Landsend saturday open

Got up this morning to a heavy frost. Stuck my nose out the door and it was bloody freezing. Glad I put a cover over the car windows overnight. A bad start to the day. Left home and drove a few miles only to realise I had left my glasses at home. Damn!!!!. Back home then off again in a hurry to make the draw. Got there just in time to take the last peg, which was 15. Got to my peg a happily found the ice that covered alot of our side of the lake stopped about 5 meters to my right. 3 rigs today. A  .2 mugger with a size 18 to .13 for banded pellet over to the island. Another  .2 of the same, a foot deeper for left and right margins and a .4 pencil with a size 18 to .11 to fish several lines at 2+2, 11 meters straight out and at a 10 o'clock angle to my left. All these line were the same depth and to be fished with caster or maggot over caster. At the wistle I fired 5 pellets to the island and cupped in 4 or 5 casters on each of the other lines. A gentle approach was needed today. I started on the 2+2 line on caster and soon had a bite but missed it. This happened 7 times before I made any contact after 30 minutes and a decent perch was netted. The bites were very tentative . Even waiting a few seconds I was still missing them. After about 45 minutes the bites stopped. But I stuck on this line for another half hour with nothing. It was out to the 11 meter line on caster for a while for no bites in half an hour.. Hmmm it was certainly hard today. Over to the island for a bit where I tried banded 6's and corn but again nothing. What next???. A look in the margins for 20 minutes produced just one small ghosty. Back out to 11 meters and a couple of missed bites so a change to double dead red maggot got me another perch, then a carp about 7lb quickly followed by a 5 pounder. Then I lost one right over my bait and it killed it. Across to the left and a bite first drop in. A good fish came to the net then spit the hook. Bugger. Next drop in and another hooked. It bottomed out my grey hidro and straightened the hook. Yep, one of those days. 3 in a row lost. Refed my lines with a cad pot then back on the 2+2. Nothing happened. Think it was too clear to fish short. Out to 11 meters for the remainder of the match taking 3 more carp and loosing to more. The last one landed was a miracle. It was fouled in the belly and going nuts. It got it down to my top two and it decided to go under the platform. It bottomed out the elastic and had jammed my top set against the wood so I jump off my box squatted down an had to follow it with the top kit under the platform. I was stuck. Holding my box with one hand and my other hand under the platform. I couldn't pull it back as I only hand one hand on the top kit lol. So I waited for it to ease back and pulled the top kit back jumping my hand along it. Then I had to pull up both nets to get my elastic under them. Bloody hell, talk about hard work. But I got the bugger in. Too many lost fish cost today as it was close. At the wiegh in  my two perch went 1lb 4oz, and my 5 carp went 27lb12oz for dead on 29lb which put me 4th. Sorry but I don't know the names of some of the guys but the results were

1st, Bob, peg 1,  35lb.
2nd, Andy,  peg 24, 33lb 8oz.
3rd, Bean, peg 18,  29lb 10oz.
4th, Me, peg 15, 29.

First in the silvers Rod Written, peg 5, 21lb 8oz.