01/03/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 9lb 13oz

Catch - 4 Carp

Weather - Drizzly start, dry later becoming increasingly breezy

Match - Teams of 4 (40 fished) - 8th in section

Round 4 (and penultimate) of the Teams of 4. As we were lying 2^nd we needed a decent draw to reclaim the lead from Team 1,2,3,4.

Well, we had a terrible draw whilst Team 1,2,3,4 had a favourable draw. As such, we didn’t realistically think we could win today and damage limitation was the order of the day.

As for me, I had p6 which has produced last and 2^nd to last in the last 2 rounds meaning I was likely in for a tough day.

Last weeks open suggested the fish had spread out from their normal winter haunts, so I was hopeful of a few bites, however the lake fished a lot harder than any of us expected.

Plumbing up revealed a nice even depth across, the issue was the wind that was blowing right to left. I tried for 45mins fishing across initially on expander and then maggot but I didn’t have any indications and the wind was just getting stronger and I just couldn’t get any decent presentation.

A switch to the maggot feeder or straight lead didn’t produce either and I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t caught yet!

I eventually caught my first fish at 8m on maggot. Surprisingly I never had another fish here, even trying the straight lead over the top to combat the tow.

My second fish came an hour later on the maggot feeder on the far bank.

I had also fed meat and micros to my left 2m off the bank. With an hour remaining I tried the swim without success. Returning with 15mins left I managed 2 carp to pull me from last to 8^th. I really could have done with the fish turning up a little earlier, as another 2 fish would have put me 5^th.

Overall, the lake fished really hard. I beat the anglers either side of me and I’m not sure what else I could have done. As for the team we suffered, with Steve Broadhurst being our only bright light as we finished 7^th on the day. Fortunately, we are still 2^nd in the league, but Maver Green are now only 2pts behind.

1.    74-  7 – Luke Fothergill (Future Networks) – p21 (Match)

2.    60-13 – Mick O’Brien (Swinetown) – p24 (Match)

3.    59-14 – Andy Fry (Team 1,2,3,4) – p6 (Match)

4.    54-12 – Tony Picton (Team 1,2,3,4) – p13 (Meadow)

5.    41-  2 – Elvis Randall (Matrix Talisman) – p9 (Match)

6.    40-  5 – Tom Driver (Fintastic) – p15 (Match)

Teams on the Day

1.    Team 1,2,3,4 – 9pts

2.    Swinetown – 14pts

3.    Matrix Talisman – 18pts

4.    Maver Harescombe Green - 20pts

League to Date

1.    Team 1,2,3,4 – 5pts

2.    Tackle Den – 13pts

3.    Maver Harescombe Green – 15pts

4.    Matrix Talisman – 19pts