Claygate Eva Marsh AC 25 10 14

New Claygate  Lakes was the venue for the last match of the Marsh AC season (apart from the Xmas match) and I was lying in second position behind travelling partner and work colleague Mick. Clive who was sitting in third position was unable to make today so it was a shoot out between the two of us.
A good trip down with Troy taking his van and both Mick and I contributing to his breakfast and dinner, we made good time and pulled into Monks Lake fishery for the first of the commitments(brekkie), in good time. Its only 10 minutes away from Claygate and a good stopping off point.
We had most of the lake today and I was hoping for a peg with plenty of open water, however I had drawn end peg and knew it was over before I had even wet a line. Peg 37 is in a corner and I knew it would be feast or famine, no wind blowing in or signs of life let alone fish, but it was what was in the hat and someone had to get it. Mick had drawn well on 33 with open water and a gap between two islands and a decent clean margin. Troy had also drawn in a good area on 6 on the railway straight.
Before the start Tony W was getting ready, plumbing up as you do, shipping back his pole along the railway bank. Next thing he knew was a loud bang and a broken section. A train had passed by and nicked his last section, causing no damage but the following movement of the pole snapped another section with a whiplash effect. With it telescoped he could continue but he was a very lucky man as 750 live volts could have had a far lasting effect on him. When will people learn electricity and carbon do not mix.
I opted to fish 4 lines today, with the resident f1's and carp the target species. I had a line at 11m to my left edge, a line at 14m tight to the far bank, 12m to my right at 2 o'clock at the bottom of the shelf and a top four line directly in front. I had good depth on all lines and felt that feeding 4mm GOT Sinkers and fishing either a 6mm banded pellet or expander would account for anything that swam. I also had a tin of corn as a back up.
I started off fishing top four and after an hour only had one f1 from this line around 12oz and no other bites. I had rotated my lines during this spell and it was evident that there were no fish in the peg. No bites, no liners, nothing. Changes to shotting patterns made no difference. I set up a shallow rig and even tried that to no avail. Nothing was working.It was fishing hard and I could see the colour dropping out of the margins. In fact I dropped some pellets next to my keepnet and although I could not see them at the start they were still there clear as day in 2ft of water at the end.
Simon W on 35 had started well fishing tight across and had a couple of f1's before he managed to break his no.6 section adjusting his pole roller. Not a good day for the Watkin Brothers. Mick was plugging away and doing far better than I.
To cut a six hour story short, I managed four bites during the match and four fish for a grand total of 6lb something and with 20 minutes left started packing up. It really was a famine peg but we all stick our hand into the pot and should try to make the most of what is in front of us. At no point did I give up as a run of fish can easily change things around. Many matches I have come back in the last hour of a match but alas today was not one of them. Not the way I would have liked the season to end, but that's fishing.

Overall

 1 Tony Roberts       69  04
2 Al Loader             61  00
3 Terry Goff            60   08
4 Jim Boase             48  12
5 Tony Watkins      46  12
6 Gino Excell          44  08

Mick finished with 33lb to pip Troy with 32lb.


Congratulations to Mick on winning the Marsh AC League for 2014. Another MK Nugget in his pocket and he has managed to claw his way back into a very close finish to the year. 12-10 to me having been 12-6 in front(ooppss) with 2 matches left.
Well done to all the section winners and I look forward to seeing you all on the Xmas Match.