I had told them via this blog and in person on previous club matches on how I approach it and with the ever helpful Trevor Price, also on hand to offer assistance, hopes were high.
I arrived early as it was local to the MK members and was surprised to see a few of the other lads already in attendance. I popped in to the shop to get my breakfast ticket and arranged for a couple of lads to drive to the bottom and drop their gear off. After the compulsory net dip, I took my gear up to the lake. Dave Collier and Tony Roberts needed a hand with their tackle so Troy, John and myself took care of this whilst they sorted out the draw and pools. With everyone in attendance (14 anglers) we deposited our gear on our pegs and aired our keep-nets, before walking to the café for breakfast.
I had wanted a peg in the low numbers, anyone from 1-10. However the draw gods were not kind and I had to settle into peg 18, a decent peg and one I was happy with. I had for company Simon on 19, Gino on 20 and Tony Roberts on 21. Vic was on 17 so I would have my work cut out to win the section.
I had a plan that has served me well recently, fish 2+2 straight out and down the edge if struggling. I do not think that 6 hours down the edge works with corn. So most of the match I would need to catch longer and have an odd look throughout.
My nemesis, Mick and Troy had drawn peg 6 and 5 respectively and would take some beating, Dave Collier was on peg 8 and I would need to keep an eye on him. Chris was on 2, Jim on 3, John had drawn between Mick and Dave on 7, Terry was on 9 with Clive filling the bank on peg 10. Graham was billy no mates on peg 15. A good peg on its day and with no one else within a couple of pegs could fish well.
At the all in I started off feeding around 4 grains of corn every 20 seconds as per plan but after 30 minutes with around 8 small fish to show for it, I started to gradually up the feed to around a dozen every 30 seconds. This seemed to have a desired effect and slowly I was building a weight. After an hour I reckoned on around 30lb. Hour two saw the fish respond better to a shallow rig fished over the 2+2 line but again I felt the fish were spooking from the pole tip. A change with more line added above the float and I was back into a rhythm. Gelled Corn was the working bait, with Stinky Corn only accounting for around 6 fish before switching off. Three hours in and with around 100lb in the net, the 2+2 line was taking too long to get a bite. A move to 2+2 right, under the tree, saw another good spell of fish to around 4lb and kept fish coming. At this point the heavens opened and a torrential downpour had me grasping for my waterproof coat. Only I had left it at home and would have to sit through it. Still the fish were biting and I was happy. This hour defined my match and I reckoned on putting around 80lb in the net during this spell. Yet again the bites dried up, so it was into the margins for the last hour. I had been feeding this all the time and first put in the float goes and another carp. I was getting enough bites to keep me interested in the margin but found I had to keep changing depths to keep bites coming through the last hour.
At the all out I honestly, thought I had 200 - 220lb and with Vic claiming 200lb I knew it would be close between us for the section. Simon and Gino had caught but both had quiet spells which cost them time. Tony had tried shallow for an hour for little reward, however his edge fishing saved his day as the fish were queuing up at the end. I could see opposite and knew the Troy, Mick and Dave had caught well so the MK Nugget was still all to play for.
Overall
1st Troy Hillier 271-00
2nd Keith Ashby 254-00
3rd Vic Nugent 235-00
4th Mick Wright 219-00
5th Dave Collier 213-12
6th John Holdsworth 205-08
I had managed to sneak another MK Nugget from Mick to lead 12-6 in our head to head battle. Well done to Troy and Dave on their section wins.
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