The draw was done and I was handed 36, its not a popular peg, but I wasn't too bothered, it can throw up a weight. My one uncertainty was the 'flow' going through the peg from the aerator, which was staying on.
Lat week I had really struggled to catch on pellets which was all I took - apart from some putrifying worms, which I caught on. This week, I had pellets, micros,corn, maggots and worms, as well as caster left over from the weekend. I only had the pellets on the side tray, as it was warm and sunny so hopefully it would be better than last week, I did have the worms close to hand and some GB.
Not many signs of fish, so a cautious start, just cupping a few pellets across on a little shelf that was about 20" deep, just about perfect, not too deep to get liners, not to shallow to have the fish spooking. It took 10 minutes to get a bite, whilst peg 1 had had two fish in that time, but I put 20lb in the net after 35 minutes and was thinking a good weight was on the cards. The fish had other ideas and they were now out in the flow of the aerator, porpoising and rolling, with no intention of eating.
I was reluctant to feed there, as I had no idea where it would end up, so I did put some micros across into a shallower gap and went over them with a worm, this was ineffective, I hadn't fed the margins yet, so I fed to the left, but short because of rushes and the turmoil from the aerator. I fed two RH margins one at 5m and one by the pallet of 35. GB in short RH margin, micros and corn in the LH and 8mm pellets by the pallet of 35.
Well, it was an absolute nightmare, the fish came in over the feed, the GB first, then the micros and finally the pellet line. I am not convinced they were all feeding, it was nigh on impossible to get a bite, yet there were fish there - this is one of the most frustrating venues for margin fishing, you think you have it sussed one week and the next you can't catch them again - I wasn't alone, everyone was saying the same at the end.
In the end I switched the LH edge to 8mm pellets as well and I did get a couple from the pallet of 35 and a couple from the LH edge, but it was a matter of sitting there being patient - difficult to do in a 3 hour match.
Come the end I knew I hadn't done enough and so it proved, with 31 (out of sight around the corner) putting 90lb+ on the scales for the win, i was one decent fish away from second, so frustrating to end up 6th, it may well have been a case of being more patient to get one, maybe should have started both edges on 8mm pellets.
1 comment:
Chris, have a read of my blog buddy as I'm doing much the same thing as you. I'm finding the margin fishing fascinating and frustrating all at the same time. I've written about it extensively on my blog www.rivertrentangler.com My problems are foul hooked fish and too many fish in the swim at times. When I got it right last week, I took 10 fish for just over 100lb, and I'm sure more is possible if I get it right. I'm finding that not all margin swims are the same, and some the fish love and others they feed less confidently. I'll follow you now I know about your blog. Kind regards mate, Richard.
Post a Comment