AAF Gp8 QE5, Hawley Lake, 15-17 July 16

 This was the final group 8 match for 2015-16 and it was taking place on an Aldershot Garrison Club water called Hawley, I was teamed up with Gav at the last minute for this match as Ant had made other plans and Baz unfortunately had to work.  We met up on the Thursday night to get a look at the lake, then a bit of a shin dig followed by another walk around in the morning.  Gav and I had come up with a list of swims that we fancied and they were loosely based around the corners and behind islands where we may have been able to hide from all the watercraft that used the venue.

We were about 4^th out of the bag and chose peg 4 which was a nice corner peg with a warm wind trickling in.

Gav went for the right hand side and this left me with a left hand margin, open water and a far bank at about 100 yards to as far as I could cast, I was aiming for the trees on the left of the far bank cut out in the photo above but more of this later.

I had a quick lead around the swim and found an interesting area at around 15 wraps in line with a tree on the far side, so my opening gambit was to stick a few boilies into the area and then fish two stiff rigs over the top.  With the rods set and an expectancy of a few bream during the hours of darkness I decided to have a quick snooze in the afternoon, only to get woken by a positive run on my left hand rod.  It took a couple of moments but I soon realised that there was something wrong as I was playing the fish at about 10 yards out whilst fishing at 60… I had picked up a trailer and it dropped off after a couple of minutes, this changed my plan slightly and I dropped my right hand rod shorter to about 5 wraps where I had seen some bubbling earlier in the day.  That was it for new on the first day really, I tried in front of the bird feeding area for a couple of hours when it got quiet and Gav had a few bream… well 16.

The next afternoon however, the bailiffs came around to do a rig check, I pulled my rod out to show them and then gleaned as much information as I could about the venue, the plan for the night was to be a rod up the left hand edge and then a rod sent over to the far bank tree line, leading around showed it to be a sandy bottom so a Horton rig was going to be dispatched the 27 wraps to the spot I had decided on.

I gave it 10 spombs of mixed boilie to try and reduce the number of bream as Gav had been having a few and then I settled down for about 12 minutes until the first bream hung itself, and then the next… I was not happy, especially since I had to get into the water every time to cast due to the overhead trees, in mean what’s the point of works parties if the anglers cannot cast without getting their feet wet?

I had enough and walked to the shops for some fish and chips only to discover that the chippy was shut, fortunately the Indian was still open so curry it was then.  I got the rods back out onto the spots, this time increasing the hookbait size on the far bank rig to a 20mm bottom bait and then settled down for the night expectant of some action, it never happened, I had a couple of beeps and Gav lost what may have been a carp late well into darkness, to be honest though I was resigned to another blank after talking to three different bailiffs and all three telling us different numbers of fish and different spots.  Although Gav was definitely on a good day time swim, if only he could get through the bream.

Ready for action

Come the morning the water skier was the final straw, between the low trees, dogs, geese, sailing boats, kayaks, air show and bream I had had enough.
Thank you to Ron for running the event, Tim and Chris won the match with 3 carp, Paul and Paul managed second with one carp, so that was it for the season, I managed to finish 5^th in the league with a first, second and two more times that I turned up, so it is off to Wraysbury next for me, I may need to get a recce done soon.

What would I have done differently?

Hard to say and be polite, If I was to go back tomorrow to the same swim I would have a rig under the tree line to my left and a rig under the trees on the far bank for the duration unless I saw a carp elsewhere, I would feed less and not use a spomb at all.

Tackle used:

Rods: 13ft 3.5lb tc Free spirit CTX

Reels: Shimano 14000 Ultegra XTC

Line: 15lb ESP Syncro loaded

Inter Services week Westwood Lakes

So it was off up north for the Army team to Westwood lakes near Boston, Lincolnshire, Craig and I were sharing a van so he picked me up on Sunday afternoon and then we had a leisurely drive up to the accommodation at some RAF base ready for the team brief on the Sunday night. 

The brief was get ready for a lot of fish and that shallow with pellet would be our main approach so with that in mind we all got a good night’s sleep…. Yeah whatever.

Day 1, Falcon peg 43

So the plan was 2+2 with pellet shallow for the first 3 hours and then down the edge for the last 2 hours, I set up a 12 inch and 6 inch rig and plumbed up an edge rig, then I went to the Café with Craig and a couple of other for around an hour before going back to my peg to wait another half an hour before the start of the match.

The all-in was called and I was straight out on the deeper shallow rig, straight away it was obvious that the wind would be an issue as it was sort of in my face over the high bank opposite and it was making the feeding of 4mm pellet on the shallow line troublesome.  Top overcome it I started to feed 6mm and this sorted it, almost, but I was still not accurate enough really, I was also soon onto the shallower rig and I started to catch steady away for the first couple of hours.

At the three hour mark my shallow line had become very hard work so I moved down my two edges feeding pellet and trying to catch on the deck, Scott to my right was doing ok on it but I just could not get it to work correctly and I ended up frustrated and chasing fish shallow down the edge, in the last 15 minutes I sorted the feeding though and had a golden spell of probably 15 fish in as many put ins.

It was not enough though and my 43Kg was enough for 10^th out of the 14 anglers on the bank, top weight though had been a high 50Kg I think and with most people on 45-50kg it had been a close match.

Day 2, Falcon peg 20:

This time Gaz had said that we could do any method for the last 2 hours if we wished so on top of the shallow and edge rigs I also put up a paste rig.  This time it was Craig’s shout on the coffees and cake so we were sat in the café for a while again and we were all set up and ready to go well before the all in.

Fortunately I was fishing 2+1 this time so my sore throwing arm was not going to get as much of a hammering, and as I had Gaz sat top my right on the corner I knew I was being watched so I needed to put in a half decent performance, for the first 2.5 hours again I was fishing shallow.  Finding the best feeding pattern to get the fish taking your hook pellet was key and once you had found that they would usually hook themselves, however, due to changeable weather they turned off again.  It was at this point that I pulled out my Joker card and started on my paste line, although I wasn’t setting the world on fire I was defiantly catching a few fish, and by feeding maggot down my left hand edge every now and again I would get a few barbel on it.  I chopped and changed between the paste and edge for the last stint of the match and the fish were of a much better stamp than I had been catching shallow and I even had a few barbel on paste so there were definitely a few in the area.

Once the all-out was called we followed the scales around the lake and although I guessed about 50Kg I think I actually had 61Kg for the top weight of the day.  So Paste was definitely an option come match day.

Day 3 Osprey peg 18

This time we were on Osprey and al that we had heard about was the other two teams catching 100kg weights for the last 2 days so to say that we were full of excitement wa an understatement, unfortunately the weasther gods got in the way and it rained from about an hour after the all in until after the all-out.  The best tactic was shallow with pellet by far and although it slowed down for me in the last hour or so when I switched to a paste line, it wasn’t quite right although once I sorted the feeding in the last 15 minutes I started to bag and had 6 carp in the last 15 minutes for probably 20lb.  this time it was feed a quarter of a cup of wetted 6mm pellet and catch 2 carp then repeat.

The weights to my right were impressive with everyone having over 70KG, I had 71Kg for 4^th on the day and what a day it had been catching F1’s on a top kit. I had spent the previous night tying pellets into lasso’s and then varnishing them so that they stayed on the hair for more than 1 fish, but I had used most of them up so after the team was announced I was back in my room tying hooklengths for the Inter Services the next Day.

Inter Services Championship, Falcon peg 37

This had been a good area when we had been on the lake a couple of days earlier, and I ended up with Baz from the RAF team and local expert in my section, he even came over to point out that I was sat on a flyer which is nice. Same plan as every other day so two shallow rigs, paste rig, track rig, shallow paste and a margin rig were all set up, and then it was the wait for the all-in.  I started at 2+1 and caught very well for the first couple of hours, my paste line gave me a few carp and the margins were also slower than expected but fortunately I was able top keep the shallow fish coming all day by feeding a mixture of pellet and caster in the final hour to fend off Baz’s late charge.  In the last 2 hours Baz actually tried to empty the lake of fish, I was just lucky that most of his fish were smaller than mine.  Baz has 63Kg I think, the Navy lad had 40kg I think and I managed 71 Kg for a section win that though is where the good news ended as we only managed 3 out of 10 section wins as a team.  Results were RAF 14 points, Army 22 points and Navy &RM 24 points.

Inter Services Individual Championship, Falcon peg 23

This was an out and out individual match so I could do what I wanted, and a lot of people drew and then went home so there was bags of room in some areas.  Mine was not one and I had Toby, Martin and Gus to my right and a Navy lad then Pez to my left.  I had a stiff breeze left to right and it was cooler than it had been all week so I set up a track paste rig, a margin paste rig and a shallow paste rig.

I stared on the track and caught from the start, the main problem was liners and foul hookers due to the numbers of fish floating around just off bottom, but I was steadily putting weight in to the onion sack all day.  Craig came around after a couple of hours to see how I was doing and because I was doing all right we decided to stay.  Martin, Gus and Toby were all struggling to get any numbers of fish shallow and they were being forced to go onto other tactics, Martin even managed to snag a near double figure carp and get it  in after about 15 minutes of faffing about…

The all out was gratefully received and the scales told us that Gus had 30kg, Martin 40kg, Toby 41.060 and I had squeaked the section with 41.260Kg, Pez had 43 Kg again after swapping to paste after 10 minutes of not catching shallow.  Rocky was third, Gaz second and Steve won it all with 50Kg + weights from 3 pegs in a row around where I had been the day before.

All in all it is a fantastic fishery with great facilities, I wish that we could have been on a couple of the bigger fish lakes but never mind, Thanks to the RAF for running it and I look forward to the Navys choice of venue for next year.

What would I have done differently?

On day 1 I definitely struggled because I had to fish 2+2, also all week I struggled to get the margins to work properly so those are the two aspects to look at, although I really do not fish venues like that very often.

Tackle used:

Pole Paste:

Elastic: Colmic Blue but swapped to Preston 17H

Line: 0.19mm to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 4 Tubertini 175

Float: 4X10 Big H Paste

Pole shallow 12 inch:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.19mm to 0.13mm Powerline

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 0.2g Drennan crystal dibber

Pole shallow 6 inch:

Elastic: White Hydro Swapped to blue colmic for last 3 days

Line: 0.19mm to 0.13mm Powerline

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: MW Pea

Pole Margin:

Elastic:  Blue Colmic but swapped to Red Vespe after day 2

Line: 0.19mm powerline to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 2 or 3 Tubertini 175

Float: Drennan carp 4 0.3 or AS4 0.4g

Knock up Todber Manor Hill view 23 Jun 16

Today started with a proper giggle as we had all slept over in a variety of tents/ bivvies at the fishery ready for the knock up this morning, I awoke to find Pez sleeping under the stars due to his tent mates snoring (Craig) and this set the tone for the morning.  We waited for John to come in as we were supposed to have Whitepost lower for our knock up but we decided to see if we could get it moved onto Hillview lake, the answer was yes so whilst John sorted the pegging we all disappeared off for a breakfast at the local farm shop.

We were all soon back at the shop waiting for the draw and the numbers that I wanted were in the 50’s, so when I pulled 37 out of the hat I was not too happy, but with an island chuck and loads of room for margin lines it wouldn’t be too bad I thought.

I started to decide on a simple plan but that was complicated by the fact that I had got my mits on some caster the day before so a shallow line was going in somewhere, I also set up a waggler and feeder for the island and then plumbed up a short paste line and a couple of margin lines.  I was ready for the all in and I decided to start on the method whilst priming my shallow lines.  The method was a slow start but I started to get a few fish after about half an hour or so, all the time I was watching Craig along the bank to my left as he was fishing shallow and would be my guide to when |I would give it a go.  It was after about another ten minutes and as Craig was netting another better fish I decided to have a look on the shallow caster line.

In ten minutes I managed 3 roach and a tiny carp so since I was catching the odd 2-4lber on the tip I threw the rig up the bank and gave it a pot of pellet as it was the same depth there as my short paste line.

Back on the tip however and the swim started to get stronger and stronger, I was catching steadily all day but due to the makeup of the lake I was struggling with liners and fish knocking the feeder down the far slope.  To try and alleviate this I tried heavier feeders and casting further up the slope and although the fish followed the food and the feeder would sit still the splash seemed to spook them out for the swim for longer and it still took longer for a bite.

Coming into the last hour and a half as I was getting frustrated I decided to try my pole lines, this was a mistake in hindsight but as again I started chasing the fish that I could see down the edge, but I did get a few good fish on a shallow rig pushed tight in down the edge over pellet and I also managed to mug a couple of carp short as well.

The all-out was called and I although I had caught well for long periods I thought that I had blown it as both Craig and Pez had strong last parts of the match, fortunately the scales showed that I had just done enough to hang on for the win.  We did the results in the car park and then parted our separate ways, Craig, Pez and I needed to sort our lives out for the Inter services next week but more of that in a minute.

What would I have done differently?

I should not have come off the method in the last hour and I think I was targeting the fish too far up the shelf at the end in too shallow water.

Tackle used:

Pole Long and short Paste:

Elastic: Preston 17H

Line: 0.19mm to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 5 Tubertini 175

Float: 4X10 Big H Paste

Pole Long shallow:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.19mm to 0.13mm Powerline

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 0.2g Drennan crystal dibber

Pole Margin:

Elastic: Red Vespe

Line: 0.19mm powerline to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 5 Tibertini 175

Float: KC Carpa Margin

Method:

Rod: Drennan series 7 Carp feeder 10ft.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: various Guru feeders, Hybrid, method and pellet

Waggler:

Rod: Drennan Ultralight 12ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb sensor 0.17mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 3.5g Drennan crystal pellet wag

AAF Gp 2 Match 9 Todber Manor

The run up to this match had been quite hectic, I had managed to get my new pole sections delivered the week before whilst I was away on holiday, however I could not collect them until the Monday, at this point I got them home Monday night only to find that the number 4 section had been broken in transit…. Tuesday saw an aggravated Ben on the phone to the shop and they are going to order a new section and replace it for free but I was still left without a pole for the next day.  Fortunately Reids Tackle had something that would fit the bill so my late afternoon saw a frantic dash to the shop to pick up my new toy and then the evening was spent elasticating it.

The following morning Craig picked me up and I am glad that I had managed a small breakfast when I got up as we got caught up in the after mouth of a crash on the A303 just 4 minutes from my house.  We ran up the road to have a quick check and all bar one bloke who had hurt his arm and was in shock everyone else seemed to be walking wounded so with nothing else that we could do… bar telling the emergency services the exact location we were soon back on the road.  On the road I managed to get the best selfie EVER:

We got to the café a little late but not as late as many others coming from our way, breakfast was half eaten as it was huge and then it was time for the AGM, there were some good points and bad points but you had to be there really… no you really should have.

Onto the draw and with only 36 booked in there was going to be tons of room as the 3 sections covered Ash, Hillview and both Whitepost lakes, Pete and I were discussing where we wanted, Pete wanted Ash, I was happy wherever and Pez just didn’t want Ash.  I did the draw and put Pete on the end peg of Ash, Pez on Peg 54 on Hill view and myself on peg 6 on the top lake of Whitepost, Craig hed drawn the Golden peg, 9 so the transport was easy.

We did a trip to the shop to drop off the BBQ food for the evening and then went to the lake, I found that I had Griff on peg 4, Ivan on the peg I thought I was on, 7, and Craig once again had half a lake to himself on peg 9.  On the bottom lake Rocky was sat on a good peg and there were a few other pegs that I thought would have a chance to beat the tip lake as historically it is better on the bottom lake, anyway I went about setting up my gear.

I was more than ready for the all in and after a lack lustre 15 minutes looking on the feeder and wag across I started properly on paste at 13m, this gave me 5 carp in pretty quick succession and I thought that I was I for a very easy day, but as is often the case I soon started to suffer from fizzing so had to look elsewhere.  Shallow was the answer for 1 carp and 4 F1’s before again I was struggling and it was then a case of trying to put a couple of bites together on a line before moving and starting again on another.  The forth hour was the best with several carp falling to paste down the edge after I changed from meat, it seemed to get better bites and no liners.  I also moved my short line closer towards the end and started to feed 8mm pellet over it and this again gave me a few more fish in the last hour when it got hard across the whole lake.

As the all-out was called I knew that I had a half tidy weight but I was not too sure how much exactly I had managed, it was over a ton for sure but I didn’t think it would be a ton fifty.  The main thing was to stop Craig taking the Golden peg and my 58Kg was enough for that as he had managed 43Kg, he really struggled for periods of the match with foul hookers and lost fish.  As it turned out I was right about the bottom lake and Gav had 70Kg off the end peg and then Rocky had 62Kg from the narrows so I was third in section.

Pete had a blinding day from Ash with 76Kg for a section and match win and Pez pulled a section win out of the bag from Hill view with over 60kg, so the team was first on the day with the other two carrying me again.

The evening saw a few of us having a BBQ and it was a good way to end the day and prep for the Knock up the next day.

What would I have done differently?

I would have liked to have drawn the lower lake on Whitepost and that’s about it really, I got more than what I thought the peg was worth so it was a good day on that front.

Tackle used:

Pole Long and short Paste:

Elastic: Preston 17H

Line: 0.19mm to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 5 Tubertini 175

Float: 4X10 Big H Paste

Pole Long shallow:

Elastic: White Hydro

Line: 0.19mm to 0.13mm Powerline

Hook: 20 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 0.2g Drennan crystal dibber

Pole Margin:

Elastic: Red Vespe

Line: 0.19mm powerline to 0.17mm Powerline

Hook: 5 Tibertini 175

Float: KC Carpa Margin

Method:

Rod: Drennan series 7 Carp[ feeder 10ft.

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1

Feeder: various Guru feeders, Hybrid, method and pellet

Waggler:

Rod: Drennan Ultralight 12ft

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb sensor 0.17mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 3AA Dave Harrell Insert waggler

AAF Gp2 Match 8, Orchard Farm Lakes

After the last group match that had seen me break my pole and come nearly last in section, to say that my mojo is on the wane was an understatement.  We were off to Orchard lakes and since the last time that I have fished here apparently the fishing had changed with it being more off the far bank rather than top kit fishing.

The booking in and pegging was easy for me today as Craig had everything under control and the fishery supplied the pegs and sorted the pegging, I was soon in the draw queue and  Evo pulled Main lake peg 9 out for me.

Having never fished the main lake I had no idea what to expect but I had an island at about 20 meters in front  and a blank peg to my left so that was my main 2 areas sorted.  I decided to set up a method for the island and down the edge and a pellet wag for the island, I also set up a conventional wagler as well to fish meat on the deck if it looked at being that sort of a day. Funnily enough I was ready well before the all in and on the call I sent the method tight to the island…. Nothing happened and as I went to retrieve it the feeder was in a snag, I decided to drop shorter after that.  It took about half an hour for my first bite and I lost that one as it just pulled for the island at 100mph, I also lost the second under the rod tip for no reason. However before long I had a couple of carp in the net but the size of them was not what I was expecting after being regaled with stories of doubles and high singles.  I swapped between the wag and the method for the next while trying to put some bites together but for every carp I landed I lost 2.  It was turning into a trying day as the carp where piling through snags before I could do a great deal most of the time.  I ended up with 6 carp and 2 chub for about 6kg, this was enough for 6^th in section but with H in the corner landing 18Kg in the last couple of hours I didn’t feel as though I ever got the swim going to be fair.

Craig won the match with 54kg, Pez was second with 51 both on the match lake and both caught short on the pole.

What would I have done differently?

In hindsight I wish that I had had more room but I was quite hemmed in from my left and right, a shorter skimmer feeder line may have been a good idea as Shippers on the next peg did me by a kilo and had caught skimmers on the pole, possibly mag and wag for the chub may have been an option.

Tackle used:

Method :

Rod: Drennan series 7 10ft Carp feeder

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 24g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Wagler:

Rod: Team Daiwa 11ft pellet wag

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb Sensor to 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 4g Preston pellet wag

Conventional wag:

Rod: Drennan Matchpro 12ft ultralight

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 4lb sensor mainline, 0.16mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag with a baitstop

Float: 3aa Dave Harrell thick tip insert wag.

Fosters of Birmingham Charity Match, Barston Lake

Firstly sorry for the delay but here is the first of the catch up blogs:

Craig and I had an early start so that we could get to the fishery in time for this match, but the journey was an easy one and although we have both vowed never to have breakfast at burger king again, we arrived ready for the day.  There were loads of friendly faces at the draw and soon banter and raffle tickets were flowing.  I missed the start of the draw queue and ended up at the end, unfortunately this saw me on peg 87, this may not mean a lot to many of you but a few years ago I was part of a Club Angler of the Year final at Barston, and I blanked from peg 87 ish, along with everyone around me.  Today the conditions were better with a light breeze off our backs and some nice colour in the water I had higher hopes than last time. 

I was still without a pole so a long range method, short range method and waggler were the tactics for the day.  I had Colin to my left ad Bob to my right for company, an empty peg between Colin and myself was negated by us both facing towards the same water as he was on a point.

I was ready for the all-in and as soon as it was called my feeder was heading towards the middle of the lake at about 70 yards, not a lot happened for the first 40 minutes and then out of the blue I had a bite.  My first fish was a carp of about 3lb taken on a trimmed down white wafter.  I then had to wait another hour or so for my next bite, again on the long method and that was an F1 of about 3lb.  Then with an hour and a half to go I had my thrid bite and this was a bream of about 3lb, this was my last real bite, I had a few liners, spooked a fish out of the margin but other than that not a lot played ball. 

Colin had struggled to my left, Bob had caught a few skimmers and a decent bream on the pole for around double figures, and Craig kept on walking down to check on us as he had managed a couple of better carp and a few bits on the method from further down to my right.

Here is the section board:

I had managed to get forth in section with no long pole so it wasn’t too bad, back at the clubhouse the match had been won with 99lb and second had been sat right next to him in the teens by the 18^th green…. So the other end of the lake.  The raffle was well received and mny drawing hand had let me down again, and then the long trip home… Avoiding Burger King.

What would I have done differently?

Not a lot really, the tactics I fished are all match winners at Barston on their day, I just didn’t have enough carp to go at with my positive tactics.  I may have gone further on the tip later but I was almost past halfway as it was!! So that isn’t really cricket.

Tackle used:

Feeder Long:

Rod:  Browning Black Viper 13ft

Reel: Shimano Ci4 Ultegra 5500 XTC

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 45g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Method Short:

Rod:  Drennan series 7 10ft Carp feeder

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.19mm hooklength

Hook: 14 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 24g Guru Hybrid with black hydro

Wagler:

Rod: Team Daiwa 11ft pellet wag

Reel: Daiwa TDM 3012

Line: 4lb Sensor to 0.18mm hooklength

Hook: 18 Guru Pellet wag

Float: 6g Preston pellet wag

Bomb Short:

Rod:  Drennan Matchpro 10ft Bomb

Reel: TDM 3012

Line: 8lb sensor mainline, 0.16mm hooklength

Hook: 16 QM1 with a baitband

Feeder: 12g ollivette

AAF Gp2 Match 7, Viaduct Fishery

No Photos and I am going to keep it short this time.  I went to Viaduct, drew peg 74... not too bad.  It rained heavily just before the start and all the cruising fish dissappeared.  I lost 2 foul hookers in the first 30 minutes.  At the 3 hour point I lost a carp from 16m under the tree to the right, this was the only carp hooked under the tree. In the last hour I lost 3 carp from the left hand edge, one through  a hook pull, one through the 0.18mm getting snapped and one as it swam under the platform for peg 75.
At this point I lost my rag, put the rig up a tree and then destroyed two sections of my pole.
I weighed 3lb of bits for last but 1 in my section.  Well done to Pez for winning the match, Ships cat for knocking me out of the commercial cup with his first ton I believe and everyone else for not laughing at me too much.
I am still quite sore and melancholy but I am off to Barston at the weekend so lets hope I don't draw a peg where I need a pole.