Fish galore...but not in my net!

Peg 12, Kingsland small lake, Saturday, Sept10
It's strange that up to three or four years ago you caught mainly big carp and small rudd in this lake, but suddenly (probably as a result of our hotter summers) the population of small carp has exploded. There must be millions there. 

I knew this had happened, but this year it was a huge nightmare - put a bait of any size into my swim and within three seconds these little ones, mainly from 2 oz to 4 oz, were either eating it or knocking it about. Because of that I didn't put in any loose feed, but it didn't help, and I decided to throw in floating pellets and try to nick a few better fish off the surface.

My swim - no ripple but that didn't matter on the day.

I had a nice right margin.

For locals - we placed Peg 1 (not used) in the first corner, along to 7, with 8 and 9 on the end bank, back down to 16, with 17 on its own). And for anyone that hadn't fished here recently, big steps have been laid down to the platforms, so it's much better than it used to be. I love it that the platforms are so big here.

Kevin has a great start
Within minutes of the start I saw Kevin Lee on Peg 2 was already playing what looked like a good fish. And not long after Allan Golightly, on my left, caught a carp on his feeder. I persevered with trying to dob fish on the surface, and indeed within about an hour I had got six in my net, all around 2 lb. 

Allan Golightly with a cracking fish taken early
in the match on a feeder.

Unfortunately as soon as the pellet on my hook fell more than an inch under the surface a small carp would snap it up. I had to hold it absolutely on the surface, and even then some small ones nipped in and took the bait before the bigger fish could get into position to take it. Like everybody else I saw big fish swimming around all day, which was most frustrating, as they wouldn't look at a bait dropped in front of them - they only seemed to feed right on the surface.

I take a stroll...
There was one 3 lb carp which kept coming up and trying to take the bait, but it had a deformed mouth and just couldn't seem to suck anything in. That one was a real nuisance, as I couldn't pick it out as it swam around, to avoid targetting it. Several times as I held the pellet just above the surface, trying to ambush a big carp, small fry used to leap out and try to take it!

I walked up to Peter Spriggs just in time to see him playing a 5 lb carp.

Then, with those six fish in my net, as if things couldn't get any worse, the next 45 minutes saw me without a single decent carp - they just seemed disinterested. And putting any bait in - even big lumps of luncheon meat - only attracted the fry. So I had a walk along to Mel on my right, and he had one five-pounder and some fry. Next door Peter Spriggs was getting on much better - he had already clicked 46 lb, and said that Kevin opposite was hammering big fish.

The margins come alive
Back to my swim and I tried putting in handfuls of corn into the margins, which brought big fish in very quickly, and if I dropped a bait like corn or cat meat or luncheon meat down among them, very occasionally a good fish would take it.  At times they were like dolphins - leaping up and over each other as they became excited. But if the bait went for ten seconds without a big fish taking it, a little one was sure to do so - they seemed to be quite unafraid of the bigger fish many times their size.

So I spent the rest of the match fishing like this, mainly with luncheon meat on the hook, and every few minutes I would find myself playing something good. I foulhooked only two (which came off), which was amazing as the float was pushed under, up, and round the swim, but the fish seemed to be able to avoid hooking themselves. My first try of mussel saw it taken as soon as it touched the surface by a four-pounder, but after that it lost its attraction.

Peter went 17 lb over in one net but still came third.

Towards the end of the match I got the impression that once the big fish had come to the loosefeed they were stopping in the area for much longer than they had earlier. I should probably have tried mussel again, as I have the feeling that it would have worked because of its size. But I didn't think about doing that, unfortunately.

I was nearly 4 lb lb over on one net myself.

The weigh-in
Dave Garner, fishing waggler and luncheon meat, lost several fish in the reeds which encroach on that swim, but weighed in a magnificent 168 lb 7 oz. Next to him, next to corner peg 16, Martin Parker took 137 lb 11 oz to the scales, followed by Peter Spriggs, who used mainly luncheon meat for his 139 ln 9 oz...although he was 17 lb over our 50 lb limit in one net! 

Then, as the scales moved towards the Southern end of the lake, weights dropped away. Mel managed to catch just five decent carp in his 28 lb 2 oz, though I managed to finish with a 'ton', weighing 107 lb 15 oz. Allan on my left had 61 lb 10 oz.

Allan tells his fish to quieten down.

On the opposite bank Shaun Buddle had over 100 lb, but it was Kevin who had blitzed everybody else with 243 lb 1 oz. He filled his first net in the first 45 minutes of the match, and we weighed this net at 49 lb 8 oz - with not a small fish in itt. Kevin said that he just never had a problem with the fry to start with, though they moved into his swim later. 

Dave Hobbs, in his first season with us, topped 75 lb.

Last to weigh, with five nets, Kevin Lee brings up his catch...

...and this was his biggest fish - a beautiful common.

I finished sixth, which disappointed me at the time because of the number of fish I had in my swim. But I then realised that the four top weights were in the four swims at the Northern end of the lake. I'm not sure whether that is just a coincidence, but I do think that sometimes small fish emigrate to certain areas and tend to leave other areas alone. That's my excuse, anyway!

 THE RESULT

My next match is Sunday on Damson at Decoy. I must resolve not to stay in the margin for too long if the fish go off there.