Round two of Ruthie’s Cup and we were at Hebditch’s Pond, we all met at The Ranch for breakfast and were well looked after by Kirsty before it was time for the draw. It was pegs 12, 1, 2 and 3 for us this week with everyone hoping to draw 3 which along with 4 in the next section have been the boss pegs for as long as we’ve fished the pond. Burnsey went into our pot of pegs first and pulled out 12, I drew 2, the Grand Wiz got 1 and Norts was on the hot peg which meant the rest of us were fishing for second in the section.
The pond looked nice and there were a few fish moving about, I was keeping things really simple today with a little dibber to fish shallow and a 0.5 gram rig for on the deck, both had hooks with a hair rigged band. I did also get a Drennan Crystal Margin out for the inside line. On the side tray I had lots of 6mm Bait-Tech Carp & Coarse Pellets along with some maggots and groundbait left over from yesterday.
We got underway and I shipped out with the deep rig and began pinging a few pellets over the top. I was expecting to catch quite quickly as it’s another of those venues where you seem to get a few fish for the first couple of hours before it switches off (apart from 3 and 4!). After ten minutes I did hook what felt like a little pasty but it came off and then a few minutes later, the float buried and I was into my first carp which was around 3lb.
The rest of the first hour was really nice fishing and I added another four carp and two little Ginsters and from what I could see and hear, everyone was getting a few bites. At the start of the second hour I had my sixth carp and thought a decent weight was on the cards although I still didn’t expect to keep up with Norts who was already flying next door. But then from getting regular indications, my bites just stopped!
I tried the shallow rig but never had a bite and all around the pond, it seemed to be the same with the exception of our ex Club Angler of the Year, Norts, who was bagging although at one stage there was that horrible sound of splintering carbon as a carp found the sanctuary of the reeds despite his best efforts to stop it.
Now I could wax lyrical about the rest of my match although it would basically be padding (what’s new about that I hear you cry!) but it was rock hard. Trying shallow at 16 metres resulted in a 2oz carp, I never had a bite in the margins and I even set up a silvers rig and although I could get bites from tiny roach and rudd, it was a waste of time as I was never going to do any good with them. The Grand Wiz was on my left but I couldn’t see him so had no clue how he was doing and Burnsey’s jungle OP over in 12 was well camouflaged but I did see him net a couple of carp.
As for the rest of the pond it was just very occasional fish apart from Norts who was on for a decent weight. When the Wiz blew for the all out, there was much cheering around the pond as it had been a tough one for most. There were two sets of scales with ours starting at Norts and after his three nets of carp were totted up, his total was a brilliant 71lb 12oz which would easily win the section, lake and probably the match.
Norts made no mistakes on peg 3 to win with a brilliant 71lb 12oz of carp
Then it was me and my six carp, three pasties and a few bits went 19lb 6oz, the Grand Wiz had 11lb 5oz and then Burnsey just pipped him with 11lb 11oz. Andy S on peg 11 weighed 18lb 15oz and then Priv had done well in the new peg 10 (which looks really nice) to win his section with 31lb 14oz ahead of Roy W with 24lb 13oz and Terry ‘The Toast’ who had 10lb 3oz on peg 8.
I weighed 19lb 6oz with most of my fish coming in the first hour
The Grand Wiz had three carp and some bits and bobs for 11lb 5oz
Burnsey emerged from his tactical OP to weigh 11lb 11oz
Andy S (with help from his carer Anna) weighed 18lb 15oz
Priv on peg 10 did well and won his section with 31lb 14oz
Nick P won the other section from peg 4 with 17lb 11oz, Chedz weighed 15lb 13oz for second, Chanter had 14lb 11oz on peg 5 and Jake chucked back on 6. Over at Thorney, Craig Lyttle won the section with an impressive 54lb 2oz followed by Les who weighed 46lb 12oz, Dave P with 20lb 3oz and Parker ‘The Pole’ who had 2lb 11oz.
Section D (Thorney)
1 – Craig Lyttle (Stoke) – 54lb 2oz
2 – Les Braunton (Sharp MG) – 46lb 12oz
Section A (Hebditch’s)
1 – Chris Norton (Stoke) – 71lb 12oz
2 – Jamie Rich (Against Men and Fish) – 19lb 6oz
Section B (Hebditch’s)
1 – Nick Payne (Ilminster) – 31lb 5oz
2 – Nick Chedzoy (Stoke) – 15lb 13oz
Section C (Hebditch’s)
1 – Andrew Chandler-Privett (Stoke) – 31lb 14oz
2 – Roy Worth (Yeovil) – 24lb 13oz
I picked up £20 and second in my section wasn’t a disaster but to win the trophy, two section wins would probably be needed in the remaining matches and looking at the results so far, to stand any chance I’d need to be on pegs 4 and 10 (and my drawing arm isn’t that good!).
At the halfway point, there are four anglers on 7 points with Craig Lyttle leading the way on weight.
Nick P and Norts both added £2 to the Nugget-O-Meter which now stands at £257.
Several people very kindly donated their winnings to the Ruthie’s Cup charity pot, Craig Lyttle (£30), Norts (£30) and Chedz (£20) plus Andy Saunders bunged a fiver in, amazing generosity guys.
There’s still a great offer running if you fancy treating yourself to some new fishing gear, use the exclusive discount code AgainstMenandFish10 to get 10% off when you shop online at Somerset Angling
Also I still have copies of my book available from eBay here or Amazon here
And if you could spare five minutes to leave a nice review on Amazon, it would be very much appreciated.
Next up – Revels
Coming soon – Lots more match reports
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