12/01/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 27lb 7oz

Catch - 14 Carp

Weather - Freezing all week. Milder today.

Match - Teams of 4 (32 fish) - 2nd in section, 6th overall

Today was the first round of the Teams of 4 run by Ed Bryant. I was fishing for Tackle Den with Steve Broadhurst on Meadow, Andrew Black on Field, Alistair Tilney on Match Lake and I would be on Doughnut.

I had to feel for Gary as to ensure the match went ahead, he spent yesterday (Saturday) breaking the ice on all the lakes, only for it to melt away overnight!

Following a week of icy weather, we all knew it would hard, so I was happy enough to be handed p24, but I thought I might be on the edge of the fish, as P21 has been the form peg recently, with p18 not far behind. As it turned out the fish were quite well spread out, probably thanks to Garys ice breaking.

On the all-in I started against the far bank dobbin maggot, initially against the stick ups opposite and then off the end of the reed bed to my right, where I caught 2 carp in the opening 15mins.

I kept trying the dobbin rig and fishing on the deck tight across without success. I did have 1 carp on the straight lead & maggot off to my right in the ‘quiet’ water but couldn’t get another. After 90mins I had 3 fish and felt I was probably 2^nd or 3^rd on the lake.

Although I fed a couple deep water lines, I caught the remainder of my fish fishing on the deck tight across tapping in a few maggots and later pinkie, with a little Uzit crushed expander, darkened off with Black Bubblegum.

I had a spell when I lost a couple of foul hookers which prompted a switch back to the dobbin rig but I couldn’t get a bite so I stayed with the original rig.

With 30mins to go I could see Gary Townsend on p4 catching, but other than that I wasn’t sure where I was, and I hadn’t caught anything for the last 30mins.

Fortunately, the fish returned catching 4 more carp before the all-out, which proved crucial in what turned out to be a very tight section as I claimed 2^nd in section behind Gary.

As a team, we managed to avoid any complete blowouts, accumulating 15pts for 2^nd on the day and a good start to the series.

1.    46-14 – Glen Picton (Team 1,2,3,4) – p16 (Match)

2.    44-10 – Gary Townsend (Maver Black) – p4 (Doughnut)

3.    36-10 – Steve Brown (Maver Green) – p12 (Match)

4.    31-  5 – Andy Jane (Maver Green) – p5 (Field)

5.    29-14 – Jerry Wiggett (Maver Black) – p14 (Match)

6.    27-  7 – Ken Rayner (Tackle Den) – p24 (Doughnut)

1.    14pts – 4 Skinz

2.    15pts – Tackle Den

3.    16pts – Maver Green

4.    17pts – Maver Black