Managed to get out on three occasions up to now for short sessions mainly due to other commitments and the weather. For the temperatures to be sub-zero one day and double figures the next is not conducive to getting bites in the waters I fish (learned the hard way by experience!). So session 1 I opted for the Pondtail as the amount of rain we had received I knew the main lake would be rock hard plus the trek would be very slippery as the sheep had been in the first field. So peg 2 beckoned armed with a 5m whip and maggots and worms plus the ubiquitous wheat I lasted from 9:30 to 11:00 (first and last casts) in the absolutely bitter wind for no bites and no indications on the bait! A great start to the month!
Next session 10th sees me opt for the canal at Rowde armed with the seat-bag, a 5m whip (the cheaper Chinese variety) and the pike rod. I settled on the first space after the lock moorings as there was a long line of boats moored up along the rest of the pound. Interestingly there were a couple from the C&RT that were going along and noting the barge numbers as there is a limit to how long they can moor up in one place (canal traffic wardens!). Starting at 9:40 the sardine went out and received no attention. The whip was slow although there was a decent depth and I used a 1g homemade float to counteract the likely tow when boats went through the lock, although no boats went past while I was there! I lasted until 11:40 having scratched out 3 perch, 2 roach and a skimmer form about 9-10oz. Mistake I made was just to loose feed a pinch of maggots every so often whereas I felt on reflection I should have mixed a bit of groundbait up.
Two days later Friday 12th sees me try High Penn, this time in the south-west corner, a swim I had not tried before. It was a bit muddy, so much so that I put down a cross patch of branches to put my feet on so I didn’t sink into the mud while sitting on the seat-bag.
Sorry about the picture but it was that very fine drizzle that the wife calls wet rain as it seems to get in all the nooks and crannies, especially camera lenses! Anyway I had taken the 15ft waggler set up with a 3AAA homemade insert waggler – sarkandas cane with a 3mm pole float tip, 0.12mm reel line to a 0.1mm hooklength and 20 barbless. Loose feeding maggot at about 20m in 8-9 feet of water I lasted until 11:30 when the wet rain turned to full on rain and with no bites despite trying various combinations of maggots and worm, I settled for a return home.
So what do I want for Christmas? Well world peace would be great but not likely to happen so at a more mundane level some settled weather whether cold or wet I don’t mind as long as we don’t get the fluctuations in temperature that we have been experiencing. Bites would be gratefully received but that is down to me working at getting them, so finally that whoever is mad enough to read these ramblings has a good and healthy Christmas and New Year.
Monday sees me try something different, armed with the seat-bag the pike gear and a 7m Chinese whip I headed off to the other bank and peg 22 (almost opposite 10) where I have seen fish scattering previously. Pike rod went out but on plumbing up with the whip, the expected 5ft of water had become 2.5ft despite the rain we had been having. I surmised that the sluice had been opened a bit too long! Added to the low level it was weedy, clear and very windy. A 1.5g Chinese float with a 0.10mm hook-length to an 18 and maggot ended in 20 rudd and no pike runs for 1-08.
It wasn’t until a week later that I returned, back to peg 10 fishing 10am-12pm. The sardine bait was put out at about 20m and I set the pole up. I had just had a couple of roach in the first couple of drop ins when another member came by and stopped off for a chat before heading to the top field. I had taken my eye off the pike rod to turn towards him when he says your floats gone! My first run of the season, in fact the first for more than a year! The top kit was put down and a strike met with a firm resistance and after a short scrap a 9lber was in the net, at which point chaos ensued- I was out of routine and forgot to pick the rod up when I started to take the pike off the platform to unhook – goodness knows what the guy thought as I must have looked a right numpty. Anyway the pike was safely unhooked and weighed with the net adjustment showing the pike was dead on 9lb. The subsequent photos did not come out well as I think I must have smeared the lens with my wet hands! Anyway there was no more pike action but 18 roach, 16 rudd and 9 littler skimmers kept me busy for a 2-12 total.
Friday sees me back at Bowood peg 10 again 10-12 but this time no pike action although seeing the egret fly past, the kite swoop overhead and the kingfisher catch fish opposite did provide compensation. The pole produced15 roach,11 rudd a perch and a small skimmer for 2-06. It is noticeable that the roach are becoming the dominant catch now rather than the rudd. The perch was also noteworthy, not because it was large but the fact that it was unusually in the 2-3oz bracket whereas the usual size for the main lake is either microscopic (size of my thumb) or over a pound (on rare occasions)!
So last day of the month and I decide to give the Pondtail a go. Well I lasted an hour on the 5m whip, the temp was 3 Celsius on arrival at 9:30 and starting at 9:45 I had not had a sniff by 10:45 despite trying worm and combinations of maggot so I packed up and am writing this instead!
December is around the corner with lots of days taken up with family things but I’m sure I’ll get a few days in!
First outing is on the 4th when I took the Frenzee waggler to the Pondtail peg 1 and had a pleasant couple of hours fishing (9:45 to 11:45) double maggot and just loose feeding a few maggots at intervals. I set the homemade peacock waggler with the bulk around the float , a no. 6 about 2 feet from the hook and a no. 8 about six inches from the 18 hook, the result was 3-06 comprising of 36 roach and 4 perch.
Friday sees me wander down to peg 10 at Bowood, fishing 10-12. The pike rod with sardine went out to no avail and the lighter elastic and winter rig with a homemade body down float taking a bulk of 1g and 2 no 8 droppers to an 18 carried double maggot to start and later worm but no real size of fish came to this even with a bit of chopped work in the initial two balls of groundbait. 17 rudd, a roach, a microscopic perch, a hybrid and a skimmer managed to pull the scales round to 2-03.
Wednesday sees me back at Bowood but I changed plans as there was a car already parked up and I recognised it as an angler that in all likelihood would be on peg 10, no with the lake still holding vast amounts of weed the only peg worth fishing with known clear areas was 10 so I made the decision to leave the sardines in the car and fished the Pondtail on the pole for a change! Fishing 9:30 to 11:30 I started with 2 firmish balls of groundbait with some wheat and then loose fed wheat every few minutes, only topping up the groundbait with a ball every 40 mins or so. The weather was typical November- wet but this time quite warm at 14C. I set up with a lighter elastic than usual teamed with a BGT Blues taking 0.75g to a 0.10mm hooklength and an 18 with double maggot. Shotting was the usual bulk set about 3 feet from the hook with two no.8 droppers. Bites came steadily apart from a couple of blank periods when the flow changed, fifteen roach and two perch took the scales down to 1-10.
Friday was going to be my next outing but waking up to a dark oppressive gloom and rain I took the easy option and decided to write this instead! On the other side of the world Gareth had returned to the commercial he had visited previously- the one where you got money back for every fish you caught!
Fishing a whip he ended up with 3 large tilapia (4-5lb) and a carp fishing the traditional two hook method with a soft paste on the top hook and a firm paste on the bottom hook. All the fish came to the bottom hook with a paste made from the fishery provided pellets he was loose feeding.
One of the tilipia had a tag which apparently made it count as 3 fish – only 100 fish in the whole lake were tagged and of course he had to get one! The most fish caught when he was there was 5 and the lowest 2 so he didn’t do too bad in the four hour session.
A pike from Bowood now becomes a target for the remainder of the month!
With the up coming visit from Clive aka SidestreamBob I thought I had better return to Semington and make sure there was plenty of bank space, so I also took a pair of shears and cut a swim closer to the pump than I fished before but still close enough to Clive’s peg.
Peg duly cut I set up a single rig of a 1g homemade float to 0.14mm Tornado and 0.12mm Tornado hooklength to an 18 fishing the 2+2 line in about 6-7 feet of water. Double maggot was again the bait with two pudding consistency balls of groundbait introduced with a little maggot and chopped worm in it. This is not the typical canal approach but for this particular area it is a basic approach. First put in was 10:15 and by 12:15 I had amassed 28 roach, 28 skimmers, 5 larger skimmers, best being 1-08, 3 perch (best 0-14), 2 gudgeon and a rudd for a total of 8-08. I had lost 3 good fish to hook pulls, two were most likely big perch and one a bream judging by the slime on the line. Perch have bony mouths so a hook pull is always possible and the bream tend to have softer mouths than usual.
Anyway it looked good for Monday. Sunday I nip down to Bowood and set up on peg 10 putting the pike rod out and fishing my usual style. However I fished from 10 to 11 at which point the heavy rain got heavier and there were no signs of any pike activity, further evidenced by no slack periods on the pole – 40 rudd, 4 skimmer and a perch for 2-12.
Monday comes around and the sunny fine day of Friday at Semington is replaced by dull wet weather! Clive and I met up as arranged and I led him along the pounds to the pump and put him on the first peg I had fished as it was flatter and no vegetation in the way while I dropped in to the newly cut one from Friday. I had told Clive pole only as it was an ideal opportunity for him to get used to the pole while getting plenty of bites. To cut a long story short the day went off with intermittent rain and dry spells, Clive lost a good fish to a hook pull, possibly a big perch but did manage to get a perch of 1-04 plus a load of smaller fish for a 4lb total.I had a similar experience losing 3 good fish , landing a perch of 1-12 in a total of 8-07. The pump was active for about 30 minutes during which bites dried up significantly. However, the myth that SidestreamBob can’t catch fish is well and truly smashed after his exploits today and earlier in the season. (You will notice he is far better at taking photos than me!)
The myth breaker
Sunday is the next time I get out and this time I head for peg 10 at Bowood armed with the pike rod and 6m Chinese whip with just the haversack seat. Pike rod went out at 9 and the whip followed ten minutes later. I admit I got fed up with the small rudd, 34 of them by the time I packed up at 11:10 when the rain started again, along with 2 roach and 3 small skimmers for 1-08, not a sign of a pike or any activity.
Undeterred I returned next day to Bowood – to peg 11, yes eleven, armed with the haversack seat, pike rod and waggler. It was a very windy blowing left to right and a cold day. The peg had not been dragged at all and was weedy but I stuck at it and from 9:55 to 11:50 did not see a pike or get a run, but did get 18 rudd on the waggler for 1-10, as you can tell a better stamp than previously but still small.
Last day of the month and a dull very windy start that would turn into wet and windy later! I decided to head for High Penn as there were water mains repairs on the road to Bowood and they were working right by the entrance which made things awkward.I decided to take the haversack seat and just a waggler rod although I opted for a 15′ Filstar Premier Match that is at least 12 years old teamed up with a Kastking Sharky reel with 0.16mm line to a 0.12mm hooklength and size 18 barbless hook. Float was a homemade peacock quill taking 4AAA with 3AAA and a BB locking the float with a number 1 shot about 2 feet from the hook and a number 4 about 9 inches from the hook. Heavy set up but in reality needed in the 10’+ of water at 16m and the heavy wind creating a flow. I fished 9:40 to 11:30 when the heavens opened for a second time but fed sparingly, simply loose feeding 20 or so maggots every time bites slowed after an initial two helpings. The rod needs a bit of explaining as it is not like the ultra slim rods available today, it is noticeably thicker and heavier but has a very nice soft action in the tip which allows you to feel even the smallest fish whilst retaining a lot of backbone further down the rod. I was thinking this gave me the best of both worlds given the number of carp in High Penn.It was bites from the off with 15 perch, 16 rudd and 4 roach coming to hand, nothing bigger than 3oz, for a 2-06 total.
Taken during one of the calmer periods (there weren’t many!)
November awaits, will it bring a pike from Bowood?
The high winds, rain and freezing temperatures have been so far this month limiting me to just two excursions so far. Friday 3rd sees me head to peg 10 at Bowood in bright sunshine but the air temperature was -2C on arrival lifting to 2C just under 3 hours later. The Pondtail was still frozen after the cold days and nights we had been having and there was ice still on the main lake all the way down to just after peg 7. It was very still with a gentle breeze rippling the water at times but fishing from 10am to 12 produced not a single bite or run. Fish were starting to show (silvers and pike) at the edge of the ice around peg 7 which was just about fishable when I left; I should really have chanced it and fished up to the edge of the ice rather than going to the deeper water but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Eleven days then pass before the next visit as a further deep freeze put a firm lid on the lakes and I resolved to let the ice melt and for the temperature to be stable for a couple of days before venturing out.This time I went on peg 9, mainly as there was a couple of pike anglers on the far bank, one of which had his pike float about 20 yards from peg 10. There was still thin ice on the lake up to peg 5 and I was tempted to fish there but knowing that it was only 3-4ft deep did not appeal.
I got a bait in the water by 9:55 and fished until 12. I mixed up one 250ml cup of dry groundbait on the wet side to act as an attractant and fed a single ball with some pinkies. Ten minutes in and the float dipped under and a small roach came to be resident in the keepnet. Just after this the swans swam by and the pike float bobbed almost as if their wake had caused it but I was not convinced. A couple of minutes later the run materialised and the strike resulted in what felt like a decent fish, until it let go- I obviously struck too soon in my haste!
No further runs which was annoying as the water was constantly erupting with small fish evading marauding pike although one of the anglers on the other bank had a pike which from a distance looked to be around the 5-8lb mark from just up from peg 5. I had an interesting time on the pole ending with 3-03 comprised of 33 roach, 20 rudd and 7 skimmers/blades – yes they were small! I did catch a couple on a Chinese honey jelly ball that I had bought, I will try these further as I bought them in a variety of flavours.
NO pictures this time as I did set the video up for the session and the weighing but on playback there was nothing!
Sunday 17th sees me back at peg 10 with no real hopes of catching given everywhere seemed to have turned off due to lack of rain and the subsequent lowering of oxygen levels in the water. To cut a long story short I fished 9-11 in tap water for a second consecutive blank on the main lake although it was warm so did not need to wear my coat.
Two days later I decide to go to the Pondtail as we still had no rain and the temperature had dropped from 10C down to 0C. Set up the 4.5m Chinese whip and rig and loose fed just 4-5 grains of wheat every other cast starting at 9:15 after 10 minutes I had my first roach and the snow started! I lasted until10:15 when it was snowing heavily and I returned the 9 roach and went home to get warm.
Before it snowed heavily!
We then had a ten day block of snow, heavy rain and floods plus my knee was playing up so it was not until Friday 29th that I got out again to peg 10. Now to give this some context Thursday at 8am it was -3C, Friday it was 10C and today it is 14C, no wonder that all wildlife are confused. Peg 10 was coloured, windy and bright sunshine, although the wind was cold. Setting up as normal the pike rod was out at 9:15 and the pole followed at 9:25 after depositing two small balls of groundbait into the coloured water, followed by light loose feeding throughout the session. The time swings around to five past ten and I get the impression of a bite- the float sat literally a mm or two lower, a lift and a one ounce hybrid prevents the three blanks in a row on the main lake! A further half hour passes and I introduce some finely chopped worms (10 to be exact) and try a worm head, this produces another tentative bite after a quarter of an hour, a very slow “runner” to the left which could have been mistaken for tow, a lift finds a small bream of 1-09 coming to the net. That was my lot on the pole – two “bites” two fish.
During the session I had spotted pike come to the surface and take in air, possibly to try and clear any sediment from the coloured water off their gills. Two of these had been to my left about two rods out, one at 12m and the fourth to my right also about two rods out. I had put the pike rod over the left to no avail, but decided to put it over the right hand area while I started packing up the pole. This produced a bob and the float disappearing, a strike was met with heavy resistance and a run before after 5 secs the pike let go! I needed to give it more time before striking! That was my lot and I was home by 12:15.
December arrives on Sunday so I will try again on the main lake!
Friday 1st I head for Bowood fishing on peg 10 9:15 to 12:00.Usual set up but strangely quiet on pike front with mo sign of any chasing of fish or strikes! This inactivity from the pike encouraged the silvers to feed resulting in 42 roach, 13 rudd, 6 skimmers and a perch for a level 5-00, so plenty of action to keep my interest but no fish of note.
Sunday comes around and my knee is playing up so I head with the whips for a couple of hours max on the Pondtail peg 1 which had now been cleared of the undergrowth and was at last fishable. Setting up with the 4.5m Chinese carbon whip and an 18 hook to a 1.4g float I had a pleasant couple of hours if frustrating at time with the fish coming in cycles. 14 roach a gudgeon and a perch for 1-08 came to the walnut sizes balls of groundbait and loose fed wheat, with double maggot doing the business apart from the perch which perversely took double wheat!
Tuesday sees me walk back to peg 10 to find the water was quite clear and started at 9:15, my first and only bite on the pole cam after and hour and twenty minutes – a roach on maggot,. Despite trying chopped worm, wheat, pellet and all combinations of maggot I could not buy a bite so decided to pack the pole up just after 11:30, before doing so I had moved the pike rod right over the pole line. Just as I finished putting the pole away I had a take on the pike rod with line streaming off the open bail arm, striking I was immediately into a heavy fish but slowly managed to subdue it’s runs and managed to christen the new light weight landing net handle I had treated myself to! The scales showed it to be 17lb exactly, so that was my cue to go home!
Wasn’t until the Sunday that I was able to get out again, opting to return to peg 10. To my absolute dismay the water had turned to tap water clarity with the bottom 4m out being visible in 5ft of water!No bites, no runs and no signs of any fish topping or swirling! I packed up at 11:30 with a blank – a rarity for Bowood!
Tuesday sees me fancy a change and I go to Blacklands opting for peg 12 in the shade opposite the toilet block, a choice I was to regret as it was COLD but bright sun on the other banks!I fished 9:40 to 12:50 and had to adapt my approach as i had picked up my canal/silver fish hard case and forgot that the pole cup in my Bowood box that I had taken was the wrong fitment! Matters then got worse as I was intending to fish worm before moving over to a second area that was to be primed with micros, on opening the bag I thought contained micros found it was groundbait which is banned at Blacklands!
I, in the end, opted to fish a number 6 elastic to a homemade chianti style float taking 0.4g in the 6ft of water at 10m, using a hooklength of 0.10mm to an 18 barbless hook. The main problem I could see was that there were leaves everywhere so I had to be careful shipping out and lowering the float into clear water before feeding small pinches of chopped worm via a toss pot at the end of the pole. Anyway as it turned out worm head still works and 20 roach, 12 perch and a solitary skimmer came my way for what I reckoned on 6-08 after counting the ounces of each fish as I went along! The biggest fish was a perch and the skimmer, both 14oz.
Hopefully we will get some rain soon to put the colour back in Bowood.
With my match commitments over until February my attention turns to Bowood. Tuesday 15th October, my late father’s birthday is a day I always try to go fishing if possible as it was he who started me on my fishing journey. Anyway peg 10 was available and I had the lake to myself so setting up the pike rod I realised I only had a few usable sardines left so a visit to Devizes to order some fresh was in order. First cast was 9:15 and I fished until 12, I just managed to get the pole set up and the depth plumbed when the pike float bobs and sets off resulting in a very feisty fish of 7-12 coming to the net eventually.
The pole line was eventually fed with a couple of balls of groundbait with some micros, corn and wheat which produced 16 rudd and 4 roach for 2-08 fishing my lighter set up as previously.After the first pike it was a forty minute wait until the float zipped under for a more sluggish fish of 7-02. A further twenty minutes later I miss a run!!! Recasting leads to another run after ten minutes but this time on striking all hell breaks loose, the clutch screams and a very big pike is on, playing it carefully it breaks surface and if looks a damn sight longer and thicker than the twenties I have had -then disaster, the hook inexplicably pulls!!! I have a coffee to steady myself before recasting and at five to twelve the float goes again with a fish if 8-06, at which point I call it a day with a 26-12 total as the sardines have been seriously depleted.
Next day I went to Devizes and ordered a kilo of sardines ready for my return the following week after a family commitment in Yorkshire. It was a full ten days before I was back on peg 10 – this time it was my birthday! Again fishing 9:15 to 12 with the usual set ups I was greeted after arriving at the peg with rain! The pike were not so active today with a solitary jack of 4-00 but the 28 rudd, 3 roach and 11 little skimmers/blades made the total an acceptable 8-02.
Sunday sees me back at Bowood but peg 10 was taken by someone not fishing for pike, so I decided to give him room and dropped in at peg 8 which is a good 35-40yards away. Setting up as usual but having to adjust the floats with 24 inches less depth it was a very slow start with an hour passing before my first bite, a rudd. I then had a run on the pike rod that resulted in a missed run, casting back to the same spot brought a run after five minutes from a jack of 5-06.
The pole line was slow but introduction of some chopped worm and a worm head as bait saw me end with 14 rudd and a single roach, I also missed a further run in the pike rod while chatting to the guy on peg 10 who had packed up and was on his way back to his car.
Wednesday 30 sees my last chance this month to go so 8:45 to 12:00 was the session – no pike runs whatsoever but I had 5 pike strikes around my pole float- easy to spot as a large plume of bubbles hit the surface as the pike clears its gills following the strike. In between the interruption of the pike I managed 13roach, 17 rudd, 3 skimmers and 3 perch for a level 3-00.
I should explain some of my approaches to pike fishing at Bowood, firstly I own 3 unhooking mats of various descriptions but will not use them at Bowood as I have found that the pike are far more amenable if placed on the soft, springy moss and tend not to thrash about which they seem to do on the unhooking mats so are less likely to damage themselves. My two single hook rigs are home made and are not always pretty to look at but they do work and I lose no more fish than I do with trebles. The bottom hook goes through the underside of the sardine’s mouth and out through the top, while the second goes through the back close to the dorsal fin.
I am going to start this a bit differently! Gareth, my son in China, had a few days off so what does he do- he books a flight to Thailand for the Wednesday, fishing on Thursday and flight back on Friday!. So he gets there with my grandson Zachary on the Wednesday, spends the night in a hotel in Bangkok, gets a pre-booked taxi to the fishing lake on Thursday (the drive is about 40mins and the drivers waits there for him) and gets to his “peg” – a bungalow/chalet on stilts at the edge of the lake and fishes from the verandah/ staging of the bungalow. All tackle and bait provided as are the services of a guide. The lake in question has a reputation of providing customers with 2-3 fish a day with 10 fish being stated as exceptional. The lake is very deep 40+ feet and the method is like a massive bagging waggler/ pellet waggler with paste.The fish are a mixture of Mekong catfish and Siamese carp. Early on he latches in to a fish and gets it in but the guide has to call for help as it is only the largest fish in the lake -an 80kg (approx 176lb) Mekong catfish, it takes three guides to get the fish out of the water!
Now if this wasn’t enough he goes on to land further Mekongs and Siamese of 20, 30, 30, 25, 40, 30, 13 (carp), 35, 30, 30, 30, 35, 40,40, 35,20,30, 20, 20, 25 (carp) all in KG! 21 fish in total plus he lost a further 15 when they went under the stilts of the chalet! He packed up early with still time left on his ticket as he was shattered! Zachary managed to get a Mekong also with the help of the guide!
Back to our reality! Bowood October 2nd peg 10 started with bait in water at 9:20 until 12:00. Pike rod out and the autumn/winter set up on pole- lighter elastic and 0.12mm to a 0.10mm hooklength and 18 hook! Two balls of groundbait with a few micros and corn plus 6 grains of corn introduced and roach appeared after 10 minutes to be rudely interrupted after a further five with the pike float disappearing! A very feisty fight ensued with a pike of 8-08 giving a very good account of itself given its size!
More roach then the rudd took over interspersed with another pike of 7-06 and a third one of about 5-6lb that threw the hooks!. Ended up with 34 rudd and 6 roach for 5-10 making a total of 21-08.
Friday 4th sees me back at peg 10 fishing 9:30 to 12:00 set up the same as last visit but today was a lot harder. 10 roach 1 skimmer and no rudd! I had two runs on the pike rod, both lost with hook pulls. The first I had on for about 5 minutes- a very big fish that was taking line of the clutch – I am a “back winder” and the clutch only comes in to play under extreme pressure. This fish felt as if it was a twenty and a good twenty at that when it broke surface you could see the thickness of its back and length. The second while smaller was also a double again lost after a shorter fight. I changed the trace after this visit!
Two days later back at Bowood but I was a bit later having to do some errands first and found someone on peg 10, so I slotted in on 8 in order to give the other angler plenty of room. Now peg 8 is a good 18 inches to 2ft shallower than 10 but can throw up surprises! Not today though as no runs on the pike rod and my one bite on the pole produced a massive one ounce roach half way through my 10am to 12pm session! The angler on 10 fared little better with just about 10 small fish.
On to Tuesday 8th back on 10 started at 9:30 and packed up at 11 after 11 roach and 6 rudd as at 10:30 the heavens opened and biblical rain fell so heavy I could not see neither my pole float nor my pike float! I got back to the car just as the rain eased in intensity. Returning home things were just about getting clear, so laid things out to dry in garage and went in to find my wife had to catch a couple of parcels from the postman as he couldn’t get close to the door because of the depth of water that was in the dip in front of the door, indeed he had to throw a stone at the door to get her attention. Fortunately the water had dissipated by the time I returned!
The rest of the week has devoted to drying kit and getting ready for the silvers match I was running at Meadowlands near Coventry. I usually only pay sections in my matches as it encourages everyone to keep going as they know they can still pick up even if the area is poor. In the end 16 fished the match with two no shows, fortunately they had paid the peg fee so my costs were covered. Anyway I ended up with the scales for my section on peg 3.
The picture was taken at the end of the match, the start was marked by a short shower! As you can see the peg was in a wooded section and the tree cover above the peg meant I would need to fish the pole only as a waggler or feeder would be catching the various branches. Calling the all in I started by introducing two balls of groundbait with caster and worm at 11m directly in front of me with a pot of wheat introduced to my right at 2 o’clock also at 11m in the ubiquitous 3 feet of water. I had set up just two rigs, the first with a bulk about 8 inches from the 18 hook with a number11 dropper. The other was set up as a strung out on the drop rig. Both rigs were 0.12mm line to 0.10mm hooklength and 18 hooks, the on the drop float was a homemade chianti style taking 0.5g, the bulk rig was a BGT2 in 0.5g
Starting on double maggot a couple of roach appeared but it was slow so single red maggot produced a faster response include one from a tench of approx 3lb, a few skimmers then appeared and after an hour I had clicked 7lb. I then switched to worm head and began to get skimmers when the inevitable blank spell heralded the arrival of carp!
I then had a frustrating remainder of the match hooking carp (two landed 9lb and 6lb, 2 snapped hooklength and 3 hook pulls) or spooking carp – striking at a “bite” to see bow waves shoot from the swim! I ended up weighing in 9-14 made up of the tench 6 skimmers, 7 roach and 2 perch! The section was close with me being 15 oz from picking up an envelope for 2nd in section! The other irritant was the trees were shedding their leaves (being Autumn and all) so at various points we were being rained on by leaves which made shipping out more awkward as you were constantly trying not to hook a leaf!
Section 1 Peg 3 BGT 9-14 4 Martin Paynter 12-01 6 Deal or no deal 8-12 7 Craig Merritt 10-00 9 Pete Hunt 10-13 10 NOT DRAWN
Now after last months lessons I did go back and reread the post from last years match and did try the close in line to no avail, however Darren who was over the other side on 20 won the section and had best weight on the day (27-12) by coming in to the 2+2 line and finding skimmers when he was being carped out on the long line.
No more matches now until next year, so my focus returns to Bowood!
December arrives and as is usual at this time of year time for fishing is limited and often non-existent due to the weather. Anyway I decided to chance my arm at Bowood peg 10 on December 3 following a rise in temperature from -4C the previous day to the balmy heights of 3C. Setting up with a chianti style float on a 0.08mm hooklength to a 20 with spread shotting to investigate all depths – I got nado, zilch, not a sausage or as it is that time of year not even a pig in blanket! HOWEVER, the pike rod saw action having acquired a new batch of sardines with fish of 7-10, 14-04 and 5-08 in a session lasting only 2.5hrs.
The 14-04.
Rain on the Monday meant that on my return to peg 10 on Tuesday I was faced with water that looked like stewed tea and flowing! I did not expect to get any pike and was right! I did surprise myself as ten minutes in the float (a 1g Paster) disappeared and a rather shocked blade of an ounce came swinging in! That was i,t I had started at 9:15 but packed up at 10:50 knowing any further efforts were futile.
Weather and family visits then prevented any further outing until the 15th. I fished from 9:30 to 12:15 and by the time I left the three other anglers who were piking had blanked as I had with the pike. I was surprised to see the water still very coloured with a visibility down to about 3-4 inches despite a fairly dry period, this may have been partly due to the major construction work taking place to repair the bridge into the estate. I persevered with the light rig and size 20 but as usual could only get interest when using double maggot, ending with 12 blades, 6 roach and a rudd for a level 1lb.
Hopefully I will get out a few times before the end of the month but Merry Christmas to anyone who reads this!
wheatnotcasters 