Sunday 11/11/2012 - Avon Angling Open - Chiltern Trinty - Woodlands Lake

Bela arrived early due him not sleeping well, leaving him with a sore head. However, after “two chews” devoured his “Belly Buster” in the Hill Top café in double quick time he was back to his normal affable self.

 

Over the last few months I have lost a bit of focus due to family matters. I was hoping today to put the focus back. I have never done any good on the near bank of this fishery, whereas, the far bank has always put me in the coin. Walking around the Lake before the draw there were plenty of Ronnie’s topping around the middle pegs, but well out to the centre. So I was hoping for a peg around peg 10ish. In to the draw and after a too long a feel round I pulled peg 31. Quite opposite to what I wanted, and just to confirm I could have drawn better, Chris Fox arrives on peg 32, Chris is a real quality angler and a nice lad but he draws some crap pegs.

 

Luckily I did have an empty peg 30 next to me – this might help, me thinks. Apparently meat was the bait on the moment, so I cut up a full tin of Spam to 6mm cubes. I had already made up some paste just in case. I set up a 4x16 jolly to fish the meat at 11.5 metres in 9 foot of water. I set up the Ronnie 4 mere whip for my target fish – Ronnie’s. I then set up a corn rig a 4x12 Jolly for the RH margin where I had 30 inches of water and paste rig for the same margin swim.

 

After feeding some corn and hard 4’s in to the margin, followed by a ¼ of a pot of meat with a few 4’s at 11.5 metres I started on the whip and caster set at 3 foot deep. However, due the wind conditions it was very difficult to hand feed to 7 metres. I started reasonably well catching a few Ronnie to 3oz, which was until I hooked and broke on a Carp. I then spotted a bubble on the meat line so out went the Jolly with a 6mm piece of meat and first put in I hooked and landed a 1 ¾ lb Tench. I had only one more bite over this line which I missed so dumped the line. Back on the Ronnie’s and had another spell of them until once again I hooked and broke on a Carp. So I tried the margin with corn which produced nothing, so I switched to the paste and had a 5lb Carp straight away. I kept switching between the Ronnie’s and caster and the margin adding another four Carp and some small Ronnie’s.

 

With two hours to go I decided to focus on the carp with paste. Unfortunately I couldn’t get another bite. I wasn’t until it was too late that the penny dropped. I had stopped feeding for the Ronnie’s which had the effect of attracting the Carp in closer and once they were aware of the hard 4’s being dribbled in came in over the margin line. Is it a lesson learnt – perhaps, but maybe it will be different next time.

 

My five Carp weighed in at 36lb 2oz and the Silvers 8lb 2oz for a total of 44lb 4oz, luckily this put me second overall, Third in the Silvers and a section win if all else failed.

 

The match was won by Tom Mangnel (pictured right) with 66lb 1oz from lonely peg 2. Tom caught on caster or red maggot hook bait over potted caster and maggot. Tom caught at 13 metres both out in front and to is left.

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Tom Mangnel 66-01-0 peg 2

2.      Mike Nicholls 44-04-0 peg 31

3.      Tony Rixon 32-06-0 peg 15

4.      Craig Edmonds 29-03-0 peg 14

5.      Phil Harding 28-05-0 peg 17

6.      Bela Bakos 27-05-0 peg 25

6.      Kev Moulton 27-05-0 peg 7

 

Top Silvers:

 

1.      Nigel Bartlett 9-09-0 peg 24

2.      Tom Mangnel 8-08-0 peg 2

3.     Mike Nicholls 8-02-0 peg 31