Broadlands Lower Lake- 31/10/09

With a 'free' Saturday I was desperately looking for a match and had a phonecall during the week and was told that Chichester AC were holding a match on Broadlands lower lake and there were a few spaces available. I didn't need a second invitation and soon had my name on the list. This place is fast becoming my favourite venue as I had fished it 3 times and had a section win,section second and overall 3rd. All of my weights were caught on long pole and pellet and had got better each time which is always encouraging. I had 36lb on my first visit for a section win,54lb for a section second and 59lb for overall 3rd. Every time I had between 30-40lb of skimmers with the extra weight being made up of carp. Arriving at the fishery at around 8am I was pleased to see the weather was looking good and hoped it would stay dry. The lake was to be split into two sections on either side of the central island. Every time I have fished here I have drawn the same section in the high numbers. This is generally regarded as the worst side but that's because most people fish the method and the other side is better for this. As my accuracy on the tip leaves a lot to be desired I would rather be in the high numbers and I didn't disapoint, pulling out peg 20. To my right on endpeg 21 was Marcus Paige (mpmilo) and as he had won the last match on the method on the far side I knew I would be up against it. I decided that instead of fishing the method I would use a straight lead for the island as it's not something I like to spend long on and I hoped I wouldn't need it. I have always caught well on the pole but it is the slow start while this settles that has cost me as 2 or 3 early carp can make all the difference. I also decided I would set up a waggler for fishing at 25m for a couple of good reasons. Firstly,no-one around me had set one up so I would have this area to myself. Everyone set up a long pole line and a tip,leaving the water in between free. I hoped that I might find one or two fish here while the pole was left for the first 45 minutes or so. Also,there wasn't a breath of wind which I often find detrimental to fishing the tip but perfect for the waggler.

My set-up was as follows:

Tip- 11ft Beastmaster AX, Daiwa 3012 TDR,6lb sensor,12 inch hooklength of 0.18 silk shock to an 18 PR36 with a korum quickstop on a hair. The lead was a free running GURU 1oz square.

Waggler- 13ft Carbonactive Sentient,Daiwa 2508 CU,3lb maxima,2.5g Drennan Crystal insert waggler. Hooklength was 0.14 to a size 18 Drennan Carp Match eyed hook with a band on a hair.

For the pole I set up 3 rigs for 14.5m. All 3 were 4x14 KC Chimps 0n 0.16 silk shock. The only difference was the hooklengths. My main rig had a 6 inch hooklength of 0.12 to an 18 Gama Pellet. This was shotted with a bulk of 10's and a single dropper. I then set up a lighter rig with an 0.12 bottom to a 20 Tubertini 808 shotted with a spread bulk of 10's. These two rigs were matched to double 5 slip. My heavier rig had an 0.14 hooklength to an 18 B911 and was shotted the same as the main rig. This was matched to yellow Drennan Bungee.

For bait I had a couple of pints of damp micro's,a tin of corn,some punched meat,a pint of 6mm pellet and some expanders (3mm & 4.5mm)

It was a bit of a rush as we only had about an hour to set-up but I was just ready in time. On the all-in I fed a medium pot of micro's at 14.5m before casting a small pellet cone to the island with a single corn hookbait. After 2 casts in 15 minute's I hadn't had so much as a liner whereas Marcus had caught 3 carp on the method. His casting was within inches of the island every time and I really need to spend some time to get mine up to scratch. All the while I had been pinging 6mm pellet 3 or 4 at a time to 25m. After 15 minute's of watching a motionless tip I switched to the waggler. After a few casts I missed a bite and next cast I hit into the resistance of a decent fish and a few minute's later I panned a chunky common carp of around 6lb-expertly hooked in the pectoral fin! A few casts later and I had another bite and soon had a 2lb+ skimmer in the net. After 45 minute's and no further bites on the waggler I switched to the pole with a 4.5mm expander. After 5 minute's and a few lift and drops I hadn't had a sign,hmmmmm.....! I was satisfied that there were no fish in the swim so re-fed with a golfball of micro's. After 10 biteless minutes on the waggler it was back on the pole and after a few minutes the float dipped and the resulting lift was met with the firm resistance of a decent skimmer,panic over! Again this fish was around 2lb and most welcome. Next cast I lifted into a better fish and it soon became apparent that it was a carp. After about 10 minutes and with a top 5 at full stretch I slipped the net under fighting fit 5lb common. A quick check of the hooklength and it was in good order so back out with a pinch of micro's in the cadpot and a few minute's later the float vanished and skimmer number 3 was on it's way,a bit smaller at around 1.5lb. A few skimmers later I then hooked another carp that tore off and the rig pinged back with a straightened hook- obviously didn't check the hooklength well enough-bad angling!

With a few carp about I attached a new hooklength but went out on the heavier 0.14 rig. Two biteless put ins in 10 minutes had my reaching for the original rig and no sooner had the pellet hit the bottom that another skimmer was on the way. What was interesting was a few times during the day I went out with the heavier rig and apart from the odd liner I didn't recieve a single positive indication. I feel that this was perhaps more to do with the weight of the B911 hook than the 0.14 line,or perhaps a combination of the two. Either way it happened far too often to be a coincidence. Whenever the pole line slowed I would refeed with a golfball of micros and have a cast on the lead or the waggler although neither yielded any more fish. Over the next couple of hours I continued to catch a few skimmers and a couple more carp and although they took a while to get in I was yet to lose any more fish. With around 90 minutes I had a right old warrior of a bream that was a good 4.5lb+ but soon after the pole line died. I felt it was now very close between myself and Marcus with him probably slightly ahead due to one or two more carp. I noticed he put a full pot of pellet in and it didn't bring his peg to life so I decided to cadpot a pinch of pellet in every 5 minutes regardless of if I was getting bites. After the third put in I started getting a few signs and soon had a carp of around 3lb in the net. With just over an hour left I decided to use the heavier rig with Drennan Bungee but replaced the 0.14-18 B911 hooklength for an 0.12-18 Gama pellet. This proved to be a good decision as next cast I had an instant bite and netted a 6lb carp just a minute or two later. It would have taken 10-15 minutes to get in on the double 5. I went straight back out with a full small cadpot of micros and again had a near instant bite and again it was a carp,a little smaller at around 4lb. Next cast saw a skimmer of 2lb or so and I was pleased not to bump it on the slightly heavier elastic. Things went slow for the next 10 minutes but rather than re-feed I decided to rest the swim and have a quick chuck on the lead. 10 biteless minutes saw me back on the pole and I caught a skimmer straight away followed by another carp with just 10 minutes to go. This was the best fish of the day at around 7lb and proved to be my last fish as the all-out was called a few minutes later. Right at the death Marcus hooked a carp that he lost and I felt sure if he had got it in it would have been decisive.

I wasn't really sure on my weight as the skimmers can be deceptively light and I only had 17 but they appeared to be of a better stamp than previous matches. When the scales got to our side the two top weights on the far side were both on the end pegs,with 65lb odd being best. Marcus then put 65lb something on the scales which I felt sure would be too much for me. My skimmers then went 33lb 12oz and the carp weighed 40lb exactly giving a 73lb 12oz total and the lead. The guy to my left had caught well but only had one carp which meant he only weighed 36lb odd. All the way down the section the weights were between 20-40lb but the bloke on the end peg was admitting to 70lb+. His weight of pretty much all carp went 86lb,all taken on the method to the island. The end pegs proved decisive on the day as 3 of the top 4 weights were from these pegs,with mine being the only frame peg that wasn't endpeg. To be honest if I had the match again I wouldn't really do anything different. I continued my sequence of improving my weight every time and picking up in every match. It really is a super venue and suits my style of fishing down to the ground. If only I could make the method work....