To give credit where it is due, Russ Evans had pegged the match well using only 17 of the front banks 25 pegs and putting the other 23 on the Long bank, meaning that the majority of the pegs had a bit of room and had the chance of a few fish. As I expected the front bank to fish better than last week (when the top 6 weights came from the long bank) I didn't really mind where I drew and was therefore quite happy to pick Peg 49 from the bag, which was right up the end of the Long bank in the narrower shallower bit. Last week they only pegged up to Peg 41 so nobody up that far knew what to expect but with Andy Ryan on end peg 50, we could at least have a chat if we weren't catching.
Having knocked up some GB at home and sorted out my feeder tackle, after having a quick word with Russ and using my past experiences on the lake, I decided that it wasn't really a feeder area and just set up a waggler and pole ! My pole lines were at 10 and 2 o'clock at 14.5 metres in about 3 and a half feet of water.
On the whistle I fed both lines with a big pot of GB and micro pellets and then fished the waggler at about 23 metres with double red maggott on the hook. Andy had a fish first chuck on a teabag and Mark Parrett to my left had one on the feeder as I had a horrible feeling that I had done it wrong again ! However, fortunately for me they stopped catching almost straight away and then we all started to catch a few on the pole. Although Andy had soon opened up a 5-1 lead, by switching between my two lines I soon began to peg him back until he lead 11-10. Unfortuntely I then had a biteless spell of about 90 minutes where his fish count went 12,13,14,15. My fish finally returned in the last 45 minutes and I managed another 4 fish to finish with fourteen for 42-13-0.
Andy had matched me fish for fish near the end and finished with 58-12-0 to finish 6th overall and take the section by default as Geoff Vallance on Peg 1 effectively won the two day festival (which was decided on weight) with 127-2-0 from Peg 27.
The lake had fished really well with Darren Law fishishing second with 72-3-0 followed by my new mate Rob Draisey with 70-10-0 from Peg 1 and God (Steve Gardener) 4th with 68-10-0.
Looking at the full results, my weight only put me 16th as 32 of the 40 anglers weighed over 20lb.
Result
Geoff Vallance ...................127-2-0
Darren Law..........................72-3-0
Rob Draisey.........................70-10-0
Steve Gardener..................68-10-0
Andy Cummings................63-8-0
Andy Ryan..........................58-12-0
With the threat of strong winds on Day 2, that evening I made sure I tied a few 4x16 and 4x18 rigs as the lake is a nightmare for tow when it blows but being quite shallow I didn't really want to fish too big a float.
After breakfast in the cabin I joined the draw queue and as I reached the front, a quick scan of the draw sheet revealed that Peg 1 still hadn't gone. I dipped my hand in the bag rummaged about a bit picked up one wooden disk but dropped it and picked the one next to it- the back was blank but as I turned it over in my hand there was just one number on it..........Number 1 !
After breakfast in the cabin I joined the draw queue and as I reached the front, a quick scan of the draw sheet revealed that Peg 1 still hadn't gone. I dipped my hand in the bag rummaged about a bit picked up one wooden disk but dropped it and picked the one next to it- the back was blank but as I turned it over in my hand there was just one number on it..........Number 1 !
For those that don't know Peg 1, it is unlike any other peg on the lake as is the end peg near the section that the boat anglers fish called "The Jungle" and from the picture, you can see why. You can still catch bream fishing "Normally" straight out in front on the pole but if you fish near the trees then you will probably hook some carp and big tench but getting them out is another matter ! I managed to grab Rob Draisey in the car park to ask how he'd caught and although I'd fished the peg before and knew how I'd approach it, it is always good to see how others have caught. Rob had caught bream on the feeder at the start and on the long pole line then when he went down by the trees in the last half hour he had three tench and a 15lb carp.
My plan was to fish two long lines on the pole and one line by the tree. I decided against fishing the feeder (no suprise there then) as with some bait having gone in on the pole lines the day before I thougth the bream might already be there and also I didn't want to bring fish from a feeder line through my pole lines in the shallow water.
On the long pole I fed one line with GB and micros and one line and my tree peg with 4mm pelletts and micros. Although the wind was a nightmare I shipped out to my left hand line, lowered the float in with a 6mm expander on the hook and within 30 seconds it had gone as a bream of about 3lb took the bait - Thank you God ! Although I continued to catch a few fish, including the odd tench to 3lb, I then had a bit of a nightmare when the wind trashed a couple of rigs and I lost a tench which snapped me up before I switched from 0.10 hooklength to 0.12.
However, based on the previous days results, I knew that 20 odd fish would give you a decent weight and in 5 hours fishing it isn't exactly speed fishing is it, so all I needed to do was slow down and make sure that every fish I hooked ended up in the net.
Half way through the match bites had slowed down and although there were clearly still fish in the peg the wind and tow were making it horrible to fish on the long lines infact I totally abandoned the right hand line as a 4x18 float wouldn't even hold steady in the wind and tow.
I then decided to have a go on the tree line. The rig was my proto type Hillbilly Paste float on 0.20 line with a size 14 B911 hook. I started off trying paste on the hook but it was impossible in the wind and settled on double 6mm expander. First put in with pellett on the hook, I've lowered it in and the float has gone straight away. The trick now was to pull as hard as you can whilst shipping the pole back to pull them away from the branches before they can move about a foot to get in them. Although a load of red hydro came out the first fish clearly wasn't a carp and I soon had a tench in the net that probably went a little over 5lb. Next put in I had a 3lb tench and then a carp of 7-13-0 which we had a little game of "In the tree out of the tree" with !
I did keep feeding and trying the long lines and settled into a pattern of catching one or two fish on it and then coming back to the tree line to catch another tench. I did also lose two carp, one which the hook pulled out of and one which snapped me up before I got one out which went 10-10-0 and broke the second section of my H10 as Ive never pulled so hard to get a fish out !
Before the end I lost another carp that snagged me in the tree and in hindsight I think I should probably have fed further away from the tree at the start and if they had come on that line I might have had more chance to get them out. Anyway I finished the match with two carp for 18lb, and I think about 12 tench and 12 bream for a total weight of 81-6-0, which as I'd not heard of anyone with more than 22 bream, I thought might be enough to win on the day and hopefully push me up the leader board in the overall. As I walked round to see Don on the long bank I checked the weigh sheet for that section and the top weight was Mark Goddard with 59-12-0 so it looked like a handy little pick up for a match win as I knew that Terry Harrison was second on our bank with 57lb.
Result
Dave Pearson................81-6-0
Mark Goddard .............59-12-0
Lee Perry .....................59-0-0
Terry Harrison.............57-5-0
Robbie Taylor ..............53-10-0
Overall
Geoff Vallance..............164-0-0
Darren Law..................125-8-0
Dave Pearson...............123-3-0
Terry Harrison ...........114-5-0
Lee Perry.....................107-13-0
Steve Gardener...........101-0-0
So all in all a most enjoyable two days fishing and for me a decent result against some top class anglers, it also made a pleasant change from fishing for carp all the time. Thanks to Russ Evans for organising the festival and hopefully I'll be back for the next one in September
