Hillview Lakes Open - 21 Pegs - 29/8/2009

Hillview was the pick of my Saturday match again and was looking forward to having a few fish but I really didnt want to be on Heron. Heron is only normally in when 15 or more turn up as Keith likes to gove you plenty of room. So today all of Heron and Moorhen were in. After a big breakfast and a chat with Keith about the Wednesday result, chopped worm and castor was winning a lot of matches. Anyway... The draw... In the bag and i pulled out 28 HERON! I was gutted to be fair and thought I'd only be fishing for the lake as Moorhen usually batters Heron easily and Wednesdays 180lb looked favourable again today on Moorhen with some good blokes on some good pegs.

Getting to my peg, I had my Dad to my right and Gerry to my left. Neville Groves had drawn spot on up the corner on 40 and would be hard to beat for the lake. The reeds were really over grown on my peg and i had to push them down so i could fish in the edges, even after doing this i could only fish my top kit both sides. I stopped here as people were already moaning, and accusing.

I plumbed my main paste line on my top kit + 1 section. This rig was a Ackoo paste float (self cocking) and 0.20 Silstar straight through to a PR36 size 12. My margin rig was to fish both sides and it consisted of a 0.3 Ackoo Margin Mugger float on 0.20 Silstar to a number 3 175 hook. I had the whole bristle showing so i could determine the line bites and roach bites. My last rigs were shallow rigs, Malman Thicko's 4x10 with a mosella mini bait band on a 18 B911 matched with 0.18 to 0.16 Silstar. I also set up a secret rig which i had been messing about with at Hillview, it was a 0.5 float that i had made myself with a bulbous body and a thick tip with just 2 number 8's This was for fish shallow paste at various depths, in the edge and long. Bait wise i had 5 tins of corn, some meat for hooking 8mm, 6mm pellets for shallow and some 4mm's that i had wet.

At the all in i cupped in half a pot of 4mm pellets on my short paste line and pinged some pellets long. After a slow start i finally hooked a carp about 1lb and a skimmer. But it was very slow on this line. I tried shallow after an hour and half as i only had about 10 lb in my net. As soon as i went out to 13m i had a run of skimmers about 1lb a piece and after 5 casts i was loving it untill it went dead. I saw a black shoal beyond where i was fishing so i shoved all my 16 metres right into the middle of the shoal and the surface exploded as i hooked an angry carp. After getting this carp about 6lb i finally fed my edges with 2 big handfulls of pellet and corn both sides. I would now drip it in here with the occassional dump of a big handful. Back shallow and that shoal had backed off again to the island. i grabbed my 'secret rig' and loaded it with a blob of paste, shoved on my 17.5 metre section and held on. i was still away from the island but i was sure they would come, the pole whacked round and a carp head straight for the island, with my pole bent double i chucked it back and bullied it a little. It turned and then came in like a sack of potatoes, a plump 8lber in the net. This secret rig certainly paid off today with a bonus fish.

It died shallow and with only 2 hours to go i was going to plunder my short lines. I dumped some bait in both edges and went on my 3 metre paste line and was into some stockies. I was catching quite well here now with the odd lump and only decided to come off it when my edge line was solid with tails. I quickly grabbed my rig and lowered in a piece of meat, the float vanished within seconds. I fed a big handful of pellet and then about 20 grains of corn. When they come in the edge at this place you have to be aggressive with the feed to keep them there as long as possible. After getting this lump in about 12lb i had a spell of losing some. But then i was in a good rhythm of hooking a fish one side, feeding it, then doing the same the other. I thought i had caught up with Neville and was slowly overtaking him, until the last half an hour when my peg just died on all lines. Nev then put about 6 lumps in the net.

At the weigh in Fordy was winning Moorhen with 97lb and i was amazed. I thought i had about 80lb but when my dad weighed in 75lb i thought i had a lot more than that. I duly weighed in 104lb and was in the lead until Neville, he put an impressive 137lb on the scales. I ended up 2nd with some coin, and a chinese on the old man as he took the lake win by double default! Sound!