Acorn Fishery Friday Open. (Paddock Lake).

I was looking forward to this as well as the long bank holiday weekend, For the first of three matches over the Easter period I was off to Acorn for this open which had sold out but with a couple of no shows their was still 27 of us fishing, I prefer it when their are more than normal fishing as the weights although lower tend to be closer with the fish not having as much room to back off, I estimated between 60-80lb would win with closer back up weights so we would see?.

Into the draw & I found myself on peg 12 which was in the end corner & I only had to reverse the van round the bend, Ideal' happy with this draw as I had plenty of room across & down my right edge with the next guy being on peg 10,

when I arrived it was obvious their were some fish swirling across on the far bank but unfortunately their were around the point of the island towards the next guy but hopefully I would be able to draw a few fish around my side.

Two rigs for fishing across at 14mts tight to the far bank both being 0.1g floats on 0.15-0.13, One with a hair rig band for hard pellet & one for soft pellet, A rig to fish in 3ft of water down the edge at 10mts being a 4x12 chanti on the same line with a size 16 new guru hook, A rig to fish on my top two plus two again down my right edge in slightly shallower water & finally a swinging' rig to fish shallow anywhere.

I started the day potting some 6mm's in one area further along on far bank to my left & started the day on the point of the island in just over 12inches of water with 4mm expander feeding some hard 4mms over the top with the catty, This didn't work' I started to get signs of fish in the swim but they weren't keen on the pellets raining on them' I did try even shallower tight to the bank but just one foul hooker which I did get in was all I could temp at this stage, I had a try on the other far line with banded 6mm which caught me a fish, A 8oz goldfish". what carp were present didn't seem keen to settle at this stage, I managed another off the point cad potting some hard 4mms with a 6mm expander on the hook but after a couple of hours only had a couple of fish.

I had been pinging the odd 6mm down to the tree overhanging the lake at 13mts & at 10mts in the open water, The wind had turned slightly blowing at me from peg 10 & I saw a fish roll on the 10mt line so went in with banded pellet on the swinger rig set around a 1ft deep, Straight under! a fish of 5lb was netted & I thought this was going to be it but no more off this line' I went further & closer to the tree & again had another fish straight away then nothing, It seemed to be as soon as you had a fish they just moved off not really interested at this stage.

I couldn't see much being caught although the chap I didn't know on island peg 5 seemed to be doing well & Glen Calvert on peg 9 had netted a few, Time soon disappeared & before I knew it we only had a couple of hours left, I know from experience the carp on this lake can switch on going into the last couple hour so decided to start dump potting bait tight to the far bank in the hope of getting a few in the swim grubbing around,

After 30mins of trying the inside lines & the swinging rig again with success I started to see fish tight over where I had fed.

I went in with 6mm expander in around 10inches of water & it shot under" I had another as soon as I went back in then nothing so fed another larger amount & left it, I managed another on the other further line along the bank cad potting some 6mms & eventually started to get the odd indication of fish down the edge on the short line. I spend the last 60mins pinching the odd fish over towards the point & managed a couple down the edge again on 6mm expander over hard 6mms, It seemed a few other caught a few late fish but I didn't know how the rest of the lake had fished? I estimated to have between 45-50lb but we would see?.

Only one set of scales today & all the kit was back in the van before they even started so I went around to the early pegs to see the start of the weigh-in Starting with Brian (Anteater) Slipper on peg 1 who finished with 51lb odd before the chap on peg 5 who had been catching well all day, Un-fortunately their was a strict 70lb net limited & he was slightly over with 74lb so this net didn't count & he finished with 26lb odd, He would of easily had enough to win the day & I did feel for him as he doesn't normally fish matches but we all have to follow the rules. Back to the weigh-in & their were a couple of 40b weights before Glen Calvert on peg 9 took the lead with 64lb odd, The guy on peg 10 weighed 48lb with some better fish down his edge before I finished with 55lb odd, A couple more 40lb weights before Kev Hewitt pushed Glen close with 62lb from peg 34 next to the bridge. It was a tight match as expected come the end, With glen winning the day but I was fortunate to pick up 3rd overall collecting £60, an Easter Egg' & a small Trophy" The top silvers went to Mark Bartlett from peg 19 with 9lb odd. A good day all round & well done to Rob Fogg & Mark Bartlett for running it.

Full Results - 

1st Glen Calvert, (Sensas Thyers) peg 9, 64lb 10oz.

2nd Kev Hewitt (Acorn) peg 34, 62lb 15oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 12, 55lb.

4th Brian Slipper (Sensas Thyers) peg 1, 51lb 9oz.

5th Jamie Amier (Acorn) peg 10, 47lb 14oz.

6th Mark Bartlett (Matrix) peg 19, 46lb 7oz.

Silvers - 1st Mark Bartlett peg 19, 9lb 5oz.