followed by an 83 then a 47 and my 44. I am still second overall, but only just, by 1 point, so i really need to pull my finger out and get my arse in gear. Stupid decision making and a careless attitude has cost me again.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
Milemead summer series round 3
27Th May 2010.
I felt far better prepared for this round after last weeks lesson. At the draw i pulled out peg 28. To be honest I was a little disappointed, because i just do not really know how to fish this section of the lake. The peg is in a shallow bay end of the lake with an island to the right at at 2 o'clock, but the whole area is very shallow. I plumbed up to fish paste down the channel between me and the island and fed 2 lines just past the bottom of the shelf. I also set up a method feeder rod for the island. On the whistle out went the method for a quick fish, then back inside on the paste. After an hour things were very slow with just about 5lb in the net and i was going knowhere. I began alternating lines trying to sneak a fish from each one and on the paste lines i switched to hair rigged pellet on the deck. This increased my catch rate but i was falling way behind and didn't really know what to do. I had ignored a margin line as there was less than a foot of water and didn't think the fish would settle there. So out of desperation I flicked out the method on the pole line, 5 minutes later the tip flew around with a munter. I continued with this until the whistle and weighed in just short of 30lb for 4th. Whilst packing up i poured some micros into the margin and would you believe it within seconds there were fish everywhere!!
Oh well you live and learn and i think i have a plan for the next time i draw here. My results so far are a second, third and fourth, so i am on a slippery slope and although i remain second overall, i need a good result this week to get back on track. Its the 1's I need!!!
I felt far better prepared for this round after last weeks lesson. At the draw i pulled out peg 28. To be honest I was a little disappointed, because i just do not really know how to fish this section of the lake. The peg is in a shallow bay end of the lake with an island to the right at at 2 o'clock, but the whole area is very shallow. I plumbed up to fish paste down the channel between me and the island and fed 2 lines just past the bottom of the shelf. I also set up a method feeder rod for the island. On the whistle out went the method for a quick fish, then back inside on the paste. After an hour things were very slow with just about 5lb in the net and i was going knowhere. I began alternating lines trying to sneak a fish from each one and on the paste lines i switched to hair rigged pellet on the deck. This increased my catch rate but i was falling way behind and didn't really know what to do. I had ignored a margin line as there was less than a foot of water and didn't think the fish would settle there. So out of desperation I flicked out the method on the pole line, 5 minutes later the tip flew around with a munter. I continued with this until the whistle and weighed in just short of 30lb for 4th. Whilst packing up i poured some micros into the margin and would you believe it within seconds there were fish everywhere!!
Oh well you live and learn and i think i have a plan for the next time i draw here. My results so far are a second, third and fourth, so i am on a slippery slope and although i remain second overall, i need a good result this week to get back on track. Its the 1's I need!!!
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