Southwest Super league Rd 4 River Huntspill.

Just Managed to wake as Don arrived to pick me up so it was a mad rush to get the kit ready in record time so not the ideal start to the day but the breakfast at hilltops was very welcoming after a few drinks out with the wife last night, At the draw it turned out I had drawn the first section and the second peg down from gold corner peg 13! (Owe No Doesn't Sound Promising") After treating myself to a new wheel barrow trolley which converts into a large platform I was keen to get it kitted up to take it for a spin'  I wish I hadn't as by the time I got to my peg I felt like I was having a hernia trying to keep it balanced! when I arrived at my swim Mark Harper on peg 14 was wading around in his chest waders clearing his swim of weed' and mine was pretty much the same although I don't own chest waders as there's not much point as they would be over my head..! I had time to think though as I had to take a walk back to the van to get the weigh board...

On my return Simon (Ditch) Hebditch on end peg 12 had already had done the same in his undies so I had no choice but to do the same but ended up swimming around to remove what I could as I couldn't reach as far as others could with there cutters" what a start to the day hey'. After managing to assemble my new platform down in the water with my seatbox on the top  I set up an 11ft feeder rod and an 0.04g and 0.06 gram pole rig for the eels as normal, I chose to fish at 13mts beyond any weed I had missed as the winds were light where I had around 5 feet of water.

At the all in I cupped a handful of caster and white maggot onto the pole line and had the normal 8 chucks with the feeder full of Squatts and some chopped worm, Starting with a bunch of red squatt on the hook I had a 2oz skimmer first cast followed by a ruffe and a small perch in the next hour despite switching around with different baits from worm and red maggot. By now Mark and Ditch had a Decent skimmer each but weren't getting many signs so I decided to have a look on the pole where I had been feeding regularly. I had a 4oz rudd and a couple of 6oz perch on double maggot followed by a 4oz eel so I had more in ten minutes than the first hour' small fish were becoming a problem so I switched to a single maggot and caster on the hook and had a 10oz eel before losing a better one on the way back next put-in which managed to bite me off '.

By now others were all trying the pole and were happy to add the small fish to there nets but I felt once I had fed through them I would be able to connect to some better size eels to make up for them so began to feed 3 times before each put in with maggot and casters and tryed double caster on the hook, the problem now was as normal the wind had picked right up and I was struggling to hold the pole still so I had to wedge it between my legs but I still managed to bump two more big eels" After two smaller eels and a couple more perch I had another try on the feeder but only added another roach and 4oz eel.

The pole line was the more productive so I struggled on adding another 12oz eel on double caster but I had to make the choice to take a section off and drop back to 12mts despite trying it early and not getting bites, I cupped in a good handful of casters and a few maggots and left it for 20mins and when I went on it I had a eel well over a pound and a 6oz roach next cast' wishing I had tried to make this line work earlier after I managed to bump off another big swimmer eel in the last 15mins and missed another bite as bubbles appeared around my float as the wind dropped by striking to early" In total I bumped of at least 6 eels and a couple of nice size roach late on which I thought would make a difference on the day points wise up to the anglers who choice to target the small fish or sit out for a bream?

Mark ended up having 2 bream in the last twenty minutes one right on the whistle to finish up with 15lb odd winning the section and Steve Priddle on the far end peg ended up second with 11lb odd before the weights dropped off and the next two weighed 6lb odd each before I had 5lb 2oz and ditch on the end next to me added small fish to his skimmer pipping me by two ounces ending with 5lb 4oz. finishing with 3 points was disappointing as any one of the bigger eels would of put me at least 3rd in the section along with fish I've pulled out of shipping back but I felt I made the right choice to fish for them on this line as mark and ditch didn't hook any so I must of been doing something right. Back at the results we had done better than last week buy far finishing joint 3rd on the day with Thatchers  taking the win and adding to there overall lead in the league, The best weights on the day came from the section below the motorway where I drew last week (Surprize Surprize') with the top weight being 29lb, Don was in this section and also had a few finishing 3rd overall picking up £60 so he treated me to a battered sausage on the way home. Cant go without mentioning the return trip with the trolley after being over took I reached the road nearly tipping it right over into the path of the lobbys lad after I rescued it to his amassment I got it up-right and the handle came off one side" and as I tried to remove my bucket from the opposite side the handle fell of that!" The poor lad was nearly wetting himself" Back to my boss trolley next week me thinks!..