Sedges, Tile Lake, Feb 20 (9 pegs)

This match was fished on the central bank meaning that the chilly South Easterly breeze was blowing from behind which is unusual as usually at Sedges the wind would be in your face on this bank.
As nine were fishing, corner peg 31 was left out giving most a reasonable option to cast to one of the islands where the carp tend to hang out, although at Sedges there are plenty of quality skimmers to target to boost the weights (unfortunately though, no silvers pool as the unannounced arrival of a certain person meant my original calculations were scrapped in favour of a straight top three payout).
The top end of the bank proved to be the area to be in with all of the top three places bunched between pegs 32 and 35.
Top honours on the day fell comfortably to Chris Szakacs on peg 35, with 53lbs 15oz made up mostly of quality carp caught on popped-up bread fished tight to the island. It has been said that Chris can draw better than Rolf Harris!
Ade Crawley abandoned his usual carp avoidance tactics on neighbouring peg 34, managing to land 16-5 of them in addition to  an impressive 23-10 net of skimmers for a total of 39-15. Ade caught on 4mm soft pellet over 2mm pellet and caster feed fished at 6m.
Third place went to Stuart Riddle on the end peg 32 with 28-1
Pictured below, Bob Warren nets a last-ditch carp but sadly just misses out on the frame. (fortunately though, Bob still has his midweek oap matches to fund his next trip to Tenerife!)

Full Result:

1. Chris Szakacs .... peg 35 .... 53-15 
2. Ade Crawley ........ 34 ...... 39-15
3. Stuart Riddle ....... 32 ...... 28-1
4. Bob Warren ......... 40 ...... 19-2
5. Alan Healy ........... 33 ..... 13-14
6. Derek Lucas ......... 37 ..... 11-10
7. Steve Burgess ...... 39 ..... 10-12
8. Mike Smith* ......... 38 ..... 10-2
9. Paul Reed ............ 36 ...... 9-0

*golden peg