Before I publish my Wednesday blog, I am running a match later this month to help raise funds for Rainbow Trust Children's Charity who support families with terminally ill children.
If anyone who has read these blogs over the years would like to sponsor me then you can do it on line at http://www.justgiving.com/Dave-Pearson/ or email me at Pikeyp@btinternet.com.
If all the regular readers donated £1 then we'd raise loads of money.
Anyway, how did the fishing go ?
Well, I didn't need to take a picture of my peg for the blog as I drew Peg 8 on New Lake again !
Looking at the draw sheet it was clear that with Plummers drawing Peg 1 on Old Lake (where I had 147lb last week) that I was going to have to battle for my £1 and other likely challengers for the frame positions looked like being Mick "Wicket" Keeper who drew Peg 26 for the third time in recent weeks and Pete Turnbull on Old 19 who has just retired and is a welcome addition to the Wednesday Club. Woody also looked a danger on New 6 but thankfully God (Steve Gardener) had drawn New 1 and I really didn't like the look of that !
Although I had 89lb last time I drew Peg 8 a few weeks ago, it didn't look quite so good this time, the wind was different and there just didn't seem to be as many fish in the area. You are a bit limited with ways to fish in the peg by the big tree in the water which hems you in a bit so I just decided to fish as I did last time - Paste at the end of the tree, an inside line with hemp and corn in the very shallow water and a line at 13 metres along the bank by some posts. Last time I fished meat and hemp long but decided to try and fish paste there instead - it's not much fun fishing paste at that distance, especially with my Power Legion pole but thought it might cut down on the number of roach bites.
After my first couple of put ins by the bush the fish were soon fizzing but I couldn't get a proper bite. What I've found really odd lately is that some matches if the fish are fizzing in the peg you can really bag up yet on other occasions you can't get a bite - I expect it has something to do with the depth of silt but if anyone knows otherwise then please let me know. In my last three matches on Old Lake, Pittance and Stub Pond I have had over 150lb each time and on all three occasions the fish were blowing and I was getting loads of bites.
With the weather being really muggy and a full moon the previous night (I really must check out this Moonstrike stuff) the fishing was very slow and after 90 minutes I only had three carp in the net, two from by the bush and one long but as only Plummers seemed to be catching (he'd had about 7 fish), I was still in with a chance.
As the match entered the afternoon section I started to put a few fish together from along the bank but every time I thought I was going to bag up, the fish moved away and I had to sit and wait for them to return. I also had a bit of a frustrating spell where I lost a few foul hookers and a couple of fish which I think were in the mouth and with the lakes not fishing that well I had a horrible feeling that any lost fish or missed bites could well be expensive.
The last hour or so proved to be exciting again as Plummers had stopped catching and I started to get a few bigger fish - this always gets him going as I usually chip in with the odd "This ones huge Tone" or "This ones more like a small whale" just to put a bit more pressure on him !
Anyway, with about a minute remaining of the match I hooked a decent carp managed to coax it into the net really quickly and was soon shipping out my paste at a rate of knots ! Just as I was about to cup in the paste Brian Wharton shouts time and as I couldn't be bothered to just ship back I dropped the paste in..........................Yes, you've guessed it, 20 seconds later the float disappeared and I've hooked probably my biggest fish of the day ! I did shout "Fish On" but Plummers had been watching and Little Jim at the next peg even came along the bank to make sure I put the 9lb fish back ! And I thought these were supposed to be friendly matches - after all what are a couple of seconds amongst friends ?
Pound Watch
I knew it would be tough with Plummers on Old 1 but I thought my late burst might just have pipped him. As it turned out he pipped me by 12 OUNCES - I told you those lost fish would be expensive. Well done Plummers, keep it in your pocket cos I'll have it back on Sunday.
Result
Tony Plumbridge............Old 1............117-4-0
Dave Pearson..................New 8..........116-8-0
Donald Garnish..............Old 5.............90-2-0
Peter Turnbull...............Old 19...........85-2-0
"Wicket" Keeper...........Old 26...........72-10-0
Sunday sees me on the Leatherhead DAS match on the small Lake at Willow Park, the pegging will be a bit tight with 21 of us fishing but it is one of my favorite lakes and hopefully I'll have a decent match to report on Monday morning.
Don't forget I need some sponsors for my Charity match !
