The match was held on Willows Lake, which is full of F1s, Carp and Barbel plus shed loads of Silvers. I have had some really good days on here in the past, so I was really looking forward to the match.
At the draw I pulled out peg 23, which is on the 3rd spit on the left hand side of the lake. The peg is close to the end of the spit, offering plenty of space. The only downside was that the wind was blowing down to the opposite end of the lake.
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The Plan
I opted for a quite a simple 4 line attack; first of all a short line at a top 2 plus 2 distance on the deck. The second line was to be on the deck at 13 meters, I also set up a shallow rig to fish over the top on the same line, as the fish tend to come up in the water very quickly on this lake. The 4th line was for the margin to my left.
Bait
For the top 2 plus 2 line I planned to feed softened fishery micros through a kinder pot and fish corn on the hook. Since meat has been banned, this is something I have done and had some really good results. For the 13 meter line I planned to feed 6 mm fishery feed pellets via catapult for the deck rig and once the fish come up in the water, switch to 4 mm pellets as this size pellet tends to get a better response when fishing shallow. For the margin the plan was to feed hemp by hand and fish either corn or worm over the top.
Rigs
Top 2 Plus 2 Rig
- Pole - Browning Z12
- Elastic - Blue Browning Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.16 (6.7 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.14 (5.6 lb ) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook - Size 16 Kamasan B911
- Float - Middy Styrex 3 (4 x 14)
- Shotting - Bulk plus 2 droppers
13 Meter Deck Rig
- Pole - Browning Z12
- Elastic - Yellow Browning Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.16 (6.7 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.14 (5.6 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook - Size 18 Kamasan B911 eyed, tied with a knotless knot with a hair rigged micro band
- Float - Middy Styrex 4 (4 x 14)
- Shotting - A bulk set just above the hook length
Shallow Rig
- Pole - Browning Z12
- Elastic - Yellow Brownig Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.16 (6.7 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.14 (5.6 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook - Size 18 Kamasan B911 eyed, tied with a knotless knot with a hair rigged micro band
- Float - 0.2 gram Drennan Crystal Dibber
- Shotting - bulk set just above hook length
Margin Rig
- Pole - Browning Z12
- Elastic - Green Browning Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.20 (9.2 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.18 (8.5 lb) Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook - Size 14 Kamasan B911
- Float - Middy Styrex 3 (4 x 14)
- Shotting - Bulk set just above hook length
The Session
I started the session on the top 2 plus 2 line, I filled the pole mounted toss pot with micros and compressed them with my thumb, so that they dropped out of the pot in a clump. I like to do this as helps to get the bait down quickly, maximising fishing time. For the hook I baited up with a single grain of corn. I shipped the rig to the desired spot, tapped the micros from the pot then lowered the rig over the top. I instantly got an indication, but the bite did not materialise, so I lifted and dropped a couple of times, which provoked a reaction and I was into my first F1. I had a good 30 minutes on this line before bites started to slow down.
A bit of swapping & changing
I had been constantly feeding the 13 meter line with 6 mm pellets via catapult and had started to notice signs of fish feeding shallow in the swim so I swapped and started feeding 4 mm pellets. I baited the shallow rig with a 4 mm hard pellet and shipped the rig out. A couple of quick slaps with the rig soon saw the rig disappear and a steady stream of yellow elastic omit from the pole tip. An F1 around the 2 lb mark was the result. I had a good couple of hours on this line before bites became iffy.I swapped back to the short line that I had been constantly feeding with small amounts of pellets, to give the long line a rest. This resulted in a quick run of fish including 2 kamikaze Bream, which must have launched themselves 4 feet out of the water. The next hour or so was spent swapping between these 2 lines to keep fish coming at a steady rate.
From the 3rd hour of the match I had been constantly feeding the margin with handfuls of hemp seed. The remainder of the match was spent rotating lines, which helped me continue catching right until the end of the match.With an hour to go I had started to notice swirls after feeding, so I shipped in the shallow rig, swapped the pellet to a 6 mm, quickly fed, then dropped it in on the margin line. The response was instant and a decent F1 was the result. This was followed by half a dozen more before this line went quiet.
At the weigh in I totalled 86 lb 14 oz which was not enough to frame, but a cracking day all the same! :-)
