A Weekend Of Two Halves

I don’t think there is a worse time to go fishing than when the weather suddenly gets colder. In the transition between autumn and winter, all the usual laws that apply to fish behaviour and feeding seem to go out of the window. Just how strange their behaviour has really been driven home to me by the last three times I have been fishing. The first one was a match at Ecclesfield Pond, I drew next to one of the most consistent anglers on the venue, Dave Tomkinson. No matter where he draws, Dave can usually be relied upon to catch a framing weight, and it is very rare for him not to be in the money.
When two hours into the match neither of us had had a bite, I was still expecting a battering, as when the fish switch on it is not uncommon for Dave to bag a big weight quickly.

First Bite

I had my first bite at 1 PM, putting three small roach in the net in three consecutive puts. It went quiet, so I refed, it seemed to work and though the action was slow, I was starting to put a bit of a weight together. As the magical last hour began Dave still hadn’t had a bite, while I had latched on to a bonus fish, which turned out to be a crucian around a pound and a half.

With half an hour to go, Dave had his first bite of the day, and proceeded to land five roach in the last half hour. The scales recorded my weight as 5-6-0, Dave decided not to bother weighing in, as the match was only a knockup and no points were at stake, but he estimated his weight as ounces.
All around the lake it was a similar story, people weighing in ounces, while the people next to them had a few fish. It was obvious that the fish were feeding in pockets. From a personal point of view I was happy though, winning the match put me in a good frame of mind for the next day, when I had a teams of four silver fish league beginning at Hallcroft.

Hell at Hallcroft

Hallcroft is a venue I know quite well, and I felt sure I would catch a few fish. I drew on Bridge Pool, and while the area I was in was unfancied, I had always done ok on the venue in the past, and felt confident of a decent result.
To cut a long story short, a biteless five hours followed, and I wasn’t the only one who struggled. I was absolutely gutted. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been as down after a fishing match as I was that day, to not get a bite in a team match on a venue and method you are reasonably confident in really knocks the wind out of you.
For the following week I was really deflated, and in all honesty I was not particularly looking forward to going fishing the following Sunday. It was the second round of our winter league at Lakeside Fisheries, Ranskill.

With so many bad pegs on the venue, it is a venue that has a habit of kicking you in the teeth. Fortunately, I drew a good peg in 28, and a few bites were forthcoming. I started off slowly while the pegs to my right were bagging, but a carp taken on the bomb and a late run of big skimmers saw me scrape the win with 22-8-0.
So in three matches I had a win, a blank and then another win, which just goes to show how up and down things can be at this time of the year. In reality, it is an awful time of year, as if you are on fish you will catch well, but if you are not on fish there really is nothing you can do to get a bite. Roll on the summer!