Carp finally start to bite as the water warms up after a long-hard winter

HIGHAM Lane Fishery produced some decent catches in Saturday’s open match as the carp finally started to show after a long hard winter. Leading the way was Dean Hughes. Drawn on peg 5, Dean caught most of his fish from the margins to finish with a 52lb 11oz winning catch. Jim Spradbury and Chris Waite tied for second place, both weighing 48lb 10ozs.

Lee Hanson finished fourth with a 45lb 11oz catch, but anyone of the five big fish he lost could have won the match for him.

Saturday’s Lychgate Fisheries Open was won by Mick Wilson. Drawn on peg 63, Mick caught two nice carp and a nice net of small fish to finish with 34lb 4ozs. Paul Bates came second, again, with a 29lb 2oz catch from peg 68. Jon Courtney finished third with a 25lb 12oz catch.

After a run of near misses Paul Cayless finally took the honours in Tuesday’s Mill on the Soar Open. Fishing pellet on the pole Paul landed 34lb 1ozs from peg 2 to win.

Pete White also used pole tactics to take second place from peg 10 with a 21lb 9oz catch. Hans Baur came third with 19lb 11ozs fishing legered sweet corn on peg 28.

Karl Downing caught small carp from the start to finish with the days best weight in Wednesday’s Maynes Lakes Open match.

He pole fished pellet to the island to finish with 27lb 2ozs.

Results: Pool One. Section One; Alby Beehl, 19lb 15ozs from peg 26. Section Two; Karl Downing from peg 37. Pool Three, Section Three; Colin Bent 14lb 5ozs from peg 50. Section Four; Neil Vickers 16lb 12ozs from peg 45.

Lychgate Fisheries Wednesday Open found the fish difficult to tempt as the sun finally broke through.

Venue expert Steve Brindley took the honours yet again, landing two early carp and then catching small fish to finish with a winning 13lb 4oz catch.

Paul bates caught one decent carp and some small fish to finish with 10lb 14ozs for second place. Richard Wells came third with 8lb 12ozs.

By contrast sunday’s open match was ruined by strong winds. Fishing the sheltered peg 77, Paul T Twigger had to wait 90 minutes for his first bite, but he finished with six carp and some small fish that weighed 28lb 2ozs for top catch of the day.

Thursday’s Higham Lane Fishery Open was won by Zac Smith with a 40lb 3oz catch of carp taken on pole fished pellet. Dave Causen and Andy Stewart tied for second place, both weighing 36lb 7ozs.

Brookfield’s open match on their Stoke Golding water was won by Ray Lewis with a 22lb 12oz catch. Dave Sutton came second with 20lb 6ozs. Paul Morris finished third with 13lb 12ozs with Danny Ross finishing fourth with 13lb 2ozs.

An estimated 400lb of carp was landed by anglers fishing Sunday’s Silver Fish Open at Higham Lane. But they didn’t count! King of the silvers on the day was Kev Milne with a 9lb 11oz catch of roach and perch. Mick Smith came second with a similar catch weighing 7lb 6ozs.

Higham Lane Fishery have Open matches every Thursday and Saturday, draw 9am.

Mill on the Soar have an Open match this Saturday, draw 9am. Contact Julie on 07775 647088 for further details.

Lychgate Fisheries have Open matches planned for Saturday and Sunday, contact Paul for further details.

Kev Milnes running an Silver Fish Open match at Higham Lane this sunday, draw 9am.

Brookfield have an Open match this sunday, draw 9am.

Mill on the Soar have an Open match every Tuesday, draw 8.30am.

Maynes Lakes have an Open match every Wednesday, draw 10am.

Lychgate Fisheries have an Open match every Wednesday, draw 9am.