Shiplate Farm Open Match, (Hawthorns Lake).

Only a short trip up the road for me today so made do with a bacon sarnie before leaving, Lewis had also booked in but also living near by I met him their, I had a wander up the lake & what was noticeable was the amount of fish crashing along the far bank in a right spawning mode at the top end of the lake yet no many signs of spawning fish in the low numbers? Into the draw quite early & found myself on peg 11 at the top end, When I arrived at my swim their were penty of spawning fish motoring along the far bank"

It seemed a recipe for disaster with another day of foul hookers looking inevitable but first up I did find around 18'inches tight over as far as I could get at 14mts so set up a 0.2g AS2 on 0.15-0.13 & an 18 PR478 hook, next up was the normal Chanti being 4x14 on 0.15-0.13 & a 18 Wide gape pellet hook to fish at 6mts down the track to my right with meat,

A 0.3g AS1 on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 silver fish hook to fish the same distance to my left with worm & casters as a silvers line, Last of all was a 4x10 chanti to fish shallow over the silvers line & a swinger rig should things be desperate".

I started the day feeding a mix of casters & worm onto the 6mts in-front of me & fed a few cubes of meat to my right the same distance. I started the match here as the wind was skimming down are end making it awkward to fish across but did feed a small amount of riddled meat across to the far bank, I gave the meat line about 20mins whilst feeding a few caster by hand on the silvers line, Not much had been caught across from what I could see of the few pole ends around me but most had foul hooked a few as I expected, With that in mind after 25mins I switched to fishing the haed of a worm on the silvers line. I had a 1lb plus skimmer first drop in then a 10oz fish soon after, It wasn't quick but I was getting the odd indication & on the hour mark I estimated around 4lb of silvers so was hoping for it to continue, It wasn't the case as after a couple more fish in the next 30mins it totally died on me, It was probably due to the bright calm & warm conditions but I had to try something else as I had already made my mind up to fish for the silvers pool? I tried the shallow rig at various depths but only managed a few small fish, I would get the odd bite on the deck but they were few & far between, I began a new line off to my left with micros fishing a bit of worm over the top but al this produced was a carp a day' I had carp showing them self down my margin where I had been trickling in a few casters & did manage two shallow on double caster when hoping for the odd chub' Their seemed to be a few swirling around through the day but they seemed to be chasing the pollen ect down the lake, I managed just a couple of small fish on the deck for the rest of the day until the last 45mins when a few more 1lb plus skimmers were added as well as some smaller samples, It was hard going after the good start but with the conditions being bright & calm it seemed to put the silvers off? I estimated around 9lb of silvers but went on to weigh 11lb odd & a few carp for 16lb odd, It turned out some fish were caught down in the lower numbers where they seemed less active with Rich Hawkins taking another win with 89lb odd catching most of his fish shallow down the track on pellet & a couple down the edge on paste to just edge out Lewis with 86lb odd, My weight was enough to win the silvers picking up £35 Which was the right choice at are end of the lake as most had suffered with foul hookers. High light of the day had to be Titch Williams on peg 9 which has some wooden boarding opposite, When he hooked a flying skimmer which ended up the other side of it", I was in fits of laughter watching him try & drag it back over the boarding but fair play he did manage it'. Off to Viaduct Tomorrow again With Lewis for the bank holiday open match so should be a good day..

Overal results -

1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 7, 89lb 2oz.

2nd Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 5, 86lb 2oz.

3rd Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 1, 75lb 4oz.

4th Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 2, 59lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 11, 11lb 1oz.