Ivy House Open, Sunday 13th September 2020

 Back to Ivy today, on the old match lake for a change, cafe was open and I tried the Keto breakfast, very nice too.

Only 12 of us today, I was very happy with the draw, peg 10, a peg I have won from previously albeit 2 years ago.   I had no intention of fishing longer than 13m after yesterday and not wanting to spend a week in agony, but I could push it if I had to - I find fishing a long pole on the deck OK, it slapping and swinging that cause me issues.

So a rig to fish 8mm pellet at the bottom of the shelf, two rigs for 13m on the deck, one on 0.20 with an 0.16 hooklength and the other on 0.16 with a 0.13 hooklength and I was trying the eyed Kaizen's for the first time.

Two margin rigs, both the same except one with a band and one without.  A shallow rig and two lead rods, one for bomb and pellet and one with a method, as the point of the island looked fairly inviting.

Started on the short line and had some bubbles, a carp and a couple of decent skimmers were all I had to show for it.  I gave it nearly an hour, before the activity stopped on that line, switching to the bomb and pellet, that was pretty slow going and I had one on it before I got bored.....

Spent a bit of time on the 13m line fishing a banded 6mm over 4mm catching the odd skimmer and two carp.  I had fed some 6 & 8mm pellets down the edge and had a look down there about halfway through, but not even a liner.

Back on the bomb, nothing, so out onto the 13m line again, I hadn't seen much caught apart from Chris Davis on 9 who was having a few as well as a bit of a torrid time with foul hookers, I hadn't had the foul hooking issue, as I didn't feel there were that many fish in the peg.  Ryan Shipp was having a few silvers on his usual caster shallow, but apart from that I couldn't see much being caught.

With an hour or so to go I put some GB and maggots in down the edge hoping that would draw the fish in, I had two carp over it, but pestered by roach.  Chatting to Chris Davis afterwards he thought it was the wrong thing to do, I agreed, but it was a bit of a last hope attempt to draw some fish.

I was somewhat surprised to end up 4th with 66lb as I thought I'd be further down the results than that, maybe I could have fished harder for silvers and pushed Ryan, but I really don't see where anther 100lb was going to come from to beat Chris who won - or anther 80lb for second to overtake Mark Poppleton.