Viaduct Fishery Open Match.

Back to Viaduct with Don today for the open match, After the usual hilltops breakfast on route we arrived to find there were 24 booked in so the match would be spread over Cambell & Cary lake and choice wise I fancied Cary so was happy to find myself on the lake peg 99 but the spooky part was Donald had draw peg 100 which happened to be the same peg he drew last week in the silvers league'.

Don decided he was going to fish for carp so I was happy to target silvers giving Don a bit more room to play with as I decided not to set a waggler because yet again I drew under a tree which meant casting out would be awkward and knowing my luck I would end up attached to it at some stage", Keeping it simple I plumbed up a swim at 12mts off to my right were I set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook and another swim at 14mts In front of me were it was slightly deeper at just over 4ft were I used a 4x14 wire wonder on the same line with a PR434 hook. Last of all I had a 4x10 chanti again on the same line with a 20 63-13 hook to fish short on a long line at 4mt in front of me and under the tree with loose fed casters.

At the all-in I fed 4 balls of ground-bait on the 14mt line with a few dead red maggot & casters added and 2 balls on the 12mt line with some chopped worm and pinkees, Starting on my short line feeding just a few loose casters by hand I had a 6oz roach first dob-in which was a good start but after 30mins I only had 8 slightly smaller roach and with Dan Squires on peg 96 already having a few net skimmers on the waggler I switched to the 12mt line with a single red maggot to start with. After 15mins I had 2 x 8oz skimmers followed by a couple of small roach so fed another ball and ventured out onto the 14mt line with caster on the hook, Things were slow to start but after 90mins I had a better skimmer over a 1lb and a smaller sample soon after then I couldn't get a bite so decided to add some more bait which looking back now I fell was a mistake as when I went back on it 30mins later after some more small fish of my short line it seemed devoid of fish as I couldn't get a bite on anything. I think I should of left it as I had already had signs of fish over my initial feed and was a bit quick topping it up!.

Back on the 12mt line I had a couple more 1lb skimmers over the next 40mins and from what I could see nobody was setting the world alight, Scott Russell next to me on peg 97 had targeted carp from the off but was yet to have one and Don had 1 on the bomb but was now fishing the waggler with corn on the hook into the middle of the lake and interestingly was having the odd skimmer of good size" I kept glancing up wishing I had set the waggler up after all but still think I would have struggled casting so after have the match gone I had to hope the bigger skimmers would turn up later in the day, It was basically a case of patience for the rest of the match and by switching between both lines for the rest of the day taking the odd fish of each, I did have what I'm sure was a Big eel attached on the longer line at one stage but after a few seconds it must of just been holding the bait as the two red live maggots I had on the hook at the time came back dead and bitten! The last hour was best for me adding 3 big skimmers to 3lb off the 12mt line on maggot and a couple of smaller samples on caster from the 14mt line, Although it seemed to me as Don's attempt to catch carp on the wag turned out to be perfect for the skimmers as he caught well throughout the day adding a few late Carp to boot.

When the scales arrived Don was first to weigh and finished up with 25lb of Silvers along with 4 carp for a total of 64lb odd, My turn and I ended up with 22lb of silvers so Don's choice would of certainly helped me today and it paid off for him as it turned out it was enough for 1st in the silvers and 2nd overall on the day for a nice pick-up as well as a place in next years silvers final meaning that's us both in on the last 2 matches" Result!.

With Don winning the silvers pool it meant that the prize money for second was going to be close? Owe it was" As 22lb 13oz was 2nd and my 22lb 9oz was fifth! lol, Owe well it happens but enjoyed the day and hopefully did learn a bit more going into next weeks round of the silvers league.

Dan Squires went on to win the match with some big carp on the bomb but the weather had taken effect as the weights were down and poor Scott next to me didn't hook a carp all day but I managed to hook 3 and nearly" landing one breaking my hook-length at the last min which was probably a good thing as it didn't look like it would fit in the landing net!

Full Result -

1st Dan Squires (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 96 Cary, 77lb.

2nd Don Sutherland (Maver/Cabury Angling) peg 100 Cary, 64lb 7oz.

3rd Dave (Unknown) peg 127 Cambell, 46lb 7oz.

Silvers - Don Sutherland (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 100 Cary, 25lb.