Shiplate Farm V Clevedon A.A (Shiplate Main Lake).

Back on my doorstep today Guesting for the Shiplate Farm team again today, Its just a friendly thing held a couple of times a year at different venues which also boosts the attendance a little, Another fine morning greeted us & after a nice breakfast in the café by the rugby club in Weston for a change I got the kit to the lake way before the draw.  I spotted a decent pole float near the edge in peg 2 which I tried to retrieve but got a wet foot instead so that will teach me".Their were 22 of us fishing on a random draw basis & the overall winner decided on total weight, obviously pegs 1 & 15 would be my first choice, As well as everybody else's" but not to be as I ended up on peg 2 so at least I could get the float with my cutter now!..

It wouldn't be my choice of peg but I never fished it before so was looking forward to the day really, No rods required though as I could reach the island at 14mts directly in-front of me & 16mts to the left & right, To the left I had a bush over hanging the water at 16mts left so had a rig to fish tight across around a metre off it being a 0.2g hand made float on 0.17-0,15 & a 16 hair rigged hook where I had just around 3ft of water which was the same depth the same distance to the right but didn't want to go further than this as a rope runs across the lake to the aerator & the near bank from around 17mts I set up a 0.1g rig on the same line/hook to fish shallow over the same lines, A silvers rig to fish expanders over micros at 12mts left down the track if need be, & finally an inline float to fish down the edge in just over 2ft of water at 12mts on 0.17-0.15.

I had Clevedon's match organiser Aide Baker on peg 1, & Wormheads John |Hawkins on peg 3 who was also fishing for the Shiplate side, I started the day feeding a few hard 6mms towards the bush at 16mts, fed a decent pot of micros at 12mts down the track & just a few 6mms down the edge, I started the day on the shallow rig towards the rope after seeing a fish move across whilst setting up, It didn't take long to get a bite after a minute or so of lifting & dropping the rig which was a nice start with a fish around 7lb soon in the net, Nothing followed so I started to ping the odd 6mm pellet over the top with the catty as well as pinging a few over the line towards the bush, It wasn't fast action but after 40mins I had added two more fish around 5lb, One from each line both shallow & things were going nicely, Terry Taylor had come for a walk around & returned just in time to see me land a fish around 12lb' Then all hell broke loose again, It must be my after shave as yet again I had issues with the geese.." One was having a right sulk at anything that swims so it seemed & when another of the same arrived on the scene it wasn't a quiet outcome & when they finally took off they took me & the pole with them..!

I couldn't believe this had happened to me again' I feared the worse & so it proved as all I added in the next 40mins was a decent skimmer & all the signs of fish I had across seemed to have disappeared, I added a couple more skimmers across again a decent size but no more carp at this stage. I went onto the deck rig starting over by the bush & had a 6lb carp straight away, Back out & a decent skimmer followed then nothing again, By now we were around mid match, Any signs of carp to my left were now the other side of the rope into peg one but I keep pinging a few 6mms my side in the hope so would return to feed, I had been pinging the odd hard 6mm & 8mm pellet down the edge so after having a quick look on the silver line without a bite had a look down the edge, I was just about to give up when I hook a fish which turned out to be a tench around 3lb but I lost it between the nets" I had another go but with no more signs cupped in a better amount & went back across, I had fed a decent amount of micros at 14mts so went in with the deck rig & banded 8mm pellet, Another carp & skimmers then again nothing' As the day went on I couldn't get a bite nearer the bush which I put down to the shade now covering the swim nor on the 14mt line, With 90mins to go I went down the edge with banded 8mm cad-potting a few of the same, I had a decent fish in minutes but when I went to unship the number 4 section It shot out my hand & took off across to the island with the carp attached! It went along the island around the rope & around the island in peg 1" Minutes later Aide shouted he had it attached on his bomb rod, I went round to him & after a few iffy minutes it popped its head up just in time for me to net it & get my top four back!" Result' Thanks Aide! It turned out he had hooked it in the top fin" How it didn't come we will never know!.

Back to the swim & I had another down the edge ten minutes later but got a bit keen when it got near the net & trying to bully an 8lb common I smashed the rig" That will teach me... Prob Not??.

I had a bit of a nightmare last 45mins, I foul hooked two down the edge losing both & trashing another rig in the process" & I hooked two more proper lumps shallow late in the day which hardly moved when I hooked them & both shed the hook! I did manage to net a couple more along with a few more skimmers & a Tench before the all-out. I was one of the last to weigh before Aide who I thought had around 90lb come the end, When the scales arrived Tom Light as I expected had done well from fancied peg 15 catching on the method feeder to the lawns & down the edge on the pole later in the day to finish with 128lb odd but the next best weight turned out to be 44lb odd, I thought I had around 50lb of carp & 10lb of silvers, I ended with 12lb odd of silver & the carp were bigger than I thought going 66lb odd. Back at the results & after a tasty burger from the on-site van after, Tom had easily won the day, It was close for second though as I just had enough to beat Aide on peg 1 who finished with a bit less than I thought finishing with 76lb odd, Silvers went to Julian Pinkett who finished with 14lb odd. On the team front the Clevedon lads took another thrashing today as Shiplate's total weights did them by nearly 200lb!" A good bit of banter though even though the score now stands at 7 - 0 ...! Lol.

I had an enjoyable day really, Its a shame the wild life spoilt things as I'm sure it unsettled things for the day, The same happened later in the match only this time I wasn't so fortunate as pushed the rig up into the tree as the goose took off snapping the elastic... but at least I picked up £55 in the process & it probably needed changing! Well done to the Shiplate side a good day all round.

Overall Results -

1st Tom Light (Shiplate Farm) peg 15, 128lb 7oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 2, 78lb 10oz.

3rd Aide Baker (Clevedon A.A) peg 1, 76lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 7?, 14lb 14oz.

2nd Mark Jones (Marco Smith Catering) peg 9, 13lb 2oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 2, 12lb 6oz.