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Diary Of A
Matchman Part 7
by
Giles Cochrane
Cont. . .d
Wednesday evening open
Seven Oaks
On my third visit to the fishery I was looking forward to catching some fish as the previous week was very promising and my theory about the feeding habits of carp proved to be dead right. I have said that, in the majority of fisheries, where there is a prolific head of carp, they do not feed in depths of over six feet for very long periods and it is far better to fish closer and in shallow water. By searching for the shelves you are more likely to get a good weight because it is where the carp look for food naturally. Even though you are actually fishing at half the distance that everyone else is.
The conditions for this latest match were even better as it was really hot with a high pressure that had dominated for the past week so the carp were going to be feeding well. When I arrived at the fishery, the match organiser asked me would I peg it for him because he didn't really understand why some pegs are better than others, so I agreed to do it for him. The matches are only three hours so we wanted everyone to catch a few fish and the pegs were evenly spaced to give everyone some room.
As I got to the lake I could see that it was absolutely 'solid' with carp in the fist two pegs on the lake. I asked Lee (the organiser) were these pegs shallower? and he said that they were. I decided to put two pegs in there and I really fancied drawing it. The rest of the pegs had plenty of room but I didn't really want to be in the far corner because they were a little too deep for what I was going to do.
As soon as everybody was there, Lee announced where it had been pegged and someone started to complain even before he drew it. It was the two pegs in the shallow water but I can understand his objection that they had never really framed much, but my argument was that they had never been fished when it was this hot before! I wanted them in, everyone else wanted them in too, but in the end I said to leave them out because I didn't want anyone moaning. I drew to the right of them in the deep water, which I didn't fancy but I thought I would catch nevertheless.
I only set up three inside rigs because I was not going to fish deeper than 18inches on any line as that was the depth at which most carp were feeding. The guy that complained about the pegs, drew down the other end and fished the waggler - SHALLOW! It really made me laugh because he didn't want a shallow peg but it just goes to show that there is a fair amount of ignorance in this game.
I fed two lines, left and right near to the bank with caster, but the method I used was really good for carp. There are a lot of ducks at the venue and when you cup in bait they pick off any floating casters so I just used that idea to catch carp. I was cupping in about ten or fifteen casters (floaters) and when the ducks had been there for a few minutes, I dropped the rig in with a worm on the hook and as the pole went over their heads, the ducks would swim over to the other line and I would hook the carp that had been swimming under the ducks, without feeding them.
I would get three in three chucks and then have to switch to the other line until the ducks returned. The method worked really well and I ended up weighing 79lb in three hours. The complaining clown who fished shallow had the cheek to say that I didn't fancy the peg either, but I am looking forward to using the method on a good draw which I do fancy. The match record is 83lb for a five-hour match, so that shouldn't be there for long. Lee was second with 42lb and Phil Weaver was third with 41lb, they were each side of the guy who moaned which I thought was funny. I went into the tackle shop in the week and they had all heard about the pegging problems from different people who had come in for bait, but they all said there was no problem with it and they have asked me to peg it again this week. Pegging seems to be as bone of contention these days wherever I fish, but the question remains unanswered; if the people who complain about the pegging know so much about fishing, how is it that they never win any money?
Wednesday Evening
Seven Oaks
Following on from the previous evening's fluke at the canal, I thought I would try to get to grips with a local carp fishery as last week I didn't sort the venue out until it was too late. Last Wednesday I fished the match but I had never seen the venue before so it was not until the end that I discovered what the fish wanted to eat and where they are in the pegs.
Anyway I got in the car and set off into deepest darkest Wales and hoped I could remember how to get there again, as you don't really want to be asking directions from people who cannot speak English. I remember getting lost a few years ago near a place called Llantrisant and that was a very scary experience. We asked some bloke on the side of the road and he gave us some directions, but seemed confused about it so he shouted to someone else in the street, who then called someone else. Before long there were ten people leaning in through the car window. I couldn't help noticing that many of the place names began with a double letter, as in Llantrisant, I thought perhaps they were named by someone with a stutter? Living proof that the Druids have been interfering with sheep.
I took my eldest son with me, as he wanted to fish this match. Sam is only 12 but I want to encourage him into the match scene without the financial considerations of 'pools' money. He fishes the matches but I only pay for a day ticket for him. I got there and was greeted by the usual gathering of Cardiff anglers who are a really good bunch of lads, down to earth and always up for a laugh and they were just sorted out the pegging. I drew peg 12, which is halfway along the left-hand bank with the wind over my left shoulder but with every peg in on that side it was going to be tight. The whistle went and everybody started to cup in on the long pole line at about 11 meters. The only problem is that the water at that distance is about nine feet deep, which, in my opinion is too deep to catch carp when there is a shelf at between five and six meters which is four feet deep.
I decided to put a pot of caster at 11 meters stop the anglers either side having too much room but I didn't really fancy it that much. I was feeding caster over the top but I was getting no signs whatsoever, so I decided that I would put some chopped worm in on one line to see if it made a difference. The venue is full of carp but there are big bream, tench, roach and rudd in the pool and the majority of anglers feed pellets so I am usually reluctant to put worm in because carp tend to back off it until they get used to it.
On this occasion it worked a treat because as soon as I put a little in, I started to get bites. The first few bites were rudd then I had a carp about 6lb. The peg went quiet so I had a chuck on the big waggler and second chuck it buried. Another 6lb carp but then I had no more indications so it was back on the pole again. I wasn't happy about fishing in that depth of water so I came in to the six-meter line and cupped in some worm and caster there too. The float buried after about twenty seconds in the swim and I had another carp, which came off the hook. The fish were definitely on that top shelf but I was the only angler fishing it so I decided to give them some bait and in went three pots of caster and worm.
The fish responded immediately and I had three carp in three chucks then nothing so it was just a case of putting some in and waiting for the fish to find it. These fish really have a go when you hook them so I had to have a few sections made up behind me to put on. The peg didn't look very good at all, as there was no ripple and no signs of any fish, but they were there. It goes to show that these carp do not like the deeper water where everybody was fishing for them. The guy next to me fished the pellet and paste but all his carp were less than 2 lb. in weight as the bigger fish were on that shelf.
I ended up with nine carp for 50lb 7oz but I knew that Phil Weaver had nine too and his were bigger. He had drawn the opposite bank with four pegs to his left that were empty and a little room helps a lot. He weighed 60 lb. to win the match and I was second but I was confident that I could do a weight from anywhere on the pond now, so the next match should be a good one. The angler to my left had 20lb and the bloke on my right didn't weigh in and there were no other weights on that side of the pond. There was a 40lb weight, but that was in the corner next to Phil so it seems that fish are well spread out and that means there are no really good draws. A fair venue perhaps? We will have to see about that. Sam enjoyed it too, he was fishing the waggler but I think he realised that landing the carp is not as easy as it looks. He got one out about 7lb but lost four others. We all have to learn somehow though and the quickest way is to fish against better anglers. He wants to have another go at it next week too.
Giles
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