17/10/21 - Woodland View - Front Deans

Weight - 45lb (9lb - silvers)

Catch - 8 carp, 8 Skimmers, 4 F1s, 1 Crucian, 1 Perch

Weather - Rain to start, cleared later.

Match - Teams of 4 (44 fished)

Steve Martin asked me to guest for the Haines team again at Woodland View and that I would be on Front Deans again.

I drew another corner, peg 14 and looking at last week’s weigh sheet it showed the angler on that peg had caught 50lb for 6pts. With plenty of overnight rain and flat calm conditions I was expecting it to be harder than last week.

On the all in, I started at 2+2 to my right fishing a 6mm expander hoping for an early carp, but it took 30mins before I got my first fish, a near 2lb crucian on 4mm expander from my left hand 2+2 swim. 

I kept toss potting small balls of micros with Baninion boost juice but was only getting silly

bites and foul hooked a couple of fish. By coming up the shelf a little it produced some skimmers and a F1, either on 4mm expander or dead maggot. After 90mins, I managed my first carp on 4mm expander and looking around it appeared to be slow going for most.

After setting up another line I managed a couple more carp either on 4mm expander or dead maggot, but it was still slow and noticed the anglers opposite, where what little ripple there was, was blowing into their bank, starting to catch down their margins, which meant I was falling behind.

Half an hour after potting some micros, 4s and corn down the left margin I noticed a few swirls. First put in and I landed a 5lber on 6mm blue ice expander and thought ‘here we go’, but then foul hooked a couple which was frustrating. By reducing the amount of micros fed, I had better bites and landed a couple more carp, but they were of a smaller stamp, rather than the units those opposite were catching. I fed dead maggot and micros down the right margin, but this only produced 2 big skimmers.

Overall, a frustrating day. I genuinely believe there weren’t many fish in the area at the start of the match and this reflected what the angler to my right (p12) had, however he dumped a load of corn down his right margin to make something happen in the last hour and promptly caught some big carp to win the section with 91lb.

I feel I should have caught a bit more and a lack of venue knowledge cost me to finish 10^th out of 11 on the lake. So from hero to zero. At least next week I will be back on familiar ground with a weekend at Ivy House planned.