Weight – 76lb 0lb
Catch – 27 Carp, 16 F1, 4 Skimmers, 3 Tench, 3 Roach
Weather – Sunny, windy!
Match – Match Fishing Scene Website - 9th overall
After my last match here last month, I was really looking to another visit. However the weather forecast suggested a windy day ahead.
Peg 37 was certainly in the right area, 1 from the end peg which had the gap round to the other side of the lake and the arm. Now that wind, I was hoping it would be a westerly, because the island opposite would have provided plenty of shelter, however the NW direction meant it was funnelling though the gap straight at me.
To do well here, you need to catch the carp and avoid the F1. So decided to keep it simple, with a paste & pellet rigs for the far side, the paste rig would also be used down the margin to peg 36. The 3rd rig would be a paste rig down the track.
On the all in, the wind was already picking up, so started on the pellet rig tight across. 3 put ins and 3 carp and I was off to a flyer, but the wind was getting stronger. After initially cupping ½ a cup of 4 & 6mm at the start I had followed this up with a full toss pot of pellet every put in but was finding it difficult to present the rig. So I removed the toss pot, to make it easier to hold the pole, deciding to cup pellet in every 3 fish. Unfortunately that didn't really work, because the wind was getting stronger.
Unlike most pegs, I didn't have any bear bank to fish, which would have offered shallow water. My problem was the peg was nearly 2ft deep tight across and there was plenty of branches and foliage, which meant lifting and dropping became a real nightmare, because if I lifted and a gust of wind caught the pole, I had very little margin of error and did catch the branches a couple of times. I set up a shallower rig, but feeding and holding the pole steady was difficult.
Along with Mark, I was doing my best impression of Mr Angry, there were plenty of fish on the far side, but I couldn't present to them properly, which was very frustrating. I had been feeding 6mmat 8m and a mixture of 4 & 6mm, plus hemp down the left hand margin.
When I went over the 8m line on paste, I getting plenty of indications, but no fish and the wind was making presentation difficult. A small F1 confirmed my suspicions, so I set up a new rig with a 16 b911to fish soft pellet & corn. I needed to start putting fish in the net, whilst I couldn't see anyone running away with it, I was falling behind, so every put in I toss potted 6mm with a ball of paste. I soon started to catch, not as quickly I was would have liked, but I lost a few fish off the hook and a change from 12 latex to double 6 helped, but a couple of fish I did land the hook was just hanging in.
The carp eventually turned up and switched to the paste rig. Half way into the match, I was up 22 fish, but only 8 carp and I really needed to start catching. I concentrated on the 8m line, mostly on paste and occasionally corn or soft pellet, when the small fish moved in. The LH margin only started to produce in the last 90 mins.
I had kept firing 6m's to the island in the hope the wind would drop and quick look over, revealed plenty of indication, but presentation was nearly impossible.
I was pleased with the 2nd half of the match, but ultimately the wind cost me and I'm certain 100lb was more than possible, Even on the 8m line, it was difficult to read bites, with the wind and tow, so missed bites and bumped fish still made it very frustrating day.
During the weigh in it became obvious the wind effected those fishing around the gap the most, plus a couple of exposed pegs down the bottom end of the lake. The angler on 38 managed 58lb, whilst the angler opposite on peg 7 who fished the method feeder to the island had a similar weight. The other angler in the wind was Mark on peg 5, who really struggled to catch to the far side of the arm, but eventually caught at 6m on paste coming 2nd with 123lb, which is a great effort (that really hurt to say that – lol). However he probably benefited from the angler of 38 not utilising his RH margin and Tim Suttle on peg 3, who turned up drunk from the night before, threw up and only managed to fish for 2hrs, before going home. We didn't laugh, honest.
Pete Bailey won the match from peg 12 with 176lb making full use of the only peg which had a spare peg either side.
