How End Fishery, 2nd February 2014

The first chance to fish against Mark in the 2014 Mark vs Mark competition and we decided to go visit Pebs at How End.  I sent Phil (Pebs) a quick message and it happens to be a winter league team match on today and he was short of anglers, so Mark and I were quickly drafted into the team.  The weekend weather had improved a little since last week and I was looking forward to fishing How End again.  Great to see some of the locals, Baz, Trevor and Big Ben who I saw last weekend.

The Draw
All gathering in Peb's tackle shop, both Mark and I would be fishing Yasi's lake, which was my preference as I've not had the best of times of previous visits to Dani's lake.  I almost got to the front of the queue by pushing past Trevor who quite rightly put me to the back of the queue, mumbling words such as, "cheeky young product wearing geordie..."

I pulled out Yasi's peg 13 and Mark got peg 6.

The Set-Up
I'd been on this peg before on the How End two dayer and managed a second on lake, so I was confident in the approach.  The local lads had role me that the fish were showing on the other side of the lake this winter, where Mark was... this could be a tough battle.

So two rigs would cover me today:
  • Near and Far side shelf, rig set just off the shelf
  • Full depth for the track and the bottom of both shelves
Bait was Pinkie, Maggot, Caster, Worm and Corn.

The All-In
My neighbour for the day would be Baz and we agreed to a pound between us, I think the pound scores are all tied.  Baz, on Peg 12 had an open margin and plenty of water to get at, but my confidence was high.

Baz called the all in and I had decided to opt for a negative feeding approach today.  Shipping over to the fair shelf and dribbling in 6-8 pinkies I set my rig very expectantly.  The wind was ok, sometime difficult, but ok, the sun however was making it difficult to see the float.

During the first hour I was trying across the far shelf but it was very difficult to present the bait and see the float so I came short.

Hour 1 passes without a bite and Baz next door had landed a skimmer.

Hour 2 - I try down the track, nothing, Baz lands a nice carp after a pretty long battle on light gear.

Hour 3 - I'm starting to worry and had tried all over my peg, replumbing lines and even potting in some bait to see if I could get any fish to settle.

Hour 4 - I try the margins and go right over to the far bank.  More replumbing and still no bites.  Baz is putting some nice carp in the net and I'm well behind.  The lads on my left are catching and I'm facing a blank!

Hour 5 - I finally get a bite and bump the fish... spend the last hour shivering, but still trying...

The all-out is called and I've not caught a thing!  Mark only needs 1 fish to take the point.  I give Baz his golden nugget.

The Result
Blank for me, 3 fish for 3lb 11oz for Mark and he takes the first point of 2014 and the lead!

Conclusion
Baffled!  2014 is not starting well, next stop is Stafford Moor and I need to get into gear for that week.  I tried everything, presentation was tough at time, I just couldn't get anything going and by anything going I mean biting let alone catching!  Never mind, there is always next time... Sorry Pebs and Brian whose team I was in...

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