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.