Army 8 Groundhog day at Witherington Farm

Army match 8.  Witherington Farm.  This match and this venue is where I have cocked up the last couple of seasons, needing minimum 5 points or lower, but getting 9 and 10 respectively.

The day started cloudy and wet, and when I got to Withy I was greeted by a long queue for breaky and Tony Beeney struggling on his own with trying to sell and cook breakfasts.  Rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in, taking money, making brews and buttering bread rolls.  The lads remained patient and we got through the 30+ breakies.  Barely had time to wolf my own breaky down before the match brief and draw.

If I had a choice I wanted peg 44, consistently a good peg.  Peg 24 was drawn for me, a reasonable peg, of out of the wind nice little bay at 14.5 meters, I was chuffed.  That is of course till I walked to my peg.  Talk about section of death.  Mayo, Chris Perry, Mike Poolman, John Dewberry, Keith Armstrong and the in form Mick Craddock.  Still I am coming in off the back of a win, confident and with some local knowledge from the ever helpful Reid's tackle, I set about my task.

The match starts and I go across to try and mug a carp.  Micro pellet choppy worm and a little corn.  Four quickfire 10 oz Crucians and then nothing for 25 minutes.  My mate John is already bagging with some early skimmers.  I come back down the track and settle over a meat line I have been feeding.  Nothing.  Flip right and go over a maggot line.  Maggot down the middle has been doing well and I have 3 very quick roach.  Then nothing.  The advice is to keep feeding maggot use a light skimmer rig with a heavy duty on hand for when the Carp arrive.  John is into his first big carp, he thinks its foul hooked.

As I click the shutter John bumps the fish

Back across and 7 Rudd around 5 oz one after another then nothing.  That's how it went for the next hour rotating around the swims trying different baits.  No movement on pellet, corn taking a couple but worm and maggot being the most successful.  Mike Poolman walks along to John, to see how hes doing, as Mike only has a few silvers.  Keith next to me is getting tiddlers like me and Mick Craddock to the left of him has just had a couple of Carp.  But from Peg 18 round to 26 we are in a Carp desert.

The rain turns the day into a miserable drag as I try up in the water, laying on.  Lighter lines, smaller hooks but no Carp. Just the irritating rudd and roach.  Not even a goldfish.  The last time I fished this peg I had over a hundred pound, I just don't understand it.  I keep the maggot going in as advised surely the Carp will feed soon, but just more roach come to the net.  Before I know it, there is only an hour left, so I come into my edge swim which I have been drip feeding all day.  With half an hour to go no further bites.  So time to pull out the tiger nut paste, always a sure fire winner.  Not this time. Worm down the edge to finish but still no movement on the float.  All out is shouted and we have all struggled round the bend pegs Mick C has done well and John says Mike Poolman had, had a good second half to the match.

The weigh in.........

Mike Poolman has taken the section. Mick Craddock and Mayo third and Chris Perry not far behind

A Section inner snake, has fished patchy, oddly the same corner us on the outer snake produced very few Carp either; Peg 86 Dave Farragher taking it.

 Mark Higgins  to the left of Mick Craddock but in the next section wins B section , clearly the carp were in the middle of the leg not at the corners.

I manage to pip Keith and Gary Black either side of me, and I equal my Jedi masters (John Yoda) silvers weight; but his one carp keeps him ahead of me.  

Mike wins the match of Peg 16, with 24 kilo 150 gramms.

For me it really is Ground hog day again.  Army match, its raining, no Carp and Midsectionblues again. One ray of light 5 points for the team