Thursday 01/10/2020 - Silverfox Local Opens - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake

Apparently Tockenham Reservoir, owned and managed by Amalgamation Fisheries has had an explosion of Zebra Mussels rendering the Lake completely clear and the fish hiding from predators, leading to very few fish being caught in daylight hours. John Smith went pleasure fishing there recently and only managed 4 lb shallow on the wag and caster!!

With the Autumn now upon us meaning travelling to and from matches in the dark, its time to run some local matches. The first today was Windmill being only a short drive for the regulars. News to follow on the next venue.

Before getting the draw underway we had a guided tour of Geoff Francis's new Connect van - perfect for fishing. Nice to see Geoff out again.

With a few regulars unavailable we were reduced to 13, which gave us plenty or room. With yesterday raining all day and little to no wind and bright sunshine today I didn't expect the fish to be responsive. I carried out the draw and was left peg 8. Not my preferred peg as I do like the pegs in the twenties. however, plenty of room.

I set up the 0.3 gram paste float which only had two outings and confirmed my suspicions that the paste season is coming to an end. The Ronnie rig was set set and again only accounted for four or five small fish the water was rather clear - due to lots of rain and no wind. I started on the 4x14 at top-set plus two at full depth of about five foot - really nice to fish a venue with some water in it! I fished double DR's on the hook over potted micro and DR's and caught a 7 lb Carp first put in. It went quiet for a while then started to catch small Skimmers some hand size but one went 2 lb so a good start. for some unknown reason it died. There were plenty of Carp topping on the far island got off the box and set up the waggler. The wind wouldn't be kind but was just fishable with some line on the bottom. I had three more Carp on this and some more Skimmers and Ronnie's using a single LR over loose fed mixed LR's. I had a short walk and as expected it was fishing hard. So went back and thrashed the waggler some more for more small Silvers, but no Carp. With an hour to go (Carp o clock) I came back on the 4x14 and had a run of small Skimmers and added five more Carp topping up with micro and DR's after every Carp. Most of the other anglers caught Carp well during this time.

My Silvers weighed 11 lb 9 oz for the Silvers win and my Carp 46 lb 15 oz for a match winning total of 58 lb 8 oz. So double bubble. Me pictured with the runner up in both pools - venue professional Dave Haines.

It was back to the "Bells" for a pint with the usual suspects. Used my corona NHS app check in for the first time. Seems strange wearing a mask until shown to a table with waitress service. No sign of any students.

Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 58-08-0 peg 8

2. Dave Haines 28-12-0 peg 23

3. John Smith 24-12-0 peg 5

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 11-09-0 peg 8

2. Dave Haines 11-06-0 peg 23

3. Ray Bazeley 9-0-0 peg 14

Weigh Sheet: