Monday, 2 January 2023

31/12/22 - Todber Manor - Hillview

Weight - 154lb 0oz (7lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 40 Carp, 8 Skimmers, 1 Crucian, 1 Perch, 1 Tench
Weather - Mild, wet & windy
Match - Open (21 fished) - 8th overall, 4th in section

After a much-needed confidence boost at my club water on Thursday catching over 100lb, I was looking forward to catching a few today. However, the weather was awful with wind and rain forecast all day. 

We were all on Hillview and I drew p52 which can be a good winter peg. At least the wind would be blowing over my left shoulder but I didn’t fancy fishing the long pole due to the wind. 

Plumbing up at 2+2 I bumped into a few fish and decided to start the match here on 8mm meat, feeding 7mm meat and hemp. I had a reasonable start and when the swim faded after 45 minutes, I started feeding micros instead of hemp, which provided a kick start. 

Of the anglers I could see, Phil Hardwick on p49 was running away with it helped by p50 not being drawn, and I seemed to be ahead of the other anglers. 

After 2hrs more silvers were showing over my short line, including a big perch and I didn’t get the feeling there was a high concentration of carp in front of me. A switch to the straight lead and meat cast towards the pipe resulted in a few fish, but generally it was a little slow and with the except of one decent sized fish, the rest were a smaller stamp than I was catching over the short line.

Therefore, I stuck with the short line feeding more heavily to pull the carp back. I did consider fishing a little longer, but the wind was only getting stronger. I started feeding my left-hand margin with meat and micros hoping for a strong finish, but this was a little slower than expected and the remainder of the match was spent switching between the 2 lines.

I had hoped I might squeeze a section pick up but I needed at least 200lb. Still, I had a great day’s fishing even if it was very wet.

1.    256- 0 – Phil Hardwick – p49
2.    231- 8 – Trigger – p38
3.    202-10 – Simon Stacey – p41
4.    202- 4 – Pemb Wrighting – p58
5.    186- 4 – Ash Tomkins – p44

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