05/03/17 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 30lb
Catch - 2 Carp, 2 Skimmer, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Very windy, heavy showers
Match - Winter League rd 5 - 10th out of 19 section

So to the last round of the winter league and following a good start in the first 2 rounds, however poor draws in the last 2 proved to be a bit of disaster for team Colmic, leaving us in 8th. It was down to Calum Craig to draw us some flyers so we could hopefully make the top 5. Well I wasn't complaining about my draw, p100, which won the lake is the last round and has been a good area for skimmers.

As a team we needed to make up 18pts to have any chance of getting into the top 5, so decided to be really positive focusing solely on the lead, fishing for carp - boom or bust! I would have to forego the silvers, but to be honest, with winds forecast to gust 40mph, blowing left to right I was glad to leave the pole in the bag.

As for the rest of the team, Nick Merry ended up on p131, Mark Poppleton p70, Martin Preston p51 and Calum probably drew himself the worst peg on p20.

After 30mins I had 1lb skimmer on corn, my next fish was a big hybrid again on corn after approximately 2hrs, but as yet no carp. Ricky Mills to my left on p102, plus pegs 77 and 78 were all catching, as were the anglers at the other end of the lake (p90 & p94) and I was falling further behind.

The 2 anglers to my right hadn't caught and any indications I had all came to my left opposite the vacant p101. I was briefly attached to carp which came off, which was annoying. But at least it suggested there were some carp in the area.

I had been pinging corn and some meat at 13/14m, but only caught 1 small skimmer. With 30mins left the tip finally went round went round and a proper carp was attached picking up my 8mm punched meat.

Needless to say I was relieved to have landed it and just needed another tug. Fortunately I got one in the same area to my left, giving me an extra 26lb in the last 30mins and 10pts, which was much better than the 3pts I was potentially staring at. It was just a shame the fish didn't move out of Ricky's swim a little earlier. The 2 anglers to my right weighed 3lb and 15lb, so not many fish in the area.

As for the team we finished 5th on the day, with Mark winning Lodge and Nick doing well from Campbell. Martin was a little unlucky on Match lake, due to the 'spring' mini section fishing so well for the first time this year and Calum as expected struggled from his poor draw.

Overall we finished 8th, which considering the 2 poor draws in rounds 3 & 4 we were reasonably happy with.

Overall:
1. Lee Werrett (Natural Talent) - 116lb - peg 127
2. Clayton Hudson (Future Networks) - 110lb 14oz - peg 113
3. Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) - 106lb 15oz - peg 129
4. James Knight (Somerset Angling) - 103lb - peg 38
5. Ricky Mills (Moaning Maggots) - 101lb 11oz - peg 102
6. Glyn Reynolds (Viaduct All Stars) - 99lb 4oz - peg 128
Silvers:
1. Andy Power (PI Thatchers) - 32lb 11oz - peg 61
2. Sam Powell (PI Thatchers) - 31lb 10oz - peg 37
3. Jon Gray (Somerset Angling) - 22lb 12oz - peg 12
4. Phil Hardwick (Moaning Maggots) - 21lb 1oz - peg 71
5. Paul Faiers (2nd Time Lucky) - 17lb 5oz - peg 56
6. Andrew Cranston (PI Thatchers) - 16lb 12oz - peg 125

Team Points On The Day:
1. Natural Talent - 70
2. Thatchers Vets - 67
3. Mosella Bathampton - 64
4. Silverfox - 62
5. Colmc SW - 59
6. Somerset Angling - 58
7. Maver Cadbury Angling - 56