Thursday, 23 January 2025

Not raving about Raven at Rookery Waters

 Peg 1, Raven, Wed, Jan 22
Wednesday and, after I showed the Fuhrer my wife an article which explained how much vitamin D we all ought to be getting, and the fact that it comes mainly from sunshine being outside, she unexpectedly signed my 10-hour pass. So I scooted off to the Pidley Pensioners, who were to fish on Raven and Magpie.

To cut a long, sad, story short I ended up with probably the last peg I would have chosen, apart from Magpie 28. I pulled out Raven peg 1 - not a noted peg in Winter. Indeed I can't remember it ever featuring in any result I have seen. Still it would be a day's fishing on Rookery Waters, so what's not to like?

Just to rub it in, Fate decreed that I should ask just two anglers where they had drawn. Ernie Lowbridge and Shaun Buddle were sitting together in the cafe, and delightedly informed me that Ernie had Raven 11 (a corner peg with considerable form) and Shaun had the famous Magpie 36. Of course nothing is guaranteed from any swim, but those were probably the first two pegs I would have chosen! 😞


No sun, and no raspbery ripple (except from the ducks).

Foggy on the way in
The dense fog which enveloped me on some of the journey to Pidley had miraculously lifted by the time I got there, and although it was cold, there wasn't much wind - not bad conditions. At my office for the day it was 14 metres to the far bank - farther if I wanted to go sideways towards vacant peg 2, on my right. But there weren't any reeds or stick-ups on the far bank anyway, so I started just to the left, towards the really shallow end of the lake and dobbed bread, about 18 inches deep, along the far bank, moving a metre or two every couple of minutes.

Blimey - within 10 minutes I was playing a 1 lb F1. Already I had 1 lb more than I had expected to catch! But that didn't last, and it was nearly a hour before the next fish came in. I've recently seen one of the Guru underwater videos, and was stuck by the fact that those carp seemed to be spooked by bulk shot hanging off the bottom, so for the rest of the day I put all my shot under the float.

The end of the lake, to my left, was very shallow, and I also found that even at only 18 inches deep the float didn't always settle properly - the weight of the bread should sink it to just the correct level. Presumably there was weed on the bottom. But I felt I had to keep trying it, and suddenly, out of the blue, the float dipped and I was playing a 7 lb common. Very gingerly, because I was using a light size 18 hook.


Chris Saunders was on 27, behind me,
and had to watch Mark Waring, two
swims to his right, catching fish while
Chris himself, struggled to 27 lb 6 oz
(which still beat me!)
A short purple patch
It took another hour for the next fish, but four, all around 3 lb, came in about an hour, then they vanished. I tried maggot in the deep water down the track and just over my margin, but never had a touch. Nor did dobbed maggot work. Back out on the bread and one more 3 lb carp came in, and with 20 minutes left I went out with maggot in the deep water just off the far bank margin. First cast another carp came in, and then the angler to my right had a fish. In the last 20 minutes he had at least two more, but my float remained resolutely still. 

I'd had about seven or eight liners all day, all at 18 inches, and when I shallowed up I had none. And as so often happens if I had a liner I never had a proper bite afterwards. It seems that once one fish had taken fright the rest could all suddenly see my line. I ended with eight fish, but had no idea what anyone else might have. I was also pleased that I didn't lose any.

 Mark Wareing's best fish in his winning
84 lb 12 oz  catch was about 8 lb.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh on Raven - 23 lb 4 oz which gave me third place in my section of seven, and I was happy with that, beaten by noted peg 5, and 11 (that was Ernie, the Fastest Angler in the West). Raven was won on end peg 28 by Mark Wareing, who dobbed maggots across in the shallow water, never fed anything all day, and ended with 84 lb 12 oz. Ernie was second on 11, dobbing bread at 16 metres (this swim is on the inside of a corner). I see peg 33 , opposite the island, won Magpie. My next match will probably not be until a week Sunday.

THE RESULT


RAVEN



MAGPIE







No comments:

Post a Comment