Shiplate Farm Friday Evening Match (Hawthorns).

I mentioned last week to a few anglers about running a few evening matches on a Friday being short pole matches to level things out a little, Top kit plus two sections only, We drew at 4pm & would fish from 5 till 9. For this match only eight of us but simple pegging for me as it meant every other peg from peg 1 to 15,  I had the last in the tub ending up on peg 5, Gabo had drawn peg 1 which I fancied for a few on this type of match but I expected it to fish well & we all had an empty peg so the winner could come from anywhere?

A simple set up, A shallow swinging rig but the rule I had is it was only allowed to be the length of you top kit. A 4x12 Rube on 0.17-0.13 for down the track at the maximum length allowed which was around 5ft deep, Set the same float up on 0.17-0.15 to fish down the edge to my left a foot or so off the bank in 4ft of water, Any closer & I would be in the stick ups on the deck, And finally a rig to fish down my right edge in a couple of feet of water on my top-kit.

I started the day feeding a decent amount of hemp & a few cube of meat down the left edge at the max length, Fed some G/bait & dead maggots in the shallow right edge & started on the deck at down the track on meat feeding just a couple of cubes by hand over the top, I expected a few early signs but 15mins on this I switched to the shallow rig trying further along the right edge where I had fed the odd cube, Still nothing, Down the left edge on the deck it was then again on meat but I started on two 6mm cubes, At last I had a fish but only around 2lb' I had heard some splashing above me from resident Steve Howell on peg 7 & John had caught below me on peg 3 by the sound of it? I was really struggling to get bites & after 90mins I had added just one carp around 3lb, Terry Taylor who was behind me from the start went for a wander after 90mins or so, I had tried down the track again but still nothing, & even tried in the shallow water with a bunch of maggots after seeing a sign of a fish but  that soon disappeared, I had just gone back down the left edge on single meat contemplating what to do next when I hooked a decent fish which turned out to be around 7lb, Followed by a 5lb fish not long after, I was feeding the odd cube by hand over the top & tried the shallow rig over the top when I saw a carp swirl, I missed a bite straight away then nothing but it didn't seem right, Terry return to say Gary |Finders on peg 9 had around 20lb & Peanut Howell had netted seven carp' I had 26lb on my clicker.

We still had a couple of hours remaining so thought if I could get the feeding right down the left edge I could get some more, I started to feed with a big pot again hemp & a few bits of meat & leave it for 5mins whilst trying the track line, I started to get the odd fish here again decent stamp but they were few & far between, Down the left edge proved best in the end I had a few fish feeding heavier then sitting on it & a few when I fed the odd cube over the top but this seemed to cause a few fish to come off the deck so didn't feed much by hand, The last hour was slow with only three fish added to the net but I cursed losing a decent fish down the track & from down the edge, I had heard a fair bit of splashing below me & though John Hawkins on peg 3 had done ok & Steve above me, Whilst packing up Steve said he only had around 40lb odd & John said he had around 35lb? I had 56lb on my clicker so we would see. Word was it had fished harder than we all expected as most said the had 30-40lb, Starting with Julian Pinkett on peg 15 he ended up with 46lb odd as did Gary on peg 11, Peanut finished with 45lb before my turn, I had a little more then the clicker finishing with 63lb odd, John guessed well finishing with 37lb odd & Gabo was last to weigh, He said he had a mare & would have 40lb at best but had 47lb of carp & 5lb of silvers for 53lb odd. So a good result for me winning the day when I thought I had been battered picking up £53 along the way, 2nd went to Gabo meaning John Hawkins won the silvers pool by default with 1lb 14oz!"

It didn't fish half as well as we all expected but I think there were a lot of fish interested in spawning as they were crashing in the reeds across further up the lake but it lead to a close match in the end & a pleasure to make the most of a pleasant evening. I'm running another in two weeks on the same lake/same rules so if anybody is interested either contact myself or book in at the fishery, £20 entry, Draw time will be 4pm & fish 5 till 9pm weather conditions permitting.

Full results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 5, 63lb 4oz.

2nd Gabo Skarba (Mosella UK) peg 1, 52lb 14oz.

3rd Gary Finders (Shiplate Farm) peg 11, 46lb 14oz.

4th Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 15, 46lb 12oz.

5th Steve Howell (Shiplate) Peg 7, 45lb.

Silvers - John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 3, 1lb 14oz.