Outside, the guys were working out which pegs to put in the draw today, that took all of twenty minutes 
Dave was still looking a bit hungry, a Chicken burger would have gone down nicely
though they were not quite ready...
Actually, he could have eaten a double chicken burger
There is a great view of Oak Lake from the outside benches...
At the draw i was getting egged on about drawing peg 23 again. Though today my luck was slightly better and drew 19 at the bottom right hand corner
This was one of the flyer pegs, so the pressure would be on me to produce. I unloaded the car, content with my peg and took the walk down the path. Somehow it looked different to the last time i had fished here. The little weed-bed to the right had been cut down 
Last time i fished just over it.
My mind was made up i would start, tight up against the inside reeds. My bait choice was slightly different today, i had Meat, Pellet, Hemp and red maggot.
As soon as my bait went in at the start i hooked a carp. Soon to be followed by a couple more, then the small bream came. The carp had gone
I percevered on this line for three hours, getting the odd carp...
By this time, i was falling behind quite quickly. As others around me were doing better
I decided to set up a new rig to fish the "Barbel Channel"...
First drop in gave me another Carp, then the swim just died on me
Back to the inside, this produced the occasional Crucian and small bream.I was running out of ideas and time.
All day i had watched the carp jumping out of the water. I decided to set up a bob float and fish it at 12 inches deep. Spraying maggots to liven the carp up. With an hour to go, i was getting desperate.
I needn't have worried, the carp came thick and fast. Within the last hour i reckoned i had doubled my weight to an esitmate of 25lbs.
The match ended too quickly for me. The Highfield weigh team came round and pulled my net in. "How much do you think you have" he asked, "Oh about 25lb" i said. Was i wrong, the scales pulled 44lb 2oz
I was gobsmacked. Second in the section, plus a bit of money.If only i had fished up in the water, from the start
Another great day at a great venue. Well Done to Mark Whiteside, winning with over 61lb
