13/12/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 35lb 14oz (2lb 11oz - silvers)

Catch - 12 F1, 3 Carp, 11 Skimmers, 2 Roach

Weather - Frosty start. Bright and sunny.

Match - Winter League rd 4 (15 anglers) - 4th overall, 1st in section

The 4^th round of the Harescombe Winter League on Match Lake and I drew p6. To be honest it hasn’t been a great area recently, although when I arrived a few fish were showing themselves, so I was hopeful.

My section included Andy Fry on p2 who was lying 2^nd in the league, so a chance to hopefully take a point or 2 back.

After a week of mild weather, last night was frosty and the forecast was for a bright and sunny day. As such I was expecting a slow start, which is how it turned out.

I started on corn and then a 4mm expander over a few baninion micros a metre off the island, eventually catching an F1 on corn after 45 minutes. I couldn’t get another bite, so started feeding a small nugget of Top G groundbait with a micros, over 2 swims, again a metre off the island.

By bouncing between the 2 swims, I caught small skimmers on 4mm expander, plus 2 F1s. I had also tried fishing tight to the island, foulhooking and losing 1 fish, so I didn’t waste too much time.

With 2hrs remaining (5hr match), bites had dried up and I probably had about 7-8lb in the net, which was less than Mark Thomas on p4.

I had been feeding maggot covered in So Simple Red Dye from the start of the match at 2+2. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this line, as maggot usually attracts the attention of the hordes of roach. So,I was surprised when I hooked a F1, followed by 2 more and then a decent skimmer, before the roach arrived.

In the meantime, I had noted Mark on p4 had caught a few decent carp from his right-hand margin. I had already plumbed my left margin at the start of the match, discounting it as it was too shallow. However, I felt I needed to try something different and started feeding maggot a metre off the margin where it was 3ft deep.

This resulted in a great last 45mins catching big F1s on double maggot, plus a couple of carp from the far side on pellet.

Fortunately, those skimmers proved vital as I won the section by 1lb 7oz from Sean Taylor on p29, whilst Andy Fry had a mare. The section win pushed me into 3^rd in the league with 2 rounds remaining.

1.    86-  5 – Nigel Reeves – p16

2.    55-  7 – Steve Ford – p15

3.    46-  5 – Chris Cameron – p14

4.    35-14 – Ken Rayner – p6

5.    34-  7 – Sean Taylor – p29