Gary's day

There were a few of us today so both banks were in use and peg 4 was my home for the day. Whilst setting up there were a few fish topping and hopes were high for a few fish, however, as usual, they had done a disappearing act before the start whistle.

After 2 hours of hard work out in the middle trying pellet waggler and then a method feeder underneath each time the wind picked up I had nothing to show - not even a liner. Over on the other bank it looked lovely with a bit of shelter from the wind. It was slow going though but Phil on 17 and Fred on 18 had a couple of early fish and I could see Jeff had a real lump in the net. And with Rob to my left having a couple I was looking a long way behind already. Finally, I was off the mark around 12 with a carp on the feeder and then another 30 mins or so later but Fred was racing away and Phil was losing a few. Time for an early look in the margins - and nothing at all to the left nor any signs on paste in front which usually works well. Time to raid the freezer clearings out I had brought along and I finally started to get some bites on some rather old dead maggots near the willow. Perch to start with but with the odd carp mixed in. But way too many were coming off the hook. At the all-out I ended with 4 carp and a couple of dozen perch for 38lbs.

It was closer than I thought it would be - 1st Fred Hunt 65lbs 3oz, 2nd Rob Calderon 49lbs 7 oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 38lbs 15oz with a chasing pack in the 30s. Pic today is Jeff with the lump I saw him land whilst I was still biteless.