08/04/12 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 162lb 13oz

Catch – 28 Carp

Weather – Mild, cloudy and windy

Water Temp – 14.5c – 15.8c

Match – Avon Angling Open – 1^st out of 30 overall (1^st out of 12 – lake)

With 30 booked in, it was decided to use Speci, Match and half of Johns Lake. I was more than happy to find myself on peg 21, which came 2^nd in Fridays match, although I was concerned about the wind which was forecast to get stronger come the afternoon.

Due to the wind, I decided to spend as much time as possible fishing the far bank, before it got stronger as well as allowing time for the my 6m meat line to develop. Having said that after potting some caster across I went straight over the 6m line with meat (I actually fished 8m but at 45 degree angle, because it was 6 inch shallower than 6m in front where the lake bed had been hollowed out), but with no bites it was time to go across fishing double caster. I had considered fishing meat or pellet across, but felt with the wind that caster would be better.

After an hour I had 3 carp, potting half a small cup of caster instead of toss potting, simply because it was easier to hold the pole without a toss pot on the end. In the meantime I had been feeding 4-5 cubes of meat short and an occasional look over the short line had yet to produce, so by the 3^rd hour I was up to 9 carp all on caster.

A switch to the short line revealed the carp had arrived. I had also being feeding meat down the left hand edge and this area turned out to be the most productive. Rig wise I had been using a HB Dweezil 0.3g, .16 > 16 B911 at 6m and HB AK47 0.2g, .16 > 16 B911.

With 30mins to go I was up to 24 carp, 12 in each of my carp nets and thought I was close to the 80lb net limit, so ended up tipping back about 6-7lb of silvers to make way for more carp. Unfortunately during the weigh in I didn’t quite get in quite right, with my 1^st net going over 80lb, but my other 12 carp went about 65lb, obviously a few better fish in that first net – doh! So with the silvers tipped back I should have weighed about 175lb, but I’m not complaining despite Mr Rixon’s best efforts to wind me up!

There is no denying I had a proper red letter day. As Clayton put it, it didn’t matter where I put the bait the float went under. After Fridays win with my best weight from Lands End, to get a better weight today capped a great weekend and I’m in danger of becoming a proper meat head.

1^st 162-13 – Ken Rayner – p21

2^nd 133-12 – Ryan Summerhayes – p31

3^rd 120- 0 – Leyton Palmer – p36

4^th 113- 5 – Anton Page – p41

5^th 86- 2 – Paul Elmes – p18

6^th 85-1 – Steve Seagar – p34

Silvers

1^st 44- 2 – Tom Magnoll – p28

2^nd 39- 8 – Tom Thick – p7