Viaduct Silvers League (Final Rd) Cambell, Cary & Lodge lakes.

After missing out on a days fishing yesterday with commitments with the Wife prior to Xmas I was keen to get back to Viaduct for the final round of this popular well run league, I was lying in Join 3rd place With fellow blogger Tony Rixon going into this final round & to be realistic I needed a section win & the anglers above to blow out to stand any chance of winning it out-right but was still hoping for a top 6 finish to be in the overall monies. Donald picked me up as normal who was also still in with a shout if things went his way so we were both keen to give it are best shot'. After the normal hilltops breakfast we arrived in plenty of time so after a wander around I decided to have a coffee before the draw, At this point Owner Steve long among others asked me were I fancied drawing? Peg 94 on Cary I Said" as its been consistent through-out the league as if I had any chance of actually drawing it??. I did my usual trick of mingling with others & sneaking in after a few had drawn & were did I end up? Only bloody 94 CARY"! Steve couldn't believe it & to be honest nor could I" So anything I produced off it today would be solely down to my choices after I wanted to be here!.

Arriving at my swim I made the choice straight away it would be an out & out pole day without assembling any rods as I had plenty off room for a few long pole lines as well as some inviting inside lines,

 

 

I decided on two long lines at 13mts, where I set up two different rigs to fish on both lines, A 4x14 wire wonder on 0.11-0.09 and a 0.2g AS1 on the same line both to an 18 PR434 hook were I had around 4ft or so of water,

I also choose a swim at 10mts were I could use the same rigs as the depth was only inches shallower. For the inside swims and a 6mt short line I set up my normal 4x10 & 4x8 Chanti's on 0.10-0.09 & an 18 PR412 hook. Looking around I new I had my work cut out as I had Winner of the All-winners final this year Craig (Trigger) Edmonds next to me on peg 96

& that man again & league leader Dan Squires below him on peg 99' I would be keeping a close eye on them today as I fancied us to finish at the top of the section? I started the day by feeding two balls of ground-bait at 10mts with worm & Dead reds added, fed 3 balls with casters and a few red maggots to in-front of me at 13mts & one ball at 13mts to my left, I started the day at 6mts with caster on the hook were I had been flicking casters in by hand whilst cupping in my long lines & was soon into small roach to 3oz, As expected it didn't last so after 15mins decided to try down my inside edge towards the corner, I had a 4oz roach followed by an 10oz perch & from what I could see was doing ok for the time being?. After 90mins I had thought I had about 3lb in the net by switching between the short lines but it was drying up so it was time to try the long lines.

I had a quick look on the 10mt line with a red maggot on the hook but only had a small roach so was soon on the longer 13mt lines, No matter what I tried on the hook I had to wait for bites & then all I could catch were small roach' Trigger had also switched to his long line & after a slow start to the day was now ahead  of me after taking a couple of near 2lb skimmers,

I decided to re-feed the long lines & try & add some more fish from the short lines hoping some better fish would turn up on the longer line late in the day? I managed to add small roach again swapping around the short lines with caster or bits of worm on the hook but couldn't catch any thing of decent size. I kept trying the longer lines but most of the time I just couldn't get a bite over them which I found odd' It wasn't until about 90mins of the match remaining I had a better fish on red maggot  which turned out to be a tench over a 1lb then 5mins later I bumped a decent skimmer & that was it for the rest of the day on that line! I managed a 12oz skimmer off the 10mt line late in the day and a couple of 8oz roach & 10oz hybrid down the edge in the last 20mins after I decided to try my long line rig on my 6mt line whilst shipping out only to hook a carp over 18lb which came straight to the top' Seeing the opportunity to try & net it pronto I reeled in elastic as quick as possible only for it to wake up & bolt of fsnapping my number 1 section in the process!" I had another attempt to fit it in my small pan net" before it did me trashing the rig to finish things off!.

At the all-out I thought I mite just have double figures but Craig had fished a good match choosing to sit it out for better skimmers netting five better skimmers along with some smaller samples & I new he had more than me & Dan had netted a few below him? I was first to weight and wasn't far off my guess ending the day with 10lb 6oz, Craig put a good 20lb on the scales to win the section with ease & below him Dan had a good finish to end up 2nd in the section with 14lb odd meaning I managed to hold on for 3rd so not a bad result again but would it be enough for me to finish in the main frame would be seen?  I have really enjoyed this league the standard of anglers fishing always makes it a tight frame & more often than not just a 1lb or less can make a difference' My lowest weight of the series has been 10lb odd & each match has been different so you really do have to switch things around, I was fortunate enough to draw each lake twice giving me different options along the way, My final points table went 1,3,3,1,1,3' & with my lowest points dropped meant I finished the league with 9pts. Back at the results And the winner on the day was none other than Tony Rixon from peg 126 on Cambell with 27lb odd catching on red maggot over ground-bait, A good area but not won you want to see him on as he wont cock it up!" So well done to him. As expected it was a very tight finish to the league With Middy backed Sam Powell from newton abbot Came out on top finishing the league with 7pts after dropping his worst result picking up £220 along the way, He fished a great series catching small fish when the case arose to keep his swims ticking over so very well done mate.  Runner-up was Mr Consistent Tony Rixon who again had a good league, & long time leader Dan Squires came out in 3rd, I was well pleased to find myself finishing the league in 4th place picking up another £100 to add to the £300 I've been fortunate enough to pick up along the way with three 2nd place on the day results so a good finish to something I've really enjoyed fishing & Cant wait to try again next year' Don also had a good league just missing out in the main frame finishing on 10pts but also picking up over £300 along the way so were sure we had the richest van home lol"  

 

The Fabulous four" Left, Dan Squires, Winner' Sam Powell, Me' & Tony Rixon

A change of scenery next weekend as I have Shiplate Farms Xmas match on the main lake next Sunday But have my works do the night before so it could be fun"..

Full Results -

1st Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) peg 126 Cambell, 27lb 2oz.

2nd Bob Gullick (BVMG) peg 119 Cambell, 24lb 8oz.

3rd Fred Roberts (Signtech) Peg 62 Lodge, 22lb 2oz.

4th Roland Lucas (Wiltshire Anging) peg 110 Cambell,

5th Craig Edmonds (Flip Flop) peg 96 Cary, 20lb 8oz.

6th Ziggy Slowinki (Garbolino) peg 132 Cambell, 19b 12oz.

Final Overall Standings -

1st Sam Powell (Middy) 7pts.

2nd Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) 8pts (weight).

3rd Dan Squires (Sensas) 8pts.

4th Dom Sullivan (Maver) 9pts (Weight).

5th Bobby Gullick (BVMG) 9pts.

6th Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) 9pts.