Viaduct Fishery Teams of Five (Round Four).

Back to Viaduct today for the penultimate round of this popular league with 95 Anglers fishing, It was the normal case of meeting Gabo on route for breakfast at Burham on route praying we wouldn't have to ask to have it warmed up again? Quite comical really as the beans were being stirred as we walked in & came out piping hot so much better', We arrived quite late so had to use the top car-park, alright going down not coming back". My turn to be on Match Lake today with an overspill of 5 pegs on middle & spring, Steve Segar did the draw for us again today as he says he always pulls himself a good un' He didn't fail as he drew corner peg 73 on Lodge which has produced a few so far this series, Sam Johnson was on Cary Lake 79 which is a bit penned in but could be worth a carp or two, Mark Leader who was filling in again would be on 113 Cambell which can be a right banker' Gabo Had ended up on peg 5 of Spring lake which has the end of an island to chuck to & can be worth some carp & I ended up on peg 43 of match lake, More than happy as I had an island chuck around 25mts & so far a few fish have been caught here so expected a few F1's if nothing else? , I set up a waggler to fish different depths over to the island, my 10ft bomb rod to fish the same area, A 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 & a size 18 PR412 hook to fish at 14 & 16mts for silvers off to my right & set up A 0.2g float on 0.15-0.11 & an 18 F1 pellet hook to fish meat at 16mts off to my left inline with a shadow of a tree on the island.

 For company I had Stu Barnett next to me on 44 with Gary Webber above him on 45, & on the end to my left I had Shaun Townsend. Just before the match started conditions were perfect but the wind was due to increase as the day went on but with it forecast to be slightly off are backs it should prove perfect for the waggler blowing it into the far bank. I started the match feeding three balls of G/bait at 14mts with casters & a few dead red maggot, Fed a small ball with pinkies in at 16mts to the right & fed a small amount of 6mm meat at 16mts left, By the time I had done this Stu had netted a 2lb plus F1 on the feeder to the island so things looked promising? I decided just to have a couple of chucks a couple of feet off the far bank with a small straight lead with maggot on the hook, I gave it ten minutes before switching baits but after 25mins it looked to inviting for the wagg' I started with single red maggot & was straight in to a 1lb F1, I expected a few more but only topped it up with a couple of tiny roach. Things weren't quite going to plan, the wind was blowing around the corner of the island & I was having difficulty getting it anywhere near the far bank then disaster I got it right next to the bank only to find me snagged to some other line then a branch in the water which was firmly attached to the bank" I got my rig back ok after a couple of tugs' but the branch sprang back along the bank now giving me less room to chuck too"!

I thought it might be safer to chuck a small G/bait feeder to the now limited gap' in the hope of snaring a few?, I hooked one first chuck but unfortunately it was in the fin & just as I saw a 3lb F1 pop up at the net it shed the hook!  Stu had added a couple more F1's on the waggler & so had Shaun before he switched back to the feeder as the wind had now put pay to us trying the waggler' Still nothing so after 90mins or so I decided to have a quick look on my silvers lines, Starting at 14mts I didn't have a bite, Switching to the 16mt line I had a blade skimmer followed by a 1lb skimmer on single pinkie then nothing, I added another ball of pinkies & switched to the other rig at 16mts to my left where I had been pinging a few bits of meat, with 6mm meat on the hook.

I had another 1lb plus skimmer as soon as the rig settled, Back out & I had a 2lb F1 followed by a 4lb carp' That's a bit better then". Stu had soon followed suit & was out on the long pole as was Shaun, I managed a couple more F1's before Stu Started to also catch on the pole, Shaun was struggling on his long pole but took a fish down his long margin on his first try so things still weren't looking good. I cupped in another small amount of meat & decided to start another meat line at the same distance in-front of me, I gave it 15mins but it didn't seem to work, Back to the line I started on I had another F1 which came off at the net again before losing another shipping back as the wind whipped the pole straight round'. By now the wind had picked right up & I was struggling just to hold the pole & found it really hard to feed anything with over the top with the catty, I began to feed a few cubes via a cad-pot attached which was a painful process to ship out, I have be suffering from a trapped nerve in my neck most of the week & this really wasn't helping. Cad-potting did seem to work as I managed a couple more F1's before bite were really hard to come by.

Going into the last 90mins Shaun began to catch fish at a better rate down his long margin & although Stu's peg had slowed he was still managing the odd decent F1, I was really struggling to get any indications on the pole so had a couple more chucks across to the island with the feeder, Still nothing from here.

Back on the pole with 20minutes to go & I landed another F1 before pulling out of another at the net' & managed one more before the all-out, Shaun was saying I had over 40lb to which I replied he was in cuckoo land' & my estimate would be he would have the most from those I could see & I thought Stu had around 10lb more than me? Shaun weighed first & finished with 48lb odd, My 4lb of silvers added to my carp gave me 37lb odd before Stu put 47lb on the scales so kippered today" It turned out Shaun's weight was enough to win the section taking the 19pts & Stu finished a close second, Well done to then both as they both fished tidy matches, I'm the first to admit I didn't fish a partially good match especially in the early stages, I was trying to force the waggler to get it where I wanted but more often than not wasn't working & I didn't chuck tight enough to the bank to begin with which got Shaun some early fish, Perhaps I shouldn't of bothered with a silvers line today which would of give me more room try meat in other areas but to be honest the wind pretty much put pay to this. Back at the results & it turned out my weight was enough for 13pts so good on the team front, Steve's day didn't quite go to plan finishing with two carp for 17lb odd & 6pts, Gabo wasn't fortunate enough to catch carp so ended with 3pts, Sam did ok with 11pts but best of us all was Mark who from peg 113 Cambell had a brilliant result, He struggled to catch in the first half of the match but caught late on with the bomb & meat before switching to a short 6mt line he had been feeding in the last 15mins where he landed another four decent fish to finish the day with 101lb to win the lake & the match so a big well done to him'. On the silvers front Bob Giles from peg 18 on Spring caught some decent skimmers to win the day with 28lb odd.

On the team front Mosella Bathampton won the day with 79pts ahead of Natural talent & Viaduct Allstars on 76pts but on the overall standings Natural Talent are leading the way with the final round next week with 254pts one ahead of Thatchers Vets on 253pts & Frenzee  SW on 239pts. Well back next week for the final round with my turn on Spring Lake wondering if its really possible to draw peg 7 for the third year in a row"?

Full results -

1st Mark Leader (Maver) peg 113 Cambell, 101lb 2oz.

2nd Mash (M5 Angling) peg 131 Cambell, 95lb 3oz.

3rd Scott Cousins (Viaduct Allstars) peg 111 Cambell, 88lb 1oz.

4th Matt Parsons (M5 Angling) peg 100 Cary, 87lb 5oz.

5th Bob Giles (Natural Talent) peg 18 Spring, 84lb 14oz.

6th Ben Hagg (Natural Talent) Peg 68 Lodge, 82lb 1oz.

Silvers -

1st Bob Giles (Natural Talent) peg 18, 28lb 12oz.

2nd Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) peg 20, 27lb 8oz.

3rd Alex Nadlin (Garbolino BVMG) peg 19, 23lb 10oz.