I was under no illusions that the match wasn't going to be a bagging session, the ice had only melted a few days before and even before then the Lake hadn't actually been fishing well, and I'm convinced that the carp boys have been fishing the lake and putting any fish they catch in Xmas tree lake, justa few yards away. Anyway after a month of inactivity fishing wise, it was just nice to get out on the bank - well to start with it was !
When I rang John Radford to book in, he kindly offered to pick me up (which saved Mrs P an early start) although I didn't quite realise how early it would be as he turned up at 6.15am, even before I could have my first coffee of the day !
Arriving at Willinghurst we drove up to Pittance to check that there weren't any anglers on it already and with the wind as it was, the number of pegs in and with my knowlwdge of the lake, the only pegs I didn't want were Pegs 13 and 14. Despite being near the back of the draw queue, there were plenty of decent pegs left when I reached the front but the one I picked out of the bag - Peg 14 wasn't one I really fancied. Arriving at the lake, the wind had now strengthened and with rain to come in the afternoon, it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. My tactics were to be two long pole lines (which it was almost impossible to fish once the wind got even stronger), an edge peg long to my left - which usually produces a few fish, and a chuck to the island.
I started off well as having fed all the pole lines I decided to fish the lead with bread for a while and after 15 minutes had a nice barney rubble. However, it then went a bit tits up for me as whilst everyone else seemed to be catching the odd fish, and despite me tring all my lines and switching baits on the lead, my next couple of hours produced one reggie on the lead and an ounce perch down the edge.In the meantime Pete Turbull on Peg 12 (one of the golden pegs and best pegs on the lake) was still fishless and was so cold, he even thought about going home - that was until he started catching on the lead and with a couple of hours to go, he was leading with 6 or 7 fish, closely followed by Don Garnish on Peg 3 and one or two others who had 4 carp. When the rain came at 1.30pm I decided to just get comfy under my brolly and spend the last few hours fishing down the edge. However, that plan was scuppered when within minutes a big gust of wind turned the brolly inside out and I had to put the brolly away. I then decided to swith to a little groundbait feeder with three dead reds on the hook and just spend the remaining time fishing to the island with the odd couple of minutes down the edge just to see if any fish had turned up.
The wind and rain in the last 90 minutes were horrible but by dropping the feeder within inches of the island (even I was impressed with my casting) I managed to nick another 4 fish whilst everone else seemed to be struggling. As the whistle went to end the match, I knew Pete Turnbull was well clear with Don second but third place was certainly up for grabs. I was therefore more than pleased to nick John Radfords £1 and finish third overall with 5 carp for 28-14-0.
Result
Pete Turnbull..........Peg 12..................45-0-0
Don Garnish............Peg 3....................35-8-0
Dave Pearson..........Peg 14...................28-14-0
Ugly Harrison.........Peg 7.....................24-0-0
Martin White..........Peg 5.....................23-6-0
Richard....................Peg 16...................21-12-0
John Radford..........Peg 13..................21-0-0
Jason Morgan.........Peg 18..................20-2-0
Tony Yianni............Peg 10..................15-0-0
Swifty......................Peg 1.....................DNW
Next week I'm fishing the Match Fishing Scene match at Tylers Common, a venue I've never seen, let alone fished before so that should be interesting.
