Some months back Glenn Bailey and me had an invite from Bob Sheppard to fish his Three Dayer down at Viaduct - 27/28/29 July. We both jumped at the opportunity. It was for me to book accommodation so choose the Unicorn Hotel in Somerton as we both knew the food was good plus a good choice of beers, £80 for two nights B&B each. The rooms were OK but no proper stand up shower. The other down side Two Pots (or is it Two Bellies) has a tendency to play with his tackle in the bed room (pictured right – if you are an untidy angler look away now).
The format was day one Campbell , day two Carey and day tree Campbell . However due to Carey being out of sorts with Algae bloom we were to fish all three on Campbell . The overall result decided on total weight over the three days.
The anglers fishing the series mainly come from Bristol , Southampton, Eastleigh and Isle of Wight
Wednesday 27/07/2016 – Day One:
The Bristol contingent met up in Sally’s café which I haven’t been in for years, good to see nothings changed being served as usual by Sally – proper homely woman.
Arrived at the fishery an hour before the 11 o clock draw, I was surprised to find everyone else all ready there so the draw brought forward 15 minutes. In to the draw coffee tin and out comes peg 124. I had this back in June and hadn’t faired that well with only 112lb. The peg is known to kick up some good Silvers weight, however, no Silvers pool. I set up the two rigs, paste rig to fish top-set plus 4 which when angled just touches the Otter fence and a 4x10 Roob for meat at top-set plus 2. As experience last time on this peg you catch a few mug Carp early then have to wait for later in the match for them to start munching again. Four early Carp on the paste then spent hours messing around with meat for two more Carp. Last hour I could only add another two Carp. I weighed 52lb 14oz for no where.
The match was won by Mark Weldon (pictured right with the runner who was on adjacent peg 115) with 200lb 14oz from peg 116. Mark caught on the straight lead fished at 20 metres using various sizes and combination of hair banded pellet fished over loose fed 8’s. Mark caught steady through out the match.
Back to the Unicorn and couple of pints sunk in double quick time followed by a gut busting carvery (wish I had the OAP – too much meat otherwise) leaving just enough room for one more pint!
Result:
- M Weldon 200-14-0 peg 116
- R Roberts 170- 12-0 peg 115
- Glenn Bailey 132-13-0 peg 128 (drawn that recently)
Thursday 28/07/2016 – Day Two:
Leisurely breakfast at 07:30 and once again everyone had arrived early so again the draw time brought forward. Keeners.
In to the draw coffee tin and out comes peg 130, a bit better than yesterday as the pole has been accounting for a few at this end of the Lake where the aerator is sited. The set-up exactly the same with the catching format slightly better, catching eight decent Carp before the dreaded lull, which coincided with Steve shutting off the Aerator – who knows what goes under beneath. I played around with the meat short to while away the time to no avail whilst watching Ray Hayward (pictured right landing one of his better fish) bag up on peg 132. In the dying moments I added another three decent Carp to 12lb.
I nearly weighed 98lb 13oz but the scales man let the 12 lb Carp slip out back in the drink. It was stunned for a while and nearly netted it back out. My weight reduced to 86lb 13oz for half way.
As we all expected the match was won by Ray Hayward (pictured right with his Catch – Less a one Gull) with 193lb 12oz from peg 135. Ray caught at 13 metres down his right to the empty pallet 136 using hair rig pellet over loose feed. We thought he had much ore than this but surprisingly his carp were small to Campbell standards.
Back to the Unicorn a couple of pints and off to the local Indian – the biggest and best in Somerton.
Result:
- R Hayward 193-12-0 peg 135
- B Sheppard 152-09-0 peg 112
- D Self 146-0-0 peg 127
Weigh Sheet:
Friday 29/07/2016 – Day Three:
Smaller breakfast this morning! Again all the anglers keen to get on with the match (the exception being Bob Sheppard who was still under the influence after fighting a bottle of Vodka to the early hours – pictured right) very early draw with fishing 10 to 4 – interesting. In to the draw Coffee tin and out comes peg 25 – Ugh.
I was offered the loan of a bomb rod but would rather fish the pole in the field behind. Bob Sheppard managed to pour himself into next peg 124 and slowly erected his bomb rod.
Same set-up and similar performance – consistency is key. I hooked two early Carp the first slipping the hook and the other decided to charge off whilst playing it on the top-set when I was preoccupied trying to prevent my pole going in the Lake – Two nil. I then really struggled went for a walk down to “Two Pots” on peg 131 who was also struggling on the paste. Back to the peg and I caught three Carp to 16lb in as many put-ins – sorted – not. Then nothing tried pot feeding heavy to no avail. Meanwhile for some inexplicable reason Bob Sheppard’s hang over disappeared as he caught one a bung on the lead. I thought I would have a try for some Silvers as we know soft pellet doesn’t usually get to the bottom on this venue but thought I would give it a try anyway, so soaked up some expanders. With 4mm expander on the meat rig I shipped out to the long line and the float just sat there – I’m thinking pellet gone so lifted up - pellet still there! Same again float just sat there where were the nuisance Ronnie’s. I then had a 3lb Carp followed by a few small Skimmers and Tench.
I weighed 50lb 11oz for no where.
Moody (pictured right) on peg 111 drop his plummet in the lake and went in for it. I didn’t think he find it as I have tried many times in the past.
The match was won by Bob Sheppard (pictured right with his catch) with 201lb 15oz from peg 124. Bob caught on the straight lead fish midway with 8mm hair rigged pellet fished over loose fed 8mm pellet. Bob fed 11 pints throughout the match. Bob caught 34 Carp and one Mallard (see video below on how the Mallard was disqualified because Bob had netting assistance from another angler - Alan Jones - right click to expand video)
Result:
- B Sheppard 201-15-0 peg 124
- R Roberts 199-05-0 peg 110
- G Tappenden168-09-0 peg 116
Weigh Sheet:
Overall Result:- R Roberts 541-01-0
- B Sheppard 483-0-0
- M Waldon 462-0-0
Full Result will be published once available. Well done the three money earners (pictured right)
Man of the series:
My choice would be Graham “Tappy” Tappenden (pictured right with a typical Campbell Carp). Graham fished three tidy matches catching all his fish on the pole – well done.
I must say the there were some excellent anglers fishing the series and all good company, making some new angling friends over the three days.
My conclusions with regards to the fishing over the three days was unless you were in a feature peg – corners, Spit, 112, 114, 116, 118 etc… you would struggle on the pole whereas the Bomb would do the business. But interestingly those that fished the bomb and did well had fed heavy until the water turned black where they managing to get the Carp competing and feeding on bottom. One thing I didn’t try and wish I had was to blast 8mm pellets over he pole line until it turned black – or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment