Big Bash Winter League Rd 3 Lindholme Strip Lake 30.11.2024
3rd match of the winter League saw 16 anglers in the draw on Lindholme strip lake which now has 24 pegs. I thought it was going to be very cosy and may fish hard due to the pressure on the revamped Strip lake. What do I know.......
The strip lake, recently revamped and stuffed full of small F1's has received a fair amount of attention from the Big Bash retiree wrinklies contingent of the club with pleasure fishing and knock ups and really good results achieved. My thoughts would be could the lake deliver when under the pressure of an almost full lake. Usual tried and tested approach is feed 4mm and fish 6 or 8 hard pellet. Fishing at top 2 + 2 or 3 sections on bottom past the inner shelf. This may be adapted during the session to fish shallow or off the bottom as the eager feeding F1s come up to the loose feed. The loose feeding has to be heavy to retain the fish in the target area as they soon move on looking for food if not fed regular. Anyhow what would work on match day with 16 competitive Bashers keen to catch a few fish?
Friday night draw and Jaspers wheel of fortune loaded with 2 x 5 man sections and 6 section along the dam wall of Loco Bank. Roadside corners were in but Beeches corners out, everyone had a spare peg except 12 and 13 who had the roadside bank tree line. Peg 8 for yours truly which I was very happy with, once again in the centre of a young gun sandwich with Bagger Sam on 9 and Lewis on 6. Neck ache threatened from both sides.
My set up was pellet line at 12 o'clock on 2+3 in 3 feet of water. (Set up worked 2 weeks ago on the same peg on a pleasure session and gave 107 fish). With cooler weather I also set up a maggot line top 2 + 2 at 2 o'clock towards empty peg 7. Also set up was a jigga rig for my pellet line and margin rig 2 + 1 to my right just on the inner shelf at 18 inch deep.
Interesting to see different peoples approach to the lake with a few rods being set up to be used. Some good conversations as Bashers were set up early and mingled around the lake waiting for Glens whistle.
On new thing on the lake I noticed was a new addition of a full on aerator swapped for the silent bubbler that was there 2 weeks ago. It also has a rope attached to each side of the lake, one to watch out for in future if pegged close to it.
Weather was cool, light breeze blowing from Loco to Willow lake, some sunshine ( yes) and overhead clouds but dry all day. Happy Bashers.
Whistle from Glenn, everyone puts in and Lewis has a small F1 on first put in quickly followed by 2 more. Sam also quickly into fish meanwhile I was bumping bites. Directly opposite my Glen also catching early fish but these were quality net fish and no moans from Glen this session with an early start.
After about 10 minutes my first small F1 on 6mm pellet was in the net. Missed bites continued although at a slow rate. I had an18 banded hook which I then swapped up to 16 to try increase catch rate for better results. I had chosen 18 due to cold weather but was a mistake as it wasn't connecting the strike. The 16 was an improvement. Sligh shotting pattern change and also depth, however compared to Sam and Lewis the bite rate was much lower and slower. I persevered, tried the jigga for a few to see if fish were higher in the water and also set up the maggot line starting pre feeding. Moving onto this line the fish came faster before I connected with a 8lb angry full on carp pulling my light elastic to its limit. This entertained numerous bashers for a period of time before it graced the net. The fish on the maggot line had moved on when I went back over it so had to wait a period of time for them to return. A second lump was landed on the maggot line and a couple lumps lost due to hook pulls on line lines. Numerous small F1's and one skimmer. The match itself was about rotating lines and methods searching for fish and bites. Pellet line worked, maggot line ( double on hook) worked, jigga over pellet line also worked but rotation was key as fish were on the move and wouldn't settle. Margin line, nothing at all.
The session was also distinctly different to my previous visits both in catch rate, bait and feeding patterns. Match situations are always different to match days for many reasons. Weight was 31-10 thanks for coming.
Section 1 winner was Lewis on peg 6 with 50-2 who fished a very tidy match again. Long pole on hard pellet, short pole on maggot and alternating between the 2 throughout the match, well done young man. Second in section was John Lanelly ( back from his USA tour) who returned 41-5 from peg 5 of a decent stamp of fish caught on 8mm pellet. Peg 3 saw Jacko with a return of 34-7 of a lot of smaller fish and sat on peg 2 was Dave Fox who returned 24-2, struggled in match early but fish turned up in last hour to give him a busy time.
Section 2 winner was Gavin from unfancied peg 13. Fishing bomb and also pole he returned 46-15 to take the point and ££. Well done Gav. Second in section opposite Gav on peg 12 was Mark who fished another tidy match and double maggot approach to return 46-5, close but not quite there mate. A very close section this one with Tracey Benson on peg 11 returning 43- 3 and Bagger Sam on peg 9 weighed in 40-6. Sam fished expander on long pole and maggot on short pole. Rotated lines again throughout and caught well for long periods but suffered some long gaps which were to cost him dearly. The maggots gave him smaller stamp compared to expanders, later in the match the size of fish also improved but unfortunately not enough to move up the points. Paul Whitehouse on peg 14 completed this section with 24-2.
Section 3 gave us the match winner from peg 22 with an impressive winter weight of 84-13. Keith "tackle tart" Smith one of our quieter bashers whose shift pattern is now allowing him to fully compete in the league and show what an accomplished angler he is. Head down, the maggot master quietly caught and built his weight up going largely unnoticed to amass his match winning weight. Well done mate and nice to see you on top of the league.
First in section, next door on peg 23 was our 3rd young gun Robson who took 62-4 to the scales, well done.
Second in section 3 was big Glen who has fell in love with this lake recently . Sitting opposite me on peg 17 and adopting the tried and tested method 2 + 1 or 2 ,top kit close in line and edge line. He set off catching some quality carp and building his weight up which would have challenged Keith however a long bite less middle of the match has cost him. Well done mate.
Jasper on peg 16 weighed in 35-12. After arriving to find he had forgot his pole was kindly helped out by Glen looking after him with a spare pole and top kit. Most of his fish die come off the Wilson wand bomb rod which is a different approach to how we have been fishing the lake recently. Well done mate.
Completing the section was another venue regular John Utting on peg 19 returning 16lb, I think John suffered the same as me where our previous session methods did not quite work today and next door on peg 20 Richard Cooke who returned a very respectful 48-12, well done Rich.
So with 16 anglers returning an average weight of about 42-7 on a cool November day after some overnight frosts I think this gives 24 peg Strip lake a major vote of confidence, especially when you look at other weights from lakes and fisheries in the area. My earlier thoughts and concerns were wrong, as I said, what do I know 😊.
Once again massive thanks to Jasper for his organisation, Glen for his timekeeping and special thanks to Sam and Lewis on the scale's duty. Also, to everyone for turning up and supporting the winter league.
Next matches are friendly knock up on 7th and our club's fur and feather on 14th. Please add names to lists on forum if interested.