09/11/08 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 12lb 7oz
Catch – 18 Roach, 6 Perch, 2 Carp, 1 Tench, 1 Bream.
Weather – Heavy overnight rain. Cloudy, rain & strong winds.
Water temp – 9c > 9c
Match – Lands End Winter League – rd 1 – 16th overall, 2nd in section.

The Lands End winter league is to be run over 8 matches and originally there were to be 48 anglers over 4 lakes. In the end only 3 lakes are to be used with 36 anglers, although a couple couldn’t turn up for the 1st round. The eventually winner will walk away with £550, with 7th place receiving £50.

Speci, Match and Johns Lake were in for today and with heavy rain and wind forecast, I wanted to draw the more sheltered Speci or Match Lake, which I duly did with peg 24.

The wind was from behind, so at least that would make fishing the pole more comfortable, but the real concern was the clarity of the water and the fact peg 1 opposite hadn’t been drawn, which would mean the fish would back off too easily.

At the start I fed a small ball of groundbait with pinkie & caster at 14.5m in open water and immediately started fishing 13m at the bottom of the shelf, hoping for a mug fish. A roach 1st put in on maggot was soon followed by a small carp, before I decided to feed a few bits of caster.

A switch to my groundbait swim produced small roach, before a 2lb tench put in appearance. Not much else was being caught so I kept plugging away, concentrating on the open water and 13m margin swim, occasionally trying under peg 23 pallet.

With 90 minutes left, I was still catching odd fish mostly on pinkie, but felt I needed some better quality fish. I decided to leave my open water swim and spend more time fishing along the margin to the tree, up & down the shelf. I caught another carp up the shelf, plus a decent perch, as well as a 1lb plus roach at the bottom of the shelf. There were fish beyond the tree, but I couldn’t reach them due to the tree and with no one on peg 1 I couldn’t get them to come back.

To finish 2nd in section was a good start, but Pete Sivell isn’t happy with me, because this is now the 5th time on trot that I have beaten him off the next peg!

The next round will be in 2 weeks and I will on Johns Lake.