Viaduct Fishery (Spring Lake Charity Match)

I had the choice this morning of entering the open on Cambell lake or entering the charity match on Spring Lake, With peg 110 seeming to be totally dominant at the moment on Cambell I opted for the Match on Spring lake in the hope of drawing on the spit which is on the overspill from match lake next week & in my section for the last round of the teams of five, It was freezing cold this morning but most of the lakes were still ice free except for peg 13 on spring so it wasn't pegged, with sixteen of us fishing, I was quite early in the draw, Dave Romain went first saying he fancied peg 16 then promptly drew it!" I went next & drew peg 17, Then Kev Newman followed me & drew peg 18 which was also a bonus peg they were running today, Well at least we all had the bonus of an island chuck' There's always a chance of a carp or two across & being as the pay outs were just for the top three weights with no separate silvers pool I would imagine that's where we would spend most of the fishing.

Quite simple then, one bomb rod for various baits & I set I set up one pole rig, 4x14 wire wonder on 0.12-0.09 & an 18 PR412 hook, just encase I had to try & catch some silvers, I began by feeding three balls of G/bait at 14mts with dead maggots & casters added, & a decent amount of casters the same distance to my right, As I thought the three of us started on the bomb but after 30mins nobody had caught are side, I stayed on it for another 45mins swapping between bread, meat & corn but nothing other than a couple of taps on the tip, Things were already looking bleak' It was time to try the silvers lines just to put something in the net? Nope, not a bite off either line.. Ok Back on the bomb, We thought Dave was going to spoil the party as he hooked a decent carp on the wagg but think it was fouled as they parted company' so all back to blanking". We had heard just a couple of carp had been caught on the other side of the island but are side seemed devoid of anything willing to feed".

After three hours of trying for a carp it was time to change, I switched to a small cage feeder & changed to a lighter hook length/hook to fish red maggot, First chuck & I had an indication not long after it settled but it was a bit of a false dawn as in the next 40mins I had one 2oz roach so at least I had caught as Dave & Kev were still fishless' This was a real gruller..

Dave eventually caught a roach of similar size, Which he netted! so the pressure was on Kev to put something in the net after asking us if we had blanked here before' Lol, I tried the pole again & still couldn't get a sniff so with just over an hour to go it was binned as I knew we needed at least one carp to figure. Dave pretty much followed suit but Kev was relying on the wagg to get him out of Jail, We did cheer when he eventually catch a roach but he had to rub salt into the wounds when he netted a near 2lb skimmer soon after' That could frame!", Pegs 15 & 20 Had packed up & gone & we hadn't seen hardly anything caught, The last 30mins I was chatting to Dave up the bank as I couldn't sit in the shade shaking any longer, We were discussing how hard it was but he reminded me I was now getting battered as he added a blade skimmer on the wagg, I went back to the rod to reel in & switch baits yet again when I realised a fish was on the end' A 1lb plus skimmers so who's getting kippered now Dave" Lmao. with 10mins to go he tried to be clever & flick the rig down the edge but it went straight threw the ice further along & spent the next few minutes trying to drag an ice berg back to his peg! I was crying'. Well that was it, I never had another sniff but Kev had managed a few more small roach on the wagg, He was first to weigh & finished with just over 2lb so me & Dave didn't bother to weigh with carp caught on the opposite side. Back at the results & Mark Leaded won the day from peg 2 with two carp & some silvers for 35lb but had a bit of room with one & three empty' Next was Paul Greenwood from peg 5 who had one carp & some silvers for 21lb then third was a chap on peg 7 with one carp for 10lb odd, as far as I know the pegs on the top bank failed to catch. It was rock hard for most but not surprizing considering the drop in temperatures & cold wind. We finished earlier than the open on Cambell so I did the board for Steve & as expected peg 110 took the spoils again this time with 86lb odd & second was peg 131 with 29lb, with just 8lb needed to win the silvers. Well a week of will it or wont it? As far a the lakes freezing through this week, I hope like most others it doesn't as we will be limited as to what we can fish if the case arises, Owe the charity match was in aid of Spotted horses? Nope, still didn't get the jist but think its something to aid their recovery?.

Full Results -

1st Mark Leader (Sensas 88) peg 2, 35lb 2oz.

2nd Paul Greenwood (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 5, 21lb 9oz.