Saturday 28 September 2013

Alders Farm Ash Lake Marsh AC 28 09 13

With the Marsh AC season drawing to a close, the penultimate match was fished at Alders Farm near Milton Keynes. At least I will not have to be chauffeured this week as I only live 10 minutes away. Mick was away for a few days leading up to this match but had managed to juggle his schedule to allow him to fish this match, so at least I would hope to close the gap in the MK Nugget stakes. I am down 9-6 and need to pull one back soon.

With the venue being so close to home, I still managed to get there early and was met by the other early birds, Kev and Jean, Simon and Gino and Tom. As the others were arriving and getting there nets dipped and bait orders, I progressed to the café for breakfast and to help peg out the lake. With monies paid Vic ran through the rules regarding nets.

Mick had drawn peg 28, a decent peg although in the shallow water, but will have a few fish. Vic was bemoaning his luck having drawn the dam wall and peg 21. I had drawn peg 13 and thought to myself that it could be a good peg if the wind was blowing in, however, it wasn't and I did not know how the fish would react to a corn approach. I had for company Tony Roberts on peg 11 and Gino opposite on peg 16. The Lancaster brothers had drawn peg 10 Terry and 19 for Charlie so at least I could keep an eye on them. Dave Collier was feeling at home on 30 as he has drawn nearby every time he has been to the lake.

I planned to fish 2+2 no matter what peg I was on and I felt this peg really suited it. I set up a .3g MW Diamond with a strung shotting pattern to a PR36 size 14 and another identical rig with a bulk shotting pattern set a foot from the hook in 3ft of water. I also set up a couple of NG Edger floats to size 14 PR36s to fish tight into the edge both sides, if required. Bait was stinky corn over standard corn with around 2 pints of fishery pellets in case I needed to boost the swim.

At the all in I shipped out to 2+2 and straight away the float dips and a firm strike sees a 2oz Rudd come flying out of the lake, next put in saw a bit more resistance and a small common around 2lb came to the net. I was now struggling as was everyone else. It was strange. After half an hour I had caught 4 carp and a rudd for around 7lb. I refed a little heavier to see if this spurred them on and a couple more followed. After an hour I reckoned on 10 fish for 20lb. I tried drip feeding the line and kept plugging away for the next hour and doubling my weight.

I had a quick look down the edges that I had been feeding since the start and only had 1 small carp to show after 30 minutes so it was back out to 2+2. The rest seemed to have done the trick and by fishing 6inches off bottom I managed to start putting a run of fish together. I was now feeding 4 grains every 15 seconds and lifting and dropping the stinky corn hookbait. Tony was now catching regularly and his fish looked bigger although I was getting more. Charlie and Vic were both catching well and if the continues would be on for a good weight. Terry was catching well from a slow start. Gino was catching although I felt he was not feeding enough to keep bites coming. I could see Mick catching but could not really gauge how he was doing.

Going into the fourth hour I reckoned on 80lb and the fish were still coming before dying off in the latter part of the hour. I then switched to 2+1. Something I had learnt from Josh Blavins on the Academy day a couple of years ago. The argument being that sometimes rather than the fish back off into the lake they sometimes come closer and you would end up fishing over them, so they felt safer. It seemed to work as a steady stream of fish to 4lb came to the waiting landing net. I was now on around 120lb. The fifth and final hour, saw bites tailing off but by mixing my feeding I managed to keep getting bites. Alterations to depths both up and down kept bites coming, although I did start foul hooking a lot of fish and losing them. I also had a lot of strange hook pulls where I would hook a fish and have it under control and with no added pressure the hook pulled.

At the all out I thought I had around 180lb and this may be enough to win the section. I thought I would beat Tony but it would be close. Little did I realise that Charlie was in mine.

1st overall       Terry Lancaster    264lb 4oz     Corn/Maggot
2nd                  Vic Nugent          222lb 12oz    Maggot
3rd                  Charlie Lancaster 216lb 12oz    Meat
4th                  Clive Pritchard     194lb 8oz      Banded Pellet
5th                  Keith Ashby         187lb 8oz      Stinky Corn
6th                  Tony Roberts       163lb 12oz    Unknown

22 fished

Mick had 135lb 8oz to beat the Chairman again but was still forced to hand over a nice shiny Nugget to myself to make it now 9-7 and another chance on Tuesday to get a bit closer.



Wednesday 25 September 2013

Alders Farm Pines Lake 24 09 13

Due to shift patterns I have been unable to attend the regular Tuesday Opens at Alders Farm for a few weeks, but now there are three available Tuesdays to fish. I woke up a little late and did not feel my usual self, I do not know whether the fog outside the window had anything to do with it or just simply that I was running late. Those that know me, know I hate being late. However I still made the draw in time and managed to get prepared in plenty of time.

There were 13 likely looking lads forming an orderly queue into the draw bag when it finally came to me turn. Peg 16, a good peg which is a match winner on its day. Not one of my favourites though as I prefer a bit of water under the float and this is one of the shallower pegs. Vic had drawn peg 26 and was in for a good days fishing as he had space around him. Kevin Arathoon had also come out of retirement and was giving his pole a workout on peg 13. Mick was busy spoiling his good lady and taking her away for a break. I would have thought she would have preferred to go with a friend but apparently not.

The first thing I noticed was that the colour had dropped right out of the lake, it was clear to about 4m where I could see the bottom in 18 inches of water. Not good and even Josh opposite on peg 8 was in the process of setting up a method rod. Still I had come with a plan and was going to stick with it, no matter the peg drawn.

I was going to fish 2+2 with stinky corn feeding standard corn. I had 3 kilos with me plus a couple of tins if required, however with the colour of the water would expect to use of 2 kilos at most. For tackle I was going to set up 3 identical rigs all set to fish 2ft deep at 2+2. NG Edger float .2g to size 14 PR36 with 3 number 10 Stotz on .18 Stroft. The only difference being the length of line above the float. One was around 10inches, the second around 18inches and the other around 2ft. This would allow me the flexibility to fish past the area, or slap the rig if needed.

At the all in I threw in around 8 grains of corn onto the line and placed a grain of stinky corn on the hook, nothing, fed again and again, in fact every 20 seconds 4 grains were going in. After an hour I had nothing in the net, just foul-hooked one fish which I lost. I finally started to get a few fish by fish off the feed about a metre to the left. I was way behind everyone else. Josh was going well catching on a top two and both Simon Edwards and Roy Miller were catching well. Roy was learning loads from the "legend" as he calls him.

I would like to say that things improved but the reality is they didn't. I was picking up odd fish and not from the same part of the swim. There was no consistency to my fishing. I had a couple of fish slapping, then nothing, a few fish shallow then nothing, a few deep then nothing. Everyone else seemed to be catching. After 5 and a bit hours I knew I was well battered.

It seems that Kevin had packed up early after a lot of scum had blown into his peg and he could not present a bait properly. Vic had to dash off half way through with around 180lb in his net. And I had only 90lb to show for sticking it out.

Josh had fished a superb match to win it from peg 8 with 370lb followed by Hugh Crawford on peg 31 with 259lb. Josh winning by a clear ton. Charlie Lancaster was third in a tight finish pipping Mal Talbot 238lb to 231lb with Simon "legend" Edwards 223lb.



Sunday 22 September 2013

Lakeview John Tipple Memorial 22 09 13

It's always nice to fish somewhere nearby that you have not fished in a long while and Lakeview is one of those venues. It is only around 15 miles from the house and I must admit I drive past it on a few occasions. Last year I was fortunate to win a charity match in aid of Willen Hospice and in honour of a fellow angler, John Tipple who sadly passed away. As defending champion I was asked again to fish and was only too pleased to oblige.

Seeing as I had not fished it, for about 8 years, A couple of lads had put me straight, namely Tony Wynnick and Lol Summers. Meat, meat and more meat. Cheers guys.

With everyone meeting at Jacks café, Troy Hillyer, Chris and I set off to place peg markers down. We had been told to leave out as much as possible on the lawn bank, closest to the house, by the owner, so with this in mind we placed 4 pegs on the spit, then followed around the lake to peg 18 leaving 2 pegs on the lawn. To be honest I did not have a clue which is a good peg and which is a bad one, I just had meat, meat and more meat going through my head.

With breakfast out of the way, it was time to buy some raffle tickets and draw my peg. In goes the hand and peg 3 sticks to it. Half way along the spit. ?????????? Troy had drawn 13 and would be ok for a £1 side bet and with Chris drawing 20 and another side bet we set off.

Once negotiating a path to the peg with the trolley, it was time to set up. Hopefully my main catching line would be at 2+2 in around 3ft of water, however I also had 2ft down the edge so could not neglect that. I set up a MW Diamond to fish at depth at 2+2 with a strung out shotting pattern to a size 14 PR36 and orange vespe set very soft. For down the edge I settled on a NG Margin float to another PR36 and bulked the shot around halfway. I also set up a shallow rig for catching up on both lines if needed.

At the all in I started by potting a half pot of meat and pellet onto both lines and fished the deep rig at 2+2 with a cube of 6mm meat on the hook, a few dips and nothing, then a roach followed by another, this was not in the plan, however after around 15minutes I had a carp around 2lb and this was followed by his slightly smaller sister. I started pinging a few cubes out and was getting no indications except tiny dinks on the float that I could not hit. A look on corn over the same line produced nothing, so kept plugging away on the meat.

After an hour I reckoned on around 8 carp and a few silvers for around 10lb and was going nowhere, although the only person I could see catching was Troy and could hear Chris behind me catching well. I had a look down the edge and this only produced one roach so back out to 2+2, I kept plugging away and although I was catching felt I needed to up the pace to compete for a frame place( my target). I upped the feed and this seemed to trigger a small shortlived golden spell where I had around 6 fish in 6 put ins but the stamp was better. I was now getting line bites as the rig dropped through the water and gave the shallow rig a whirl. A few fish slapping the shallow rig fell to the meat and at around the 3 hour mark I reckoned on 25 fish for around 50lb and around 5lb of roach. Hour four was too prove costly as I could not get a run of fish together, swapping between meat,stinky corn shallow and an 8mm banded pellet.

Going into the last hour I gave the stinky corn a proper go shallow and started feeding a few grains with around 20 pellets every 30 seconds. This seemed to do the trick and I was now getting regular bites, foul hooking a couple and putting a few in the net, but a good 25lb came in the last hour. With the all out imminent I had one last go and was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day at 6lb 11oz (all fish over 4lb needed to be weighed and returned).

I thought I would end up third, considering that both Troy and Chris had been catching consistently, however I did not know that Dave on peg 17 had been catching well until the weigh in.

I had predicted that 90lb would win today and although I reckoned on 80lb did not think I had done enough, hour 4 had cost me and do not really know why I could not catch regularly throughout the match.

1st overall and John Tipple Memorial winner was Dave with 90lb 1oz followed by yours truly with 80lb 1oz, Troy was third with 78lb 6oz with Chris fourth with 70lb 4oz, so it was quite close with no out and out winner running away with it.

On another note plenty of money was raised for Willen Hospice, which Mercedes Benz have agreed to match. Thanks to everyone fishing and those behind the scenes.



Sunday 15 September 2013

Hawkhurst Marsh AC 14 09 13


With a gap in the Marsh AC club calendar a knock up was arranged to fish at Hawkhurst fishery near Hastings. I have fished here before and it is carp, carp and more carp. Not big fish but the average size is around 2lb and in absolutely mint condition. I suppose its what you would expect from a fish farm. However saying that my previous best weight was only about 80lb from the venue.

Mick had arranged to pick me up at 0530 to start the 250 mile round trip and although there was more traffic on the roads than normal, it flowed and we made good time, pulling into the car park just after 0730. Terry was next to arrive after his 15minute journey and looked decidedly fresher than both Mick and I.

Al had organised the match and the plan was to have breakfast in the on site café, then draw for pegs with enough time to allow us to stock up on pellets. They sell pellets by the sack and quite a few lads took advantage of this to avoid the cost of shipping.

We had the whole lake today and decided just to use one bank on Al's advice as it always seems to fish better than if you spread the pegging out and with only 10 of us able to make it suited us to avoid the road separating the two lakes. I had drawn peg 7 and it meant nothing to me, although Al had stated it was a decent peg. Mick had drawn 9, another good peg but Al had drawn the end peg 10 and would take some beating. Either side of me I had Mick Pearson on 6 and Clive on peg 8.

My plan was to fish 2+2 with banded pellet feeding fishery pellet and both margins on a top two. I had around 4ft at 2+2 and decided to fish a .4 MW Diamond with a strung out shotting pattern to a size 16 PR 36, This would allow me to see if the fish were taking on the drop. I also set up a shallow rig just in  case the fish came up in the water. For the margins, I was going to fish Stinky Corn in 2 1/2ft of water tight to the boards both sides. This time it was a .3 MW Diamond still to a size 16 PR36 but with a bulk shotting pattern set just past half way.

At the all in I shipped out a banded 8mm pellet and toss potted fishery 4mm onto the line, after 30 seconds the float buried and a small carp around 12oz came to the waiting landing net. A few more fish followed and after an hour I reckoned on having 25lb of small carp. Mick P was fishing longer at around 7m but was struggling whilst Clive was soon into the margins and picking off odd fish. I could see both Mick and Al catching and felt I was doing ok, however bites were soon becoming more fickle and I was foul hooking too many fish, a change of depth saw another couple of carp join the ones in the keepnet, but I felt it was time to rest the line.

I had been feeding corn down the edge and after 90 minutes decided to have a look. Straight away the float buries and after a brief fight a cracking common around 4lb was in the net. A few more followed and after 3 hours I reckoned on around 70lb.

A short break followed due to Dave C feeling unwell and after a bit of refreshment we were soon back underway. Mick was admitting to 60lb yet Al had reckoned that both he and Mick had a ton, so I was a little off the pace.

Starting back in the margins, I was soon getting into a rhythm and was feeding corn with a pinch of pellet and fishing Stinky Corn over the top. I would get a bite and feed again whilst playing the fish. I managed to keep the fish coming and with the average size increasing from 1 1/2lb to 2lb I was also increasing the weights in my nets. A trashed rig in the last hour cost me dearly as it slowed down my catch rate. Why is it that an identical rig never seems to fish as well as the original? But I was keeping in touch, although I felt the both Al and Mick had both beat me at the whistle. I had done well, beating my previous best at the venue, so was reasonably happy with my day. The Stinky Corn had worked well on yet another venue and I had a few fish on banded pellet, something I rarely fish.

1st    Al Loader               234-08
2nd   Mick Wright          173-0
3rd   Tony Roberts         160-08
4th   Keith Ashby           157-0
5th   Clive Pritchard       109-0
6th   Dave Collier           106-08
7th   Mick Pearson          92-08
8th   Terry Goff              84-08
9th   Tony Watkins         65-0
10th Rod Turner             25-08

Mick is now leading 9-6 in the MK Nugget stakes and I think I need to start pulling back some results.

My next match is the John Tipple Memorial match on the 22nd September at Lakeview fishery near Towcester. Another new venue and hopefully I can defend the trophy and catch a few fish.



Saturday 7 September 2013

Colemans & Alders Ash Lake

A slight change to the normal format of the Blog today as I will cover two matches over two days. Saturday saw me and Mick travel to Coleman's Cottage for a Marsh Match on Wood lake. I have never done particularly well here for a variety of reasons but I think it just does not respond to corn very well. And with Mick on a roll leading 7-6 at present I needed a result to get back on track.

Colemans Wood Lake

A good trip down was met with rain, and lots of it. Yet by the time we had pulled into Coleman's the smell of freshly cooked bacon soon put us in the mood. The draw allowed nearly everyone to have plenty of room and when 33 stuck to my hand I was relatively happy to get off the opposite bank for a change. Mick had drawn 25 at the top of the bowl in the corner and would be on a few fish.

I have often thought that on this lake I tend to over complicate things, left and right margins,2+2, 9m and 13m. Today was going to be different. 2+2 and left margin. Simple. Corn with stinky on it as bait and around 2pints of 4mm pellets. I had around 4ft at 2+2 and around 2ft down the edge of the first shelf. Orange vespe with .18 stroft to a MW diamond in .3g to PR36 size 14 on the 2+2. A NG Margin float to .18 and a size 16 PR36.

At the all in I threw half a dozen grains onto 2+2 and lowered a grain of stinky corn in the depths. A few lifts and drops and the float buries. I have 8 carp within the first hour and seemed to be doing well. Dave C next door was getting a few on the maggot down the edge, Al was struggling and Keith P opposite was getting a couple of fish on the tip. I had been throwing 3 or 4 grains continuously into the peg and was hoping the fish would come up off the deck, a tactic which has accounted for plenty of fish in the past however they would not come up. A few skimmers and odd barbel came to the net but it was slow going.

I would have to wait for a bite, a change to feeding pellet made very little difference so I had a look down the edge. Dragging a grain of corn up the shelf prompting a couple of quick bites and a few f1's. However these were still small fish compared to what Keith P was catching. His were averaging 5lb a piece whilst mine would go probably 2lb at best.

Al was now catching well from his right hand edge and I could still hear a lot of splashing from Dave's peg. Back out to 2+2 and a few more fish but again slow progress. And this continued through to the end of my match.

At the weigh in my weight of 81lb was around what I expected. Keith P had 135lb whilst Al had caught late on and put 165lb on the scales only to be surpassed by Mick who was quietly tucked away in the corner, emptying it of fish. A couple of weighs and a good 196lb saw him complete the win and take yet another £1 off me to lead 8-6 overall.

Ash Lake Sunday

Sunday saw me booked into the Ash Lake open at Alders after the Meadowlands match was cancelled. Mick was working today so no MK Nugget at stake. Arriving at the fishery it was noticeable that a lot of very good anglers were present and with 24 booked on a good draw was required. After a cup of tea, the draw took place and for a change I hung back. Peg 4 graced my palm and was happy with it. Vic had drawn peg 36 on the opposite bank.

Again I stuck to my plan of attack that is 2+2 plus a margin line on a top two. However, I put a different variant of corn on the bait table today. I had stinky corn and this would be my main line of attack, but I also knocked up some corn atomic cloud for the edge and dusted some grains off for the hook on both lines.

At the all in I approached the 2+2 line exactly as yesterday with around half a dozen grains and cupped in Atomic Cloud into the edge. I would leave this line as long as possible before having a look as I did not want to spook them too early. Others around me would start on this line and hope it would last the whole five hours. I am not that confident it will with corn so prefer to fish elsewhere first and then go on it late.

I was soon into fish and by continually dripping in three or four grains I managed to keep fish coming through the first hour. John on the next peg was catching well and I thought he would be in for a good weight from peg 5. Mark was also catching on banded pellet close in and if they could keep the fish there I would be in trouble. However it seemed the rest of the lake was struggling with anglers having to wait for bites( something we are not used to at Alders). I kept plugging away and slowly I was managing to claw my way back into it. I still had not gone down the edge but was keeping it topped up regularly. A run of foul hooked fish saw a depth change and it is surprising how much difference an inch or two can make. I was still catching albeit slowly and by half way I reckoned I had 30 fish for about 75lb. One thing I did do though was when it went quiet instead of feeding more I tried an Atomic grain of corn and this brought a few more fish before I needed to switch back to Stinky Corn.

John was now struggling to put a run of fish together and was swapping his lines in the hope of getting on a few. Mark was still catching but I could not see the size of his fish.

Hour four saw my catch rate improve putting 20 fish in the net and with over a ton on what seemed a hard day, I was happy. The last hour and a half flew by and although I kept looking down the edge, it seemed devoid of fish. So I did not waste too much time on it. I could catch at 2+2 and although I needed to constantly alter depth's up and down, fish kept coming. At the all out I reckoned on 73 fish on the clicker for what I reckoned would be about 170lb.

1st Overall was Mark Dickens on Peg 6 with 203lb dead, followed by my self with 202lb 4oz. It was that close.



1st Mark Dickens 203lb

2nd Keith Ashby 202lb 4oz

3rd Colin Fossdyke 196lb 15oz

4th John Wellham 175lb 13oz

5th Pete Archer 167lb 4oz

6th Ricky Quick 160lb 11oz

Where is Mick Wright when I am catching?

I have also learnt a valuable lesson today. Have confidence in what you are doing and eventually things come right. I have been fishing corn all season and have learnt a lot over that time. Differences to depth and shotting helped today. I have not tried Atomic Corn for a while and just had a hunch that after the rain and the water being coloured a bright bait would work.

I am off now to fish in and around Somerset for a few days and will report on the trip when I get back. No matches as I understand it but some decent fishing ahead hopefully.

Cider Country Fishing

It is always nice to get away for a few days and if you can combine new surroundings and good company then all the better. Pete Thompson had asked if I fancied a few days stopping at his brother's house in Cullompton in Somerset. Fishing tackle was a must, as his brother, Tommy goes fishing.

With the plan to go on Bank Holiday Monday, stay Tuesday and Wednesday and return on the Thursday. Pete duly arrived and after loading the car with Pete's gear we were soon off and running. That was until the Engine Management light came on the Peugeot and would not allow me to rev over 2000 revs. A faulty fuel filter was diagnosed and a return to Milton Keynes ensued. Still nothing we could do about it on a Bank Holiday, so it was a case of switching the gear from my car to Pete's and off we went again. We were now three hours behind plan but at least moving in the right direction. We had decided to fish on the way down and had targeted Lands End Fishery near Wedmore in Somerset to break up the journey. Surprisingly the roads were clear and even the M4 around Bristol caused us no problems. Arriving at the fishery though caused our second disappointment of the day. All three lakes were closed off for matches. So a decision was made to try Viaduct Fishery at Somerton as it was a bit closer to Collumpton and not taking us away from the area. A trip along the country roads and within 45 minutes we were there. Day tickets purchased we settled into 2 pegs 62 and 63 on Lodge lake.

I decided to fish the edge as I had a nice little cut out in amongst some reeds with around 2ft beneath the float. I also set a line at 9m in 5ft of water and would hope for a few skimmers. Pete opted to fish long at 11m and was targeting skimmers with paste. I started off long and caught a few nice skimmers around 2lb before the bites got a bit iffy on stinky corn. A switch to GOT Rippers brought another couple of skimmers. Pete had caught well and was getting a few carp over his paste up to 12lb 7oz amongst his skimmers. I had a look down the edge and had a few carp to 12lb 6oz and as we had daily challenge to see who caught the biggest fish, Pete won day 1. Still we had a good day and an estimated 80lb each in just a couple of hours fishing. We also found out that they run a match on the Thursday and seemed a good idea to finish the week off so booked in.

After a good night's sleep, Tuesday brought Tommy's day at Kia-Ora fishery in Collumpton. This is Tommy's local venue and although I have fished here before we let Tommy choose where he wanted to fish before settling into our pegs nearby. Again Pete would fish pellet and paste, I would fish corn and Tommy the humble maggot. I had an island in front of me at 12.5m and two nice looking edges, however I decided to start off at 2+3 as I could throw the corn this far. Bites were coming and fairly regularly and it was not long before I was getting into a rhythm of feeding, dropping a bait in, feeding again, striking, feeding, landing and feeding again before repeating the process. I was only feeding corn but using Stinky Corn on the hook. After a couple of hours I had caught around 25 fish for about 120lb. I had been feeding down the edge, one side with corn the other 4mm GOT Sinkers and I decided to switch to the edges to see if I could tempt some larger fish that inhabit Kia-Ora. A good decision as in the next hour I had 12 fish for another 100lb with the best around 14lb. Pete was catching well down the edge but was struggling out and still reckoned on well over a ton. Tommy was catching small roach and the odd carp, so I went over with some corn and pellet and showed him how to fish it. As soon as my back was turned, he was into his first corn fish and after around five minutes he landed a nice common around 8lb. As time was running out I decided to have a look long by the island and by lifting and dropping a grain of stinky corn at 12.5m I was getting a fish every put in. These fish were smaller than those down the edge and even smaller than the 2+3 line but in ten put ins I had 9 fish averaging 3lb each. I reckoned on having around 280lb in the 6 hours we were there, with Pete close behind with 200lb, Tommy once he started fishing corn had around a ton. I had won day 2.

Day three saw the three of us lining the banks of Goodiford Mill. Settling in on some early pegs to avoid any long walks. Again, my plan was to fish stinky corn over corn at 2+3 and down the edge. Pete was going to fish pellet and paste before switching to expanders. Tommy would fish maggot and his newly learnt corn tactics down the edge. After a slow start on my long line I soon had skimmers and odd carp queuing up for a grain of stinky corn, however I noticed a few swirls whilst feeding and thought the fish were off bottom. A change of rig and after a few nice roach to 12oz I was getting carp shallow lifting and dropping. Tommy was getting a lot of blade roach on the maggot, and was quite pleased to have caught 20 fish after the first hour for about 2lb in weight. Not my cup of tea but each to their own. I had around 50lb on my clicker, mainly carp but a few skimmers and roach. Our target today was to catch a crucian and a tench. Pete although struggling on the paste had secured one of the species, a crucian of around a pound. I just kept plugging away alternating between up and down in the water and was bagging. After three hours I reckoned on 150lb. However fishing was disrupted by a guy fishing further round. He had lost his rod in the water and wanted help to get it back. It had lodged it self against the island and was stuck fast. He decided to swim over with a lifebuoy round his waist to retrieve it. Attached to the buoy was another of his carp rods with 10lb line to help drag him back if he got into difficulties. It was definitely a sight to see but the mission was accomplished, rod retrieved and the guy, although wet and embarrassed it had happened in the first place went away happy. Back to the fishing and it was if we had not been away. Fish were queuing up again and by the end of the day I reckoned on 83 carp for around 320lb plus approximately 25lb of silvers plus a tench of 1 1/2lb which drew the daily challenge. Pete had decided to fish the whip and in 45 minutes had 69 fish on expander, all roach and crucians at half depth on a topkit straight out.

Our last day would see us compete in the Viaduct costcutter match before returning home. After breakfast at the fishery we drew for pegs, opting to leave it to the last 2 in the bag. Pegs 130 for me and 132 for Pete. So next door to each other (peg 131 was not in). I had open water in front of me and an overhanging willow tree to me right. Pete was tucked away in the corner with good looking margins and open water. I had a local next to me who set up a couple of bomb rods plus the pole for fishing up and down and margin rigs. Me however, decided to fish corn at 11m, feeding a 2+2 line and one edge by the tree late on. I did not take any rods with me due to space in the van being limited. At the all in I potted a pot of pellet with around 30 grains of corn at 11m and threw some bait regularly in the edge and 2+2 line. I started on 11m and first put in, I had a foul hooked carp of 4lb which after a struggle came in. A few skimmers and tench followed before the bites tailed off. This time I fed with a far larger percentage of corn to try to get the carp going. This seemed to do the trick as I snagged a few carp to boost my first hour weight to 35lb on the clicker of carp. I was still getting some nice skimmers and odd tench and roach but was not keeping a track of them. Hours two and three flew by and although odd fish came, I realised that you needed to keep the peg fizzing to get constant bites. I was now feeding a large pot of pellet and corn every hour. Topping up occasionally with a toss pot. Going in the fourth hour my clicker said 64lb and with a 70lb net limit I started a new net. The fifth hour was harder, with only 10lb in the carp net but feeding heavier(every half an hour) brought the fish back. I thought that with a good last hour I was in with a shout. I had a look down the edge for two roach so gave that idea up quickly and at 2+2 only had a small skimmer, so it was 11m or nothing. By lifting a dropping the stinky hookbait I was able to add another 4 fish. I was a bit adrift of my neighbour who had caught well throughout, a couple of fish on the bomb then up and down and then the margin before going back to the bomb for a total of 161lb. My carp nets went 107lb and with 28lb of silvers I ended up third overall with 135lb and a brown envelope. Pete had caught in bursts and weighed in 10lb of silvers and 65lb of carp.

So that was it, four days fishing and over 800lb of fish, a brown envelope to end with. Will help with the car repairs and news that my fridge freezer at home has broken down. Still better than working, I suppose.