Viaduct Fishery Good Friday Open.

It was an uneasy day for me right from the minute I was loading the van this morning, Still cant get over what's happened with Donald just not getting use to the fact their will be no more Traveling together or even the conversations we had, Sat in Hilltops for breakfast on my own seemed very eerie so I didn't hang about & got to the fishery in plenty of time, Conditions looked perfect & with a day of sunshine forecast at least it looked as if we were in for a pleasant day'

With a lot of people having the day off it was a good turn out with 40 Anglers fishing. The match was to be held over Cambell, Cary & one bank of Lodge lake which ideally I wanted to avoid as apart from the two end pegs having the chance of a few carp I didn't feel the other pegs would produce enough carp to get in the frame but could be good for a few silvers now the pellet has been introduced?.

Jumping in the queue before halfway my pick saw me on peg 68, LODGE LAKE" not in the corners as I fancied to produce but two swims up from the rope pegs 69 & 70 which is a favoured area for the lakes skimmers, Silvers it was for me then as my main plan of attack although with peg 67 being empty I would feed a line here should the peg not produce silvers have planned.

I set up a 0.3g Pencil float on 0.12-0.11 & an 18 808 hook to fish just over 13mts having a line left & right to feed a bit differently although my plan was to fish over Ground-bait or Micro pellet with either soft or hard pellet on the hook. next up was a 4x12 Chanti on 0.15-0.13 & an 18 wide gape hook to fish in the open water at 6mt in 4ft of water & the last pole rig was an in-line float on 0.17-0.15 & an 16 wide gape pellet hook. For company I had Mark Lehay on end peg 66 which I did fancy for a few, Bordon Anglings Neil Gaff on 69 & Steve Tucker on peg 70 both of which were going to target silvers from the off, Just before the all-in I received a phone call from Tim Lewis to tell me another angling friend Paul Chapman had passed away, That's to go with Steve Senior who also went last week, Both of these guys had been ill for some time & were aware of their fate but never the less no easier for the family's involved. God bless guys..    

I began the day feeding two balls at 13mts slightly left & a cup of loose over the top with some hard 4mms added & just one ball & a handful of micro pellets at the same distance to my right, I cupped a small amount of 6mm meat & some 4mms down the edge in-front the pallet & fed a few cubes of meat by hand on the 7mt line, I decided to have a quick few chucks with punched meat on the bomb in the middle of the lake on the off chance I may snare an early carp or big skimmer. After 20mins & not so much as a liner it was time to try the pole lines. I started on a 4mm expander over the heavier fed ground-bait line & had a 6oz skimmer right away but the next put-in I lost a much better one' not the start I was hopping for & with no more signs I topped it up & had ago over the micros fed line. I did catch a few more skimmers over the next 40min but they were all of a small size & both Neil & Steve were already catching silvers regularly with some decent skimmers.

It didn't seem after bumping one off they were to happy to sit in-front me so it was time to try something else. I hadn't seen any carp caught so far in my section so it was time to have a look down by the pallet as by now we were over an hour in. starting with an 8mm cube of meat on the hook no sooner as it settled I was in which turned out to be around 7lb, Over the next 15mins I managed two more smaller fish before it died off, I had a feeling the fish had backed off under the tree further along the bank so re-fed another amount of meat & 4mm's & left it to settle, back on the long lines again all I had were a few more 4-6oz skimmer off each line with no better stamp fish, I gave the short line a try where I had been feeding with meat by hand but even this didn't produce any early signs.

Back down the edge & I managed a 2lb skimmer & another carp in 20mins but it seemed to be a case of getting a couple of indications before I had to rest it, What didn't help me was the female ducky' must of been giving off a nice scent as their were 3 males chasing her around' They all caught up with her at the same time" smack bang in-front the pallet I was fishing too nearly drowning her in the process!" Just to make matters worse I did manage to hook another carp just before hand & shipping back I noticed my top 5 had worked loose" TO Late' Off it shot but lucky for me it headed for the empty pallet so I was up like a bolt managing to grab the line losing the fish again at the next platform". All day I kept switching between the lines I had going but I was well behind Neil & Steve on the silvers front so the best I could hope for was to hope they get in the silvers frame & I could win the section but it wouldn't be easy as Jamie (I Never Draw") Parkhouse on the other fancied end peg 73 had already netted a few carp from under the tree. Going into the last 90mins the breeze had picked up slightly & despite not catching off the short line all day I thought it might produce a few late carp? first put-in I had a 2lb skimmer, then a 3lb fish, Then two more which came off probably due to the elastic I was using as I was geared up for carp'. I decided to try the lighter elastic rig I was using on my long line over the top & yep it had to happen' A carp the first put-in', I did manage to get it in after a bit of time & commotion so this is how my last 60mins were spent, Taking the odd big skimmer off the short line before trying down the edge again which did produce a couple more late carp & a couple more skimmers, owe & a 2lb perch' before reverting back & taking a few more late skimmers off the 6mt line before the all out sounded, I new I couldn't compete with the silvers Steve & Neil had caught all day but didn't know if I had a chance of winning the section?. That was short lived as Jamie had a good day catching under the tree to take 107lb, Steve had 36lb odd of silvers before Neil bettered him with 38lb odd, My turn 7 I finished with 47lb odd of carp & a surprizing 28lb of skimmers so a few more & I would of soon caught up with them shame they didn't turn up earlier but still & enjoyable days fishing come the end. Back at the results & their were some crazy weights for March" Top of the pile was that bagging machine, Craig (Trigger) Edmunds who amassed a massive 303lb" from peg 94 on Cary Lake consisting of 29 carp mainly shallow on the pole with pellet then a few lake fish short on meat, It was close though as Miles Levy had taken 299lb from fancied peg 114 on Cambell so only a fish in it'. On the silvers front Gary O'Shea managed the top weight off of Cambell Lake peg 124 with 46lb odd all taken on the long poe with hard pellet over micros or the short pole with soft pellet. Most people had a few fish today just proving how well the venue has fished, They certainly seem to have waken up to the use of pellets that's for sure' Day off tomoz before a return to Summerhayes Sellicks lake on Sunday for there open match.

Full Results -

1st Craig Edmunds (Premier Angling) peg 94 Cary, 303lb 14oz.

2nd Miles Levy (Guru) peg 114 Cambell, 299lb 11oz.

3rd Dan Squires (Frenzee) peg 112 Cambell. 206lb 12oz.

4th Mark Poppleton (S.W.M.G) peg 128 Cambell, 186lb 1oz.

5th Nick Ewers (P.I.Thatchers) peg 111 Cambell, 180lb.

6th Ben Hagg (Guru) peg 132 Cambell, 143lb 3oz.

Silvers -

1st Gary O'Shea (P.I.Thatchers) peg 124 Cambell, 46lb 6oz.

2nd Neil Gaff (Bordon Angling) peg 69 Lodge, 38lb 14oz.