Sweepstake, Mepal, 23rd April 2017

Sweepstake, Mepal, 23rd April 2017

A few regulars were still in hibernation so we were down in numbers but Mark had been granted last minute leave from babysitting, because he said his wife found it a cinch and didn’t need him, and Dave Keedy paid a welcome social visit having finished some ‘homework’ earlier than expected.

Having been in the tail end of winter for the past few weeks hopes were not high for much in the way of hungry fish, and after drawing the deepest coldest peg at the far end my optimism was definitely very low! Nevertheless, I decided to try and tempt anything that moved in the clear cold depths, ground baiting with a nice sweet mix and a few pinkies. However, as predicted, despite a perfect setup and several different hook baits I didn’t have a bite for the first hour but I did have several ‘visitors’ from the ‘hot’ pegs confirming that no one else was catching either.

Then, with no obvious reason, I caught fifty rudd/roach in as many casts, a shoal must have moved in and double figures were likely after all. I could hear similar activity from John Reed next to me, although from the vicious swishing of his waggler rod it sounding like he was catching on the far side of the lake, either that or he was practicing his beach casting. After this hectic hour and an estimated 6 lb in the net, the switch was thrown to off and nearly two hours of quiet was followed by a very slow and frustrating last hour of very timid bites yielding only around 12 ozs.

More visitors during the second half had confirmed that only a few fish were being caught other than by John, who was still casting for England, and also by Becky on peg 3. Rumour was that Trevor had been using leftover casters from the last match, over two months ago!, but that as the rudd surfaced for the black floaters the breeze had taken all his fish to the far side leaving him competing with John for casting distance.

In the end, John’s casting effort was rewarded with 7 lb 9 oz for first place, followed by me with 6 lb 6 oz and then Becky with 5 lb 4½ oz.

Our next match is a first on the Deep Pool at Milton Country Park, which contains a good head of quality rudd and bream, a net of around 70 lb was had only last week. It is as the name suggests deep, around 18 feet at 5 – 6 metres, and a slider float seems to be a favourite method although with not too much wind it can be fished with 5 – 6 section pole rigs. Pegs on the Deep Pool are limited and we may need to have a section on the adjoining lake, an equally good venue. As usual please book your place via Trevor, details as per the club book.

Please note that with good results in the last few matches, and practice sessions booked, Becky is tipped as favourite and the one to beat, having recently received quality coaching on the slider from Ken.

Ian Claydon