Sunday 09/11/2008 Carps AC - Plantation - Horseshoe Lake

After heavy overnight rain and a noticeable temperature drop and with heavy periodic showers to come, we all expected it to fish hard. We were not disappointed!
This was my first visit to Horseshoe Lake and on first viewing liked what I saw. I always look forward to fishing new venues as it adds to the challenge - you don't really know what to to expect and hence fish with much more optimism.

I drew peg 12 on the spit element of the horseshoe facing the car park. With the wind blowing hard from the South West I decided to set up one rig for the silvers, which was my usual PB14 - wire stem to help combat the wind. I must say it did pick up the tow very well. Due to the consistent depth I was able to use this float at five metres and seven metres without changing depth. I started by feeding a small amount of Sensas Black Lake with a few dead maggots at five metres, with single dead maggot on the hook. This resulted in one 1oz Ronnie. I then had a Skimmer of 3oz, but it was very slow. I then tried caster to no avail. I fed some micro pellet at seven metres and tried 4mm expander pellet on the hook, which resulted in a run of 3-4oz Skimmers. I decided to kinder pot Black Lake with a smidgen of micro in at the five metre line. I managed to keep the "pea's in a pod" Skimmers coming on and off until the last hour. The thirty odd skimmers weighed 9lb dead, which gave me first in the Silvers and a pick up of £30. My only Carp of 12 oz lifted my weight to 9lb 12oz for 6th overall!


The locals anglers took the main framing spots with Mike Owen (pictured right with his winning catch) winning the match from peg 8 with a mainly Carp catch of 33lb 3oz - an excellent weight on the day. Mike caught at 11.5 metres with 4mm soft pellet, fished over micro pellet.
Runner up was Kev Perry from peg 2 with 15lb 15oz. Kev caught five Carp on soft pellet also.

There was a draw for second in the Silvers (first of the year) with Gordon Cannings and Pete Davis both weighing 3lb 14oz. Both qualify for the Sunday Silversmania by default!

Full Result:

1. Mike Owen 33-03-0 peg 8
2. Kev Perry 15-15-0 peg 2
3. Paul Fairers 12-03-0 peg 1
4. Andy Curry 11-12-0 peg 9
5. Gordon Cannings 10-07-0 peg 5
6. Mike Nicholls 9-12-0 peg 12

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 9-0-0 peg 12
2. Gordon Cannings 3-14-0 peg 5
2. Pete Davis 3-14-0 peg 6