PSV Match, Viaduct Campbell. 29-03-15

With British Summer Time upon us, longer days always herald the balminess of spring and summer.....yeah whatever!! But at least it wasn't cold today, but it was stupid windy with squally showers throughout the day.

I arrived at the lakes in plenty of time and as people arrived the banter started, from meat spillages through to my ability to moan about the chances of drawing my 'beloved' peg 130.
With 20 of us fishing today we used all the pegs on the long banks, leaving the end banks free. Peg 130 was definitely in!!
We all paid Mr Dearlove our monies and soon enough the draw was upon us.

With Saturday's match having weights of 188lb, 186lb as the top 2, plus decent back up weights, we were expecting to catch a few fish, though we all knew the wind would be our biggest enemy.
Pegs 115 and 116 and the pegs from 123 down to 128 were favoured as they'd been the most consistent ones recently and the 120's would have the wind off their back-ish. Peg 119 was baring the brunt of the weather. Down on pegs 110/111 and 132/131/130 the lake looked a whole lot calmer.

Back to the draw, I drew 3 from the end and knew I wasn't getting peg 130 as Rich Jones had that in his had, I managed to pluck peg 119, a peg I haven't fished and wasn't too displeased, though I would have been happier in calmer conditions.

Peg 119, Viaduct Campbell.

The common way to fish this peg tends to be a wag/lead towards peg 120, which in the 1 o'clock direction from the peg, or to fish the pole long against the end bank, but the pole at that length was out of the question due to the strong and gusty wind that was blowing at a 45 degree angle in and across me.

The end bank looking from Campbell 119.

For company I had Simon Belcham on peg 118, next to him was Matt Taynton, whose peg 117 is rarely used and is set well back from the rest.
I set about sorting my kit, trying not to have anything blow away. I even leant Simon a landing net handle as his had died!!
I assembled a lead rod for banded 8mm pellet as realistically this would have been the only likely form of fishing for most on my bank, plus it's been the most productive method on the lake.
2 pole rigs were made up, both identical 0.5g NG floats to fish meat over hemp (and a few pellets), the 1st rig was for the margin to my right at 2+2 distance, this never gave me a fish so no more on that. The second rig was for the same distance in front as this is all I could hold-ish in the wind, the rest of the pole stayed in the holdall.

The all in was called and I just about managed to pot some bait in on my 2 pole lines before I went out on the lead, as did most people. I began fishing over toward the tree on the end bank and I began to regularly feed 8mm pellets over the area I was fishing, just 3 or 4 every couple of minutes.
Simon had began on a groundbait feeder with maggots.
Opposite me I had Chris Szacaks, he began on the lead and was soon into fish, as was Will Dearlove on peg 125. Steve O'Toole and Adam Caswell on pegs 116 and 115 started off well too.

It took me 45 minutes for my 1st fish, a 3lb carp, this coincided with Si's first carp.
Another hour passed before a 4lb ghostie was netted, but I was picking up too much crap so I began to feed out in front of me a new lead line.
A switch to the pole in front soon gave me a 3lb mirror, but it was bloomin hard getting good presentation, when the wind dropped I got bites quicker.

By the time 4hrs had passed I'd managed 5 decent carp on the pole, fish from 6lb to around 13lb, I also had one do me under my platform, trashing my rig.
While I made a new rig up I managed a couple small carp on the lead, but I knew I was miles behind a few people, especially Chris Szakacs, Steve O'Toole and Will Dearlove.
Ryan Radford came down for a wander and mentioned one or 2 people were struggling and others were catching plenty.

I went back on the pole and landed another carp of 5lb and then didn't get a bite, I knew fish were present as I would get the odd missed bite or liner. With the wind getting stronger I went out on the lead again, resulting in a small carp. While I was playing this fish a sudden gust of wind decided to blow over my roller and move my topkits.......5hrs 15mins of no problems on this front then everything went and happened at once. Matty Taynton popped down and grabbed my pole while I netted the fish.
I decided then to put my pole away and fish the lead for the last 45 minutes.

The last 45 mins were ok, I managed a couple decent fish by fishing the lead over the pole line and a few more further out in front. I had put my 2nd carp net in as my first net clicker said 42lb....I know I am shit as weight guessing, 4lb to 8lb fish are my downfall.....but have been better since using the clicker at certain venues. And with a 70lb limit, 80lb disqualified.....I wanted to play safe, plus my wrist/arm isn't 100% over the bout of tendonitis.
The all out was called at 4pm and I thought I had maybe 70lb odd. From what I could see, Chris on peg 123 would win, but Will would be close. Steve Sewell, who was sandwiched between them on peg 124 also had a good few fish.

I packed away and waited for the scales, there were 2 sets in use so didn't have to wait long for my bank to be done.
A quick look at the board before we weighed Matt on peg 117, revealed Steve O'Toole had the best net of 117lb+ and Derek Lucas on peg 111 had amassed 102lb. Matt weighed 70lb+ before Simons assorted silvers (well roach plus a handful of small skimmers) weighed 10lb-ish which was likely to win the silvers pot. He had tipped his 2 carp back.
My turn to weigh and I was surprised by my 1st net, in fact I went 8lb+ over the 70lb limit, but was thankfully under the 80lb and goodnight limit. My second net gave me another 38lb 6oz and my solitary skimmer was a token (unweighed) 4oz. Totalling 108lb 10oz (would have been nearer 118lb).

Elsewhere it turned out that Chris Szacaks had 170lb+ to win, as I expected. Will had registered 170lb but had to take off 82lb as he'd gone over the point of no return in a net...!!
Rich Jones and Ron Hardiman both had 120lb+ nets on that bank.

Results:
1. Chris Szakacs (123) 173-7...
2. Ron Hardiman (127) 120-13
3. Rich Jones (130) 120-0
4. Steve O'Toole (116) 117-4
5. Lee Williams (119) 108-10
6. Derek Lucas (111) 102-11

Silvers:
Simon Belcham (118) 10-6
 

So overall I was pleased with my net, I only lost 3 fish, 2 of which went under my pallet (the wind was hindering my nets I use as blockers) and another was hook pulled on the tip, maybe foul hooked.
If I had been able to fish the pole, or even feed the lead line better, I could possibly had a few more fish. But well done to Chris Szakacs, he drew a good peg and made the most of it.
Unlucky to Will, who'd run him close but a mishap saw him lose a net. However he did get 25 quid for winning the section, so all wasn't lost on him.
Best even more well done to Derek Lucas who'd caught his first 100lb net, especially as I told him he should fish for silvers, lol.

Weigh Sheets. Campbell.

Next up for me.....I hope to get out at least 3 times over the long 4 day weekend, but I am definitely fishing with PSV at Shiplate on the canal lakes. I am not sure if or where there are any other matches over the easter weekend .

Until next time, take care.
Lee

PSV Match, Sedges Tile Lake, 22/03/15

We had 17 or so originally booked in but ended up with 9, mostly due to Bristol City's trip to Wembley (which they won the Paintable Cup or something).

Anyways back to the match and after the usual faffing and chatting we managed to get down to the draw. The pegs used were 21, 23, 26, 28, 31, 33, 35, 38 and 40. I fancied one of the 3 corners or maybe 36 or 26.  But to be honest I would have been happy not to fish as my wrist/arm wasn't better.
I plucked peg 28, not the worst peg in the world and one I have had several times and not ever done any good in general.
For company I had Matt Taynton on peg 26, he'd been fishing the venue plenty over the winter and is a very good angler, no doubt he'd mostly be fishing a pellet feeder and then a waggler, mostly with banded 6mm pellets I would guess.

Sedges Tile Lake peg 28

With me still having a problem with my tendonitis I never had any intention of fishing for silvers as it'd involve too much shipping a pole back and forth. I am not sure that I could do that.
So I basically set up a method feeder and a waggler, plus a couple of top kits for the pole (1 for 5 sections in front and another for down towards the empty peg 29), these areas never gave me a fish on my usual meat tactics so no more on them.

I began on the feeder and it took ages to get a positive pull, that was a 6oz skimmer. Not much followed so I tried the waggler, this gave me another 6oz skimmers.
That's how my match went, in fact I had all of 12 bites over the 6 hours on meat or pellets, I didn't use maggots as there were loads of fry around. I ended up with a solitary carp and 6 or 7 small skimmers to 1lb.

During the match I did manage to watch the Liverpool v Man Utd match on my phone, which in all ways was the highlight of my day to be honest. Poor old Stevie G.  Hahahahaha.

Across the lake, over the course of the match I saw Ron Hardiman start off well on the corner peg 31 (fishing to the corner of the island and then down along the end bank), his catch rate slowed as the day went on, Julian Nurse on p33 kept plugging away for the silvers of all sizes. Steve Burgess (on the waggler? then later the pole down the edge) and Alan Healey picked up fish throughout the day (lead and wag) including an 18lb lump by the out-going match secretary Steve.
On my bank it was Matt Taynton who'd done well, mostly catching on his usual waggler set-up fishing 3/4 of the way to the island fishing 6mm hard pellet. By the end of the match he'd be close to winning I guessed.

So after 6hrs it was the all out, which I was glad of really. I had agreed to pay 2 quid to Steve Burgess before the match when the results were confirmed.
I was quick enough to pack up and even went round to Steve to get the board and began the weigh in.
That began with Lee Waller amassing 25lb or so, Derek dnw'd, Matt had 55lb-ish and I had 12lb or so. Ron Hardiman had just over 51lb then Julian Nurse's silvers weighed 18lb 13oz, Mr Healey had 64lb and apparently he admitted to well below that!! lastly was Steve, he had 58lb 4oz. John Bradford dnw'd from peg 40.

Results:
1st Alan Healey, 64-09 peg 35
2nd Steve Burgess, 58-04 peg 38
3rd Matt Taynton, 55-12 peg 26
4th Ron Hardiman, 51-11 peg 31
5th Lee Waller, 25-00 peg 21
6th Julian Nurse, 24-04 peg 33
7th Lee Williams, 12-07 peg 28
2x DNW

Silvers
1st Julian Nurse, 18-13
2nd Lee Waller,  10-12

Weigh Sheet

So all in all I wasn't best pleased with how it went for me, but that was mostly caused by lack of enthusiasm and 'faulty' right arm!! If I could have fished properly for the silvers then maybe I would have done better, but I didn't fancy hurting my arm any more than needed!

Next up is a match on Campbell Lake at Viaduct, but that lake is still peggy with the carp still reasonably shoaled in the usual winter areas in front of 115 and 116, plus the opposite pegs. Lets hope they have spread about a bit now it seems that the frosts have disappeared.

Until next time, take care.
Lee

PSV Match, Avalon Match Lake, 15-03-15

10 of us fished this match on the 'tidied up' Avalon Match Lake, we have a new member it seems in Vic Bush, I like Vic, you can learn a lot from him just by watching. Actually you can learn something from nearly everyone, so don't be afraid to look, watch and ask.

Anyways I will make this short as typing left handed isn't easy!! As it seems the pain I have had for the last 10 or 12 days is acute tendonitis and I was told by the hospital person that I should have visited them sooner!! Tablets and bandages for the next couple of weeks!!
I arrived in plenty of time for the 9am draw, which by coincidence was at 8:45 as all were present and correct. Adam Caswell had paid his dues to Vic for a bet outstanding and everyone seemed jovial, especially as looking at the lake it looked nice with the water at ideal level and plenty of manicured vegetation and trees.

Anyways after struggling with getting my kit onto my trolley we had the draw, and with only 2 pegs left in the bag, pegs 19 and 17, I had the 2nd last and Vic had the final one. I drew peg 19, although I started getting my kit ready in Vic's peg as I'd forgot what peg I had by the time I had walked 20 yards!!

I set about sorting my kit, which took a while, but I made up a pellet waggler rod in hope rather than expectation, a small groundbait feeder with a 12" hooklength to fish 8mm pellet in a band.
3 pole rigs were made, 1 for silvers at 13m, 1 for carp at the same distance to my right a bit and lastly a margin rig for down to empty peg 18.

Sadly all I had on any of the pole rigs were a super greedy roach on double 6mm meat down the edge and a 6oz skimmer on the carp rig using 6mm meat.

Anyways I began on the feeder, which rested my arm for over an hour as it took that long to get a bite which was a 1lb stockie carp. In that first hour or so Alan Healey on peg 16 had landed around 8 or 9 carp. Ryan Radford on peg 20 was also fishless.
Vic had a couple of small silvers on chopped worm but it was slow for most.

After 3hrs I was up to 2 carp, both 1lb each and maybe 4 or 5 silvers, Ryan was on about 4 carp and Steve Sewell down on peg 22 had 2 small carp and a roach.
Rumour had come down that Adam Caswell was upto around 14 carp!! But other than Alan everyone was struggling, Vic was catching a nice amount of silvers but had lost a couple decent bream or tench.

At around 2:30pm Matt Challenger said he may well head home along with Lee Waller who'd already loaded his trolley and was departing.
Alan had began to catch a few more and I was now content with blanking on the feeder with maggots rather than hold a length of carbon.

3pm came and I had another carp, another 1lb stockie, and Ryan had a run of stockies down his margin on corn. Steve Sewell had began to pack up with the help of his son (who'd had a couple carp and bream from peg 1) before coming down for a chat. He admitted to about 7lb of carp and 3lb of silvers.
The final hour saw me net a few little silvers and in the last 15 minutes a skimmer of around 3lb.

The all out sounded and I packed my gear away and waited for the scales, I guessed I had 3lb of carp and 5lb of silvers. Vic would win the silvers as I supposed he had 20lb and Adam and Alan would maybe contest 1st spot, though I heard Adam had a load more than Alan.
The scales soon arrived at my peg and a glance at the list saw Adam on 61lb, Mark Radford on 24lb with Vic and Alan on 20lb or so.
First up my silvers, they weighed 6lb 15oz and my 3 carp added another 3lb 13oz giving me 10lb 12oz.
Ryan Radford put 13lb 15oz on the board and lastly was Steve Sewell, his 7lb of carp actually was 3lb 12oz and he had 3lb 6oz of silvers to match!

So it turned into a hard day and I am sure that I would have a few more had I been able to fish properly.

Results:
1st, Adam Caswell, 61-04 peg 11
2nd, Mark Radford, 24-14 peg 5
3rd, Alan Healey, 21-11 peg 16
4th, Vic Bush, 20-09 peg 17
5th, Ryan Radford, 13-15 peg 20...
6th, Lee Williams, 10-12 peg 19
7th, Steve Sewell, 7-02 peg 22
8th, Matt Challenger, 5-02 peg 7 (golden peg)
9th, Julian Nurse, 2-13 peg 9
10th Lee Waller, DNW peg 13

Silvers:
1st Vic Bush 20-09
2nd Lee Williams 6-15
3rd Alan Healey 6-01
4th Matt Challenger 5-02
5th Mark Radford 4-12
6th Steve Sewell 3-06
7th Julian Nurse 2-13
+ 3 with no weight of silvers.

Next up for me, hopefully, is a match on Tile Lake at Sedges with the PSV guys, I just have to hope my arm is better. Oh and a trip to the Big One Show at Farnborough with the wife on Friday night/Saturday.

Until next time, take care.
Lee

KSD, Bradney. Pawlett Match, 08-03-15.

With the end of the season for rivers and drains almost upon us, Pawlett LAC had a match on the Kings Sedgemoor Drain along the Bradney stretch in Bawdrip.
With 29 due to fish it was pretty popular.

On Saturday, early afternoon, I took a quick look at the drain to see what condition it was in, it was down by a few feet and flowing out with the tide, it looked good. There were several pleasure anglers fishing between the 2 bridges and were catching plenty of roach and small silver bream or hybrids.
I hoped for similar conditions for the match, I didn't really want it to be 'backing up' all day as it tends to fish tricky when it does. Target weight for the day would be around 18lb for a chance of picking up an envelope.

Back to today, I arrived in plenty of time for the draw and was greeted my several guys, some new faces were in attendance, plus a few who only fish with the club occasionally.
We had Baz Morgan and Bruce Hunt in attendance as newbie members, also Martin Heard and Dave Nash made rare turnouts with us.
A lot of chit chat went on about where would be preferred, but the bay area above the bridge, the 1st couple pegs on the permanent pegs past the EA building and the first 3 or 4 pegs below the road bridge were favoured.
The least favoured areas would be those furthest away from the bridge, on the permanent pegs ie pegs 5 to 9.
We had pegs 1 to 9 on the perma pegs, 10 to 19 on the downstream pegs towards the footbridge and 20 to 29 were pegged on the north bank opposite the EA building.

As usual I waited until near the end of the queue at the draw and with 3 left in the tub, 2 bay pegs and peg 9, I really didn't want peg 9, the furthest walk. I drew peg 9..!!
I made the comfortable walk along the footpath to my peg, most of the anglers I passed wished my luck as it wasn't a 'wanted' peg.
For company I found that peg 8 was taken by Barry Morgan, that's the only other angler I could see. But I knew I'd have my work cut out to better Barry's weight, he's not a bad fisherman.

Looking downstream to Barry Morgan on peg 8, Bradney. Ksd.

I began to set my gear up, which was a feeder rod that other than 2 five minute spells while I had a cuppa, remained unused.
A 3aaa waggler rod, a couple of topkits for the pole, one with tench in mind at 6m in the 10am direction, and the other for small fish at 13m in front.
Lastly 2 whips were assembled, a 4.5m with a 4x18 float on to fish on the deck (unused) and a 4m whip with a 4x14 float to fish off bottom.

For bait I had 2kg of groundbait, 3 pints of hemp, 2pts of caster and some maggots just in case, lastly I had a few grains of corn for a change bait and to try and temp the tench!!
At the all in I balled 8 big jaffas of groundbait on the long pole line and threw some hemp/caster on the whip line.

View of peg 9, KSD Bradney.

I chucked the feeder out for 5 minutes while I had a cup of tea, as the water was stationary things didn't look too fishy, the water was clear too.
Once I had drank my tea I tried the waggler, I kept feeding the whip lines and threw the odd few bits of corn over where I hoped for a tinca.
The first 90 minutes of the match, while the water was still, was a struggle for me and Barry, I had a chunky perch of 5oz and a couple 3oz roach.

Once 12pm arrived, the drain started to trickle along from right to left, so I tried the whip and had a 3oz roach right away, another soon followed. This was the pattern for the rest of the match, though occasionally I did go out on the long pole line as to rest the whip swim, the pole line gave me a bite a chuck, but wouldn't be quick enough at that distance to build a weight.
While fishing the whip I shallowed up and down during the match and this managed to trick a nice rudd of around 1lb.
I didn't feed any groundbait on the whip line, experience taught me that this isn't always best and only to try it when things get really tough. I was feeding pretty heavy with hemp and casters, using caster on the hook. Maggot would only bring baby skimmers and small hybrids.
We also had an a spell where quite a few far-eastern people walked along the path behind me, killing my whip line dead for a lengthy spell, a switch to the pole saw me keep catching a few fish.

At around 2pm I had a look over my spot where I had been feeding corn and hemp, my double corn bait bought an instant response, from a 4oz roach. That was the last time I tried that spot in anger.
The last 2.5hrs was spent mostly on the whip, generally fishing 18 inches deep, occasionally deeper, occasionally shallower. This kept me busy with mostly roach from 2oz to 6oz, these fish looked slightly larger than the ones Barry had been catching on his whip, he'd been feeding groundbait...!!

As the light dropped at 4pm bites were coming quickly and at 12" deep, mostly 3oz roach, but they were adding to my net.
The all out was called at 4:30pm and I began to pack away, I would be 1st to weigh. But before the scales arrived, I went and had a chat with a few guys, most admitted to around 10lb, except Steve Fouracre who didn't want to guess his net. Rumour was that Jamie Cook had 30lb or more and Vic Bush was well over 20lb, both guys were in the favoured bay area.
I couldn't put a weight on my net, maybe mid-teens, I really didn't have a clue as I just get into a routine when whip fishing.

The scales arrived at me, and as I lifted my net out I knew that I had around 20lb+, the scales showed 26lb 12oz, nice enough and plenty more than I expected.
Next was Barry, he put 12lb 6oz on the board, between him and Steve Fouracre on peg 2, the weights were between around 10lb and 16lb, Steve's fish weighed 21lb 5oz and had a big perch in the catch.
So I sure of a section envelope.

I went and loaded the car and stood around chatting to Eric and Steve Fouracre, plus Phil Clapp. The scales were busy weighing pegs 10 to 19, only Dave Nash on peg 12 (golden peg no.1) had a tench, but the top weigh from these pegs was Mike Bendell's 19lb+ from peg 10, which was made up mostly 1-2oz silvers of various species.
I joined the scales as we headed to weigh in the North Bank, pegs 20 to 29. Peg 29, Ian King DNW'd, before the guys from 28 back to 23 had weights between 11lb and 14lb.
Then we arrived at Jamie Cook's peg, peg 22, a nice peg that's done me well in years gone by, he had some big rudd in his net, plus plenty of roach, skimmers, hybrids of various sizes. He weighed a fantastic 36lb 3oz to take the lead. Last to weigh was Vic Bush on peg 20, he'd had lots of fish, but mostly blades and small hybrids, these tend to weigh less than they look.
As he lifted his net it looked like he had around 30lb, but it came in at 24lb 5oz. Confirming my surprising 2nd spot.

Results:
1st, Jamie Cook, p22, 36lb 3oz
2nd, Lee Williams, p9, 26lb 12oz
3rd, Vic Bush, p20, 24lb 5oz
4th, Steve Fouracre, p2, 21lb 5oz.

Weigh Sheet, consistent figures. Bradney Ksd.

So all in all it was a productive match and my net surprised me, but I guess my fish were an ounce or so heavier than most of the average fish caught. I also found that, as expected, maggots only gave me small blades of hybrid. The quiet 90 minutes at the start, plus the 30 mins after the walkers passed (twice).
I managed to feed all my groundbait, that long pole line probably gave me 2lb of fish.
I also fed 3 pints of hemp and nearly 2 pints of caster to keep the roach coming.

Next up for me is a match at Avalon with the PSV guys.

Until then, take care.
Lee

PSV match, Landsend Match Lake. 01-03-15

With today's weather forecast showing some strong winds coupled with the odd blustery shower I was pleased to wake up to some sense of spring, sunny skies and not too chilly.
The lake also provides a touch of shelter with all the trees at the complex.

16 of us fishing today, no match secretary or his trainee, so it was down to Adam Caswell and Alan Healey to run the show. With the payouts being top 3, 1 silvers and 2 sections of 8. Adam drew the golden peg, peg 1......I tend to get that peg regularly, but didn't fancy it today!!
I unloaded the car and had a brief chat with a couple guys before the draw was called 15 minutes early as all were present and paid.
I waited until there was 2 balls in the bucket, one for me, one for Mr Healey. I had peg 20, he had 18. Both on the far side of the match lake. I wasn't to unhappy with the peg, though would have rather been up towards 13 to 17.

I arrived at my peg and left my coat off as it was warm enough to do without. To my left on peg 19 was Steve O'Toole and to my right on p21 was Steve Wynne. I could see most guys down my side of the lake plus a couple of guys on the opposite bank (Chris Szakacs, Adam and Lionel Legge).

Peg 20, Landsend Match Lake.

I set up 3 rigs, a hard pellet rig for across to a clump of dead reeds, another hard pellet rig for just up the far shelf at around 13m. Lastly I set up m usual meat rig for 2+2 distance in front where I found a spot some 4 inches deeper.
Bait wise, I had hard 6's, 6mm meat, some wet micros, casters and a few maggots.

I didn't set up a silvers specific rig as I fancied the carp to be moving........!!

Looking up the Match Lake from p20

At the all in I cupped some caster and meat, not too much, at 2+2. Some wet micros and a couple of 6mm pellets went in at 13m.
I went straight over without feeding in the hope I could snare an early fish.
15 minutes in and Alan Healy up on p18 had landed a foul hooked carp and a couple perch. The 2 Steves either side of me both had a carp each.
It was soon my turn to hook a carp, a foul hooked one which came off, then I netted a 4lber that was hooked correctly. Another lost foul hooked fish saw my initial hour over.

The next 4hrs were uneventful for most, with only Darren North up on peg 15 and Lee Waller on peg 13 catching a few carp. Everyone else was struggling by, Steve Sewell on peg 24 had landed 3 skimmers. But other than the odd crucian and skimmer, most people were not catching. A few guys only had 1 carp each, if you had 2 then you'd done ok.
Other than that, Alan Healey was getting lots of small silvers fishing over to a bush in the water.

During that 4 hour spell, I set up a couple silvers rigs and managed to catch a few roach and a skimmer of 6oz, but I was going nowhere fast, I needed a carp of 2 to have a chance of a section money. Fishing for bits was hard work as there didn't seem any pattern in how to catch the 2oz+ fish!!

By 2pm several people had packed up and left (the Radfords) and when we had a deluge of rain and some very strong winds at around 3:15pm, that was the end of the match for a few more guys, with them just leaving their nets in to be weighed. Also Darren up on p15 was catching some proper sized fish on caster shallow as the carp were cruising around the point of the island. Lee Waller lost a lump, but had landed a few of the smaller carp that tend to inhabit the corner pegs of the match lake.

With half an hour of the match left, I decided just to fish on the 2+2 line, partly because it was due to produce a fish (I hoped) and the fact my hands were like ice after the rain/wind we had incurred.
After 5 minutes my float shot under and, thankfully, I was attached to a carp, all I had to do was land it. A prolonged fight, with the fish going on a few long runs, I scooped the fish at the 3rd attempt. A nice fish of around 6 or 7lb.
I had 15 minutes left of the match and hoped for 1 more fish. Other than a slight bob on the float I never had another proper bite.
The all out was called.
I thought I may go close for the section prize, but knew Lee Waller and Darren North would take the top 2 spots, I guessed Alan to have a carp and maybe 10lb of silvers, which was likely to take the silvers money.

I packed up the gear and went and caught up with the scales a we got to peg 13 and Lee Waller.
Up until this point the board showed a best silvers net of 5lb 10oz and 11lb 4oz the overall top weight from pegs 1 to 11.
Lee's combined total was 22lb 2oz, mostly the little carp, but he'd lost a lump last knockings.
Next up was Darren, he lifted what was obviously the winning net, some right lumps, mostly caught and caster shallow. He weighed in 37lb 6oz.
Julian Nurse had just over 7lb, then we saw Alan, on peg 18, pop 7lb 8oz of silvers on the board, less than most expected, with his solitary carp, gave him 12lb 10oz.
Steve O'Toole popped 7lb 6oz on the scales before it was my turn to weigh in. He nearly missed putting a 1oz roach on the scales, but luckily for him he did.

My 2 carp went a nice 12lb exactly and my few silvers was 1lb 12oz. So at that point I was into 3rd place, unexpectedly. Steve Wynne had 7lb 5oz, so was that nearly missed roach behind the other Steve.
Last to weigh was Steve Sewell, he pulled up his net and Alan Healey looked worried as a few skimmers were obvious for all to see, however Alan need not of worried as the 3 skimmers and single roach (I think) gave him 5lb 15oz.

Results:
1st, Darren North, 37lb 6oz. Peg 15.
2nd, Lee Waller, 22lb 2oz. Peg 13.
3rd. Lee Williams, 13lb 12oz. Peg 20.

Silvers:
Alan Healey, 7lb 8oz. Peg 18.

Sections went to Chris Szakacs and Steve O'Toole.

Weights, Landsend Match Lake.

So it was a dull match really, despite a few of us getting a carp, and foul hooking carp, early on, the fish never got their heads down. That late carp for me, on my usually trusty meat line was a bonus.

Darren did well catching the net he did on caster shallow and Alan's net of small fish kept him busy for the most of the match, he did well to get 7lb+.

Next up for me, hopefully, is Pawlett's match on the KSD at Bradney. I am looking forward to that, hopefully a nice day on the whip will be the tactic.

Until next time, take care.

Lee/