Emerald Pool Silvers Open.

With Darren (Big Bird) picking me up this morning we made are way to Hilltops for the formal breakfast though how birdy manages to eat the biggest on offer I don't know' Down to the fishery and with 18pegs in today some of it was goin to be a bit tight so I was hoping to draw the far side which is seeming the more favoured area to be in with it being slightly deeper and more room to play with so in went my hand and out comes peg 7 which put my by the lifebuoy on the nearside car park bank which has been producing 30-40lb weights of late so a lot to play for until I realised I had Alex Murry on the peg to my right which is not normally put in meaning as we were close I couldn't fish to my right as I would of liked and a small island prevented me going left and I didn't want to go to close to it as it looked a tad carpy"

 Most of the best weights come buy fishing short with maggot or caster so a 0.3g PB2 was set up to fish on the deck in three and a half feet of water on 0.11- 0.10 with an 18 63-13, a lighter 4x10 rig to catch through the water if possible on 0.10-0.09 and a 18 silver fish, both to fish at 5mts , and a swim around a yard off the island at 11mts which was 3 inches deeper so I could use the same rigs for both.

at the start I cupped in some chopped worm on the short line, and a small nugget of micro and a few expanders on the longer swim, starting long with an expander on the hook I had some small hybrids then a 1lb tench before a small lull which resulted in a carp of 3lb, not good', a couple more small samples saw me add another nugget of micro and switch to the caster on the short line which I had been feeding by hand soon saw me catching and although I felt I was behind I was getting the odd tench and big roach to help build my weight up but the problem seemed to be when I didn't have a ripple on the water due to the island I found it hard to get a bite which saw me having to put a section on and fish further beyond were I was feeding.

at the halfway point the match really took a swing and the lakes carp population turned on and everyone seemed to by playing one at some stage it put an end to the silvers for me and Alex for the rest of the match with us taking it in turns in Artistic display fishing of carp on light elastic but its amassing how you get them all in" we only managed to add a few 1lb of silvers each for the rest of the match as it didn't matter what you put on the hook you hooked One!

The Noted far bank produced the goods as even between the carp the silvers were still being added right up to the whistle.

For the second match in a row Nigel Garret took the win on the far side with a cracking 92lb all caught short on the maggot , And Glynn Wickham finishing 2nd with 52lb from the same bank fishing caster. It was a shame the swims died for me and Alex, as we were both catching and I ended on 32lb which was nearly all in the first three hours" still a great days fishing though with over 680lb of silvers caught between us all.   

            

  Part of Nigel's winning bag.

       Runner up Glyn's catch.

Full results- 1st Nigel Garrett (Summerhayes) 92lb

                     2nd Glynn Wickham (Summerhayes) 52lb 4oz

                     3rd Martin Heard (Tiverton) 51lb 10oz

                     4th Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) 49lb 12oz . 

Acorn Saturday Open

Straight to the fishery for the match today and with the resent form coming off the bridge pegs I was hoping the draw would be kind to me and when I pulled out peg 34 next to a bridge and a peg I happened to draw on my last visit I was more than happy, though this was short lived as for some reason there had to be a re-draw which ment I had perform some magic if I was going to get it again" Nope' This time I managed to draw peg 2 not were I would of chosen but it was the bonus peg so I had to bear that in mind, I planned to fish maggot over caster on the long pole down towards the next pallet in around 4ft of water and a couple of swims across towards the far bank with 4mm expanders over micro.

4x12 chantis on 0.11 - 0.10 and 18 808's were all I set up and after a pound with bend it Brian who had now draw 34" I started the match by cupping in a large pot of casters to the pallet before starting over with expander over a tiny amount of micro and 4mm hard pellet via a toss pot after 5 mins I had expected some indication but nothing happed and a switch to maggot didn't do any better so I started a new line to my right in the same depth feeding the same amounts tho there didn't seem to be anything willing to feed so I was soon making a new rig to fish down the track in 6ft of water with maggot and hard 4's fed by hand it was slow to say the least and after two hours I had managed one 1lb tench on red maggot down the track and still had no signs of fish across on any line but having found the fish do tend to switch on later in the day and with only one 10oz skimmer added to my total it didn't happen until the last 30mins then somebody flicked a switch as my lines across both started to produce fish and I ended with four carp and some crucians & skimmers for around 6lb of bits and 14lb of carp but the bridge peg 40 had won for the 3rd match in a row with Dave Smart winning the day with 33lb odd and second was Aide Baker with 31lb the other side of the bridge , Shame they didn't switch on earlier as I may have snuck it but it wasn't to be but it was still a nice day to try and work a few things out.     

Emerald Pool Tony Rixon Match

There were 16 of us today as the word has gone around how popular the silver fishing has been here of late so tony left me to the pegging to accommodate us without putting to many carpy looking pegs in, I managed to draw on the car park bank next to the bridge on my left, Nigel Wickham had struggled off this peg on the Saturday open finishing with 20lb odd but I was sure there were fish to be caught all over the lake and with a first and a second in the last two matches I must have been doing right'.

Planning to mainly planned my attach around 5mt with caster over caster and a bit of chopped worm and a line at ten meters with caster and groundbait, I didn't feel to happy tho when plumming up as I only had around 2ft of water on the short line and not much more on the longer line, I felt that I would catch short but they would spook easy and with the bridge leaving me unable to go further to the left it left me little option to go elsewhere.

For company today I had Barry Fitchew the other side of the bridge so we had a pound to keep it friendly and on the start I cupped in some loose groundbait and caster at 10mts and some choppy and caster on 5mt swim, Im not going to get into detail of my first hour excecpt I had 4 big roach and some smaller fish off both lines Before what I can now only describe as horrific..

We all heard a lot of shouting and all got off are boxes to find out the disturbance was down to a fishery regular had turned up with a young lad and climbed over the owners locked gate into there back garden, We don't know if he new but there German Sheppard dogs were in the garden and for an unknown reason to any of us the dogs had attacked the guy and the young lad i'm not going into anymore Detail but a big thanks goes to all as if it wasn't for some quick thinking it would no bout ended fatal, We were all in shock afterwards and a quick response by the emergency serviced thankfully saw them off to hospital without to serious injuries. Now were an Owner of a big dog myself and as soft as she is dogs are territorial, We are or entitled to are opinion but I cant justify why for any reason knowing the owners were out why he put himself and a young child who wasn't related to him in that position of entering the premises.

Needless to say few of us witnessing the scene were keen to continue so the match was ended and Tony returned the entry fee to us all, it was a shame as some people were catching really well from the off but none of us were in the frame of mind and i'm sure from all of us we wish the lad a speedy recovery but he did have a smile on his face when Silverfox Mike told the lad he was having a free ride in a helicopter"                      

Viaduct Teams Of 5 Rd 3

Traveling with team mate Don Sutherland today and a quick stop for a breky roll to have on the way to the draw at the globe were arrived with plenty of time so I made the most of it by having a good chat and catch up with Des (Smiley) Shipp and had five minutes putting the world to rights before my draw was to be decided on Cambell Lake, I don't know why but I had a good feeling I was going to land on one of the more favoured pegs and I was more than happy to find myself on 85 which had caught carp on both matches so far as well as the opens.

Knowing most of the fish come at distance from these pegs all I was going to set up was a loaded 2gram waggler to fish just on the deck with a small 20mm swivel connecting a Drennan 0.16 hook length on a size 14 hair rig and lead a tip rod with a bomb with proper line" as they go to 25lb in this lake and smallest seem to be 5lb connected with the same hook length as the waggler, Or so I thought" I had forgot to put my reels in today as well as my feeder arm so a quick scout round saw me borrow a reel with 8lb line and Dons feeder arm, as I found my reel for the waggler in my net bag, set up with plenty of time to have a wander and a chat with fellow Bloger Tony Rixon who kindly lent me one of his nice aero reels just in case although im sure there was a reason and he could cast as far as were I was going to fish from peg 81 so I was going to have to keep an eye on him" Owe and he didn't need Reminding the last time he lent me this reel off the next peg he got beat by me so I was out to repeat the lesson."

Starting the match on the straight lead with punched 8mm meat I began slightly to my left so I could work my way back to the point of the island on my right at around 25 yards as the match progressed, After 20mins of trying I was struggling to reach the distance I felt the fish were with the thickness of the 8lb line so a quick decision to change the now thankfully borrowed reel from Tony' loaded with 5lb line saw me back in the peg 5mins later at the right distance and with Andy Crocker from the Welsh Freeze outfit on 86 already netting a nice 15lb fish I felt it wasn't going to be long before it was my turn and sure enough on the 25 minute I had a proper bite" and landed a 10lb mirror (Nice start), Sticking to the meat and a few more liners followed before another 10lb'er was added so now I was nicely settled as looking around I had only seen two carp caught.

A few more false bites when you cant help picking the rod up without fear of it being pulled in had me thinking the fish had come up slightly in the water but by now the breeze had picked up so ruled me out of fishing the waggler so I had to stick to my guns and sit the match out on the tip which I'm not a lover of as I like to be working at it, I began to change my baits and tried popped up bread and a bunch of floating red maggot on a longer tail but with no response it was back to the meat and bang on the two hour mark I hooked a much bigger fish and this is were the fun began" The fish kited from around 30 yards to my left as soon as it was hooked and there was nothing I could do' I warned Andy on the next peg but moments later it was to late and I wasn't only connected to his line but the guy the other side of him aswell! Both were very sporting and let there reels off for me play the fish in and after 10 mins it was in the net All 17lb of it' hooked in the barb" along with a tangled mass of weights and hook lengths! WHOOPS" , They took it well though but we all had to set up again" At least we gave the fish a rest for ten mins.

Back in action and the next two cast saw Andy land two fish so the mini break did his swim good but by know my liners had stopped and I began to feel the fish were moving further along the lake and so proved as the two guys to Andy's left had a carp apiece going into the last hour as well as Andy ending the day on six fish one of which he cast on top of fizzing fish sat right in front of him we could see when the breeze dropped and 5mins later he was in yet my swim seamed devoid of any bubbles or any signs of fish and despite trying different baits and moving closer to the spit my only other fish was a 13oz skimmer on the corn and two liners with 5 mins to go which is typical as I felt I was going to get another, so my 3 carp and a Skimmer weighed 37lb odd for 4th on the lake out off 19 so good for team points and Andy's six fish weighed 54lb for 2nd on the lake which was won with 56lb so two more pull rounds may of seen my do it but that's fishing and at least the weather was nice" I kindly gave the borrowed tackle back and reminded Tony it was now two from two with his reel! perhaps he ought to sell it me"

Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) won the day from Cambell Lake 124 with 160lb odd on the bomb and various baits and this lake through up the top Five placing's today , Don managed to come 5th on his lake but Steve Seager had a poor draw for last on the lake but we managed 4th on the day team wise its a shame we had a poor last round but we can still finish some were so all is not lost, Frezze Won the team side on the day with what is believed to be a record score of 81 pts puts them top of the league so far.

Overall results -

1st Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) peg124 161lb 7oz

2nd Adam Mitchell (Freeze Orange) peg 119 147lb 6oz

3rd Roland Lucas (Viaduct) peg 116 115lb 4oz

4th Lee Werret (freeze Black) peg 110 75lb 9oz

5th Dave White (Viaduct Select) peg 38 72lb

Silvers -

1st Dave white (Viaduct Select) peg 38, 31lb 3oz

2nd Bob Gullick (Moaning Maggots) peg 25, 22lb 15oz

3rd Glen Reynolds (Freeze Black) peg 37, 21lb 3oz  

Shiplate Farm Series Rd 9

!st Alan Healy (Frys) 52lb 4oz , 2nd Steve Howell (Shiplate) 51lb 14oz , 3rd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) 32lb 8oz

Silvers - Julian Pinkett (Post Office) 9lb 11oz                            

           

Emerald Pool Silvers Match

Another chance to have a crack at the silvers population today and with no let up in the weather we were all hoping the wind would ease up from the gales last night, A nice breky at hilltops before arriving in order to do the pegging out I spread them around the whole lake giving us as much room as possible and I fancied the far bank with the wind behind us slightly to make for an easier day presentation wise. Darren(Big Bird) drew for me today and handed me peg 5 which was one up from the far side end under the willows which I had to do a bit magic with folding some branches over themselves so I didn't catch them whilst hopefully bagging"

I was hoping to catch on at around 5mts were I could feed caster easily feed by hand but planed to leave it for a while to settle and catch out at 11mts over groundbait and caster, My inside line was shallower than the last match with about Three and a half feet and a quick look on the 11mt line only showed it to be inches deeper so a rig to fish on the deck with a 0.3g PB3 with a bulk 6inches from the hook and a lighter 4x12 chanti strung out for searching the depth both on 0.11-0.10 and a 18 63-13, and a 3x10 chanti for fishing shallow if they came up high in the water,

For company today I had Glyn Wickham on peg 5 and Sedges Regular Eric  Foracre on end peg 6 my bank who both enjoy there silvers so I new I had a challenge on the keep them in my sights, I started the match by feeding my short swim with a good amount of casters and some chopped worm via a big cup and my long line with three cups of wetted loose groundbait containing some casters  starting with single caster at 11mts I was expecting to catch straight away but I had to work the rig to get any indications and the stamp of fish were small, after 30mins I had around 3lb and new I had to get amongst the better fish so I topped the line up with a firm ball and switched to my short line where I had upped the feed to 20 or so casters every minute as I was already playing catch up with the pegs either side who were catching shorter.

Starting with caster on the hook I was soon into some better hybrids and roach over a 1lb by feeding the swim before laying the lighter chanti rig most of my bites were coming as soon as the float settled or by repeating the process of feeding again, I did notice a pattern was beginning to appear the for know reason bites would dry up but it did appear the carp were a lot more active today as many were caught as well as myself ending the day landing five and losing one at the net with the rig ending up in the willows overhead not to be used again" so I kept to same pattern and fed some more chopped worm and small nuggets combined on the same line when the smaller stamp of fish appear of after a carp had unsettled the peg.

I stayed on the same line for the rest of the match as for what I could see I was keeping up with the rest of the field and by working up and down through the water I had some nice wiser Hybrids and big roach at various depths to keep the pressure on the rest and taking advantage of the wind dropping I managed to end the day catching 18inches deep on 3x10 rig to finished with what I thought would be around 55lb although its so hard to tell so I was happy to finish up with 67lb odd and enough for 2nd on the day.

some of my catch.

                First on the day went to Nigel Garrett with a cracking weight of 85lb mainly catching short on casters and corn,

 |Nigel Garrett with part of his catch.

Overall there was over 430lb of silvers weighed in today and considering the weather we all had a good day with plenty of bites to work at.

 I had to add this picture of Eric next to me as he went off like a train and I was so convinced he had more than me I had a tenner side bet with him and despite just missing out on the overall frame he went home with the tenner off me hence the smile!

Overall results -

1st Nigel Garrett (Summerhayes) peg 2, 85lb 5oz

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/ Cabury Angling) peg 5, 67lb 6oz

3rd Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 4, 49lb 4oz

4th Eric Foracre (The Sedges) peg 6, 47lb 2oz

5th Barry fitchew (Pole repairs) peg 11, 37lb 12oz    

 

      

Shiplate Farm Open, Canal Lakes,

Decided Against Breky today but  grabbed a breakfast roll for fishery owner Steve and had a gossip and a cuppa before the start, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be plain sailing for me today as I had my brand new tracky bottoms on for five minutes and whilst turning the car around to load my kit in I knocked the end off my cig and it fell between my legs burning a hole in them" And that was after stepping in dog poo whilst trying to find the back gate in the pitch black! The wind had been horrendous over night and there was no let up when it came to draw time with added hail to assist us whilst tackling up, I fancied a draw in the narrower low numbers on Westpool but ended up on Peg 9 hawthorns which I was happy with as I won off this peg last time fishing across at 14mts towards the aerator rope and bull rushes on the far bank. I was debating as what to do at the start as the wind was so strong I didn't even want to get the pole out" I decided to wait for a lull in the weather and set the rest of my kit up first and pumped some 4mm Expanders.

I had a feeling my main lines were going to be down the edge today in around 5ft of water for which I set up a 4x14 chanti on 0.15-0.11 and an 18 808 and a 4x12 on 0.13-0.11 for fishing up and down in the water with maggot on the hook and one rig across a 4x10 chanti to 0.11-0.10 again to an 18 808 in around 3ft of water against the rushes, Only just ready at the start I began by cupping in some casters and red maggot on my inside right hand swim and drip fed my left swim with some maggots by hand , I chose to start across on my long line with a single red and white maggot without feeding anything and within 2mins I had a positive bite which saw my gingerly playing a carp of around 4lb which decided to come straight to the top and roll before sheading the hook! I spent the next 40mins across with nothing after trying shallower and swapping to 3 floro pinkee and single red magg on the hook I had to have a rest as buy now it was lashing down and I had no feeling in my fingers so I cupped in a small amount of micro and dead pinkee across and switched to my shallow rig with double red maggot down my right hand edge.

After feeding half a dozen maggots by hand twice I lay the rig in over the top and as soon the rig settled it shot under and this time I managed to net a carp off 4lb so I was off the mark, I fed the swim with some more maggots by hand and changed to my left hand swim where I had been dripping casters in and again when it settled and I fed over the top I was hooked to a much bigger carp and dispite me having one chance to scoop" it bolted for the tree root and I lost it, swapping back to my right and flicking a few maggots in saw me hook another and after a couple of mins I was just reaching for the net and "ping" another one gone! After a few choice words with myself ' I changed the hook length even tho the hook looked fine I wasn't going risk anymore coming off.

After causing a disturbance to my inside lines I feed them by hand and went back over with double red again first put in resulted in a chub of 12oz then a perch of 10oz but no carp followed so I resulted in cab potting a few reds and micro with a couple of 4mm expanders and waiting for a bite another ten mins and I had another carp across but it was foul hooked so after 5mins praying it would stay on the obvious happened and again it shed the hook only for my rig to smash back and break the float! after feeding a cross again and a new assembled rig it was back on the inside swims but I couldn't get a bite at any depth so I topped them up with some more casters and a few reds and changed to my full depth rig with caster on the hook but after 5mins both sides without so much as a knock I was back on the long line with 3 floros on the hook and two mins of lifting and dropping saw me connect to a carp of 5lb which I managed to hook in the mouth and get in'  Another chub next put in left me thinking it was best to feed a little via the cad pot then sit on it for 10 mins at a time before repeating the process if I had no indications , I would of liked to have another swim slightly to my right on this line but it was impossible to present it right with the gale force winds and it was towing down the lake with the wind which didn't help.

I kept trying both my inside lines regularly but they had seemed to vacate the area altogether as it was totally none productive and word on the bank was the lakes were fishing hard (Hardly surprizing with this endless rain) so I sat over for most of the remaining match and by endlessly lifting and dropping maggot or 3 floros pinkee I ended with 5 carp for around 20lb and a couple of pound of bits, word was Westpool had fished equally hard with Julian Pinkett top weight with 22lb 2oz so I new it would be close and when my carp and 2lb 2oz  of silvers were added together my 23lb was enough to win the lake and the match out right so not such a bad day after all and 60 quid better off, We surely have to have some more suitable fishing conditions soon as at one stage today I was shaking like a leaf and my hands were numb which doesn't help when your trying to concentrate, Owe a a quick mention of Steve (Peanut) Howell who yet again managed to draw a good on consistent Peg 5 Westpool only for him to whip around the carpark like a ferret having £1 side bets with whoever he could" But in sure he wont mind me mentioning he was stone last on the lake and had to ask Steve for change to pay us all!...

My catch

Golly jones & Me

 

Results -

1st Dominic Sullivan , Maver/Cadbury Angling 23lb

2nd Julian Pinkett , Bristol Post office 22lb 2oz 

Silvers -

Golly Jones , Shiplate 3lb 7oz                     

Viaduct teams of 5 rd 2

Traveling by myself today as Don had other commitments so straight to the grove in Somerton for an all you can eat breakfast or so I thought as word has got round from the first match so most chose to head there for breky resulting in the first round of it running out and guys having to wait 20mins just to get a full breakfast" So a cuppa and a chat was the best I could hope for. Team today was myself , Captain Chris hook , Sam Johnson , Steve Seager and Glynn wickham taking the place of John green again? Got a funny feeling we wont see him".

Onto the draw and one of the last to draw Chris came out stoney face as we hadn't had a good team draw, with me being on cambell today I was hoping to be draw on form pegs 124, 125 or the pegs directly opposite so when I was handed 126 at least I new I was in the right area and fish have fins, I new from the last results on this lake the pegs below me proved tough so my decision was made for another positive day meaning I would rely on the bomb and waggler to do the damage leaving my wet pole from yesterday still in the holdall  a loaded 2g waggler was assembled with an 0.13 hook length to an eyed Preston PR36 size 16 and a bomb rod with 4lb main line to a Drennan pre tied size 14 hair band 12inch hook length, not taking long to set up I went for a wander down to Tom Thick on corner peg 132 hoping to learn something as the lad has been here a lot more then me, within 2mins of my arrival and Tom pluming his waggler line towards the pallet on the empty end bank he managed to snare the vegetation meaning I had to walk around and free it for him so not a lot learnt there".

A quick chat with Ron Hardiman before the match who drew my peg last time didn't inspire me much as he had 2 fish for 10lb odd on popped up bread? ( i'm still not convinced you can do this?)  but at least I had idea what to expect, with the wind being slightly awkward at the all in I decided to start on the bomb and 8mm meat it took all of 5 mins to get a (I'm on there!) bite and a 3lb carp was netted, Next chuck I fully expected the same but 30mins later I hadn't even had a liner so I switched to the waggler and 3 dead red maggot and first cast I had a tench of around 2lb but again another 30 mins and no more signs soon saw me back on the bomb and meat as by now Nige Easton next door on 125 and Chris Davis on 124 were both getting the odd fish on the bomb and meat or waggler and maggot so at least I was going along the right lines" Another 20 mins then out of the blue a nice 8lb carp was added followed by one of 6lb next chuck both on the 8mm meat again the nothing' it was frustrating to say the least as by now Nige & Chris were both catching well yet I couldn't buy a bite despite trying floating maggot on the bomb as well as bread, I new on the last match Ron said they were Tightly shoaled and it was a repeat this time around.

Happy I was doing the right thing I continued to swap between the bomb and wagg as I new already a few pegs would struggle to match what I already had in the net and the guy directly opposite me hadn't had a carp as well as a lot of others so all was not lost, Another hour passed then two more in two chucks again on the meat saw me going into the last hour looking for a few extra fish but it wasn't to be despite one last fish on the bomb they were happy just to sit in the two pegs to my left who caught right up to the whistle as well as Tony Rixon opposite them, Apart from the neck ache I had watching them all day the most annoying thing had to be the lad next to me on 127 using his alarm on his phone to time his casts, It wouldn't of been so bad but with him not switching it off until he reeled in nearly saw me off my box giving it a watery grave!

Ending the day with 6 carp and a tench for 40lb 14oz saw me finish 6th on the lake out off 19 and the added bonus of a section win and 40quid in the back pocket, Well, Till the wife finds out and wants a Chinese later" Apart from Steve Seager having 12pts we strugged as a team from a poor draw today but that's the way it goes so with cary lake my next port of call I may be lucky to land right on them instead of watching the action.

Full results - 1st Nige Easton (Amigos) 119lb 12oz

                       2nd Steve Long (Bait TechViaduct) 112 14oz

                       3rd Dave roper (Moaning Maggots) 108lb 10oz

Silvers - !st Adam Mitchell (Freeze south west) 23lb 2oz

               2nd Des Shipp (Preston Innovations ) 16lb 15oz

Teams on Day -  1st Bait Tech Viaduct 68pts, 2nd Somerset Angling & Thatchers Gold 65pts, 4th Thatchers Anglo welsh 64pts

Teams Overall Standings - 1st Bait tech Viaduct 132pts, 2nd Thatchers Gold & Somerset Angling 126pts, 4th Thatchers Vets 119pts, 5th Freeze Orange 116pts 6th Freeze Black 109pts   

                          

Emerald Pool Silvers Match.

A change of scenery for a match today with owner Alan allowing us to fish the main lake at this fishery just outside Highbridge, After a breky at hilltops with a few of the others it was off to the lake to arrange the pegs and With the forecast to be gale force winds and heavy showers I decided to change the pegging slightly to accommodate us in the most sheltered areas of the lake, With 13 fishing today we still had plenty of room as we were evenly spaced as we didn't know where the best place would be?  At the draw I let young Lewis Jones do the honours for me ending up on peg 6 the far side of the lake in the open water.

My swim.

For Company today I had Darren (Big Bird) Greenwood on 5 so a pound was struck with him & Olden day Avon Bait supreme Charlie Barns on peg 7 who loves his silver fish bashing, and with my previous trips producing good catches we were all hoping the fish would give us a good day. I planned to keep it as simple as I could as I new if it did fish well it would be those who could keep them coming who would gain the advantage so one rig to fish at 11mts on the deck in 5ft of water with caster over groundbait and pinkee being a preston 0.3g PB2 and a 4x10 chanti to try and catch shallow should conditions allow, both on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 PR490.

I started by feeding the 11mt line with 3 balls laced with caster and a few pinkee and one big cupful of wetted loose groundbait over the top to add some attracting cloud, I also Decided to feed a line where I could feed by hand so kicked off the swim by cupping in some pulped worm and caster at 5mts were I could feed caster easily. Starting on the long line it wasn't long before I started to catch some small skimmers on red maggot but knowing I had to catch a bigger stamp I changed to single caster on the hook and loose fed over the top by catty, It still wasn't fast fishing but  I started to get some net size fish and looking around those I could see others were also catching from the off, Well most of us" Except for Birdy next door who was struggling at 13mts to put anything together and soon saw him swap to his 7mt line with a whip" and caster,

This is where my match was to make a dramatic change as for the next 30mins I watched him take a fish a chuck all of net size and although I was catching they weren't of the same stamp and it was certainly beating me in the speed stakes so after 10mins out on the shallow rig and only one fish it was time to come on my short line with my depth rig. It was only about 3inches shallower on the 5mt line so after a quick alteration I started on single caster and as soon as the rig had settled it had gone and shortly after a nice 1lb roach was netted, No fluke as the bites kept coming from hybrids roach of all sizes and the odd tench to a 1lb plus, I even shouted up to Charlie who was stringing a few together what were his thoughts and he replied' I've Died and gone to heaven!"

I Felt Birdy was still catching faster on the whip so upped my feeding by hand to twice a cast in the hope of stealing some fish as the day went on and it seemed to improve stamp of fish for a while, with no more tench showing I decided to feed some more worm and caster on this line via a big pot to draw some to the swim, It did seem to work as I managed three more on the worm In the next hour up to a 1lb along with some nice hybrids and roach.

With two hours to go Glynn Wickham had been for a wonder and said all the pegs below me had around 30lb and Jamie Rich on the car park bank was catching well and had 120 plus fish so there was all to play for and for the remainder of the match I stayed at 5mts both sides of me swapping between both lines to keep fish coming of all sizes on single caster or worm loose feeding quite heavy by hand right up till the all out.

On the weigh in it was obvious there were going to be some great weights and starting the ball rolling was Nigel Wickham despite Having a moan about the peg at the start weighed a great 78lb , next up was Big Bird who had a nice all whip caught 43lb, I had two nets in and with silvers in each I didn't really have any idea to what I had but after two weighs my total weight of 98lb 14oz was a cracking days fishing and enough for first on the day.

part of my catch .

the whole lake fished well on the day and the lowest weight being 23lb everyone enjoyed a marvellous days fishing with plenty off bites. picking up a nice £70 I can thoroughly say it must rate as one of my best days ever despite the gods throwing everything it had at us.

2nd Nigel Wickham.

                         3rd Barry Fitchew

 Birdys whip caught net.

Results -  1st Dom Sullivan,  Maver/Cadbury Angling 98lb 14oz peg 6

                2nd Nigel Wickham,  Summerhayes 78lb 7oz

                 3rd Barry Fitchew,  Pole Repairs 55lb 2oz

                4th Wayne Blake,  Bristol  46lb 2oz

                 5th Jamie Rich, Against men and fish/Burts Baits  44lb 10oz

                6th Darren Greenwood,  Shiplate Farm 43lb 1oz