Shiplate Farm (Main Lake Open).

It was already a warm sunny start for the day with the late draw of 10.30am fishing from 12 til 6, There appeared to be some breeze blowing along the lake from the north & I fancied to catch a few if fortunate enough to draw in it? Seventeen of us with a couple of late drop outs so still a good match, Into the draw praying for the flyers or a peg on the far side for a change, I got my wish but not a peg I fancied, Being peg 10, its around 18mts across to the island, I didn't have much wind against it so had two rigs one to fish just off in 3ft or so of water & a swinging rig to go tight to the bank, I had put my box in the water to try & take some length off but still had 17mts & the dolly but added" It would be hard work but would know if fish turned up. I really fancied catching a few down the right hand edge around 10mts where it was around 20inches deep, so had a 0.2g rig on 0.17-15 & an 14 PR36 hook, it was the same depth to my left on my top kit plus one section so would feed this lightly, Apart from this I had a rig to fish the open water at 12mts being a 4x12 Roob on 0.17-0.13 & a 16 pellet hook wher I had around 4ft of water, I did get the small method" feeder rod out just in case.

On the all in I fed some micros & hard 4mms at 12mts in the open water, fed a decent amount of hard 6mms down the right edge with a pinch of corn added & with no wind to contend with went straight across just on the deck with banded hard 8mm feeding hard 6mms with the catty, I gave it around 40mins changing depth ect but with no indications I had to give it a rest at this distance its got to be worth while for me to sit on it. I Decided to have a quick look on the open water line with 6mm expander on the hook, I had a 8oz skimmer in seconds then missed a few dodgy bites which then resulted in a blade skimmer which fell off", I had to have a rethink. I decided to start pinging some hard 8mms off the point of the island back towards peg 9 inline with the aerator on peg 8, I gave it twenty minutes chucking the small method feeder over the top which resulted in just another 8oz skimmer, It appeared Kurt Pinkett next to me was also struggling for bites although he did have some breeze blowing into the end of his island & some signs of fish there, I continued to feed across to the island regularly with decent amounts of hard 6mms & kept looking for signs of fish along the mud line, I tried the open water again but nothing so a couple of hours in it was time to try the edge, I had topped it up a couple of times so went in on banded 8mm to start with, No early signs so I added a cad pot & switched to corn on the hook cad potting around ten grains over the top, It wasn't long before I saw a vortex in the edge & not long after the float shot under, It was a decent fish around 10lb which fought like mad! I went back in but no more signs so fed a larger pot of corn & 6mm pellet & left it to rest, I went back across to the island just off the deck when a tail appeared, A few minutes later I hooked a fish which I got back to the top kit before realising it was fouled & came off but it wasn't big, I gave it another 20mins & not a sign of fish, I could see a few in Kurt's swim but they wouldn't come round the point into the calmer water I had across, I tried on the in the deeper water off the island but still nothing, I would continue to feed it just encase they racked up in the last couple of hours? Back down the edge I had been continuing to feed a bit by hand & a few minutes later had a fish around 5lb on corn followed by a 6lb fish ten minutes later, I thought I was going to bag up but with no more signs fed a decent amount again, I had been dropping just a few hard 8mms down my left edge & gave it a go but was getting bitted out by small fish, I had kept pinging a few hard 8mm off the point & even tried the straight lead over it but nothing, I had another down the edge after seeing another vortex & going into the last hour would hope for a few more.

The lovely wife turned up with 50mins to go & I hooked a beast moment later, I had it out in the open water for a while before she asked how it was going, I didn't want to answer before netting it but seconds later it pulled out coming back with just a scale so didn't expect to get it in really, I switched to cad potting around a dozen grains which resulted in two more carp before the all out but did lose a double figure fish at the net when the pan frame snapped as I went to net it snapping my hook length!. Kurt's peg came alive in the last hour as the fish he had off the point swirling got there heads down as he caught on the method but there was only going to be one winner today when Rich Hawkins drew peg 15 & I was write as he romped the day with 122lb odd so well done to him, there were a couple of 60lb weights before I had 3lb odd of silvers & six carp for 45lb odd.

Back at the results & Kurt had come second with 62lb so just a fish or two between the back up weights, Julian Pinkett won the silvers from peg 4 with 18lb odd, I had quite an enjoyable day in the end, no signs of fish across right up to the end of the day, they just didn't want to come around the island with no wind infront of me it seemed, back on here next Saturday guesting for a Shiplate farm V Colmic match again on the main lake, Seven anglers on each side so a bit of room so lets see what happens. 

Full Results -

1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 15, 122lb 14oz.

2nd Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 11, 62lb.

3rd John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 5, 61lb 2oz.

4th John Dursley (Taunton Angling) peg 2, 58lb 14oz.

5th John Page (Drennan Thyers) peg 12A, 58lb 12oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 10, 48lb 12oz.

Silvers -

1st Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 4, 18lb 8oz.

2nd Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 3, 13lb 6oz.