Acorn Evening Open, Thursday 4th July 2019

I was in two minds as to whether to fish this, but the weather was good, it should have been a straight forward drive down from work - which turned into a diversion, as the motorway was at a standstill at Cribbs Causeway.  I'd also had a chat with Paul (Faiers) who had won the Tuesday match, so I had all the latest info.

Managed to fight my way through the traffic and arrive in time, the plan was to buy 3 pints of maggots and fish them for the whole match, that plan was scuppered by Paul buying the last 2 pints in the shop....

Peg 6, not what I would have chosen, especially with 40 in.

The back up would be pellets, Paul did give me a handful of worms, as they can pick up some margin fish.  Simple bait tray then, 4 and 6mm Burts feed pellets, worms and a I knocked up a bit of paste as it was so warm, I also soaked a few micros..

There is an area across to the bridge that has a flat shelf, but it was so overgrown, I felt it was too much gardening for an evening match, there was an area already cleared out (or so I thought) so I plumbed up there, it was deeper than I would have liked, but I could pull the pellet onto the slop by going in tight.

A paste rig, a shallow rig and a margin rig completed the set up, starting across, I had a fish first put in, second put in I got snagged on the grass which was under the water and lost the rig, elastic (which snapped at the puller bead) and that set the mood for the night.  Another top kit out, duplicate rig and back across, I had a couple more bites, but it was not prolific, none of the lines were, I had a couple out of the margin, a couple on paste and that was it. I fed micros in the margin, just a few at a time, if I tried worm on the hook I got a roach or a perch, telling me there weren't many carp there.

I walked round with the scales doing the board and many others were telling tales of lots of foul hookers, seeing fish in the margins and not being able to catch them, a different world from my peg I must admit.  Still after a shit week and a sad day on Wednesday being involved in some initial investigations into the accident where two fellow railway workers lost their lives in an accident in Wales, I was determined to just enjoy the evening, whilst it was frustrating  struggling for bites, Wednesday had put it all into perspective, well done to Walshy and the framers.

Next up is Tony's Float Only on Sunday, Sedges this week, so lets see what that brings.