This was pitched as a practice match before round 3 and 4 of the SW Super League on the River Huntspill which to be honest is not really match fished these days. Its a real shame as access is good.
The draw was at Laburnham House where a really good breakfast is always served and is only a short drive to the different Sections. Lance Tucker was in charge today and it was well organised.
We had seven of the 8 man Team fishing today so lots of opportunity to learn and pick up a few tips.
Sections used were Woolavington Bridge up and down, Withy Grove and Puriton Bridge.
I was fairly near the front of the que and drew 138 which was Withy Grove South Bank upstream. I fished this area a couple of years ago and thought it would be a small fish match.
Peg 138
Some excellent anglers were in my Section. DGL's Alan Jones was on the end peg upstream and said he was just going to go for bream. End peg downstream was Thatchers Gary Webber so up against it!
The first 20 minutes were spent clearing weed with a weed cutter on the landing net handle telescoped up through my No. 5 section to get the required distance.
At the end of the match there were reports of a few anglers actually getting in with just their underpants on to clear the weed in some Sections!
I just set up the one Feeder Rod for fishing right across and two pole rigs for 11 and 13 metres. Depth was more or less the same but had a 4 elastic for 13 metres and a 5 for the 11 metre line due to the weed.
Last year we had some coaching from Callum Dicks concerning a ground bait approach for fishing the pole on this water so that plan was used again today and once it was put in I started off on the Feeder right across like most of the others.
I was not confident on catching on the tip and after about 15 minutes saw a lot of fish toping over the pole line and so bubbles.
The Feeder was soon up the bank and I was on the 13 metre line. First put in and a nice rudd about 4 ozs. A few more followed and then it was a problem getting the float to settle due to small fish taking the bait on the drop resulting in stretched maggots.
The depth was around 4 feet so I moved the olivetti right down on top of the hook length which seemed to improve things.
I stayed on the pole for the majority of the match and did not have a bite on the tip, but I did not really give it a fair crack.
About halfway through I heard Alan Jones had 5 bream so Section was won.
Alan must had a few more as he ended up with 36lb 13oz of them, he told me he should have had about 50lb! First I have heard of bream down this end in a match. The other end peg had 12lb odd for 2nd in the Section. I was happy with my 7lb 2oz, all small fish, just needed a couple of bonus fish and had I gave the Feeder a proper go who knows.
My Section
Back at the results it was clear the river fished well and better than previous years with double figures needed to do any good in the Sections.
Top 4 as follows:
1st Steve ''Stretch'' Saunders 36lb 14oz peg 187
2nd Alan Jones 36lb 13oz peg 133
3rd Andy Ottaway 23lb
4th Gary Townsend 21lb 9oz
''Stretch'' with his winning bag.
Must try and get out this week to practice the tip (I need it).
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