Day 1 – 1pts – 74- 9
Day 2 – 3pts – 46-10
Day 3 – 5pts – DNW
Weight - 74lb 9oz
Catch - 31 F1, 3 Carp, 1 Perch, 1 Roach
Weather - Cool, breezy & showers
Position (123 fished) - 21st overall, 3rd on lake, 1st in section
On the all-in I had
considered starting short on pellet, but the wind was forecast to get stronger
throughout the match, so I decided to start across whilst I was able.
Feeding stodgy
balls of Cocosquid with chopped worm, micros and caster, with worm on the hook
I found a flat spot in amongst the far bank reeds. The wind was a pain at
times, however after 90mins I had 10 fish for about 12lb and looking around
felt I was doing OK.
I had also been
feeding fishery 4s (boosted with Baninion) at 2+2 at an angle to my right in
5ft of water, just as I thought I wasn’t going to get bite I caught a 3lb F1
and ended up staying on this line for an hour catching some chucky F1s all on
4mm expanders.
For the last 90mins
of the match it was a case of rotating around my short swims. I had also
started feeding 6mm meat (boosted with Baninion) over a top kit +1 line. I
hooked a carp on meat, that was obviously foul hooked as it took me into the
far bank reeds! I then had a 4lber, before hooking another carp that I thought
was hooked properly, before it decided to go mental and broke me.
Next, I caught a
couple of F1s, before hooking another carp 10mins from time. Fortunately, this
one behaved itself and at 10-11lb was well worth having to help comfortably win
the section.
I felt I fished a
good match, but was a little disappointed to miss out on a super pool payout by
7oz. Losing those 2 carp, knocked me out of my rhythm for a bit, but I was
really pleased to have had a strong start to the festival.
2. 120-15 - Steve
Daley - p14 High
3. 118-
4 - Jason Jones - p30 Top
4. 113-13 - Steve
Parry - p1 Canal
5.
96- 5 - Simon West - p29 House
6.
95- 1 - Dave Hawkins - p17 New
High Pool
1. 120-15 - Steve
Daley - p14
2.
75- 0 - Glenn Cousens - p50
3.
74- 9 - Ken Rayner - p17
4.
45- 0 - Andy Jackson - p36
Tuesday – Day 2 –
High p38
Day 1 – 3pts – 21- 7
Day 2 – 3pts – 28-10
Day 3 – 5pts – 24- 3
Weight - 28lb 10oz
Catch - 16 F1, 1 Perch, 1 Skimmer
Weather - Showery & breezy
Position (123 fished) - 102nd overall, 12th on the lake, 3rd in section
On the all-in I
started across by the spit, fishing my groundbait mix from the previous 2
matches. After 15mins I caught a F1 on worm and lost another 30mins later. I
did try later in the match and caught another F1, but the wind was making
presentation difficult. In fact, the 2 anglers on the spit who fished to the
corner, caught very little so I don’t think there were many fish in the area.
I tried fishing
pellet over 2 lines catching 4 F1s and a skimmer, and it was very slow going.
My best area was
the left margin on maggot.
I felt I was ahead
of the 4 anglers I could see in my section, but felt I needed a carp, so I dumped
micros and 4s at 10m to my right and I had been feeding meat on my top kit next
to my nets.
Fishing paste over
the micros produced a small F1 and my meat line also only produced 1 F1.
The 2 anglers in my
section (p27 & p30) that I couldn’t see, both beat me and as it happened I
only missed out on 2nd in section by 3lb and a bonus carp would have
been handy, but it wasn’t meant to be.
1. 101-10 - Steve Parry - p31 House
2.
98-13 - Barry Byrd - p30 Top
3.
95-10 - Carl Lee-Hopps - p27
New
4.
82-15 - Simon Penny - p1 Canal
5.
81-10 - Roger Hayton - p11
Canal
6.
76- 6 - Dave Hawkins - p17 New
High Pool
1.
76- 6 - Barry Hickford - p15
2.
62- 3 - Martin Rayet - p48
3.
53- 9 - Mick Stamp - p6
4.
39-11 - Craig Middleton - p27
Wednesday – Day 3 –
Extension p29
Day 1 – 1pts – 71- 8
Day 2 – 3pts – 47- 6
Day 3 – 5pts – 42- 9
When I drew this peg I
thought I had a chance of finishing the festival strongly.
Starting on pellet at 2+2 I
only had 1 small F1 and was soon trying my margins on maggot, with the right
side being the best, but action was slow going.
I tried fishing worm over
ground further down my right margin on the other side of the gap, 
which
produced a few fish, but once again it was slow going.
I had primed a shallow
caster line but only caught 4 F1 despite trying different shallow rigs.
In the last 2 hours I just
tried to focus on my margins, plus a new 2+2 line where I fed caster, catching
on worm.
The problem was I would only
catch in fits and starts, and I never caught any carp or the bigger F1s. I just
felt with the wind blowing down the other end of the lake, it had pushed those
fish further down the lake.
I was really disappointed
with how my match went, finishing the festival 48th so an
improvement on last year’s 61st place.
1. 100-
9 - Laurie Laing - p1 Canal
2.
99-13 - Dave Traunter - p10 New
3.
99- 3 - Harry Billing - p13 Canal
4.
98- 4 - Barry Byrd - p30 Top
5.
94- 8 - Craig Middleton - p5
Extension
6.
91-12 - Mark Ord - p31 House
Extension
1.
94- 8 - Craig Middleton - p5
2.
79-15 - Simon West - p19
3.
76- 2 - Gary Donaldson - p13
4.
68-14 - Denis Lutwyche - p38
Summary
My intention was always to improve on last
years 61st place, which I achieved, however it could have been so
much better.
The first day, everything
just clicked, making the right decisions at the right time, which resulted in
the best score and weight from the peg over the 3 days.
The second day was just hard
work from a poor peg and I was pleased to have claimed 3rd in
section, as well as achieving the best weight over the festival.
At the start of the third
day was I was lying 27th, by the end of the day I dropped to 48th.
A really disappointing day. If I’m honest I felt the fish just weren’t here on
the day, but its difficult to ignore there were significantly better results
from the peg over the previous 2 days.
Overall, it’s always a tough
one to compete with the locals and ‘full-time’ anglers, but I really enjoy
fishing the venue as you usually get plenty of bites and I have booked in for
next year.
As for my partner in crime,
Matt finished 49th, helped by drawing p6 on House twice!
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