Bristol PSV Fishing Club: Viaduct, Cary, 04 August (24 pegs)

Unfortunately this week I've had a few minor complaints brought to my attention so, seeing as I like to see Psv as one big happy family, I've tried to deal with them as best I can.
Firstly, it seems there were a couple of inaccuracies in my reporting from the match at Trinity two weeks ago so to put the record straight ....
Simon (Raffles / Pink Panther) Belcham's impressive silvers net which consisted of 21lbs 12oz of roach was not actually caught on hemp and tares but was in fact caught on wheat. And also in that same report I wrote that "Darren [North] did catch well in his margins for the last hour or so" when in actual fact he didn't and he caught all his fish on pellet shallow (like what Shanksy did)!
Secondly, there was a criticism that when I run the matches there's only ever one payout for silvers and yet when I have a day off there are two silvers payouts which is a bit of a blow when you've been second in the silvers three times and not picked up. Well that one's even easier to deal with because as far as I'm concerned, if you choose to waste out-and-out flier carp pegs fishing for roach fry and slimy milk bottle-tops (peg 19 at Landsend for example) then you're fishing the wrong matches but, in order to keep everybody happy, I made a special effort today to pay out three places in the silvers which was an unfortunate shame as Kev Jefferies couldn't make today's match because he was at Thorpe Park ... bugger (as Mike Nicholls would say)!
And lastly, it was pointed out that although there were only ten members present at the July meeting there were 24 fishing today which doesn't quite add up mathematically seeing as booking into matches is supposed to be done at the meetings but I guess the other 14 were on holiday and never had any phone signal or something so .... this month's meeting is on Tuesday at the usual venue (Midland Spinner, Warmley) where I will be taking bookings for the coming month's matches.
[deep breath] and anyway back to today ..........

And this past week Viaduct had been fishing well with matches being won with well over 200lbs, on Wednesday Viaduct had hosted the Preston (Bait-Tech) Uk champs and (copied from the Preston website)

"Back on the other 3 lakes and it was clear that Viaduct was showing people why it’s renowned as the mecca it is. The fish had turned up and decided to take on the anglers at their own game. Everywhere you looked there were people wrestling with these huge creatures and it was clear to see that the experience of the anglers on the UK were really showing through as huge weights of fish were amassed all over the complex.

Going into the last two hours it was so tight and any number of anglers could in fact run out on top.

At the all out some sighed.. most however sighed as the fatigue of munter hunting had taking it out of them. Everyone felt sorry for Paul and Steve as they started the weigh in. this was going to take some time as most of the field had caught a weight of fish.

Rumours were rife as people started to realise what they had caught.

It was some time before all the sheets were collated. Adam Wakelin had continued catching all match and landed a staggering 60 carp for a unbelievable 279.6lb. With everyone thinking it was a done deal and Adam had won, Andy Power put an amazing 27 carp on the scales for rod creaking 279…. Wait for it… 279.5lb. just an ounce short. John Arthur then started tipping masses of fish on the scales and ended in 3^rd overall with colossal 242lb. these weight were far from alone though and more and more people recorded some awe inspiring catches. Grant won Lodge Lake with 200 exactly. Such was the quality of the fishing you had to feel for those who had caught a massive weight and suffered a low score at the same time. Si Fry is one example of many who weighed 185lb only managing 5^th in his section…

There were 200lb weights all over and 10 double tons were recorded. Not only that but as well as this there were another 28 weights between 100-and 200lb! Over half the field recording a ton plus. This gave the average weight per head of exactly 100lb per man throughout the match. A new UK Champs Record and one that I’m sure will stand for a long long time.

Steve and Paul of Viaduct clearly run a fantastic ship there. looking after large numbers of big fish is a hard job. Getting them to a standard of health and fitness they have to produce as match of this spectacle is incredible and certainly testament to their hard work."

Apparently Steve Ringer was on 109 and his 125lbs never even came anywhere in his section (more on this later). However, with 24 on the lake and a change in the weather nobody was expecting weights like those and the curse of psv made doubly sure of that.

Colin Ellaway (below) was the only angler with a weight in excess of the ton weighing in fourteen carp plus a few accidentals for a total of 132-10 from peg 81.

Colin caught on the lead with pellet chucked up the edge of the spit and later down in the right corner margin.

Colin's nearest rival was Keith Ray with 97-2 from peg 86 followed by son-in-law Will Dearlove on 96 with 84-10.

Winner in the silvers was Fry's table tennis superstar of the seventies, Bob Warren (who really doesn't target silvers) with 26-12 from peg 95 which meant Keith's van was a happy place to be with all three of it's occupants having picked up in the pools.

Second in the silvers payout was Darren North on peg 78 with 19-0.

As for myself, I drew peg 109, a peg I've never had before but the shortest walk on Cary so that was a bonus. It's a bit of a marmite peg that looks inviting but isn't a top choice for many, including Chris Gay, although Chris dnw'd today on 101 so he probably would have been happier with 109 today.

On arrival at the peg there were fish swirling in the right margin and a few bow-waves in the open water so I was happy and secretly hoping to outdo Steve Ringer's weight off the peg (some hope) which would have made an interesting blog update and got a few mentions in the pub on Tuesday night!

Paul in the shop had told me to fish 16m up the left edge and 10m down the right into a small break in the reeds a bit past where an overflow pipe runs into the lake.

I only went 14m though as I'd taken off my 4 & 5 sections and put a power 5 section on instead. Unfortunately the left edge was full of underwater branches and other obstacles and looked a bit of a tackle graveyard but after an hour of fruitless chucks around with a shallow waggler out in front and a solitary skimmer on the lead with 8mm pellet while the initial pots of meat and pellet were settling it didn't take long before the float went under and an angry carp headed up the bank and under the tree towards peg 74. After a bit of a tug of war that fish gave in but after 5 minutes ploughing around in front of me the hook pulled just when it was about to surrender.

A look down the right produced nothing other than a lot of float jiggling as the resident roach sucked on my meat (as they say) so it was back over to the right where beast number 2 exploded off up the margins and straight under the tree (a pattern was emerging). Like it's brother, this one was also hauled out from under the branches but then kited off to the right and headed towards Adam Caswell on peg 105. I eventually got it under control and nearly knackered out and then it decided to dive into the reeds at my feet. The second time it did it it gave it everything and the hook pulled .... 2-0 to the carp and I was getting near having a Chris Szakacs head-in-hands moment. Number 3 was slightly smaller (single figures) and not a fighter so I finally had one in the net.

The right hand margin only produced a roach and a mini skimmer and then the left produced a skimmer and went dead which signalled the start of a 3 hour quiet spell during which I tried every trick I know to get a bite including the "pour a coffee trick" and the "hunt around the bag for a chocolate bar trick", neither worked although I did manage 1 carp on the lead.

Eventually, with 45 minutes left, the float went under for the 100th time in the right margin but this time it wasn't a roach as there was a huge swirl and the elastic shot off across the peg under the tree to the left and beyond, and kept going until the line snapped.

Four fish followed from the same spot before the all-out which were all landed.

The end result was a meagre 51-13 for nowhere but it was better than Alan Healy's 40lb and Paul Reed's "2 twenties" and 7lbs of silvers that went 35-10 so it wasn't all doom and gloom with 2 pound coins back in my pocket, plus Chris Szakacs buggered off without his section winnings (by double default) so the trip to Curry Kings was covered ... happy days!

Full Result: