HAMPTON - ROCK, 2/9/12 ~ Yozz gets lucky at unfamiliar venue.

Flat calm conditions and cruising carp pointed to a bit of a struggle for this one. Previous form suggested that the method would do the damage, but surprisingly it didn't dominate.
Sumo started off with a few early fish on the pole, followed by some unfortunate losses on the feeder. He couldn't sustain the effort, and with no last hour margin fish, he finished with 36lb, but no cash. Unlucky that.
Despite missing the last club visit to Hampton, which denied him some much needed practice, The Gnome caught steadily for most of the match. Bucking the method trend, he had an assortment of small skimmers, crucians and a couple of carp on meat fished at 7metres. Adding some margin carp in the last half hour, he brought 57lb 01oz to the scales and recorded the win.
Following the advice, and starting on the method, Steve Coleman struggled for an hour before coming onto the pole line where he caught steadily and amassed an estimated 30lb of pellet fish. The scales lied and said he had 45lb 12oz, which was good enough for a well deserved second place.
Third place was a close contest, with Paul Cargill making good use of his 'tip' peg by netting 42lb 10oz of corn loving carp. Well done Junior.
Settling for a section prize, with 42lb 06oz, was Lee Pickup. He had some big big fish, again caught mainly in the margins on corn. One particular carp bottomed out his red hydro six times! Probably time to renew if it's stretching that much.
The other section went to The maestro, Pete Lucas, who weighed 28lb 08oz. Pete even caught the majority on the pole too. Mind you, he was up to his old tricks, even going into the lake up to his waist in order to sneak some groundbait in via a hole in his pocket.
For the purists it was poetry to see him fall in. On numerous occasions he leaves his method rod unattended whilst 'titting about' and then wonders why it gets pulled off the rest! Normally he gets rewarded with a decent fish (sooo annoying), but this time no cigar, only a soaking.

Please note: Dave has booked several more matches for later this year. The match diary has been updated, including two Lingmere dates in October, which I am unsure about.