landsend weds

i spoke to mike west on tuesday and he said the ice was only about 1 1/2 inches thick and easy to break so we decided to go to landsend aa it would be easy as the ice we have been breaking lately has been 3 to 4 inches and hard work, all i can say is that if you are lookling for a cheap building job give somerset carpenters a ring and speak to mike and hope he prices the job as he must underprice every job he looks at cos he certainly dont know what 1 1/2 inches is.
martin mcmahon drew for me and handed me 15 which is ok but i would have prefered a corner peg, but i wasnt moaning as i had a bush in the water to my right which can hold a few carp at this time of year as well as silvers.
it took me an hour to clear 6 mtrs to my right by the bush and 5 mtrs in front, we were due to start at 10 but put it back 15 mins as no one was ready, and i wasnt ready by then , i didnt start till 10.30 but only had to make 1 rig up and that was a 4x12 with a 20 6313 on .10. one rig for both areas as it was only 4 inches difference between the two lines.
i cupped some maggots and casters on both lines and started straight out at 5 mtrs,
after 4 mins the float went sideways and under but all i hit was fresh air(liner), so after an hour spent here it was down by the tree and first put in on single caster produced a 4oz perch but with the water being so clear the fish seem to spook very easily as you cant get 2 bites on the trot, you seem to have to feed it leave it and go somewhere else in the swim for 10 mins then go back over it if you were lucky you would get a bite quickly but most of the time it was a case of waiting and lifting and dropping the bait all over the swim till you got a bite, certainly not manic, but at least we are out there doing it. by the end i had 8 perch and 1 roach for what i thought was going to go about 4 1/2 lb so first or second in the silvers was looking good as rod wootten on 7 had been catching small perch all day up his margin, and with the soutwests very own self proclaimed silver ace(mat tomes)on peg 5 struggling(anothyer flyer he,s ballsed up)a pick up was on the cards, always welcome on days like this.
the match was won by martin mcmahon on 21 with 3 carp for 18.13, he was blanking till about 2 hours from the end when he saw a carp top in some clear towards the island, so he got the breaker back out and cleared a channel to the island and had 3 carp in the last 90 mins
2nd went to alan oram who has been having a good run at this ice fishing with 6.12 on peg 24
jt 3rd paul elmes on 19 and me on 15 with 5.7
5th rod wootten with 5.6 peg 7
6th mike west 2.12 peg 13
top silvers went my way with rod 1oz behind for 2nd in silvers