Gary's day

After getting soaked the last few times we have been out it was nice to have a dry day at Hall Farm. A cold start and windy but the sun warmed things up.

We were all down the low bank today with peg 4 for me. I really wanted to be either side. Today was going to be a long line on the pole, if I could hold it still enough, and then the feeder. I fed a shorter line but did not expect to get anything on it.

The start was very slow for us all, the silvers had stopped feeding so it seemed it was to be carp or F1s. After about an hour I finally had a small roach on the pole - and that was the only bite I had on the pole. A try on bread and then maggot feeder was not going well either until the tip wrapped round and a nice carp of about 6lbs was in the net.

Tony to my right on peg 6 was also now catching with a steady stream of carp heading to his net fishing bomb and a bunch of maggots. Mark on peg 2 was also now getting the odd fish on a method feeder and I was falling behind. Up the rest of the bank the other pegs seemed to be struggling too.

A lost carp at the midway point when I could not get the line clip off in time looked like it was going to be my last chance of the day as the clock ticked on. Rob on peg 8 was also catching a few now; it was very easy to see the dayglow yellow elastic coming out of his pole. And Mark and Tony were also still getting the odd fish.

With 20 mins to go a fish topped in my swim so I quickly reeled in and dropped the maggot feeder where it had showed. 30 seconds later the tip pulled round and carp 2 was in the net. A quick recast hoping it had brought some mates along also got a pretty quick response with my final fish coming in just after the whistle blew. Where had they been all day? It looked like it was going to be a close one between Tony and Mark.

The late couple of carp helped me claw my way up the table with just under 16lbs but that lost fish was going to be costly. Tony's half dozen carp came in at 29lbs for 1st, with Rob coming in with 20lbs for his half dozen and Mark third with just under 19lbs for his 5 carp. Photo today is Tony and his winning net.