11/06/2020 - Farleigh Woods - Lerts Open

Left in plenty of time, probably a bit too early as we were all kicking our heels waiting for the organisers, but this did give us some distancing socialising, which is something I have been missing. However, I was being too closely followed around by one angler luckily I was "Alert".

It was forecast to be windy with showers for most of the day - glad  I had the umbrella! 

Finally got a draw and was shouted peg 19. A bit better than last time. For company I had Wayne Storey on peg 17. To be honest for some reason I didn't have my heart in it today.

No point in explaining each rig I set up as I only used the Ronnie rig albeit at two distances. I started on a single bronze maggot over loose fed mixed maggot and caught small Ronnie's, Skimmers and nuisance micro Perch from the off. I basically stayed with this for most of the match until the peg completely died and it wasn't long before I relised I had fed the Carp into the peg foul hooking one. The peg was dead, so mixed up some of my Skimmer GB which I fed neat, again with single maggot (red and bronze was best) this worked and wished I used it from the off because it resulted in some better Skimmers. I then hooked and landed a 7 lb Carp quickly followed by one 12 lb. The small fish then returned and was catching reasonably well at the end. The Carp did affect my Silvers weight but on the positive side helped me towards a bigger overall weight. Should I have fished the paste in these last knockings?

What was noticeable today was the affect the wind had on the tow. It was probably due to where the peg was situated in relation to the island. But it mainly towed left to right but once it switched in the other direction the peg faded. The peg never sat still as the change in direction was fairly quick. I am fascinated with the hydraulics of fisheries.

My Silvers weighed 21 lb 7 oz and my two Carp 19 lb 6 oz for 40 lb 13 oz and a third overall pick up and fifth in the Silvers.

The match was won by Clive Glisson (pictured right) with 60 lb 6 oz from peg 2. Clive had two Carp on the waggler then caught more Carp in both his margins using meat over all sorts of feed. I tell you this picture really made me feel old as I use to fish with Clive's Dad - lovely bloke.

The Silvers was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured right) with 33 lb 1 oz from peg 8. Paul caught on white maggot over GB laced with micro.

To be fair the Lake owners have done a lot of work during the lock-down. They have dug out the pegs and covered the clay with a thin layer of gravel. However, today after the rain the gravel embedded in the clay and both stuck to my boots and found myself walking around in platform boots! For the cost of four paving slabs in each peg would result in an 100 % improvement.

Today saw a weight of near 500 lb by Chris Davis at Ivy House. However, these sorts of weight are not for everyone with many anglers preferring the sort of fishing this venue provides as it's something between a natural and Commercial. I think 100 lb is more than enough to win a match. I think this venue will become more popular.

Result:

1. Clive Glisson 60-03-0 peg 2

2. Chris Ollis 55-0-0 peg 15

3. Mike Nicholls 40-13-0 peg 17

Silvers:

1. Paul Barnfield 33-01-0 peg 8

2. Stu White 29-06-0 peg 16

3. Andy Gard 24-03-0 peg 3 

Weigh Sheet: