On the way to Messingham, myself
and my travelling buddy Bri Peck @ Fishing Republic Hull, were chatting about
what peg we would want to draw today. I said I would be more than happy to draw
peg 17, as this is where I had caught my personnel best weight a few weeks
earlier, being 201lb, 13oz. On arrival at the venue, the banter started
immediately regarding what peg I was going to choose today; anyone would think
I’d been drawing well lately!
At The Draw
It was draw time and you guessed
it I pulled out peg 17; this is when the banter really started. On arrival at
my
peg, and with the smile still on my face I was faced with flat calm water,
plus there were plenty of fish milling about on the surface. This peg gives you
plenty of options; there is an island to left, which starts around 15 meters
away from the bank and is around 40 meters long. There is also a bed of lily
pads around 15 meters along the island. In front of me there is a good area of
open water and to my right I have another island, which is a 40 meter cast.
Down the sides I have overhanging trees and some reeds.
My Approach
My approach was going to be
similar to my last visit; I am going to go with a three pronged attack. I plan
to fish the Bomb to the right hand island and target the open water near to the
lilies with the pellet waggler. For later in the session I plan to target the
margins with a pole approach.
Bait

Rigs:
The Bomb
- Rod – Browning 10ft Force Bomb
- Reel – Browning Backfire
- Main line – 0.18 Browning Cenex Feeder Line
- Hook Length – 0.18 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook – Guru QM1 size 14, tied with a knotless
knot with a hair rigged band
- Bomb – 14 gram square lead which is free running
- I have set 2 of these rods up and both have
identical set up.
The Pellet Waggler #1
- Rod – Browning 11ft Power Pellet Waggler
- Reel – Browning Xitan HM
- Mainline – 0.18 Browning Cenex Match Line
- Hooklength – 0.16 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook – Size 14 Kamasan B911 extra strong, tied
with a knotless knot with a hair rigged micro band
- Float – 3.5 gram Drennan Crystal Waggler attached
via a waggler adapter
Pellet Waggler #2
- Rod – Browning Medium Pellet Waggler
- Reel – Browning Xitan HM Reel
- Mainline – 0.18 Browning Cenex Match Line
- Hooklength – 0.16 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook – Size 14 Kamasan B91, extra strong tied
with a knotless knot and a hair rigged band
- Float – 3.0 gram Drennan Crystal Waggler,
attached via a waggler adapter
The Margin Rig
- Pole – Browning Xtreme Margin Pole
- Elastic – solid 22
- Mainline/ Hooklength – 0.16 straight through
- Hook – Size 14 Kamasan B911
- Float – Shep special Edge Diamond @ http://www.carlshepherdsonstittletackle.com
- Shotting – A bulk of no8 Stotz
The Session
On the all in I cast the bomb to
the right hand island, and started feeding both the bomb and pellet waggler
line with 11mm pellets. The reason for starting on the bomb was that I learned
from the last match on this peg that the pellet wag line needed plenty of time
to settle before trying it. My first bite came after 5 minutes and after a
healthy battle, a Common Carp around the 4lb mark was safely netted.
I recast the bomb and continued
my feeding regime, this time nothing for 5 minutes, so I reeled in and recast.
This is something I like to do in the summer as recasting regularly can
sometimes trigger the fish into taking the bait much quicker. After 4 recasts I
hook into another fish and after another proper battle a Carp around the 6lb
mark is safely netted.
I decide to give the pellet
waggler line a try as I have started having signs of feeding fish whilst
feeding the pellets. This is to no avail, which is extremely frustrating as I
know fish are there. I give it 20 minutes, recasting every 30 seconds or so trying
to trigger a fish into taking my hook bait; but unfortunately nothing happens,
so I decide to pot in some groundbait down the left hand edge with a few grains
of corn; I then retry the bomb whilst the pole line settles. Again nothing
comes of it, so I decide to try the pole line.

We are now 3 hours into the match
and I am really struggling, fingers crossed the pellet waggler line will start
producing. I have kept feeding regularly on both the wag and bomb
lines. The switch to the waggler line produces an instant bite and a much
bigger fish is hooked. The fish tries it s hardest to get into the lily bed,
but fortunately I manage to drag it away and into the net. This Mirror Carp is
around 9lb, and is just what I needed! The next 3 cast all produce carp, which
I mange to land; I then lose 3 on the bounce, which all drag me into the lilies.
The rest of the session is spent
on the pellet waggler as the swim has really come alive. I manage to land
plenty more carp and also lose plenty in the lily pads.
The whistle sounds for the end of
the match, and after a number of weighs I total 114 lb 4oz, giving me enough
for 2nd behind a very happy Gary Chadwick, who had won from the
golden peg with a 117lb. Well done Gar!