Sunday 19th June was the second National Eliminator and this time was at Grafham Water. I had a practice day on the Friday before with Steve Ellerbeck and the day before with James Brittain. On the Friday Steve and I concentrated on the East end of the water and we found fish right out in the middle from the tower to G Bouy. Di5 and 2 boobies was the method but i did catch on slow glass with nymphs.
On Saturday James and I did a full lap of the lake trying all the known spots. Although i only caught 2 that day it confirmed to me the place and method I would start with on match day.
Sunday morning and yet again the wind was blowing and the water was rough but i had confidence that i knew where to go and the method i would use. I was drawn with David Moore and he was happy for me to make the decisions so 10.00am the match started and I headed for D Bouy near the Willows with a Di5, yellow blob on a dropper and a coral boobie on the point. Steve Ellerbeck also headed the same way but the vast majority headed or G Bouy. I knew there was fish a G but with so many boats heading for the same spot it would soon spoil it.
I had a fish in the boat within 15-20 mins so was confident I had made the right decision. At 12.00 I had 4 fish, almost exactly the same as at Rutland so things were looking good but more and more boats were heading my way from G. It seems they weren't catching there like they had the day before. As more boats arrived the fishing slowed up and after a few changes of point fly from booby to blob to Yellow booby at 2.00 I had 6. I moved out towards N Bouy in the bowl of the Dam and at 3.00 I had 7, a nice fish that weiged in at just over 3lb. For the next 2 hours I plugged away and eventually back at D Bouy I had my 8th fish at 4.59pm. I could see a few had bagged up around me and the earliest to finish was Brad Gifford at 12.45pm.
At the weigh in my 8 fish weighed 16lb 10oz and with 1 hour time bonus my total weight was 17lb 10oz. A nervous wait for the results followed to see if I had done enough.
Final results were announced and I had finished 6th on the day and added to my 10th place at Rutland I had 16 points and placed 6th overall. Top 10 were certain of a place in the National Final but hopefully 15 will go through and that will include both Steve and James. Harley Smith also qualified in the top 10 so we have at least 2 and hopefully 3 GWFFA Members in the National Final in September.
Full results available here http://www.fmffa.org.uk/PDF%20Files/FMFFA%20Qualifier%20Result%20-%20Round%202%20Grafham%202011.pdf
Monday 20 June 2011
Saturday 4 June 2011
Airflo International - Midlands Heat
Today was the Midland Heat of the Anglian Water/Airflo International and GWFFA had 2 teams in again this year. The weather was yet again windy and sunny, just about the worst weather possible but we had practiced well and had a plan.
I was drawn with Stewart Thomson from Pitsford Pirates who had also practiced and we agreed to head for Sanctuary Bay. I set up a Slow Glass line with a buzzer on top dropper, Hares Ear in the middle and a Cormorant on the point.
After a couple of drifts I was into a fish that had taken the cormorant. Was a bit tricky to land with nearly 20ft of leader but I did manage to get in the net eventually. By 12.00pm I had 2 in the boat and Stewart was yet to have a pull. We moved to Hedge End where I switched to a Di3 and single booby and lost a fish on the first cast. No more action here so we headed back to Sanctuary Bay. Back on the Slow Glass and I had 2 more one on the buzzer which was a good sized fish nearly 4lb and one on the Hares Ear Cruncher. Stewart now switched to a slow glass line and soon had 3 fish in the boat. A few missed pulls and he had caught me up, 4 each.
I eventually caught another and finished the day on 5.
At the weigh in my biggest fish was 3lb 15 7/8oz and was the biggest fish of the day out of 60 anglers.
Having the biggest fish has qualified me for next years Airflo International Individual Final so really pleased with that.
Overall Team results are
1st Team Frog Hair
2nd England Youth Anglia
3rd Pitsford Pirates
4th Soldier Palmers
5th Team Rio-Draycote Flyers
---------------------------------
6th Invicta FFC
7th GWFFA 2 (my team)
8th Greylags
9th GWFFA 1
10th Troutfishers.
The top 5 made the Midlands Final so unfortunatly our two club teams will have to wait till next year.
I was drawn with Stewart Thomson from Pitsford Pirates who had also practiced and we agreed to head for Sanctuary Bay. I set up a Slow Glass line with a buzzer on top dropper, Hares Ear in the middle and a Cormorant on the point.
After a couple of drifts I was into a fish that had taken the cormorant. Was a bit tricky to land with nearly 20ft of leader but I did manage to get in the net eventually. By 12.00pm I had 2 in the boat and Stewart was yet to have a pull. We moved to Hedge End where I switched to a Di3 and single booby and lost a fish on the first cast. No more action here so we headed back to Sanctuary Bay. Back on the Slow Glass and I had 2 more one on the buzzer which was a good sized fish nearly 4lb and one on the Hares Ear Cruncher. Stewart now switched to a slow glass line and soon had 3 fish in the boat. A few missed pulls and he had caught me up, 4 each.
I eventually caught another and finished the day on 5.
At the weigh in my biggest fish was 3lb 15 7/8oz and was the biggest fish of the day out of 60 anglers.
Having the biggest fish has qualified me for next years Airflo International Individual Final so really pleased with that.
Overall Team results are
1st Team Frog Hair
2nd England Youth Anglia
3rd Pitsford Pirates
4th Soldier Palmers
5th Team Rio-Draycote Flyers
---------------------------------
6th Invicta FFC
7th GWFFA 2 (my team)
8th Greylags
9th GWFFA 1
10th Troutfishers.
The top 5 made the Midlands Final so unfortunatly our two club teams will have to wait till next year.
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