Wednesday 17/11/2010 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

Whilst eating one of Karen’s OK breakfasts the “Gardener” (Phil’s son) came in to collect the peg fee as Phil was spending a few days in Rome. It’s the first time I have seen him. There was some discussion on which pegs should be in or out. The “Gardener” (sorry don’t know his name) suggested we didn’t put peg 7 in the draw as it is full of rubbish. Someone shouted out “Well get it out then”! Umm.

There were fourteen booked in and with two no-shows which amounted to the ideal no of anglers on Match Lake under present fishing form. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 22. I have drawn this peg a many times and know it well. On arriving at the peg I noticed that the water was very clear – in fact no colour at all, which is very unusual for this venue. Apparently its to do with the weed killer used on the reeds. The other observations were that the water level looked to be up to its winter level, plus I had a new platform. Unfortunately it appears to be built 3 inches below the water level; thankfully I had my boots on. The wind was blowing quite strong from right to left, add the rain and I was in for an uncomfortable day. However, one of the pluses was that the wind would give a bit of cover over the clear water. As the water was so clear I decided not to fish the margins, which can be good on this peg. Particularly the LH side. So I only set up the one rig a 4x12 Jolly to be fished in the open water at 12 o clock. I plumbed around and found the deepest part of the peg was at 1 metre, with it shallowing the further I went out. Obviously this was far too short to fish today and decided on 6.5 metre line. As I thought it would be a hard match I also decided to stay with the one line as I didn’t want to split the fish. I started by feeding a small amount of wetted micro (scrounged from Dave Wride and Steve Dawson as I had left mine home bringing 8’s by mistake). I used both 2 and 3 mm expander on a 16 808 hook. I initially found it very difficult to present the bait primarily due to the wind. I readjusted the back shot many times to try and get the balance right. I soon had four Crucians in the net but found that due to the water clarity the fish would scare off for about 15 minutes before returning. After netting about nine Crucians I had what appeared to be a typical slow Bream bite and I was right as a 3 ½ lb specimen ended up in the net. As planned I stayed on this line all match adding fish in pairs with fishless periods. The last two Crucians were 2 pounders which were in excellent condition. I weighed 18lb 9oz for 1st in the match and 1st in the Silvers. However, I did think Andy Curry (pictured right with a bag of Crucians) on peg 17 had beaten me hands down so I was surprised to find I had piped him by 1lb 7oz. Andy’s weight put him 2nd overall and 2nd in the Silvers – well done matey.

No matter how, lets say “untidy” the fishery is, it still remains for me the best Crucian venue in the South West and that has to be good.

Full Result:
1. Mike Nicholls 18-09-0 peg 22
2. Andy Curry 17-02-0 peg 17
3. Pete Sivell 9-12-0 peg 25
4. Dave Wride 8-08-0 peg 30
5. Paul Lock 5-02-0 peg 27
6. Bill Ferris 3-08-0 peg 18

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 18-09-0 peg 22
2. Andy Curry 13-04-0 peg 17