09/01/22 - Todber - Homeground

Weight - 38lb 14oz (2lb 1oz - silvers)

Catch - 8 Carp, 8 Skimmers, 5 Roach, 1 Tench

Weather - Mostly sunny with a cool breeze

Match - Teams of 4 (12 teams)

Today was the Teams of 4, with 12 teams spread over Hillview, Ash and Homeground. My team included Mark Poppleton, Mark Wynne and Henry Smith, in what will be a very competitive league over 4 matches.
 
There were 2 sections on Hillview, 1 on Ash and 1 on Homeground, and then 2 sub sections of 6 within each section.
 

Unfortunately, the draw wasn’t kind for us, with Mark P on 42, Mark W on 56, Henry on 72 and myself on 84 Homeground.
 
P84 is really at the wrong end of the lake and the same peg Des Shipp packed up early from during the mid-week open. My section ran from 79 round to 87 and the expectation was 87 and 86 would be best and 84 bottom of the section.
 
Despite the colder conditions I felt I had nothing to lose and needed to be positive with my feed hoping to pull in some carp. Initially, I started cautiously on the lead & bread towards the point of the island, hoping for an early carp, but didn’t have a touch and then tried the maggot feeder for a roach.
 
After 20mins there didn’t seem to be any carp at this end of the lake as no one had caught. Therefore, in the spirit of being positive I fed 7 pouches of 6s to lay some feed down by the island and then kept pinging 6s every 5mins.
 
A switch to 13m off the right where I had fed a ball of BMGX & BMG boosted micros, produced roach on maggot or small skimmers on BMG 4mm expander. However, this line only lasted an hour and still no carp.
 
I had also been priming a pellet line at 14.5m to my left and caught a small carp after 10mins on hair rigged 4mm pellet. I thought, great I might catch a few, however that was the only fish I caught over this line, which I eventually binned with 90mins remaining.
 
At the halfway point I caught a carp on the lead and baninion boosted corn by the island, quickly followed by a 2^nd. As the match progressed the only place I could catch was on the lead and corn, despite trying different areas, but I seemed to be holding my own and felt I was doing ok except for p87 and Callum Dicks on p86 who were catching regularly.
 
As a throwaway line, I had been feeding meat on a short line. First drop in with 90mins remaining I hooked a carp, which came off after a few seconds, but I thought I would have another chance. Sadly, I never did, although felt I may have fed too much, but as Mark P said to me afterwards, I really had no choice on this peg.
 
With 30mins remaining I was lying 3^rd in section, but Gary O’Shea (p80) had 3 or 4 carp short on meat in this time. So, I finished 4^th in section, which to be honest I was happy with. As for the rest of team, Mark P caught below average stamp carp for 5^th and Mark Wynne incredibly only had 3lb for last in section in what was a barren area of the lake. Henry in the meantime pushed Des Shipp hard in his section coming 2^nd. As a team we finished 10^th on the day which was disappointing, and Henry is sacked from doing the team draw again – lol
 
Teams of 4 Winter League - rd1 - Full Result
1. Trigs Non-Rejects - 7pts (525- 7).
2. S.W.A.S - 11pts (459-14).
3. Wilts Angling - 11pts (457-12).
4. Vets - 11pts (450- 5).
5. Tackle UK - 12pts (205- 4).
6. Brutons Bungholes - 13pts (323- 5).
7. P.I.Thatchers - 14pts (154- 6).
8. Kingfishers - 15pts (313- 8.
9. Alans Angling - 17pts (208- 0).
10. Well Drawn - 17pts (162- 8.
11. Trigs Rejects - 20pts (223- 9).
12. PR Floats - 20pts (93- 8.
 
Section A (Hillview) - Zone 1
1. 129-15 - Andy Power (Vets) - p37
2. 109-14 - Trigger (Triggers Non Rejects) - p46

Section A (Hillview) - Zone 2
1. 41- 4 - Nick Ewers (Thatchers) - p34
2. 33- 0 - Steve Hutter (Tackle UK) - p36

Section B (Hillview) - Zone 1
1. 207-12 - Pemb Writing (Trigs Non Rejects) - p59
2. 170-11 - Ben Hagg (S.W.A.S) - p48

Section B (Hillview) - Zone 2
1. 118-14 - Vince Brown (Kingfishers) - p54
2. 84-12 - Scott Russell (Tackle UK) - p53

Section C (Ash) - Zone 1
1. 104- 2 - Des Shipp (S.W.A.S) - p75
2. 99-10 - Henry Smith (Well Drawn) - p72

Section C (Ash) - Zone 2
1. 147- 4 - Steve Martin (Wilts Angling) - p71
2. 140-10 - Bob Gullick (Vets) - p70

Section D (Homeground) - Zone 1
1. 159- 8 - Richard Butler (Alans Angling) - p90
2. 156- 0 - Fred Roberts (Wilts Angling) - p89

Section D (Homeground) - Zone 2
1. 122- 5 - Calum Dicks (Trigs Non Rejects) - p86
2. 55- 4 - Matt Culpin (PR Floats) - p87