12/07/09 - Bullock Farm - Rushcombe Lake

Weight – 23lb 0oz
Catch – 25 Carp, 10 (goldfish, brown goldfish, F1)
Weather – Sunny, but windy
Water Temp– 19.0c > 20.5c
Match – Glenfall – 1st overall

There were 14 for today’s match and it would be on the island part of the lake. I had my concerns, because the island doesn’t get fished that much, except in matches. Most who fish the lake prefer the parts where you can park behind your peg, so with not as much feed going in would there be the any fish?

Ideally I wanted to draw the bottom end of the island near the bridge (when I say bridge I mean a few wooden sleepers!), plus the wind was blowing strongly down that end. As it happened I drew the top end, which at least meant I was out of the worst of the wind, but it was still going to be troublesome.

I started on the far side hoping for the carp to show straight away, but nothing. I wasn’t expecting the sort of session I had yesterday but this was poor. After 20 minutes I switched to the paste rig down the left hand side and as I looked around to see how everyone else was doing, my pole was yanked down as a big carp (well big for this lake) tried to snag me in the bush. A few minutes later a 4lb carp was safely landed, which was an excellent start, considering the average size of fish.

Unfortunately that carp was a false dawn and I only managed 1 more carp from the far side during the 1st hour. This was ridicules, I couldn’t believe I was struggling so badly! I kept feeding the far bank with 4mm and eventually a few carp started to show, but I wasn’t hooking many.

Time for a quick rethink. I stopped feeding the 4mm and tried fishing paste tight across to provide a target bait. It worked and I started to catch, not quickly, but at least I was catching. However going into the 3rd hour the wind was becoming troublesome, buffeting the pole, pulling the hook out of the paste. In hindsight I persisted a bit too long trying to keep on the paste, although I couldn’t catch on corn or pellet either.

At the half way stage the grapevine suggested my 12 carp was leading the way, which I found hard to believe because I was struggling badly. I needed to start catching again, so I fed further along the far bank, hoping the fish had simply moved. The problem with Rushcombe Lake, other than the lack of depth was the far bank is covered with overhanging vegetation, so you have to fish a short line, which was difficult in the wind. So I decide to try double maggot, which the fish were more willing to accept when it’s blowing.

This worked and I started to catch again, admittedly the average size of fish had dropped, but at least I was catching. When the wind dropped I caught a few more fish on paste, but I had to keep rotating swims and baits to keep them coming. The near margin only produced a couple of fish, which was surprising.

During the weigh in it became obvious the fishing had been hard for most. The wind had made things difficult, but I’m convinced there wasn’t that many fish in this part of the lake. As it turned out I had won very convincingly, with Graham coming 2nd with 10lb 7oz and Ian was 3rd with 10lb 1oz.

In the individual league, I moved slightly further ahead

1st Ken Rayner 93pts
2nd Ian Pople 89
3rd Graham Beevor 87
4th Andy Lord 84
5th Chris Davidge 79

11/07/09 - Bullock Farm - Rushcombe Lake

Weight – 62lb 7oz
Catch – 76 Carp, 30 (goldfish, brown goldfish, F1)
Weather – Warm, muggy, mostly cloudy
Water Temp– 19.0c > 20.0c

Today was a practice session for tomorrows club match. On past experience I knew there was loads of small goldfish, as well as small carp and to put together a competitive weight you need to catch more carp. Being a snake lake it is only 10m wide and 1½ft deep down the middle, so it’s a classic hole in the ground!

1st hour – spent time trying to catch goldfish short on maggot, feeding sloppy groundbait & maggot. Initially struggled to catch, but eventually caught really shallow although I bumped a few, because the fish had come so shallow and I need a much shorter float for tomorrow. 29 fish caught.

2nd hour – had regularly fed 4mm pellets towards the far bank, as well as handful down the left hand margin every 15 minutes. I started on the paste down the left margin and caught 8 carp straight away, before the goldfish started nailing the paste on the way down. Unfortunately toss potting pellet with the paste brought too many small fish into the swim, so I abandoned that line switching to the far side. The far side was only 6 inches deep and I used the smallest dibber I could find, using corn or 6mm expander. Initially had trouble foul hooking fish, so I started to feed a 2nd swim against the far bank to help spread the shoal. 13 fish.

3rd hour – a further 15 carp followed from the far side, but it was frustrating with too many missed bites which where mostly liners.

4th hour – sussed it! Sorted my feeding and found it best to feed 1 swim then fish the other. 26 carp.

5th hour – time to try the paste again. I continued feeding the left hand margin every 15 minutes with a handful of 4mm, but stopped feeding when I started fishing, relying solely on the paste. 23 fish followed and the average size was slightly better than the far side.

I decided to cut the session short as I could see the skies getting greyer, however I wasn’t quick enough and I got drenched as I weighed in.

I was pleased with the weight, because it’s my best from the lake, but frustrated with the missed bites and lost fish. However, quite a bit learned, particularly regarding the best rigs and I it was the first time I used paste on the lake.