Viaduct Open Saturday 12th April 2014

26 lined up at the start of this match, held on Cary and Lodge, I wasn't too bothered where I drew, although a corner on Lodge would have been nice, as they often throw up a few fish.  That wasn't to be and 81 worked its way into my grasp at the draw, the LH side of the spit.  The spit can be a a feast or famine area, hopefully not the latter today.

I set up a waggler to fish just past the end of the spit, although the way the wind was pushing the surface around the spit rendered it a waste of time on the couple of occasions I tried it, not so much as a bite on it.  A lead rod completed the rod and reel set ups.  Four topkits set up, two for the margins (up the spit and down by the monk) one with a plain hook, one with a pellet band hair rigged on. Another to fish pellet at 14m and one for meat short.

The two 'open' water rigs did not produce anything except one skimmer and one roach, so mo more about them, the straight lead produced two bites and two fish, so nothing to get too excited about.  The spit produced odd fish with the occasional two in two put-ins, but this was the exception, rather than the rule. I thought I'd cracked it with a margin line down to the monk, with two 14lb fish, then something even bigger hooked, that got a head of steam up, went round the monk and I could hear it splashing about in the margin, but with the pole bent double and me pulling as hard as I could, it still wouldn't come back, eventually I got the rig back, minus a hooklength and with a section of branch wrapped round it. Next drop in another good fish and Paul Greenwood walked round, this, or putting another net in, jinxed it, no more fish from that line.

The third into the fourth hour was the most productive, but gave false hope of a strong finish, as the bites petered out in the 5th hour and didn't improve.  Hard to complain when I was 9th, with 128.04 and 19 out of the 26, 'did a ton'.

1: Dave Hayward 178.06 peg 105
2: Paul Blake 168.10 peg 59
3: N Gaff 155.07 peg 68
4: Roy Worth 154.1 peg 74
5: Mark Poppleton 143.13 peg 96
6: Phill Cardwell 139.8

Silvers
1: Alex Murray 52.2 peg 78
2: A Mitchell 39.0 peg 102