Gary's day

It was a cold start today at Beggars Hall with 2 nights of frosts and it hovering at 0C until well into the morning. Thankfully though there was little wind and the rain held off. Out of the drawbag came peg 16 for me. A decent draw based on recent outings. We were all pegged around the island today as this has been the better end of the lake.

With a raft of leaves out in front of me set up was simple: feeder and bomb with the pole staying in the bag. The plan for the day was also simple - a chuck to the island on a method feeder or bomb and a shorter line with a little cage feeder. With it being cold I started cautiously just trying bomb and bread. 30 mins in I had had no signs but Mark on peg 12 had 3 carp. Time for trying some feed and out went the method feeder. 90 mins in Tony on 17 had 1 carp, Mark on 13 had 6 carp and Phil on 10 had 2 carp. It was not going well.

Finally, I had a carp which was played very carefully, and then another. The third fell off though at the net and so ended that run. The carp then came short for Mark and he started hooking them on the pole. The come back seemed to be off.

After a very quiet middle of the match I started getting a few bites and Mark's swim was fading. Phil had a couple more but I was slowly catching up. At the weigh in it was a close day.

Mark ended up with 55lbs, myself with 45lbs 8oz and Jeff on peg 18 with 45lbs. With the lowest weight being 14lbs+ it fished a lot better than feared. Today's pic is the view over the bowl - Mark over on the right, Phil to the left bank and the leaves in front.