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I have had a couple of big matches over the last two weeks at a very local venue, Lakeview Fisheries. Being only five miles from my house I decided it had to be one of the Fish ‘O’ Mania tickets I would apply for. I had already been fishing the complex quite a lot during winter for Lakeview’s Middy Extreme winter series. These are matches fished every Wednesday and Saturday and the winner from each goes through to a final where £1,000 is up for grabs, plus plenty of section prizes to be won. I managed to qualify back in January for the £1,000 match. This final was to be fished on the Saturday, March 19th, only one week before the Fish ‘O’ Mania qualifier, so it would make good practice if nothing else.

On the day of the final around 50 anglers made the draw. With cold weather and the fish shoaling together, a good draw would be essential to win. I drew Peg 9 on Canal Pool, a peg that had held a few fish on previous weeks, so I was quite happy.

Once I had finished setting up I had a rig plumbed for every possible eventuality, from dobbing bread a foot deep to pellet and maggot rigs for fishing full depth down the track, hoping to maximise my chances of getting it right on the day and to learn what was and wasn’t working. I learnt very quickly that the fish that had been sitting in this area had moved further down the lake to Pegs 4 to 6. I really struggled to catch anything early in the match, only putting four F1s and one carp in my net in the first three and a half hours! With an hour and a half left I decided to feed more positively in an attempt to stop any passing fish. I fed groundbait and maggots tight against the next platform and fed all my other lines more regularly.

This had an immediate effect and although I didn’t spend the last hour hauling, I did catch another five F1s and two small carp, weighing in 25lb.

Steve Haywood won the lake with 45lb and the match was won from a different lake altogether. On the plus side, I had learnt a lot and felt much better about the following week. Although I had caught fish late by feeding regularly, the guys who had drawn on a lot of fish had done the damage dobbing bread and/or maggots.

With all this in mind, I spent a long time preparing hooklengths and rigs suited to what I would need for the following week. I made all my rigs up on 0.13mm Preston Reflo Power, giving me the option to fish 0.11mm hooklengths for F1s or 0.13mm hooklengths if I had more large carp in my peg. For fishing Lakeview I like to use Preston PB Inter 1 and PB Inter 8 floats. The Inter 1s are great for all the pellet fishing down the middle of the lake in the deeper water, usually in a 0.3 or 0.4g, and all the shot bulked above a 4in hooklength. The Inter 8s are great for shallow water, so I use these in 4x10 and 4x12 for fishing tight to islands or dobbing shallow. When I am dobbing I try to use small No11 shot and spread them the full length of the rig. This allows the bait to sink very slow, looking more natural.

It was soon the day of the Fish ‘O' Mania and all the talk on the morning revolved around people wanting to draw pegs on Reef or Oasis pools. These haven't been fished a lot recently but due to them holding 10lb-plus fish it could always throw up good weights on such a busy match! At the draw the nerves kicked in, as they always do for me on big matches. I managed to draw Peg 19 on Reef but, to be honest, this really didn't mean a lot. Being the only lake on the complex that I have never fished, I really didn't know what to expect!

I plumbed about mapping my peg and found it was fairly deep, averaging five and a half to six feet. After spotting one or two fish swim past only a foot or so below the surface I knew it was worth starting off shallow with maggot and dobbing bread. 
I spent the first two hours dobbing bread two feet deep tight across to the island in three feet of water using my 4x10 rig. This went well, putting 14 carp in my net for roughly 45lb. Unfortunately, due to the horrific wind and rain, a few anglers began to pack away in the third hour, leaving four empty pegs on the end of the lake. It seemed clear that I was losing my fish as soon as these anglers left the lake. The fish swam past me and the next guy into the undisturbed water and could be seen topping in these empty pegs. I only caught two fish in the 4th hour but both being 9lb carp I couldn't complain, boosting my weight nicely when I caught least.

The last hour was also difficult but changing to fishing pellets at full depth to my right at the very limit of my peg and catching four smaller carp and losing four due to foul hooking, I had done all that I could.

The word spread that two anglers on Oasis had caught in excess of 100lb. I was sure I had secured a section win and possibly frame over all. With 130 anglers on eight lakes you can never tell who has caught from where until the final weigh.

I weighed 76lb and had clearly won my lake and I’d had a lovely day.

At the presentation I found out that I had managed third overall. It’s always nice to frame in such a big match!

I am absolutely over the moon to congratulate my good friend Sam Brown on the match win and qualifying spot for the Fish ‘O’ Mania semi-final, weighing 149lb! He absolutely deserves it and I am so happy for him.

Top Five Overall

1st Sam Brown 149lb 14oz – Peg 17 Oasis

2nd Wayne Heywood 124lb 5oz – Peg 14 Oasis

3rd Ben Sharp 76lb – Peg 19 Reef

4th Barry Bush – Peg 16 Oasis

5th Luke Dobson – Peg 18 Reef

Thanks for reading my blog and you will hear more from me very soon. 

Ben Sharp