Gary's day

It was Malcolm Barker Lake today for the second leg of the MBL Rose Bowl. A win in the first round meant I had everything to lose. With weights expected to be low it would be tight and easy to drop points quickly.

Peg 3 was my home for the day; the same peg I had on the first match so set up would be quicker. After having a careful look at the swim I decided not to weed rake. The lilies looked reasonably clear and the left was so weedy I would be there still clearing it.

Well it was a very slow start for all. Finally I had a couple of small fish on the waggler and maggot but it was hard work. When the wind got up I swapped to the pole. When a 2oz roach decided to go on a run to the middle of the lake the slow start was clearer - I had some pike in the peg. 2 more roach went the same way to pike and one even had a go at my pole tip when it splashed in the water when shipping back.

Around noon it was looking like a very low weight affair with only a few small fish being caught. Then slowly the lake revved up. About this time I hooked a tench on my roach gear. I had hopes of landing it after getting it to the top but it soon dived back in the weed and we parted company. Out came the heavier pole rig from the box. A few small skimmers then started showing but never more than 2 at a time. A couple of the quiet spells were down to tench and 3 went into the net after a lot of playing through the weed.

I had seen Mark and John netting a few fish including at least 1 tench for Mark. On the far side Tony and Phil had some run ins with bigger fish but none landed so far. And Fred was struggling with small roach in peg 2. At the weigh in I was surprised to have over 13lbs, I am useless at guessing tench weights.

1st Gary Pickard 13lbs 11oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 8lbs 5oz and 3rd John Todd 3lbs. Photo today is me for a change.