Gary's day

It was Hall Farm today, it's 4th match in 8 days so it could be a tough one. Waiting for the draw there were a few fish topping which looked a good sign. With us all on the low bank you were after a low number and I was happy when peg 4 came out for me.

I decided on the usual: long line to try and get a few shallow; a shorter line; and then the margins. With a bit of a breeze blowing the long line was going to be hard work today.

It was a slow start on the short line but it looked a slow start for all. After a couple of fish in the net the next 2 came off so it was time to try the long line. Almost straightaway I hooked another shallow which also fell off. The next one made it to the net but shallow was not really working.

Fred in peg 2 was having a slow start as was Tony to my right on peg 6. Everyone else was hidden by the bushes along the edge and the wind meant you could not hear much.

Slowly the short line sorted itself out as did the long line fishing on the bottom rather than shallow and by the midway mark I was flying with 1 net full and onto the next net. The curse of the next net then struck and I went through another spell of lost fish.

With 90 mins to go it was time to try the margins using double corn as there were lots of silvers about and they were quite deep. A couple of good fish was encouraging but then it was a frustrating end to the match with lots of foulhooked fish and others coming off for no reason. More work to do in sorting out the HF margins. Whilst I was having a poor finish Fred looked to be hauling them in on the feeder and my lead looked to be getting smaller by the minute.

It sounded like it had been tough in the deeper water pegs although there had been the odd splashing and Fred was catching well towards the end. It still looked like it was going to be the expected battle between pegs 2 and 4, however, Darren decided to muscle into the frame with just over 81lbs off peg 12 - the best it has done for quite some time. At the scales I ended up with a winning 111lbs with Fred taking 3rd with 76lbs. Today's photo is Darren borrowing one of Fred's nets of fish as I forgot to take a photo earlier.