Set off from the north west (Shevington , Wigan) at 4 am for the long drive down to the Westminster Inn just outside Gloucester , a nice steady drive got me there with plenty of time in hand as I pulled into the car park for 6.30 and already loads of anglers were there already and the buzz had begun ! Previous visits for practice were taking anything between 4 and a half to 5 hours drive during daytime ! Draw time and the Ted Carter Southport lads all get there pegs off captain Chris , I get K section by the sea at Purton so a fairly long drive again , sat nav set and I am there in no time so a quick scout down the bank for a look at my peg as I am K11 . 5 minutes walk and im there and its only permanent peg 817 the famous pond peg ! As we all know drawing these pegs in a national can go either way ........ you can either empty the place without trying too hard on a going day or look a right Woman's wetter if the venue doesn't fish , hmm lol. Return with gear and set up a host of top 5 kits to cover all options then set up a 11.5 ft bream / skimmer tip rod , The Gloucester canal here is around 35 mtrs wide and my peg opens up into a small lake on the far bank with a log acting as a pontoon as it meets the canal proper . I gathered some info of a number of lads who were bank walking and luckily I knew a couple of them (small world) and the info was a tight chuck to a scaffold pole was the way to go , also dissapointingly word was the peg had been hammered for several weeks and carpers had been camped on it until Friday morning before the big event . Now then also the canal here was surprisingly crystal clear and full of weed , you could easily see the bottom 7 ft deep at 4 mtrs where it was weed free , with hot bright sunshine and 28 temps it wasn't looking good ! Hooter goes and a small crowd was sat behind me , my first chuck hit the line clip lovely and the feeder plopped probably 2 mtrs of the scaffold pole ........ please go round straight away ............. a little liner nice ! then nothing ! Out it goes again .......... nothing ! this continued for 45 minutes and I was getting downbeat then the tip moved but it was just a little perch that had gobbled half a dendra and a red maggot ! To cut a long story short the bream just wernt gong to feed due to the pressure and more so the conditions but just one good bream could give me mega points as the word was the whole section was fishing mega hard and just 4lb would get top ten section points ! So what do I do with just 90 minutes to go and just 4 little perch a roach and a bottle top in my keepnet ? switch or stick ??? I decided to switch so a quick look on the pole line at 11mtrs and nothing so I re ball it in with 6 jaffas ......... out goes the light 0.80 rig with a single pinkie on a 22s and the float buries ! a very welcome 2 oz roach is safely netted , same next chuck and the next , I cant get in quick enough everyone around me is struggling and im catching then in no time the hooter goes and the National is over .The scales arrive and the late run of roach on the pole went about 3lb (1kilo 380) and put me comfortably top half of the section and good team points. Throwing the tip rod up the bank paid off and the team finished a creditable 12th from 44 teams . 2 shocking pegs cost us a top 6 if not higher finish :( lovely canal , good team venue but it can be a beast in areas
