Only nine fish, but a good day

Wednesday, Nov 16th

Magpie Lake, Pidley, peg 21

The lake has been re-numbered, with peg 16 taken out;  so I was on the old peg 22 and this sequence continues round the lake to the island. I understand a new peg has been inserted after the old 35 (which is now 34) and the final peg 38 is now 36. Got it? Peg 21 is sort of the first peg in the bay proper, with the far bank about 30 metres away, but no lillies within reach.

This was the regular Over 60s; 20 fished; and there was not a breath of wind, while the day was murky and overcast. With no ripple it was likely that the fish would be well out and I imagine everybody will have started on long pole or possibly a straight lead. The biggest nuisance in my swim was ducks and a big moorhen, which sent ripples across the swim on and off all day.

 

My swim looking across to  new peg 27.

I didn’t take a feeder rod, as I rarely use one here – so I just determined to enjoy myself on the pole. I toss-potted a few hard pellets in and first drop-in at 11-metres plus a half-butt saw the Tuff Eye float sink and a 3 lb carp come in on a 4mm expander. Another came soon afterwards, then I pricked one. In the next 90 minutes I caught three more. The float was dotted right down and the bites were so tiny the float sometimes just shivered without going under.

I foulhooked a very big fish which showed me its tail and fins a couple of times as it rolled along just under the surface, obviously not realising it was hooked. I gently pulled it in with the pole tip under the surface, down to the top two, hoping to net it before it realised what was happening, but the hook pulled out.

Five fish halfway through

Halfway through the match I had five fish and Ken Gammon, on my right on 19 (the old 20, which has some form) also had five. It got so dark I changed the orange tip in the float for a yellow one, which showed up a bit better against the black reflection. Then things went very quiet and I managed just three more carp, losing three of which at least one was foulhooked as a scale remained on the hook. They probably all were.

A small bream came when I tried maggot, and several looks down the inside did not result in a touch of any kind. But I kept getting liners on 4mm and even a 2mm expander. I tried a small piece of worm and a piece of corn, neither of which produced even a liner – then next drop-in a pellet brought back liners. So I am convinced that the fish were actually knocking the pellet.

I land a foulhooked five-pounder

One of the fish I landed after some hairy moments on Preston 13 Hollo elastic was a lovely bronze 5 lb common hooked in the side of the pectoral fin, which makes me certain that fish were cruising along the bottom but not really interested in food. All-round it was obviously going to be hard – the two anglers in the bay to my left were John Belshaw and Ron Clark, who was second in the Raven match two weeks ago,  and neither weighed in.

The fish here are in great condition.

Ken Gammon weighed 43 lb 2 oz for second, which I thought was a very good performance on that peg in the narrows, even though it has fished well all summer. In the winter on Magpie you are looking for a deep-water feature away from the bank – like lilly pads or the reeds in front of pegs 7 to 9 (approx). Ken had neither.

My eight carp and small bream weighed 26 lb 10 oz which at first I was disappointed with because I knew the fish had been there on and off all day, expecially after I had put a few pellets in. But on reflection, when I see where the top weights came from, I was happy with seventh place. Top weight was only 47 lb 2 oz from peg 1 by Alan Owen, who won the Raven match two weeks ago.

The result

Conclusion

OK, I had liners, but that at least shows the fish were around and keeps you interested. However the float had to be dotted down to a pimple for the bites to show, and in that murk I was glad that with spectacles I have very good eyesight. All-round I think I did a fair job in the circumstances, and if all those fish had stuck I could have won.

PS. Just remembered it wasn't a little bream - it was a roach!