| Docklow pools
Saturday 23rd
December
Due to Christmas Eve falling on a
Sunday the match was held on the Saturday as it was thought more anglers
would turn up- wrong! This match was rather poorly attended as there were
only about seventeen anglers there but nevertheless it was a match. After
much deliberation it was decided to put it on the match-lake, which I
thought was a bad decision as there were not enough anglers to cover the
whole pond and leaving pegs out would mean that the carp would eventually
move to wherever it was not pegged. Nobody wanted to be on pegs 1, 2, 32, 34
or 36 because they are bad draws but leaving them out would provide a refuge
for the carp. I wanted to put the match on the Day Ticket and Farmer Jack
pools but I was out-voted. The Snake lake often fishes well in the winter
but one chap said he was going to get in his car and go home if we put it on
there.
There are only four pegs to draw on
the match-lake to be in with a chance of framing and they are pegs 4, 6, 30
and 31 all around the island as the majority of carp were likely to move to
the area that was not pegged. Some of the Daiwa Dorking lads had made the
long journey for this match so it was going to be difficult to beat them if
they drew well.
Steve Mayo was on peg 30 and Ben
Leach was on peg 4 and Andrew Murphy drew 31. I drew well too on peg 6 so it
was going to be hard to win from here, even though the peg had some form
lately. I looked at the peg and it didn't look like there were many carp
there but the chub are always in the area so I decided to go for them. I set
up the pole with two rigs, a shallow one and another to fish at full depth
plus a waggler rod.
I intended to fish up to 16 meters
for the chub on the shallow rig and another line at 13 meters for the carp
should they decided to feed. The shallow rig was a Drennan 'Choppa'- 4x12 to
.12 diameter Ignesti and a size 20 B610 Kamasan hook. The other rig was .14
Ignesti direct to a size 16 B610 but I didn't have much faith in the second
rig, as I didn't expect the carp to show in any numbers.
I started on the waggler while I fed
the pole line and second cast I foul hooked a carp in the pectoral fin,
which eventually weighed 13lb 8oz on .12 and a size 20 B610- Good start!
There were very little indications on this line so I decided to have a look
on the pole line, as did Ben on the next peg. The water didn't appear to be
that clear but we both managed to get two chub apiece then nothing at all so
they obviously weren't having it today with the pole over their heads so I
fed the waggler line and fished it shallow with caster.
It took about twenty minutes to get
a response but when they arrived I was catching chub regularly for an hour
but they too disappeared. I could still get odd ones by spraying caster then
twitching it through but they wouldn't stay long.
I had managed about 30 lb. including
the carp, which I thought was more than anyone else had so I had a go for
some more carp on corn. I noticed that Andrew Murphy had netted a few carp
on peg 31 so there may be a few about. I had a chuck towards the island and
the float buried straight away on corn over where I had been spraying
caster. These fish here have no respect for light, tackle deciding to go
around the back of the island and after about 30 seconds of me calling it
everything, it swam back. A 10lb Mirror Carp. The island pegs are often
overgrown with willow branches, which is why these pegs hold fish. I think
the fish become hypnotised by all the feeders and wagglers swinging from the
branches above their heads but now and then anglers do go out in the boat to
'trim' the branches back and to stock up on feeders but one small criticism
here. When they cut the branches back, I wish they would take them out of
the water as it is hard enough to get the carp out as it is. I have had two
go through the foliage, which were never to be seen again, much to the
amusement or one of the local anglers who was stood behind me.
At the end of the match Ben Leach
and I had the added pleasure of weighing everyone in so we started at the
other end and weighed back. Andrew Murphy had been catching on peg 31 and he
weighed seven carp for 36lb, next to him Steve Mayo had chub and carp for
24lb 14oz on peg 30. Apart from the pegs around the island, the only other
angler to break the 20lb barrier was Des Shipp with 26lb of carp roach and
chub from peg 24 which is an achievement in itself as the peg never really
produces much of anything.
I weighed 51lb from peg 6, which was
enough to win it on the day and everyone else struggled for bites, perhaps
they will listen next time when they have the choice of venues to fish but I
doubt it. There will always be those who prefer to fish 'peggy' matches in
the hope that they might draw well than fish fairer venues where everybody
is guaranteed a few fish- its what makes match fishing so difficult! I think
you have to work harder on fairer venues and it makes you competitive while
improving you ability.
Next Page |
