25.02.14

Time For A Change - Steve Parry


“After a poor result on Saturday and with the forecast due to be gale force winds and rain for Sunday, a change of scenery was needed. So, I headed down to Rosemary Wood.

This is a fishery I have had some really good results on in the past, but for one reason or another not had the chance to visit of late. For those that don’t know Rosemary wood, it’s a big natural water, that has always held a good head of skimmers, but following a recent stocking it also now contains good numbers of carp too.

Anyway, back to the fishing and after drawing peg-40, upon arrival at the peg the first thing that became apparent was that I had the wind straight in my face. Bearing in mind that a long chuck was also going to be needed, I opted to set up two 12’ rods, one to fish the method and one for the straight lead and pellet cone. Setup wise for the method I opted for a 36 gram X-safe feeder, being weight forward in design, these cast really well both in terms of distance and accuracy. To this I then attached a 4-inch hook length of 0.19 N-gauge, with a size 16 MWG hook completing the setup. For the straight lead I’m a big believer in keeping things simple, so I fished a Guru mini lead clip in conjunction with a 1oz square pear lead. Hook length was then 15-inches of N-Gauge to a size 16 MWG hook.

In terms of tactics, I had been told that bomb and bread was the ‘in’ method, but with the water having coloured up due to the recent rain, I just couldn’t see it working. As a result, on the whistle whilst everyone else went straight out on the bread, I decided to take a gamble and start on the method, which was loaded with a 50-50 mix of pellets and ground bait, with a 8mm mini boilie on the hair.

The plan worked to a degree and the end of the first hour I had two carp and 2 skimmers in the net for about 12lb, which might not sound great but, with only one other carp being caught on the lake it put me into an early lead.

No more bites followed though, so on the two-hour mark I decided to have a search about on the pellet cone. Just two hours in and it was time for a rethink, I decided with the lake fishing so hard, that it was worth looking to try and catch a few skimmers. So, I quickly set a new line up to fish the pellet feeder at 30-metres. Three quick chucks to get some bait down and 30-minutes later a big skimmer pulled the tip round. Twelve more followed in the next two hours, all on three dead red maggots.

The action completely died off and with nothing to lose, I decided to go back long on the method, just chuck it and leave it. First cast after the long rest produced a stunning ghostie around 5lb and with four more following it, I couldn’t have asked for a better finish to the match.
As the scales worked their way round the lake, it soon became apparent that the lake had fished very hard. On arrival at my peg just 25lb was winning, which I knew I had and so it proved as I put 37lb on the scales for a clear win.

Looking back at my match it just goes to show the importance of thinking on your feet and being prepared to change tactics in the middle of the match. Those 12 big skimmers were the difference between winning and not. It would have been all too easy to sit there catching nothing on the method feeder during that slow middle period. I also think resting the method line was key as it allowed a few carp to settle there and I was able to take advantage of this in the last hour.”

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