Viaduct Fishery Silvers League Rd 4.

After missing a day on the bank yesterday due to the weather I was keen to get back to this popular league, As normal Traveling partner Don Sutherland picked me up & we had are usual Hilltops breakfast before arriving at the fishery, We both needed a good result today to give us any chance of keeping near the top of the league. With the weather still mild I still expected their to be some good weights but with a brisk wind blowing from the southwest I was hoping to end up with the wind off my back to aid presentation, Into the draw & I managed to pull out two tickets stuck together' Before I new it Gary O'Shea swiped one only to open it & find himself on corner peg 110 Cambell which meant he would have the wind in his face' Hoping I didn't have the same fate I was pleased to draw the first peg up on the bank between Cary on Lodge lakes ending up with the wind off my back on peg 73 of Lodge lake. I did draw this peg around a month ago and went on to win the silvers with 27lb odd of small skimmers on soft pellet, The difference today though was pellet is now banded in matches throughout the winter months so I would have to try and work out which more natural baits would work best?, It wouldn't be an easy day though as I had league leader & venue expert Dan Squires on peg 68 which won this section on the last match as well as Rowland Lucas next to the rope on peg 70 which is an area known for the bigger skimmers/Bream 

The good thing about this lake is their is some inviting inside swims you can find big perch & hybrids at certain times but with the water temperatures now low & the colour dropping out I couldn't rely on it being too productive?.

 

 

I set up two rigs for my inside lines, One being a 4x10 chanti on 0.11-0.10 & an 18 PR412 hook to fish in just under 3ft of water a couple of feet off the bank & the other being a 3x8 chanti on 0.10-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook on a longer line to fish in the up water layer's of close to the bank in the shallower water. Next up was a 0.2g pencil float on 0.10-0.09 & again a 18 63-13 hook to fish out in the open water, First up I plumed a swim at nearly 15mts but still didn't have much more than 3ft of water,

And two lines at 9-10mts left & right. I started the match by feeding 3 balls of Ground-bait with some casters & a few pinkies added on the 15mt line, fed the left hand shorter swim with just one ball with dead pinkies in and fed two balls on the other 10mt line with a worm & Casters added, I began to feed a small amount of casters down both edges & in the open water at 5mts starting here with single caster on the hook.

I did expect a few roach straight away but after 15mins I only had one 2oz fish, By now Rowland Lucas Had already netted a good skimmers & some small net fish so things weren't quite going to plan in the early stages.

It was time to try something else so I switched to the 10mt swim were I had fed just the one ball at the start with double red pinkie on the hook, I managed a small run of fish but nothing over 8oz before bites tailed off so switched to the other shorter swim with a single dead red on the hook. A 6oz skimmer was soon followed by a good 2lb plus skimmer so at least it pushed me back up towards Roland, After 10mins & just one more smaller skimmer I decided to re-feed it with another ball of worm & casters and try somewhere else. I could see Chris Davis On the Lawns peg 55 Catching a few bigger skimmers on his long line with worm on the hook over worm so decided to have a look on my long line.

I started again with dead red maggot on the hook but surprisingly all I could get bites off of was small skimmers but I had to wait ages for bites.

 

I decided I had nothing to lose by re-feeding the 15mt swim with a good helping of casters & chopped worm in another couple of ball of ground-bait and concentrate on my closer swims for the time being. In the next couple of hours I switched between the two shorter lines picking off the odd fish from each before moving lines and regularly topped them up if I felt I had un-settled the swim with a small ball. By using these lines & also the 5mts swim where I fed regularly with a few casters by hand I added small roach from here between the odd skimmer to 1lb from the further lines. Surprisingly despite trying my inside swims I couldn't catch from them which was probably due to the clarity of the water so I didn't waste much time on them as its usually instant but I kept feeding it regardless.

Going into the last 90mins I knew that Roland had netted some good size skimmers & the peg above the rope netting some fish but was hoping for some better late fish to turn up on my longer lines? I managed another nice 2lb plus skimmer & two roach pushing a 1lb off my 10mt lines along with some smaller net skimmers so was happy to be putting the odd fish in the net. I found it best to just catch a fish of each 10mt line before adding a few small roach from the 5mt line to rest the swims, I did manage a couple of roach down the edge & lost a better fish but it was to slow so spent most the last 45mins on the 10mt lines, It worked in my favour as three more 2lb plus skimmers (One with seconds to go") & a couple of 12oz fish bumped my net up' . One thing I will add is I always have duplicate rigs set up for my main lines which proved worth while today as 5mins from the end I lost a carp breaking the hook-length so with just minutes to go I was able to get straight back in, And as what I said before can happen I had a good skimmer seconds after".

I had another great days fishing here and was hoping to have over 20lb odd.

I caught up wit the scales on Roland's peg who put weighed 20lb odd but leading the way with 25lb odd was that man Dan Squires, It was going to be close but when I pulled my net out I thought it was in my favour which proved to be ending the day with 28lb odd to win the section. Just the result I needed & when Don came around to tell me he was second in his so a good result points wise for the pair of us'. 

Back at the results It was a close match again with Chris Davis taking the spoil's form peg 55 on lodge catching the lakes bigger skimmers on Worm over worn feed to finish the day with 29lb odd, Luckily for me my weight was enough for 2nd on the day picking up a nice £100 along the way' As it stands Dan still leads the league but its tight at the top with all to play for the placing's. Back in two weeks for the next round so looking forward to it again. Next up I have Bobby G's Birthday match on the Sedges fishery next Saturday to look forward to And back to Viaduct for a carp hunt' next Sunday.

Full Results -

1st Chris Davis (Flip Flop) Peg 55 Lodge, 29lb 10oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 73 Lodge, 28lb 10oz.

3rd Bob G' ( Garbolino Blackmore Vale) peg 114 Cambell, 27lb 4oz.

4th Nick Chedzoy (P.I.Thatchers) peg 115 Cambell, 26b 9oz.

5th Dan Squires (Sensas) peg 68 Lodge, 25lb 3oz.

6th Gerrant Powell (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 124 Cambell, 23lb 2oz.