The 18 acres Hasse club lake really took the brunt of the weather as it is an open reservoir so the guys there really had to battle against the elements. Presentation proved to be difficult in the wind and rain and by the evening check on day 1 only 1 team had troubled the scorers. Mark Hutchinson and Myles Gascoyne took a cracking 27.08 mirror to take an early lead and a fish like that would take some beating. By morning it was clear the angling would be hampered by the weather and only two teams had caught by 0600hrs. Gascoyne / Hutchinson’s small baits and bag approach was paying off and they banked three fish for 65.12. Mark Sawyer and Simon Wheeler were the others to get on the board with one fish of 11.10 and that was it for the scores. As the day wore on and the rains fell more teams were picking up fish and by the half way mark Crafty Carpers Lewis Porter and Alexei Bygrave were on the podium in second with a fish of 13.14. John Kithcing and Dave Newman sat just off the leader board with a solitary 8.13 and it was definitely all to play for.
The fish fed lightly through the afternoon and the evening check showed that Hutchinson / Gascoyne had increased their lead to 90.12, a score that would surely get them through. Venue regulars and Lily Fisheries team mates Glen Maulkerson and Lee Tomkins took up the challenge and charged into second with a 16.09 and Porter / Bygrave dropped back to third. The night opened up for a lot of the teams and Monday morning saw the leaders still edging away with 125.11 but now Sawyer / Wheeler were in second with 26.06 and Jason Reagan / Adam Sheehan had nicked third with two fish for 25.13. It was cat and mouse all the way to the end with 6 teams in contention for a place, and the 5 that hadn’t caught could still get up into the placings with a decent sized fish.
In the dying hours a scrap developed as, just like a mirror of Thorney Weir, a few fish started to feed. It was a case of too little too late for most, but out of the bag and the blue came Porter / Bygrave to nip into second on 49.04 and Sawyer / Wheeler held third with 26.06. Top of the tree by some considerable distance (I was tempted to say miles there!!) were Messrs Gascoyne and Hutchinson who really made their mark with a fantastic 137.01
Another water run by Lily Fisheries, the 18 acre lake at Hasse opened last year and is proving itself as a lovely water with some awesome fish in it. Situated in Cambridge near Ely it has a good head of 20s up to mid 30s and is classed as a proper carp water. Not particularly difficult it is not a “runs” water and suits anglers that like their carp fishing traditional.
One of the up and coming waters in Cambridgeshire, Hasse Fen is part of the Lily Fisheries group of waters and is an irrigation reservoir of 18 acres in size. A continued stocking programme by the management means that the lake is well stocked with a good head of doubles to compliment the original stock of fish which run to over 30lbs. Situated in peaceful countryside it has been part of the BCAC for two years now and this year sees two of the top three placed pairings from last year are fishing in it again. Maulkerson and Tomkins are no strangers to success in the BCAC having qualified a number of times and last year they finished third overall. However, they won’t necessarily have an easy ride this time round as there are some very good anglers competing against them. Last year it was tight at the top with only 57lbs needed for the win, but once again the more favourable weather conditions forecast for this match could mean a completely different style of fishing is required. 