I Really Should Stick to Rivers!

I had no plans to fish this Sunday as there was nothing on the river that I fancied fishing plus I had a bad bout of man flu. However, a text From Tony Rixon saying he was running a match at Avalon got me juices flowing and this would definitely be my last commercial fishery match this year (surely!).

I did feel a tad better today but since I have come home have got blocked up and feel crap again (well being in the fresh helped when I was in it). With most of the lake going to be used I fancied a draw in the middle of the lake, the car park end was flat calm whilst the other end was very windy. Well I pulled out end peg 1 (yes Chris another corner) and that at least meant a nice short walk. However, my planned day of skimmer fishing was now on the back burner as I got lots of advice how to fish for carp.

As this match was any method I set up a method feeder with 0.21 powerline hook length to 16 PR38, a pellet wag (these were to fish about 25 metres up the end bank) a 4x10 Durafloat 10 for corn to the end bank at 16mtr (0.16 to 16 B911) and a skimmer rig on 0.5grm but this was a non starter.

On the whistle I cupped micros and corn to 16 mtrs up the edge, and cast the method further up the edge! It was a slow start but I was not to worried thinking this peg would get better in the last half of the match. I took a couple of small stockies on the method with 3 red maggs before I lost the whole rig when I think a carp must have hit a snag on the line. A change to banded 8mm pellet brought a few more stockies and after about 2 hours I had 7 of these small chaps. I was thinking about going on the pole and turned round to get it and heard a splash, looking back round my rod and reel were in the lake waving goodbye. Oh shit, there's a Diawa TDR reel on there I can't afford to lose that! The rod got to about 20 metres out when it stopped and after a few attempts I managed to snag it with my pellet wag rig. Trouble was the end tackle of the feeder was now well and truly snagged and I was having to pull for a break...but my pellet wag was somehow attached around the feeder rod tip section. I had no choice but to pull for the break and SNAP, back came the rod and reel, but gone was an inch off the end of the feeder rod. Well I hope that makes you laugh as much as it did when I told Mr Rixon!!!!

I went for a quick stroll to see how things were going and I was up with the anglers below me on fish numbers but I had all babies. I stuck another tip in the method and tried it again, but the peg was never the same. The 16 mtr edge line gave up 2 pasties in two chucks with 2 hours to go and after that just two chublets. The method brought me 1 more carp and that was it. A very bad day for me as my 10 carp and bits went 26lb+ which I would imagine would have been close to last. Howard Webb on peg 3 also had 10 carp but his went 39lb.

I didn't hang about for the results as I wanted to forget all about today and get home and have a Sunday Roast. I heard that Martin Mahon won it with 70lb on the method, and that Shane Caswell won the silvers with 17lb. All the details will be on Tony's blog of course. Def weekend of for me next week, so I'll stick a 1991 (hopefully it will be a good memory!) story on for that.