River Colne, 15-7-12

I’ve written a number of blog entries that start in much the same way, typically “and now for something different” etc. This session is somewhat similar. I set myself a target this year of fishing at least 4 new venues, partly to force myself away from the same old waters and partly to get away from the same old pole gear, and, maybe, to catch something a little different.

Although, by some standards, I don’t have a brilliant list of personal bests, they are not bad. I don’t tend to want to put significant time into hunting specimens, but I’ve picked up some nice fish along the way. I have, I suspect, lost some big fish too, by not fishing for them on suitable gear, but this comes along with the territory. 

Anyway, enough of this background, and on with some fishing. And, by the way, if you think the preceding diatribe was in some way a set up to tell you I’ve caught a whopper, it is not. Sorry about that.

Sunday 15^th July was forecasted to be a nice day. Given the recent mixed to wet weather, this seemed like a good opportunity for me to nip out for a few hours on the bank. With it being Fishomania weekend, I did want to catch some television as well, so a short session to use some leftover maggots seemed like a good idea.

I’m fortunate to live near the Colne Valley, (the one down south with the big fish reputation) and membership of the local club affords me access to a number of stretches. I decided to have a go at one these that I’d not fished before. In fact I’d not even seen in. I had, however seen a few catch reports, and a few match results and this suggested that there were a few silver fish to be caught. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t catch many roach on purpose these days. A combination of commercials and cormorants has seen to that. But the chance to catch a few by design always catches my attention.

I’d had a quick run through my gear the day before, this is my light travelling gear, and I had the remains of some maggots from a few weeks back to use as bait. These were not ideal, but they’d do for an hour or two. I had my usual light gear – one day I’ll run through this and for once I took my small chair, just in case I ended up on the feeder.

Anyway, ten minutes or so after leaving the house I was parked up and ready to go. There was one other car there already, but with 20 plus pegs this didn’t worry me. Wellies on, it had been raining a bit for the last three months, in case you hadn’t noticed, and it was over the stile and along the path. At this point, it struck me that I should have popped in one day to check out the venue (I drive past regularly), but actually, faced with the mud, I’d probably made the right call.

The first peg I came to looked sock on for trotting, nice glide on a bend, no obvious weed and decent access to the water’s edge. I decided that fishing the first peg was not the best idea though – what else might be up there? So I decided to head up towards the far end where I believe there was a weir.

I wandered up the stretch and looked at the pegs on offer. Most were weeded, overhung and offered difficult access, but you have to have a good look on your first visit don’t you? After a fair walk I found the other angler in residence, setting up heavy for barbel, the path was narrow, muddy and a bit tight overhead. This mostly ruled out fishing a few pegs in short stints. I was advised by the other angler that the weir was difficult to fish and the first peg was probably the best for trotting, he was right. I checked out the weir, on another day it might be quite good fishing, but the current flow rate was not an attractive proposition, so I started to wander back to peg 1 and hope that it was still empty. There was good news in that respect.

So happy that I’d had a good look around, I settle for a bit of trotting and set up. A 4 no 4 stick float fitted the bill, shotted short-button style with no 6s, fished on 3lb line to a 0.10mm hooklength and size 18 barbless hook seemed about right, trotted through on my 14ft match rod with the very soft action. I flicked in a few maggot as I set up, the river was only about 30 feet wide at this point (if that) so loose feeding was easy. There was about 3 feet of water out there, a few bits of weed in places, but all-in-all it felt fairly comfortable.

I started running through along the far side, just inside the weedy overhang, and then the float would cross towards the near side on the bend and towards and overhanging branch about 15m downstream. This overhang was perfectly placed so that however I fished I’d always send up with the rig or line caught in it. It was very annoying, and unreachable. But, I still had a decent clear trot until that point. 

The straight ahead line

The trotting run around the bend

Five runs through and absolutely nothing. I was starting to get a little worried. Had the cormorants wreaked there awful havoc down here as well?

Sixth run down and as the float started to drift towards the inside it sank. I struck, there was resistance. It wasn’t a big fish, but it tried to dive in the weeds on both banks. But a little constant pressure and a nice perch surfaced, maybe 6 ounces on a good day. That was a result – blank avoided. (I don’t blank often, but I hate it when I do).

Next run through and in mid-stream I got another bite, but this time a 3 ounce dace was the culprit. Nice. Maybe the steady feeding at the head of the swim was starting to pay dividends.

Next run through and a bite in a similar location. But this time a roach of about 4 ounces. This was very rewarding, as roach are a rare sight in the river. Now wall that was left was to see if it had a few friends.

I plugged away at the swim, a little bit of loosefeed, some targeted casting and more fish followed. And thankfully they were almost entirely roach. In fact after about an hour’s fishing I was up to nearly 15 fish. It was never frenetic. A couple of quick fish, then a lull; sometimes in mid-stream, sometimes on the near side by the overhang. 

Typical Colne roach for the session

Occasionally, I’d get the float to run past the overhang, and this did produce one perch, but more often than not I’d have to pull the line out sharpish, and this was not ideal.

I tried a few changes. Bulking the shot (since most of the bites were near the bottom) didn’t speed things up at all, deeper, shallower, holding back. They all got the odd fish, but nothing got me a bite a cast (I suspect a little more bait and a catapult for tighter grouping would have given me more options), but fish came in slowly, as the gaps between bites was getting longer.

Towards the end I picked up a couple of fish at the head of the swim. Just when I thought I’d relocated the shoal, these disappeared as well… maybe it’s just the kind of venue where you can’t catch in the same way all day. I dunno.

Soon the little hand started to point towards the 10 on my watch and I knew it was time to go. A two and a half hour session had produced a nice selection of fish. Nothing huge, but with my best bag of river roach for quite some years, I went home a happy man.

Catch:

20 roach

1 dace

3 perch

1 bleak

Total weight: 5lb

Small Victories - 1st July 2012

I'm all for adding a little variety to my fishing - it's all too easy to fish the same venues in the same way and, frankly, catch the same sort of fish. Now I'm not saying I don't like bashing out a big bag of match carp on the pole, because I do, but from time to time it's nice to mix it up a bit and remind yourself that there's more to fishing than just one thing. 

So, with two hours to myself early on Sunday morning I decided to do just that. Something a little different. 

Armed with a pint of maggots and my usual traveling light gear, I decided to dig out my 5 metre whip (something I don't think I've used for 5 years or more) and head to one of the lesser fished waters of my local club. 

It's an unusual water - a few years back there was a major fish kill (caused by icing over I believe) and now it's an intimate little pond with no more than 10 pegs, complete with plenty of weed and a few surprises. However, it is rarely fished and this was only my second visit. 

I quickly set up on one of the deeper pegs and found 3ft of water and weed at 10 metres out. So I shortened the whip down one section to find the a spot where the weed had been cleared. So that was the plan, a 0.3g float on 0.13mm line to a 0.10mm hooklength and size 20 hook, set just 12 inches shorter than the whip. 

A few maggots had been fed during the set-up and I got to work. First cast, bite, 3oz rudd. 

Stamp rudd - lovely clean colours

Second cast, bite, crucian carp. And so it went on. 

How can you not be delighted to catch a crucian like this?

In the first hour it was mainly rudd varying from 1oz to 3oz, a few crucians and a couple of tench. All delicious baby fish up to 3 or 4 oz mostly, immaculate condition and starving hungry for maggots. 

Tench like little bars of soap

After an hour the rudd seemed to back off and I started to put a regular run of crucians and tench together, the size didn't get any better, but it was great fun to fish and catch such miniature beauties. I had to wait a little longer for bites, but frankly I didn't care - it was a great way to spend a few hours. 

Eventually I managed to hook one of the resident carp - all 4oz of it - but this was the only example that appeared in the session (my previous visit had produced many more), but you cant complain. 

My only carp of the session

So after 2 hours it was time to go. 75 fish for about 8lb, but more importantly, a really enjoyable session. 

I don't know when I'll go back, but it made a really nice change to do something a little different. 

Catch list:

Rudd - 39

Tench - 20

Crucian carp - 15

Common Carp - 1

Total weight - 8lb

Local river 17-6-12

I have a love-hate relationship with my local river stretch – there are some fabulous specimens in there, but not much else. However, there are a few pegs where trotted maggot can produce, so this was my tactical choice for a few hours early on Sunday morning. I give each of my favoured pegs a bit of time and then move on – it's a nice way to spend a few hours.

I arrived at the venue at 6am and wandered down to the one of the bottom pegs – it's usually good for a few bites. A quick look showed the water level was up a good few inches and still tanking through. This was a bit of a shame as there is a gravel bar about 12 ft out that you can stand on in wellies to trot the far side, but with the extra water there was no way to reach it without waders. So I did the best that I could from the bank.

A 4BB stick float was paired with 0.10mm line and an 18 hook so I could attack with a single maggot. First swing in and the float landed short of the main run, however as I swung the rig back in it contained a ravenous minnow. Not a bad sign, there are some in the stretch, and some days this is all that shows.

A few runs through and I was starting to get the presentation I wanted, just tripping bottom and in and out of the fastest run. Towards the end of the run the float dipped, I struck and what I initially thought was a snag started coming upstream. A fairly long and difficult fight ensued, whilst flashes of flank showed I have hooked a small-ish barbel, landing it was a struggle. Although I had the fish beaten, getting it into the bank and towards the landing net was a game and a half. Overhanging trees, the gravel bank and a fish that kept reviving and heading back into the flow did not help. However, after far too long I waded down stream a little and found a slightly better spot, managed to get the fish above the net and finally landed (but managing the wrap the line around an overhead branch straight afterwards).

I spent a little while admiring my prize – 3lb of immaculate barbel – which still had plenty of fight in it. Duly weighed and photographed it recovered almost immediately and made off back into the river.

Try as I might, only two more minnows showed in the peg (it's normally much better), so I moved on upstream to some other favoured spots.

The 'inside' line swim, which is normally good for a few chublets and dace produced nothing.

The pub swim, where I normally blank, produced a minnow and then a bite and a half. Whatever it was weighed heavy and headed straight for the upstream snag, I did my best to arrest it's progress, but it was stronger than my hooklength and we parted company.

Next peg, 'the waterwheel', nothing.

Next peg, 'the ski hut', nothing. (Although I did see the back of a large fish tight to the nearside bank).

Next peg, '17', nothing.

Next peg, 'the confluence', nothing.

Last peg, 'above the weir', nothing.

At this point it was time to go home. One nice barbel, one good fish lost and a nice start to Father's day. Job done. 

Catch list:

  Barbel - 1

  Minnow – 3

Total weight 3lb

Sheephouse Farm, Maidenhead, 17th May 2012

And now for something completely different. (I'm sure I've heard that before somewhere).

Having had a trawl through a few websites, I came across a fishing venue site called spotfish. I plugged in my postcode and it suggested a few venues. Most of these I knew about, but one of the closest was new to me – Sheephouse Farm in Maidenhead. So, for a change I decided to give it a go, if I'm not careful I end up fishing the same venues, so I like to mix things up for a change and the attraction of fishing a tench lake sounded like an interesting diversion.

I arrived at the venue at 7am. Paid up (£7.50 for one rod) and wandered down to the lake with my usual pile of gear. I chatted to one of the regulars who advised I didn't need to go too far out, and that corn was the in bait at the moment. The things that struck me straight away were:

1. what a lovely peaceful place
2. how clear the water was (I could see at least 6 foot down)
3. how quickly it dropped off (it was 6 foot down just a few yards out)
4. how big the lake was – about 6 acres
5. the nice features on the far side that screamed tench (maybe next time)

I set up on a nice concrete peg with a view to fishing two pole lines. 11 metres straight out, and 11 metres to the left at the bottom of the slope (about 3 metres from the bank). I potted in a few 4mm pellets and had a go at plumbing up.

I had a suitable rig for the inside line (7ft deep) but I had to knock up a new one for the main line as it was about 12ft deep out there. A quick 0.8g float set-up to 0.12 line and a 16 hook and I was in business. 

Deep, clear water near the bank

 

I started with double red maggot - thought this might give me problems with the smaller fish, but you have to start somewhere. 20 minutes dead ahead and absolutely nothing. So I tried the left hand line. 

 

Five minutes later and the float moved a little, and 30 seconds later it dipped sharply. I struck and yards of no.12 elastic shot out. Contact. A spirited fight later and I started to see a tench coming up through the clear water – it was an amazing sight to see the fish coming up towards the surface (makes such a change from heavily coloured waters). Before I knew it, there was 4lb of tench in the landing net. 

 

I re-fed both lines (trying to concentrate the feed) with a few pellets plus a pinch of corn and red maggot and went back to the left hand line. 10 minutes later and a repeat performance. A lovely tench in clear water was just about to come into netting range when the hook pulled out. Not ideal, but not a disaster – if I could keep catching tench like this I didn't care.

I switched around a bit at this point. Tried the other line (nothing), and on a trip back to the left hand line I had another bite and another good tug on the elastic, but again the hook pulled. So I stepped up to a 14 hook. At this point another angler turned up to my left (about 20 metres away), although he was relatively quiet, he did bang some banksticks in and chuck out a few leads... and I never did get another bite on this line.

I persevered with the straight ahead line, and a bite on maggot produced a tench of 4lb 4oz, before losing another. I tried corn (nothing) back to maggot (small perch) and big pellet (nothing) but the fish were clearly moving around rather than settling, and the breeze that had picked up was hampering both feeding and presentation. 

 

The perch were tiny, but not so numerous as to be a real pain, and one switch back to corn produced another tench of 4lb 8oz. Try as a might for the next two hours, all I could manage was a few small perch. The few other anglers about had taken the odd fish too, but even they had dried up as we approach midday.

I tried a few more tricks, but only perch resulted.

At about 13:30 I called it quits. This is a very interesting venue and one I would like to crack – I can see how some folks could catch well over a dozen fish in a session on the right day. Great scenery, quiet venue, red kites overhead and well away from the usual carp-waters (although there are some big grass carp present). I will be back at some point.

Catch list:

Tench - 3

Perch – 10

Total weight 13lb

Three Island Lake, Stewkley, 10th May 2012

Having been frustrated somewhat with the poor weather of late, at the first signs of a dry day I decided to try and catch a fish or two.

Target today was a new venue that I'd found on the internet ages ago and always meant to have a go at. So Three Island Lake at Stewkley (near Leighton Buzzard) was the destination. Information was a little sketchy (bar that on fisheries.co.uk) but it sounded like a semi-prolific little commercial lake on a farm. Different to my usual haunts, so what the heck.

Arriving a few minutes after 7am, I paid the £8 day ticket and headed to the car park to find three other guys unloading carp gear. It was very wet underfoot, and the path to the lake was underwater, but the weather appeared to have broken, but there was a strong breeze blowing down the length of the lake. The three guys had set up opposite the islands with method feeder-type gear, so I headed towards the far end of the lake where the wind was less telling. This was not necessarily a great idea if the fish followed the wind, but if the rain came back, it might give me half a chance.

The lake is roughly oval, about 2 acres with about 30 pegs quite close together. The pegs are wooden construction, uneven, about 2 ft higher than the water level and absolutely lethal when wet (I set up extremely carefully). There are three islands on the lake, well set in the middle at 25-30m from the bank - well out of pole range, so I was happy to be fishing into open water with a little shelter. 

View down the lake

 

Opening gambit was 11mm expander and 11 metres over 4mm feed where I had about 4ft of water. This is my standard carp approach, if that doesn’t work I can go lighter / smaller, but if it works it deters the smaller fish that can be a problem on some venues.

After 20 minutes it wasn't working. I'd had a few knocks, but that was it. I was just pondering a switch to 6mm pellet when the float went under properly. A quick strike, firm resistance, and a 4lb common was in the landing net. Back out, same result but 2lb. Back out, bite 4lb common. This was starting to look promising. Bites were not instant, but there were fish present. Then, a baby common, maybe 6oz at a push. Then a quiet spell. Then a few more fish. 

5lb Common Carp

 

An hour in and I was pushing 25lb – which would be 40lb an hour if I'd caught in the opening 20 minutes.

I potted in some more pellets which killed the swim for 10 minutes. However, bubbles started to appear signalling the fish were back. Bites and fish continued to flow, mostly commons in the 3-5lb bracket, but the odd pasty that went 3 to the pound, but there were plenty of slow periods mixed in. 

 

What was noticeable were the swirls on the surface. Every time I hooked a good fish, another 3 would swirl, so there were clearly good fish up in the water too. I would try for them later.

I tried a few different things to try and improve the catch rate. Smaller pellet (no bites), shallow rig (one baby common), changing the feed pattern (nothing). Maybe it's just the time of year (given how cold and wet it's been lately).

One of the smaller carp

The fish kept ticking over, without ever really going crazy and after a little over 3 hours I was up to 70lb or so. The carp were typically 4lb, but a few smaller and larger examples to 6lb had showed. It was starting to slow down again, so I potted in some more pellets and fed a margin line as well and rested all the lined for 5 minutes while I made and received a few important phone calls.

Nothing really then happened for the next hour or so. A few smaller carp. The odd weigher, the odd foul hooker lost (from line bites). But whatever I tried, it didn't produce.

I plodded on. A few fish, but I never sussed it out. Shallow didn't really work (it was too windy to feed and fish properly) and when I did manage to have a go it produced two rudd and a baby carp. The margin briefly produced more baby carp. So I fed the main line heavy (two pots of pellets) and rested both lines for a few minutes while I grabbed some lunch and a few photos.

Eventually the 11 metre line started to bubble and a few bites developed. Not as fast as before, but steady. By 2pm I'd broken the 100lb barrier as the rain returned with a vengeance and by 2:30pm I'd made 110lb. At this point I decided to call it a day and go home – it's a fair drive and I really didn't want my gear getting any wetter than it already was.

Overall it's an interesting venue. I'm sure on the right day, if you can get the fish going, especially if you can catch shallow, you could put a really good weight together (at least 250lb). But today was not that day.

Catch list:

Common Carp – 40

Mirror Carp – 2

Rudd – 2

Total weight 110lb

Dead Boddies

Boddingtons, Byfield, 13-04-2012

Feeling the need to hit the bank and burn some petrol, I decided that a trip to Boddingtons would be suitable. On the way up the M40 there was some early signs of frost and quite a lot of fog, but the forecast suggested it would be a nice day, with minimal wind so I ploughed on.

I made my usual stop at MacDonalds drive thru in Banbury and arrived at the fishery just before 7am to be the second car in the car park and to see a reading of just 1 degree on the car's temp gauge. This could be more difficult than I expected.

I dragged the gear to the top of the ramp (is it me or does this get steeper every time?) and had a quick look at the lake. It was, as I'd been informed, higher than last year. All the pegs had water in front of them with the water a couple of steps down from the second platform. I'd been recommended pegs 5-7 on the dam, so I headed off and settled on peg 7.

I set the box up on the steps to get close to the water, it was ok, but felt and looked somewhat precarious. I had visions of an early (and cold bath), but thankfully this didn't occur, but during the day I did wobble once or twice. On balance I should have sat back a couple of feet and gone with the safer option, but hey, you have to try these things. 

Precarious spacing on the steps - note the middle feet

 

Starting gambit was the 11m pole line. I usually struggle to keep the fish going on the pole, but one of these days it'll all come together and a real day to remember will occur, so I have to start on the pole. In went a medium pot of 4mm pellets lined up with a far bank marker, while I set up rigs and tuned everything. Just over 4ft of water at 11 metres was tackled with 0.20mm line and 0.6g drennan carp series 6 float and a size 8 hook to 11mm expander pellet on 22 elastic. This might seem a little heavy, but if they were biting it would deliver, and there are always other options to explore.

First put-in was about 0725. Nothing. And more nothing. In fact there was absolutely nothing for a good 30 mins, with the possible exception of heavy fog rolling in, which reduced visibility to about 25 metres and made a mockery of my far bank marker. 

Fog. Thick Fog

 

Just before 8am I set up a lighter rig (0.14mm line to a 16 hook) to try 6mm pellets hoping that a roach might break the boredom. Shortly after I saw the first bow wave of a spooked carp, and then a bite. A short fight and a 7lb common was safely in the landing net. It was a sluggish fight, no hard runs, just plodding on, clearly the cooler weather had slowed the fish down.

Shortly after another bite on the light rig produced a 4oz roach. Then, nothing.

Alternating rigs produced another bite after 30 mins on the large expander, this time a lump of a fight. Convinced it was foul hooked, I took my time and a 12lb common rolled into the landing net, hooked fair and square in the mouth.

Reassured that the fish were there and would feed, I persevered. Nothing again for 30 mins, then one more bite. Duly connected with and another plodding fight that felt foul hooked. Again, it wasn't foul hooked, but a 14lb common in the net went some way to explain the heavy lunges. 

14lb of common carp in excellent condition

 

Then nothing for the best part of 30 mins. A quick bite, I connect with the fish, but the hook pulls as I ship back – probably my fault for rushing too much. 5 mins later and another bite produces a good fight from a mirror that went nearly 9lb 8oz. At this point the fog was starting to lift, and I decided to feed a second pole line where I'd seen fish moving, 7 metres at 45 degrees to the right, fairly close to where the rocks stop. Hopefully this would allow me to alternate and get a few more fish coming.

15 mins later I dropped on the 7m line and got an immediate bite and put a 7lb mirror in the landing net. It's nice when a plan comes together. It was now about 1015 and I had 5 carp for 49lb, it was warming up nicely and the fog was gone. 

Setup on the dam wall

 

But that, barring a 1oz roach that I foulhooked was that.

3 hours later I was biteless. Three pole lines – nothing, feeder – nothing, waggler – nothing, signs of fish – nothing. It was completely dead. 

Feeder - the tip just sat there, doing nothing

 

I was thinking it was just me, but another nearby angler packed up having blanked for 5 hours and a chat with the bailiff suggested it had been fishing hard for a while. So at about 1330 I called it quits and headed home.

Catch list:

Mirror Carp – 2

Common Carp - 3

Roach – 2

Total weight – 49lb

http://www.fisheries.co.uk/boddington/index.htm

Willows, London Colney, 31-03-2012

For a change, and with the vague hope of getting my elastic bottomed-out, I decided to have a session on the Match Lake at Willows Lakes in London Colney (near St Albans). Although the unseasonably good weather was due to break, the 2-week spell of sun should have warmed up the water and so I hoped for a fish or two.

Willows is an odd place, on its day it is possible to put together a really big bag of fish, whereas on other days you would swear there are no fish in it. This is down the variable weather, water level and the sheer size of the place – the match lake is 22 acres in size and usually has a significant ripple as the prevailing wind often blows down the full length of the water (it's over a kilometer long). As such it is possible to be completely off the fish, so any trip is always a bit of a gamble. Many of the regulars like to feeder fish for the bream and occasional carp (which run large) but I prefer to attack on the pole line first. 

View up the lake

 

Anyhow, I arrived at 0645, got my ticket and had a quick chat with the bailiff (gates open at 0700) and was advised to head towards peg 4-8, where there was a decent depth, down the far left hand end. Overall the lake was about 3ft down, so this made sense.

I set up on peg 8 with a view to my usual strong pole gear – 0.20mm line to size 8 hook, 11mm expander and 22 elastic. Whilst this may seem heavy, I've found this a good opening gambit here. The fish are not very line or hook shy and with the carp averaging 8lb (I've had them out to over 20lb on the pole) it's not a venue for 0.06mm hooklengths to a 26 hook, if you know what I mean. Plus, I can always step down if needed should I want to chase the roach.

In went a medium pot of 4mm pellet at 11m whilst I tuned my rigs and plumbing up revealed a healthy 4-5ft of water on the pole line. I'd have preferred a little more, but that's ok for starters.

30 minutes later and nothing. Not a sniff.

This is not unusual for the venue, it can often take a little while for the fish to arrive (it's a big lake remember). So I set up a lighter rig to see if that would help – 0.14mm line to a 16 hook. After about 10 minutes on double maggot I got a liner, which felt like I'd brushed past a better fish just off bottom. 5 minutes later, exactly the same. Maybe the fish had appeared.

Back out of the 11mm expander rig. 5 seconds. Bite. A spirited fight and an immaculate 3lb mirror carp was in the landing net. This was news to me... that wasn't in the script.

Two more small mirrors of 2lb a piece followed in the next 10 minutes, then a skimmer, then another small mirror. Suddenly I was over 10lb and the biting wind from my right didn't seem quite so bad. Bites were steady, rather than rapid, but this was good fishing. An hour in I decided to pot in a few more pellets (I'd been loose feeding, but like to get a bed down with the wind and tow to contend with) when the bailiff appeared. He informed me that the mirrors were a recent stocking, but no other major fish moves had occurred. Apparently 635 mirror carp had been added over the winter, which sound like a lot until you realize that's just 30 per acre and maybe just 6 per peg. Hmm. 

This was the stamp and quality of the mirror carp

 

Back to fishing and the swim was stone cold dead. And so it stayed for 30 minutes. A flurry of bites produced a little run of fish, some bream, some more small mirror carp. The carp averaged about 2lb with some examples to 4lb, the skimmers ran from 8oz up to about 2lb on a good day. But they kept the weight ticking along. Soon I was at 39lb by about 1030, and this felt a good weight was on, especially if the proper bream and carp decided to join in at some point.

Then it went quiet. Again. The light rig produced nothing on maggot and one small skimmer on 6mm pellet. The big rig finally got some bites and another few fish in the net. This then became the pattern for the day, periods of activity followed by periods of nothing. Highlights were one proper 4lb bream (foulhooked), a 3lb koi carp and a 1lb roach that turned out to be a hybrid on later inspection.

3lb Koi Carp

1lb Hybrid (shame it wasn't a roach)

At one point I had 1 bite between 1230 and 1330 when I was up to 75lb, but then three or four fish could but 8lb in the net. There was no real pattern, but potting in never seemed to work.

I had a chat with a couple of regulars who were scouting for the match the next day, apparently this had been the way of things lately – activity then nothing. You just had to wait it out. However, they were impressed with my catch so far, the peg had weighed in just 28lb a few days previously.

I got my head down and wanted to hit 100lb for the day, however the wind was picking up and the periods of bitelessness were getting longer. Eventually, after a run of 8oz skimmers, a 2lb 8oz mirror took me over 100lb, then one more skimmer made it 101lb and decided to call it quits about 1515.

This was probably one of the hardest tons I've ever put together, difficult cold conditions on an exposed peg and watching a float against the choppy water. I went home pleased.

On a good day the skimmers would have been shoal bream (4-6lb each) and a few of the carp would have been proper lumps and I could have easily doubled my weight, but hey, this is what keeps us going back.

Catch list:

Mirror Carp – 25

Koi Carp – 1

Bream - 35

Roach/bream hybrid - 1

Total weight – 101lb

http://www.willowslakes.com/