Paul Garrett Memorial Match Viaduct Fishery.

Traveling with Team mate Don Sutherland & Johnny Page for Company and after a nice breaky at hilltops we made are way to the fishery in plenty of time to load are kit up in time for the draw, or so I thought until I realised I had left my trolley wheels in are car so a draw with a short walk would be helpful as I had brought everything but the kitchen sink! A good turn out today with 45 fishing and the match being spread over Cambell, Cary & lodge lakes, We were chatting out side so were near the back of the draw today and when I pulled two tickets out John pinched the top one and ended up on 81 Cary which he wasn't happy with lol and I ended up on 111 Cambell which left me a short walk at least but I would have preferred to be further up the lake as these have been the form pegs.

Having not fished the venue as much as these local lads I new to compete I had to try and keep it simple so opted to fish the bomb and hair rigged meat or 8mm pellet toward the aerator in the middle of the lake, The pole at 14mts with banded 6mm or 8mm pellet over 6mm feed pellets and a 6mm meat line at 6mts which I would feed lightly by hand through out the match looking to catch big skimmers over it and hope some big carp turn up later in the day. My pole rigs consisted of a 4x14 chanti on 0.15-0.13 and a 18 PR474 for the long line and a 4x12 chanti on the same line for the shorter swim with an 16 PR 474 on the business end, After a Chat with John and a quid side bet struck before the start on the all in I cupped half a good pot of 6mm pellet with a few 8mm's in on the 14mt swim and a palm full of 6mm meat on the short line, I did feed half a pot of 6mm pellet on a short line to my left but didn't have a bite over it through the day.

Starting on the bomb with punched 10mm meat I was bite less for 20mins which saw me swap to 8mm hair rigged pellet as the guy on the peg opposite had already had two carp to which I believe he had on pellet but apart from a couple of liners I hadn't had a proper bite, The first hour flew by and I still hadn't had a fish and looking further up the lake I could see Dave Roper on 116 and Alex Murray on 118 were catching and I new I had to get some fish in the net soon".

I went out onto the long pole swim with a banded 8mm but 10mins later without a sign I swapped to a 6mm and had a 2lb skimmer first put in followed by a small skimmer and a few missed bites so I topped it up and tried a 6mm piece of meat on the short line, Another skimmer of the same size followed by a 3lb tench had me wondering should I spend the rest of the match fishing for the silvers but being as I had them on the meat line and expecting some carp later in the match I topped the line up with another palm full of meat after no more bites and went back on the bomb with meat again.

first cast and at last a carp of 5lb followed by one of 4lb the next chuck then nothing saw me casting to other areas of the swim and I did get my total up to 6 carp all on the meat but I was having to wait to long for bites and with others still catching I new my best chance to catch up would be the short meat swim and with 90mins left I was praying they had turned as fishing the long pole and pellet had now been ruled out with the wind, first drop in with a single 6mm cube saw a missed bite but with the tow coming towards me I felt the rig was to light so I swapped to the 4x14 rig about two inches over depth with two 6mm cubes on the hook.

Bingo" This worked a treat and a 6lb common followed by a 12lb mirror was a good sign to me they had turned up! after every fish or every couple of mins without a bite I fed 6-8 pieces by hand over the float and by lifting the rig and dropping it when I felt the bait had nearly reached the deck saw some un-miss able bites' I stayed on this line for the remainder of the match even adding another net in the last twenty mins and was catching some nice size carp with a few good size tench in between. At the all out I hadn't a clue what I had but new I would struggle to match the guys on the more fancied pegs but was happy to weight 18lb of silvers and 109lb of carp for a total of 127lb missing out by winning the section by 2lb to Dave Roper, and 3rd in the silvers by 3lb' but I felt I did it right on the day just a shame I couldn't catch um earlier. Don did well  despite drawing a good carp peg he went against the grain and fished for silvers ending the day with 51lb of big skimmers at 9mts on banded 6mm pellet over loose fed pellet which was easily enough to take the top silvers prize of £65 so fair play to him, Top Man on the day went to in form Gary O'Shea (P.I.Thatchers) from 102 on Cary catching on the bomb and cone with meat on the hook taking 16 carp for a total of 185lb so some big fish then" Back up weights of a couple of 160-150lb followed so I was happy with the way my day went seeing I'm adjusting to the fishery and taking on the regulars who are all hard to beat and look forward to my next trip.