Summerhayes Fishery Weds Open.

After some un-planned time off work due to time needed for a head clearance but looking forward to a new position in the company on the horizon I was determined to make the most of it and spend some time on the bank, A phone call this morning saw me book-in to the open match at Summerhayes Todays match was to be run as a rover meaning you had a choice of which lake you wanted to fish and with a new induction of Bigger bream added to Longs lake I felt most would  fancy giving it a go as it was the first time a match would be held on this lake since their introduction. The bonus peg worth an extra £100 to the winner was to be who ever drew number 5, And yes much to Tim Ford's disgust know doubt" lol  I drew it!.

Knowing most would head for Longs I chose the option of having a crack on Sellicks lake which holds a bigger head of carp, It was forecast to be quite a steady cold north westerly wind all day so chose to head towards the more sheltered far end peg 10, Not a choice many would have made but owner Pete's rules state that once you have picked a swim there must be a gap of an empty peg between each angler ruling out anybody going on corner peg 11 were I was hoping to tempt some carp in-front of the pallet?

Luckily it wasn't to far to reach far bank at just over 13mts so my first rig was a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 16 808 hook to fish tight into the bank in 3ft of water, An identical rig to fish off to my right at the bottom of the shelf in 5ft of water which would double up as my rig to fish in-front the pallet. finally another 4x12 chanti to fish at 4mts with maggot in 6ft of water and to use the same rig to fish down the peg at 13mts in the centre track with corn. The wind was swirling all over the place at the start of the match and I wasn't ready for the all-in so took the peg pic's at the end off the match.

 

When I did eventually get under way I began by feeding a small ball of fishmeal ground-bait at the bottom of the far shelf , threw a few maggots on the short line by hand and fired a few hard 4mm pellets in-front the empty pallet before cupping in some corn down the channel at 13mts. At the last minute I had a hunch' and decided to feed a few cubes of 6mm meat towards the leg of the other empty pallet on my right as their were only 3 of us in the match on this lake so wanted to make the most of the room. 

 I Started the match right to the far bank with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding just a few micros but after 15mins switched to the deeper far line with double dead red maggot on the hook, Still nothing in the next 45mins so I gave the short maggot swim a go which I had been feeding from the start but still I couldn't get a bite and after finally trying the corn swim, motionless' with two hours gone things weren't looking to good! After putting my faith in snaring a few from the pallet swims it was time to give it a try.

Starting down towards empty peg 11 with double 4mm expander on the hook where I had been flicking a few hard pellets with the catty saw me finally attached to my first fish being around 2lb, I had another of similar size 5mins later but nothing followed so I had another look on the far lines but still couldn't get any indications on anything. I had re-fed towards the other pallet above me a couple of times with meat so decided to give it a quick look, Starting on a single cube I was a bit surprized when it shot under and a 3lb fish was in the net followed by a 2lb fish next put-in' before it went quite so I topped up a small amount and tried again down to my left but after no signs in 5mins I decided to try feeding a few cubes of meat here as well and left it to settle.

I kept rotating swims searching for fish but going into the last hour I had only added two more 2lb fish from both inside lines again on the meat and with 40mins to go I noticed a few small bubbles on the 4mt line which I had continued to feed so gave it another try, Well" from nothing it worked as I added 3 skimmers over a 1lb a nice roach and two carp to 3lb to go with a couple more from the left hand pallet swim.

It was really a day of working to try and find the fish but not giving up faith in the lines I had started, Apart from losing one foul hooked fish I can say I never missed a bite all day which doesn't happen very often' The guy above me had gone by halfway through and venue regular Steve kedge on the opposite bank failed to hook a carp but word on the bank said Longs lake had produced the goods with lots of the new bream being caught, It didn't produce the winner though as Craig Stewart made the right choice by opting to be the only angler to go on Lily Pool peg 2 in the sheltered corner ending the day with 62lb all taken on the pole in the old Lily beds down his edge.

 Winner Craig Stewart.

the rest of the top weights came from Longs lake with Andy Hembrow taking the best silvers weight of 50lb mainly made up of the new fish,

 Part of Andy's Silvers catch.

 

Maybe I did make the wrong choice of lake today but I enjoyed having to work hard to finish up with 33lb odd and certainly learnt a few new things for my next trip to this lake.

Full Results - 

1st Craig Stewart (Summerhayes) peg 2 Lily, 62lb 10oz.

2nd Aide Bishop (Summerhayes) peg 17 Longs, 60lb 7oz.

3rd Andy Hembrow (Clevedon A.A) peg 11 Longs, 59lb 12oz.

4th Gary Butler (Summerhayes) peg 31 Longs, 50lb 13oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 10 Sellicks, 33lb 3oz.

Silvers -

Andy Hembow 50lb.

Gary Butler 44lb 9oz.