14/05/25 - Todber - Whiteposts

Weight - 88lb 10oz

Catch - 30 Carp

Weather - Warm & sunny.

Match - Garbolino Clubman Qualifer (41 fished) - 1st in section

I decided to try my luck again at qualifying for the Garbolino clubman at Barston. I didn’t fish it last year, but the year before I missed out of by 4lb after weighing 446lb for 2^nd in section!

As there were only 41 fishing, we were spread over Hillview and both lakes at Whiteposts. I would have preferred Hillview but drew p27 on the bottom lake at Whiteposts. It was 4 years ago when I last fished this lake (and p27) and I don’t have fond memories, as I had torrid time due to lost rigs and fish to the line of reeds.

On arrival at my peg the wind was blowing into it and I quite fancied it, however I wasn’t sure how it would fish as its usually the toughest of the 2 lakes at Whiteposts.

As the swim was no deeper 2ft, I only set up 3 pole rigs, 1 to fish paste down both margins, another paste rig to fish at 8m, a meat rig and finally a method rod just in case.

On the all-in I fed some micros and 4mm pellet down by a lily bed to my right and the reeds to my left. Whilst that settled, I started on meat at 8m, but didn’t have a bite after 10mins, before I noticed the bottom being churned up by the lillies. First put in on paste (U-Zit GLM & Crushed Expander) by the lillies quickly produced my first fish. Another followed soon after before the swim went quiet.

Back on the meat, I hooked 2 carp and lost them both, so I switched to feeding pellet and fishing paste instead, as I felt it would sit better in a skimming breeze.

After an hour I had 6 carp for about 18lb and looking down the lake not much was being caught, confirming my thoughts that this would be a tough match.

After 3hrs I was up to 70lb, rotating between the 2 margin swims and the 8m line. However, the following 2hrs the lake just shut down, as I couldn’t catch over any of my swims. I even set up a new swim to fish meat and cast the method to the far bank but never had a bite.

In the end I had to go longer down the left bank catching a further 6 carp all on paste.

On the all-out I was fairly sure I had the won the section, which I did as 2^nd weighed 62lb. As it happened, I won the lake. As expected, the top weights all came from Hillview.

1.    250-14 – Jason Crump – p54

2.    203-14 – Malcolm Fowler – p39

3.    186-12 – James Bowen – p37

4.    178-  6 – Paul Smith – p40

5.    171-14 – Andrew Palmer – p42

6.    164-14 – Simon Stacey – p46   

04/05/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 54lb 11oz

Catch - 16 Carp, 4 F1

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods, cool northerly 

Match - Pole Masters Final (18 fished) - 1st overall

So, to the final and at last I drew an end peg in the shape of p29 and it gave me a chance.

Yesterday the angler on this peg didn’t weigh in and looking at past results the peg hasn’t won in the last 2 months, but it’s usually worth a few fish.

On the all-in I went straight out on paste (50:50 Uzit GLM: Crushed Expander) feeding a few 2mm p-nut pellet to the corner of the island. Second drop in I caught a 5lber. After 75mins I probably had 20lb, which settled the nerves and was a good start.

As usual the 2^nd hour was quiet so I fed a small ball of crushed expander and 2mm p-nut

pellet at 10m to my right in open water. Whilst that settled, I caught a couple of carp on meat, either side of the spillway before the swim went quiet.

When I switched to the 10m line, I was expecting some skimmers on 4mm expander, but was pleasantly surprised to net a decent carp, soon followed by another.

Everything was going smoothly until I hooked my 3^rd carp from the 10m line which was larger than the first 2. Unfortunately, the hooklength caught the lip of the spillway as it dived right losing the fish. I then lost 2 of the next 3 carp when fishing meat, the hook pulled out of one and the 3^rd I lost the whole rig on a snag.

After regaining my composure, I caught another carp from the 10m line, a couple from the spillway and 2 more from a newly opened short meat line.

In the last 90mins I had started pinging 4mm bubblegum pellet to the corner of the island and spent most of the last hour fishing paste to add a further 18lb or so. On the all-out I hooked a 4lber, which I lost at the net and thought that would cost me.

I could see all of my section and was fairly confident I had at least won the section. It wasn’t until I started following the board that I realised I could win, which I duly did picking up £660 and a trophy.

I was really pleased to have won, which top offs what has been a really good 12 months fishing. Huge credit has to go to Gary and Cathryn for running the event and making Harescombe a great venue to visit. It will only improve under their stewardship.

1.    54-11 – Ken Rayner – p29

2.    49-14 – Nick Franklin – p8

3.    48-  1 – Simon Duke – p25

4.    47-  5 – Andy Pollard – p20

5.    47-  1 – Steve Brown – p15

6.    35-11 – Ronaldo – p14

03/05/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 26lb 6oz

Catch - 11 Carp

Weather - Sunny, cool northerly which got stronger

Match - Pole Masters Qualifer (18 fished) - 6th place

Today was the qualifier for the Pole Masters. There were 18 anglers on Match Lake and 18 on Doughnut, with the top 9 from each lake going through to the final. I would have preferred Match Lake, however I was a bit late booking on which meant there was only space on Doughnut.

Since booking in Doughnut it has been fishing hard for some reason, it’s like it hasn’t recovered properly from the winter, although a match last week showed weights had started to improve.

I have to say when I drew p14 I was pretty deflated as it’s in the worst area of the lake and I felt I would struggle to qualify. When I arrived at my peg, the wind was blowing from behind down towards the opposite end of the lake and compounded my feelings. The only crumb of comfort was I at least had spare pegs either side of me and the northerly breeze might make it awkward for the anglers fishing down each side of the lake to fish the far bank.

Plumbing up the far bank and I couldn’t find a flat spot as it was 6in deep tight across, quickly dropping away to 5-6ft!

Fortunately, I managed to find a flat spot at 2+2 slightly to my right in 5ft of water where I fed crushed expander and 2mm p-nut pellet.

On the all-in I tried slapping a pellet along the far bank, as I could see fish swimming in the shallow water, but there were no takers. I even tried swinging the rig into the very shallow water with corn on hook but still couldn’t get a bite. Then the ducks arrived and cleaned out the pellet that I had pinged across which told me the fish weren’t feeding and I didn’t bother fishing there again. Besides the wind was increasingly becoming more troublesome.

I also tried fishing corn and pellet in 3ft of water where I could find a ‘flatish’ spot at 15m, but the wind was making presentation difficult and I was beginning to fear the worst.

After 1hr 40min I eventually caught my first fish from my 2+2 line on 4mm expander. The following 2hrs were uneventful. My second fish came from my left margin on meat where I found a flat spot in 3ft of water a couple of metres off the bank.

In the meantime, I had switched to feeding meat and micros over my 2+2 line. For the remainder of the match, I alternated between my margin and 2+2 catching everything on meat.

I was relieved to have qualified in 6^th place.

1.    41-  4 – Ronaldo – p19

2.    38-  5 – Nigel Reeves – p17

3.    37-13 – Andy Jane – p21

4.    26-14 – Allan Oram – p24

5.    26-  9 – Steve Partington – p20

6.    26-  6 – Ken Rayner – p14

01/05/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 45lb 12oz

Catch - 11 Carp, 4 F1, 8 Skimmers

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - Open (17 fished) - 4th overall, 1st in section

Having just returned from 4 nights away in Pembrokeshire with Poppy (the Staffy) loving running around the various beaches we visited, I still had a few days remaining of my holiday and decided to book into todays affordable open as a practice for the forthcoming Pole Masters.

I drew peg 5 again and to be honest I wasn’t that excited about it as I felt you needed some shallow water to fish into on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year.

I was drawn next to Luke Seabrook on peg 6 and knew he would fish pellet up and down against the boards on the island. I decided to take a contrary approach, focusing on paste and meat, so it would be a useful benchmark to see the best approach.

On the all-in I started straight across on paste, feeding a few 2mm p-nut pellet and on the 2^nd put-in caught a 5lber. After an hour I had another 2 and 15lb in the net for a very useful start. As very little was being caught around the lake I was happy to stick with the paste, but after that first hour I wasnt getting any indications.

A switch to fishing 4mm expander over crushed expander a metre off the far bank resulted in a couple of small skimmers, plus a couple more smaller carp.

The 2^nd half of the match was a case of rotating swims to keep putting fish in the net, catching a few F1s and carp from the left margin on meat and a couple more carp on paste from the far bank. The shallower right margin was a waste of time, catching only 2 skimmers and it was full of small silvers gorging themselves on spawn.

In the last half an hour I struggled to catch, whilst Luke did and to be honest, I thought he had beaten me, however my good start proved decisive.

1.    53-  1 – Phil Auger – p17

2.    51-10 – Tony Rixon – p9

3.    50-  2 – Jerry Wiggett – p15

4.    45-12 – Ken Rayner – p5

5.    43-  7 – Steve Rich – p23

24/04/25 - Tunnel Barn - Extension

Weight - 60lb 11oz

Catch - 57 F1/Carp, 3 Perch, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Cool start, sunny with a light easterly.

Match - Over 50s Qualifer (27 fished) - 12th overall

I decided to fish this Over 50 Qualifier and with the majority of qualifiers being in the Midlands or north of the Midlands, Tunnel Barn was the closest to me at just over 2hrs drive.

Not all the tickets were sold for this match, so the match was pegged just over Extension and New lakes. My draw put me on p5 Extension, so only 2 away from where I was on Sunday, and to be honest I was a little disappointed, despite some saying it was a great peg.

My job was made even tougher when Neil Machin turned up on peg 7.

Plumbing up revealed the peg was deeper than p7, plus the margins had metal tins which made the margin little deeper than I would have preferred.

On the all-in I started on pellet at 3+1 and caught 8 carp/F1 in the first hour so I felt I was doing OK. When the pellet line faded a switch to fishing 6mm meat down the left margin or right-hand short line only produced a couple of fish.

The 2^nd hour was much slower, as I struggled to make anything work. I had primed a shallow caster line, which produced a couple of fish but no more. I then tried 4mm expander down the right margin over micros for a couple more fish. A switch to maggot, produced quicker bites, but the fish were tiny, so the maggot only got used for 10mins.

The shallow caster line eventually started to produce in the 3^rd hour, although I had to get closer to the reeds than I wanted to which did result in 2 lost fish, but at least I was now catching mostly on an overshotted rig at 18in.

Moving into that last 90mins I started feeding 2 meat lines left and right at 1+1 at the bottom of the shelf, finding it best to alternative between swims after each fish.

The margins were the biggest disappointment, as I only caught small F1s and not many of them.

By the all-out I knew I wasn’t close to qualifying, but an enjoyable day regardless and the more I fish the venue the easier it will hopefully be to make the right decisions.

I beat the 2 anglers to my left but not the 2 to my right which are the better pegs. Overall, I don’t think the venue fished as well as I had hoped or expected.

Well done to Barry for qualifying, as I know he puts in a lot of work ably assisted by Paul Holland.

1.    103-14 – Barry Robson – p23 ext

2.      97-  4 – Des Shipp – p36 ext

3.      95-12 – Steve Daley – p44 new

4.      94-  6 – Carl Hopps – p38 ext

5.      87-14 – Dave Willmott – p26 ext

6.      86-15 – Jason Gooch – p31 new

20/04/25 - Tunnel Barn - Extension

Weight - 59lb 10oz

Catch - 46 F1/Carp, 6 Perch

Weather - Cold windy start, warmer later

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 2nd overall, 1st in section

As I’m due to fish the Over 50s Qualifier here on Thursday, todays match was going to be useful sighter. Leading up to today meat had been very dominate, however there were signs that meats effectiveness was waning. So, as well as some meat, I also brought 4pts of white maggot, plus some expanders. I also found out the lake had been fishing hard with only 70lb winning yesterdays match.

The draw put me on p7 which was the end of the main island. Plumbing up revealed a clear shallow spot to the right of a reed bed that I wanted to stay clear of, as it looked like a tackle graveyard. As it was a cold start, I decided to start across by the island tapping in maggot and started to catch small carp, F1s and a few perch. I also pulled out of a few fish as my elastic was too strong for the size of fish which were smaller than expected, which prompted a switch to a long kit from short kit which helped.

Despite catching, I just felt I was going nowhere as I couldn’t catch anything bigger than a pound. My 2 meat lines on a top kit +1, left and right didn’t produce a bite. I had also been feeding maggot over a 5m line but very surprisingly didn’t have a bite here either (or later in the match when I tried).

I also tried a shallow line feeding maggot, but only caught 2 fish and I really was going nowhere. To be fair an awkward cross wind was making it difficult to group my feed.

A change of tactic was required, so I moved back to fishing the island, but this time tapping in micros and fishing a 4mm expander. My first fish was a 4lb carp, soon followed by some smaller carp and F1s with occasional better fish. Must admit I thought why didn’t I try this sooner!

The island swim proved to be quite productive, which was a relief, although I didn’t help myself when I managed to tip back a 4lb F1 as the end of my landing net handle caught the overhead wiring (that ran along this bank) as I tried to put the fish in the net – I was fuming.

After chuntering to myself for a bit I was conscious that I needed to catch quicker, which meant trying to make my short lines work. Although, I couldn’t catch on meat in my margins I thought it was worth trying in the deeper water and set up a new rig to fish at 1+2 off to the right which produced some decent F1s and carp.

Late on my margins eventually produced some small F1s on meat from the left and pellet or maggot from the right.

By the all-out I didn’t feel I had fished a good match, as I struggled to work out how best to catch and thought young Nicholas opposite who had caught mostly shallow had beaten me, as well as Paul Stafford on p11.

Fortunately for me I had a little more than I thought to finish 2^nd. In hindsight, I would have fished a different match as I should have caught more, but lessons learnt for Thursday.

1.    76-10 – John Brady – p31

2.    59-10 – Ken Rayner – p7

3.    58-  0 – Paul Strafford – p11

4.    57-10 – Nicholas Wilson – p21

5.    51-  1 – Bobby Moore – p17 

19/04/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 61lb 3oz (9lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 10 F1, 9 Carp, 15 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Cool & showery start, brighter later. Blustery breeze.

Match - Open (8 fished) - 1st overall.

After having last weekend off with friends, I was looking forward to today’s match.

There were only 8 of us today, probably because it was easter Saturday, so I was not fussed where I drew, but peg 5 wouldn’t have been my first choice as it hasn’t been the best area recently, but at least we all had plenty of space today.

On the all-in I started two 3+1 lines left and right, fishing 6mm meat covered in Uzit A-krill cloud. After 50mins I had 2 F1s and 2 skimmers.

I then switched to fishing 4mm expander (flavoured with project X) over small nuggets of micros with some groundbait (crushed expander and green re-act) a metre off the island. I had considered fishing tight to the island, but the breeze was making presentation awkward.

I was little concerned when all I could catch was skimmers, but decided to stick with it for the next 2hrs hoping the carp/F1s would turn up later. Other than 1 small carp and 1 lost lump, it was all skimmers, whilst Steve Partington on p10 and Lucas on p25 were now catching and pulling ahead.

In the meantime, I had kept both my short meat lines topped up and when I dropped in on them, I had a big skimmer from each swim and must admit I thought – oh dear!

Fortunately, the carp and F1s turned up with the right-hand swim being the stronger. With 75mins remaining, I sacked off the left-hand swim to concentrate on the right that was now producing some better stamp carp during the last hour.

I had also started feeding meat and micros down the left margin, which produced 4 F1s, and groundbait down the shallower right margin which only produced 1 fish.

At the all-out I thought that Lucas opposite had beaten me, but those early skimmers proved crucial as I put nearly 10lb of them on the scales to win the match with 61lb.

1.    61-  3 – Ken Rayner – p5

2.    57-  9 – Lucas Hurcombe – p25

3.    54-  0 – Nigel Reeves – p15

06/04/25 - Manor Farm - Island Pool

Weight - 54lb 3oz (7lb 9oz - silvers)

Catch - 18 F1s, 3 Carp, 9 Skimmers, 2 Tench

Weather - Cool start, sunny all day, cool NE wind.

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 1st overall

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t looking forward to this match as I was expecting 20 anglers (which turned into 18) all on Island Pool which would be tight and it was likely to be a difficult match, as recent results have been won with only c.50lb with fewer anglers fishing.

On arrival, the north easterly breeze was blowing into the car park end of the lake and I quite fancied drawing in the breeze, so was pleased to draw p37, although I had to put my hoodie on as it was a bit cool in the breeze.

The peg meant I didn’t have an island chuck, but I had a long margin into the corner and just hoped the car park would be quiet.

Having never fished the lake before I set up the straight lead and feeder rods straight away, as we never have long enough to set up with these matches and I needed time to familiarise

myself with the contours of the lake. I managed to sort out most of my pole rigs before the all-in and was a little relieved the lake wasn’t as deep as expected, but at 6ft it was deep enough.

So, I started on the pellet cone with corn on the hook cast 20m as I finished sorting my pole rigs and the tip went round and a F1 was netted. Staying on the pellet cone for the rest of the hour I caught a 7lb carp and another F1.

Come the 2^nd hour I switched to fishing at 13m where I had fed 4mm bubblegum pellet and by tapping in 4s with a hair rigged 4mm pellet caught 5 F1s and a skimmer. However the wind was being a pain, and the tow had picked up, which meant the start of the 3^rd hour was a struggle.

As the tow and wind was proving problematic, I decided to just fish for bites, switching to a 0.5g chimp rig at 11m, over micros and groundbait (crushed expander and black bubblegum) fishing a 4mm expander.

By feeding a nugget of micros and groundbait every 2^nd fish I started catching a few skimmers and the recently stocked 6oz F1s. As time went on, I caught the odd better sized F1 and a bonus 1.5lb tench.

With 2hrs remaining I knew I was doing OK, although I could see Andy Burns on p32 catching well down his margins.

I had already had an early look down my left margin next to p38 platform, where I had been pinging pellet without success. Due to the wind I decided to introduce corn as well.

My next try resulted in a bite straight away, which promptly came off. The next put in did produce a carp, before the swim went quiet.

I had also started feeding meat (covered a-krill cloud) at 2+2. After a couple of decent skimmers, I hooked what I was hoping for - a proper carp. It was a double figure fish and everything was going well, until it decided to go on a little run and the hook pulled!

I then lost the next 3 carp, 1 the hook pulled fishing the margin and the other 2 were fouled hooked (1 down the margin and the other over the short line). Needless to say I wasn’t happy. Fortunately, I managed to successfully net another carp, plus a couple of decent F1s.

Not quite the finish I was hoping for, but I had an enjoyable day. Andy was admitting to 35lb and I thought I had 40lb. As it was, we both underestimated, but I was pleased to have won on a day which proved to be tricky for most.

1.    54-  3 – Ken Rayner – p37

2.    42-  2 – Andy Burns – p32

3.    36-10 – Pete Philips – p25

4.    34-11 – Cliff Dutton – p24

5.    26-15 – Ian MacDonald - p5

05/04/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 29lb 14oz

Catch - 6 Carp, 3 F1, 4 Skimmers

Weather - Cool start, warm & sunny later, but gusty NE wind

Match - Open (16 fished) - 5th overall

With the improved weather and fishing I was looking forward to todays match, and you always get a warm welcome from Cathryn and Gary.

 
The 20s has been the place to draw recently, however I ended up with p18 with the wind blowing down the other end.
 
I started across tight to the island tapping in a few micros, fishing a 4mm expander and caught a carp almost straight away. Sadly, I couldn’t get another and looking around it was fishing hard, not helped by a gusty north easterly wind, which to be honest was proving to be a pain throughout the match.
 
I eventually caught my 2^nd carp on the hour again on 4mm expander over a little groundbait and micros at the bottom of the far shelf, but I was struggling to string any fish together.
 
I had a bit of purple patch half-way through when I managed to catch a couple of carp/F1s over a short meat line, and later in the match picking up the occasional fish as I rotated swims.
 
To make something happen I had started pinging 4mm pellet to the island and managed a decent carp shallow on pellet, but it was a loner.
 
Finally, I had fed my margins with meat and micros, catching 1 carp from the right margin in amongst the sedges, losing a 2^nd. To be honest at the end of the match I felt I hadn’t made the most of the margins, as I should have caught at least 1 or 2 more fish which would have pushed me in the main frame.
 
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to claim the section money thanks to a couple of decent stamp carp.
 

1.    47-  4 – Andy Pollard – p15
2.    34-12 – Allan Oram – p11
3.    31-  1 – Gary Townsend – p22
4.    30-13 – Richard Rogers – p29
5.    29-14 – Ken Rayner – p18

30/04/25 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 190lb 14oz

Catch - 62 Carp, 3 Carassio, 1 Bream

Weather - Cold start, sunny with a cool breeze

Match - Open (26 fished) - 4th overall, 2nd in section

I decided to jump onto this open ably run by Andy Weston to get back in tune with the venue with the Garbolino qualifier next month. Also c. 5000lb had been removed from the lake and it would be interesting to see how this had affected the fishing, but I was looking forward to getting a few bites.

 
With 26 booked in drawing a peg with space would be ideal and I was pleased to draw p60, as it’s a peg I’ve never drawn and p61 wasn’t in. The only concern was the wind, which was blowing into the other end of the lake and later in the match the wind turned quite cold.
 
As p60 is probably the best feeder peg on the lake, I started on a small method, loaded with bubblegum micros and a 6mm orange wafter, whilst I primed by short line with meat.
 
Dave Brittian to my left on p59 got off to a flyer catching short on pellet and was 3 or 4 fish ahead of me after 15 minutes. I decided to stick with the feeder, hoping Dave would slow down and after 2hrs I probably had 80lb in the net, but I still felt I was behind Dave.
 
Although I was still catching on the feeder, I was concerned the average stamp of fish was smaller than those Dave was catching. I had maintained my feeding over my short line (3+2), but when I switched, I couldn’t catch nearly as well as expected and ended up fishing shorter at 2+2, but I never felt I got this right.
 
Fortunately resting the feeder line had helped as I kept catching and then started my margins with meat and micros.
 
In the end I started catching better stamp fish down the right margin on meat, only switching back to the feeder when I needed to rest the swim.
 
The last 45mins slowed down which necessitated a move to fish longer down the margin, which resulted in a few extra fish, which meant I managed to overhaul Dave’s early lead.
 
Come the weigh in I was pleased to finish 4^th overall, picking up the section money. The top 3 all came from the windward end of the lake. It was also nice to feed some bait, feeding 3 tins of meat and 2pts of micros.
 

1.    288-  2 – Rich Butler – p54
2.    232-  4 – Fred Roberts – p50
3.    227-  8 – Rich Yeo – p49
4.    190-14 – Ken Rayner – p60
5.    179-12 – Tim Martin – p55
6.    177-  4 – Nigel Purchase – p51

 

 

23/03/25 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 24lb 11oz (14lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 6 Bream, 4 Roach, 2 Ide

Weather - Mostly cloudy and cool breeze.

Match - Club (12 fished) - 4th overall

I drew p25, which to be honest I wasn’t that happy with as it 6ft deep at 2+2, going to 7ft further out, which I felt was too deep to catch properly. Therefore, I needed to catch short fishing left and right in 5 or 6ft of water or fishing tight to the island.

I started on the method to the island but overhanging branches were problematic and ended up switching to the pole lines much soon than intended. I had kept pinging 8s to the island and fishing the straight lead a couple of metres off the island, but never had a bite.

On the all in I had fed a 50:50 mix of Black ReAct : Black Bubblegum, with dead maggot and micros 10m to my right in 6ft of water. The first 2 hours were quite productive, catching 4 bream, with a few smaller fish in between. I found topping up with a small ball of feed every couple of fish was best, however as time went on I had to wait longer for bites.

I had also been feeding meat and micros to my left, catching a 6lber quiet quickly and fully expecting to catch a couple more. However, I only managed 1 bream over this line.

I had also been feeding margins, caster and corn down the right and meat and micros down the left. I never had a bite, in fact at the end of the match I scooped the margins with my landing net and the bait was still there.

The fish just didn’t want to come in too close and I regretted not bring a waggler rod as Martin to my left managed 3 carp on maggot in the last 2hrs and they were a much bigger stamp than mine.

As it happened the top 3 came from what were end pegs and probably an indication the fish preferred at the quieter ends of the lake.

1.    45-15 – Tom Ince – p1 (incl. 25- 8 silvers)

2.    37-15 – Tim Lynch – p11

3.    30-  9 – Martin White – p27

4.    24-11 – Ken Rayner – p25

16/03/25 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 50lb 9oz (11lb 11oz - silvers)

Catch - 16 Ide, 8 Carp, 7 Ide, 1 Perch, 1 Roach, 1 Rudd, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods. Cold northerly breeze.

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished), 1st in section, 8th overall

After packing away the woolly hat following last weekend’s warm weather, I had to get it out again as it was -2 overnight and a cold northerly breeze.

Todays match was over Canal 2,3 & 4, and I drew p56 on Canal 2. Not normally the end you want, however 90lb came off it yesterday, so no pressure.

I started off fishing the bottom of the far shelf tapping in maggot and a few micros with maggot on the hook and almost immediately got snagged on something, snapping the rig just above the hooklength! I then tried fishing tight across on maggot as I saw a couple of anglers further down catching but couldn't get a bite.

After sorting out a replacement rig, I was back down the bottom of the shelf, slightly to the left of the ‘snag’ and eventually caught my first fish after 45mins on maggot. I then had a run of fish (Ide, small F1s and a couple of Carp up to 4lb) over this line, before it dried up.

I tried the far bank again but only caught an Ide and a Perch.

A switch to fishing next to the p55 platform where I had fed maggot from the start, initially proved a bit tricky, but by tapping maggot and a few micros I started to catch a few Ide, before the F1s and Carp turned up. It was slow going but at least I was catching.

I tried other areas of the swim, but the only place I could catch properly was by the p55 pallet.

With 90mins remaining I felt I needed some of the better stamp of Carp to make up for my slow start, so started feeding the end bank with meat and micros. Although I had to wait for bites, I managed 3 Carp, plus a few more F1s/Carp from the pallet swim on maggot.

In the end I managed to win the lake by only 1lb, however the other 2 canals fished much better.

1.    102-  6 – Andy Bartlett – p88 (C4)

2.    100-15 – John Brady – p79 (C3)

3.      85-13 – Matt Greaves – p72 (C3)

4.      84-  3 – Andy Burns – p84 (C4)

5.      74-  5 – Andy Black – p91 (C4)