Out of the ten (10) places available on this first of its kind at the venue mini Summer festival, seven (7) anglers were in attendance. Conditions over both days were pleasant, but the warm weather had an effect on the resident carp stocks with the fish pairing up and swimming together in readiness to spawn.
Despite the less than ideal conditions, fishing over the two days was reasonable with both carp and quality silvers feeding in numbers for the majority of the field.
Anglers would be placed based on cumulative weight over the two days with additional prizes being awarded for lake wins as well as biggest silverfish catches each day.
DAY 1 - WOODSIDE POOL
The opening day of the festival saw competing anglers pegged across Woodside pool.
Winner on the day was Dan Hart, who drew peg 13 on the dam wall - an area normally just off the fish that congregate around the island. However, Dan fished an outstanding match bucking the trend of what is normally considered to be a mediocre peg recording a ton plus weight. Starting his match mugging cruising fish on dead read maggot, Dan took around 30lb of carp after the first two hours or so of the match before looking down his edge late on with paste. Dan enjoyed a strong second half to his match clicking 80lb of quality carp to record a final 110-07-00.
Second place went to Zac Loffman, who drew peg 9 close to the island. Zac started his match fishing a pellet waggler over to the far margin but endured a surprisingly slow start managing just a couple of carp. However, like Dan, Zac's peg came alive during the second half of the match! Fishing paste down his edge, Zac found some real lumps to end the day with 70-13-00 to remain just within reach of Dan going into day two.
Third place was awarded to Nigel Hart, who drew peg 3 on the opposite point of the island. Again, things started slow for Nigel with just one fish on the pellet waggler before a look down his edge late on with paste produced the majority of his fish but it was a case of too little too late unfortunately for Nigel. Just another hour! Nigel ended the day with 42-02-00.
1st D. Hart, Peg 13, 110-07-00, Pellet waggler & paste in the margins
2nd Z. Loffman, Peg 9, 70-13-00, Pellet waggler & paste in the margins
3rd N. Hart, Peg 3, 42-02-00, Pellet waggler & paste in the margins
DAY 2 - ISLAND POOL
Day two had all the makings of producing an interesting finish with conditions potentially looking to turn things upside down. Rain had fell overnight resulting in a very cool and cloudy start to the day. However, as the match progressed, the uncertain weather made way for bright sun and temperatures approaching twenty degrees.
After a great start, the only man likely of catching Dan was Zac. Both anglers had drawn good areas for the final day with Zac being in with a real chance from peg 2. Besides the top two places, an interesting battle for third place had also materialised with three anglers in the running. Nigel Hart and Stan Taylor were within ounces of each other after the opening day of competition and had both drawn difficult pegs on the dam wall. Josh Sutterby had a real opportunity to add to his opening days weight and push for a main frame finish after the draw saw him on a favoured peg.
Winner on the Island pool was Dan Hart from peg 11. Dan needed to produce a similar performance to that of the opening day with Zac having drawn peg 2 directly opposite him and, arguably, the better of the two pegs. Rather than let the pressure get to him, Dan fished an absolute blinder of a final day to see off any possibility of having his opening days efforts bettered. Dan was able to find fish down his edge relatively early on in the match and caught steadily on paste for the duration, including some very big fish, to weigh in 128-10-00.
Second place again was Zac Loffman from peg 2. Zac had a great start to the match and looked likely of pushing Dan all the way. However, a series of lost fish midway through the match ultimately put to rest any chances he had of catching Dan. With Dan being pegged directly opposite him, and lost fish, Zac struggled to keep a cool head but, that said, was still able to offer 50-12-00 to the scales at the end of the day.
Third place went to Josh Sutterby, who drew peg 13. Fishing a small method feeder over to the point of the island, Josh was able to find small carp in numbers to weigh in 37-09-00.
1st D. Hart, Peg 11, 128-10-00, Paste in the margins
2nd Z. Loffman, Peg 2, 50-12-00, Paste in the margins
3rd J. Sutterby, Peg 13, 37-09-00, Method feeder
OVERALL RESULT
After two days, the clear and well deserved winner was Dan Hart. Dan fished two exceptional matches to finish the festival with a superb cumulative weight of 239-01-00 and clear up the winnings picking up a total of £186 (comprised of overall top prize, plus lake winnings and silverfish prizes both days).
In second place was Zac Loffman. Zac managed a total of 121-09-00 over the two days picking up £115 for his efforts (comprised of overall second place and lake runner-up prizes). Zac fished an equally impressive match both days and stood to record a much larger weight on the final day, but lost too many fish and went over in one of his nets also. Still, it wouldn't have been enough to catch Dan, but still a great effort.
Picking up third place overall was Stan Taylor. Stan had a fairly average first day and finished
in fourth place just ounces behind third placed Nigel Hart. However, the draw was not kind to Nigel on day two, seeing him on peg 8 on the dam wall and, short of a miracle, had drawn out of it. Stan still had it all to mind with fifth placed Josh Sutterby on a good peg for the final day. However, Stan's 23-03-00 final day effort was enough to secure a third place finish overall despite Josh's 37-09-00, which saw him frame on the day.
FINAL STANDINGS
1st D. Hart, 239-01-00 (£100 + lake wins + silverfish)
2nd Z. Loffman, 121-09-00 (£75 + lake runner-up prizes)
3rd S. Taylor, 64-08-00 (£50)
4th J. Sutterby, 61-09-00
5th N. Hart, 56-00-00