08/12/24 - Hillview - Moorhen

Weight - 18lb 9oz

Catch - 3 F1s, 3 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Northerly gales, rain later

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 10th overall, 5th on the lake

The 4^th round of the Bomb & Feeder league at Sedges fell victim to Storm Darragh with 70mph wind gusts forecast and a met office red warning issued.

The wind for today had reduced to 40mph gusts blowing in from the north, so a cold day was likely.

Today was the final Tackle Den match of the year and we would be on Moorhen and canal 2. I drew p6 on Moorhen which is normally a good peg, however I had the wind blowing straight into my face and an uncomfortable day was on the cards.

I started on the straight lead towards the island, firstly with bread and then corn without a bite. I then tried the maggot feeder, but halfway into the match I was still fishless.

I had also been cupping in maggot at 2+2, expecting to catch a few Ide, but felt in hindsight I had fed a little too heavily, so set up another swim to my right were it started to shelve up, feeding more negatively with micros and maggot.

The 2^nd half of the match was better, as I eventually caught an F1 on the maggot feeder, then caught a couple of skimmers and an absolute beast of an F1 weighing 8lb 10oz over my negatively feed pole line. I caught my final F1 from the right margin over dead maggot.

I was surprised not to catch any Ide, but it was bitterly cold in the wind and all the better weights on the lake were to my right, with Matt Greaves winning our lake from p9. However, canal 2 was the place to be as it offered some shelter from the wind. Another day for me to forget, but it was tough for most due to the poor weather conditions.

I finished the club aggregate league in 2^nd behind Andrew Black who deservedly won and Matt finished 3^rd.

1.    65-  9 – Alistair Tilney – p60 (Canal 2)

2.    54-  2 – Jason Crump – p65 (C2)

3.    38-  6 – Pete Phillips – p67 (C2)

4.    35-13 – Matt Greaves – p9 (M)

5.    32-10 – Paul Stafford – p62 (C2)