Catch - 26 Carp, 8 Roach
Weather - Sunny, cloudy periods, cool NW wind
Match - Airsprung AC - 3rd out of 17
I was on the reserve list to fish Tony’s float only at Lands End, but by Friday afternoon and no drop outs I needed to make a decision about where to go. Fortunately I managed to get in on Airsprungs match at Rood Ashton.
Rood Ashton will be holding Saturday opens for the next 15 weeks, with the first match yesterday, which was won with 150lb and some good back weights. However there were only 11 yesterday and with 17 fishing today it was likely to a little harder.
Peg 6 put me on the lawns
and a peg I have always wanted to draw, it was also the peg that won yesterday,
mostly fishing the margins. The question was whether the fish would be happy to
be caught for a 2nd day.Rigs were a method feeder and straight lead, because unlike the evening matches, the fish can sit beyond the pole lines for the day match. A pellet rig was also set up to fish at 13m and a margin rig for meat.
I had thought about a waggler rod, but ended up leaving it at home and was beginning to regret that decision as Tom Ince on p5 had a carp straight away on the waggler, adding a further 2 or 3 in next 30mins.
My match got off to a slow start. After cupping in 6s at 13m and meat/hemp into the left hand margin under the tree, I started on the method feeder with dead maggot, but after 4 casts I only had a small carp and a roach. It just didn’t feel right, particularly with Tom catching over loose feed 8s. I had been feeding 8s as well at 25m out, but the head wind meant some did drop short. Onto the pole line and I was being pestered by roach. Never a good sign here, because roach means no carp.
I did manage my one and
only carp from this line before the hour mark, but the roach were being a pain.
The wind was also causing issues and I never got the feeling it was going to
work over at 13m. An early look down my left margin, also revealed roach were
in residence as they tried to take double 6mm meat!Switching to the straight lead & pellet produced a carp after 10mins and after rotating baits, discovered double 6mm meat was best, as was cutting back on the feed. I had been feeding 2 pouches of 8s every 5mins, but cut this back to 1 and promptly had my best spell. Over a 2 hour period I had a bite most casts pulling back the deficit from my slow start, before it became tricky again.
My 13m had long since
been abandoned with the expectation my margins would produce. A carp first put
in was a false dawn, as the roach still proved to be residence, no matter how
much feed I put in. In the meantime I had been throwing by hand some pellet
into the more exposed and shallower right margin, but I was still a little
surprised to see a couple of tails waving at me. Despite this I couldn’t get a
proper bite, trying bunches of maggot, meat, pellet and paste. Eventually got
it sorted, with double 6mm meat proving best again, producing my 4 biggest fish
and getting bust up on a 5th that just shoot off & didn’t stop.
I don’t think it was foul hooked, but will never know.My left margin failed to produce which was a real surprise, since that was banker swim. By the end Steve Musitano to my left was admitting to 30 carp, whilst Tom on p5 said he only had 18 or so, but I was sure he had more, although he lost a few and Tim Martin on p4 also had 30. This all made for an interesting weigh in, because the match pay out was top 3, plus 2 sections. Steve’s fish went 83-6 and I honestly didn’t expect to beat that, however 85-8 said otherwise. The average stamp on the meat does seem to be a little better for some reason. Tom’s fish went 84-6, so a few more than 18 fish then, and Tim’s 30 fish weighed 82-6, so a really close section and those annoying roach, probably swung it for me, because I reckon I had about 1½lb of them.
1st 119-14 – Rich “I only have 50lb” Whitmarsh – p11
2nd 108- 8 – Mark Poppleton – p13
3rd 85- 8 – Ken Rayner – p6
4th 84- 6 – Tom Ince – p5
5th 83- 6 – Steve Musitano – p7
6th 82- 6 – Tim Martin – p4
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