Reece Hearn had to wait for ice to clear before he could make full use of his swim at Braintree and Bocking Angling Society’s Christmas Match but his patience paid off.
Competitors arrived at the Fennes to find the Ash Grounds venue frozen over on their selected pegs.
A short spell with ice breakers soon cleared the swims and as the day progressed, the ice melted to open up the pegs.
Hearn drew peg 55 and fishing popped up bread, he landed nine F1s once the ice had cleared to finish with the day’s top weight of 17-2-0.
The low number pegs always produce the fish from the whistle but when the ice has to be broken and the anglers are drawn further round the lake, they have to wait for the fish to move around.
That was the case for second-placed Pete Thompson, who had his first fish at the halfway mark, but fishing caster produced some good sized roach and he totalled 9-15-8 at the end.
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