Viaduct Fishery Saturday Open.

With next weekend hosting another Fisho Mania Qualifier which we both have tickets for Lewis Jones & Myself decided to have a go on this latest open, After he picked me up we had a breakfast stop off before arriving, A good turn out today with 38 booked in so the match would be held over Cambell, Cary & a five peg section on Lodge Lake. I was really hoping to avoid Lodge hoping for a more noted peg on either Cary Or Cambell, I let quite a few draw before me today so hopefully it would change my luck but when it was my turn two tickets were stuck together so I let Lewis chose one leaving me with the other, Peg 81 on Cary for me above the spit which I felt was worth a few fish, Lewis? Peg 94 Cary which just so happened to be the peg Craig Edmunds had 303lb off of on my last visit" to be fair the wind was blowing the opposite way today though so it would be interesting to see what it would produce.

Arriving at my swim I had plenty of options to be honest & the only thing I ruled out was the waggler as the wind was in my face, I set up two bomb rods to fish off the end of the spit but couldn't get close to it with the branches over hanging down  so would fish around 12ft off as well as chucking it around the rest off my swim.

I set a 0.3g pole rig to fish at 8mts in the open water on 0.19-0.17, A inline float to fish next to the monk in 3ft of water on 0.19

& Finally the same type of rig to fish at 16mts along the spit.

I started the day feeding some meet & hemp on the 8mts line & fed a few 6mm hard pellets with the catty down to the monk & along the spit at 16mts. I started the day on the bomb & red meat but after 20mins & no signs I switched to hair rigged 8mm pellet, The first hour was very slow & I hadn't had a fish, I just cast around the peg looking for signs but had been feeding a few 8mm towards the end of the spit, A switch back to it finally gave me a 10lb followed by another of similar size shortly after this time taken by fishing the bomb past the monk in the open water, I hooked another here 20mins later which was a good fish but just as I reached for the net it shed the hook on an underwater branch which didn't count". I managed one more back to the spit before it was time to try the pole, Starting down to the monk with 8mm banded pellet I had a 5lb fish then hooked & bumped another, I decided to try the 16mt line along the spit again putting my faith in pellet cad potting a few over the top. It didn't take long to hook my first here & by god was it big" it bolted along the brambles on the spit heading for the end of it before it came off & it turned out it straighten my power hook!" Do I really want to hook um on the pole?? I had another small carp for this lake of 4lb by the monk again on the pole before it was time to try the bomb again.

I had another munter straight away but the next cast I hooked a fish as soon as the bomb hit the water which came off shortly after' Back past the monk on the bomb saw me hook another 5mins later which swam straight at me shedding the hook again" followed by another lost fish halfway back! Things were going well weren't they!" I had another fish next to the monk on the pole around 6lb But I couldn't get a bite on the 16mts line along the spit, The 8mt meat line produced just a 2lb skimmer so began to feed some meat at 4mts to my left to see if it would produce later in the day?. Back on the bomb I had another beast around 14lb before losing another halfway back shortly after then nothing, oddly enough despite trying the bomb in different areas I could only seem to get indications level with the end of the spit where I had been pinging a few pellets or down past the monk in the open water, I bumped another good fish on the pole to the monk, The 8mt meat line produced just one more skimmer & the 4mt meat line produced just a 1lb plus roach" I landed a 13lb fish from past the monk in the tail in the last 25mins which was a right battle but I did land it with 5mins to go before taking another lump off the spit a couple of minutes from the all-out, I finished the day with 9 big carp, 2 smaller ones & my bits, When I caught up with the scales Alex Murray was winning the section with 108lb before Glies (Pettie poir) Cochrane on peg 86 had 15 fish for 136lb, Norman did well to finish with 186lb odd from peg 85 catching the bulk of his fish down the edge on the bomb & pellet, Losing two pole sections which got blown in the lake in the process" which Steve would kindly look for in his chest waders after. My carp went 130lb & my bits 2lb odd just to lose out to Giles for the section, I did find a 2lb skimmer in my net once the scales had disappeared but it wouldn't of made the difference thank god" I did enjoy my day for a change but a total of eight lost fish was a bit frustrating considering the size of the fish I was averaging' Top weight on the day went to Jamie Parkhouse (I said last week this guy can draw!") as he just so happened to draw current hot peg 114 on Cambell to finish the day with 191lb odd mainly taken on the waggler at depth with pellet. Norman ended up 2nd with some good close-up backing weights. Thiers another open here tomorrow I've decided to book in after all it made a change to hook a few fish today. Cant go without saying the man of the day must go to Scott Russell who certainly has the silvers sorted at the moment taking his 3rd win in a row on then from peg 127 Cambell with 88lb of skimmers!" Well fished I say so well done mate, Owe & he managed 71lb of carp to boot".

 Cary lake winner Norman.

looking forward to another day here tomorrow but hopefully I can just see a bit more sunshine than I did today & not lose any"?

Full Results -

1st Jamie Parkhouse (Exeter) peg 114 Cambell, 191lb 2oz.

2nd Norman Stacey (Wales) peg 85 Cary, 186b 12oz.

3rd Mike Vigar (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 119 Cambell, 172lb 2oz.

4th Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 127 Cambell, 159lb 9oz.

5th Neil Gaffe (Bordon Angling) peg 118 Cambell, 158lb 10oz.

6th Rod Eagle (Bait Tech Viaduct) peg 128 Cambell 157lb 9oz.

Silvers - Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 127 Cambell, 88lb 5oz.