Today saw the welcome return of Robin Flowers to Rolfslake and he was greeted warmly by the anglers before the draw.
After the failure of the anglers to raise enough money in the whip round to send in form angler John Walker back to China, they were hoping that he did not draw flier pegs 15,32 or 8 today.
With the numbers of anglers increasing down the lake, in the popular Wednesday matches all hoping to catch a monster weight or even a personal best, the anglers were all very eager at draw time.
The peg most wanted today was record peg 8, and one by one the anglers drew but no peg 8 came out, until it was left for me to draw and there it was a pressure 5 hours awaited me.
John Bennet ,Rolf ,Karl-Hienz and Rolf's nephew Andre
In first place today was the most inform angler at the lake at the moment John Walker ,who after his incredible weight last week was not to pleased to draw moody peg 4.
His plan of attack today revolved around fishing the margins to his right at 4 mtrs, 8mtrs on the bar and long fishing shallow between 1-3 feet. After his success using the Yorkshire Bait Company Kopy Kat chunks ,his bait for today was this and their new Prawn Delight pellets in the 9-11mm size.
Rotating between the margin and 8 mtr line brought fish ,but a change to the shallow rig late in the match spraying heavy , and using the prawn delight pellet boosted his weight to 174-12 and a deserved win.
In second place was Drennan Oxford sponsored angler Chris Telling who fished peg 18 at a range of 13mtrs shallow to catch a few fish ,but a change to a bottom rig fished at the same distance using paste increased his catch rate for a weight of 166-12.
In third place was Mick Lane who fished peg 28 using a combination of feeder and fishing shallow at a range of 16 mtrs using 6-8mm pellet hook baits, feeding very heavy for his weight of 146-08.
The lake is fishing indifferent at the moment with changing tactics required to find out what the fish want as a variety of methods and baits are catching in both the big and small lakes.
I spoke to Rob Hitchins the other day to find out more about the Yorkshire Baits Company products that the anglers are raving about down on the lake, and he told me the they use top grade ingredients in both the hooker pellets and the paste mixes which make them very versatile on different fisheries around the country.
In the north the Kopy Kat pellets are having great success in catching bream and F1's, and down south they are taking venues apart with big carp as John Walker demonstrated in catching one of the biggest match catches in this country in five hours. The new Prawn Delight pellets were an immediate success with a win at the first attempt at the lake due to their texture , smell and durability on the hook. These pellets are also long lasting and do not lose their flavour or go mouldy over a period of time which make them a very good buy.
The paste mixes have been having great success as they are very fine in texture, very easy to mix, and the fish love them. The paste mixes are also available ready to use in tubs if you want an instant product.
Continue to read the website to see how these products develop down on the lake as it becomes more available to the anglers.
What happened to me on peg 8 I hear you ask , well with the pressure of all the anglers telling me a win was on, i messed it up chasing fish all over the swim and only in the last hour settled on fishing the bush to the left, and had an average 74-00 for 7th place.
Book Early for Wednesday Opens to avoid disappointment.
