Shiplate Farm Mini Series Final Round (Main Lake).

Another Year has passed & it was my Birthday Yesterday so no fishing as it was defiantly a day for a few Sherbert's" Luckily I was quite sensible going out early & returning for a Chinese with the lovely Wife (Not that I remember much of it?) but at least I was in a fit state this morning. Conditions were in are favour with no wind but with the cold nights we didn't know what to expect, Obviously pegs 1 & 15 would be favoured but with just a point between Rich Hawkins & Myself if I didn't draw them they I had to hope Rich didn't". I was early into the draw & found myself on peg 12 of the far bank & Rich ended up drawing with next to me on end peg 11 of are bank, This was probably the best I could of wished for as I could see if he was catching & the pegs have been pretty even of late, A few methods today, Waggler for banded 6mms or corn to fish around 25mts & lead rod for bomb n bread/corn, A 4x12 Chanti to fish at 14mts to my left if 5ft of water on 0.17-0.13 & an 16 Pellet hook, this rig would double up to fish at 10mts down the edge a couple of meters of the bank at the bottom of the shelf. Finally a 4x12 malman to fish at 13mts for silvers again in 5ft of water on 0.15-0.12 Floro carbon & a 16 F1 pellet hook, All I fed at the start was some micros at 13mts & a few hard 4mms on the waggler line & started the day towards the middle of the lake with the bomb & popped up bread, It was a slow start to say the least & not so much as a liner in the first 30mins, I gave it another 20mins switching to double corn on the hair but still no signs. Nigel next to me had started on the pole & had took a few small silvers & Rich was also yet to catch, After nearly an hour it was time to switch to the waggler where I had been pinging 4mms where I was sure of getting bites with banded 6mm on the hook... Nope, not a sniff & another 15mins gone", Things were looking bleak at this stage, I had seen two carp landed on the opposite bank but apart from Kurt Pinkett on peg 15 catching a few the rest of us were in the same boat' It was time to have a look on the 13mt line whilst I began to drip the odd grain of corn & meat on the 14mt line in the hope of catching a carp of it late in the day? I started with 4mm expander on the hook & caught straight away, A 2oz roach". Five minutes later I had 6oz skimmer & a fish of 1lb soon after then couldn't get an indication, By now we were over two hours in, I had been pinging the odd grain of corn just past the waggler line so decided to chuck the bomb back over it after giving the hookbait a squirt of scopex, The rig had been in about 10mins when I started to attach a cad-pot to the topset of my 14mt line when the rod flew round" He's on then! Soon after I netted a carp not big at around 4lb but at least I had caught one'.

I thought I had it sussed but it wasn't the case as another 20mins or so & not even a liner, I had a look at 14mts with meat & corn but nothing & tried down the edge line but still no signs. back at 13mts I had a skimmer around a 1lb then a better fish pushing 2lb then I couldn't get a bite again, I re-fed again and had another look on the wagg but still couldn't get an indication on here, Nigel was struggling for bites But Rich had managed a few skimmers on the pole by now but no carp.

I gave the bomb another go without a sniff so did the best to catch what I could of the silvers line before switching around looking for bites of the other lines, Well they never happened" I didn't get a bite down the edge line or at 14mts all day' The waggler didn't produce even when I fished it past the feed with corn on the hook & I never had another pull on the bomb, I just managed to add the odd decent size skimmer from the 13mt line but bites got harder to come by as the day went on. It was hard going for all I could see, I finished the day with around 10lb of skimmers & the one carp but Rich had only caught skimmers & Nigel had struggled to add much to his net, When the scales arrived Kurt was going to romp the section with 68lb but next to him Andy Light had 11lb odd & Nigel finished with 2lb odd, I was bang on with my estimate finishing with just over 14lb & Rich managed 7lb of silvers so my second in the section was enough to overhaul Rich for the series, Result". Back at the hut & John Hawkins had emptied it for this time of the year with 154lb odd from fancied peg 1 so fair play to him, Apart from the noted pegs it was hard for the rest of us but it turned into a good battle between Rich & Myself down to the last match, Winning the league saw me pick up £90, I had another £30 on the day for the section second & even had the bonus of another £12 from guessing the closest winning weight on the day' Even though I was around 70lb off I had guessed the highest Lol, Well done to Julian Pinkett for Running the series which was close though out which we all enjoyed, Kurt Pinkett ended up winning the heaviest fish caught through the series with a 14lb 8oz carp in his catch today. Really enjoyed this competitive little series & pleased to come out on top. 

Days Results -

1st John Hawkins (Wormheads) Peg 1, 154lb 2oz.

2nd Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 15, 68lb 2oz.

3rd Mark Jones (Shiplate) peg 3, 43lb 6oz.

4th Golly Jones (Shiplate) peg 6, 20lb 2oz.

Final League -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella) 21pts £90.00

2nd Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) 20pts £80.00

3rd John Hawkins (Wormheads) 17pts (weight) £70.

4th Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) 17pts £60.00

Biggest Fish - Kurt Pinkett 14lb 8oz. £45.00

3rd