Tuesday, 11 August 2026

08/08/26 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 91lb 6oz
Catch - 27 Carp, 1 F1
Weather - Warm & sunny
Match - Summer League rd5 (12 fished) - 3rd in section, 6th overall

This was the penultimate round of the summer league, and I really needed a good result to put myself back in contention for a top three finish.

I drew p5, which has been a good peg, although recently it hasn’t produced quite so well, however I still fancied at least 2nd in section from it, as I expected p1 to win after dominating this side of the lake over the last couple of weeks.

Sadly, the first two hours were appalling, putting only three fish in the net. I started across by the island in 2ft of water, tapping in a few 4mm baninion pellets with a 6mm pellet in the band. I soon caught an F1, but despite fish being in the swim I could not get a proper bite and lost a foul hooker. I then tried paste over the same line, losing another foul hooker and the one I did hook properly pinged off at the net.

Fishing tight to the far bank in 8ins of water was also fruitless, losing another fish. I then tried the method but lost another one!

Next, I tried a shallow rig and netted a foul hooker, but I was going nowhere fast.

Meanwhile, Steve on p1, Arthur on p7, and Gary (who was lying 3rd in the league) on p10, were all catching and at least 20lb ahead of me.

I had been feeding 4s and micros on a top kit+1 and had caught one carp early on Kriller paste. When I returned to that line, I finally had a run of fish. I still managed to ping out of a couple fish, and after speaking to others after the match it seemed we had all suffered the same problem: the fish were snatching at the bait rather than taking it confidently.

When I needed to rest the short swim, I tried the margins with either paste or 8mm pellet but only picked up a couple of fish. I could see fish coming into the margins, but they spooked out just as quickly and wouldn’t settle.

Another go across on the shallow rig didn’t last long, as my 14m section folded! Just as well I will be collecting my new Matrix XTR 700 later this week.

Back on the short line, it began to fade with an hour to go, so I fed a new swim 6m to my left and alternated between the two swims until the end.

By the all-out, I knew Steve had won the section and I was sure I had overtaken Gary. As for Arthur, it was much closer than I expected, and unfortunately, I missed out on 2nd in section by 2lb.

1.    272-  4 – Andy Jane – p17
2.    150-  5 – Steve Brown – p14
3.    132-  6 – Steve Partington – p1
4.    123-11 – Elvis – p15



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