Claygate lakes Sophies 17 05 14

Back to the club scene for this blog addition. Claygate lakes are situated just outside Maidstone in Kent. Two match lakes and a specimen lake which always seems full. Today saw 18 anglers booked on to fish, however Kevin Loveland had a reaction to his detached retina and the eye become bloodshot and needed treatment. Hope all went well Kev and I know how sensitive our eyes are after having wore glasses since I was 5.
We had the whole lake and could afford a bit of space for all the anglers along this snake lake. It ranges from around 10m to 16m wide with some pegs having 11ft of water down the track. Average depths though were around 6ft with 2ft in the margins. The last time I was here I got it all wrong. Fishing big baits aimed at big fish, whereas it was a F1 match with small chublets and skimmers. They have now reverted the stocking back to bigger fish, either way I was prepared for both scenarios, in case I was informed incorrectly.
I drew peg 26, not a noted area from last year as Gino had struggled from it. Dave Collier was on the end peg 27 and had fish sitting in his swim from the off. In fact anyone who had any cover had fish crashing around in the reeds and tree roots as the first signs of spawning were underway.
Mick Wright had drawn well(again) with peg 12 close to where he caught his PB Bream last year and framed. Al was next door to him on 13 with Troy on Peg 22 being able to watch my every move as he could see me but my back was to him. Pete had drawn my peg from last year, furthest from the draw and end peg 2.
After the events of Viaduct Mick had made the MK Nugget score 8-5 and managed to close the gap.
At the all in I potted a half cup of corn and pellet across to 12.5 just down the far shelf. I also potted a large pot of pellet at 11m in 6ft of water. I threw a handful of pellet and 12 grains of corn down both sides. One side had 3ft of water and the other 5ft. Amazing since they were only 12ft apart.
I started at 11m and a banded pellet, nothing, corn, nothing, expander, nothing, maggot nothing. I tried the 12.5m line with corn and first fish on, lost at the net. Out again nothing, banded pellet another fish on, this time in the net and I am off and running with 6lb. Out again and a skimmer around 12oz and a chublet around 4oz. Back onto corn and nothing. I tried both margins and even set up a line at 6m to no avail. It seemed the only place I could get a bite was at 12.5m but it was slow. I slowed up around a foot and pushed the pole tight to the far bank by adding another section and another grain of corn produced a carp around 8lb. So with 2 hours gone I had around 15lb in the net. Dave next door was faring no better, A carp around 8lb, a 5lb 4oz PB Tench and a couple of silvers.
Word along the bank was that Troy was catching, Al was catching well shallow but everyone else was struggling with odd fish. Rod had caught a 10lb Bream.
I had tried drip feeding via a toss pot and also with a half pot but either way it made no difference to bite ratio. I was getting a bite just after it dropping to the bottom and I just started lifting and dropping to try to improve bites. The bites were positive enough you just had to wait too long for them.
However this tactic seemed to work for a little while,, within the next two hours I put another five fish in the net. I had also created a nightmare, I would get a bite and hook a fish for it to power into an underwater snag consisting of some old roots that have become disturbed. I must have lost around 6 fish in this snag and lost a few hooklengths along the way. But it was the only place I could get a bite.
It made no difference on the bait front, on the day corn was the better option. At the end of the match I had 8 carp and a couple of silvers for estimated 40-50lb depending on who asked.
It seems it was a match of Al against the rest. Al had obliterated the field with a massive 188lb a suspected new lake record. No one got even close. It was that one sided and shows the class and quality of the angler.


1st Al Loader          188-12
2nd Troy Hillier       50-08
3rd Keith Ashby      50-00
4th Clive Pritchard  32-08
5th Tony Watkins   28-12
6th Dave Collier     24-08


Overall I was happy with my third place, I avenged a few demons and gained a few more. I went further ahead in the MK Nugget Stakes to lead 9-5 now. However I only had Micks pound for a short while before giving it to Troy, who pipped me into second by 8oz. Pete had struggled at the top end but still managed 7th place beating Mick into 8th.


Next match is on Tuesday, Alders Farm Ash Lake.