First Lexus Heat of the new season

Well, the first Lexus Heat of the 2011 season took place today at Llyn Llandegfedd in South Wales.
The weather for mid March started cold, but by midday, it was sunny, warm and very little wind chill - pretty much perfect for an early season match.
We had anglers travel from the Midlands as well as locally to take part and they were rewarded with some excellent fishing.

Deep and slow

The Llandegfedd trout were lying deep and fast sinking lines with Boobies and nymphs proved to be the best tactics.
Top Welsh International angler Craig Gimblett told me "If you used a figure-of-eight retrieve, you got lots of nips - when I felt this, I sped up my retrieve and they slammed it"!
And Craig should know, as he was the first person to catch his 6 fish limit, but on the day he finished as runner-up and with it a Greys GX500 Reel.  Reigning Lexus Champion Dean Kibble opened his account with a limit bag just 15 minutes after Craig and qualified in 3rd place to win a Greys GX300 Reel.
But the honours on the day went to Mark Thomas, whose 6 fish limit and time bonus totalled 15lbs 15ozs.  Mark won the top prize of a Hardy Prizewinners Shirt and a £50 Sportfish Voucher.
All but 1 competitor completed their 6 fish limit bags and there were no blanks recorded.

Wild Card

The Wild card qualification place for the biggest fish went to Tim Llewellyn, with a 2lb rainbow.  Tim's fish was actually the 4th largest fish on the day, as the top 3 placings all had bigger fish in their bags!  Tim would have finished 2nd from last and this just goes to show that the Wild Card place actually means you are in with a chance of qualifying right down to the last few minutes and regardless of where you finish in the match.