Yesterday saw the first evening match of the year at Whinwhistle fishery. I hadn't fished there since winning the last round of the winter league so was looking forward to the evening opens kicking off. The first match was an early start due to the light levels and was scheduled for a 4pm draw with fishing from 4.30 to 7.30. I didn't think I'd get out of work in time for the early one so asked for a peg to be left in the bag and I hoped to get there by 4.30....better late than never! Becuase I thought I'd be late I loaded the car with minimal gear-seatbox,1 method rod,nets and a small bag of bits...simple! As it happened I managed to get away from work at 3.45pm so made it just in time for the draw. There were 8 fishing which wasn't a bad turnout for the first match,especially as it was an early start. As soon as I arrived it was time for the draw and today we were on Whinwhistle Islands. I was second into the bag and out came peg 8....flyer! I have only fished this peg once before and that was in the first round of last years summer league and I managed to win the match off the peg that day. It's a bit of a zoo creature peg and the hardest part is getting the fish out as it's pretty shallow and full of features. People have blanked on the peg on occasions because although they get a few bites,getting a fish in the net is what counts. (the pictures are from when I drew the peg in last years summer league) 
The start was put back to 4.45pm to allow people enough time but I was ready within 5 minutes,not like me atall! The rod was an 11ft Shimano Beastmaster,Daiwa TDR,6lb sensor,a small inline 30 g feeder with an 0.18 hooklength to a size 16 GURU QM1 with a bayonet on a hair. For bait I had a kilo of swimstim mixed the night before,some mini 8mm boilies and a tin of corn. I clipped up to the side of the pads opposite at around 14m. I would also use this clip down towards the small bay to my right and I planned to throw most of the tin of corn in at 5m to my right on the corner. With everything ready I went for a walk to have a chat with a few of the others.
The all-in was called and I fed the corn and 1 small ball of groundbait at 5m to my right before plopping the feeder out by the pads. I planned to give each cast 3 minutes inititally but after 20 seconds or so the rod was pulled off the rest but unfortunately the fish broke me. A new hooklength was clipped on and the process was repeated. This time I had to wait all of a minute before the rod wanged round but this time I managed to control the fish and a few minutes later I had a fat 8lb mirror in the net. After a few more casts the tip wanged round again and once again my hooklength gave way. The trouble was I only had 0.18 hooklengths tied up with bayonets. I knew I couldn't keep losing fish so decided to tie up a new hooklength on 0.22 but with a korum quickstop on the hair. This meant I would need to fish corn,something I don't like to do on the method generally,but atleast it would give me a better chance of landing fish. Soon after the tip slammed round and after a bit of tooing and froing I managed to control the fish and it was soon safely in the net,this time a bit smaller at around 5lb. The next two fish hooked broke me on 0.22,there was simply nothing I could do as it was like hooking turbo charged submarines.
This line then went quiet,no doubt caused by all the disturbance,so it was time to chuck down to my right. I had managed to cadge a slice of meat from Andy Franks so went with a 6mm punch and second chuck the tip went round and I had a 1lb tench in the net. Second chuck and I hooked a carp which annoyingly fell off. This line then also went quiet and with just over an hour to go I had 2 carp in the net and needed to find a few more. I plopped the method in at 5m to my right on a grain of corn and after a couple of casts the tip went round and I soon had a chunky mirror of 3-4lb in the net. After this I was getting silly bites from skimmers so came off this line,took the clip off and chucked down towards the sluice in my peg. I was now back on the 0.18 trace as I prefer to use mini boilies and as I wasn't fishing tight to a feature I felt I would be ok. However it can be very tricky to land fish from this area as you have to guide them between two sets of lillies on each bank. After a few casts the tip slowly went round and I was convinced I'd hooked a skimmer as it didn't really fight. I was a bit surprised when it turned out to be a common carp of around 4lb. The next fish I hooked towards the sluice kited straight into the pads and after 5 minutes or so the hooklength went bang.
There was now 20 minutes to go and I decided to focus on the long chuck. Soon after the tip went round and straight away I stood-up on my footplate with the rod behond me as high as I could get it. This worked as planned as the fish wallowed on the surface allowing me to pick up the slack and I soon had a nice 4-5lb fish in the net. 10 minutes later the same thing happened and once again I got the rod as high as I could and the fish was soon safely in the net with his 5 mates.
The all-out was called at 7.45pm and with 6 carp and a small tench in the net I thought I must have 25lb +. After packing up in about 2 minutes (again not like me!) I went for a wander and it looked like the win was mine. I was first to weigh and the scales settled on 32lb 4oz. The other weights were quite consistent with most anglers registering double figures,with 22lb enough for second place. It was nice to start the evening matches with a win and in the 16 I fished last year I picked up in 13 so I wouldn't mind matching that again!
This weekend sees me at Witherington Farm for the Steve Ramsay memorial. It's a weekend of drinking with a bit of fishing thrown in so although I'm booked in for the bank holiday Monday open at Whinwhistle there's every chance I'll be in no fit state to fish it!
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