As the club lake closes on the 14th I thought I would go there and try for the silver fish. I thought it would be a tad too cold for the carp and it would also give me the chance to get back into the swing of things!
It was chilly and breezy as I loaded the car at about 7am however the forecast was for tempratures up to 11 degrees in the afternoon so I wasn't too perturbed.
I'd spent the previous couple of days sorting out my tackle and bait ready for the trip and as I set off I was convinced that I was totally ready. After two miles I was struck by the thought that I hadn't packed my landing net! Sure enough after stopping and checking in the boot the net was nowhere to be seen. I had to return home, get the net out of the garage and start my journey again!
I eventually arrived just after 8am to find no one there!
The previous year I'd fished peg 1 and had no bites at all until late in the afternoon when I got a carp of around 5lb whilst legering. I'd put this down to the shallower water in that peg. This year I went to peg 8 which is slightly deeper (although not by much).
In the summer there is a great big set of lily pads directly in front of the swim but as you can see from the photo below at this time of year they have all died off.
My tactics for the day were pretty basic, I was going to feed small balls of groundbait every hour, initially maggots on the hook and loose feeding maggots and hemp. Depending on the results I was ready to change to bread or sweetcorn.
I cast out around 8:40 and as expected nothing happened for the first hour or so.
On the hour I caught my first fish. a roach of about 2 ounces. No blank for me today then!
As I kept feeding 4 or 5 maggots a cast the roach kept coming. Once I'd had quite a few I switched to bread punch and then bread flake to see what would happen. I got nothing on the flake but the roach liked the punched bread (smaller helpings!).
Next I tried a piece of sweetcorn (the groundbait I'd been feeding contained some corn) but all that succeeded in doing was allowing me time to drink a cup of tea!
After lunch I tried some flake again and managed a carp albeit one weighing less than a pound. Tried flake for the next hour or so but nothing so switched back to maggots and started catching the roach again!
When I got fed up with that I changed to corn and caught another small carp and then it died again.
As the afternoon wore on the sun disappearred and the sky became over-clouded. The temprature dropped and I begun to think of when to pack up. I decided to pack up around 5 in a couple of hours time.
To this end I made the decision to increase the size of the number of maggots I was feeding - perhaps I could feed off the small ones. After I couple of casts the float disappearred and the rod bent - in came a perch which must have been just under a pound. My second only perch at this venue.
Fifteen minutes or so later the float disappearred again and in came the best roach of the day. While I was playing the fish the club chairman turned up with his grandson and we had a chat as we admired the fish.
I last another hour or so before I packed up and went home.
I don't often get the chance to use my keep net but the rules allow it at this time of year.
Another club season at the Private Pond over. Overall a good one for me.
Can't wait for June 1st.
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