As predicted last month, Halloween saw me sneak a last visit to peg 12 before November drew in.  As befits that day things were a bit weird, we had what the wife calls “wet rain” – a very fine drizzle that seems to permeate every nook and cranny, leaving you wet without you realising what is going on; fishing was okay with 21 roach, all small for 1-2 and a pike of 11-8 on the sardine but I lost 2 further pike with them not being hooked properly and also I had changed to a 5 elastic on the pole so hit two large fish which I suspect were tench and lost both with the hook pulling for no real reason!

November arrives and it is not until the middle of the next week I can get out again to peg 12. The rain that had been causing chaos elsewhere had abated slightly so I had a relatively dry day, but the water was heavily coloured with a lot of dead weed that had been dislodged by the strong influx of water that was flowing like a slow river through the lake.I had a run first 10minutes on the sardine that turned out to be a fish of 8-2, which I considered a bonus given the state of the water and this was accompanied by 16 small roach and 3 equally small rudd for 13oz, not brilliant but better than a blank. No sign of any better fish -typical as I had reverted to a heavier hollow set loose just in case!

It was almost a week before I ventured out again and was back almost as soon I had left as the road down to the lake was shut as they were doing repairs. I phone call to the estate office produced an apology and the permission to drive through the now closed public entrance and through the estate to the lodge where I could park.  Still miffed I waited until the next day to go, my usual 3 minute journey now taking 15mins. Water was still very coloured and I kept hoping that the bream would show, as in the past these have been the ideal conditions for them. Peg 12 was not the place for the bream though as after 3 roach in the first 3 put ins I had to scratch hard to end up with 15 roach a rudd and a perch for a pound. I did however get a pike  of 8-9 and lost 3 others which may explain the reticence of the other fish to feed. That week-end saw me back to 12 on the Sunday following very heavy rain over night and a bitterly cold day. I was not too hopeful but after 5 roach on the pole I hit a good fish which I suspected was a pike and after a tense fight I was proved right with an 8-4 fish coming to the net. The pole produced 30 roach, 4 rudd and a perch for 1-6 but the sardine produced a very lively fish of 12-2 and an hour later produced another fish which was a good double which threw the hook just out of netting range (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr).

Two days later back at peg 12 the small fish fed better which explained my getting one solitary run on the sardine which I subsequently missed (on the phone to Herbie, our MFS Leader, at the time). The session ended with me netting 50 roach 3 rudd and a perch for 2-12.

I took some time off then to prepare for round one of the Winter League at Port Talbot Docks. Meeting up with traveling partner Darren Edgell we made good time and arrived at the cafe for the draw a little after 7:30. We were hoping for a draw in the areas we had previously fished but I ended up on peg 4 (rarely fished from what we could see) and Darren drew better on peg 11 where I had fished in our first open venture.

The view from peg 4 – note the calm conditions- very unusual!-, my home for the day. I had not fished this area before and set up a feeder (hoping I would not need it), 4m and 5m whips just tripping the boulders in 11ft+, plus an 8m margin pole to hand in the 15 feet of water. On the all in I put 10 balls of heavy groundbait on my 8m line and a small ball on the 5m whip line and started there on double maggot. I had expected a bite within a couple of minutes and when I still had nothing after 20 minutes realised I was in trouble! I did not want to go over the 8m line but did so for 5 minutes just to check and again nothing, so out went the feeder to 20m. Slow was an understatement and I finished the first hour on 5 roach, having lost a skimmer on the way in and no real interest in the worm or maggot baits I had tried. My hand reached for the five metre whip and in the next hour I managed to put 30 fish in the net which by the Dock standards is slow going! On the two hour mark I gave the 8m line a try and had a couple of roach but again it was slow so back to the whip and the third hour finished with 29 fish including a skimmer of about 12oz that was taken by a pike on the way in and subsequently released. The fourth hour was sheer frustration as I hooked a further three skimmers, each taken and released by pike between the roach, which had the effect of killing the swim for 10 minutes after each attack, the hour ended with 18 fish. The final hour was a carbon copy of the fourth and despite trying the 8m line it was not as productive as the whip line, 2 further pike attacked skimmers in the net and a total of 20 fish in the last hour saw me with a total of 102 fish and a weight of 13-2. Not a good start to the league but fortunately only the best 4 placings count and for the next match I will be in the more productive lower section of the dock.
The results
Peg 3 18 01
Peg 4 13 02
Peg6 22 06
Peg7 18 07
Peg 8 24 06
Peg10 13 04
Peg11 18 03 (Darren)
Peg12 6 05
Peg13 26 11
Peg14 32 12
Peg15 13 11
Peg16 22 10
Peg18 10 09
Peg19 7 12
Peg20 22 01
Peg21 28 07

Tuesday saw me head out to Bowood, light drizzle when I arrived and putting on my bib and brace and boots I suddenly realised I had left the pike rod at home! I couldn’t be bothered to undress and drive back so I decided on a change and fished Pondtail peg 1.

A small ball of groundbait was introduced at 10m in 8ft of water with me loose feeding casters, left over from the weekend, over the top. After a slow start my no 5 elastic started to get some action and I ended the 3 hour session with 76 roach (biggest 13oz), 2 gudgeon, 4 perch and two hybrids of 1-8 and 1-10 for a 10-8 total. Pleasing in the sense it kept me busy and stopped me moping about forgetting the pike rod!

The last Friday of the month saw me at Bowood 12 rather than at the Black Friday sales. This time I had remembered the pike rod! A slow but steady approach was called for as the weather had got cold and there was still a lot of water emptying into the lake. A single ball of heavy groundbait was introduced with the remnants of the casters being fed over the top. I find I can keep caster for over a week in fairly good nick if I save them in a blue freezer bag rather than a clear one. A steady start saw roach and rudd come steadily to the net before I hit a better fish, which given its heavy head thumping suggested a tench and true to form a tinca of 2-10 turned up in the net.

More fish followed before I had a run on the sardine that I managed to hit but half way in there was a large clunking sound and the reel suddenly had the spool rotating while I was trying to wind! I eventually managed to coax the fish in to the waiting net, a pike of 8-12. The reel was knackered- a cheap Shakespeare Omni that had been abused for a good few years- on subsequent dismantling of the reel at home, various bits of metal fell out after having sheared off!

I continued with the pole and after a while hit another good fish, this time a tench of 4-8. Why do some people think tench won’t feed once autumn arrives? The session ended with 43 roach and 17rudd which went 2-15. A nice session to end the month.

December brings the Peatmoor Pike Cup and rounds 2 and 3 of the Docks winter series.