Bristol PSV Fishing Club: Acorn Match Lake, 6 September (10 pegs)

Monday 7 September 2009

Acorn Match Lake, 6 September (10 pegs)

Taking a year out from match fishing to sharpen his skills seems to have paid off for Ryan Jordan winning both today's match and the last one he fished at Viaduct plus framing in the previous match and twice in Tony Rixon's "float only" series! The prospect of capturing some pictures of the man of the moment, Ryan, in action also meant that Roy Garland was on hand to record the action for Saturday's Evening Post.
As ever at Acorn the draw was all important with the end pegs being favourite and the narrow middle section being the least desirable.
Ryan was drawn on peg 7 and with a comfortable reach to the far bank margins decided to fish in one spot, tight over, with lassoed 8mm pellet over micro-pellet feed to put together a convincing win with 67lbs 13oz. He caught steadily from the off but his peg died towards the middle of the match only to pick up again later but he was then hampered when he trashed his pole rig and had to make do with hooking his banded pellet rather than the hair-rigged version he had been using and this resulted in quite a few lost fish due to hook pulls and foul-hookers.
In the next peg down, match secretary and winner of the knockout cup event, Steve Burgess, [pictured above] had also chosen to fish the far bank margins where with careful plumbing, he had found a slightly deeper area where he was able to concentrate the fish. Steve alternated between soft pellet on the hook and paste and restricted his 6mm pellet feed to a minimal amount, just enough to keep the fish interested without causing them to back off too far. Steve was catching the odd fish steadily through the match and found small fish were coming to the paste while the soft pellet approach would produce the odd better fish. During the last hour of the match, as the wind picked up, Steve was getting a bite every put-in on the paste and was starting to worry Ryan on the next peg but with 25lbs to make up even someone with Steve's extraordinary talent was going to struggle and he had to make do with second place and another pound coin from Alan Healy with 44lbs 14oz.
Meanwhile at the bottom end of the lake, the increase in wind during the last hour had improved things dramatically for most who had been struggling through the earlier part of the match, most especially for Mark Britton on end peg 2 (permanent 3) who was able to put together a good late run for 40lbs 10oz of quality fish for a close 3rd place and also for Alan Healy who claimed 4th spot with 37lbs 13oz.
At the far end of the lake Mr consistent, Darren North caught well but was let down by the small average size of his fish and ended up with 30lbs 14oz.
Adam Caswell meanwhile decided to bring along his girlfriend and her best mate!