Thursday 17/07/2025 - Windmill Silvers Knock Up - Top Lake

Last minute decision to fish the Windmill Silvers knock up on the Top Lake if I could get a lift, which Kev Winstone kindly offered. We had the usual fishing chat about our ups and downs in recent matches – more good luck than bad for both. I then changed the subject to how his Solar Panel business was doing. He balled me a googly saying he just bought a funeral business in Kingswood!! Thinking diversification or waiting for punch line. Kev explained the business was doing exceptionally well they had out grown his current offices and would convert the property to offices. However, he may keep the cold storage for his bait! If anyone wants Solar or overnight battery storage Kev’s your man.

https://helpinusolar.com/

Whoops, unpacking the van realised I had brought my Carp pole case instead of the Silvers case. Duh, did have a couple of Ronnie top sets and the waggler. No 4 metre whip though which I was favouring.

Nine fishing today which fills this small lake as it has a lot of inaccessible areas which the Carper’s like. In to the draw box and peg 3 for me. So off to find the peg along a sloping path had to help Kev with his overloaded trolley he was next peg.

No platforms but I was able to get down the bank just in the water a long time since did this – closer to the water the better the fishing. But had the usual experience of the front legs gradually sinking over the six hours.

Set up the waggler and a long Ronnie rig. Set both to 3 foot so would fishing well off bottom. Only crap maggots and GB on the tray.

Fed a ball of loose GB with LR’s on the Ronnie line started on single LR and started catching Rudd and Roach Fry. Suspected the fry liked the GB too much, so switched to loose feeding. This worked to some extent and started catching tiny Skimmers, Ronnie’s, Hybrids and Rudd to 3 oz. Stayed with this until hooking a Carp subsequently switching the waggler over loose fed LR’s using it to hand as a whip (sort of). Kept switching between the two line throughout after being Carped. Only landed one one beautiful Common Carp of 8 lb out of three hooked.

These certainly came to mind - however, these are bigger that most of our fish.

Weighed 8 lb 3 oz for second placing. 

The knock up was won by Shay Gillman from Lily peg 10 with 10 lb 8 oz. Shay struggled until the last hour when he started to catch some proper Roach. Well done Matey.

Now here's a thing I was wondering why Tony Rixon was hanging around Kev's van who was still packing up, instead of heading back West. Then the  "Pound coin" dropped - Tony loves a pick up no matter how small.

Back to the Ringer for a cold one or two with the usual suspects. Baps looked great.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 03/04/2025 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Breakfast in the Beefeater, Ok but not the best for the money. Didn't want to walk too far around the lake today as left knee has been playing up also took my chances on not having a short walk. Should have done as ended up on peg 11 the longest walk!! Luckily the slope was dry and not too steep.

The wind was coming in from the NNE so the car park end would have been my choice. But down under the bank on peg 11 was warm being out of the cold wind. The fish are all balled up in the reeds at the moment so having some down to my right and reachable with the margin pole was my preferred line. So set up a 03. gram RJ Slim with 0.2 GLine straight through to a Guru 20 super spade. Also set up the waggler to give me some choice with LR's.

As a reed wobbled decided to started down to the reed with pinched corn over kinder micro and had a fish take it on the drop but missed it. Back out and a proper bite and a hard fighting 1 lb 3 oz Tench in the net. No more indications on corn so switched to kindered LR's and triple reds on the hook and had two quick Carp before it dried, decided to rest it in favour of the waggler fished out in front at 20 metres with double reds over loose fed LR's in the meantime started to loose feed down to the reeds to see if I could entice some more Carp out. Second cast had another Carp. Things were looking good as Glenn Bailey came down at 11 o clock and said he was blanking and I was probably winning the match. Thinking have I got enough nets!! As it turned out I could have gone Home after Glenn left as couldn't get another bite!!

Weighed 15 lb 14 oz for nowhere. On hindsight after catching the Tench should have fished for silvers on the Ronnie rig.

The match was won by Steve  Mundy (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 39 lb 2 oz from peg 8. Steve caught 6 Carp on the straight lead with bread hook bait over to the reeds and 2 Carp on the pole on maggot. Well done matey.

Pete Greenslade picked up the silvers from peg 20 with 5 lb 13 oz. Pete caught on my Ronnie rig set up with maggot and GB. Well done matey got that sorted.

The best part of the day is usually the breakfast or a pick up or the after match curry. However, the best part today was seeing my good friend Glenn Bailey out fishing again and winning his section. Welcome back matey, forget the sections you broke 😉

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 13/03/2025 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Breakfast with Geoff in the Beefeater, Ok too.

Had a walk around, no sign of fish. However, "Leyton's Legacy" was pointed out to me (pictured)

Not been to Windmill for some time, but have kept up with the results. The fish currently appear to be at the car park end. But with a very cold Northly wind blowing up that end will mean a very cold day but with plenty of fish, whereas the opposite end would be well sheltered but didn't expect it to fish. So with having enough of this weather especially the wind I would settle for the sheltered end today and hope some fish were still resident.

Ah, into the draw bag and peg 12 it would be. Lovely shelter peg down under the bank. However, the peg was full of rubbish left by anglers very recently, evidence in the red GB used.

Set up a 0.3 Gram RJ Slim to fish down the left just short of the reeds, would have liked to have fished further down to the reeds but well out of reach of the margin pole, didn't want to risk the Carp pole, no doubt would have battled with both Carp and reeds. A 8 " Drake bodied waggler to fish in the open water as far as I could group the LR's, finally a 4x14 Winter which had been used in a recent silvers match and had a 0.1 hook length which couldn't be assed to change to fish three barrels. 

Started on a 4 mm expender over micro at three barrels, then on to the waggler with double LR's, then on the margin at three barrels, Then set up the feeder. Had some casts around including up to the island. Three hours now gone and not a bite. Decided to see I could catch a silver over the first line with GB and a single LR. Ten minutes later playing a very angry 8 lb Common. Was concerned the 0.1 might break so was playing it very carefully. I kept hearing Dad's voice saying "The longer the fish is in the water the more chance you will loose it". Still finally got it in the net. Immediately changed the hook length to 0.16. Didn't have another bite even opened a tin of corn. Then spied out the corner of the eye a reed move right down in the left corner, followed by a Moorhen going up the bank, so wasn't sure nonetheless shallowed the waggler and fed some LR's. The wind was absolutely perfect which by leaving the line on the water would bow the reel line away from the reeds whilst the under tow would push the float towards the reeds, Second cast had a 7 lb Carp which due to the position of the line pull the fish away from the reeds on the strike. Had another three smaller Carp before the all out.

The five fished weighed 29 lb 2 oz to beat John Smith by 1 oz for the section and 5th overall. Needed one more Carp!

The match was won by Nick Saunders (pictured with the silvers winner) with 56 lb 14 oz from fancied peg 25 in a very cold Northly. Nick caught at 13 metres fishing maggot hook bait over kindered maggot and micro. Well done matey.

The silvers was taken by S Fillingham with 7 lb 1 oz from peg 16. He caught down the middle with maggot over GB and maggot feed. Well done best silvers weight for some time.

Back to the White Harte for a warm up. Bloody weather must be mad.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 12/12/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Attendance was weather dependant. Didn't look too bad so fished. What a miserable day it was, damp and gloomy.

Found out that the Sunday match was about saving a blank with only 20 lb winning.

It seems Dave Haines had some success scaring the Cormorants off the pylons with his whiz bang fireworks.

At last a draw on the far side peg 8 which I was happy with. The peg has some form, but you really need to fish 13 metres, never had the appetite for that, so only set up the maggot feeder and waggler. Only had LR's on the bait tray.

The chuck over to the sedges needed an 8" Drake had a few practice cast and wasn't confident it was going to stay on station long enough due to a skimming wind blowing along the inside.

Fed some LR's and started on the waggler and had one indication which was either a Ronnie or liner. As I thought couldn't keep the float still long enough, but did keep trying it throughout particularly once the wind reduced, had a couple more indications. Spent the lions share of the match on the feeder. Had two small Carp in two chucks which gave me false hope of another bagging session. Subsequent had a couple of hours without a bite. Last couple of hours added four more Carp. Once again the last two Carp were better fish and about the same weight as the other four.

Thought I had 35 lb weighed 35 lb 8 oz (without a clicker) for 6th overall. The North Easterly was very cold and glad to get in the car. Although caught most of my fish off the reeds think I got a handle on this feeder fishing tight to the reeds. Wish I  had started on a small open ended feeder with Pinkie might have had a pick up with a silver.

The match was won by matey John Williams (pictured with the silvers winner) with 108 lb 11 oz from peg 12. John fished the pole at three barrels using soft pellet on the hook fished over the same. The fish have shoaled up, I think subsequent to the high winds blowing down the lake legs driving the fish out of the horrendous tow in such conditions, as Gary Bedford was second with 80 lb fishing into the gap between the islands on the waggler and pellet.

Tony "Turbo" Ponting fishing peg 2 picked up both pools in the silvers with two accident Perch stretching the scales down to 1 oz!

Geoff and me stopped in the Griffin pub for a pint. Primarily to see the recent refurbishment. As Geoff said it looked the same except no longer doing food. All but empty, block of flats coming soon me thinks.

Result and partial weigh sheet: 

Thursday 05/11/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Some say the wind forecast is usually double at Windmill, think the rainfall should be x10. Right miserable day weather wise. Still haven't used the umbrella due to the wind.

Because of other matches the numbers were down to 11. Waited to last again and at yes out of the 20's, only just though, peg 16 for me found myself next to Geoff Francis on peg 14, unfortunately couldn't really see him.

Must admit arriving at the peg the any waggler fishing would by difficult to impossible due to the wind blowing in at 2 o clock so not only blowing down my side but also cutting across between the islands - bugger. Hey, still set it up love a challenge. Thought the maggot feeder would be important so reluctantly set it up. Last of all a 4x16 so fish top set plus three barrels for a silver or two if lucky!

Had a few casts on the waggler, looked ok but the wind was pulling the inside line away from the island far too fast. Had a  go on the pole with a LR over GB laced with DR's. Could not pick up the tow and hold back and run wasn't going to do it for me, abandoned. Last resort picked up the feeder and worked it all along the far back for one lost fouler. With 3 hours gone and blanking the wind eased slightly picked up the waggler and cast to a small bay where I had been loose feeding LR's with the hope the waggler would stay still long enough in the slight of shelter. Had a 2 lb Carp first cast saving the blank walk of shame. The wind is definitely my enemy as it soon got up making presentation impossible. So spent the remainder of the match of the feeder in the same area with triple DR hook bait. Things started to happen ended the match with 7 Carp. No silvers although I did have a nipped maggot.

Weighed 49 lb 3 oz for second overall. One more Carp would have done it. Felt for Geoff who was beating me until my last Carp caught at on the whistle.

The match was won by Bill Knight (pictured with the silvers winner) with 53 lb 14 oz from peg 8. Not sure how Bill caught but suspect it was the feeder in some form. Well done matey.

Pete Greenslade took the silvers with one 2 lb 14 oz Skimmer caught on maggot and feeder. Well done matey.

With everything soaking wet Geoff and me couldn't wait to get back to the curry house for a couple of Doombar's and a Ruby.

Good luck to anyone fishing this weekend, weather looks awful.

Result: (No readable weigh sheets)

1. Bill Knight 53-14-0 peg 8

2. Mike Nicholls 49-04-0 peg 16

3. John Smith 48-07-0 peg 3

4. Geoff Francis 46-13-0 peg 14

5. John Williams 45-0-0 peg 1

6. Kev Murch 30-09-0 peg 10

Silvers:

1. Pete Greenslade 2-14-0 peg 22 (1 Skimmer)

2. John Smith 2-07-0 peg 3 (1 Skimmer)

Thursday 28/11/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Main Lake

Some say my kit and car is very tidy. Now this van (pictured) tidiness is totally alien to me. Guess who's van it is. Two clues it's not Tony Rixon, but the most consistent angler at Windmill. He nearly got knocked over by the spare tyre falling out of the van.

At the last match here everyone blanked! And after a heavy overnight frost this morning most of us were wondering what we were doing here. At least there was little wind chill factor.

I have been trying not draw in the 20's for over a year, so had the last peg and found peg 22 staring back at me. However, pegs 23 and 21 wasn't in the draw, so plenty of room. So fairly happy for a 20's peg for once.

The talk was there would be loads of blanks, so went negative setting up the feeder, but found I had left all my maggot feeders home. Luckily Phil Morgan and Gary Bedford helped out, nice to so Gary back after a 15 year lay-off. A good angler who's done his apprenticeship.. Decided instead to fish a very small cage feeder with GB and Pinkie for an early silver. 

Also set up a 4 x16 Winter to fish top set plus three barrels and a short Ronnie rig. Neither of these rigs got wet. Started on the small feeder with triple Pinkie on the hook and had an instant bite a small Ronnie which fell off swinging it. Out again and one missed bite with damaged Pinkie. Had a liner, so feed some LR's over to the reeds and immediately the reeds started to move and with blanking after 45 minutes set up the waggler and second cast had a Carp which was played very carefully. The rest of the match was a question of catch three instant Carp then a dwell. Kept adjusting the depth from full to one foot off. It was noticeable as the match progressed the fish got bigger. Got pissed off with three Moorhens that came out of the reeds bending them down in the area being fished, so had to switch about to avoid the reeds, but wasn't always possible losing some tackle. The last 30 minutes was manic catching four big Common Carp to 12 lb. Fed just under half a pint of LR's, with double DR on the hook.

Weighed 113 lb 7 oz for the match win. Thanks to the Robin fed throughout for shitting all over my kit. The venue fish extremely well considering recent results. Lovely days fishing on my favourite method. Plus the drive way was much improved.

The silvers was won accidentally by Phil "Fuzzy" Morgan (pictured with the match winner) from peg 24. Phil catching a 2 lb 2 oz Skimmer on the waggler fished at full depth on maggot. Well done Matey.

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 08/09/2024 - Windmill Open - Match Lake

Back to Windmill through rocky road. Although rain was in the forecast I knew different as just bought a new umbrella - Drennan Specialist - heavy and strong, definitely got the ability to do a Mary Poppins on me.

Peg 18 today - still cant get away from this side. Straight away the focus would be silvers until the last hour or so. For this cleared the left hand margin out right up to the bank, no way for the Carp to get behind the rig - pictured. Made me chuckle fed it all match and didn't attract one Carp there.

Set up the waggler hoping for some better Skimmers on the end of the island, short Ronnie rig and a 4x16 Winter to fish top set plus one barrel.

Started on the Wag and Mag and found the bottom was all over the place, but caught two quick small Skimmer's and some Ronnie's before foul hooking some munter Carp. Couldn't catch any silvers after this so spent most of the match switching between the two lines fishing single LR over GB catching small Perch, Ronnie's and Rudd, Did have three bonus Skimmers to 3 lb which heralded the arrival of the Carp on both silver lines, but not in my margin Carp trap!! Lost five landed two one nearing10 lb.

The two accidental Carp weighed 13 lb 5 oz and silvers 14 lb 2 oz for the silvers win - mission accomplished.

John Fuidge (pictured) took the match out from peg 1 with 161 lb 7 oz. John fished the pole long fishing pellet shallow. Well done matey.

The venue fished well for Carp today with some close 75 lb weights.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 15/08/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Pre-draw got off with a really bad start hearing of Bill Ferris passing away aged 83. Very upsetting, will miss him a lot. We have match fished together for many years, both often fishing for the silvers pool with a competitive friendly spirit. He loved catching small silvers - pictured - Bill pictures with a typical catch of red fins from Shepherds Lake - Cider Farm. RIP matey will be thinking of you during the Westerleigh winter league. Condolences to brother Norman.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 16. Not one I would choose today, but a good silvers peg, however, came to fish for Carp. My neighbour on 17 was once again my jinx Ray Bazeley - good company nonetheless.

Setting up the wind started to pick up and was to get really difficult especially as

the peg is narrow, seems every visit the wind appears in force. A 0.3 gram RJ Slim for the LH margin on the top set. The RH was a bit undulating due to large stones so didn't bother with that side. The rig was a 0.4 Gram paste float again to fish top set in 4 foot of water. Went on the paste to see how it presented over hard 4's and DR's, then trialled the corn over kinder corn and hard 4's in the margin and had a 7 lb Carp first put in. Umm, could be good then. In again and had and had a swirl and that was it. On the paste and it was noticeable the lack of small fish nibbling the hook bait. Took a while to catch my next fish a 10 lb Mirror. The up shot had another Carp and a 3 lb Skimmer from the margin and another Carp on the paste. The wind was horrendous - again.

Weighed 30 lb 13 oz. Two things hindsight tells my I got wrong - should have fished for one fish at a time instead of trying to empty it - over fed it. As the small silvers weren't feeding should have tried the maggot feeder over to the tree. Steadier start next time!

Paul Barnfield caught a rod and reel on peg 17 last match. Today I caught a old tin - pictured - typical.

The match was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the silvers winner) from peg 9 with 92 lb 13 oz. Paul caught on either corn or worm over worm ans corn feed. Well done matey.

Shay Gillman took the silvers with 13 lb 9 oz from peg 10. A good weight on the day. Shay caught on maggot over Gb and maggot. Well done matey a good weight on the day.

Finally; matey Bill Ferris not only caught Silvers he occasionally caught some accidental Carp.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 01/08/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter - Match Lake

With the Bitterwell match cancelled due to only three booking in. I was going to give fishing a miss this week. Geoff had previously booked in to Windmill and wanted a curry afterwards, so booked in last minute. I wasn't prepared for the match and pinched some 6 mm pellets from Geoff and a handful of maggots from Shay and Andy. Had 4's, corn, micro and worms with most of my other baits left in the garage!

Into the draw bag hoping to draw somewhere other than the low twenties. Peg 2 it was - still can't get down the other end of the lake. Handy being drawn next to Geoff peg 1 and Shay peg 3, not far to get my bait! Opposite peg 2 is a line of tall Sedges where lots of Carp live and are notoriously hard to hook and keep out of the reeds. So set up the pellet waggler - 6 banded over 4's feed. A 0.4 gram RJ for top set plus three barrels and a 0.3 RJ Slim margin rig for both sides in the Reeds which was attached to the Drennan margin top set with 25 elastic, any fish hooked wasn't going anywhere far soon.

Started on the waggler for two swirls. The Sedges are so high couldn't get close enough even when I touched the top of the Reeds. The Carp wouldn't or it was too early for them to come out of the reeds. So waggler abandoned.  Fed chopped worm. micro, maggot and corn mix on the long line for just some indications. Not looking good. four hours to go - bit early for margins? Went in anyway with corn over corn and a few 4's. Had some knocks from silvers putting couple in the net. Bit slow so one more try before going for a banana walk and landed a 7 lb common - walk postponed. The elastic is very aggressive but got it out of the reeds. I had plumbed up tight to the reeds as possible on a shelf that was about 8 inches wide and is where I fed. I found laying out the rig out into the lake and letting it fall towards the shelf produced positive takes at what was guessed at as half depth. Leaving it on the shelve did produce four lost foulers. Lost three with hook pulling and line breakages due to the aggressive elastic, but non lost in the reeds, so you have the choice on which way to go on this one. Next time I would makeup some rigs with 0.2 through rather than 0.16 hook lengths. managed to land 11 Carp, 1 Perch, one Ronnie and 2 tiny Skimmers all on Corn! Ten minutes to go one of the 11 jumped out of the keep net so down to 10!! Jump must had been a near record, at least a PB. Really enjoyed today more relaxing than normal Ronnie bashing.

Weighed 11 oz of accidental silvers 😀 with the ten Carp going 62 lb 4 oz for 7th. Some lovely fish

The match was won by Matt Taynton (pictured) with 92 lb 10 oz from peg 6. Matt caught most on paste at 6 metres. With corn in his LH margin and worm over DR's from his RH margin. Well done matey.

The silvers went to Paul Barnfield with 9 lb 11 oz from peg 14. Guessing worm and micro did it for him!. Now hears a thing he's drawn peg 14 four times on the trot. Chances of this with 18 fishing every match is 1/105000. Well done matey 

Best part of the day was in a cool Indian with a pint of draught Cobra, a Chicken Balti and good company.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 27/06/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter 500 Open - Match Lake

After just a few day's of Summer it was back to Autumn with overcast skies and a cold gusting wind. Would it be too much to ask to be on the far side and any number less than 16? 

Dave Haines had locked himself out of his van, I was able to help out with a pen and some of Avon Anglings left over swim cards, which was enough to get us started.

Into the draw bag and peg 23 it was. One of the better pegs in the twenties, but arriving at the peg found the wind howling into it at 11 o clock and with it 8 foot deep at one barrel and the margins almost unfishable due to the reeds it was going to be a rough day - hate the wind. Decided to clear as much bankside vegetation as I could down to the right which gave some cover from the wind. I was soon in fleece and Gore-Tex whilst opposite Barny was in tea shirt well sheltered from the wind. Found myself next to the Jinx - Ray Bazeley on peg 22.

Set up the maggot feeder - had one Perch on it, binned it. Tried the top set plus one barrel, but the presentation was awful with the rig being blown into me. No idea where the GB feed was going. The upshot fished the margin with the short Ronnie rig for most of the match in between the wind blowing the rig into reeds. Had about 130 fish - Perch, Rudd, Ronnie's and some tiny Skimmers. Just couldn't get any bonus Skimmers. Landed one small Carp with another three doing me in the reeds.

Silvers weighed 10 lb 3 oz and my one Carp 4 lb 13 oz. Third in the silvers - needed a bonus - bloody wind buggered the peg for me.

The match was won by Barny (pictured above baiting up) with 86 lb 1 oz from peg 1. Barny caught on his usual of worm over humongous amount of micro and chopped worm. However, he didn't catch until the last quarter of the Match, which seems the way on this venue. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by Shay Gillman (pictured with the match winner) with 13 lb 15 oz from peg 3. Shay started on the small fish short, later switching to 11.5 metres catching some better Skimmers on Maggot and GB. - well done matey.

Matey Geoff Francis came second qualifying for the 500 final by default with 61 lb 13 oz from peg 12 catching down his edge with double corn mostly caught in the last hour. Well done matey.

Geoff and me shooting off for our usual Thursday Indian.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 13/06/2024 - Windmill Fishery - Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Not been here for a while. The access road is much improved. Originally had 22 booked in but a few cried off most probably because of the awful weather. I had six layers on and was still cold.

Hoping for any peg except 21 to 18 which have in recent times been awful, however, they do throw up the occasional decent weight. In to the draw bag and peg 19 it was - duh. I think the way it fishes depends on the wind and with it gusting down the lake it was going to be hard. Good company with Ray Bazeley on peg 20. We both knew we were on no hopers - but you never know. We both laughed when the whistle went the wind started to increase considerably.

Only hope of a pick up from the peg was silvers, so set up from them. The wind prevented the use of the waggler so just set up a maggot feeder in the hope of a couple of decent skimmers over. The short Ronnie rig for the small fish and a 0.4 gram RJ to fish top set plus three barrels for skimmers both theses rigs fished over LR's over GB.

Had a couple of casts on the maggot feeder whilst the GB feed on the two rig lines settled. No signs, so on to the long rig and had five Skimmers to 3 oz!! Refed the line which subsequently died. On to the Ronnie rig and basically sat with the cold wind off my back catching very small Perch and the odd Rudd and Ronnie for most of the match knowing it would be difficult to beat three or four big skimmers. Did have a Common Carp on the maggot feeder after being pestered by small Perch on the maggot feeder during a tea break.

Weighed 5 lb 10 oz of silvers and the one Carp 3 lb 12 oz for nowhere.

The match was one by the migratory angler Tony Rixon (pictured with the silvers winner) with 67 lb 8 oz from peg 17. Tony caught three on a full depth pellet waggler in open water and later at three barrels on meat over loose fed meat. Well done matey see you here next year.

Silvers was won by Andy Gard with 10 lb 3 oz from peg 25. Andy caught short out in front on caster and maggot hook bait over GB. Well done matey.

Glad to get in the car and get the heater on - some scientist believe we are entering a mini ice age - now seems more likely than global warming.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 21/03/2024 - Windmill Cost Cutter 500 - Main Lake

Geoff was up for a after match curry and why not, something to look forward to. Feeling really good today and up for it.

A full house again. Into the draw bag and peg 1 for me. Haven't been on this peg for quite sometime but have found memory's of catching Silvers. Unfortunately the few that are left are shoaled up down the far end as is most of the Carp. Peg 1 was also a good Carp peg but hasn't shown any recent form. That said decided on a Carp day - who knows?

Got to the peg without too much mud and even managed to get the trolley down the slight slope. Set up the maggot feeder, a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus 2 barrels and a 4x12 for long down the RH margin where the reeds where moving. The problem with this peg just up to the reeds its 4 1/2 foot deep which is too deep for margin fishing. However, the Carp were in the reeds and were unlikely to come out anytime soon. So at the start went out four barrels with a shallow margin rig and second flick in hooked a Carp which was far too fast for me and ended up loosing the complete rig - bugger. Had a go on the Winter over micro and LR's and caught a few small Ronnie's. Decided to try the margin again so whilst setting a new rig up put the maggot feeder out which was getting ragged by Silvers. Back into the reeds and lost another Carp - rig OK though! The upshot caught one Carp on the feeder losing one to my poorly tied loop, caught another on the Winter and eventually got a Carp out of the Reeds.

My few accidental Silvers weighed  1 lb 14 oz and my 3 smallish Carp 13 lb 6 oz for 15 lb 4 oz.

The match was won by Bill Knight (pictured with some of his catch) with 88 lb 13 oz from fancied peg 11 (for both Carp and Silvers at the mo). Bill caught at 13 metres down his RH edge shallow with 8 mm banded pellet and later out in from again shallow. Bill fed nothing all match! Well done Matey.

The Silvers was won by John Osborne (pictured with the Match winner) with 14 lb 4 oz from peg 9. John caught on caster over loose caster at four barrels. Well done Matey.

Well done to Glenn Bailey for winning our section.

Now for the best part of the day and our visit to the Mughal Palace. Best Indian around, cant beat draft Cobra.

Weigh Sheets: