Sedges Fishery (Pairs Match) Day One.

Really looking forward to this as I seldom get the chance to visit this fishery, The last time I fished here was a couple of seasons ago & that was in a silvers only match In memory of Jeff Wye who was a regular at the venue, I was paired up with my foreign friend Gabo Skarba who I met in hilltops after finishing his night shift' Arriving at the fishery It was pleasant to have a good day forecast weather wise with no wind"  It ended up their would be 15pairs as their was one lot of know shows on the day so we would be evenly spread over Tile & Brick Lakes.

You could chose which angler fished which lake so Gabo gave me the option & I decided to pick Tile lake, on the way down I fancied peg 40 on Tile, Never fished this lake for carp which you needed but at heard it held a few fish & this peg is well fancied. Gabo let me do are draw (Is He Mad") but I had a good vibe after managing to catch a few in my last few matches. I didn't disappoint myself as I only went & drew peg 40"! Which just so happened to be the peg Gabo drew last week on an open & finished 2nd with 96lb' BANG ON".

The opposite side of my number put Gabo on peg 6 which can be a good area for big skimmers if the carp don't play ball being in the middle of the lake on the causeway bank. My peg is situated in the first corner of the lake with loads of options, A good inside edge at 14mts upwards along the end bank of the Lake, An island chuck at around 30mts & a gap between the end bank & the island around 35mts not forgetting all the open water' It was case of what to do' I had a good look & decided to fish the bomb & various baits across to the island, A swim at 7mts in around 8ft of water where I assembled a 4x14 Chanti on 0.15-0.13 & a 16 pellet hook, Quite a light for the depth but with perfect conditions get away with it, last of all I had a rig to fish at 16mts just off the end bank where I found a flat spot at around 3ft deep so had a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.13' Like I've said before if you happened to get snagged the chances are it will break below the knots when pulled hard enough without trashing the whole rig".

I started the day by feeding a good handful of hemp & around a dozen cubes of 6mm meat onto the 7mt line, Fed a small amount of hard 4mm pellet & Micro's at 16mts down the end bank to try & congregate some fish in an smaller area in a depth I felt was right & began the day fishing the bomb & punched red meat between the Island & the end bank, I had Venue Owner Jamie Cook next to me on peg 39 who began the day on the method feeder tight to his island chuck, 30mins in & Jamie had already netted a couple of carp as had the pegs above him, I switched to casting the bomb & bread infront of the island.

After 2 chucks closer to the bank I dropped it shorter a couples of metres off the island & was soon rewarded of my first fish, It proved a good choice as over the next hour I managed to put 10 carp in the net, Things sowed a little so decided to try my other lines. I started on the 7mt line with a cube of 6mm meat where I had been feeding a few cubes by hand from the off. I had a skimmer around a 1lb followed by two smaller fish then switched to an 8mm cube of meat, it worked as I added two carp around 5-6lb before bites slowed. I hadn't tried the inside swim as yet but with 13 carp after two hours I decided to go & fetch another net.

When I returned I tried the bomb & bread again adding one more early fish before I felt it was time to try my 16mt line, I had been pinging a few hard 4mm pellets down the bank from the start but decided to start on a 6mm cube of meat on the hook. No sooner had the rig settled I was in followed by 6 more in as many put-ins before it was time to rest it, The next couple of hours seemed to go as planned as I managed a few more on the bomb & took the odd fish from down the end bank, I expected the last 90mins to be even more hectic down the edge but after a breeze blew some skum into the bank the peg died, I think the fish had decided to have a venture as the sun had now come out as there were signs of them further out in the lake, At this point I was cussing myself as I hadn't had time to assemble a shallower waggler & it wasn't long before Jamie had noticed & soon was into some better fish including one of 15lb' followed by some fish over 6lb so was soon catching up, I keep switching between the bomb where I had the odd fish & back down edge but I never had another bite here. With 15mins to go I decided to stick to the 7mt line with 8mm meat on the hook, It proved worth while as I added two late 5lb fish before the all-out. I estimated I would have close to 150lb but I lost count halfway through", When the scales arrived on are bank Dave Romaine put 144lb on the scales from peg 37, Tom Thick On 38 Had 80lb odd before Jamie put 108lb on the scales, My turn & after four weighs I finished with 153lb enough to win the section & the lake which was a good result picking up £70 along the way, Back at the results & Tom Magnul had won the match from peg 11 on the Brick Lake with 164lb odd catching fish from his end bank on the Long pole & bread & the short pole with meat so another good performance from him. Easy to say I was on one of the most fancied pegs today but I felt having never fished the lake for carp it didn't take me to long to get to grips catching some fish, I did feel I had cost myself a few more by not having the wager set up but one things for sure it will be next time".

No photo's today sorry as remembered the camera but left the sim card in my laptop' which was a shame as fellow blogger Chris Fox landed a 25lb 8oz mirror carp from peg 4 on Brick lake but he had a photo on his phone so expect you can see on his blog. As things stand Nick Chedzoy & Nicky Ewers are out infront but there's all to play for with day two next Saturday. Gabo didn't have the best of days from the middle of the causeway peg 6 an area which fished harder than elsewhere but overall the points are tight so all to pay for next week when its my turn to fish brick lake. 

Full Results -

1st Tom Magnul (Mosella) peg 11 Brick Lake. 164lb 10oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 40 Tile Lake, 153lb 7oz.

3rd Dave Romaine (Viaduct) peg 36 Tile Lake, 140lb 4oz.

4th Dave White (Viaduct) peg 10 Brick Lake, 137lb 12oz.

5th Nick Chedzoy (P.I.Thatchers) peg 21 Tile Lake, 123lb 10oz.   

6th Jamie Cook (The Sedges) peg 39 Tile Lake, 108lb 5oz.