A combination of family visits and weather means there has only been one trip so far this month, indeed as I write this I should be out fishing but when I got up and got ready I was greeted with “surely you are not going in this lot” – looking out of the window I finally see that the rain is hammering down and so I relented and went to get changed !

Anyway the one trip I did manage to make was mid-week to the South Cerney Wick Water complex as the first Summer League match was scheduled on Gilmans and Stait lakes. Talking to the other team members there seemed to be an agreement that Stait was the potential fly in the ointment as it was extremely peggy and some areas seemed devoid of carp which made up the bulk of the weights. I had decided to try one of the very poor pegs to see if I could work out a tactic to at least get mediocre points if we were drawn in it, however that plan went by the wayside as on getting my day ticket I was told there was a match on it! So Gilmans it was!

I decided to opt for the first peg on the lakeside bank as it had no island to fish to but had some reeds in the corner. Plumbing up I found it to be fairly shallow at about 4 foot deep and was fairly consistent once you got beyond the first shelf which was about 3 foot and exstended just beyond the 2+2 mark. I set up two rigs, the first to fish at 10m with a home made rugby ball float with bulk set at two feet and three droppers to a 0.10mm hooklength to an 18. The second was a 0.4g homemade rounded diamond with the bulk at mid depth and two droppers to an 18 with similar line. The more observant will notice I have a keepnet in the water and another ready by my box – I was not that optimistic! The rule is that tench and bream go in one net, silvers in another, I was told in the tackle shop that it would be highly unlikely that I would see any carp! I had opted to forego my normal Bowood kit and instead go with my match kit as it was to be a practice, although I left the rods at home as I wanted to concentrate on the pole.

As you might guess from the photos, there was a wind coming left to right, however this increased significantly during my session, to the extent that I could not keep the pole still at 10m and was forced to go on the 2+2 line. I began by cupping in two small balls of crushed expander with some wheat and maggots and loose fed both the lines every five minutes with a pinch of maggots and wheat. It took 15minutes for my first bite and I missed it! Next put in the float disappeared after a few minutes and the first “fish”, a micoscopic perch saved a blank having taken a liking to the double maggot offering. The session continued in a similar vein, if I could hold the float still I would get a bite, sometimes from a perch but interspersed with rudd, the biggest of whish was about 10-12oz and required the net! Once I was forced to go on the close line, the situation did not change with perch and rudd featuring with the addition of a solitary roach. After three hours I had 21 perch, 15 rudd and the solitary roach for 3-4lb when the rain arrived in tandem with the wind, at this point I decided to cut my losses and go home.

The end of the month will see me at Woodland View near Droitwich for a 3 day MFSReborn festival which I am running (for my sins) so hopefully I may have some fish to talk about!