Too many fish

 Peg 12 - Kingland Small Carp Lake
This lake is not permanently pegged, and my peg was three swims up from the North-Western corner. The surface would have been flat calm before the start if it wasn't for the big carp cruising around like sharks. But I was happy, as I had seen good carp come into my margins before we started, though Kevin Lee told me that the small fish were all over his swim. I wasn't worried about that...until I dropped the first bait in!

Flat calm, but the forecast rain held away apart from a few spots.

My grain of corn had barely touched the surface before a big black shape engulfed it - fish. Dozens of them; hundreds of them. Carp from one-tenth of an ounce to half-an-ounce came out of nowhere like piranhas and attacked not only the bait, but the line and the float, which bobbed about, dived under, slid sideways, and did everything except somersaults! And it was like that all flaming day...

Floating expanders bring up fish of all sizes

A quick drop into the left margin with corn got an immediate respose from a big fish which came off immediately, and even that commotion brought in the small fish. From that moment there was no pattern to my fishing.

I tried throwing out floating expanders which had been wetted but not pumped (floating baits are allowed on this fishery), and these were also attacked - though occasionally a better fish could be seen trying to get its share. And about an hour after the start I did manage to dob a ten-pounder which shot off as if foulhooked, but which eventually finished in my landing net, hooked in the mouth. It was the only one I managed to snare like that.

Winner Kevin Lee found the fish out at 11 metres, and
 didn't put any bait out there to attract the hordes.

Another plan, which worked fairly well, was to load in pots of hemp and corn, wait ten minutes, and then drop cat meat on top in the hope that there were big fish searching the bottom. The float still ducked and dived, and it was literally a case of trying to guess when a good fish had taken the bait. Strangely I never had a single really good bite with the float just disappearing and staying under - even the big fish seemed to be undecided about what to do with it.

But I did manage to catch occasional fish, from about 6 oz to 8 lb. To my right Kevin Lee latched on to the plan I should have taken up - he put out double cat meat at 11 metres without feeding anything at all. I had tried that at seven metres and picked up the odd fish, but Kevin had a good spell in mid-match doing it.

Frustrating
It was the most frustrating match I have ever fished. I kept trying to catch the bigger ones with floating pellet, but they could definitely see the pole moving above them. A pleasure angler on the lake had a field day fishing bread on a waggler - I had deliberately left my rods at home hoping for an easy day pole fishing, and I'd forgotten to bring any bread, which I then remembered often works better on the surface than smaller baits.

Because the bait - whether corn, paste or cat meat, was ragged by small fish within seconds, I rued leaving behind a tin of large luncheon meat cubes in the freezer. Dick next door gave me a handful of smaller cubes, but they didn't fare any better than the corn, which was regularly torn off in seconds.

Mike Rawson (above) came to the rescue of Kevin Lee early in the match
after Kevin broke both his top two and his landing net handle
on a big fish. That wasn't in Kevin's script, apparently!

Towards the end I found some fish around 4 lb right in the side, against the reeds, but even so it took about ten drops, and ten lost baits, before I hooked each good fish. I also rued losing an eight-pounder and a five-pounder which I had over my landing net. But we have to use the fishery's nets and mine was bigger than normal, but heavy, and I just couldn't lift those fish out in time, and they swam off again and eventually the hook pulled out.

I tried mussel, which has served me so well, but apart from the first drop, when a big fish gulped it down as it hit the surface, it was torn from the hook my the smaller fish in seconds. I had to give up on it, and worse, I kept foulhooking them.

Allan Golightly had 95 lb 3 oz for third, taking
fish on a hard pellet, which is what I should have done!

My biggest mistake
After the match had finished I had a lot of floating pellets left over and tossed them into the side, knowing they would be snapped up by the tiddlers. In fact suddenly at least two dozen big carp, all around 10 lb, appeared and started muscling in among the small fish, and scooping up the pellets - all within three feet of my platform. If I had had a rig ready I could have dropped bait right into their mouths. What a mistake!!! And it went on until all the pellets had gone. I was tearing my hair out.

Afterwards I also realised, following a remark that Allan Golightly made, that an 8mm banded pellet would probably have been my best bet - the small fish couldn't have taken that from the band. And I had a load of them in my bag.

The weigh in
Opposite, James Garner,. who I think was fishing a waggler, had 111 lb 15 oz, while to my right Kevin Lee won with 116 lb 1 oz. Allan Golightly with 95 lb 3 oz was third, including fish taken on hard pellet (!) and I was fourth with 81 lb 13 oz. Those two lost fish which I couldn't quite net could have cost me third spot.

Kevin with his biggest fish which caused broke his landing net handle.

Good news

The best sight of the day was the steps that fishery owner Richard has now installed on every swim. Previously getting to the platforms involved slipping down the grassy bank with tyres (to stop erosion) and holes ready to trip you up and pitch you in. When the grass was wet it was distinctly dodgy. Now it's easy. But I hope the vast majority of those tiddlers are eaten by their parents soon. How the angler who took 460 lb last week did it if those small hungry fish were around is beyond me.

The club pays a generous four - which meant I managed to frame.