With the next round of the Drennan Cup to be fished on the venue, July 21st, this was going to be the last chance to see the venue under match conditions. Normally I would have fished any practice matches, but this time I decided to go and watch the match, my Dorking team mates Simon 'Ginger' Wilsmore, Paul Holland and Dave Harpin were all fishing the match plus I knew quite a few of the locals, so I should get a good idea of how the stretch was fishing before I start to practice next week.
The river was carrying a couple of inches of extra water but still very clear, I fished the Newark Dyke last July a part of the preparation for last years Division 1 national, although it can be peggy, I really enjoyed my time on the Trent, making some nice catches of roach and one good day on the barbel.
With such clear water, very few skimmers or bream were going to show, with most people going for the roach after a brief spell on the feeder at the start.
The match was won with 3 barbel for 20lb+, second was 11lb roach on the waggler and 3rd was 10lb of hemp roach on the pole. With such a large range of species and methods available, knowledge of the pegs was going to be crucial, but as always this competition is a great one to be involved with, a big thank-you to Peter Drennan, for sponsoring it, with each round the excitement grows and I cant wait.

If you wish to fish this stretch then checkout http://www.newarkpiscatorial.co.uk/