Saturday 19 October 2013

Stafford Moor Festival Weds/Thurs/Friday

Wednesday saw me on Joseph's peg 8. This is the first peg on the dam wall and can be good, but tricky to fish. I had decided to fish 3 pole lines. My main Corn line would be down the edge at 12.5 going to 14m if needed. This is probably the only area you can fish down this edge due to the amount of weed close in. My next line was at 8m and would be a catmeat line. My last line would be a paste line at 12.5m in around 12ft of water. A bomb rod set up to fish a lassoed pellet bait finished my set up.

The wind was blowing a gale, so I did not set up a waggler rod, as I had nothing to throw at and in the conditions thought it a waste of time.

I started off fishing paste at 12.5 hoping for a quick fish. Placing a large ball of paste on a size 12 B911 and lowering it down, it sank, a small adjustment to the depth and the next put it I lifted into a small carp after around 5minutes. Happy days!!! but this was the only fish I had from this line, mainly due to the wind and not being able to control the pole properly. A look on the 8m line saw no bites coming and a quick look on the bomb on the 12.5m line produced nothing.

After an hour I decided to look down the edge, first put in with Stinky Corn over corn, saw a small dip which resulted in a small common which ran me ragged in the weed before the hook pulled. Out again and this time the float buried and  after coaxing the fish into open water I managed to land a good 15lb fish at the first time of asking. I re-fed the line at 12.5m down the edge and had a couple of put in's at both 12.5 straight out and 8m for no bites. So it was back down the edge, I tried worm on the hook to no avail and banded pellet saw a lightning quick bite which was back up before I could react. Another lost fish after 3 hours saw me sticking on this line for the duration of the match. Another carp around 6lb and another lost fish and that was my match over. 31lb for 5th in section. Kevin Wingfield again winning the section with 55lb. Another day where lost fish cost me valuable points. But from this peg I was not going to beat myself up over it. I had hooked 6 fish and got three out from an awkward peg.

Troy had drawn peg 8 on Woodies and had around 36lb for halfway in his section caught on the bomb and pellet waggler. Del was on Pine's and had 19lb for midway whilst Vic was on Emily's and had 90 palm sized crucians for 21lb.

Thursday saw me fishing Emily's 5. A decent peg if the wind is blowing into it. Peg 4 had won the section every day so far and would be hard to  beat. I had been told not to feed a lot and with this mind I set up 3 lines. 12.5m with corn over micros in 4ft of water just as the sunken island starts to go up. A line at 5m in the deeper water and a margin line with maggot in case I was struggling. I fed micros at the start but had been warned not to overdo it, so with this in mind I only covered the base of my cupping kit with a sprinkling of pellets and three grains of corn. Starting off at 12.5m and a single grain of corn I started getting a few small carp around the 1/2lb mark. This is the stamp fish in the lake, however it does hold a few larger specimens to 4lb. After an hour I had around 5lb of these carp and was going nowhere. Others on the lake were catching silvers as well as odd carp. I was not out of it but with the 12.5m line going quiet it was time to switch to 5m. A few skimmers and roach came off this line before again it went quiet. Into the margin where I had fed heavily with maggot in an attempt to get a silver line going. I fished this for a good hour and managed another 5lb of silvers with odd roach pushing 8oz and a few decent perch.

I kept rotating all three lines, getting a couple of bites on each of the longer lines before having half an hour on the maggot, I even managed to land an eel of around a pound on white hydro. That was fun with it swimming backwards whilst trying to net it. Pete on peg 4 had clearly won the lake and Lee on peg 2 would run him close. However there was not a lot to choose between the rest of us on the lake. My weight of 21lb 4oz was only good enough for 5th in section and in hindsight I should have kept swapping the lines on a more regular basis, instead of sitting and waiting for a bite. Another lesson learned and in reflection of my normal fishing it is something that I do quite regularly. Another couple of pound would have got me third in section and is something I thought was possible.

Troy had drawn Joseph's  and had 3 fish for 20lb for nowhere in his section. Vic had drawn Beatties 11 and had 19lb of bits whilst Del again had a section second with 24lb including a carp of 14lb. Beattie's had thrown up quite a few carp to those fishing it during the week. It is Stafford Moor's pronounced specimen water but when you are targeting roach it can be a problem. Highlighted by Mike Hammond's 22lb 2oz carp taken on a single maggot on number 4 elastic. It took him an hour to land. Paul Barnes had 5 carp out of the first peg on the dam wall of this lake for over 65lb and had a 7lb bream as well as losing another 5 fish.

My festival was probably over after the second day's results but you still keep trying don't you. Del was still in with a shout of a top ten result but the rest of us were out of contention.

Friday was a bit of a chaotic day. It started with Vic feeling unwell at the cottage and making the decision to go home. Troy had drawn his peg and then threw up by the side of his van before getting to his peg. He then went back to the cottage to try to sleep it off. I had a dodgy stomach and coupled this with a cold left me feeling lethargic. Del though felt fine and needed a section win to cement his place near the top of the league and the draw gods were kind to him as he drew peg 35 on Tanners.

I was on Beattie's 5. The "Summer House" peg. It was still blowing a gale and I only had one thought in my mind. To catch a carp. I could have fished for skimmers and roach, but to be honest I did not fancy it. I set up a margin rig to fish to a bush at 12.5m to my left and a bomb rod with a lasso. At the start I fed a pot of Banana Atomic Corn towards the bush and a few pellets out to the edge of a small island for the tip. It's at this point that I would like to say that the tip and pole went around endlessly for 6 hours and I smashed the lake match record out of sight. The truth is after 5 hours I had not had a single bite, despite changes to both depth and baits. At this point I decided enough was enough and packed up early. Not the way I wanted to end the festival but I was still feeling the effects of cold and dodgy stomach and would not skyline or pass anyone on the way back to the car.

Del had finished the day 3rd in section to end up on 13points and out of the top ten. A steady performance throughout the week. Congratulations to Lee "Mushy" Farmer for winning the event for the second time on 5 points and to all the others who fished the event.

Well that's it for another year, thanks must go to Trevor Price at GOT Baits for supplying all my baits requirements for the week. To Andy Seery and the staff at Stafford Moor who conducted the weigh ins in an efficient quick manner, and to Del, Vic and Troy for being good company throughout the week.

Stafford Moor Festival Mon/Tues

The most important day of the week is the Monday. It determines which order you will be fishing the lakes in rotation. In my mind, ideally I would have liked to fished Emily's or Pine's followed by Beatties, Tanner's, Woodie's and finally Joseph's but it was not to be. Day one saw me on Tanner,s.

I had drawn peg 35, a good peg and I was pleased with it. I had drawn it during the summer and had a decent weight from it fishing half way across with 10mm Jupiters. However Vic mentioned that you sometimes need to go really long if you are getting no bites. I set up two bomb rods, one with 2/3oz bomb the other with an ounce, 4lb mainline to lassoed hook lengths. Two pellet waggler rods, one to fish 2ft deep the other to fish 4ft. I also set up a margin rig just in case.

Vic and Del had both drawn Woodie's with Vic on 28 and Del on 3. Troy would have started his campaign off on Beattie's, but would miss the first day due to work commitments.

At the all in I started off on the bomb halfway with a single 10mm Jupiter and immediately started getting a few indications on the tip, a few liners, before after 20minutes the tip goes round and fish number 1 is on. At around 5lb it was a nice start. I kept pinging a few pellets every minute or so and after an hour I had 3 fish. I had a few chucks on the waggler but the wind was hampering presentation and I just could not get it right. The lake was fishing hard. Kevin Wingfield next door on 36 was getting odd fish and I felt he was slightly in front whilst I could see Andy Pell getting a few fish down the edge towards peg 12 from peg 13. Trevor on 34 was putting together a few silver and had a proper carp down the edge.

By swapping lines and distance on the bomb I managed to hook a few more carp, losing one on the line clip and another under the platform, which looked around 8lb, so going into the last hour I was sat on 4 fish. A quick look down the edge produced nothing, so it was back on the bomb. Another two carp followed which boosted my total to 6 fish. Kevin had 7 but I think his were slightly better stamp.

Kevin weighed in 46lb to my 31lb which would see me end up 4th in section. Kevin winning it. 2nd in section was only 35lb and any one of those lost fish would have seen me start off the festival on a high, Andy Pell won the lake with 48lb. I did mention the lake had fished hard.

Vic weighed in 46lb for 3rd in section whilst Del had a section 2nd and a pick up.

Tuesday saw me on Woodie's peg 6 where Del had fished in the open on the Saturday. Again I set up 2 bomb rods to fish across to the island. A waggler rod to fish 3/4 across 2ft deep and two margin rigs to fish both sides under some trees. I started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets over to the island dropping a few short deliberately for the pellet waggler. A bream of around 2lb was first to show, not what I expected but at least I had started. A small carp on the waggler was the first to grace my other net, before the bomb and waggler lines went quiet. A look down to the left where Del had caught and nothing. A look down to the right and a small indication. Another drop in and this time an angry carp went around the back of the tree and snapped me up. I went back out on the bomb whilst I sorted out another rig and with no indications on it I was soon back down the edge. I was fishing the right hand edge tight into the bank and found that by lifting and dropping a grain of Stinky Corn, I would hook a few carp. In fact I landed only 4 more and lost another 4 with fish that ran around the back of the tree. They certainly know where to go when hooked. In hindsight I think I fed too much, only two tins but still felt if I had kindered in rather than throw it would have been better.

Again, I ended up fourth in section, losing out on second again by 6lb but way off the section winner on peg 3 with 77lb.

So Monday and Tuesday had similar results, too many lost fish had cost me points and possible better placings in the festival.

Del and Vic had drawn Joseph's. Del on the dam wall and had snagged 4 carp for 37lb whilst Vic and peg 21 on the Spit which had won the section the previous day. However, the fish were not there and he ended up with 3 fish for 20 odd pound and 5th in section. Troy was on Tanners 11 and had caught 6 carp for 38lb.

Stafford Moor Festival Practice Days

 With nearly three weeks off work due to various reasons I was pleasantly surprised that I had a week before travelling to Stafford Moor(SM) to prepare and a week after to get over it. However by the Thursday, prior to going I had developed a cold which went straight to my chest and was feeling weak and lethargic. Not a good sign.

Fortunately I had done some preparation and made up some deep pole rigs for Joseph's, tied a few rigs to .12 Colmic Stream for Pine's and Emily's, which left Tanners and Woodie's which would be either bomb or pellet waggler work with maybe a little pole work, which I had covered in my normal armoury. I had tied some standard hair rigs to cover single baits and got in touch with a guy to supply me some lassoed hook length's for use with double pellets (despite trying I could never get them right).

Four of us were to fish the festival, Vic, Del Smith, Troy Hillyer and myself. Del and Troy would meet up with us at the venue. Troy arriving after the first festival day due to work commitments. Del would be travelling from Hemel Hempstead. So with two practice days available, Saturday and Sunday both Vic and I travelled the 220 miles, setting off at 0400. A good journey down allowing for a cup of tea en route saw us pulling into the venue around 0820.

As today (Saturday) was going to be a practice we settled onto a couple of pegs on Pine's Lake. So we did not duplicate things, Vic was going to fish expanders over micros whereas I was going to fish corn and expander over groundbait. Setting up a 4ft rig to fish 12m just where it started to shallow up. I cupped in two small balls of GB with a few grains of corn and a few 4mm expanders. I started getting a few bites but could not hit them before it went quiet. Meanwhile, Vic was catching well on expander over micros. A few carp plus some decent sized skimmers came to his net. I was struggling and although I did manage a few skimmers in the end it took a long time for the fish to show over the GB line. Lesson Learnt number 1. Micros for Pine's with either maggot or expander.

Del had arrived at the fishery by now and booked into the open. Woodies Peg 6, so with our gear packed away we took a stroll up to see him. He was getting a few fish down the edge but not setting the world alight and at the end finished third in his section.

We booked into our rented cottage just outside Beaford, around 5 miles from the fishery and settled in before popping out for a meal in the Royal Oak at Dolton. An early night was in order after all the travelling and fishing.

Sunday, saw us get a couple of pegs on Tanners, where again we would try different things. Vic fished the bomb and pole long with pellet over micros, Del, the pellet waggler and bomb and pole with maggot over groundbait, whilst I tried corn at 2+2, catmeat at 11m and down the edge with corn. We had some decent pegs which would definitely be in the festival, 9 for Del, 11 for me and Vic on 13. The weather was atrocious, pouring rain and high winds.

Del, started off on the bomb pinging a few pellets out to the edge of an island, with a view to putting the waggler over the same line, however after a couple of trips to the island with his bomb, he was on the waggler earlier than expected, only for the same thing to happen. It did look nice with all of its new found decorations but still a bit early for Xmas. He did have a few carp down the edge and a lot of skimmers over his GB line.

Vic was fishing the bomb to the left hand island and after a few chucks was soon into a run of decent carp, ending up with 8 on a variety of 8 and 10mm hard pellets feeding 8mm elites. His long pole approach did not seem to work. Unfortunately whilst packing his gear away his rod bag fell onto his pole whilst on the pole roller breaking his 12m section.

I, had set my stall out to fish 3 lines. 2+2 with corn. Catmeat at 11m and corn down the edge. 2+2 did not work at all, not a single bite, 11m line saw me get a few bites which I suspected were from skimmers before I hooked a carp of around 4lb. The best area seemed to be the edge, fishing towards a few tree roots and an overhanging tree. 7 carp, 1 tench and a decent 10oz roach for around 45lb, all taken on Stinky Corn over corn fishing tight to the edge. I did lose a few fish that took me into the tree roots and snapped .20 Stroft.

It was noticeably quiet on the fishery, only a couple of other anglers fishing and a few walking around. Still it was only Sunday and the festival did not start until the Monday.



Tuesday 8 October 2013

Tuesday Open Alders Pines 08 10 13

With a few days spare before I go and fish the Stafford Moor October Festival, I had set aside Tuesday to fish the open at Alders Farm. Mick would be in attendance so the MK Nugget was on and with me losing 10-7 at present I needed a result to close the gap.

I arrived at the fishery around 0730 and although it had just opened I was the first to arrive. I decided to wait to see who turned up before dipping my nets, because the previous week only 5 turned up. Slowly a few others turned up and with 5 again turning up I dipped my nets.

We were fishing Pines Lake, which this year has fished really well. I was there a couple of weeks ago and the water was gin clear, but today it had a bit of colour and with only 5 of us we could spread out a bit. Over a cup of tea we decided on pegs 6, 8, 15, 17 and 19 and with monies paid it was soon draw time. I let everyone else draw first and had the last peg in the bucket, peg 8.

Josh had drawn peg 6 and would be fishing stinky corn, Mick was on peg 15, where the lake record fell a few weeks ago, Carpet Roy was on 17 and Roy Makins on 19. The only two pegs I could not see were 15 and 6. At least Mick won't intimidate me today.

It was a little ironic as before the draw both Josh and myself walked up to peg 8 and he explained where he caught over 300lb from previously, it was now my home for 6 hours.

With this little snippet of information I tackled up to fish top twos both sides in the margins and top two straight out. I had 2 foot straight out and I set up a MW Dinky to .18 Stroft and a size 14 PR36 with a strung shotting pattern consisting of no10 Stotz. Down the edge I had around 12inches and Set up a couple of NG Edger floats to again .18 Stroft but one with a size 16, the other size 14 PR36. Bait would be corn over corn, no Stinky Stuff today as I have run out and they had none in the shop.

At the all in I threw out around a dozen grains of corn to all the lines and start pinging 4 grains of corn onto each line in rotation. I was soon into fish and although they were on the small side, after half an hour I had around 16 fish for 15lb. However they soon moved off and the stamp were getting better, so much so that after the first hour I reckoned on 25 fish for 40lb. I was still catching and feeding the other swims for later and getting bites as it fell through the water or as soon as it hit bottom. If not bite then I went back out again. This is probably due to the feeding pattern I have adopted. The second hour flew by and with around 50 fish in the net I reckoned I had close to a ton. However bites were tailing off and I would have to make at least 3 or 4 put ins before a proper bite materialised. I plugged away for another hour, as I did not want to go down the edge too early.I tried upping the feed during this hour and to some extent it worked but I also suffered a lot of foul hookers. I was still getting a few fish and was now on around 70 fish for 160lb.

After the half way mark had passed I decided to have a look inside. Josh was catching small carp but lots of them, Both Roy's were catching well and I could hear a lot of splashing in Micks peg, so it was a case of head down and go for it. Fishing around a foot away from the overhanging bushes in 12inches of water to the right I started off well catching 6 proper fish for around 40lb in successive put ins. This was followed by the stamp fish to 3lb and although I was waiting for a bite a little longer than on the line in front, they were bigger and worth the gamble. I still kept feeding that line but did drop the left hand line. So with 4 hours gone I was on about 100 fish for 240lb and was confident of beating my previous personal best from the lake of 242lb.

Hour 5 saw me back out to the top two line and still catching, although the fish were still in the 2lb mark. It was at this time I broke a top kit on a fish, probably trying to bully it in rather than take my time. The rig was still intact so it was a case of swapping top kits over. But I did lose around 10 minutes whilst I tried to repair the broken one. Still I was catching and this time the fish were back taking on the drop. I managed another 20 fish in this hour and another 50lb in the net so was thinking of 300lb. Hour 6 was a frustrating one for me, I started off well catching 4inches off the deck straight out but it died after 1/2hour with no bites coming, so I spent the remainder of the match to the right and put another half a dozen fish in the net. I honestly did not have a clue what I had caught and had a quick chat with Josh before packing up. He reckoned that he had broken the lake record of 385lb so was looking good for the win. Carpet Roy was claiming that he sussed it too late. Mick was looking smug as we walked around with the scales.

Roy Makins was first to weigh in and place 319lbs on the board to take an early lead and a new Personal Best match weight. Carpet Roy was next and managed to break the lake record with 390lb 4oz and another Personal Best. Mick was next up and his four keepnets set yet another Personal Best, 279lb 9oz. I was up next and was surprised with my catch, after a few weighs the total on the board read 393lb 11oz. I am not sure if it is my best match weight( I might have beaten it at Arrans or Rockells) but it is certainly is for Pines Lake. Last to weigh was Josh. After what seemed an eternity the scales read a massive 529lb 4oz. An awesome weight.





1st Josh Blavins     529-4
2nd Keith Ashby   393-11
3rd Carpet Roy     390-4
4th Roy Makins    319-0
5th Mick Wright  279-9

Next set of matches are at Stafford Moor, so will report on how I fished it on my return. Good or Bad.

Saturday 5 October 2013

Marsh AC Hartleylands Res 05 10 13

It is hard to believe that Mick has been married a year today, Happy Anniversary Mick & Angie.

So with a Marsh match planned for the same day, very inconsiderate of Chairman Dave. I had the company of Pete Thompson for the trip to Hartleylands Farm Reservoir. It is the last official match of the year for Marsh, as quite a few go into hibernation, only being tempted out again by a possible Xmas Match in November/December.

It was a decent trip down to the most important part of the day, Breakfast at the Knoxbridge CafĂ© where Kevin & Jean, Martin, John and Zack were already engrossed in full English's. A short fifteen minute trip to the fishery lay ahead and due to an accident on the M1 we were a little behind schedule. So we asked the others to draw pegs for us in case we were late.

When we eventually got to the fishery, the other anglers were musing over there pegs and how they were going to approach it. Me, I had a single minded approach, corn and hard pellet for bait. Plenty of pellet and corn for feed. I also was going to give catmeat a go as the fish in the reservoir can go big. Some kind sole drew peg 15 for me. The peg that won it last year, with a willow tree to my right and a nice clean edge to the left. The willow protruded to my top 4 so 2+2 would be my starting method and feed the edges until I saw some signs and then go over it.

Pete had been given peg 11, the peg I was on last year and after a quick chat, he decided he was going to fish for silvers( his speciality). Al had drawn peg 9 in the corner and would be hard to beat, but I could not resist when I was offered a £1 bet with both Pete and Al. Dave had drawn 7 near where he was last year and Terry was on peg 5. The other side of me I had Tony Roberts and Clive on 17 and 19 whilst I could see Tony on 21.

Al kindly gave me a few more pellets to go with what I had, so I was ready in plenty of time. At the all in I shipped a pot of catmeat to 2+2 at 10 o'clock and threw around 20 grains of corn to 2+2 at 2o'clock. A handful of corn to the left and three handfuls of pellets and corn to the right. I started at 2+2 on corn and after around 5minutes I was into my first fish. A lovely scaled mirror around 3lb firmly hooked in the fin. But they all count if you get them in. No more bites came so a quick look on the catmeat line. A few lightning quick bites but nothing connecting. By this time and after only 15 minutes into the match I saw a few fish down to the right hand swim under the willow.

Switching to the right hand swim on a top two in 18 inches of water my first bite from there came after around 5 minutes and was a nice common around 7lb. I was  alternate feeding around 20 pellets every 30 seconds with around 8 grains of corn every 30 seconds. This seemed to draw fish in but I was struggling to get bites. I could see the fish come in, have a munch then go again. I gave stinky corn a go and was rewarded with another couple of fish and after an hour I thought I had around 20lb (4 fish). The second hour was slow (2 fish) as was the third( 2 fish), a few fish foul hooked and lost and a few which the hook just pulled for no apparent reason but I was ticking over with 38lb after half way. Tony had weighed 3 fish for 32lb but I had not seen him catch much else. Clive was catching as was Tony Watkins. Al was struggling on the pellet waggler and Pete was happy catching silvers and odd carp. John on the far bank was doing well and word was Terry was catching.

I needed to up my game and after a look down the left hand side for one carp, I decided to dump 3 pints of pellet straight in and 3 big handfuls of corn down the right hand side. The fourth hour went well (6 fish), I had to keep adjusting my depth a little at a time but kept some fish coming on Stinky Corn. However it was not to last but by switching over to GOT Jupiters in both 11mm and 8mm I kept the fifth hour ticking along (4 fish). Emptying my bait boxes of feed pellet in at the end of the fifth hour proved another good move as the last hour saw a few larger fish to 10lb grace the net.

I was happy with my day, a few more Stinky Corn caught carp in the bag and a few on hard Jupiters. I rue the lost fish as I thought they would cost me at the end but that's fishing.

Final Positions

1st John Holdsworth          153-4
2nd Terry Goff                  110-8
3rd Clive Pritchard            109-4
4th Kevin Loveland           103-0
5th Keith Ashby                102-4
6th Tony Roberts               99-13
7th Al Loader                    91-12
8th Dave Collier                82-8
9th Jim Boase                   78-12
10th Tony Watkins           78-8
11th Pete Thompson         50-8
12th Rod Turner                28-0
13th Zack                          26-8
14th Gino Exell                24-8
15th Martin Hucker          23-12


I have another match at Alders this week on Tuesday then I am off to fish Stafford Moor's October Festival. Will keep you posted when I get back.

Tuesday 1 October 2013

Alders Farm Ash Lake 01 10 13

Back to Alders today to fish the match lake Ash, I last fished it on Saturday and did well from peg 13 which can be a bit hit and miss to record 187lb and 5th place. Today however numbers were really down on the last couple of weeks with only 5 in attendance where normally we are into double figures.

Still Mick was here so the MK Nugget was up for grabs. His 9-7 lead looks unassailable at the moment but the momentum is with me having won the last one.

As you can imagine with only 5 names down it did not take long to sort pegs and we settled on 2,4,6,8,and 13. And you can guess where I was again, yes 13.

Josh had drawn 2, Terry 4, Mick 6 and Charlie 8 so with good anglers on good pegs it would be close at the top and realistically last place was always on the cards unless the wind turned direction and blew the fish into the corner I was in.

I decided to just fish the margins today, I had caught at 2+2 on Saturday and did not have a bite down the edge. Today I was determined to catch down the side. I set up three rigs to fish on 2+2 down both sides. NG Edger floats in .2g to .18 Stroft and PR36 in 18 inches of water tight in and only a couple of inches deeper a foot out. Bait would be corn with about a pint of fishery 4mm pellet.

At the all in I threw around 8 grains of corn down both sides and decide to fish to the left hand swim. Repeating the process every 30 seconds saw carp in the swim relatively straight away although they were only small fish averaging 1 1/2lb. I could see into peg 14 and there were fish everywhere cruising around the reed beds. But it was too far to fish. After an hour I had around 20 fish for 30lb in the net and nothing over 1 1/2lb. I decided to switch to the right hand swim and although I had a couple of fish on a similar par to the left, a couple gave me encouragement as the touched 4lb.

However it was slow progress and I was having to wait for bites. No matter whether I upped or lowered the feed rate it was still a waiting game. I was now switching from left to right every 2 fish to try to get the fish to settle but this did not improve the catch rate. I shallowed up a few inches as I had caught a few crayfish and thought that if they were on the deck it might be deterring the carp from having a proper go. This got me a few fish and I found that by fishing around a foot further out from the bank and fishing shallower I managed a run of fish to 4lb. I was still swopping lines and this helped keep the bites coming but after 5 hours I reckoned I had around 120lb in the net.

Going into the last hour, things were getting harder. I added another section to the pole in case the carp had backed off and was now plundering the decision. A good run of fish falling to single corn with no feed going in a section past my original feed. In the last hour I managed around 50lb to boost my weight considerably. It just goes to show that fishing over your feed is not always the answer. On Saturday I ended up a metre short of my feed and today I had to go longer to get some better fish. I think that the bigger fish tend to hang off the main feed and just pick off odd bits as they come to them.

Overall it had fished well again. I ended up as predicted last, however I still had a days fishing and I learnt today. Mick extended his lead to 10-7 so I really have my work cut out to catch him. All the three leading weights came to maggot over groundbait.

1st Josh Blavins              376lb 15oz
2nd Charlie Lancaster     369lb 11oz
3rd Terry Lancaster        313lb 15oz
4th Mick Wright             242lb 12oz
5th Keith Ashby             179lb 5oz