Shiplate Farm Main Lake Series.

It was certainly a bit chillier in the air when I got up this morning' I arrived in plenty of time to give owner Steve Oliver his breakfast roll enjoying a free brew before the draw, Odiously we all fancied peg 1 or 15 but with peanut present I was sure I could discount one of them!? I dived into the draw quite early with the theory they were their to be drawn' I gingerly open my ticket to find myself on peg 1' Hallelujah" This meant the rest of my section would be on the same bank & although I expected the day to be hard I was confident enough to catch some carp from here. First up I set a bomb rod up to fish different baits across past the point of the island, a 0.2g float on 0.17-0.15 to fish down the edge at 9mts in 3ft of water, a 4x14 float on 0.17-0.13 to fish in the open water at 13mts slightly to my left & would use the same rig to fish back towards the bay on my left but it would mean fishing stood up' A rig to fish back on my inside to the left at 13mts in a couple of feet of water & finally a silvers rig again for the open water  at 12mts infront of me.

I started the day cupping a decent amount of corn on the 13mt open water line, Some micros & 4mms on the silvers line, a same amount of corn & 6mms at 13mts down the left edge & on the shorter right hand margin & began the day on the bomb with 8mm pellet across to the island. I gave it around 20mins after an early liner but no fish followed despite trying other bites, I decided to have a quick look on the 13mts positive corn line, I was surprized when it went straight under & I netted a 3lb carp so at least I was on my way, No more bites here so I decided to switch to fishing 13mts over the bush back in towards the bay on my left just cad potting a few grains of corn with the same on the hook. I added two more decent fish to 10lb in the next 20mins so just after an hour I estimated around 21lb in the net so a good start. I did have a look down the left hand margin but with no signs of fish I would just top it up at times & try it later in the day, No more over the positive fed line at 13mts & I didn't want to try the shorter line for a few hours so stuck to fishing stood up into the bay I did manage another three fish in the next hour again of decent size to 7lb, I couldn't see much being caught & Peanut Howell was struggling on peg 3 for a change & I hadn't seen much caught on are bank or the opposite side for that matter, We did have the wind blowing are direction which was cold' but thankfully it was mostly over my shoulder, it was hard work standing up to fish but it appeared to be where the fish were happy to feed for the time being.

I did try the edge to my left again but still nothing, I gave the bomb another 15mins where I had been pinging a few hard 8mms but no more signs on this either. After around 3 hours I thought I had around 36lb but had only managed a couple of skimmers fishing back towards the bay but after regular small amounts of feed down the shorter edge it was time to give it a try. I started with corn on the hook again as this had already been working & although I had to wait a while I did have a fish over 5lb then nothing. Back to the heavy fed line I had another skimmer, & back into the bay area I managed another 6lb fish before hooking a right munter" I did it best to take me right around the corner with the pole bent double" before I managed to steer it out but it changed direction & made a bee line for peg 15 before snapping the hook-length so I stepped up to 0.15 after this.

The rest of the match was spent rotating swims just to try & induce a bite, I never tried the silvers fed line as I didn't see the point as the sections are paid on weight with no separate payout. With just under an hour to go I managed two fish on the short edge line in two dob-ins which pushed 20b between them' I managed a smaller fish from the stood up' line & lost one from the short edge a few min's from the end but made up for it with a decent fish just before the whistle. From what I could see the lake had fished hard for most, I reckoned on having around 70lb but didn't use the clicker today, When the scales arrived as I was last to weigh the top weight was 26lb odd so I new it was safe for a win & section then' I was surprized to total 86lb including the biggest fish so far of the series being 10lb 10oz which could be worth a few quid if it stays that way with two rounds to go, I had the bonus of another £40 back for winning the section which see's Rich Hawkins & Myself at the top after three rounds both on 13pts but I have the weight advantage of 170lb - 130lb so far. Back on Hawthorns for the next round in two weeks so all to play for. Another enjoyable days fishing, It wasn't easy standing to catch the bulk of my fish but with small amounts of feed it worked in my favour & a good weekend all round.

Full results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella) peg 1, 86lb 1oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 12, 26lb.

3rd Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 13, 23lb 10oz.

4th John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 14, 19lb 6oz.