The open matches have been becoming ever more popular, with attendances hitting the forties and fifties on a regular basis. Today is no exception with 50 booked on. The match today is split between 2 lakes Loco and Laurels. www.lindholmelakes.co.uk/

The Plan
My plan was to go with a 2 pronged pole attack, with a line at 11 meters directly in front of me and a line at 14.5 meters to the reed bed on the right hand side. As back up I have a number of bomb and feeder rods in my bag should things get difficult.
Bait
On the 11 meter line I plan to fish pellet, feeding fishery micro's and fishing a 4 mm pellet on the hook, on the 14.5 meter line I plan to feed micro's and alternate between pellet and corn on the hook.
Rigs
11 Meter Rig
- Pole - Browning Xitan Z12
- Elastic - Yellow Browning Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.12 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.10 Browning Cenex
- Hook - Size 18 Kamasan B911 F1
- Float - Alan Scotthorne 1 0.3gram
- Shotting - Spread bulk with 2 droppers
14.5 Meter Rig
- Pole - Browning Xitan Z12
- Elastic - Blue Browning Cenex Reflex
- Main line - 0.14 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook length - 0.12 Browning Hybrid Power
- Hook - Size 16 Kamasan B911
- Float - Shep Special 4 x 14 http://www.carlshepherdsonstittletackle.com/
- Shotting - Spread bulk with 2 droppers
The Session
During plumbing up the 11 meter rig I had lined up with a tree on the far bank. I always line up with some form of marker whether its on the far bank or on the horizon as long as I know it won't move. This ensures accurate feeding and that the rig is in the exact spot every time.
I baited the hook with a 4 mm expander and filled the pole mounted pot with softened micros. I shipped out to the spot and tapped the pellets for the pot and lowered the rig over the top. After 2 minutes of lifting and dropping then leaving , the float twitched then buried. A steady stream of yellow elastic emitted from the pole, After a short battle, a pristine F1 was safely netted. It was a good start and in the next 10 minutes another 3 more joined it in the keep net.
Bites soon slowed down, but I was still picking up fish. After a couple of hours I decided to give the 11 meter line a rest and changed to the 14.5 meter line. I baited up with corn on the hook and micros in the pole mounted pot and shipped out to the reeds. I had a bite instantly, which I missed, after lowering back in, it went again. This time I hit the bite, another F1 was soon safely in the net. I shipped back out, and the wind started becoming blustery, making this line extremely hard to fish. I went back onto the 11 meter line, as this was directly in the wind, making it much easier to handle. I had a couple more fish before bites dried up.
A Change of Plan

I had some fishery 6 mm hard pellets in my bag, this is what I decided to use as hook bait and the micro's I already had ready would be used as feed. I gave the feeder a quick cast with no feed to just under half way and clipped up. I reeled it in, baited up and re cast it out. Within 2 minutes the tip pulled round and a chunky F1 was soon netted.
The last part of the match flew by. as I was now catching extremely well. The main species I was catching was F1s. but I did also have a bonus Carp around 6lb. The end of the match came to quickly and I weighed in 48 lb 4 oz for around 7 th in the match.
I was really pleased I had gone with my instincts as this provided the bulk of my catch. Bring on next time :-)