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Sunday, 6 October 2024

Sawbridgeworth Club lake

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

Bishop's Stortford won with 473lbs to Sawbridgeworth's 257lbs

1st Peter Green 91lbs 6oz (18 carp)
2nd Mark Halverson 72lbs 3oz (13 carp)
3rd Colin Hawkins 71lbs 1oz (13 carp)
4th Gary Pickard 62lbs 9oz (12 carp)
5th Jeff Pearson 51lbs 5oz

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)
Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

Gary's day

Today was going to be a bit of a mystery as we headed to Sawbridgeworth's lake for an interclub match. Pretty much all we knew was it was 7 foot max and full of big carp along with plenty of silvers. Each carp "only" counted as 5lb and it was catch and release on these.

At the draw I ended up with peg 23 and all that meant to me was it was on the far side of the lake facing into the main lake from an arm/spit. Thankfully I had a spare peg to the left as the pegging was tight on the arm.

The plan was: feeder or bomb out long; 2 pole lines at 11m - one for carp on hard pellets and one for anything swimming with expanders or dead maggot; and the margin for near the end. With 4 feet in the edge foulhooking was going to be a risk.

A try out long was pretty quiet until the tip went round after 45 mins and a lump was on. When it came off at the net I was not best pleased especially as a few fish were coming out on the far bank. Seeing my hook broken soon explained the loss so it was time for a heavier hooklength. With no more signs it was time for the long pole. There was bubbling on the anything swimming line so a few skimmers seemed on the cards. 2 hook pulls to decent fish before a carp went in the net suggested they were not skimmers.

That was it though for the long line. I tried a few times through the day - lots of bubbles but no bites. I never tried the pellet line as the sun made it impossible to see the float. I also later found I had been feeding the bomb line on an aerator when it turned on.

The far bank was still catching and now Colin on the end of the spit started landing some big carp dropping a feeder short. It was time to try the margins very early as long was not working. A few liners were encouraging and then the tip flew round and a very angry tench of just over 2lb was in the net. By this time Colin was 4 carp ahead of me. After more liners on the feeder it was time to try the pole down the edge. The float flew under and I was in with a double figure carp in the net. Every carp hooked went shooting off trying to go round the point and way too many came off. By the end I was only fishing the feeder as it gave me the best chance of landing the carp which were averaging over 10lbs. A last gasp carp that was around 20lbs saw me finish on 12 carp to Colin's 13 - almost caught him up.

Bishop's Stortford won with 473lbs 15oz to Sawbridgeworth's 257lbs 8oz. A big thank you to Sawbo for hosting us today.

Individual places TBC when I get the full weigh sheet. 1st Peter Green 91lbs 6oz (18 carp), 2nd Mark Halverson 72lbs 3oz (13 carp), 3rd Colin Hawkins 71lbs 1oz (13 carp), 4th Gary Pickard 62lbs 9oz (12 carp) and
5th Jeff Pearson 51lbs 5oz. Picture is my peg looking back down the arm to the main bank.

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