Shiplate Farm Open (Main Lake).

After having an eventful' But enjoyable day here on the Thursday Costcutter I was looking forward to having another go, I skipped breakfast Arriving in plenty of time for a cuppa n a chin wag most of which was filtered around me swimming for my top 4 last match" so for starters I was hoping not to repeat the scenario!

conditions looked ideal with little wind so I didn't really mind where I would end up although what breeze their was seemed to be blowing towards fancied pegs 1 & 15 so they would be nice.. Into the draw I found myself on peg 6 which I was happy with As Tony Rixon won Thursdays match here off it with 160lb odd catching shallow on the long pole, The only problem I had was recent travelling partner Lewis Jones was on peg 7 who knows the place well & would also be looking to catch on the long pole so it would be interesting & the side bet for a £1 was struck. First up two shallow rigs on different lengths of line to fish at 14mts, Both 0.2g AS4 floats, One on 0.17-0.15 & an 16 PR36 hook the other on 0.19-0.17 & a 16 PR36 hook, Next up was a hand made 0.3g float to fish on the deck on 0.17-0.15 & an 18 PR36 hook which would also double up to fish down the edge in the deeper water as theirs rock all along the inside edge of this bank

, I also set up a paste rig with a size 12 hook to try over the top should need be before finally assembling my pellet waggler rod to fish over towards the fallen tree which I planned to start on.

At the all in I fed some meat & 6mm pellet off to me left at 7mts, & two large pots of hard 4mm's to my right both swims just over a metre off the bank, Fed 3 good pots of hard 6mm's onto the 14mt line & began the match on the pellet waggler with a banded 8mm over towards the tree which has fallen in the lake, Their appeared to be fish spawning under it as we were setting up which might of been the reason I couldn't get any indications,

I had been pinging 6mm's on the long pole line from the off & after 20mins I could see the odd fish under the surface so soon switched to the shallow rig on the longer line to start with. I gave it about 20mins of slapping but only had the one bite & things were looking iffy, Their were plenty of bubbles coming up but I had a feeling they weren't from carp, I switched to the deck rig with a banded 8mm pellet & soon had my first fish being a skimmer around a 1lb, Their seemed to be a few present as I was getting plenty of indications & netting regular size fish for around 30mins before things died off after I bumped a couple off just after hooking them, Lewis had now switched to the long pole & had taken two fish on the paste before getting troubled by some pasty carp so I was happy enough to try & catch some more skimmers for the time being. I managed a couple more but then was really struggling for bites, I had been feeding quite often with 6mm's via the catty so decided to give the shallow rig another go, I missed one after minute or so then hooked a rig munter which made short work of my 0.15 hooklength" Back out on the slightly heavier rig it wasn't long before I hooked another one but disaster struck yet again.. My bloody top 4 had come off! This time it wasn't going slow" And before I new it, it was kiting up the lake infront of Andy France over on peg 12!! he did his best to try & hook it with his lead rod As did the guy further up from him which I was grateful for but neither being successful.. Their wasn't really much I could do?? I just had to hope It would venture back my way at some point if it doesn't sink first, To say I was a bit p****d off was an understatement!" it can only happen to me. The problem with all the slapping motions through the pole must have loosened it up again & I hadn't been checking it at regular intervals so my fault their.

Luckily I had another no.4 so was able to keep fishing but to be honest it had really put the mockers on my day. I managed one good fish shallow but soon realised it was better off trying to catch some more silvers as Lewis was now getting the odd fish shallow & I could see Titch Williams further up on the opposite bank landing a few, I tried again with hard 8mm on the hook but couldn't get a bite I switched to 6mm on the hook even trying it slightly off the deck but still nothing & the silvers had seemed to all but disappeared", I had a look down the edge on both sides but they failed to produce anything, I had continued to ping the odd 8mm on the waggler line & gave this another try but still nothing. Back on the long pole this time with the paste rig I did manage another skimmer but had to wait ages for a bite & missed a few before I did finally connect with one so scrapped that, Back on the lighter rig with a good segment of worm on the hook only produced two roach so with time running out I went on the shallow rig for the rest of the match ending up with 3 carp but nothing else in the silvers net which was a bit disappointing after catching on it in the early stages, Lewis had done well picking off the odd big carp through the day mainly on his shallow rig but I just couldn't get the interested enough?

When the scales arrived titch had the top weight with 113lb odd , Lewis had 105lb odd, before my four carp went 28lb odd & my silvers 13lb odd. Back at the results & it turned out that local John Hawkins on peg 3 had a great day catching on the method off the end of the island to finish the day with 173lb odd with his dad coming second from peg 1 with 139lb odd, Top silvers went to Julian Pinkett with 16lb odd but my 13lb odd was good enough to finish 2nd so at least I picket up £25 which was better than going home empty handed'. back to my top4 & I did see it appear briefly about 45mins from the end of the match between Lewis & Myself close to the far bank, Earlier on in the day Lewis had snagged some line connected to a spod' which was now still attached to the far bank & I'm hoping the carp may have shed the hook leaving my top4 connected to it somehow? Owner Steve Is going to get the boat out & have a look for me in the week so fingers crossed" Just to make my day even worse, As I was packing up I still had the thought of it all in my head & not looking properly caught the tip of my rod when putting it back in the hardcase snapping it clean off!!" A day to forget I think....

Full Results -

1st John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 3, 173lb 12oz.

2nd Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 1, 139lb 10oz.

3rd Titch Williams (Drennan Thyers) peg 113lb 7oz.

4th Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 7, 105lb 10oz.

Silvers -

1st Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 14, 16lb 6oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 6, 13lb 13oz.

       Just for the record Frys Had their match on Hawthorns lake today & old timer Pete Sivell Broke the Lake record with 176lb 2oz so well done to him.