It is always a bad draw but when I found out that Peg 16 hadn't been drawn I was suddenly more optimistic as it meant I could fish to my left, to the aerator and also to the island. The only downside was peg 15 had been drawn by Jonny Gray (?) who's team was winning the league, and as he had a spare peg to his right and 3 to his left we were all effectively fishing for 2nd place. I had already made my mind up that I would fish very positively, so set up two pole rigs, one for the edge at 11m to my left and one at 14.5m to the aerator. Both rigs were Scone Jubleez on 0.18 to a size 3 Tubertini 175. The edge rig was on red J-Range hollow which I had put in the kit that morning. The aerator rig was matched to wilkie orange. I also set up a waggler and a straight lead for throwing to the island. For the first time ever on Sellwood I decided against setting up an open water rig for the skimmers. For bait I had six tins of corn, some 4,6 and 8mm pellets and one tin of 8mm meat.
The all-in was called at 10.15 and I pinged a few pellets to the island before feeding two full pots of corn down the edge and one pot to the aerator. The first 30 minute's were spent on the waggler for one missed bite that was probably silver fish. I then spent 30 minute's on the lead as the wind had got up and apart from one liner I had no signs in two casts. I wasn't too botered by this as I was pinning most of my faith in the edge line's. Jonny on Peg 15 was catching regularly at 19.5m to the island but was also losing a lot fish. There were one or two anglers on one carp each but no-one was running away with it. After 15 biteless minutes to the aerator I went down the edge and after 5 minute's the float shot under but a 2lb skimmer was the culprit and not the intended carp. I re-fed both line's and went back on the waggler but the wind was blowing towards me and slightly left-to right making presentation very difficult. Another biteless hour had me realising why no-one wanted to draw peg 1,but I kept topping up the edge line's as I was sure they would produce late on. After 3 hours I had a positive bite down the edge and lifted into solid resistance. After a few seconds the fish kited out of the peg and it was clear I had hooked a lump and it felt foulhooked. After tearing all over my peg I eventually got the fish in close and broke down to a topkit + short 4. When the fish made the first run I heard the bung move up the no:3 section-something that seemed trivial at the time but would prove to be costly. As I was applying pressure to net the fish I heard a loud crack as the powerkit snapped about 5 inches from the female end. I can only assume that as the bung shot up the pole a few inches it exerted too much pressure on the wall of the section causing the break. Luckily the section held together by a few shards and I was able to net the fish on the remaining section. At around 12lb it was a decent fish and as expected it was foulhooked. I re-fed the line and despite trying the aerator and the island I couldnt buy a bite. By now the lad on peg 15 was walking the lake,although he was still losing a lot of fish he was constantly catching while everyone else was struggling.
With two hours to go I made the decision to try a new line so plumbed up at 13m straight out in the open water. I cupped in a few pellets and a full pot of corn and after leaving it settle went over the top on 6mm expander. A few quick skimmers weren't exactly what I was after so I started to ping 6mm pellets out in the hope of drawing in a few carp. After 10 minute's I had a few liners so wuickly got a new topkit out and put a shallow rig on set at 12 inches. After a further 10 minute's of lifting,slapping and feeding I had a tiny dip on the float that I struck at and was pleasantly surprised to see yards of elastic leave the pole tip and a few minute's later I netted a fat mirror of around 8lb. I thought I had it sussed but after another half an hour I hadn't had another bite so went back on the deck rig and after 5 minute's a positive bite led to another carp of around 4lb. Unfortunately that was my last fish as despite trying shallow,on the deck and down the edge I didn't have another bite.
The all-out was called and it was clear that peg 15 had won the lake but I knew that 2nd place would be close. I was quietly confident as I guessed I had around 25lb and although Peg 6 had caught a few no-one else had really caught much. As I was on scales duty with peg 2 I was first to weigh and my silvers net went 3lb 8oz. My 3 carp then went 23lb dead giving me a 26lb 8oz total. Lee on peg 2 weighed 18lb,followed by a 19lb and peg 6 putting 24lb odd on the scales. There were then a few mid-teen weights before peg 15 put 52lb on the scales to comfortably win the lake, leaving me in 2nd.
Back to the lodge and we all tucked into the complimentary food and tea. Nicky had come 3rd on Cottage with 66lb odd and Pete had won his section and the match overall with 114lb off the Snake. That's 3 matches he's fished on there and won his section every time- a simply awesome performance against alot of good anglers and venue regulars. I'm not sure how Kevin did as he didn't come back to the lodge so I can't comment. After scoffing the free food it was time to head home and get theings ready for the first round of the Summer League at Whinwhistle Fishery.
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