Viaduct Fishery Teams Of 5 Rd Four.

I was glad Team mate Don Was picking me up as I had a few pints yesterday after are visit to the Maver trade show in Worchester and was feeling well de-hydrated when I woke this morning' It was well worth are trip though and am looking forward to receiving all the kit I managed to purchase on are visit although I don't think the wife was to impressed when she found out how much I had spent! It was a change of Angler for the draw today and after the help yourself breakfast at the globe which we managed to time just right today as it was all available on are arrival giving us plenty of time to get to the fishery and unload the kit before team mate Steve Seager got to us to let us know are fate..? It was my turn to fish match lake today with an overspill of two pegs on Middle lake and four on the spit of spring lake. All week I had been saying to myself I fancied the two pegs on middle lake, 37 & 38 as they have been in good form for silvers though-out the league so far and I had chosen not to enter the carp pool today as I didn't fancy any of the pegs in are 20 section to reach the main frame.

Well I not so sure Steve was to keen on the kiss on the cheek when he told me I was on 37 but I was more than happy" when we arrived at my peg I had a concern with the weather as the Breeze was already blowing directly at us and was meant to increase as the day went on which could cause a few problems if the sun stayed out as I would struggle to see any coloured float tip? The pole was going to be my main line of attack with Skimmers in mind as they tend to average over 2lb so doesn't take long to amass a weight if you are lucky enough to land on a few. My first rig was a 4x12 rig on 0.12-0.09 and an 18 PR434 hook to fish in around 4ft of water at 14mts and another rig of the same to fish off to my left were it was a few inches shallower at 13mts, the only difference was the hook being a 18 63-13.

 

With the concern of sun making things difficult I did think of trying the waggler or a small ground-bait feeder further towards the middle of the lake but with a carp angler opposite me on pegs left for the pleasure anglers with 3 rods out at all directions pinging a few boilies over the top' saw me look elsewhere for any further lines, After a chat to a few before the start I was told you can catch some perch under the branches of the tree at about 4mts so set up a 4x10 chanti on 0.11-0.10 and an 18 63-13 hook where it was about 3ft deep,

 Finally with the tree being a bit carpy" I set up a proper rig to fish at 14mts towards the back end of the tree being a 4x12 chanti on 0.15-0.13 and an 16 63-13 hook if 4ft of water.

 

It Seemed like ages before we started and I was set up in plenty of time along with a few others on match lake directly behind me,

 

 So had plenty of time to grab a brew before we got under way. At the all-in I cupped four balls of ground-bait containing a good helping of casters and dead red maggots an a couple of grains of corn onto the open water 14mt line and a whole pot of loose ground-bait over the top, One ball onto the 13mt line with dead pinkie and dead maggots added and started to loose feed a few casters under the branches at 4mts, Whilst I wanted to let these lines settle I had a look for an early mug fish at 14mts towards the back of the tree fishing dead depth with a single grain of corn on the hook just cad potting a few grains of corn and caster over the top via a cadpot. After about 15mins I had a nice slow bite which I missed! but nothing followed so re-fed the same and switched to the short line with single caster on the hook as I had been feeding a few by hand from the off. It didn't take long for the first fish being a 10oz perch followed buy a few smaller samples before I hooked a proper one which I saw briefly before It snagged me in an underwater branch and shed the hook", A new hook-length added and I had a 1lb perch and a couple of rudd before things went quite so carried on flicking a few casters in and switched to the open 14mt line with double caster on the hook after 10mins all I had was a 6oz skimmer and couldn't get another bite even on maggot so had a look on the 13mt line with dead maggot but only had a small roach so was soon back to the short line as I was already struggling to see the floats. A few more perch and a couple of 6oz hybrids followed before I hooked another big perch which again showed me itself before snagging me in the same place as the first..." A total trashed rig this time after it flew out and wrapped me across my knuckles'. After a new rig was added I rested the swim and attempted to try the open water swims but it soon became pointless as I couldn't see any of the float on either line as the wind had picked right up causing a mirror effect on the water with the sun! owe dear' now I did have a dilemma as we were over a couple of hours into the match and already I had seen the guy on peg 38 land some bigger skimmers on the waggler with corn on the hook but was fortunate enough to have an island if front of him adding to see his float. I had already worked out if I fed to many casters on the short line I would struggle for bites so with not having to many options I began to just feed in two's & three's and keep switching depths to try and add what I could hoping I would be able to see my other lines towards the end of the match.

It wasn't fast but I added a couple more perch to 12oz and a few roach to 8oz before the cloud came over with about a hour of the match remaining so I was soon onto to the open 14mt swim with double caster on the hook. The next 15mins saw me add two better 1lb+ skimmers and a smaller sample, I tried the corn again on the hook but didn't get a bite and the last 30mins were spent switching between both the long and short line adding what I could and after another 1lb perch on the short line I was just waiting to here the shout for all out when one last bite saw me connected to something much larger and after steering it away from the tree 5mins after the all out saw me net a double figure carp!" Bonus.. By now it was raining and didn't take long to pack up and as I had expected John Butcher on peg 38 had had a nice days fishing on the waggler and corn ending the day with the top silvers weight of 26lb catching most of his fish in the channel,

 silvers winner John Butcher.

 

I was pleased to end up with a mixed bag of silvers totalling 19lb odd to add to my 11lb 8oz carp' which boosted my weight up in the section points finishing with 16 out of a possible 20 which would be good for the team. Back at the results and the match was a tie for first place with Fishery Owner Steve Long from Cary lake peg 73 catching on the bomb and various baits and the wonder lad Andy (Baggin) Power from Cambell lake catching most of his carp on the bomb and meat both finishing with 107lb. It turned out my silvers weight was enough to take 3rd overall on the day picking up a nice £80 and even better the late' carp boosted my weight up enough to take my seven peg section adding another £40". Happy days', Team wise we did much better finishing halfway even with captain Chris hook finishing last on spring lake with a 9oz perch which is about all this pegs worth judging by the previous results' Top on the day were team Flip Flops who now take over at the top of the league with the last round to go next week. Spring lake for me for the final round and hoping for one of the areas which showed up a few silvers today as I did well on this lake in the last round last year so hoping for a repeat..?
Full Results -
1st Andy Power (Thatchers P.I. Gold) peg 116 Cambell & Steve Long (Viaduct) peg 73 Cary 107lb.
3rd Colin Craig (MFS) peg 85 Cary, 95lb 8oz.
4th Phil (Fabio) Harding (Team Flip flop) peg 96 Cary, 81lb 4oz.
5th Dan Squires (Viaduct Select) peg 66 lodge, 72lb 5oz.
6th Clayton Hudson (Avon Angling) peg 94 Cary, 70lb 3oz.
Silvers -
1st John Butcher ( Moaning Maggots) peg 38 Middle, 26lb 4oz.
2nd Mark Williams (Thatchers Welsh Wizards) peg 11 Spring, 20lb.
3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 37 Middle, 19lb 6oz.