Five days past before I return to Bowood peg 7, more in hope rather than any thing else! The weather was still variable with sunny spells dotted among gloom, typical November I suppose!

Views from peg 7.

Any way peg 7 was tackled with the usual pike rod set out to about 20m and slightly to right of centre while the pole line was at 10 metres with a 1g Paster float but this time with a soft set Chinese hollow elastic of 1.6mm (about a 6-8 in our terms) to provide me with a bit of oomph if the tench showed but still okay for the small fish. With the water being very coloured still I cupped out three balls of groundbait with micros and wheat – no corn this time. I had white maggots with casters that had turned from them, 2mm and 4mm expander and wheat.The small fish were in a feeding mood but when I say small I mean tiny, some were dropping out as they were just holding on to the maggot! After about an hour or so the pike float didn’t go under but started “drifting” towards me, a quick ship back with the pole and picking the rod up I struck and felt a solid connection which initially kept very low and plodded before waking up and eventually coming to the net at 8-05.

That was the only pike action, fishing 9:15 to 12:30 saw me finish with 13 roach, 20 rudd, a gudgeon (a rarity for the main lake), 2 blades and 2 small perch for the princely total of 1-08. Like I said they were small!

Wednesday sees me back on 7, why 7 you ask when your favourite is 10? Well the weather has not been kind but it has been warm and I don’t think the fish have moved down to the deeper water yet. This session was a little later starting 9:45 to 12:45 and there was no sign of pike action anywhere. I decided to do something different and fished mainly expander on the same rig as previously ending with 16 roach, 4 roach and a blade for 1-09 which should have been more as I managed to be lazy and tried to swing in a roach of 6oz and didn’t learn my lesson and did the same with a skimmer later on!

Friday arrives and I decide to have a rest and see what Blacklands is fishing like. If it was okay I had in mind seeing if I could hold a match there in the future. I paid my peg fee at reception and went to peg 3 which was not where I thought it was! I had assumed from the map in reception that it was on far side of the bench whereas it was on the the toilet block side. More of a worry was the amount of leaves on the surface of the water, I managed to clear some with my landing net but it was still awkward at the start although the breeze picked up and drew a lot down to the left of me, but I was still left with a lot. The peg would have been difficult to fish with a rod!. I set up to fish at 7m in about 6 feet of water but rather than do my usual tactic of starting two swims, one with worm the other with micros, I opted for just starting on worm and feeding micros over the top due to the leaves. I had taken a mish mash of tackle- my match pole and the canal style matchbox seat but had forgotten to put in the cup to go with the cupping kit, so I improvised and had to use a toss pot!

I had tackled up with a home made float on 0.14mm line to 0.12mm hooklength and a 16 but after a biteless hour on worm and expander I decided I needed to take the advice I had given to sidestreambob and make some changes, namely the hooklength was changed to a 0.10mm and 20 hook. The expander was put on and I got out a bite to eat expecting a wait but within a couple of minutes the float slowly went under and a strike saw a skimmer of 1-06 come to the net so small changes can make a difference! I carried on and ended up with 9 roach and further skimmers of 0-14, 1-00 and 0-13 all bar one on expander for a total of between 5 and 5.5lb. I had started at 9:30 and ended at 12:50 as the wind had changed direction and was starting to move the carpet of leaves back in my direction.

Wednesday and Thursday were to be taken up with domestic duties so Tuesday 28th was the last chance in November, so with the turn in the weather I headed off to peg10 at Bowood. I was short of useable sardines so for a change put out a smelt of roughly the right size to about 13m. On the pole line I opted for a home made chianti style taking 0.4g and set the bulk about three feet from the hook with a number 8 and a number 10 dropper about a foot apart as the water was a lot clearer and I know from past experience that a slow sinking bait is better in these conditions even if it attracts the smaller fish. Only one ball of groundbait was introduced with a pinch of 2mm expanders and wheat and at 8:45 I settled back with double white maggot.

I didn’t have to wait long, indeed the first six put ins saw me put 5 small skimmers/blades in the net along with a tiny roach. It was good to see the skimmers as it showed the bream are still breeding for the future. After about forty minutes the pike float bobbed a few times before disappearing, a strike produced a short but spirited fight from a jack of 4-12 with a weal on it’s back where it had been attacked by something. That however was the end of the pike rod action but I did hook a pike on the pole, I am presuming it was a pike as it was a classic slow sinking with the strike producing a solid weight as if the bottom was hooked, the “bottom” then moves slowly off before realising it is hooked and starts making a run – then the hook pulls! I ended that last session at 11:45 on the pole with 21 rudd, 6 roach and 13 skimmers/blades for 2-08; some of the rudd and all bar two of the roach were very small – 3 or 4 to the ounce!

December calls but Wednesday I pick up a kilo of sardines from the fishmonger in Devizes that I can bag up in pairs and store in the freezer for future pike visits!

The weather just keeps getting worse with storm after storm turning the ground into an over full sponge and the water chocolate, despite this I decided to brave the weather on Friday 3rd and take the long trek up to the Stock Pond. I was shocked by the amount of sponginess in even the areas of thick grass with water oozing up under foot, this partly explained the full nature of the main lake and it’s horrible colour. Given the long trek I had opted to go light and took just a feeder rod and the whips along with the haversack seat, net bag and collapsible bait bucket. Setting up on the first peg I put a cage feeder loaded with groundbait, caster and chopped worm and a piece of worm tipped with caster off to the far right at an angle of 45 degrees, safe that as there are only two pegs, that was my water to fish anyway!

I set up a 6m Chinese whip with a no 2 “orange” float on 0.12mm line and a 0.10mm hook-length to an 18 and double maggot. I adjusted the shotting so the olivette was set about 3 feet from the hook with 3 no 9 droppers in the 6 feet or so of water which was not at all a bad colour and still was fairly clear. It took a little while to start to get bites and after 20 minutes I wound the feeder in to recast only to find a lip-hooked roach on the end. Anyway I had one more roach on the feeder, this time a bite I saw and struck at plus 51 roach on the whip to give me a total of 3-01 for my 2 and a half hour session. No photo as although I thought I took one there was nothing on the phone when I got back!

The following Tuesday I decided to try the main lake and I had a sneaky suspicion that the earlier pegs may fish as although the weather had been wet and wild it was fairly warm, to this end I parked myself on peg 7 for a session from 9:15 to 12:45. I was not particularly hopeful of getting pike but put the customary sardine out about 20m and set up the pole. The water level had dropped about 12 inches looking at the tide mark on the platform legs so I guess they had opened the sluice gate at the far end of the lake to relieve the pressure of all the additional water. I put in two balls of groundbait with just a pinch of micros and wheat and 4 or 5 kernels of corn and settled back to wait but it was not long before the float went under and a firm strike saw a decent amount of the number 4 elastic come out with what felt a good fish at the end, I slowly managed to coax it close in , unshipped and reached for the net when the hook pulled out! There was no slime on the line but I was sure it was one of the big old bream from the way it fought. I was beginning to regret going into “winter mode” with my elastic!

No further bites on the pole line but after 20 minutes the pike float (ie my pellet waggler) disappeared and a firm strike saw a good bend in the rod as a feisty 9-04 pike came to the net. This mollified my angst over the elastic choice to some extent as I had not been that hopeful of getting any pike.

Another sardine was sent out this time a bit closer at 15m and I returned to the pole getting a small roach almost immediately then nothing! An hour went by and the pole had produced one further roach (it was hard!) when the pike float skated off, this time I’ll let you see what happened!

Back to the pole and two further roach before I thought the pike float moved slowly to one side against the tow for a couple of inches. Bringing the pole in, I picked up the pike rod and waited, again the float hardly moved but there was a definite dip, this continued for a couple of minutes before the float disappeared and winding down the strike provided a strong response and another pike of 12-04 ended up on the bank! For a day that started with little hope of pike this was proving to be a good session!

Last cast of the day on the pole the elastic curse struck again with a strong fish hooked and lots of elastic out, slowly but surely I managed to get it closer in and saw it was a tench around the 5lb mark, getting the net in position spooked the tench which went on another run, again got it back in and almost in the net before it made a last gasp dash for the margin weed on my right where it managed to wrap itself around several stalks and although it was on for a couple of minutes in the weed I could not extract it and eventually it came off! I made the walk back to the car elated by the pike but frustrated by the two fish lost on the pole – that’s fishing I suppose!

Weather and various commitments saw me delay my return until the 13th just before storm Debi hit the following day. The wind was already very strong with severe gusts and I was questioning my sanity as the water was chocolate again and towing, the ground under foot was bad and the short 60m section between the car park field and the first pegs was churned up and the muddy track full of water six inches deep. The fishing did not get my mood any better, I learnt from the previous visit and had changed to a slightly stronger elastic more like a 6-8 but one roach and a bream of 1-07 were my only two proper bites, proper because I hit a bite as the float slid under and hit a good fish which turned out to be a good tench of around 6lb+ that was foul hooked in the tail. As you can imagine this led me a merry dance and it did a first for me as it went under the platform and snagged in the weeds behind me! I was not a happy bunny as I walked back to the car through the quagmire with just the two fish landed.

Wednesday saw me decide to leave Bowood for a bit as more rain only was likely to make it worse, the river was a non-starter so I headed for the K&A canal at Horton with the club exchange ticket in my pocket and the whips in tow! I managed to park up okay between the boaters’ cars and chose a peg with no boat opposite just passed the end of the slope. I set up a 4.5m Chinese whip but with a home made “Greenie” taking 6 no 8 and 3 no 11, 0.12mm main line to 0.10mm hook-length to an 18. Now Gareth had opened my eyes to fishing bigger baits so it was double maggot bait with two nuggets of groundbait to kick start and a pinch of micros and some of the casters from the maggots as loose feed every few minutes.

The day itself was sunny but sitting down on the peg I didn’t get any and with the wind I was freezing which told me it was time to get the winter clothes out! Anyway 6 boats (one was both directions), 4 cups of coffee and two hours of fishing saw me with 9 roach, 8 perch, 2 small skimmers and a rudd for 2-05.

It would have been a pleasant session if not for the cold. Still here is hoping the weather calms down a bit for the rest of the month.