AAF Group 2 Viaduct Fishery 24 July

Having been busy at work unfortunately I’ve not been able to attend many matches in the Army

Angling Federation this year so when the opportunity arose with a free Wednesday on the cards I wanted in on this match. Firstly because I had been away from the group for so long and secondly it was Viaduct which is nationally seen as one of the best fisheries going with some quality fishing to be had.

With an RHA team booked in consisting on me, Si Irwin and H Harris we met at the local pub for a free breakfast before having our annual AGM. With plenty of sausage and bacon on offer I had a good breakfast before the match, it was also good to see some familiar faces which I hadn’t seen in a while so was good to have a chin wag and a catch up.

With the AGM completed it was a 5 minute drive to the fishery for the draw. Having waited around for a few minutes it wasn’t long before we were called in for the draw, I was leaning more towards Campbell lake as I fancied my chances on there as long as the draw was kind. I got one of my wishes and drew Campbell lake but drew 127 (with 128 in I was always going to play second fiddle due to it being a flier with more options open on that peg.

With H and Si both on Carey I got my kit and went off in search of 127. Having arrived you could clearly see where the fish were feeding as all round the lake there were dark patches where the fish had disturbed the bottom. With this in mind I opted for fishing on the bottom before working up in the water and catching from there. 2 methods to be deployed would be the bomb with the pellet wag over the top once there were signs that the fish had moved up in the water.

Weapons of choice would be a Browning Black Viper MK11 matched to a Xitan MF 390 reel with 8lb line finished off with a free running bomb to a 1ft 0.18mm hooklength to a PR38 size 14 hook. Nice and simple setup that would hopefully catch me a few fish to start off with.

My pellet wag rods consisted of 2 Browning Commercial King rods 1 medium and 1 power depending on the stamp of fish I could then swap and change at will. With 6lb mainline this should be ample enough to get some of the lumps out that reside in Campbell with Carey holding a larger stamp and more off the bigger fish.

I did set my pole up as a back up to fish 13m out both on the deck and up in the water but this would be used as a last resort and wasn’t keen on using it due to being dragged around the lake in the past. Only 2 baits were on my side tray today and that was 8mm/10mm pellets brought from the shop.

With the all in called it was straight out on the bomb towards the centre of the lake with a few 8mm

pellets pinged over the top. Within 5 minutes the rod hammered round and fish number 1 was on, looking around the lake I was first into a fish. After a hard fought battle the fish was about to be netted before it looked at me and spat the hook, great I thought nice way to start!.

Back out and same again the rod went round and fish number 2 gave me the slip, this continued losing 5 fish in a row, some at the net or some of the just tearing off. Looking around the lake no one was catching as most had gone straight for the pole lines or started on the wag. 5 fish gone in 30 minutes and things weren’t looking good. Forgot how hard the fish fight down here and like to hold the bottom when trying to net them. With another 30 minutes fast passing by the line seemed to have slowed down and there were signs they had started to come up in the water. I was still sticking to my guns and wanted at least 1 fish off the bottom on the bomb and before the first hour mark I finally had one in the net.

With the first hour gone and 5 lost fish I had a feeling it might cost me later on as the fish were there but seemed back off ish with regards to feeding. Now on the pellet wag with the fishing clearly swirling around fishing a foot deep it wasn’t long before I had a steady run of fish, I noticed that I constantly had to change the depth to keep in tune with the fish. Also was finding that I was having to strike more to connect with a fish than just the rod bending round. With 128 now having a decent run of fish on the pole I had a look over the pole line but with no signs of the fish being there it was back onto the pellet wag with the aim of making it become more productive. The rest of the match saw me

land a few fish but also lose so many either foul hooking or being schooled by them tearing off. To cut a long story short I ended up with 53lb for my efforts which was disappointing considering the amount of fish I had lost from the off. It proved vital with a fair few 50lb weights going onto the scales with one ton plus coming from my section, a weight I would have easily of had if I hadn’t lost so many fish.

Still a day out fishing is a day out of work. The good news of the day that H Harris had finished 2^nd overall within the match and back up position from me and Si left us as a team 3^rd on the day so not all was lost.