My turn on Match Lake (A Section) today and with the overall looking out of reach, I desperately needed a silvers win to keep me in with a chance of framing in the silvers overall. I waited until the last ticket was in the ice cream tub and it turned out to be A1, a peg that hasn't picked up money, but hasn't been last in section either.
The wind was blowing into the end bank from my right to left and there were signs of fish moving along the end bank, but I suspected they were carp and I wanted avoid them as much as possible. In fact the wind wasn't just blowing, it was gusting and just strong enough to be a nuisance all match - a familiar theme this year!!
Having now drawn the peg I have to agree with Tony Rixon's comments after the last match, about it being too close to peg A2 for double banking, too late for this series, but one to note for next year. I agreed with Gordon Canning to only fish 11m out in front and he'd do the same I set up three topkits and then had plenty of time so set up two more. A pencil float for soft pellet with a 0.12 hooklength and a 16 Drennan Silverfish, the same Malman as yesterday, whose name still escapes me, with 0.10 and a 20 Drennan Silverfish, a NG float thats like a Carpa Chimp, but stronger... again with 0.10 and a 20 DS. The two I set up in the spare time were a MW slim to fish banded pellet in the corner (or shallow) and another MW slim to fish down the shelf at the end bank, both of which were for if the silvers turned out to be non existent.
On the all in I fed a line at 11m with groundbait and caster, which proved to be a waste of bait and probably spreading the fish, as shortly after doing this the wind made presentation and seeing the float impossible. I also fed a fed micros and softened 4's into the deeper water off the end bank and a shorter groundbait line at 8m. It took a while to get a fish, the first two being lost due to the wind hitting the pole and causing the fish to 'bump' off.
Trying to avoid carp I stuck to the groundbait line and this produced a couple of fish but they weren't really getting their heads down, I tried soft pellet over the micros on the end bank and this produced a few bites, initially a decent skimmer, then some tiny carp. It was more like fishing for F1's than skimmers as I'd get a couple and then nothing, starting up a new line with a few micros (they didn't want to stay over the groundbait) saw a skimmer or two, before a carp or rudd signified that the skimmers had gone. So until the last 3/4 of an hour, I kept rotating lines and starting new ones which kept the fish coming, albeit at a rate I suspected wouldn't be quick enough to secure the silvers section points. With 3/4 of an hour to go, the line I had been feeding with caster, but switched to maggot feed and maggot on the hook, straight in front at topkit range started to produce the biggest skimmers of the day. This line got stronger towards the end, but with 7 minutes to go, I somehow managed to catch the tree with the rig (I'd managed to miss it for 5hrs 53 mins!!) and standing up to free it off saw the bites stop for a crucial 5 minutes, I didn't know how crucial at the time, but the weigh in saw me beaten for 1st in the silvers by 4oz.......... My mixed net of skimmers, roach, rudd, perch, 2 F1';s, 2 brown goldfish, a goldfish and a decent hybrid went 25.08 and the unwanted vermin that gatecrashed the party went 12.07 for a 37.15 total and a sneaky pick up by default, thats 4 out of 5 pick ups in this series, so not too bad. (Sorry Bridge troll, that's 2 matches this series I've done you by 2oz.....)
Making the most of a decent draw for 1st on the day was Tony Rixon, catching 55 carp on banded pellet.
1) Tony Rixon 111.14 peg 40
2) Tom Thick 108.00 peg 30
3) Andy France 82.07 peg 34
4) Lewis Jones 80.07 peg 36
=5) Glenn Bailey 68.11 peg 38
=5) Brian Slipper 68.11 peg A4
Silvers
1) Russ Peck 25.12 peg A5
2) Chris Fox 25.08 peg A1
3) Mark Broomsgrove 21.04 peg 6
League Standings to follow in the next couple of days.
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