Carps AC Three Day Festival - 4th, 5th and 6th July 2008 - Sedges Tile and Brick

My original plan was to share accommodation with Glenn Bailey and Mark Jefferies, but for various reasons both cancelled. However, Colin Golding and Bill Ferris had booked a caravan on the Sedges site and had a spare bed. Very comfortable too. The cost each was £33 for the two nights - so cheaper than driving. We arranged to have evening meal and breakfast at the Sedgemoor Inn, five minutes down the road. Food was good, particularly the breakfast.

Day One: Brick Lake pegs 1 to 10:

With the wind in the South West the higher pegs were favoured. I drew peg 8, which is currently the form Skimmer peg, so I was happy with this. I started on the pole at 9 metres and caught Skimmers straight away on 6mm GOT pellet. The Skimmers backed off at half time, so a change to the feeder kept them coming steady for the rest of the match. I weighed 48lb 8oz of Skimmers, which included three Eels to 2lb. I also landed two Carp for 12lb 5oz for a total weight of 60lb 13oz. This gave me first in the Silvers and third overall and a pick up of £50.

Match Winner was Mark Hanham (pictured top right) from peg 6. Mark weighed a total of 121lb 13oz of quality Carp. Mark caught 50% on pellet waggler and 50% on the pole and paste over 4mm coarse pellet. Runner up was Gordon Cannings from corner peg 10 with 80lb 13oz of Carp. Gordon also caught on paste.

Day one full result:

1. Mark Hanham 121-13-0 peg 6
2. Gordon Cannings 80-13-0 peg 10
3. Mike Nicholls 60-13-0 peg 8
4. John Bennett 54-03-0 peg 9
5. Adrian Bishop 44-14-0 peg 5
6. Paul Blake 39-6-0 peg 3 (Paul's weight was an all Skimmer catch!)
Top Silvers:
1. Mike Nicholls 48-8-0 peg 8
2. Paul Blake 39-06-0 peg 3 (Excellent result from this peg)

Day Two Tile Lake pegs 31 to 40:

Gale force South Westerly wind greeted us for day two. Everyone was hoping for the most sheltered peg 40. Guess what I drew it! However, I was a little concerned as an earlier walk round the lake indicated that most of the fish were at the end the wind was blowing in to. I had drawn this peg before, from which, I won the Silvers and with a few small Carp gave me second overall. I had a plan in place - wind permitting. I started after the Ronnies with a wire stem float to help combat the wind. It was a bit slow, with the fish wanting to feed close to the surface, which made them very difficult to catch in the gales. I fed some ground bait and casters at 6 metres where I had 8 foot of water, again a wire stemmed float with casters saw a steady stream of Skimmers and Eels (including a personal best Eel). I heard that Tench were being caught, so decided to try the margins with paste for the last 90 minutes. I had a run of small Carp, one Tench and another PB Eel (on paste!!). I weighed 14lb of small Carp and 31lb 2oz of Silvers. This gave me second in the Silvers and once again third in the match and a pick up of £50 by default.

Colin Golding (pictured left with his rig tray - Quote made to Colin by Bob Nudd "Colin you do remarkably well considering the tackle you use") won both the overall match and Silvers from peg 37. Colin had a total weight of 48lb 14 oz. Colin used his usual 6mm expander pellet fished over loose fed 6mm expander pellet fished at 6 metres. His weight included 33lb 6oz of Silvers including 4 Tench. Considering the gales force conditions this was a remarkable performance.

Day two full result:

1. Colin Golding 48-14-0 peg 37
2. Gordon (corner peg) Cannings 40-02-0 peg 31
3. Mike Nicholls 45-02-0 peg 40
4. Adrian Bishop 38-14-0 peg 33
5. Mark Hanham 35-14-0 peg 39
6. Ian Dawe 28-0-0 peg 32

Top Silvers:

1. Colin Golding 33-06-0 peg 37
2. Mike Nicholls 31-02-0 peg 40

Day Three Brick Lake pegs 1 to 10
I was hoping for a peg between 5 and 9 and got peg 6. A good Silvers peg again! The wind had dropped which made fishing easier. I adopted the same plan as with peg 8 and had a good days fishing (the thunder storm excepted). I Had one Carp (which I have now caught three times - I think it has an identity crisis) for 4lb 12 and a Silvers weight of 49lb. This gave me first in the Silvers and a pick up of £50.

Mark Hanham won the match for the second time from peg 8 with 73lb 14oz, most fell to the pellet waggler. Mark said after the match that he had lost eleven Carp, all due to his Maver hook lengths letting him down.

Day three full Result:

1. Mark Hanham 73-14-0 peg 8
2. Gordan Cannings 70-01-0 peg 3
3. Mike Nicholls 53-12-0 peg 6
4. Colin Golding 47-12-0 peg 9
5. Ian Dawe 27-06-0 peg 5
6. Adrian Bishop 13-08-0 peg 10

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 49-0-0 peg 6
2. Colin Golding 20-04-0 peg 9

Results and points over the three days:
Overall Festival weights:

1. Gordon Cannings 6 penalty points total weight 199-0-0 (pictured bottom left)
2. Mark Hanham 7 penalty points total weight 230-14-0
3. Mike Nicholls 9 penalty points total weight 159-11-0

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 4 penalty points total silvers weight 128-10-0
2. Colin Golding 6 penalty points total silvers weight 72-10-0
3. Bill Ferris 11 penalty points total silvers weight 42-09-0

Biggest Carp:

Bill Ferris (pictured bottom right) with a Common Carp of 16-04-0 from first day peg 7. Bill caught it on his Roach rig and top set to single caster and landed it just in time after the whistle.

Biggest Silver Fish:

Gordon Cannings Tench 4-12-0 from second day peg 31.



I must say that Jamie and Denise have put a lot of hard work in to this fishery and it shows. Tile Lake is as good as Brick in terms of the quality of fishing. They now have 40 quality match pegs. The Caravan accommodation is also very good. Where else are you offered a hot drink after the weigh in! Well done to both.

Sedges are holding a weekend Festival in 27/28 September 2008 with £1,000 first prize up for grabs, contact Denise on 01278 445221 if interested.