John Hague
(Rolfslake)
Peg 7 285lb 8oz

  "Changing air pressure and bright sunshine halts sport"

The first of the specials went with no fewer than 16 Ton plus weights. Sadly no one broke the British Record this time but there are a few more attempts as the summer progresses. John Hague took advantage of drawing Gary's Peg - Peg 7 with a match winning 285lb 8oz. John fished short with hard pellet and paste combinations and took fish from the margins in the last 3 hours of the match. Like most on the lake John struggled to catch in the first 2 hours as the fish refused to feed.

Gary Thorpe found himself walking the bank after 2 hours but returned to his peg to catch a few fish later in the match for 268lb 8oz and second place from Peg 4. Dan Jones sat at peg 2 and was astonished to be beaten by Gary at the weigh-in, but his 230lb was only good enough for 3rd place. Incidentally, Gary took fish to 24lb to boost his weight in the final hour. In his own words "I had a busy last few seconds taking most of the 230lb in that period"

Highlight of the day for myself was Mad Young sat on Peg 35. He turned up with a pair of 3/4 length trendy trouser which on the vertically challenged angler looked more like 7/8ths... in my own words he looked a little like Tin-Tin.

Elsewhere, going a little slow. First 2 hours seem to be make or break at the moment but don't give up as Gary consistently proves with late double Ton Up bags. For the Record, one of the most enjoyable parts of the day for me was dueling head-to-head with Mick Wilkinson to see who could pull out of the most foul hooked fish! Clearly I won that competition with only 66lb of mostly scales to show for my days fishing!