bullocks open

i havnt been to bullocks since april so it was quite a surprise to see how much all the greenery had grown . it really could do with a serious bit of pruning. talking to phil the owner he was telling me that he is getting a landscape gardener to work at clearing it up doing it one day a week !!!!!!!!!!!!!
no surprise with the draw, i ende up on 24 which is without doubt one of the best pegs on there, and with dean malin drawing 17 which is the other best peg on the venue.
aquick chat with ray cooper who informed me that he had fished the peg the day before and had caught about 80 lb in 3 hours at 6 mtr and on his top set down to his right, ithought the latter might be a non starter as i had stu foale behind me on peg 1 but time would tell, so i set up a 4x12 rig for the right hand margin a 4x10 rig for tight in down the left , a 4x12 for about 9 mtr and a 4x10 rig for by the island to fish hair rigged 6 and 8 hard pellet.
on the whistle i cupped some caster down to the left , some softened 3mm at 9mtr and 1/4 cup of 4,s on the island. starting at 9 mtr on soft pellet it didnt take long to put a fantail in the net, shortly followed by another but i was missing a few bites, opposite on 17 dean had opted for the usual groundbait approach and was getting more bites than me which left me wishing that i hadnt put pellet in on this line, it did help when i started fishing corn over the pellet , the bites were a lot more possitive, and talking to dean after he found the same. unfortunately i over cooked it on this line, i just cant keep my hand out of the bait tub sometimes even when i know its wrong. i some times wish i could be more like mike nicholls on days like this cos he is good at light feeding(bollocks to that he is just tight). so now i had done that line in a quick look down the edge was in order , down to the right not a twitch and it was the same story down to the left.
all the time i had been firing 4,s over to the island and there were a few bubbles so it was no surprise when a small carp(2lb)took the bait , and to be honest apart from a couple of quick looks down the margins left and right , no bites to the right(no surprise)and 2 badly beaten up rigs to my left, those fish are to quick and its to snaggy where the live, i spent the rest of the match out
by the island fishing 6 and 8 mm hard pellet and feeding 4,s with a catapult. its a shame you fish the islands properly as there is so much foliage hanging over the water, so you end up about 2 foot of and you just know that the fish are creeping round the island . the sooner phil gets the gardener in the better.
on the whistle the only pesron that i thought might beat me that i could see was dean who was admitting to 10lb of silvers and 45 lb of carp, i was admitting to 60 lb total so i was even more convinced that he had done it.
following the scales round the best weight by the time we got to dean was paul faires on peg 6 with38 lb
deans silvers went 17.2 and his carp went46.3 totalling 63.5 giving him the silvers and first on the day
i was 2 nd with 61.13(one fish off the one that bust me between my nets would have done it)
3 rd tom thick 53.14peg 27
4th nick collins 39.2 peg 26
5th paul faires 38 peg 6
6th dave evans 34 peg19
a couple of larry let downs today trigger got drunk and didnt show, i am glad now that i put a handfull of maggots in his football kit bag and mark leader who just didnt show. we were only one short on the day cos martin lenaghan was in the cafe looking for somewhere to go so he took triggers place , it would be nice if people would phone and let you know if they cant make it.
it wouldnt be right if i didnt mention fabio , since being given a budgie 3 weeks ago , he hasnt let it out for a fly so i am starting a campaign to FREE THE WHITEHALL ONE. she needs her excercise fi fi will have to put up with the flapping.