Gary's day

Today we were back at Wickham Hall. The last match here was a bit of a grueller with not many small fish showing. Wednesday's match suggested things had picked up.

Out of the bag came peg 11 which I was happy with being near a corner and plenty of space. I set up a deck rig for out at 11m - a full top 3 in 11ft or so and a whip for closer in 7ft. The waggler rod also got a dusting off in case I needed to go chasing small fish further out.

The far bank looked really inviting today as they had a bit of shade with the 3 other banks being in full sun on what was due to be another hot day.

It proved to be a very slow start for all with just the odd small rudd coming out. About 30 mins in I had 1 of the small chub and I was off the mark. Bites though were very few and after an hour I had 3 small chub. There just did not seem to be any rudd or roach in my swim.

Elsewhere others were struggling but with Darren now on 2 lost carp on peg 5 which is very weedy at the moment. A try on the waggler near the lillies to my left produced a few very small rudd but only if I cast very close to them. The long / deep pole line was a waste of time - I did not have a sign on that all day.

By half way through I had had a couple more small chub and then hooked something much bigger. After a few hairy moments on the whip I had a 4lb carp in the next. It was a good thing too as Mark opposite had also just landed one on the feeder.

Darren was still having a nightmare losing carp and Kevin over on peg 1 was also now getting a steady run of small fish. I needed another bonus fish.

A try on the feeder to the lillies whilst I had something to eat had the tip hammering round as the carp charged into the lillies and off it came. Back to the whip and the bites were still few and far between and only seemed to be the small chub. 30 minutes after the lost feeder carp the float went under and the chub suddenly turned into a carp and went charging off. Straight to the lillies and it was carp 2 Gary 1.

The last 90 mins was a case of working the whip line but having moved the whip rig onto a top kit as the wind had picked up. I had another couple of bonus fish with a hybrid of a couple of pounds and a bream. As long as Darren did not start landing carp I was looking good.

After another hot day it was time for the weigh in. My 3 bonus fish were heavier than expected taking me to just over 12lbs. I was pretty sure that would be enough as I had only spotted Mark with a carp although Kevin had been catching quite a few silvers. Mark's carp made all the difference edging him ahead of Kevin with 7lbs 1oz to Kevin's 6lbs 8oz.