07/02/26 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 37lb 0oz (3lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 7 Carp, 14 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Showery and breezy

Match - Open (19 fished) - 4th carp only

We had 19 anglers booked on today and the pools would be paid out 50:50 silvers and carp, with the top 3 in each. However, I assumed this would be top 3 silvers and top 3 overall. As there was no section payout it meant a decent draw was more important.

P52 down the arm of the lake was neither here nor there. It can be OK for carp, but generally not the best for silvers.

On the all-in I started on the pellet cone with baninion boosted corn and netted a 5lber within 10mins. My next fish arrived 30mins later on a mini hybrid cast to the far bank, loaded with So Simple Top G and Crushed Expander, and 3 dead maggots on the hook.

With no more carp after an hour, I decided to try my silvers lines. 14.5m fed with baninion micros and corn, and 11.5m at an angle to my left fed with groundbait (BMGX : GCS) with dead maggot.

I initially tried corn at 14.5m hoping for some proper skimmers, but only had 1 hand size skimmer, plus a couple more on 4mm expander. The 11.5m line only produced a few hand sized skimmers or maggot and I was going nowhere fast.

With 2hrs remaining I decided to focus on the carp, catching 5 more on the straight lead (3 on corn and 2 on bread).

At the weigh-in I discovered it was the top 3 carp weights, rather than the normal total weight. Had I realised I would stayed focused on the carp, as I finished 4^th in the carp only weights, 2 or 3 fish short of framing.

Top Carp Weights

1.    68-12 – Michael Hall – p43

2.    49-  0 – Amanda Rowett – p46

3.    41-  0 – Matt Skyme – p60

4.    33-  8 – Ken Rayner – p52

Top Silvers Weight

1.    26-  0 – Toby Burrell – p57

2.    15-  0 – Rocky – p59

3.    12-  0 – Dan Squires – p54

4.    11-  8 – Mark Wynne – p36