Going into this, the final round, we were sat in seventh place, the blanks in the round where over half the field blanked costing us a top five place, but we were confident that with a half tidy draw we'd claw enough points back to sneak into the money. I was also confident that I'd do well and be in with a chance of a individual frame place on the day, as I was on Campbell and that was likely to throw up the winner individually, on the day,
Before the draw the rest of the team seemed happy and confident, so all was well, I drew for us and pulled out 7, which gave me 116 on Campbell - about as far away from the fish as you can get!! Mark was on 85, always in with a chance from this peg, so he was happy. Rich on 56, the car park bank has been better this year than in previous years, so he was relatively happy. Paul was a little disappointed to be on 25, Spring instead of match lake, but he should have a few bites, finally Glenn, peg 8 on Spring, a corner peg, with little else to do than fish into the corner all day, but with the chance of big fish if they were there.
I went to my peg, determined to make the best of it and hoping the fish were moving down the lake with the wind. As Storm Freya was forecast to make an appearance, I doubted a long pole line would be possible. So a pair of lead rods set up, with different tips to take into account the wind and any tow. Also a pair of wagglers, one with an insert and one straight waggler, as the visibility was poor and if it worsened, a insert would be difficult to see.
I did get the pole out, having drawn the peg before and got out of jail with a few late fish down the edge, but since then the tree that overhung the RH margin has been cut right back and there is scant shelter there now, doubt it will affect the peg in the summer, but the winter I think it will be detrimental. That's not a complaint, I think commercial match fisheries should be fairly tree and snag free.
Three top kits, two for the edge, as there is a distinct drop off as you go along the edge, in the summer, I'd be targeting the shallower part, but felt if they would come in to day, the deeper water would be best. I did set up a rig to fish meat as far as I could, which was 3+2.
I had a few casts with bread popped up, straight after the all in, nothing was forthcoming on that, so switched to the waggler and corn, it took an hour to get a fish, a carp just under 6lb. Then I couldn't get a bite for the next two hours, Steve Nadin on 115 was catching on the waggler, whilst I couldn't get a bite. I tried the lead, various sizes of meat, corn, maggots on the waggler and didn't have as much as a liner for the next two hours. I looked down the edge - in fact I tried that several times during the match and never had a single indication, so we can write that off.
After about 3 hours I slightly upped the corn feed and had two skimmers in quick succession on the bomb and corn, by now I knew I was massively behind most on the lake, although Paul Greenwood opposite wasn't catching either. I switched to the waggler and had 3 more skimmers and that was it, not another bite, no liners, I didn't foul hook any, the peg seemed barren.
At the all out I was pretty pissed off, I thought I was last on the lake and really didn't expect that on the day, as the scales came round and revealed the weights, I really was made to look red faced, I had beaten one - the guy to my right on 118 who DNW, Paul opposite had a good fish near the end, but was still a long way adrift from the big weights, so in my defence, I think there weren't too many fish in the area, as for myself Paul and 118 to be so far adrift, I can think of np other explanation.
I saw Mark, who had a 2nd on lake from 85 and walked back to the van, then saw Rich, who had 15 points, the Paul and Glenn came back and we had lost all chance of gaining ground, as they had 2 and 1 points respectively. It transpired that dropped us to 10th overall, so there is no way you can have 3 anglers return with 5 points between them and succeed in this league.
Well do to the teams and individuals that topped the leagues, that's me done with fishing for a bit now, just can't justify all the time and effort to get draws like that. If we regroup and come back next year (hopefully) I know I won't be drawing the pegs out.
Top Weights Today:
1. Nigel Easton - 160lb 1oz - peg 123
2. Glyn Reynolds - 158lb 6oz - peg 119
3. Martin Preston - 150lb 7oz - peg 131
4. Andy Power - 116lb 13oz - peg 97
5. Chris Davis - 107lb 14oz - peg 132
6. Allan Oram - 102lb 13oz - peg 129
7. Alex Murray - 100lb 6oz - peg 128
8. Phil Wilkins - 92lb 5oz - peg 111
9. Mark Broomsgrove - 90lb 5oz - peg 85
10. Dan Squire - 88lb 6oz - peg 90
Top Individuals of the League:
1. Andy Power - 83
2. Craig Edmunds - 74 / 241lb 3oz
3. Paul Elmes - 74 / 193lb 2oz
4. Shaun Townsend - 71
5. Scott Puddy - 68 / 284lb 11oz
6. Chris Davis - 68 / 199lb 1oz
7. Gary O'Shea - 67
8. Ben Hagg - 65
8. Tom Downing - 65
8. John Moody - 65
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