Gary's day
Today we were guests at Sawbridgeworth's lake for the annual Brandon Shield match. The day before we had Storm Amy blowing through and it was due to be breezy today too.
Out of the peg came peg 37 for me. About half way down the left side with some Norfolk reeds to one side and open water in front. The plan was: a couple of lines out long with hard and soft pellets; a short line on hard pellets; a feeder line; and a finish down the edges.
I got off to a great start with a carp on pretty much my first try on the short pellet line. Opposite me on the spit they also looked to be getting off to a good start too
After that first carp I never had another bite on the short line. It was time to try one of the long lines. Since the start the wind had been picking up and by the time I tried it there was a fair chop on the water. A bream and a carp was a good start but then that line died too. Kevin to my right in the corner was starting to get a few bites but opposite me was slowing down too. Phil over on another point to my right was also starting to catch down the edge.
By now fishing long was a waste of time as the pole was being blown all over the place. One more bream was all I could get. Another carp on a bomb and pellet was my only bite on the bottom despite feeding it all day. Kevin was still hooking carp with about half of them getting to the net. Phil was having a nightmare with 2 top kits biting the dust. A final carp from the margin and one falling off was my day over. 4 carp for 20lbs (they counted 5lb today) and just under 5lbs of bits.
The lake fished a lot harder than our last visit with a couple of standout catches but a lot of us ended on 4 carp and some bits. Team wise our consistency paid dividends with a total weight of 278lbs to Sawbridgeworth's 122lbs and individually 1st Rob Calderon 14 carp for 71lbs 12oz, 2nd Kevin Turner 7 carp for 35lbs, 3rd Mark Vobe 6 carp for 30lbs and 4th Tony Cruci 4 carp for 25lbs 11oz.
Today's photo is my view across the lake (at the much calmer start of the day) with Fred just in shot to the left and Phil way over on the right.