Shiplate Farm (Main Lake) Monday.

The last of a five day stint back on the main lake with the wife for company so she was hopeful of a peg in the sun", nineteen fishing today so a good turn out, obviously pegs 1 or 15 would be first choice but the wind was blowing down the lake so maybe a few fish would be caught here today? Into the draw & I didn't get my choices but was happy to draw peg 2 again as a few fish have been caught off it lately, arriving a the swim I was having second thoughts as there wasn't a sign of fish from what I could see but further down they were boshing in the open water with the wind on it but you never know, I caught a few fish down the edge back towards peg one last time on was on here & hoped for the same today so had a 0.2g rig on 0.17-0.15 & a size 16 hook to fish 8mts along the bank in just over 2ft of water, Next up was a rig to fish across in a few areas, to the left by the bush hanging off the island at 16mts tight to the bank in just over 2ft of water, A swinger'/shallow rig on a longer line & finally a 4x12 rube to fish in 4ft of water off the edge of the bush between me & peg 3, I had Glyn Wickham on peg 1 who normally fishes for silvers but change of plan after drawing it" & Roy Ede on peg 3 but I couldn't really see him but he said he was silvering today.

I started the day feeding some hemp & meat off the bush down my left edge, Fed some hard 6mms again down the edge back towards peg 1 & fed a few cubes of meat right across tight to the bank towards the rope separating pegs 1 & 2 & started the day at dead depth towards the far bank bush just cad a few hard 6mms & fishing a banded 8mm pellet, 15mins later & not a sniff, I still hadn't seen a sign of carp & felt if anywhere I would hook one tight over, I tried the meat fed line across but still nothing so time to start feeding some 6mms with the catty to try & draw some fish in back towards the bush, finally I had a bite then had a skimmer about a 1lb a couple more followed in the next hour around the same size but still no signs of carp over, I had a quick try down the edge & on the short meat line but nothing here so fed a new line with some corn & meat closer to the rope at 16mts in the deeper water & left it to settle, Back across I had another skimmer but bumped two of shipping back as the elastic was a bit heavy for them but didn't want to risk losing a decent carp, At this point the Mrs who had been sat quietly in here deck chair reading the paper shot out the seat like lightning' asking here what the hell was the matter she pointed to he front of the swim whilst on route over the bank to hawthorns where a grass snake was basking right next to us!" Lol, It got it away but she didn't sit near me for the rest of the match!  Around halfway Mark Wynn had come for a wander & said it was fishing hard but Titch Had had one big carp & a couple of silvers & that was winning' I kept trying the shorter lines & the new open water line but nothing so decided to dump pot a larger amount of 6mms across & continue to feed over the top with the catty, I was getting the odd bite but foul hooked a couple more skimmers, I tried shallower but no signs so went back to fishing just over depth, The odd skimmer kept me interested but bites really had to be worked for, I had tried the edge with pellet a few times & with no signs switched to feeding hemp & corn in the hope of some tench if no carp showed, With 90mins to go I went back in with corn on the hook & had a 6lb fish in seconds, Back out I had another fish this time around 11lb' no more signs so re-fed it with a larger amount & went back across, I had a couple more bonus skimmers but pulled out of a better bream near the net around 3-4lb' Again elastic at fault but wasn't going to change it now as could get a few carp in the last hour, I fully expected a few more carp down the edge in the last 45mins but spooked just one fish in the last few minutes, I had a couple more late skimmers across finding it best in the end to feed a few pellets over with the catty & sit & wait for bites. I thought I had around 15lb of carp & around 10lb of silvers but lost track of how many skimmers I had netted? when the scales arrived the top weight was 53lb from Mark who had returned to his peg to catch a few fish down his margin in the last hour & the silvers weight was 11lb odd, I had more than I thought in silvers finishing with 16lb odd & my carp went 16lb, Glynn had chucked back a carp & a few skimmers on peg one so it meant I was fortunate enough to win the silvers pool picking up £60 along the way, It fished hard today for everyone but at least it was a close match & well done to mark for preserving which proved worth while picking up £100. was surprized not to catch anymore fish down the edge in the last hour but that's fishing & at least I enjoyed the day & a good finish to the last few days, & we met a new friend not that Yvonne was to keen."

Full results -

1st Mark Wynn (Colmic) peg 9A, 55lb 4oz.

2nd Rob Birch (Summerhayes) peg 15, 43lb 12oz.

3rd Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 10, 35lb 13oz.

4th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 2, 32lb 14oz.

5th Titch Williams (Drennan Thyers) peg 6, 30lb 14oz.

Silvers -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 2, 16lb 10oz.

2nd Ray Wickham (Tom Thick Baits) peg 9, 11lb 8oz.