Matches Saturday, Sunday, Monday 14 – 16 July
Phew, it’s been a hectic weekend. The Saturday open was held on Top Lake. A good turnout meant that most of the pegs were in use and that seemed to frighten away all the fish from the main part of the lake. All of the top 5 weights came from the back spit or the back hole. I drew peg 13 and when we got there all of that part of the lake had ‘blows’ from feeding carp. As the whistle went and the first feeder hit the water those fish just stopped blowing. It was like somebody had flicked a switch, truly amazing.
Sunday saw us on Top and Horseshoe lakes. I drew peg 15 on Horseshoe and had a reasonable day’s fishing, finishing with 89 lbs 8oz for 4th place. There are some huge carp in that lake and the biggest ones are normally caught in close. I’d caught most of my fish by early afternoon, including one or two during a tremendous thunder storm. Once the storm cleared, the sun came out and the fish disappeared. I guess that it just got too bright for them to venture into 18 inches of water right next to the bank. The main top lake fished much better this time with Mark Harrington winning the match with 119 lbs from peg 6.
Monday saw the fishery hosting a Shakespeare “Old Codgers” heat. Limited to the over 50’s, the people fishing seemed to be the same faces that are seen on every match at Willinghurst. With only 26 people turning up and the match spread over 3 lakes, it was always likely that some good weights would be caught. It was good to see two of the regulars (Reg “The Edge” and Harry The Hat take the two qualifying places, local knowledge is always a big advantage in this type of competition. Good luck to them in the final at Heronbrook Fishery (don’t ask me, I know that it’s somewhere north of Watford). My own match was a very strange affair. I drew peg 6 on New Lake and although peg 8 seemed to be “solid” but unpegged I fancied my chances of a few fish. After a slow start I had a decent run of 7 or 8 carp around half way through the match and by that time I’d probably got about 60 lbs in the nets. Then I hooked a monster in the tail and after playing (and losing) that fish and re-tying my trashed rig, the fish had gone, my peg seemed empty. At the end of the match I had 67 lbs, the fish had simply disappeared and had been replaced by 2 ounce roach….very frustrating !!.