Lindholme Lakes - Laurels Lake

Remake of Fantasy Island

Lurch joined Frontrow and I for a quick breakfast and then posed for a remake of Fantasy Island:

'Look boss, the plane, the plane' said Tattoo Harrison

By the time we arrived at the draw, there were 20 on the match and we were allocated pegs 1 - 40 by Neil 'Uncle Fester' Grantham.  A few of the knockout rounds were being finalised today.  Erik the Viking and myself for one, where I was carrying a win and a 38lb weight advantage.  Tattoo and Paul Wilson were also fishing their second leg with Tattoo having a win and also carrying a 2lb weight advantage (looking at the picture above, he looks to be carrying more than a 2lb weight advantage. :-)

I put my hand in the bag and snared peg 28, which was one of the corner (peg 29).  Barry 'Alaaannn, do you want a sandwich' Hunter was to my left on peg 27.  Tattoo drew peg 16 at the end of the spit, Lurch was on end peg 3, Dave Webster was on corner peg 12 and everyone else was dotted around the lake.  My key rival for the day, Erik the Viking, was on peg 7.

The Peg

When we were last here (late last year) there were overhanging bushes and willows all the way along the edge of the lake.  I arrived to find that he had trimmed them back a bit (too much if you ask me) and the wind was blowing directly at me with a slight right to left angle and was coming through the remaining tree stumps.

The Rigs

All of my rigs are set up on .17 Drennan Rig line with a loop at the end to allow me to fish with either a  heavy or light hooklength and with or without a baitband.

I set up 2 shallow rigs - one about 18" deep with a .12 hooklength one white hydro elastic and one about 3.5' deep with a .13 hooklength on Preston 13h elastic. 1 deep rig set at 5ft deep with a .12 hooklength and plumbed up at 14.5m directly in front of me and a margin rig about 2.5' deep with a .13 hooklength which at 14.5m from the peg to where I was fishing along the bank.

For bait I had some venue micro, 4mm and 6mm pellets, meat, corn, 6mm Bait-tech expander pellets and some hard Dynamite baits 6mm pellets (primarily for fishing shallow). Oh and a bounty for yours truly.

Pellets, pellets and more pellets.

At the start of the match, I put on a 6mm expander and put some 4mm and 6mm hard pellets in a tosspot, shipped out to the 14.5m margin swim, tipped the bait over and dropped my rig in.  I must have waited about 20 seconds, the float shot under and an F1 about 12oz was soon in the net.  I repeated the process and the float shot under, nothing, I missed it.  I did the same again.  The float buried and back and struggled to lift the fish off the lake floor.  All of a sudden the fish came to the top and it was a barbel about 6oz.  Baubles (or words to that effect).  I then potted in some corn and pellets to my margin swim and went out on the deep rig baited up with a 6mm expander pellet.  I tipped some 4mm and 6mm hard pellets over the top of the rig and waited.  And waited and waited.  Whoosh.  The float shot under and an F1 about 10oz was soon in the net.

We were now about 1 hour into the match and I had 6 F1's and a couple of small barbel for about 4lb or so.

Squelcher Moorhead

You may recall last weeks episode with Lurchio and his landing net.  When will he ever learn. Obviously not this week.  His landing net came apart again, with a fish in it again.  This time he had to get in the lake to retrieve it and got his foot and trouser leg wet in doing so. By the end of the match, he had trenchfoot and we called him Squelcher.

When I fed pellets with the polepot on to the deep rig line, I got some liners.  I then tried to get them shallow by flicking a few 4mm pellets out which due to the wind, seemed to land in the water behind me, so I swapped to flicking out a few 6mm pellets.  It was not the same.  They did not want to stay down or come up properly.  I am sure that the cold northerly wind was having an effect.

Looking around the lake and from the grumbles doing the rounds, the lake seemed to be fishing very hard with the odd fish being caught now and again.

The last 2 hours

We were now into the last 2 hours of the match and I had approx 8lb.  Dumptruck who was opposite me had a similar weight and 'Alaann, do you want a sandwich' had a ghost carp about 9lb and a couple of small bits.  Sooty who was on about peg 24 was catching some good size perch and odd carp and skimmer on chopped worm.

Mick 'Dumptruck' Aveyard acting as my windbreak - look at the flat water in front of him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a swirl at about 10m along the bank to my right.  I got my margin rig and baited up with a 6mm expander pellet and dropped in.  The float settled and then shot under.  Another F1 about 10oz was soon in the net.  I pulled out of the next 3 fish, which was probably down to the 13h elastic. I quickly swapped over to white hydro.  I then proceeded to fish down the edge until the end of the match.  I could see that Dave 'Newlywed' Webster was catching some big fish and Dave Wathen on about peg 36 was catching a few.

At the all out, I thought that I had about 30lb and seemed to have done okay, based on what the anglers seemed to have caught around me.

The scales arrived and Dave Wathen was leading from peg 36 with 39lb 6oz.  I plonked 32lb 8oz on the scales.  Alaann, do you want a sandwich weighed about 14lb, Sooty had nearly 30lb.  Tattoo had 21lb odd, so with his previous weight, Paul Wilson needed to catch 25lb+. Dave Webster weighed in 43lb 2oz from peg 12, fishing meat down the edge.  Erik the Viking did not weigh and had gone by the time the scales arrived to his peg.  Paul Wilson weighed in 29lb, therefore winning the round and knocking Tattoo out of the knockout competition.  Last to weigh was Squelcher Moorhead.  A few people said that he had caught a few.  He weighed 39lb 2oz.

I had come 4th  and won my section, in addition, I was up another £5.00 courtesy of the knockout competition and I was through to the next round.

Result:

1.  Dave Webster 43lb 2oz, Peg 12

2.  Dave Wathen 39lb 6oz, Peg 36

3.  Chris Moorhead 39lb 2oz Peg 3

4.  Mike Herrington 32lb 8oz Peg 28

Pegs 12, 36 and 28 were all corner pegs and peg 3 was an end peg.

Tightlines for now.

Thanks

Big Pellet.

Double Header This Weekend - Lindholme and Woodlands

I fished 2 matches this weekend, the first one at Lindholme on the open on Saturday, followed by a visit to Woodlands Lakes, Thirsk with Robin Hood AC.

Lindholme

I picked up the car-less one - Buddy 'Anaemia' Keville.  Oh my god, that man needs either a good feed or a good sun tan (or both). :-)

We arrived at the draw to find that we were on Strip and Bonsai due to the numbers there and also that there was a club match on part of Bonsai.  I had a quick natter with Greg 'Beanpole' Norris before the draw and he said that he wanted to draw peg 16 on Strip, he drew peg 8 on Strip, which is opposite where he wanted to be.  I pulled out Peg 53 on Bonsai, which was indifferent to me.  I spoke with Steve Mazza and Beanpole and they both said that sometimes big mirrors hang about there just off the island, which was about 19m away and there is a 16m pole limit at Lindholme, and the wind will be right for it today (it was off my back) as I would be able to feed with the catapult.  I had someone on peg 51 and peg 56.  Anaemia drew peg 79.

The conditions were, bright, sunny, bit of a cold wind coming off my back and there had been an overnight frost.

I set up a bomb rod, pellet waggler (about 3 ft deep), 2 shallow rigs, one with white hydro and one with Preston green 13h, and a margin rig.

For bait I had some Lindholme 4mm & 6mm pellets, Bait-tech 6mm expander pellets and some corn.  At the all in, I cast the bomb to within a foot of the island and waited for it to go round.  I fed a handful of pellets and expanders down the margin and flicked a few 6mm pellets out to the island and some 4mm pellets at 14.5 to try to catch shallow.

After about an hour I had 2 little F1 carp both on the bomb.  The lad on 51 had 3 carp and the lad on peg 56 had 1 carp.  It was going to be hard.

I then swapped and changed methods to catch one fish on one line, before having to change to a different line.  Odd fish on the bomb, 2 fish shallow at 14.5m and a couple of fish down the edge resulted in me tipping back about 22/23lb ish.  The lad on peg 51 tipped back similar, peg 50 tipped back about 5lb, peg 49 tipped back about 15lb and the lad on peg 56 weighed in (possibly about 25lb).  It was hard.

Anaemia tipped back about 35lb or so and said that Steve Mazza on peg 78 had about 70/80lb.

By the end of the match Anaemia only needed a good feed due to the sunburn on his bonce.

As I was leaving, I spoke to Tim Moran who was on about peg 38/39 and he was admitting to about 70lb.  I could see that the lad on peg 69 had been catching steadily all day.  I did not wait for the full results.

Woodlands - Skylark

The following day, I was in Thirsk for a club match at Woodlands Lakes.  We were on Skylark lake.  The previous days conditions had resulted in 2 x 200lb+ weights from end pegs 1 and 37 on Partridge lake and 120lb ish from peg 34 on Skylark and a big 90lb from peg 6.  So, it seemed that all the fish were at the car park end of the lakes.  On my last 2 matches here I have been 3rd twice from peg 32 and 30 respectively with about 70 - 80lb.  The wind was very cold and quite strong and was blowing into my peg from everywhere on the lake and it was over-cast.

Due to the increase in club members, it was decided that there would be an increase to the club knock-out.  I originally had a bye to the next round.  Anyways, I was put back in the knock-out draw and got drawn against Erik the Viking.  I decided to have my first leg at Woodlands and Erik is yet to decide on the return leg venue.

I put my hand in the bag and drew peg 34.  Hmmmm.  Mixed thoughts.  The match results from Wednesday all came from the other end and 3rd was from middle of the lake.  Peg 34 used to be called the boards, but they have now rotted away and there are one or two bits of twigs, brambles and branches on the waters edge.  Frontrow drew peg 11.  This was his first visit to Woodlands, a quick chat about methods and lines and we were both off.

I arrived at my peg to find that Colin 'The Worm' Weaver was on peg 1 and I had Sadsack (Pid) himself next to me on peg 32.  Lurch was on peg 4 and my competition for the day, Erik was on about peg 22.

I set up the method rod, bomb rod, 1 shallow rig and two margin rigs, one to fish with expander pellets/corn/meat and the other to fish with a hard banded pellet (if I was getting mithered by bits).

For bait, I had some hard 8mm pellets, 6mm pellets, Sonubaits Green Supercrush groundbait with some micro pellets, meat and corn and some 6mm expanders from the day before.

10.30, the match was under way.

I baited up the method rod with an 11mm pellet and chucked it out about 2ft off the 'boards' and fed a few 8mm pellets over the top.  2 minutes later, nothing.  Quick reload and out again.  I waited all of 30 seconds and the tip flew round and the freespool was screaming away.  I lifted the rod and proceeded to reel the fish in.  I got it back to the landing net where it made a last ditch for freedom and SNAP.  The hooklength broke and it was gone. DAMN!! or words to that effect came from my mouth.  I then put on a proper hooklength - a Preston Innovations C1 Method Hooklengths (0.19 Dia).  I must have had on a winter method hooklength of about .15 dia.  Lurch saw me hook my first carp and get it to the landing net before it made one last bid for freedom and snap me.  He then started to take the Michael, so to speak and started shouting something about Deja Vu.

I baited up again with an 11mm pellet and lobbed it back out to the same spot.  Some 5 minutes later a 6lb carp was in the net.

About 1 hr into the match, Lurchio hooked his first fish and spent for ever and a day playing it and shouting to all and sundry that would listen that he had a fish on and it was a monster.  I could tell that it was foul-hooked from where I was due to the jig, jig, jig of the line.  I shouted over that it was foul-hooked.  After about 10 hours, he managed to get it into the landing net, that is when both calamity was against him, but the gods were with him.  His landing net pole broke and the landing net fell back into the lake with the fish still in it.  He then managed to hook onto the landing net with his broken pole and managed, somehow (I am sure that I saw the hand of god - no, not Maradonna,) managed to get the fish and said net back to the bank and took the hook out of the fishes tail and put said fish in his net.  THE SPAWNY B^%%^$K!!!

I had caught 2 carp in the first hour of the match.  I then had a go on the pole at 14.5m along the boards and baited up with double 6mm expander.  I put a few pellets and a splash of groundbait in a toss pot, shipped out and waited.  After a couple of minutes, the float bobbed, then shot under.  I struck and pricked a fish.  I re-baited and shipped back out to the same spot and waited about 4 or 5 minutes when the float shot under and a carp was on.  It was about 5lb.  I now had 3 carp for approx 15/16lb.

I swapped between the method and the pole down the boards, whilst continually flicking a few 6mm pellets out to 14m to try on the shallow rig.

Just over halfway into the match, I had 5 carp for about 25lb or so.  I cast out the method down the edge and waited.  The tip flew round and I hooked into a fish.  About 10 seconds later, the fish felt weird as I was trying to reel it in.  I could see the boils and swirls from the fish and it was not moving.  I was tethered to some old tow rope fishing line that was laying in the water.  I commando crawled along the bank (and the boards) to where the fish was still tethered to the old fishing line and netted the fish (and about 10 miles of 100lb fishing line).  This commotion and activity so close to where I had been casting had completely cream-crackered my peg.  Dagnamit.

I managed to add another carp over the next hour or so.  By this point, Sadsack had 2 carp, The Worm had 1 carp, Lurchio had 2 carp, it was fishing hard.  Rumours were coming back to me that Mark Wright was catching in corner peg 17 and Barry 'Alan do you want a sandwich' Hunter was catching a couple of pegs away.  I could see Dave 'Mr Newlywed' Webster catching the odd fish on about peg 20.


Guru Drag-Line (6lb)

I cast out on the method again and hooked a fish which ran into some roots or something.  I pulled for a break and lost my method and hooklength.  I had just loaded my reel with some new line that same morning.

I had been using some white line on my method reel and can't remember what it was, but I was not happy with it.  When I had been casting out and just before tightening up the slack line, the line was coiling and twisting and then wrapping around the eyes on the rod, TOTAL NIGHTMARE!  As part of my Guru freebies, I got a 250m spool of 6lb Guru Drag-Line.  Before the morning of Sunday's match, I decided to strip the line off my old spool and fill it with the Drag-Line.  Following the exploits of catching some towrope and some underwater trees, I have only used it for one session, but I am quite pleased with it.  It had a bit of stretch when I was trying to pull for a break and did not suffer any abrasion (as I could see or feel) when I hooked the towrope.  Only time will tell.

I managed to snare another couple of fish over the duration of the remainder of the match and ended up with 8 fish.  The scales started to weigh in from peg 1.  The Worm had a couple of fish.  The lad next to him had about 3 fish, Lurchio tipped back 2 fish.  Horsfall on peg 10 had 53lb, Frontrow 48lb, then there was a string of 60+ weights, Alan do you want a sandwich had 68lb, Paul Wilson had 68lb, Frank Brooks (I think that is his name) weighed 88lb from peg 14/15 ish and Mark Wright had 63lb.  The scales came down my side and Ian on peg 18 had 37lb, Mr Newleywed weighed 13 carp for 83lb, Erik the Viking weighed 1 carp in, Dave Wathen was in the 2nd round of his knock-out against Ian (and it was all to play for following the equal weight of 1oz from Tyram Hall) and needed to weigh more than 37lb, he plonked 39lb on the scales.  Craig Jones fished on Wednesdays match where he was 3rd from peg 12 and today drew peg 29 and plonked 68lb on the scales - this included 3 fish for 30lb odd from down the edge. Sadsack had initially left his net in and taken his gear back to the car and went back to weigh in.  By the time that the scales had got back to his weigh, he had gone.  I was last to weigh.  I tipped 46lb odd on the scales.  I was 3rd on my bank and I was 3rd on my half of the lake and never won a bean or had I?

Due to beating Erik today, I have won £5 and I also carry a 40lb weight advantage to the next round.

Result:

Frank Brook 88lb odd (peg 15)
Dave Webster 83lb odd (peg 20)
Not sure of 4th as there were 4 x 60lb+ weights.


Car Boot Sales

I went to a local car boot before picking up Front-row and I was ambling along, as Sunday drivers do at about 59.9mph (don't want to incriminate myself now do I?!), and I was being overtaken by taxi's from Bradistan and CleckHuddersFax with the drivers wives (yes plural) in the back getting all giddy and laughing and telling him to drive faster, faster.  I know I can't speak a foreign language, but I am sure that they were saying 'faster Ahmed, faster, gotta get there for the bargains, it is cheap. :-)  A few years ago I went to another local car boot and bought a Daiwa Tournament Goretex Jacket for £50.  It was in nearly used condition.  I tried it on and it did not fit me, so I put it on ebay and got £167 for it.  The lad was selling all of his gear as he had done his back in and been advised not to fish again.  I bought a Preston Innovation fleece off him for £25.

On the way home, Front-row said to me that he loves Preston 17h hollow elastic.  He loves it that much that he was going to go home and kick his missus out of bed and take it out of his topkit and wrap himself in it like some bondage freak and sleep with it.  What a saddo (or weirdo, take your pick).

Moorfields Farm Fishing, Goole

Today was the 2nd match in our 30 match summer league with Robin Hood AC at Moorfields Farm Fishery, Goole on the 1st pond.

There were 19 of us in attendance today.  The newly-weds were back of their honeymoon (Congratulations Dave & Michelle Webster), they arrived back in time to organise today's fixture.  We also had a few new recruits joining us.

Apparently there was a match on the lake yesterday and 83lb won from about peg 10.  I fancied drawing pegs 2, 15 and 30 which are all corner pegs.  Pegs 2 and 30 due to the hurricane blowing that way and peg 15 is a noted peg as in my two previous outings here, I have been on 14 and 15 and won both matches.  Failing that I wanted to draw the low numbers 1 - 15 as usually, this is where all the weights come from.

I watched a couple of lads draw and saw pegs 15, 13 and 18 come out.  I put my hand in the bag and gave it a good shuffle and pulled out....

Peg 21.  Baubles, or words to that effect came out of my mouth.  

I arrived at peg 21 to find I had Macka to my left on peg 20 and the female newly-wed on peg 23.  Lurch drew peg 18 (with 16, 17 and 19 empty), peg 15 went to one of the new recruits, Ray Dix, peg 2 was drawn by Mark Wright and male newly-wed drew peg 30.  Well, I know where the money was going today.  All the way to peg 30.

It a tad windy... Sometimes some of the places that we go to need to be re-named.  Take today for instance - Moorfields would have been well at home in some Spaghetti Western and should have been called Tumbleweed Fishery, what with all the wind that we had today.  I am sure that some tumbleweed came rolling across the pond, up and over the central island and on into the North Sea and beyond.

I set up the following tackle

1. 4 x 14 Carpa Gent on .17 Preston Powerline to a .13 Preston Powerline hooklength with a size 14 Colmic 501 hook.  I plumbed up to the next peg platform and found about 3.5ft.

2. 4 x 16 Carpa Gent on .15 Preston Powerline to a .12 Shimano Antares hooklength with a size 18 Colmic 501 hook.  I plumbed up at about 10m at the base of the far slope and found about 4ft.

3. Leger rod with a 12" hooklength and a size 16 Drennan Carp Match hook and a Korum Bait-spike.

For bait I had some micro-pellets covered in some Bait-Tech Halibut Marine Method Mix, which I have riddled to take any large particles out. Red and white maggots, casters, corn and some 6mm Bait-Tech Expander pellets that I had spare from yesterday.

 

I was ready.

At the all in I potted some micro-pellets, expander pellets and corn in at 10m in front of me and catapulted some expander pellets out to the far side.

I got the margin rig and baited up with an expander pellet, I put a bit of micro pellets and some expanders in a little tosspot and shipped out to the next platform.  I settle the rig and waited for it to go.

When you are fishing the first 5 or 10 minutes are so full of excitement and tension.  Not knowing how long you will have to wait or what your first fish is going to be.

After about 10 minutes, I had not had an indication.  I put some more bait in with the tosspot and gave it another 10 minutes or so. Still nothing.

I put some more bait in and left it whilst I went out on the 10m rig baited with an expander pellet.

The float settled, it wobbled then flew under.  I struck and about 1ft of elastic came out and a 6oz skimmer was on the end.  I dropped in again and caught another similar skimmer.  Mrs Newlywed had had a carp by this point on groundbait feeder to the far-side and Macka had a skimmer about 1lb on chopped worm.

I then swapped between the margin rig, the 10m rig and the bomb for the next couple of hours trying to snare a carp.  I tried corn, pellet, caster, double corn, double pellet on all lines.  But alas, none were forthcoming. Mrs Newlywed had now had 3 carp for about 10lb and I had 6 skimmers for about 1.5lb.

The wind seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.  At one point I had so much grit and dust in my eyes and on my glasses, I am sure a dust devil went whizzing past.

I decided to fish and feed caster on top 3 kit to see if I could catch the skimmers faster and hope that a carp comes along and has a chew.

Over the remainder of the match, I caught the odd roach and skimmer on caster on the top 3 kit.  I tried at 10m and caught another couple of small skimmers, but I was having to wait for bites.  I tried down the side again and I also flicked the bomb over to the far-side again.

By the end of the match, I had packed up and tipped back about 5lb of skimmers and roach.  Hopefully things will improve.

Results:

Dave Webster, peg 30 - 70lb

Mark Wright, peg 2 - 62lb

Ray Dix, Peg 15 - 50lb

Paul Farley, peg 9 - 37lb.

Michelle weighed in 20lb, Lurch had 22lb, Macka had 24lb, Dumptruck had 19lb and Front-row had 13lb.

User Report - Bait-Tech 6mm Expander Pellets

I have been using these pellets for about the past 6 months or so.  I have tried various 6mm expanders to find one that is quite robust.  I pump the pellets until they all sink, then I leave them in water.  The pellets still stay firm and do not lose their shape or breakdown even if left in water.  They are light-medium brown in colour and have a very good shape to them.

Tom's Pond, Otley

Just got back from a few hours at Tom's Pond, Otley, West Yorkshire.

I fished peg 16 down the left to the margin reed cover on top 5 of pole.

I fished with 6mm Bait-tech Expander pellets and fed 3/4 each fish.  I ended up with about 40lb in 4 hours.  I used a 4 x 12 Chimp float on .15 dia Preston Powerline mainline to a 6" .13 dia Preston Powerline hooklength to a size 16 Gamakatsu G108 hook.

I had fish to about 5lb or so.

Another club member - Daz 'Front-Row' Harrison

Just want to introduce you to one or two of my fishing compatriots.



Mick 'Dumptruck' Aveyard. :-)



Chris 'Lurch' Moorhead

Tyram Hall, Doncaster

First match of the season with Robin Hood AC, Leeds was upon us.

We should have been at Moorfields, Goole but due to a mix up, I made some calls and managed to get a match on Horseshoe Lake at Tyram Hall, Doncaster.

I had not seen the place before nor was I sure where it was.

I arranged to collect new travelling partner Darren 'Front-Row' Harrison at 7.00am, then a quick drop in to Nursing Home for a brekkie and we were on our way.  A few new members have joined the club this year including Chris 'Lurch' Moorhead and also Mick 'Dumptruck' Aveyard.    The 'Dumptruck' came from the name of the Japanese Sumo wrestler of the same name.  Although UK Dumptruck puts him to shame.

We arrived at the draw to find 16 of us fishing. Tyram gave us the full lake and we pegged on the spit from pegs 1 - 30.  I went and did the pegging, and again, and again.  This was due to complaints regarding various pegs being underwater.

I drew peg 28 with Dave Wath on corner peg 30, Eric 'The Viking' on peg 26, Dave Horsfall on peg 24.  New recruit Lurch was on peg 13, Front-Row on peg 11 and Dumptruck was on about peg 19.  The lake was a funny colour ad resembled looking like very strong black tea (very peaty).  The water was also very cold.

I set up two rigs - one to fish at 13m to my left and the same depth at 10m to my right.  This was a 4 x 16 Colmic float set about 7.5ft deep on Daiwa White Hydroelastic.  My second rig was to fish top 5 down the edge in 3-4ft of water using Preston green 13h.

I then set up an 11ft feeder rod with the method and a 10ft bomb rod.

For bait, I had 1 pt mixed red/white maggots, 6mm expander pellets, 4mm expander pellets, micro pellets and some sweetcorn.

The all in was called at 10.30am and we were fishing until 4.00pm.

I potted some micro's and a pinch of both 4mm and 6mm expanders in at 13m and put the same with some maggots in at 10.  I then threw about 6 - 8 grains of corn down the left hand edge on 6m.

I put two grains of corn on a Korum baitspike on the bomb rod and launched it as far over to the opposite bank as possible, which was a good 50 yard chuck. Some 10 biteless minutes later I re-cast to a different area.  10 minutes later - still nothing.

I decided to chuck the method out to the same spot to get a little bait out there giving it about 5 - 10 minutes between chuck. - 30 mins later, the keepnet was still empty.   I did 3 more quick chucks on the method to get a bit of bait out and went onto the well primed pole line.

Looking around the lake, There were odd 'plips' topping now and again.  A quick shout up and down the lake and it appeared to be hard going.  No-one near me had a bite or a liner.

I baited up the deep rig with double white maggot, shipped out to 13m and settle back in anticipation. I got so settled and comfortable, I could have nodded off.  No bites. EEEKKK, this was going to be damn hard today.  Horsfall had caught a 'plip' small skimmer the size of a postage stamp. I put on a .10 hooklength with a size 20 hook to try to buy a bite. I fed a few more grains of corn and micro's down the edge.

Still nothing.  Could not buy a bite.

I then decided to try to catch a 'plip' so set up a 4x12 Chimp float set to fish on the drop in 6ft of water on top 4 kit.  I managed to snare 4 roach over the next couple of hours.  Rumours were going round the lake that Paul 'Pid' Farley had a carp on peg 16 and the lad on peg 17 also had a carp.

Time to go all out for the win!

I went down the edge on the pole.  Nothing.  Now there were only 30 minutes of the match left.  I chucked the bomb back over to the far side and proceeded to pack away the gear.  This tactic usually generates a response.  TIIIMMMMEEEE!!.

The scales appeared and the results thus far were Pid - 10lb, Frank Brook - 7lb, Paul 'Woofer' Clough 5lb 3oz, Barry 'Alan do you want a sandwich' Hunter 4lb 14oz, Lurch had 3lb odd and Front-Row had 2lb 13oz.  Dave Horsfall was winning my 8 man section with 7 roach for 9oz.  I emptied my net and registered a mighty 7oz.  Crap!!.  Eric the Viking tipped back one plip and Dave Wath weighed in 1 plip for 1oz (as he was in a knockout match).  Dumptruck walked past with about 5 minutes to go and asked if I had caught anything.  I replied 4 bits.  He said that he had tipped back about 1.5lb from peg 19.  'What ever Trevor!'. All of the weights came from pegs 1 - 17.

Talking with lads on the Island Lake that had also fished hard with 25lb winning and one lad having one bite = 1 x 12lb carp.

I would like to go back when the weather is better and the fish are feeding.

A couple of months ago, I received a parcel in the post.  I was not expecting anything.  There was no return label or anything.  I tore into the packaging to find that I had received a nice assortment of GURU items including Guru method feeders, line, boilie/bait stops, line, braid scissors, QM1 hooks in sizes 12, 14 and 16, baiting needles and other nice sundries, all of which have been hiding away until the weather gets warmer and I am able to put them to use.  I will let you know how I get on.

Our next match is at Moorfields on the 1st lake that you come to.

Tight lines for now.