Pro Fishing Tackle

Well after the last couple of weeks intermittent weather, I returned to Kilworth for the regular sunday open.
The last few matches there have seen the fish spawning, and the catch rates being very erratic.
So, after the last few days being a bit more settled, I was hoping the fish would be in a feeding mood.
I drew peg 17, on the bottom end of Currans loop, and having had the odd win, and framed a couple of times I felt that I stood a chance.
Lately I have been catching more fish down the middle of the lake rather than fishing tight to the island, and when I arrived at my peg, I saw clouds of silt being churned up right infront of me!
I set up 3 rigs, one for the margins off to my right infront of peg 16, and 2 rigs for 6-7m, one for pellet/corn, the other for paste.
On the off, I cupped in some corn and pellet on the 6m line and then a large amount of 6mm pellets into the margin swim.
I went in on the 6m line and within 20 minutes, had a small carp, but nothing else.
Odd??
I gave the margin line a quick look, with corn on the hook and within moments of the float settling, it shot under, and fish number 2 was on!
This was a little bigger than the first at around 2 lb, good start.
I let the margin swim settle and went back out on the 6m line, but strangely, even though I was getting quick dips on the float, I couldnt connect with anything.
Thinking that the swim may be full of very small fish, I tried paste.
Nothing, the float sat motionless.
Back in again on a 4mm pellet, and the float flew away!
It turned out to be a stockie carp of 8 oz, but after that, nothing more showed.
I refed the 6m line and left it to settle and went back into the margins.
Again, within seconds, the foat shot away, and an angry carp bolted up the lake.
Fish number 4 was a lovely 4lb mirror.
For the next hour or so, I managed to get a nice string of fish together by feeding a few 6mm pellets every put in.
I estimated around 20 lb in the net by 1pm, and by having a quick look around it didnt look like anyone else was doing brilliantly, but I couldnt see the top end of the lake, so was unsure how they were doing.
I was determined to draw the fish into the 6m line, as normally, when they arrive, thay are the larger stamp of fish, and on paste you can sort out the better ones alot quicker.
I tried everything, but to no avail.
So, at 2pm, I decided to close that line down and feed a new area off to my right, instead of the left, at the same distance.
Within 5 minutes, I could see bubbles starting to rise in the new swim, so went out with corn. The breeze had got up a little by now, so the tow was beginning to drag the float slightly, but this must have been a good thing because the second drift through, and the float dipped slightly, instinctively I struck, and the elastic shot out of the end of the pole!
After a long battle, I slipped the net under a big common carp of around 6lb, thats more like it!!
In again on corn, and the same happened, a slight dip, and a quick lift of the pole saw elastic pouring from the tip….again, a good fish, another common of 6 lb+.
If this kept going, I would be looking at 70 lb!
But, as happens at this lake, things can change very quickly.
As I say, the last few matches, I have caught very well down the middle, and very little in the margins, but today, it seemed that it was the other way around, because after those 2 fish, the middle line went dead.
With 1 1/2 hours left, I was thinking the best bet was to stick on the line that had produced the most fish, rather than sit it out for the odd lump, so back in on the margin line.
I fed a few 6mm pellets as I dropped the float in, and I never saw it again!
There was an almighty crash under the platform of peg 16, and before I knew what was going on, I saw my elastic wrapping around one of the legs!
A few moments later, the line went slack, and my connector shot back into the end of my pole, minus the whole rig!
Quickly I put on a new rig and plumbed up.
I refed, and went back in.
I took 3 more fish before things went quiet again, so went back out onto the 6m line.
With 45 minutes to go, I had one more fish on this line, a very angry common of about 8lb!
I went to unhook it in the net, and saw something else in there with it…it was rig I had lost earlier, both hooks were squarely in its top lip. Nice!
Fish, plus my float back.
Well, I finished off the match in the margin, and by 4.30 was hopeful, and estimated around 45 lb in my nets.
I was last to be weighed, and with a weight of 37 lb to beat, I had everything crossed that my estimations on the larger fish were good ones.
Well, I was happy when my total was called.
51 lb exactly!
Enough to win comfortably.
There were a few better weights than of late with a couple of 30 lb plus bags and mid 20’s.
So, things have picked up a little, lets hope they continue.
It just goes to show though, that no matter how many times you fish this lake, you can never guarantee you ve sussed it!
Ok, so its not a bagging water, and you wont go pulling 100 lb bags out of there every time you go, but thats the great thing about it, it makes you think a bit…..and keeps you thinking..

Tight lines for now,

Steve O.

On bank holiday monday (May 25th), myself and Mick turned our attentions to Shearsby Valley lakes (formerly CJ’s) in Leicestershire.
This was the second pairs match, and after my extremely poor efforts on the last one, where I had weighed an embarrassing 6 lb 10 oz from Willow lake, I was hoping for a half decent draw! This time, the match was to be held just on Alders lake, with one anglers from each pair on either side.
Well, when we arrived, a few others were already there, looking a little dispondant…..Alders lake was alive with carp, but they were spawning!
This meant that it would be very peggy. We knew that some would catch in certain areas were the island was within easy reach, but where it was wider, and 16m of pole was required, it would be a lot more difficult.

After a hearty breakfast in the new clubhouse, the draw was made. I quite fancied the pegs from 12-15, as they are a little narrower and 13m of pole will see you getting to the island, plus there were a few more gaps in the islands, which is always a good draw.
I was to be fishing the connifer side (the low number pegs) and Mick was to draw on the high numbers. Mick went in and he pulled peg 41. Not the best area, but on the last few times I have been on that ake, I have drawn in the mid 30’s and always found a few fish down the middle, so he wasnt too worried.
I hung to the back of the queue, and was the last to draw on my bank…
With most of the pegs gone, my chances of drawing in my fancied area were slim, in went my hand, and peg 14 stuck to my mit!
I was happy with that, and although I knew that I wouldnt be in a winning area, I thougt I had a chance of keeping up.
I got to my peg, and nothing could have prepared me for the sight I saw….I was on a gap in the islands, and it was absoloutely solid with carp crashing!
Well, I set up 4 rigs. One set very shallow for the far bank, 2 rigs for down the middle (one for peet/corn one for paste) and one for the inside margin to my left just under a small tree.
The all in sounded, and I potted in 2 cups of hemp and corn on the middle line, one cup of 6mm pellet and corn on the inside, and then just catapulted a few 4mm pellets over to the island.
My first line of attack was the far line, to try and snare a few fish as they were swimming past and knew that that with everyone targetting them they would soon back off and move into areas that you couldnt get to.
I was getting lots of dips on the float from the off, but hooking them was a problem, as the fish were going past so fast that most of the signs were line bites.
After 5 minutes,I hit my first fish, a nice mirror of around 3 lb.
After that, and the commotion that the fish made, the swim went quiet.
In went the middle line with corn on the hook. I started getting a few knocks and taps, but put alot of it down to liners again.
My mate Mick was actually almost opposite me, and I had seen him have a couple of early fish, and as I was looking over to him, my pole was nearly ripped out of my hands! After a 3 minute battle, I slipped a nice common carp into the net, I estimated it at around 6 lb. Not a bad start.
I refed the middle line with a few more bits of corn, and went back onto it.
A couple of minutes later the float sailed away, and I was in again! Another 6 lber was soon landed.
I was feeling confident tht there were a few fish in the swim, as there were alot of bubbles coming up.
I sat it out on that line for another half an hour but nothing happened. I tried pellet, corn, paste, nothing!
Well, for the next 5 hours I struggled for a bite, and only managed to snare the odd fish from the far line on corn shallow.
Mick had had a similar day, and weighed 18 lb 14 oz, I weighed slightly more with 25 lb 8 oz giving us a total of 44 lb 6 oz and leaving us in 13th position of 16! Oh dear..

Well, cant win em all, but the well deserved winners had a total of 201 lb!

So, its back to Kilworth for the next couple of weeks for the regular opens. Hopefully I ll fair a little better.

Tight lines…
Steve O.

Thursday saw me returning to Kilworth, this time on Currans loop.
Sadly only 4 turned up yesterday, after a few dropping out at the last minute, so we decided on pegging well spaced out, and using the lower end from pegs 9 to 27.
The wind was only slight, but rain was threatening again.
I drew peg 13, and was happy, as I had won from peg 17 a couple of weeks ago by fishing at around 6m in the deeper water.
I set up 2 rigs for 6m, one for fishing corn or pellet, and another for paste.
I potted in a good amount of corn and pellet, and went in on the corn. Within 2 minutes I had my first fish of the day, a roach of around 10 oz!
A bag of those all day would be nice.
Second put in saw me connect with a carp of around 3 lb.
Then it got frustrating. Iwas getting plenty of bites, but couldnt hit them.
I switched to a 6mm pellet, and started to connect with a few fish, mostly being small stockie carp of around 6-8 oz.
I refed at this point to see if I could entice a few larger fish to come in and muscle the small stuff out.
It worked, and I was soon getting a few better fish, with the best going to 4lb.
When the larger fish started to show, I switched to paste, but again, I was getting bites but not being able to hit them.
I felt that the problem was small fish. They were picking at the paste so hard that by the time the float had gone under, there was nothing left on the hook for them to actually eat!
I decided at this point to make a stiffer paste mix. My theory being that the small stuff wouldnt be able to obliterate it before the bigger fish had time to get a look in.
It worked!
Meanwhile it had been raining on and off all day, and I was boiling hot one minute, then wet and cold the next!
At 4.30, the all out was called, and after a last minute fish of around 2 lb, I weighed 49 lb 8 oz!
Dean had struggled from peg 9, having been fishing tight over to the island most of the day, and didnt bother weighing in, the chap to my left had 25 lb, and the other guy didnt bother weighing in, after having only the small stockies in his swim all day!

So, another win.
Ive been very lucky there lately, and feel like Im starting to get to grips with the venue.
Dean is holding a 2 day festival there soon, so it should be an interesting weekend to see how the lakes react to alot of pressure.
I ll be returning on sunday, and on bank holiday monday I will be returning to Shearsby Valley lakes (formerly CJ’s) for the return pairs match.
Hopefuly I ll draw a half decent peg, and manage more than the 6 lb 10 oz I had the last time!

Till then, tight lines.

Steve O

Last sunday saw me return to Kilworth Sticks for the regular open, this time on Lizzies Carp lake.
On arrival, the wind was blowing, but it was bearable most of the way round the lake. The pegs were allocated, and I have to admit I did fancy the far side pegs, as the wind was blowing straight down to that side, and when I drew peg 14, I was happy with that.
As we settled into our homes for the day, things started to look a bit grim!
The rain started…..then it got worse, and the wind got up!
Braving it I set up 2 pole lines. One at around 9 meters out infront of me, n about 5ft of water, just off a ledge, with my thinking that with the wind coming into the swim, the fish would be following the underwater features.
The other was set on my right under a tree in about 2ft. Hopefully there would be a few fish routing around under there!
I also, as a back up, set up a feeder rod to fish to the island, as there had been a few fish topping in the shallows.

Hookbait was mainly to be Corn, but I had maggots as a backup ready, just incase.

The all in was sounded, and knowing that on ths lake you need to feed quite heavily to keep the fish interested, I fed 2 large pots of pellet, corn and some hemp onto the 9m line, and again on the margin swim.

I et the poe lines settle for 10 minutes, and plonked the feeder over to the island. After 5 minutes, I had a little rattle on the tip, but nothing hittable, so recast.
On went a small bit of corn, and I managed to get the feeder just where I wanted it.
I saw a few fish topping close to the island, but for some reason I wasnt getting any bites, not even line bites!

Dean a few pegs away from me had already had 2 bites on the pole, and lost a fish, so I decided that I would give the 9m line a quick try.
I dropped the float in, and found that the tow on the water had increased so much that my float was settling about 3ft further to the left than where I put it in, so I increased the depth slightly to make sure the hook was well on the bottom, and went out again.
Within 2 minutes, the float lifted slightly, then shot under taking the elastic out of the pole with it!

Fish number one was brought to the net just as Dean hooked one, and also Darryl on the far side hooked one!
I went back out on corn, and after what seemed like mere seconds, the float shot away again!
Nice! 2 put ins and 2 fish.
Things were looking good.
Just as I landed number 2 the rain suddenly stopped, the wind died down and the sun came out.
Nice as it was to start drying out, it did nothing positive to the fishing.
After another half an hour, I had only had one more bite, and missed it.
I gave the feeder another try, and dropped it further away from the island in the deeper water to see if they had gone deeper.
I sat back and waited…
After about 5 minutes, the rod tip flicked, then flew round, I picked up the rod, and leaned into the fish only for it to shed the hook after about 5 seconds.
Back out to the same spot, this time with Maggot on the hook, but no further action came from it.
For the next 3 hours I struggled for a bite on the pole in either swim, with the margin swim producing nothing at all.
The wind got up again, and the rain started absoloutely hammering down. To say my feet were wet was an understatement (I had left my boots in the garage)
Well, after the full six hours, I had managed to snare just one small carp on the feeder, and 5 carp on the 9m line, after the wind had gotten so bad that holding the pole still had become impossible.
The weigh in saw me put around 25 lb lb on the scales, Dean had 22 lb and Daryl had around 12 lb.
The winning weights came from the low numbers with the winner having 39 lb and second with 34 lb.
A few oth the others managed low double figure weights.
Ok, so the fishing wasnt brilliant, but then again nor was the weather!

Last weekend I travelled down to Monk Lakes in Kent for a charity match.
It was all in aid of a young lady called Faye. She has become a sort of mascott for the MaggotDrowning.com forums, and is a very poorly, but strong girl.

My day started at around 5am, and I was in the car by 5.30 and on my way, Sat Nav programmed in with “Darn Sarf” as the address

Along the way, my phone beeped, and when i pulled into the services for a cuppa, I found a message from Nomorelongwalks, wishing me a safe journey

Back on the road, and I made it to the lakes at around 8.15am amd was quickly greeted by Dave Collier.

It was nice to meet up with Dave again, and I quickly shook hands with a few other rejects fellow MDers before grabbing a quick cup of coffee, and then finally meeting Bill “Not quite so hairy now” G

A quick natter and a few final tips of the day, and the draw was under way

In went my hand and for the umpteenth time this year I was told I had drawn a “Flyer”

Pegg 66 was my home for the following 5 hours, and after nearly tipping my kit into the lake on the footbridge I made the furthest walk to the end peg!

Now, you have to realise that I have my screen name (Badpegpicker) for a reason. Its not so much that I have an uncanny knack for drawing Bad Pegs, its more that I can draw them, but rarely do I ever manage to perform off them

Anyhow, after several people had come over and told me that I was on one of the best pegs on the lake, I was beginning to feel a bit of pressure
I did quite fancy it to hold a few fish…….

There was however, as is the norm for me, one slight problem in the form of an aerator!

Anyhow, even though the tow was like a river in flood on my right hand side, infront of me at about 6m was alot slower, and I found about 5ft of water.
I set up 3 rigs, one for 6m, one for my left on my top 2 close in, and one for the “River swim”.

The all in sounded at 10, and I potted in a large amount of 4mm pellet, meat and corn on the 6m line, then a few handulls of pellet on the left margin, and then a pot og meat in the river.

I didnt have to wait long for my first fish, and after 2 missed bites I was into my first feisty carp of around a pound.

I carried on for the first hour to get roughly 15 lb in the net, and even snared a lovely Bream to boot
Things slowed on the 6m line, so I dropped in the left margin with a bit of meat, and had 2 carp of around 2 lb in 2 drops. Then it went dead
Back in on the 6m line and I refed a pot of pellet, and I was back in.

Hi,
First, apologies for the long gap between my postings.
Secondly, it s been a busy few weeks, and being out of work Ive found alot of spare time to get out on the bank.

In short, I have been fishing most sundays and thursdays at Kilworth Sticks, with varied success. Ive had a coupe of wins, and a few 2nds and 3rds.
The fishing itself has been sporadic, and some days you cant fail to catch, and others you find yourself scratching your head, wondering where all the fish have gone!

I also fished at Shearsby Valley lakes (formerly known as CJ’s) in Saddington in a pairs match a couple of weeks ago.

The day started well, with everyone turning up on time, and having a great breakfast in the new Clubhouse.
The match was to be fished with one of the pair on the Alders lake, and the other on the Willows lake.
My partner for the day, Keith Haynes, was on Alders, and drew peg 39,about halfway along the lake. I was on Willow and drew on the narrow side on peg 8.

We both knew as soon as we drew our pegs that we were going to struggle to compete for any sort of placing, but we went off to do our best.
On arriving at my peg, I realised that peg 8 was where Keith had sat on a pleasure session a week or so before, and had emptied it with over 80 carp and a load of roach!

I knew that on a match day, everything would be totally different, and with peg 7 to my left being occupied, I would only really have the bank of the island and the gap in the island to fish to.
The one small bonus was that pgs 9 and 10 were empty, so I would have no disturbance from that side, so a long margin swim was set up infront of peg 9, another out infront of me at 6m, and a shallow rig for the island, and the gap.
The all in was sounded, and in I went on the shalow line. I managed one small roach and a small mirror carp in the first hour!
Not very prolific at all.
The chap next to me on peg 7 was getting the odd fish tight to the island, but with it being so tight between us, he was having trouble stopping the fish from coming into my swim when he hooked them, so natursally my 6m swim was never going to produce!
Well, after 3 hours, it was apparent that I was going to come absoloutely nowhere, and no matter what and where I tried, only one more foul hooked carp and 2 more small roach fell for my hookbaits.
At the end of the match, i weighed in a measly 6 lb 10 oz.
Keith weighed a modest 66 lb from Alders, but it was never enough to compete.
The winners on each lake had just over or just under the 100 lb mark.

Oh well, come te 25th of May, Im doing it all over again, but with a different partner, Mick.
The match is to be fished on just the Alders lake, and one partner on each side of the lake.
Im just hoping its not going to be a flat calm hot day, as it becomes dominated by fishing tight to the island by dapping bread…..NOT my favourite method.

Sunday found Mick, Sam, Colin, Dal and myself all on our way to Stanwick Lakes for a pleasure fishing trip, we turned up to find it pretty quiet on the Swan lake except there was Mick over on the far side with five carp already in his net (nice). Colin was already there but on the near side with nothing in his net. I set up with double sweetcorn on the hair I was in within 20mins, a cracking bream, it then all slowed down for a while, as I stared into the sky I saw movement in the corner of my eye, it was my rod about to take off into the water, I just caught it and struck the rod and it was Fish On, a nice carp and a super finish to the day. Stanwick is one of my favorite places to fish giving you a wide variety of lakes to fish.

I was beginning to worry about myself!
In 2 matches I have drawn 2 pegs that I actually wanted!!!
Last Sunday I drew peg 21 on Currans Loop at Kilworth Sticks, and then on Thursday I drew peg 4 on the snake lake Lambies!
Thursday was a bit of a poor turn out with only 4 of being there. Not really a good way to test the lake for match conditions. Still, as I’ve fished Lambies in all sorts of weather on pleasure days and always had a good net of fish on peg 4, I thought I had it sussed.
How wrong can you be?
VERY!
I sat almost bite less for 5 hours, and only managed to get 2 fish for a paltry 2 lb!
I couldn’t buy a bite.
The chap on peg 8 did well, and was into fish for most of the day, and had 26 lb. Dean won the day with about 36 lb, mainly catching off the top with bread.
Still, it was a lovely day with plenty of sunshine.
Sunday and all was set for Cjs on Alders lake.
The wind was slight, and we were on the far side pegs, 27-51. I knew that with the wind blowing towards the top end that the lower number pegs were the ones with the best chance.
I may have mentioned before that on this lake, I have a few “bogey” pegs. 46-49. Why I have no idea, but I have never done very well on them.
In went my hand and guess what? Yep, 46 came out. I trudged to my peg knowing that I didn’t stand a chance of getting much as there is no gap between the islands, and peg 47 is not very far away to the right with the gap, meaning if the angler on 47 fishes the left hand side of the gap, then the fish wouldn’t come past him to me!
Well, there was a small upside as peg 45 on my left wasn’t in the draw, so I had at least got some chance of fish coming from that side.
I plumbed up to the island and found about 8 inches of water, but the wind started to pick up, and I knew that holding the pole at 14.5m was going to be tricky. I set another line up to my left at around 13m and found 3ft of water, just off the far shelf, and then the obligatory margin rig. I also had brought with me my short bomb rod, and that was to be a tester line, dropping it in random areas to the island, and just off it to snare lone fish.
I kicked off on the bomb line, and within 2 minutes had my first fish, a small mirror.
Back out, and nothing more happened. Out with the far line, and found that although I was getting signs of fish, the wind had now picked up so much that keeping the pole still was impossible.
Well, for 2 hours I struggled to get a bite, having only 1 fish on the far line, and one more on the bomb rod so I put out the 13m line and had a few fish off there untill the wind got the better of me again.
The margins produced nothing. I was getting desperate. I took a gamble with 3 hours to go and set up a new line at 8m straight out in front of me down the middle of the lake, not the place that normally produces much, but if I was to catch anything it was a last resort.
I plumbed up, and tipped in a large pot of corn and 4mm pellets, and left it for 10 minutes.
I put in and within 2 minutes had my first fish. Out again, and 2 minutes and another fish.
This carried on for about half an hour, but with the wind picking up even more, keeping the float still was becoming impossible again. I took off the rig, and put on a heavier float with 6lb line straight through to a 14 hook. Things went quiet for a few periods, but I managed to get a few more fish out and by the end of the match I had 40 lb 11oz!
I had done enough for 4th place overall, and for the first time on that lake won my section!
I went away happy with that.
The match was won with 108 lb, second was 83 lb, and 3rd had 53 lb.
A lot of people struggled to get more than 20 lb, but on a day where the weather threw everything it could at us, it didn’t surprise anyone.
Well, this Thursday will see me returning to Kilworth on Currans loop.
Until then,
Tight lines, and thanks for reading.
Steve O

So,
Back to Kilworth again today, for the open match on Currans loop.
After Thursdays effort, and a near miss with 3rd place I wanted another stab at it.
My mate Mike and his dad George had also made the trip, and when we arrived at the complex Currans loop was looking very inviting. Flat calm in most areas with just a slight ripple at the bottom end. We had a quick walk around the lake, and all of us fancied the mid teen pegs and the early twenties.
I had my heart set on peg 21, no particular reason, other than on the Thursday it had looked like it was holding fish.
The time came for the draw, and Dean said that today we would be fishing a 6 hour match instead of the normal 5, as the fish seemed to be feeding better later in the day. So the start time was set at 10.30 till 4.30.
When it came to my turn for the draw, I couldn’t believe my luck!
Peg 21! At last, I had drawn a peg that I actually fancied!
I nearly ran to my peg, feeling confident already.
I sat down and looked across to the island which was about 13.5m away and saw signs of fish there already.
Peg 21 is the end swim on the far bank, and to the right in the margins it has a nice depth of around 1 ½ ft.
I set up the usual 3 lines. One across to the island, one at about 12m in the deeper water, and one for the margins.
Hook bait for the day on all 3 lines would be corn, and feed would be mainly 4mm pellets and corn.
At the all in I potted in a few bits of corn and a decent amount of 4mm pellet on the far line, then in the deeper water went red maggot and pellet.
The margin line had a good dollop of corn and red maggot.
I went out to the island with corn on the hook, and within 3 minutes I had my first fish of the day, a small common carp of 1lb.
Out again and I had a better common of about 2lb.
Nice start. Then, my fears of a repeat of Thursdays match began to take place. The swim went dead.
I re fed and had a quick go on the 12m line. Nothing showed there, so I had a quick peek in the margins.
2 minutes later, and the float slipped away, and fish number 3 was on.
This wasn’t a small one! It took me 10 minutes to get the fish to the net, and it was well worth the wait, a nice big common carp of 6lb.
I thought I’d give it another try in the margin, and within 5 minutes I had another fish of the same size.
Things were looking up.
I tried in the margin once more, but nothing happened so I went back out to the island and first put in resulted in a fish.
For the next hour or so I took a string of fish ranging from 1/2lb to 3 lb.
Things slowed after that, and though I was still getting a few fish, I was far from “bagging”.
I kept plugging away at the island line, as 2 swans decided that they liked what I was putting into the margin line far more than the fish did!
I found that feeding by catapult rather than using the cupping kit was the best way to keep a few bites coming, feeding a little and often.
By 4.30 and the all out, I estimated 50-60lb in the net, and when I weighed in, I was very pleased, and had just over 60lb!
I knew that my mate Mike had been catching a lot of fish, but he said that they were very small.
When we got to his nets, he was right! He had 84 fish for 37lb!
That put me into first place and him second.
So, my patience had paid off, I was well chuffed.
Weights all round the lake were better than they had been of late, so things are definitely starting to pick up at Kilworth.
This Thursday theres another midweek open there, but its going to be on Lambies lake, which is a small snake lake, and very narrow.
I must admit, I do like that lake, as Ive had some great pleasure days on there, so Im looking forward to it.
Until then, as always,
Tight lines
Steve O

This Thursday saw me attempting the mid week open Currans loop at Kilworth Sticks.
I hadn’t definitely planned to go, but with the weather picking up for the most of the week, I thought it would stand me in good stead for the match there on Sunday.
The wind was quite fierce in the car park, but as there are plenty of trees surrounding the lake, the top end was practically flat calm, with the bottom pegs only having a gentle breeze across them.
Currans loop is as its name suggests. A long oval lake with a central island that is reachable from all pegs with around 14.5m of pole.
I quite fancied peg 3, which is at the top end, and just off the narrow cornered peg 2. There is a small footbridge between pegs 1 and 2, and from peg 3 you could quite easily reach into peg 2, where normally there are a lot of fish hanging around the bridge.
However, as is the norm for me, peg 27 stuck to my grubby mitt.
Not really where I wanted to be, but as I was the last angler on that bank, I thought I had a fair chance. I trudged to my peg, and set up 3 lines of attack. One line would be across to the island in the shallower water, a middle line in the deeper water, being 4ft, and a margin line to a small cut back tree on my right that had a nice fishy looking patch of weed in front of it.

At the all in, I cupped in a few bits of corn along with some micro pellets into the far line, some 4mm pellets and red maggots onto the middle line, and then in the margin, a good cup full of 4mm pellets, and corn.
I went out to the island first off, and within a minute I had my first bite. I missed that one!
Back out with corn on the hook again I connected with my 1st fish of the day. A small carp of 6oz.
Not a massive fish, but Dean has only recently moved a huge amount of small stock fish from their own stock ponds, so it’s good to know that they are settled and have started to feed.
Back in, and within moments, my corn was snapped up and fish number 2 was on!
Again, it was a small carp, but at this point I was the only angler getting regular fish, so anything was better than nothing.
Over the course of the 1st hour, I had a fish virtually every put in, and managed to get a coupe of better stamp fish running up to 3lb, standing me in good form.
However……..
After the second hour, things started to slow down dramatically. I began struggling for a bite, let alone a fish.
I tried all 3 lines, but only the middle line produced any bites, but I missed those!
In the last 2 hours I didn’t have one bite!
Where did they all go?????
By the end of the match it was obvious that the fish had followed the wind, and settled in the mod teen pegs at the bottom end of the lake. I weighed in just over 27 lb, putting me 3rd overall, and 2nd had 30 plus lb, and 40 plus won it.
Oh well.
I was close, again. I just hope that Sundays match proves to be a bit more evenly spread.
Till then,
Tight lines,
Steve O