Float Only, Sedges, Sunday 17th June 2012

I was going to have another weekend off and do more stuff on the house and get ready for next weeks two day festival at Trinity, but a late call from Tony Rixon wanting to fill a space in his float only, persuaded me to get out fishing, the house can wait.

I have only been to sedges a couple of times before, both with little success and the day kicked off to a bad start when tony asked what bait I had ordered (two pints of caster and a few maggots), because he had forgotten it. Great, I had fancied a day on the silvers, thankfully Nigel Bartlett came to the rescue and handed me two pints of the finest caster I've seen for a long time, not a skin or floater amongst them - thanks Nigel.

As it was 5 peg sections and a league, there was no point in me doing anything but fishing positive and trying to win, my home for the 6 hours was peg 6, which I was informed was a great winter peg, just what you need in June, even though the weather is far from flaming June.

I set up a trusty Normark Titan 2000 for a pellet waggler to fish out towards the rope that divides the lake and three topkits, a 4x18 Jolly with a 16 carp maggot hook on 0.12, a No6 MW diamond with a 16 6313 on 0.14 and a paste rig on 0.18.

At the all in I fed a line at 7m to my left with CW&C, a line straight out at 13m with pellet and then started on the pellet wag whilst the pole lines settled, this was slow going, the first indication after about 20 minutes was a fouler, which stayed on until 6" from the net, before shedding the hook. 10 minutes later a fish around the 7lb mark graced the net, but that was it for the waggler, I tried at several times during the match, but the wind changed round and the cruising fish disappeared.

A look over the CW&C brought a big skimmer on worm and caster hookbait, perhaps I was going to have a good day on the silvers after all, but that was it on the worm and caster , caster produced nothing, nor did soft pellet.

I spent the rest of the match between the two pole lines and picked up 5 more carp to 12lb and another 4 skimmers, all on paste, the lines were fizzing, but there appeared to be little fish movement, as I had very few liners. I thought it would be a tight match and so it proved, my 5 skimmers going 10lb exactly and 6 carp 54.15, my 64.15 was enough to take third spot.

1) Phil Harding 76.07 peg 20
2) Bela Bakos  69.09 Peg 19
3) Chris Fox 64.15 peg 6
4) John Thompson 63.15 peg 23
5) Anton Page 61.15 peg 8
6) Tony Rixon 60.9 peg 32

Silvers
1) Shane Caswell 39lb peg 18