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Tuesday, 28th.January 2020

Paddlesworth, Pollard, Peg30

10.15
I spoke to my spies and fellow collaborators during the week and got the ‘latest’ on what’s been happening and where the fish have been coming out. It seems that the only pegs to yield fish during the past few weeks have been P4 and P12. It is no co-incidence that whilst not casting to exactly the same water, they are there or thereabouts. The news I’d had a 34 from P30 came as somewhat of a surprise to many and it appears I had earn’t a fair bit of kudos and cred’ for its capture! [Now that is a first!]

Today however both P4 and P12 are both taken (one of which by my good friend Nobby who overnight had caught five to 32lbs.) I was absolutely delighted for him as he has had a pretty lean time of it lately and deserves every credit for each and every one of his fish.

I’d had it fixed in my mind that I had to be in P4 or P12 and to fail in this regard would result in a blank, no-where else having produced anything apart from my 34 in P30. It would seem to be a pretty tall order to defy ‘those in the know’ two weeks running by catching from an un-favoured peg but hey-ho, in for a penny…

We've had so much rain lately it's cascading down the banks in rivulets causing minor flooding in some swims. Not too bad here but some pegs are awash if not like a quagmire!

The usual tactics on the usual spots which have yielded fish for me consistently over the past few sessions.

There may be some substance to my choice. I have long thought that carp are habitually in this peg because it has been fished so often; certainly (up until recently) every few days. A lot of feed has gone in over many months and the carp must have got used to finding it there. Consequently, in the lean months of winter, carp will not have to move very far to find something to eat, knowing they will find it in P30.

Still feeling I shall be doing a ‘walk of shame’ when I pack up tomorrow though.

[Note - with a gradual lessening of interest in P30 and an increasing interest in fishing P4 and P12 by members, I don’t think as much feed - if any - is being found by the carp and consequently they have moved out of the area.]

12.15
I got about a dozen Spombs of feed out before I gave up - it seemed pointless, there were so many Coots diving on it I was feeding them, rather than the fish!

This swan absolutely drives me up the flamin' wall!!.. swans are not very bright at the best of times (unlike ducks and geese) and this one persists in swimming through the lines giving me false indications. Bloody thing!

It’s dead out there. Not a sausage. I wonder how Nobby is getting on and whether he’s had any more action? [Nobby in fact was on a ‘burster’ of a session having by now caught nine fish!]

16.00
Nothing to report. Nothing happening. Nothing…

17.45 Had a good session spodding, putting the last of the feed over the spot. I’ve heard one or two splashes out there although they’re probably Coots having a fight.

I've taken to fishing with lines as tight as I can get them. if a carp so much as sniffs the bait I want not only instant indication but a better chance of a hook-up.

Wednesday, 29th.January 2020

08.10
Awoken by a stuttering take to the rh rod; on lifting into it there was a curious resistance which was neither Bream not Carp; there was only one thing it could be - a ‘Tuftie’! Hooked squarely in the beak I released it back into the water where it shot off faster than anything I’ve ever seen move across the water!

Absolutely nothing last night; not a bleep, not a twitch. Nothing.

10.30
So unless something happens in the next half-hour (and I don’t think it’s going to) it looks like it’s the dreaded ‘Walk Of Shame’…

What to do? There is no doubt there are only two pegs on the whole of the lake that are fishing at the moment - P4 and P12 and it’s impossible to get in either. People are queueing to get them. Whilst P4 has blanked this week, P12 has fished its head off. Nobby and Alan had a count up and they reckon it has done nearly thirty fish this past month!

The big question is, how the hell do I get in one of them? With ‘all the world and his wife’ having the same intention it seems impossible at the moment. The only way would appear to get a ‘handover’ from someone departing.

The only thing I can do is to make some pre-fishing visits to try and get an idea of who is where, whether I know them, and if they are prepared to allow me to put a bucket in the swim to claim it.

And there again, pigs might fly…

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