Gary's day

Today saw us at a hot Hall Farm with 27c+ predicted but cooler than the day before. It was peg 4 for me, at the right end of the lake so I was looking forward to a few fish.

It was going to be hard pellets on the deck long, a go at shallow and then down the margins later with paste or corn. I had a good start with 2 early small carp in the first 15 mins but then started getting bites I could not hit. I finally hooked what was causing the problems - a small gudgeon taking a liking to 6mm hard pellets.

With the bottom being solid with small fish it was time to try shallow. Just as the wind picked up. I ended up fishing closer and closer as the wind strengthened with it changing directions every few minutes. A couple of hours in I was struggling. Above me Mark on peg 8 had 7 or 8 carp and Tony a few but Fred on 2 had a slow start

A change to loose feeding 4mms got a bit more activity shallow but it was hard work with the arms feeling it by the mid point. At this point I had maybe 40lb in the net so was having a steady day.

With the wind not dropping it was time to try the edges which were a little calmer. A few indications led to a couple of carp on paste but that swim went quiet. A try on pellets and corn to the other side got an instant response. I ended up swapping left and right to the end with a couple of fish before it went a bit funny each time.

Fred on 2 was having a good finish fishing a method feeder and Tony was still catching. Mark was out of sight behind a couple of trees.

At the weigh in I just snuck over 100lbs but it ended up being a lot closer than expected as Mark's 65lbs went 89lbs including losing a few pounds when he went over on one net and Fred in third not that far behind with 65lbs. With the lowest weight coming in at very respectable 44lbs the lake fished really well despite it being its third match since Weds. Photo today is Mark with his smaller net of carp.