Weight - 20lb 8oz (6lb 4oz - silvers)
Catch - 2 Carp, 10 Roach, 4 Perch, 1 Ide
Weather - Frosty, foggy start. Sunny later
Match - Open - 2nd out of 7 overall (2nd silvers)
This match was always going to be tough following 3 days of frosts and cold weather. The real surprise (or non surprise) was the fact the moors still looked seriously flooded a week after all the rain. Just proves how saturated the ground is, because the water has no where to go at the moment.
With only 7 of us today the fish would have plenty of space to hide and I was reasonable happy to draw p17. Due to the weather I had brought some pinkie, much to Mike Wests (p15) amusement, who was still pinning his faith in paste-lol
At the start I fed various swims with mostly caster/maggot and micro pellet/groundbait to my right. The first 30mins was a case of searching the swim with corn, but other than 1 bite/liner I had nothing to show for my efforts.
A switch to a Jolly 4x14 .10 > 20 silverfish maggot rig, brought a big perch from the bottom of the shelf. Tom Mangnall on p5 in the meantime was given the run around by a carp, whilst fishing with .08 bottom, he soon switched to .10 as well. Whilst .08 will probably bring you a few extra bites, you are in trouble if you hook that bonus fish. And I was glad to have started on .10 when I landed 2 carp within 10mins of each other on double pinkie, losing a third.
Most of my weight came in the first 2.5hrs, including a big Ide. Everyone was struggling, with Tom just ahead of me. The remainder of the match was a case of searching the swim looking a bite. Initially I hadn't set up a rig to fish the top of the shelf, but felt I had no choice but to give it a go. This produced a handful of roach up to 4oz, which in the end proved crucial, but the action was short lived.
It was a surprise that the perch failed to show in any numbers. I had kept trickling in bait by the pallet on p18, but no bites. A real hard day. On the all out I knew Tom had won and I was thankful for those roach from the top of shelf to sneak past Dave to claim 2nd spot.
1st 31- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p5
2nd 20- 8 - Ken Rayner - p17
3rd 20- 1 - Dave Wescott - p1
4th 16-14 - Jim Jenner - p21
Silvers
1st 6-12 - Tom Mangnall - p5
2nd 6- 8 - Ken Rayner - p17
3rd 3- 4 - Dave Wescott - p5
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