This match was to be a bit different from the normal open matches held at the venue and was to be a pairs match held over the main match lakes, Pathfield and Wood. A decent turnout of 27 pairs meant a rare non team match 50 pegger. Paul Connell had asked me to be his partner a few weeks earlier and after tossing a coin (which Paul won) Paul decided to fish Pathfield leaving me with Wood Lake. I wasn't fussed about which lake I drew as long as i picked out a flyer on the day. We knew we needed at least one flyer to make the frame due to the nature of winter carp fishing; some pegs would be rammed whilst others would be almost devoid of fish. The continuing low pressure and mild weather made me think that the fish would really have a chew on the good pegs.
I'd fished Wood quite a lot in the winter in previous years and knew the best pegs on the lake were 26, 27, 28, 37 and 38. Wood Lake holds a lot of fish in the 1-1.5lb bracket and these fish tend to shoal up in these pegs and are my main target in the winter simply because they are more likely to feed than the lumps (3-10lb). The reason the fish get in these pegs is because they are wider and deeper than the other pegs. As I went to draw there were 3 pegs left in the bag and I pulled out peg 28! this was excellent news because it was the flyer we needed as a pair. Paul had drawn peg 4 on Pathfield which is an average peg really, mind you the fish do tend to roam around on Pathfield so you can never tell. Still I fancied he could catch a few fish off it and our draw left us in with a chance. Match organiser Peter Steward asked me to draw his peg immediately after I had drawn and I proceeded to conjure peg 37 from the bag! Somehow I'd managed to draw possibly the two best pegs on the lakes. However, as Peter has probably fished the venue more than anyone over the years I could have done with drawing him something with less form.
Bait for the Day
4mm expanders
4mm skretting hard pellets
1/2 pint maggots
tin of corn
3mm hard pellets
micro pellets
As I arrived at my peg I could see the wind was going to have to be factored into the way I fished. There was a constant right to left wind which would make holding the long stick awkward. Potentially, 16 metres can be needed in these pegs and after holding the pole out there for a bit I soon realised 14.5 metres and a dolly butt would be my maximum limit. My section ran from peg number 22 to 33 and included some good pegs, on paper my main opposition would come from pegs 26 and 27.
Tactics
In December, January and February the fish in Wood tend to move out into the deep water close to islands and sit in "balls". My intention was to try and find these balls of fish and on some days I have felt fish when I have been plumbing up. Today though I couldn't feel anything significant with the plummet and settled on fishing three lines at 14.5 metres in about 5 foot of water, approximately 2 metres off the island. The first line was straight out, the second was at 10 clock and the third at two. I also plumbed up a line at 11 metres, here it was about 7 feet deep and I only expected to fish here if the wind became horrendous. Also, I had a feeder rod and a waggler set up on standby, again if conditions spoilt the pole.
Rigs were very simple and were set up with the theory of fishing as light as possible in the depth of water. I set up 2 4x12 Carpa Chimps for the 5 foot 14.5 metre lines (depths were identical on all lines). One float tip was blacked out and was to be used on my 10 clock line where there was "white water". Shotting was strung out number 11 Stotz and featured 0.12 Browning Cenitan to 0.10 of the same material and the hook being an 18 B611. One rig was assembled for the 11 metre line which consisted of the same line, hook and shotting, but the float was upped to a 4x14 Carpa Chimp. Elastic on all rigs was hydro elastic in white. It was difficult to assess a target weight but I felt that a minimum of 80lb was going to be needed to win the section, so initially that was my aim.
At the all in I was really concerned about the strength of the wind and I was praying it wouldn't worsen anymore. I fed my 3 long lines nonetheless and 3 4mm hard pellets and 3 4mm expanders were fed on all three lines. At 11 metres I fed about a dozen hard pellets and a few grains of corn. I decided to go straight out on my middle 14.5 metre line with a 4mm expander on the hook and first put in the float buried after settling and a 12ounce carp was soon in the net and next put in an 8 ounce Barbel came my way, which fought much harder than the small carp I'd just had. I had a good first hour and soon settled into a rhythm of kindering 4 pellets after each fish and catching carp between 12 ounces and 2lb every put in, This gave me about 20lb and I was up on the people around me.
Whilst I had been catching on this line I occasionally potted 5 or 6 pellets onto the other lines to keep the fish interested should my initial line slow. Also, at the beginning of the second hour the wind began to drop slightly meaning it was less of a fight to fish long, exactly what I wanted to happen. My second hour was another consistent hour and I managed to keep fish coming from the same line. It was noticeable that I occasionally had a bite on the drop and this always resulted in a much bigger stamp of fish (3-5lb). These bigger fish were obviously sitting off the bottom and were snatching at the bait as it went past their noses. If I missed a bite on the drop I was actually quite annoyed because I knew I had just missed out on a decent fish. At the end of hour 2 I reckoned I had getting on for 45lb in the net.
Early in hour three I got up and put a second fishery carp net in. The rules state no more than 70 lb in a net and I always stop at 50lb as this gives me sufficient leeway. I have learnt from experience this is the best thing to do, after having had some near misses in the past! I also stepped up to an 0.12 hook length, this would enable me to pull a bit harder. From what I could see I was still ahead of the other anglers in my section, peg 26 was catching fairly well though, so I couldn't relax. Again, throughout this hour I was able to keep a constant feeding pattern and I didn't need to change anything as I was still getting a fish every put in. Mind you towards the end of the hour bites were taking longer to materialise and I was missing a few cagey bites. I knew it would be time to look on another line soon and with this in mind I was still occasionally potting small amounts of bait on the other lines. At the end of this hour I would estimate 65lb was in the net.
15 minutes into hour 4 it was time to rest my main catching line as I had plundered it enough. I decided to drop onto my 10 o clock line and the float could hardly settle as I received a succession of liners. It was obvious I had dropped in on top of a large ball of carp! Initially I struggled to hook fish in the mouth, but eventually things settled down and I was catching faster than I ever had been throughout the match and by the end of the 4th hour I was reaching for carp net number 3 as I estimated I now had around 100lb in the net. I felt I was winning my section fairly comfortably, but I had noticed Peter Steward slaying them on peg 37 (yes the peg I drew for him!) and I wanted to make sure that I beat him as individual monies were being paid out as well. I noticed he was loose feeding it, which had to be a sign that the fish were really having it in his peg.
The final hour was just heads down time and catch as much as you can and the fish continued to come quickly every put in. However, they seemed to be all about a pound, I wasn't overly worried though as I was catching at a decent rate. In the final 10 minutes things went a bit sticky and slowed down and a couple of foul hookers suggested this line was now dying as well. Peter was still catching so I felt it would be close between myself and him for the lake.
At the all out I phoned Paul to see how he had faired, he was unsure but felt he could be anywhere from 2nd to 5th as things were very close. Apparently he had got off to a flyer fishing pellets long, but other anglers had slowly clawed things back when his long line died and he struggled to catch elsewhere. At the weigh in I had 132lb which was enough to win my section, second in the section was 80lb odd on peg 26. However, as I followed the scales round Peter Steward weighed in 136lb 8 ounces to relegate me to second on the lake and second overall in the match. Not impressed! He had loose fed maggot long and his method was probably quicker as he didn't need to fill up a kinder cup. Mind you I find you can sometimes overdo it by loose feeding in the winter, however it had clearly worked for him on the day. I was regretting now not having a bagging rig set up, but to be honest in the time I had available I felt it would be better spent setting up a feeder and a waggler just in case conditions worsened.
News from Paul was good though, as he had finished 3rd in his section with 60lb odd, which was a decent result from the peg, giving us 4 points overall and a big weight. This weight was to prove crucial as we tied with 2 other pairs on 4 points but beat them on weight count back to finish 2nd overall. The winning pair had managed 3 points, a first and a second. So overall a good result and it would be nice to have more of these big open matches. I always feel that I don't mind going for a draw on a 50 pegger in the winter, but when its 15 pegs its harder to persuade yourself to do so!
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