On a Roll.....at last..!

Just two matches for me for this month and the first one was part of our CARC league here. The top 3 from this league go forward to a final early next year with a few anglers from the other states here for a $1000 winner take all prize. With the final being in Sydney this year and me not doing too good (well just getting the droppers out of the way first) I really need a good result today to follow up from my last one. The lake we were fishing on today is one I use to fish a bit when I got here first but now the local council have banned fishing on it mostly because of the local louts again and litter problems but luckily for us our club can get permission to fish it for matches a few times in the year but it's a shame not to be able to pleasure fish it any more...It is a small shallow retention lake but has a good head of smaller size fish, plus some right nutty ghost carp that go to 8 or 9 lbs



With just 8 fishing today we dropped pegs 10 and 11 from the draw as they were a little overgrown ...plus the furthest walk..! I left myself the last peg in the bag and peg 7 was one I was happy enough with as I had fished it a few times before. Also it was today's golden peg so there was an extra $75 going a begging.
With just 8 of us we all had plenty of room and options on every peg today and my own has a a few different lines to fish from. Straight out in front of me at 11 mts I had an even 3 1/2 foot of water at 11 to 14 mts and had a green J Range elastic on a pulla kit, .18 line to a .3 gram BGT "Shallow", .16 hooklenght to a tubertini 175 no.3. My plan for here was to feed light at the start on here and kinder for the match at 11 mts and probably fish at the back of it later on. At 13 mts to my left at about 10 o'clock I had about 3 foot of water and had a similar set up for here but used a Hillbilly "Grizzley" .3 gram and a B911 14. This line I was going to feed heavy at the start with 4 or 5 balls of crumb and alot of chopped worm and some corn and was leaving it for a while to see if any catfish turned up today. There are a few catfish in here and they average over 2 lbs so can be helpful during quiet spells. I have found you need to feed different here than for carp to attract them. Little and often or constant feeding over their heads always seems to push them away. I have found the best way to feed for them is by placing a bed of food down and leaving them a while to settle, you can pick up 3 or 4 in as many put ins before they back off and then top up. If no catfish turn up I can still use this line to rest my mainline later or maybe scratch for eels over it by the end if it's hard..! I had two margin lines to my left and right at 8 mts but sometimes they turn up here others not. With my peg being in the corner I also had the bank to my right and had another line to fish under a bush later into the match at 14.5 mts as it warmed up. It was already over 30 degrees and was only 7:30 am.......! I had 18 inches or so of water under the bush about 6 inches from the bank and was going to feed 2 full cups of corn, hemp and some meat there but spread it out abit. Rig for this line was on purple hydro to .18 line straight thru to an animal 14 with a "shady shallow" float getting a run around today. I set up a waggler and small method feeder also but hopefully was going to be too busy on the pole for most of the match to use them.

Ivan had drawn next to me on peg 5 as we had to drop peg 6 because of a coot or moorhen nesting there and we didn't want to disturb her. I couldn't see much more except just get view of "Sticky fingers" Health who was on peg 4. By the time the all in went at 9 am it most have been close to 35 degrees and there wasn't hardly a breeze. I nearly dropped my pole from my hands as I started cupping in my lines it had got that hot in the sun. I was thinking we should re name this league of our to the "extreme league" as so far we have had the full weather extremes for it. Wind, rain, heat and once again a struggle for a bite for the first hour and 35 minutes. Despite quite a few fish cruising and splashing around everyone was struggling to get bites. It was almost 2 hours before I got a small carp at 11 mts in front of me after trying all my lines and it came to a little bread punch and feeding a few maggots. I had one about 1lb on the waggler 20 minutes later and it seemed to be one of those days where you had to just keep moving from line to line and picking the odd fish here and there. They just didn't seem to want to feed at all. I done this for the next 2 hours and picked off 8 more fish but nothing over 1lb. A quick phone call to Sticky fingers and he only had 4 fish and no one seemed to be catching out there either. Ivan had 4 fish too and even with the Duck Brigade out practicing beside him and a few mouths slurping close to him was also struggling for bites. I couldn't even sneak an eel out from my worm line never mind a sight of a catfish. I re fed a ball of light groundbait on all my lines and a half a cup of corn and hemp on my long margin line but had been firing 2 cubes of meat over it every 8 minutes or so all match before then catching a small eel and another small carp on my 11 line. A quick drop in with some punched meat on my long margin line and I had a liner straight away. 2 minutes later a sharp bite and I had purple hydro stretching all.........of 6 inches..............an effing turtle hooked in the feet..claw.,, ?....whatever it is you call the little buggers mittens but as I lifted the nuisance to the surface I had a huge swirl and bow wave in my swim...this was definatly not from another turtle...it's lucky for this little fella turtles are protected here or he would have been drop kicked out past the lake into the car park. Usually the turtles move off when the carp show up so hopefully this was the only one there and back out I went but with corn on the hook this time and almost as soon as it settled had fish on. Even with just over 1 3/4 hours to go and maybe a little early to start plundering my shallow margin swim I decided after dropping a 3 lb carp in the keepnet to go at it for a bit. Nobody else seemed to be catching and if I could get 2 or 3 more it maybe enough for today.
It wasn't hectic or fast but up till the end I manged to get another 10 carp out of this swim with one close to 5 lbs but some smaller ones too on either corn or punched meat. I did lose one ghosty well over 8 pounds which I foulhooked and also had 2 small fish on my 11 mt line after that. I gustimated to have between 18 to 21 lbs as I wasn't too sure with the small fish. I was on the scales and walked around to pegs 8 and 9 to start. They really struggled here with just a few pounds of fish as did pegs 1 and 2 which are usually good pegs on this lake. John on peg 3 had 9 lbs of really small carp and then "Sticky fingers" himself weighed in 19 lbs even. I hadn't been watching him the last 2 hours as I was turned away to my right but he started to put a few small fish together so it was going to be close. Ivan had just short of 13 lbs and came over to weigh me in...
Phew..., that wasn't as close as I had thought..I ended up weighing in 23 lbs 12oz to make it my 3rd win on the trot here and more important second win in this league...plus a golden peg pot so have a few extra beer vouchers now for our trip to Canberra next week
23lbs 12 oz............

Our next "extreme league" match isn't till January but will be the height of summer by then so at least we wont have snow or ice....maybe tornado, a bush fire...who knows ? Canberra starts next Friday and myself and Ivan are heading down on Thursday for a quick session there so will write up a full account of how we got on when I get back

lucky draws ?.... or just a good run..........?

October turned out to be quite a busy month matchwise here for me. Between the Mildura Masters, a Sydney Coarse Anglers league match and then another of our own CARC league matches it was almost a match a week for the month...Now if we could get another club and league up and running here it would mean all the Sunday's in each month could be used for exactly what they were meant to be used for....

The first match was our CARC league match and was back on Glenwood lake where we had a tough first match a while back...Even though I have pleasured fished it a few times and hadn't less than 60 lbs of fish and more most times, it can shut down once there are a few anglers on it...There are only 9 anglers fishing this league and just 7 out today so we were hope full of a few fish showing...As I walked around the lake to peg it there was fish were splashing and rolling all over especially close to the island and it had me wondering if they were still spawning.Today was the third match in the series and I am beginning to think it has a curse on it...Our first match had very unseasonal heat, our next one had one of the windiest days I had fished in for a while, and today was very overcast and the rain didn't look too far away, plus the carp seemed to be in spawning mode..!

.

As I organise the pegging and draws for these matches I always take the last peg left in the bag and today's peg for me was 2 which was just to the right of the island and was happy enough. It had loads of fish rolling at the end of it as I set up. The Carp in here average 3 to 4 lbs and go a little bit nuts when hooked as the deepest swim on the whole lake is only about 3 1/2 foot. With this in mind I had 2 tops, one with Black hydro and the other with green J range on a pull kit both on .18 line to.16 bottom and some Hillbilly .2 gram critters. A .2gram BGT dibber for close to the reeds to my left on some purple hydro just in case.Then a small method feeder for out toward the end of the island completed my set up for today. All my rigs had tubertini 175 hooks but I had got my hands on some new Guru QM1 hooks for the feeder (If I could keep them out of my fingers that is...are they sharp or what ? ) For bait I 3 tins of corn, a little hemp, worm, half a pint of maggot and some bread in case the local duck feeding brigade turned up at the lake and get the carp feeding on nothing else.

I am beginning to think Australians are training so to start a duck feeding world champs, you would not believe the amount of it that gets chucked into these little suburban lakes here every day. Even before the start I took a walk around to see Ivan on peg 6 and some family had already thrown a full loaf in at empty peg 5 for all of the 4 ducks in the corner (plus the 12 or so carp I counted also on the surface). This was only 8 am yet. Then some other local "expert" will probably tell us later in the day it's the carp that are making the water that pea green colour in the lake all the time and we shouldn't be putting them back after catching them.. Evolution is, or will be good when it makes it to these parts......!

Anyway back to the match. I started by feeding two pole lines, one at 11 mt slightly to my left and another at 13 mts straight out in front of me with 2 balls of groundbait, some corn and a little hemp. It's been warming up here the last few weeks so no meat, maggot or worms in at the start today as those pesky turtles will be up and about by now. I had a few chucks on the feeder at 30 mts and kept a little nugget of crumb and corn going in every 10 mins or so but after 45 mins hadn't got a bite anywhere. Tony, A new ex pat that recently joined up with us had a good start on peg 1 next to me and had 2 carp and lost 2 by now on the waggler but only at 12 mts so I couldn't figure it out. Even Ivan on the dam end with all the bread hadn't got a fish yet. They were still splashing about and I had a few liners on the tip so was beginning to think our league definately was jinxed. Then to top it all off it started to rain quite heavy on the 50 minute mark and was one of those type of showers you know isn't going to stop till about 5 mins after the all out. 1 hour 20 minutes into the match, turtles or not I cleaned up 1/4 pint or so of worms and chopped it in with 6 balls of crumb and cupped 3 on each line and went on the feeder for a bit. Another 20 minutes or so and the tip ripped around and I had a carp about 2 lbs in the net but then went another 30 mins with nothing. Tony by now had 4 fish but was having enough of the rain as he hadn't come prepared for it. I went out on my 13 mt line with a single worm and straight away had a fish about 4 lbs. By the end of the 3rd hour I had 7 fish but it was hard work. I found putting a few pieces of chopped worm and hemp in my kinder pot ship my rig out but not tip the pot in till I got a liner or indication of a fish in the swim. If I didn't get a liner after 5 or 6 mins tip it in and go to my other swim. I had 2 more fish on the method but that was slow so stayed on the pole for the last hour and half and ended up with 16 carp altogether and all on a worm or piece of a worm. Tony next to me had enough of the rain earlier so had tipped back 4 fish and went home early but bet he had wished he hadn't as the lake fished hard and those that did feed heavy didn't catch. Ivan despite all the bread around him manged to get a few fish for second with 10 lbs and I managed a win today with 52 lbs 7ozs. At last a match that's not to be a dropper.

Sure as sugar as soon as we called the all out the rain stopped...the lake rose over 4 inches today during the course of the match. Also you may ask why some reports are in pounds and ozs while others are in kgs but the only reason it that the SCAC match scales and most others here are all using metric scales where as I have started organising the CARC matches and use my own scales...I am old fashioned and also only have a scales that reads in pounds and ozs.

SCAC league match

My next match was the Sydney CAC league match and was back on Caddis creek. Myself and Ivan travelled together for this and between us being slow packing the gear and almost an hour drive were running late for the draw so were left with the last 2 pegs in the bag...19 anglers were fishing today, Ivan drew end peg 19 and I ended up on peg 2 at the other end. This peg I had fished before in last years teams of 3 match (on a previous blog here). I think I may also have sorted out my problem of drawing bad pegs now....just be late anymore and let everyone else draw first, hopefully all the crap ones are gone then....!

peg 2 again.......

It was really hot and sticky today and the sweat was pouring of me just as I sat on my box wondering what to set up at the start. This venue is really starting to have some weed growing in it now and I had plenty to my right out to 4 mts but luckily it was clear to my left. There was also a bit more room to my left as a few bushes separated Dave Woods on peg 1 and myself so decided to fish a line to my left at 8 mts about 3 mts out from the edge where there was a little shelf and about 2 1/2 foot of water. I had another line at 13 mts straight about 4 foot deep but also a rig for 14.5 mt where it was 6 inches deeper. I have found in a good few of our matches here the fish seem to stay at the back of the feed and hopefully would pick some of there later. I set up a waggler to fish out the middle and a small method feeder for the far side but never catch much on the feeder here. We were suppose to have some rain later today and as peg 1 has a storm drain beside it, when it runs off there you often see the carp come right in especially in this hot weather so was hoping it does and my 8 mt line would have some fish around it. As it was open water and no weed on my long lines I set up these rigs on white hydro today and again Hillbilly (unbreakable) critters one rig was a .3 gram and a few droppers spread out and another .4 with just a bulk and one dropper. I had a Grizzly .2 gram to black hydro for my 8 mt line and just a simple bulk 8 inches from my hook.

At the all in I fed light on my long line but dropped a full cup of corn and another of some chopped worm, hemp and a little crumb on the 8 mt line and would keep throwing some corn at it till it rained...hopefully, it would. I started on the pole hoping to pick up some early fish and kept firing out a few grains of corn on my waggler line every 10 mins or so. Two hours in and that dreaded "dropper" word was in the back of my mind as I didn't have a bite yet. Well one turtle, but the two anglers to my right had a few small fish and Dave to my left had 1 fish. I picked up the waggler and after 5 mins had a gold fish of about 1/2 a kg on 3 maggots so went again, 2 minutes late I had another but a smaller one. Then for the next hour I picked up 6 more small goldfish and then a carp about 1 kg before it slowed down...A strong breeze had now picked up and my waggler was starting to drag a bit with the tow. I was going for a heavier float to change it over when I felt a few drops of rain and decided to try my pole line first before I fed it with another cup of corn and hemp. No bites but it had started to rain heavy as I was tipping the cup in. I tried my lone line and had what is the smallest carp to date I think I have caught...it was about 2 inches long..it was lucky the corn had a hook in it as the little bugger may have choked on it had it swallowed the full grain. By now the water was flushing out the drain beside Dave and all sorts of crap coming out on the surface between us but still no bites, indications or signs of fish. In a few minutes the rain stopped as quick as it started and I was beginning to think I should go back on my waggler even with the gold fish being small and don't weigh much, I was getting bites and catching a few of them.

One more go and I put a big worm on first and withing 30 secs I had a carp on but pulled out of it. I got another one next put in and also seen Dave was now getting into fish too. We were both catching a few fish in the last hour and all around the 1 to 2 kg mark but towards the end I managed to pull away from Dave despite losing and foul hooking a few and had 4 in my last 4 put in's. Today once again all my bigger fish were on a single worm.

We were the first to weigh in and Dave had 13.3 kgs, those last few fish helped me to 18.6 kgs and the next two weights were 8 and 9 kgs but after that I hadn't heard how anyone else was doing so started to pack up and wait for Ivan. As we use 2 sets of scales from both ends he hadn't seen my weight on his sheet and when I asked how he got on as he pulled up he told me he won with 17.7 kgs and had close to 30 fish for that. So I just said well done I only had 18 fish so you can buy the Mac D''s on the way home, but our Match sec spoilt it for me. I didn't get any pics after the rain today as everything was wet through.

I have one more match this month with the CARC league then we're all of to Canberra where I fished the internationals last March for the 2009 NSW open and NSW teams of 4 for 3 days and hopefully some more good late draws

Lake Burley Griffths, Canberra