Summerhayes Wednesday Open.

After being able to have the chance of getting to Summerhayes again today for there mid week match I couldn't miss the opportunity so after the usual breakfast at hilltops with Gabriel who also had the chance to fish we made are way there, Again this is proving popular with 23 fishing again which cant be knocked for a Wednesday, The match was to be spread over Sellicks and Lily pool again and as usual I was hoping for a draw on Sellicks, I wasn't at all disappointed to find myself on the lake I wanted and end peg 23" Fabio had draw it last week and caught a few only for his nets to slip back in and him not weighing-in! After a brief chat with him and Carl who had pleasure fished the peg yesterday I had some idea as what to go on although I do like to approach a peg as I see fit on the day to start with.

Tony Rixon had draw the peg I had last weds so I expected him to do well as well as Lee (Peanut) who had managed to draw the same peg on Lily pool as he had on his first visit on Sunday so I had to be on the ball today. It was 14mts to the point of the island were I planned to fish really shallow with hard pellet over loose fed 6mm pellet so had a rig set up on a longer line to swing over so the pole wasn't over there heads so much, being a preston PB1 float on 0.15-0.14 and a hair rig hook set up, I plumed a swim to fish further along the bank towards peg 22 which was empty but with the level down a bit it was only about 6inches deep tight to the bank so I came away a bit and found around a 1ft were I would start with soft pellet on a 4x10 Chanti on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook, My normal 5mt line for the meat with a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 PR478. My last line was the same as above tackle wise but to fish down towards the empty pallet again with meat but the water was really shallow so I was around 4ft in front of it were I found a nice flat spot around 3ft deep.

I cupped a handful of meat and hemp onto the 5mt and pallet (ish) line and began to catty a few 6mm to the point and began in the 1ft deep swim towards the next peg feeding some micros via a cad pot and a 6mm expander on the hook , After 10mins I new it was all wrong as I had fish swirling behind the rig which would be a recipe for foul hookers if I carried on so was soon on the swinging rig off the point of the island with a 6mm hair rigger pellet where I had been feeding and after 5mins I had a 4lb fish so was off the blocks" I had already noticed that the fish were very sly and spooked easily, After the 2hr mark I estimated I had around 28lb and could see Mark Lehay down on peg 15 was catching a few but felt I was doing ok, All the time I was feeding meat on the 5mt line by hand and cupping larger pots down to the pallet swim, Well I was" until the angler next door decided to start feeding around 1mt from were I was with allsorts" Rather than go to the empty pallet below HIM!" Mmmm? I had a try on the 5mt line without success so had to try back towards the point, The problem I had was there was a snag around the point towards peg 1 and the fish seemed happy to lie their picking off the odd pellet that was fired in I found if I didn't keep the bait moving I didn't get a response but I couldn't keep them interested for two long , I had tried at 14mts were I had began cattying some meat and trying shallow over the top and had 1 Rudd so that was pointless and with the 5mt being none productive and the pallet swim  OUT OF BOUNDS" I had noticed signs of fish were I started the match tight into the bank picking off odd pellet I had been flicking over with the catty, I decided to try the swinging rig around 4inches deep over the top.

First put-in I had a 4lb fish then nothing as I was so shallow so continued to flick pellets onto both far lines switching between the two, Going into the last hour the sun had moved around to were I had began the day with more fish showing tight to the bank, With the 5mt line being to slow just resulting in one 5lb fish I finished the match catching the odd fish across of both swims and thought I had around 50-60lb but had no idea what had been caught else where? Tony Was first to way as far as carp went and didn't disappoint putting a great 92lb on the scales catching tight to the far bank with pellet also on long line rig, Elsewhere there were a couple of 70lb weights with Lee gain taking top spot off of lily pool with 76lb, Being the last to weigh I was hoping for a little more than my estimate finishing the day just out of the money in 6th place, Yet again a couple of fish for the placing's made it tight and for me its the 3rd match on the trot its made a difference but that's fishing and that's what this venue always seems to produce which is good knowing it pays never to give up until that final whistle. Fellow Blogger Tony  was top of the weights today so its good to see I primed the peg for him from last week" And If I hadn't forgot the camera again today he would of had a nice pic on here, Well? If my zoom lens went wide enough that is!" lol, Top silvers weight of the day went the way of old timer Charlie Barns with 15lb odd which is great to see so well done mate, Its looking like I going to make my last visit here on Sunday for a while for a match on longs lake as the Viaduct Silvers league starts soon so want to have some time there to begin with.

                                                       Full Results -

1st Tony Rixon  (Avon Angling/Mosella) peg 3 Sellicks, 92lb 15oz.

2nd Andy Hembrow  (Clevedon.A.A) peg 8 Sellicks, 77lb.

3rd Lee Pestico (Mosella) peg 2 Lily pool, 76lb.

4th Mark Lehay (Summerhayes) peg 15 Sellicks, 72lb 11oz.

5th Martin Addicott (Summerhayes) peg 14 Lily pool, 71lb 6oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 23 Sellicks, 69lb 4oz.

                                                            Silvers Results -

1st Charlie Barns (Over 50's) Peg 3 Lily Pool, 15lb 13oz.

2nd Gary Butler (Summerhayes) peg 1 Sellicks, 14lb 7oz.