Net Review part 2 - Willow Marsh Open

Following being set up in the garden the nets first outing was to be at Willow Marsh for the Saturday open, a venue i've fished a couple of times but with mixed results.
Dragonfly pool was the destination but with a club match on the near bank the far bank later pegs were available for the open. Things would be tight, but with good results the previous couple of weeks a decent match should be on the cards (although you wouldn't think it with the amount of moaning going on before the draw had even taken place!!! lol)


Into the draw bag and peg 29 stuck to my hand, not a peg thats usually included apparently. I was hemmed in open water wise with and angler to my right and another 3 down on the bank to my left, but i had some room in my left hand margin.

Setting my gear up and getting my box right i attached the net and as predicted the top ring was securely locked in place by the knuckle and easily took the weight of my landing net resting on it. Fortunately i had plenty of room to my left so set the net out to that side. with 18" of water in the margin, the net barely sunk half way up the ring and promply collapsed. with a bit of persuassion from my handle it stood up but took up a hell of a lot of room. (i didnt put it straight out because i wanted a short line in front of me). my Maver carp net looked tiny in comparison next to it but i was happy with my set-up.

My plan of attack for the match was fairly simple with a single long pole line with pellet deep and shallow, a short corn line down the near shelf with corn and paste on the hook, and a margin line long to my left in the quiet water. Rigs were 0.18 with 0.18 hooklengths as the fish run very big and you dont need that many to make a weight.

Bait for the day was 2x1kg bags of frozen corn, 1 bag of 4mm pellets, some 6mm expanders and some paste (they were getting the corn big style. the venue record went with 32 tins of corn being fed!)

Within half an hour the net had collapsed again and what i'd forgotten about new nets it started to float! With some more persuassion it was easy enough to get right. On the whistle the long line got a big pot of pellet, the short line got a big pot of the corn with some paste and the margin got the same. Straight out onto the pellet line and the float didnt move for half an hour, but with plenty of fish moving on the surface i didnt put the catty down and was happy to leave the deep rig alone and come shallow (with only 1 bag of pellets aloud per match, around 2 pints, i wouls have to be really carefull to make them last)

Some movement in the margin prompted me to have a fairly early look after 45 minutes and a quick 3lber gave me some hope but i couldnt get another touch there. Out shallow and i managed a quick fish around 7lb. double 8 latex as usual doing a great job to get the fish with minimal fuss (i will say the middy 6-8 was definately under gunned for the fish at willow). things were very slow tho, and it was taking around half an hour to get signs from any more fish. i'm sure with more feed available i could have made things improve but i had to make that precious 2 pint bag last. the rig was getting lots and lots of work to try and complement the amount of feed actually going in with fake feed splashed by the float, bulk and expander!!!!!

I kept the short corn line and margin toppped up all match but didnt have any other bites from them. The fish were a good size each and the Garbo net was swallwoing them easily and the extra large top ring made transferring the fish in landing net very easy and they were swimming off as if they weren't in a net!!!!!

well there isnt a fat lot else to write about with regards to the match, i managed 10 carp in total plus 2 chub, all shallow apart from the early margin fish. it was very hard work and i had to keep ringing the changes with the rig depth. i did up the feed half way through and definatley had a better spell of 3 fish but knew i'd run out of bait way before the end and with not much happening anywhere else in the i couldnt let that happen. i knew i'd done pretty well but also know a couple of other lads had caught well too. i put 54lb on the scales and was really pleased to beat all those around me from such a restricted peg. the end pegs on each bank had 70, 78 and 80lb to push me to 4th overall and 1 out the money! Gutted!

the net had done me good, and swallowed everything i threw at it. it did keep collapsing on me and had to be readjusted but as i wasnt to busy i didnt mind to much. the handles and large top ring made weighing in really easy and the fish rolled out nicely and stayed calm in the weigh sling, probably because they had so much room in the keepnet.

Overall, i'll say again i think its useage will be quite restricted. in a tight peg it simply wont fit with a second net in and it needs to be out to its full length or it will collapse. i also now dont know what to do to store it. it fits in my stink bag, but i cant do the top up on it. i usually store my gear in the in-laws garage but i know there are mice in there so i dont want it chewed through. i'll have to have a think.

It is certainly a quality item, and looks the dogs set up. i'm hoping to do some big pellet waggler work this summer at earlswood and Larford for big fish so it will be absolutely perfect for that.

Will let you know how i get on with it in a couple of months!