back in the comfort zone

after my last 2 matches with an average hourly rate of about a pound and a half i was looking forward to a good day and when martin alexander drew me out peg 32 i was more than happy. i kept it simple 3 rigs 1 4x12 hard pellet on the deck , 4x12 dibber shallow and 4x10 bristle float for up the edge, all rigs on .20 with 0.18 hooklenths with a size 16 b960 with a hair rigged band on. first put in and i had a 2 pounder on the deep rig trouble was it was hooked in the tail. the plan was to feed with a catapult with 4mm,s and cup pellets in the edge, as the 2 lines i was fishing were only about one and a half mtrs apart. after the first put in carp i had a 2lb cruciany type thing, which was foulhooked fair and square in the top lip. then the aerater came on and it went proper tits up with loads of fish in the peg but i couldnt get one in the mouth , and i lost some under the tree,s in snags . this was turning into a tim clark day(fish lost far outweigh numbers landed). by the time the wave machine went off after 3 hours i had 7 small carp and a few crucians in the net. dont ask me why but i started to get fish in the mouth , i can only put it down to the water not moving now , i did keep trying the up in the water rig but couldnt get a bite on it, but i was getting movement on the float indicating that the fish were up but not right up.so withthe bulk of the shot at half depth and 1 no 11 8 inches from the hook most of my bites came as i let the bait fall through the last 2 foot of water so it was a case of 2 pouches of pellet then keep working the bait till i hooked or caught one, feeding this way seems to keep the fish fairly close to the bottom, feeding little and more often seems to increase the foulers. i had a few fish from the margin, but sport was better in the deep water(winters coming) previous visits to landsend and i had been catching more fish on 6mm but today 8,s seemed to be better , even for the crucian crosses, by the end i thought i thought i might have 100 lb so i was happy to weigh in 119.13 which included 17.8 of silvers
2nd was nick duckett 81.8 peg 28 on paste
3rd martin lenaghan 72.8 peg 18 on corn
4th mike duckett 57.12 peg14
5th gary wall 51.15 peg 5
6th mat tomes(aka toombs)34.12 peg31
silvers john (the gump)bradford 23 lb peg 3 on caster
a quick mention for phil our tenant , he seems to have taken the fabio thing to a new level he has taken to wearing his undercrackers outside his trousers and has had a t shirt with super fabio on it he reckons he is going to team up with spidy man from heart fm to fight crime in our fair city , i just wish his pants were clean !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!