“I have had a fair bit of success on this lake in the past just fishing across to the far bank with the pellet. I normally seem to attract a few small F1s to begin with and then the better fish as they move up the shelf later in the day. Its going to be tough beating Kieron on any venue, but if I can get the better fish feeding up the shelf, I think I’ve got a good chance on here if things go my way” Ian said.
A relative newcomer to the venue, Kieron seemed confident as well ” It looks really nice, and from what I’ve heard this lake is solid. I’ve fished other lakes on the complex a few times, but I don’t think I’ve fished on this one. We’ve got loads of room on here, so I’m confident of getting a few” Kieron told us.
Pegs 14 and 16 were selected, as they looked very even, both anglers having to go around 14.5 metres to reach the island. There were a good head of reeds and sedges down the edge as well, making the margins look as though they might hold a few fish. Both anglers felt the draw was immaterial as the pegs looked so even, so we tossed a coin for who would choose there peg. Ian won the toss, and chose peg 16, leaving Kieron on 14.
Simple Approach
“I am going to try and keep things very simple today in terms of my approach” Ian told me. “I will fish to the far bank up the mud bank with pellet, and also down the edge. That will be it.”
For fishing across, Ian set two rigs up, one about 18 inches deep, and one about a foot. Both of these rigs were made on 0.16 Silstar with a B911 size 16 hook. In terms of floats, he opted for a Preston Chianti in 4×10 for his foot deep rig, and a 4×12 for his 18 inch rig. He shotted these with a bulk of No11s around 4 inches away from his hook. “when fishing for F1’s I find it helps to have a bulk close to your hook, as it means you see and hit more bites.” He told me.
He also plumbed up a line down the edge with an identical rig to the one he was using to the far shelf, and a shallow rig, which was simply a Malman self cocking dibber, with around six inches of 0.14 line and a size 16 Kamasan B911 hook.
Kieron also only plumbed up two lines. Like Ian, he opted to fish one up to the mud on the far bank. On here he opted for a Daiwa TDS 4X10 float, with 0.14 Super G line, and a Gamma Pellet hook in a size 14, using just a couple of No 10s to shot the float.
He also plumbed up a line down the middle at around eight metres, where he planned to fish hemp and meat. Again, 0.14 was his choice of line on here, with a bigger 4×14 float to suit the depth of water, and a bulk of No9’s and two No11 droppers as a shotting pattern.
All In!
I called the all in at 12:15, and Kieron began by putting a full pot of meat and hemp on his line down the track, and then going on his far bank line and feeding around ten 6 mm Dynamite Natural pellets via kinder pot, and fishing a 6mm Dynamite expander on the hook.
Ian simply fed his margin line by hand, and then went straight out on his long line. Interestingly, he decided to feed micro pellets and fish a smaller, 4mm pellet on the hook.
It was a slow start for both anglers, with Ian landing the first fish around ten minutes into the match. It wasn’t long before Kieron bounced back however, as he landed five fish in five chucks while Ian struggled to get another bite. Half an hour in it wasn’t looking good for our club angler, as he was eight fish behind, and had started suffering from missed bites and foul hooked fish, as well as frustratingly losing two fish at the net.
Fortunately for Ian, Kieron’s lines were quietening off as well, however and sport wasn’t exactly frantic for either of our anglers. As the end of the first hour approached, Ian’s line started to improve however, as the fish responded to the micro pellets he had been constantly dripping in with his kinder pot. Kieron on the other hand was still struggling, and it looked like our club star was making a comeback!
Things were going like a dream for Ian, who was getting one a bung, fishing in exactly the same way as he was when he started. Lifting and dropping his bait was proving key to his success, with the fish often hooking themselves against the weight of the pole as they grabbed at his bait ravenously.
Middle- Man comes good!
Kieron’s first drop in down the middle produced a carp about 3lb, and although he was having to wait for bites, it seemed there were a volume of fish around his bait. He tried a look shallow over the top of the line with his far bank rig, and got two fish in quick succession, and then nothing leading him to think that the bulk of the fish were on the deck. “I’m going to sit it out over this line now, as I’m looking for some bigger fish to catch Ian up, and the fish on this line do seem to be a slightly better stamp.” He told me.
As the end of the match approached, Kieron took another good carp around 10lb, and a run of better barbel, while Ian was still catching the smaller F1’s, though just before the whistle he managed to slip the net under a better common about 3lb.
Before the weigh in, both anglers thought they had lost, and there was much debate as too who would have clinched victory. Ian was first to weigh putting 63-4-0 on the scales. Kieron claimed he had nothing like that, and when his first net weighed only 13-1-0, both me and Ian were starting to believe him! His second net was somewhat fuller than the first however, his second weigh going 49-10, and his third 14-8-0. This gave him a grand total of 77-12-0, a comfortable win for our super star.
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