Fifth On The Fisho
On Saturday I entered the Fish’O’Mania qualifier at Moorlands Farm and drew peg 9 on Moors. It’s a very nice looking peg but not a lake anyone tipped to win. It was a really windy day, which ruled out a lot of options, and I just couldn’t catch much at all for three and a half hours other than roach and little skimmers.
Thankfully I had an edge arrival and caught some really hard-fighting carp in the last hour to end up with 103lb and arm ache! A lot of them were lean commons that never gave up, plus a black mirror that was easily 10lb. That never gave up either! Some serious pressure on my MTX4 dragging them away from the reeds. I’d consider renaming Moors to Mofos if they all fight like that!
My 103lb was surprisingly enough for a lake win and 5th overall. Well done John Jones qualifying with 149lb from peg 30 on Meadow.
With F1s also in mind I fished sensible tackle to begin with down the side, consisting of a 16 MXC1 to 0.16mm bottom and orange 12-14 Slik. Once the carp began tailing up I swapped to 0.20mm direct to green 16-18 and then upped that to my no-prisoners rig, which was red 18-20 Slik and 0.23mm line direct to a size 12 MXC4 hook. This is an eyed hook that I tie on like a spade end and that’s really secure when under pressure. Proper crunching gear and definitely needed it as they tried to snag me in the reeds and adjacent platforms!
Sunday I made the long trek to Weston Pools today for the third round of the Matrix Champs. I drew a very windy peg 9 on Canal and a bit of a parrot cage with branches overhead making everything awkward! I could only hold 10m of pole in the wind, and that’s after tying an extra foot of line to my rig to compensate for the gusts.
Nothing short early, but managed 10lb of silvers on the 10m line on maggots, fishing up and down, but it was hard going. I also set up a little 9ft rod to chuck to the far bank, which was a really tricky cast, punching through the leaves. I hoped the effort was worth it but all I managed on this was a skimmer plus I kept coming back with muck on the hook, plus one squirrel which I think made Jimmy Brooks opposite me chuckle!
The gusts of wind were getting worse and two hours in I went for a wee and a short walk just to see what was being caught in my section. Dave Lloyd two anglers to my left was best with two carp plus some F1s and barbel. I hadn’t seen any yet so I had to pull my finger out…
I kicked off a new pellet swim and was finally rewarded with two good carp and two F1s. Back on the maggot line and I snared two small carp out of the blue amongst the silvers. Then the last hour I’ve had a nice run of big old F1s short on maggots. Feels like ages since I’ve been able to catch them like that.
After such a slow start I’ve ended up having a decent day, weighing 68lb for a section win. Really happy with that. If nothing else it’s nice to get some fuel money back! Not seen the full results yet so will have to do the standard #welldonetoalltheframers shout out, plus Wayne Sharman for another nicely run match.
