Viaduct Fishery Sunday Open (Cambell Lake).

After spending the whole day in a classroom yesterday for part of my Drivers CPC I was keen to get back to fishing, I had what would be my last Breakfast at Hilltops before arriving in plenty of time again, Only fourteen fishing today so Steve would peg seven each side of the lake, I had a wander around before the draw & on the far side their was a strong north easterly wind blowing into most of the swims which would make fishing the long pole difficult should I end up there? I let a few go before me as normal before taking my turn ending up on peg 127, The far side with the wind in are chops" The pegs just above me always seem to be a decent area for silvers so using the day as a practice should I draw this lake in the next round of the silvers league I would spend the day targeting them.

Fishing the long pole was going to be awkward because with the wind blowing at us, & I went as far as I could without making things to difficult & my furthest line was 13mts slightly to my left, I set up a 4x14 Wire Wonder on 0.13-0.08 & a 18 Guru Maggot hook to fish in just over 3ft of water, Next up I had a 0.3g pencil on the same line with an 18 PR490 hook to fish at 10mt just to my right which was about 6'inches shallower, A 4x10 chanti to fish at 6mts with a 20 PR412 hook & finally a 3x8 chanti to fish along the inside bank in 2ft of water but didn't really expect this to produce much? For company I had Nigel Garrett on peg 128 next to the spit who was also going to target silvers & terry Leney on peg 126 who was going down the carp route. I started the day feeding 3 balls of G/bait with some dead reds & casters at 13mts, fed the same amount at 10mts containing chopped worm & casters & began the day at 6mts on caster feeding a few by hand, I had a few early roach & a skimmer of 6oz in the first 30mins or so but bites were getting hard to come by, Nigel had only managed a few small roach off his 10mts line so after having a try down the edge without any signs & just a couple more small roach from the 6mt line it was time to venture out to 13mts, I hadn't been out long when I had a bite on dead red maggot only to lose a 1lb plus skimmers shipping back" I expected to get some more action but after another 15mins I had just another 8oz skimmer, I decided to add another ball & switch to the 10mt line.

I had near 1lb skimmer straight off , Missed another bite soon after then pricked a better fish soon after before it died here, By now the wind had picked up even more & it was hard enough to keep the rig still at 10mts let alone 13mts!" I had switched to fishing nearly 6'inches over depth with a double bulk but the wind & tow coming at us was making the long line near impossible to fish. back at 10mts & even here I was having to lay some line on the deck but did manage another near 1lb skimmer, The middle couple of hours were a right gruller as I only managed to add a few more smaller skimmers, I had been topping up the 10mts line a bit more positively & with a couple of hours to go hooked a decent fish on caster which I first thought was a small carp but it turned out to be a tench around 2lb' fifteen minutes later I had another around 3lb before feeling it was time to top it up again, Thankfully the breeze had let up a little to give the 13mt line another try. Starting on caster I had three skimmers in as many put-ins a couple pushing 2lb before it died again, I tried past where I had been feeding but this didn't produce so topped it up & tried the 10mt line again.

I had another 1lb skimmer then hooked a carp" I was hoping to catch another skimmer of tench after but it just didn't happen I had a couple more 1lb fish off the 13mt line in the last hour but it was hard going, I expected the peg to get better later in the day but it was the opposite, Terry had called it a day with a couple of hours to go, & Nigel had struggled for a couple of 1lb size skimmers & some roach & wasn't going to bother weighing, When the scales arrived Fred Roberts on end peg 131 had managed 19lb of tench, I didn't think I had anywhere near that but was surprized to end up with 18lb 5oz, but top silvers went to Steve Jackson with 21lb odd from the opposite bank peg 112, catching most of his fish on the long pole aided with the wind off his back & an empty peg either side" Lol, The match was won by Jim Morrison from peg 114 with 199lb taking all of his fish on the bomb & pellet so it looks like the carp are already heading for their favourite winter haunt" A bit disappointed the weather put pay to the fishing today but it happens hopefully it will be in more favourable conditions next week.

Full Results -

1st Jim Morrison (Tackle Trader) peg 114, 199lb 2oz.

2nd Jack Billett (Viaduct) peg 123, 186lb 11oz.

3rd Chris Davis (Frampton Cotterill) peg 118, 141lb 12oz.

Silvers - 1st Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 112, 21lb 6oz.