Summerhayes Fishery Open (Longs Lake).

I vowed not to come back here until the warmer months as my last two visits were pretty fruitless but with the match being held on Long Lake & not Sellicks I decided to pay another visit, I didn't bother with breakfast today so graded a coffee before taking a stroll up the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal on route to the fishery, Some areas did look a bit fishy" & now the vegetation has been cut back you have chance to see the bikes coming!".

I arrived to find 25 booked-in so a good turn-out, I really don't trust my drawing hands at the moment so asked owner Pete's helping hand take one for me, I ended up on peg 16 below the motorway bridge which happened to be a nice new repaired peg' The only problem was it was nearly 20mts to the far bank & seeing as I hadn't brought any rods I ruled that out' With my arm still suffering I opted to fish a couple of short lines at around 6mts & two lines left & right at 12mts bring what may". All chanti's again today two 4x14 on 0.13-0.11 & an 16 808 hook & another lighter 4x12 on 0.12-0.10 & an 18 808 hook. I had my usual £1 pools fodder" Nick Harvey on peg 18 & Vince (Baywatch) Brown on the corner peg 15.

I started the match with an open mind as what to target today with Nick having an island reach & Vince the corner to fish in it might be better to target some silvers? with this in mind I feed a small ball of micro & some hard 4mms at 12mts right & a handful of corn at 12mts left, fed a few expanders on the short line in-front of me & began on the short left hand line with 6mm meat on the hook just cupping in a couple of cubes over the top, 15mts later & no bite saw me switch to the 12mt line with a 4mm expander on the hook. I hooked a carp straight away but as I went to net it the whole rig slipped the connector to the elastic so I lost the lot! I tried the heavier rig over the top but only had a 1lb skimmer in the next 10mins, I decided to quickly top it up with a small amount & re-assemble a new lighter rig. back out again & I hooked another but don't think it was in the mouth, This time I went to net it, It came off & so did my float!".

Deep Breaths" I managed to slip a new float on & was soon back fishing but the carp seemed to have disappeared, I did manage a couple of 1lb skimmers & some tiny roach but bites to come by. At one stage I did get the pole out to 16mts with a swinging rig but after 10mins slung that up the bank". Silvers it was then so spent most of the day switching between the long & short line feeding micros & fishing expanders over the top, I still kept feeding the short meat & long corn line having the odd look though-out, The meat line failed to produce all day but I did have the bonus of a 2lb tench on the corn line, I had a couple of flying" skimmers shed the hook back on the expander but as the day went on bites seemed harder to come by. I did have a late flourish though netting two late carp & two 10oz skimmers in the last 15mins to add to the odd fish I had taken through the day. I estimated to have around 10lb of silvers so might be fortunate enough to sneak in the frame, When the scales arrived Resident Ray Wickham Had the best silvers weight with 15lb odd, I finished up with 11lb 13oz to finish 2nd in the silvers pool picking up £34 so at least something back today'. The match was won by Somerset Anglings Steve Kedge from peg 36 with 75lb odd catching the bulk of his fish short or down the edge with meat. Thankfully the rain held off until the kit was in the van so I don't have the hassle of stripping it all down, A busy days fishing but at least it kept me entertained.

Full Results -

1st Steve Kedge (Somerset |Angling) peg 35, 75lb 1oz.

2nd Bill Hopping (Summerhayes) peg 6, 56lb 9oz.

3rd Nigel Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 11, 53lb 4oz.

4th John Page (Thyers Tackle) peg 38, 46lb 8oz.

5th Jamie Parkhouse (Exeter) peg 1, 34lb 9oz.

Silvers - 1st  Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 12, 15lb 4oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 16, 11lb 3oz.