here we go again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

off to landsend today for a silvers match which would probably been ok if the top
10mm hadnt gone hard overnight, so it was out with the breakers for the first time this winter and i,ve got a feeling it is not going to be the last time as the forecast is rubbish with various forecasters predicting icey weather for anything between 2 weeks and 3 months(mint). with adrian clark not fishing today there was a spare corner peg going begging which was good as martin lenaghan pulled me peg 24, which is good as it means you can get along the end bank and clear the ice properly whicxh i duly did to about 14 mtrs, i didnt intend to go as far as 14 mtrs as there is an overhanging tree there which holds carp so the intention was to fish 11 and 13 mtrs with caster over caster. so i set up a 4x14 rig with an 18 6313 on .10.
at the start i cupped in about 10 casters on each line then started at 11, and no one was as suprised as me when the float buried after 5 mins but all i connected with was a big bit of fresh air, i had 5 bites in the first 45 mins but didnt connect with any thing, then i had a 8oz perch(yay)its amazing how a fish manages to warm you up. i had 5 more perch and lost a carp before that line died, so 2 hours in i was moving out to 13 mtrs and thats where i stayed for the rest of the match, ending up with 15 perch 1 carp duly returned lost 4 more carp and 2 perch fell off, partly due to the elastic being unable to come out as it was frozen in the pole, don sutherland opposite me on peg 1 hooked 11 carp landed 4 and had 5 perch.
i thought i had enough to be top on the match lake but out of the 4 on the carpark bank of speci 3 had blanked and dean malin on 40 had 6 chub to 2lb and as it turned out he did enough to win with his 6 fish going 8lb 14
2nd was me with 8.11
3rd john bradford 5.11 peg 19
4th chris fox 5.2 peg 11
5th martin lenaghan 4.2 peg 3
6th martin pettiffer 1.12 peg 15
that was hard but then again i think most lakes were hard today, even viaduct was only won with with 6lb odd on the carps silver match on cambell and cary.
and the psv boys on spring drew a total blank, its down to the sudden drop[ in temps, it must be a right shock to the fish aswell as us.
it was hard on the river today as the "PROPER" anglers voted for a shorter match as it was cold, oh dear never mind what a shame, isnt it why they call it a winter, doh league