Blank again!
Wednesday, 3rd.June 2020
Paddlesworth, Pollard, Peg 40 (The End Peg)
14.00
At the end of last week's session, I packed the car and walked up to the top end to scope things out. It's relatively shallow at this end although still fourteen feet out in the middle. With the sudden influx of members after the long lay-off I suspected the carp were subject to angling pressure and might seek the remoter areas of the lake. The top end is one such remote place.
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| Peg 40 - The End Peg The swim at the end of the lake. When they're here, they're here. When they're not... |
There is a big area of shallows on which you can see the bottom, against the right-hand tree-line. It then suddenly drops into deeper water; it is onto this drop-off I have placed my baits and feed. The right-hand rod is one of Ryan's Wafters with a small piece of cork in it to help it up; the centre rod is a departure from what I normally use - a pop-up on a Ronnie Rig to a fluorocarbon boom. I noticed when I scoped out the area last week that a lot of 'cotton wool' weed was on the bottom. It's not actually weed at all but Spirogyra, a filamentous green algae. Whatever it is, it looks like cotton wool and can be a real problem if the bait is enveloped in it.
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| Green 'Cotton Wool Weed' Actually, I think it's called Spirogyra, a filamentous algae. There's a lot of it on the bottom and is determining my presentation as I don't want my bottom bait sinking into it. |
The pop-up is a Sticky Baits Manilla 16 mm. paired down so that it only just sinks. This is enabled by rigging the Ronnie with the small QC swivel rather than the larger one which sinks it too fast for my liking.
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| My pop-up rig. A Manilla pop-up trimmed down so that the Ronnie only just sinks. I'm wondering however whether this is the right thing to do. I want it to sink lightly onto the weed, but when big old Mr. Carp comes along and starts fanning his pecs, will it fly off the bottom and waft around all over the place, making it more difficult for the carp to eat? |
The left-hand rod is the adjustable zig set at eight feet down; this is cast over half-way across to reach the fish mooching about in the safety of the unfished water.
Oh. I should mention my bottom baits are clipped at 7 + 1 wraps. I plumbed at 7 + 3 but found Eel Grass. Didn't want to land in the middle of that although I think the zig is fishing over the top of it.
15.30
Well knock me down with a feather! It's started to rain! I must say we need it. I've been watering my Beans at home and they're still too dry. Water put on the ground evaporates in no time. This is very welcome.
17.30
Bit of a downpour going on at the moment, just as I reeled in for a change of tactic on the right-hand rod.
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| Pin-fry. Millions of them. I wonder what they are - Carp?, Bream? |
It's very soft out there; I noticed that the lead plugged right in so I'm changing it to a Helicopter. I'm also substituting the Wafter for a pop-up because there was a lot of clag on the rig when I reeled in. I'm also fishing an alternative spot further to the right. I've seen a couple of fish move there and fancy it more than the one straight out in front.
18.00
Just had a line-bite on the rod I've just cast out. Whatever it is doesn't seem to mind the spod crashing around its ears!
18.30
I've made a real rookie error here... I saw seagulls diving on my spod mix.... Doh! I forgot to check the depth!
Needless to say, this rod is now back on its spot accompanying its mate!.. Sometimes I amaze myself at my own utter bone-headedness!
20.00
A fish has moved down in the corner to my right so I have recast the r.h. rod and it's fishing as a single bait.
20.30
I've just had a look at the local weather forecast and it looks like the barometer is falling to 1003 mB by tomorrow morning. The is the lowest it has been for a very long time so it's looking much better for the fishing. Wind strengthening.
Horrendous experience with a Bream!.. It wrapped itself around my zig rod causing utter chaos! Not only did I have to sort out the tangle of rigs and lines but it completely wiped out the zig which I had to recast and guess that I'd got the float just under the surface; I then added another seven feet to position it correctly (I hope). Amongst all this, I got covered in thick, grey, slimy mud - and then the batteries on the middle alarm head failed and I had to change them! Grhhh!..
06.00
Screaming take on the zig!.. Lifted into it but felt nothing. Must have been a fish cruising the margins and swam into the line, getting it caught around it somewhere.
Dense weed is hampering the zig float from rising. It's taken me several attempts to get the thing out there and I still can not get the damn thing up to the surface although the pop-up is clearly visible and I've managed to pull it a couple of feet below the surface.
Fish moved all night but I failed to get anything. Feel I should have caught but didn't and I can not understand why. Very disappointed.
The weather is really strange; we've gone from boiling hot to freezing cold. It reminds me of what it was like last November!
07.00
There's so much Curly Pondweed out there it's making getting the zig float up through it extremely problematic. I'm probably better off bottom fishing on my clear spot although this has produced just a solitary Bream up to now.
08.00
The Lockdown of course has made all of us alter our behaviours in one way or another. The club, in order to re-open for fishing has had to initiate certain safety measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus such as social distancing, not meeting in swims, that sort of thing. To prevent transmission from surfaces, we cannot touch the main gate and the Portaloos have been shut. This latter has caused a major inconvenience and a rule has been implemented that all members must now come equipped with a bucket in which to deposit the contents of their rectal cavities! This must be taken home at the end of the session. Although this is an outwardly practical solution to a practical problem, it has certain (painful) drawbacks.
Squatting on my bucket this morning the rim cut into my bottom something terrible! I'm sure this arrangement is suitable for those light of stature but for those of us carrying a little more weight than the average it is a positively tortuous process!
An annular crease is now etched into my nether regions which I hope is only temporary!
Oh what joy!..
Needless to say, this rod is now back on its spot accompanying its mate!.. Sometimes I amaze myself at my own utter bone-headedness!
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| Nature is in full-swing. A dragonfly larva crawled up the side of the bivvy and emerged from its husk. There are more miraculous things going on out in the natural world than anything Man can contrive. |
A fish has moved down in the corner to my right so I have recast the r.h. rod and it's fishing as a single bait.
20.30
I've just had a look at the local weather forecast and it looks like the barometer is falling to 1003 mB by tomorrow morning. The is the lowest it has been for a very long time so it's looking much better for the fishing. Wind strengthening.
Thursday, 4th.June 2020
01.00Horrendous experience with a Bream!.. It wrapped itself around my zig rod causing utter chaos! Not only did I have to sort out the tangle of rigs and lines but it completely wiped out the zig which I had to recast and guess that I'd got the float just under the surface; I then added another seven feet to position it correctly (I hope). Amongst all this, I got covered in thick, grey, slimy mud - and then the batteries on the middle alarm head failed and I had to change them! Grhhh!..
06.00
Screaming take on the zig!.. Lifted into it but felt nothing. Must have been a fish cruising the margins and swam into the line, getting it caught around it somewhere.
Dense weed is hampering the zig float from rising. It's taken me several attempts to get the thing out there and I still can not get the damn thing up to the surface although the pop-up is clearly visible and I've managed to pull it a couple of feet below the surface.
Fish moved all night but I failed to get anything. Feel I should have caught but didn't and I can not understand why. Very disappointed.
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| Rocky and Monkey don't think much of the way Andy has fished this session. Neither does Andy... |
The weather is really strange; we've gone from boiling hot to freezing cold. It reminds me of what it was like last November!
07.00
There's so much Curly Pondweed out there it's making getting the zig float up through it extremely problematic. I'm probably better off bottom fishing on my clear spot although this has produced just a solitary Bream up to now.
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| Curly-Pondweed, or at least a member of that family. |
The Lockdown of course has made all of us alter our behaviours in one way or another. The club, in order to re-open for fishing has had to initiate certain safety measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus such as social distancing, not meeting in swims, that sort of thing. To prevent transmission from surfaces, we cannot touch the main gate and the Portaloos have been shut. This latter has caused a major inconvenience and a rule has been implemented that all members must now come equipped with a bucket in which to deposit the contents of their rectal cavities! This must be taken home at the end of the session. Although this is an outwardly practical solution to a practical problem, it has certain (painful) drawbacks.
Squatting on my bucket this morning the rim cut into my bottom something terrible! I'm sure this arrangement is suitable for those light of stature but for those of us carrying a little more weight than the average it is a positively tortuous process!
An annular crease is now etched into my nether regions which I hope is only temporary!
Oh what joy!..
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