Sunday 6th November - Trinity Woodlands

All the fisheries in the area had been knocked by the sudden drop in temperature this week and we weren't expecting anything different at Woodlands. Frost and 2 degrees greeted me when I went outside to load the car. Apart from a few micros I decided to leave the hard pellets at home and selected some 4mm expanders, casters, maggots, corn and worms for the silvers I intended to target.

When I got to the fishery, Mr Spurs had turned up without any bait and said he would see how the draw went and then maybe ask around for bait donations. However with the London derby being played on tv in a nice warm room, he opted for that. That left 23 fishermen ready to face a cool NW breeze although the sun was out and adding some warmth. I drew peg 11 and was happy to be on the north side of the lake for once. The hedge was going to shield me from the wind and the sun would warm my face. Hopefully the fish would brighten my day too. To my right was Pete Cooke and left was Brian Chivers.

Peg 11

I set up a waggler rod and 3 top kits. The 3 pole lines were 8m in front, 2+1 in front and a margin rig. Fishing 9:45 to 3:30, I fed the pole line and tried the waggler starting on caster and feeding with the same. I also tried soft pellet and maggot and had one bite in the first 30 mins. The guys around me had started on the tip and Steve King and Pete Cooke were rewarded with carp very quickly. I went onto the 8m line and again rotated the baits until I got a bite. A single maggot was the only bait to register any interest, mostly from tiny roach not big enough to pull the elastic.

The margin and 2+1 line did offer any hope and so I plugged away at the 8m line and a couple times went back to the waggler. When it got to 3:00 my count was one nice Perch of about 3lb and 20 ish roach and skimmer 'whitebait'. By then the cloud cover had caused the temperature to drop and it became chilly so I took a leisurely 30 mins packing up before horny honked the end.

Talking of Horny, he found that the best thing to do with his Preston M90 pole was to bash one of the resident swans. I don't remember Des Shipp advertising this feature!!

From my position I was directly opposite Tony Newell on one of the golden pegs. Tony had spent the first 4 hrs cold and fish less. Then he had 6 carp take and interest in his bait and although he only managed to land 4, it was enough for overall on the day and the golden peg pot. Well done Tony.

Although I couldn't see him, I saw the waggler float of Mike Bendell on peg 8 being cast. His efforts were rewarded with a steady stream of small fish to take the silvers top position.

On Wednesday the match is at Viaduct Spring and next Sunday is at Landsend. If you're interested, book with Bob.