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3 Men per team. Please ring John if your interested in putting a team in.

Carp Under the Ice

Sunday 3rd January 2010

Round 4 of the Winter league saw the lake being frozen again. The carp could be seen swimming under the ice. Slightly earlier the draw got under way as to allow time for Ice Breaking. Some of the pegs on the car park bank had been fished the day before so they wouldn’t need much breaking but one peg didn’t need any, peg 34.. Ian McCullock drew it but still went and helped other break the ice. Fair play.

I would not say Winter fishing is a spectators sport but 2 people came down to view the action (or lack of it)

Gemma Doyle trying to bring Simon some luck on peg 32.

Danny on peg 10 had his Dad for company.

Fishing was hard to say the least. Only 5 carp were caught during the match but also some were hooked and lost. Jon Walker on 26 managed 2 carp, Ian McCullock managed 1 from peg 34 and Derek Hammond on peg 24 managed 2 carp. Derek also managed to win with the help of those carp.

Results..

OVERALL LEADERBOARD

Simon’s Perch that he caught after just 1 minute.

Some of Jon Walkers Excellent Handmade Floats.

The next match is on the 17th January.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1WlaGNZhpg

Today was the 3rd Winter league match. This time I was to be fishing in C section, the little lake. There was a layer of ice over the lake also today so ice breaking was going to be needed for everyone. John wanted to get the draw done as quickly as possible to allow time for this. I have not had much ice breaking experience so this was going to be a learning curve for me.

At the draw since I was last in my section on match 2 meant I had what was left in the bag after everyone else from C Section had drawn, that was to be peg 4. I have fished peg before but that was in the summer. I had brought my trolley today with the possibility of a long walk.

First job when getting to my peg was to break the ice and make a nice area to fish in. I have to say even though it was freezing cold breaking ice soon warms you up.

My Icebreaker, the only thing I could find. Seem to do the job ok but needed a bit of chain on it which I did not have.

Pictures are click-able for larger version

Simps Ice Breaker

Peg 4

Ice broke out in front

Left Margin Swim

Right Margin swim which froze up again

It was a lovely sunny day. Shame peg 4 had a great big bush blocking the sun from me.

Sunny Day

Some of the ice, pushed the rest under the ice and platform.

I knew this was going to be a hard match and I was not wrong, at the all in I shipped out right in front of me with a single red maggot and waited for a bite and waited and waited. 15 mins later still not even a touch. I had thrown 2 maggots and 2 casters in my left margin swim and thought I would drop in there and see if it was any better. It was not but after an hour the float moved and then sank, the result was a 3oz perch. The smile on my face was massive.

I fed again and only had to wait another half an hour for another perch. By this time my feet were so cold I could not feel them so I decided to have a walk round the lake in a bid to warm up a bit. Walking round and talking to the other anglers it was clear to see just how hard it was fishing. A lot of people were blanking. So my 2 perch didn’t seem that bad after all.

After my walk I had warmed up and was ready to try again, without feeding I had another perch right away and slowly caught another 11 perch, 1 of which was nearly a lb. I was hoping for a carp to come along but they all seemed to be in hiding.

At the all out I felt like I had about 4lb but the scales revealed I had 3lb 4oz. I was not last in my section again and had managed to catch some fish so I was quite happy with that considering I have never broke ice before.

A few more pictures from the day and then the results…

Ian McCullock. C Section Winner.

Sunrise on the frozen lake.

John Bennett ice breaking.

The frozen Little lake.

Just before the results. John and Pauline had laid on some hot tomato soup and hotdogs for after the match. Many thanks for that, it was much needed.

Pauline handing out the Hotdogs.

The next match is on the 3rd January 2010. I am hoping for no ice hehe.

OVERALL LEADERBOARD

This morning saw the second winter league match. The weather at the lake was surprisingly nice. Clear sky’s with a slight wind from the car park bank over towards the motorway bank. The draw format was that the person that won each section on the first match drew first, second drew second and so on.

The draw was only a few minutes late today meaning the match was due to start at 10.15am and finish at 3.15pm.

After the first hour of the match it seems more carp were been caught today, mainly from the bar up in the top end of the big lake. Pegs 14 round to peg 24 were having plenty (for winter) of carp. I was on peg 26 and seems I was just off the fish but had fun watching everyone else catching. I could see John Bennett from my peg, he was on the peg I was on last match, peg 30 and was struggling with liners but managed to catch a few silvers. With the weigh in done it was clear to see how much better the big lake had fished today up the top end.

Full Match Results…

OVERALL LEADERBOARD

Rolfslake Gold. Mick Lane and Phil Powell. They wouldn’t let John on the picture as he caught bugger all