19 October, 2023 | Carp | Articles | News

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Coe & Russell Take Second in Dividing Lines Carp Competition!

Steve Coe reports on another fantastic Dividing Lines Competition which saw the North once again take on the South for the Dividing Line bragging rights!

 

Steve Coe says…

Over the weekend October 7 and 8, Dynamite’s very own Ian Russell & myself took part in the Dividing Lines Carp Competition. A carp competition with a difference. Two teams one form the North and the other from the South went head-to-head in the ultimate carp fishing rivalry!

After a good draw, Ian and I ended up on the middle of tyre bank at Burners Hall. This looked to be a good peg with a very strong wind pumping into us and a few fish showing in the zone.

 

The match started slow but after a couple of hours of chopping and changing the first fish was landed and we were off the mark. We the managed to put 3 fish on the board before dark.

With the competition criteria being 3 biggest carp takes all, this was always the plan and something to build on. All three bites had come on zigs and with the light dropping a change of tactics was on the cards. We changed to fishing over bait to try and pick put the better fish.

The plan didn’t exactly go to plan as one of the bottom rods was away at 10:00pm which resulted in a mid-double carp which didn’t better our course.

The following morning however, we did manage a 36lb carp which really helped our overall weight and took our total of three carp to 95lb 8oz which was enough to cement our lead for the time being. The rest of the day was quiet though and no matter what we chucked at them we just could not get a bite.

The final morning saw us fall into second place by 3lb leaving us to replace our smallest fish of 27lb for on of 30lb. This was not an impossible task and in fact quite likely for Burners Hall and our area was fishing well.

Sat willing the rods to go, finally one got the message and it was one of the bottom-bait rods. From the off it felt like a better fish!

After playing it for about five minutes, the fish then found a weed bed and the hook pulled – disaster! Before we had time to sulk over the lost fish the zig was away and this resulted in a 26lb carp which unfortunately was not enough to budge us up to first and we finished the match in second place.

It was a fantastic experience however and super exciting with the match going right down to the wire!

A huge congrats to Tony Reynolds and Ian Beedell on the win! We’ll be back next year to claim the title… 😉

– Steve

Tactics: Alongside zigs, Steve and Ian fished trimmed-down, maggot-flossed Choccy Malt and Indian Spice hookbaits over XL Sweetcorn, Frenzied Hemp, crushed and whole 12mm Monster Tiger Nut boilies and chopped worms all dusted in Swim Stim Black Amino groundbait.