viaduct weds

well i got that wrong today.into the draw bag and out comes what i tried to pass off as peg 18 which is a good island peg on spring lake, which unfortunately wasnt even in as we were on cary and lodge, so i turned the ticket the other way up and headed off for peg 81 which is the other side of the spit where i drew last week. this peg used to be a proper carp flier but it seems to have gone off the boil a bit over the last 2 seasons, fishery manager paul greenwood advised me that it was put in because local angler kieth(mash)masheeder had caught 98lb off it at about this time last year
(mint)perhaps there still there then!!!!!!!!!!! lol. i should have listened to owner steve long who told me to fish 4 and 6mm pellets for skimmers as there a lot there as they like to spawn against the spit. but i got to the peg and the area to my left was black with carp sunbathing, and as i like dapping for them on the pole i got the carp goggles on straight away, big mistake. so i set up a 4x12 on a long line for dapping/shallow rig and 2 4x12 rigs ,one to fish straight out ant one to fish on the deck against the spit, both on .18 with the usual 16 b960 hook, and i set up a .30 meat rig to fish by the monk to my left.
at the styart i cupped in some 6,s out in front and against the spit ,some meat by the monk and then picked up the dapper as there were still fish mooching around on the top, there was one at 8mtrs so i dropped the pellet just in front of it ,it turned to take it dut it misseed thepellet and i think i fouled it in the pec, that was the first one gone then, i managed another one 10 mins later but even though it was in the mouth it came adrift on the way back, by now the cruisers had backed off to my left well out of range of the dapping rig plus there were a lot less about so i think they had in the main backed out of the bay, so i went out to the in front line and the misery continued, with just a couple of liners on the deck so out with the shallow rig and 2 more lost fish, 90 mins in now and nothing in the net but i wasnt to worried as it looked to be quite hard with no one really catching well so i wasnt to worried, so out to the spit and first drop and a 2lb skimmer was on its way to the net , thats when i should have changed and scaled down but did, did i fxxx, i continued with the 6 and 8,s, there were plenty of carp against the spit eating bream spawn but they were tight in and you cant get at them as there is to much debris and foliage, very frustrating, so by the end i had managed 25lb of skimmers and 5 carp for 50lb giving me a 75lb total for no where again, and with john geen winning the silvers with 44lb and tim palant coming second with 31lb i should have listened to steve and gone for skimmers from the start as i would have probably had a good few as there were certainly a lot there , but 8mm hard pellets arent the best approach, there goes that hindsight thing again, and as for the carp well i think i lost about 15 or so which was a bit of a phil harding type of day, i think most were fouled as once hooked they just kept going, i did try and catch shallow against the spit but apart from a good skimmer i couldnt get a carp, if i draw the peg again i will be up the spit and clear the peg out as i lost count of the number of twigs branches and brambles i pulled out, i even lost 2 carp when they shed the hooks into a mass of branches on the bottom, well at least i have cleaned out the peg a bit for whoever draws it on friday as there is a pole only there.
the match was won by tony witcomb on 73 lodge which is the corner peg where he fished paste down to the tree for 180lb ish,
2nd was lewis greenwood on 76 with 160lb with pellet on the lead to start snd some fish shallow on the pole later in the match.
i,m not sure about the rest as dean and me slunked off to subway for a cappuccino and a cookie (comfort eating)