Shiplate Farm (Westpool Lake).

I heard this week Glyn Wickham Was Running an open match on Westpool Lake so thought I would finish my stint of four days on my doorstep so the wife could join me for company for a change later in the day, When I booked in there were already twelve but a few dropped out leaving just nine of us, I was hoping to avoid the narrows as I always seem to draw here, I even walked my kit past them before the draw" We all drew out of a hat before the start & I found myself on peg 5 at the end of the narrows but with an empty peg either side I fancied it for a few, Nope. Re-Draw as we were a peg short' Glyn Asked me were would be best to add so I said another in the wider water thinking at least we would all have at least an empty peg? back in the hat & I drew peg 10 so at least I was in the wide's this time, But admit I wasn't best pleased to be between pegs 9 & 11 with everyone having at least an empty peg either side if not both" I went to my swim sulking a bit as felt as I was at a real disadvantage as far as fishing the margins went but still had a fair bit of water to play with so soon got my head around it..

It was nearly 16mts across so set a rig to try a bit of dobbing again to start with being a 0,2g float on 0.15-0.13 & an 16 F1 pellet hook, It was around 2ft plus tight across so set the rig to start just off the deck to start the day, Next up was a 0.3g AS3 to fish at 14mts at the bottom of the first shelf in 4ft or so of water on 0.15-0.11 & an 18F1 pellet hook, & finally a 4x12 chanti on the same line with a 16 hook to fish down the track at 9mts in nearly 5ft of water, I had Terry Taylor next to me on peg 9 who had had a few visits with me to the venue through the colder months so was well up for it after doing ok here last time.

At the start I fed a ball of G/bait & dead reds at 13mts to my right slightly" just as a silvers line if needed, And a ball of micros & some 4mms at 13mts slightly" to my left. I decided to have a quick look along the far bank on bread to start without feeding anywhere, I missed a bite quite quickly but after 10mins had a carp around 4lb I missed another bite before landing a 2lb fish in the fin" I tried shallowing up but still foul hooked & lost two more' After 40mins I knew things weren't right. I went across with 4mm expander feeding a small amount of wetted micros with the cad pot, Big mistake! the next 40mins saw me land two small 1lb carp a couple of roach & foul hook and lose another five carp".

Back to the drawing board' I decided to give the far bank a rest & try the 13mt lines, starting over the micro line again with expander on the hook, I had a 10oz skimmer straight off then nothing so over the G/Bait line with two dead reds, Another skimmer here but again nothing followed. This hour was proving a bit non productive , I tried down the track were I had fed corn but nothing here.

There were a few fish showing then self's a few feet of the bank so tried shallow for a while but again only another lost foul hooker, I decided to go back across tight to the far bank with banded 6mm pellet feeding a few of the same via a cad pot, This seemed to work & by mid match I thought I was close to 30lb or so, Not big carp with most averaging around 2-3lb but at least it was fish going in the net, Terry was yet to catch & Geoff Francis next to me on peg 11 had one carp from his edge line but I couldn't see how others were doing?. Things seemed to be ticking over nicely until a chap from the main lake match decided to have a wander past me then back, And back again, he wasn't quiet which I new wouldn't help & yep it killed it dead!.

It gave my time to try my other lines but just a couple of roach & another skimmer were added which came down the track on corn. I went back across when it had settled again & caught the odd fish but it wasn't the same, Someone else followed suit in the next hour so even had an attempt to catch down the edge but it didn't work" Geoff was now catching to his left edge & as I thought most seemed to be hooking a few later in the day down the edge with a bit of room, I had to keep my faith in catching a few late across which I did manage but again smaller stamp but did add a couple of 4lb fish at the bottom of the shelf late in the match. Come the all out I thought I had around 60-70lb but hadn't used my clicker so a pure guess' When the scales arrived Mike Nicholls was leading the way from peg 13 with 54lb odd, Geoff caught some better fish down his left edge to finish with 43lb odd, Before my turn, I wasn't far off as I finished with 61lb odd, This was enough to make it two wins in as many days picking up £48 along the way. Silvers went to Ray Wickham from peg 3 with 14lb odd mainly on the caster, Another enjoyable day once I got my head around it, with the guys walking the far bank didn't help but at least I had good day trying to work out what was best. Hard work at times fishing tight over at 16mts but my margins were only the length of my top-kit so didn't have much chance from here so stuck to catching what I could across. An enjoyable four days at four venues which has proved worth while, Mike Nichols has kindly put some pics on his blog, Haven't been keen to take mine as I took it on the last round of the Viaduct Winter league & that didn't work out well! Every time I seemed to take it I caught nowt really & things have improved again so it can stay at home for the time being"!. Looking forward to Fridays Silvers final At Summerhayes, Don't expect the weights to be high with the forecast for colder weather again but it should work for a close out come so we will see?

Full Results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 10, 61lb 4oz.

2nd Mike Nicholls (Silverfox) peg 13, 54lb 10oz.

3rd Geoff Francis (Bristol) peg 12, 43lb 13oz.

Silvers -

1st Ray Wickham (Tom Thick Baits) peg 3, 14lb 7oz.