Hartleylands Farm Fishery. Nick's Lake.

Marsh AC club match.

It's off down to Hartleylands Fishery at Cranbrook in Kent for what should have been an Inter-club match against Morefax AC but unfortunately they haven't been able to get a team together so it's just a regular club match today. However as we booked the whole of Nick's Lake we've invited a few guests along so hopefully everyone will have a decent day . A glance out of the window offered a glimpse of what promised to be a decent day weather wise, so after taking care of the cats and swigging a couple of cups of coffee the kit was loaded into the car and off I went .

First stop was the Knoxbridge Café to take care of breakfast Mick the Chippy and grand daughter Rosie had just arrived as I pulled up and we entered to find that Keith and Mick already there and waiting for breakfast after their trip down from Milton Keynes. John. Martin and Zack weren't far behind and once breakfast was taken care of we made our way down to the fishery for the draw.

The usual banter was flying around as we waited . Lee was there, the sole Morefax angler who could make it, so he would be fishing as a guest along with along with Gary who was Chris's guest today and fishing his first match for about 30 years . There were two areas I wanted to draw today, either the spit (pegs 7-9) or the mid twenties. Into the bag and the drawing hand didn't co-operate leaving me with peg 16, not where I really wanted to be .

Making my way round to the peg with my gear I found that Rod had peg 13 and Al was on peg 14, while Martin had 17 and Jim 18. You can see where everyone else was pegged on the peg plan below ......

Settling into my peg it was a question of sorting out a plan of attack. The obvious approach was method feeder to the island, but it only ever seems to produce small carp of around a pound and if I'm honest it's a style of fishing that bores me to tears, so today I was going to target the bigger fish that tend to lurk around the margins so I set up four top kits. Two had Nick Gilbert's handmade NG Power Pencil's, 0·4 g made up on on 0·18 Ultima power match straight through to size 16 Kamasan B911X's for a line in front at 6mtrs where I had around 4 feet of water, while the other 2 were 0.2g NG Edger's again on 0·18 Ultima power match straight through to size 16 Kamasan B911X's for the margins where I had around 2½ft of water. I also set up a pellet waggler should I see fish moving around up in the water. Bait was my usual combination of 6mm coarse pellet for feed and the hook along with some 8mm's, sweetcorn and 6mm GOT Rippers as alternative hookers.

With around 15 minutes to the All-In I took a little stroll. Al had set up to fish long and shallow on the pole along with a method feeder and pellet waggler ......

and I found Lee down on peg 7 with a big grin on his face and itching to get started ......

So at 10am Dave called the All-In, a pot of pellet onto the 6mtr line and a handful down both margins was followed by a banded 8mm out to the 6mtr line, Sport was far from instant though and a good 10 minutes passed before I had my first bite which I promptly missed . Al had gone straight out on the method and was soon into a run of small carp, but apart from him sport seemed to be pretty slow up our end of the lake. My second bite produced a feisty little mirror of around 1½lbs so at least I was off the mark, but my next couple of fish were small skimmers and the first hour saw me add just another 3 small carp to my nets. The second hour was a little better, but only just with another 6 small carp to show for my efforts, but at least the sun was shining allowing me to ditch the fleece and sit comfortably in a polo shirt for the first time this year . However I was getting nowhere fast, while Al was still catching on the method, although he was complaining that fish were knocking off the groudbait as soon as the method hit the water, so I decided it may be time to get the feeder rod out. However I rigged it with a small cage feeder as opposed to the method, and was going to feed dampened 6mm's in an attempt to stop it getting ragged. So with a couple of pints of pellets damped down I took a stroll while the pellets soaked.

Simon had started on the feeder, but it hadn't really produced for him so he had reverted to the pole in attempt to find some action ......

Next up was Keith, another who'd started on the feeder but reverted to the pole and while he insisted that he wasn't really getting to grips with it he was soon into a carp as we chatted ......

Clive was looking a little happier with things today fishing the bush to his right and soon had plenty of elastic streaming out of his top kit, and the culprit a carp that he'd foul hooked in the tail soon found its way to his waiting net ......

Next up was Tony, back with us today having missed the Rayne Lodge match, he was targeting his left hand margin and seemed to be reasonably pleased with his progress , while down on peg 26 Rosie was having a fine old day in fact she was having such a good time that Grandad Mick had stopped fishing himself and contented himself with being Rosie's Ghillie for the day ......

Round to peg 31 and Mick W was being his usual laid back self and although he was being a bit cagey about how he was doing the large tail pattern by his float when he dropped his rig in rather gave the game away that he was probably sitting on a good few fish ......

On the next peg Chairman Dave reckoned he was having a similar day to me (I won't call it a Grueller as I know one of my readers would take issue with me on this ) but having returned from a stroll of his own had managed a couple of quick fish on paste down the margin ......

It was pretty much the same story until I got round to the point where I found Lee targeting his margin and getting among a few carp to keep him happy with his progress .......

Kevin was happily fishing the feeder on peg 8 and having one of his best days of the year so far ......

Terry was also having a decent day on peg 9 although he's lost a couple of lumps during the morning that just didn't want to play ball and as I made my way back to my peg Al was giving the method a rest, and seeing if he could find some action on the pole line ......

Back at my peg, and with the feeder loaded and a banded 8mm on the hook it was out to the island. Within 30 seconds the tip wrapped round and a regulation 1lb carp was heading to the net, this rapidly became eight in eight casts forcing Martin to get his feeder rod into the action. For the next couple of hours fish came regularly and with around an hour to go I had 50 carp in the nets. The trouble was they were like peas in a pod, all around the 1lb mark and I wasn't enjoying it so with an hour to go the feeder rod was up the bank and I spent that final hour looking for some lumps in the margins. However it wasn't to be, they just weren't there and I only added another half a dozen small carp to the nets before Dave called the All-Out at 4pm.

Packing my gear away I felt that I had something approaching 60lbs to show for my efforts. I would almost certainly have topped the 'Ton' if I'd fished the feeder all match, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it as I like to have something larger to target nowadays. I was pretty sure that Al had won the match though as it had suited his style of fishing as he just likes to be busy and doesn't mind what he's catching as long as he keeps busy, and he'd certainly been that today .

When I caught up with the weigh-in they had just weighed Lee in with 105¾lbs and judging by his smile he was happy with that . Kevin had 63lbs and Terry 73½lbs. Rod had 11½lbs while Al certainly had been busy recording a fine 176½lbs . Next up my estimate proved to be almost spot on with 59¾lbs. Martin managed just 13½lbs and Jim 38lbs. Simon had tipped back as he'd had to leave early. Keith had managed 85½lbs but Clive topped that with 113lbs while Tony put 106½lbs on the scales . Mick was a very proud Grandad when Rosie weighed in with a fine 77lbs, "its just like catching roach on the canal Grandad, but bigger ". Mick W bagged 'The Milton Keynes Nugget' today with 113lbs but did himself no favours beating Chairman Dave's 51¾lbs from the next peg . Graham managed a level 40lbs to Zack's 23½lbs and John rounded things off with 39¼lbs.

So back to the car park for the results and Al had taken the win today , while Clive and Mick W had tied for second . The sections today were won by Al, Lee, Clive and Mick W. Overall just over 1250lbs of fish were weighed in, making an average of just over 66lbs per angler. Not a bad day I think you'll agree .

Position	Peg	Angler		Weight
1st	Peg 14	Al Loader		176lbs 08ozs
2nd=	Peg 23	Clive Pritchard		113lbs 00ozs
2nd=	Peg 31	Mick Wright		113lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 24	Tony Roberts		106lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 7	Lee Rose	Guest	105lbs 12ozs
6th	Peg 21	Keith Ashby		85lbs 08ozs
7th	Peg 26	Rosie	Guest	77lbs 00ozs
8th	Peg 9	Terry Goff		73lbs 08ozs
9th	Peg 8	Kevin Loveland		63lbs 00ozs
10th	Peg 16	Peter Morton		59lbs 12ozs
11th	Peg 32	Dave Collier		51lbs 12ozs
12th	Peg 34	Graham Manning		40lbs 00ozs
13th	Peg 37	John Holdsworth		39lbs 04ozs
14th	Peg 18	Jim Boase		38lbs 00ozs
15th	Peg 4	Gary Luck	Guest	36lbs 00ozs
16th	Peg 2	Chris Withall		31lbs 08ozs
17th	Peg 35	Zack Johnson		23lbs 08ozs
18th	Peg 17	Martin Hucker		13lbs 08ozs
19th	Peg 13	Rod Turner		11lbs 08ozs
20th	Peg 20	Simon Watkins		DNW

Rolfs Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

The Jinx Series 2012
Special 2 Day Festival.

Well this weekend it's something a little bit different to kick off this years Jinx Series, with this 2 Dayer being organised by Malc (The Jinx) to get everyone into the swing of things, and although the results of these matches won't count toward the series results it's being treated as a Mini Festival with section points over the two days deciding the winner .

The Jinx Squad 2012

Clive, Tony, Malc(The Jinx), Steve, Dai, Dave C.
Simps, Terry, Budgie, Dave M, Peter, Neil.
Paul, Nick W, Gem(The Minx), Geoff, Mat, Nick W-P.
Fred, Ady, Kev.

Day 1
Friday, April 27th, 2012.

Unfortunately due to a new job The Jinx himself would be missing Friday but was hoping to get down and fish on Saturday, but in his absence it looked like he'd managed to sort the weather for us with plenty of Rain and more Rain predicted over the 2 days . A quick glance out of the bedroom window confirmed the forecast was right on Friday morning, but after dropping Maria off at work I soon had the car loaded up and was on my way. As usual no trip to Rolfs is complete without a stop off in Battersea to set myself up for the day ahead with a 'Full English' and with that polished off it was next stop Rolfs.

Pulling into the car park it was obvious we were going to have a good turn out with the vast majority of The Jinx Squad regulars along with a couple of victims guests ready to do their best to get to grips with the lake, of course this included The Minx but unfortunately her New Hat hadn't arrived in time so that won't come into play until the start of the series proper in June. As usual the banter, wind ups and general pee taking was soon in full swing and it was around 11·30am that Simon called for the draw to start and with rain threatening and a strong breeze blowing down from the Big Lake into the Little Lake everyone was keen to get started and set up before the impending deluge arrived. Into the draw bag and I came away with peg 3, one that's not normally included in matches, but one I've been wanting to fish for ages as it's tucked away in the corner of the Little Lake with some decent cover, not to mention the fact that there were reports of fish showing there earlier in the day .

The rain had already started to fall as I reached the peg so it was a question of getting settled in and set up as soon as possible. Looking around I could see Neil Riddy settling into peg 34, a good angler on a decent peg who regularly fishes Rolfs and has a good record there, meaning I would have my work cut out to win the section today. Marcus (Budgie) was on peg 39 another peg that's rarely included and he was keen to give it a go, while round on peg 6 was Dave Moore with Simon Watkins on peg 7 and Geoff on peg 8 completing A section.

I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so just set up 3 pole rigs that were pretty much identical, just varying in length to cover various parts of the peg. These were all Nick Gilbert's handmade NG Power Pencil's, two 0·4 gm and a 0·5 gm, all made up on on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to size 16 Kamasan B911X's covering depths from 2½-4 ft. I really should have got the feeder rod out as well, but as I couldn't get the brolly set effectively with the wind in my face it was used to shelter the rest of my kit behind me in an attempt to avoid it getting soaked and the feeder rod was left in the holdall . Bait was simply a couple of bags of 6mm fishery pellets with some 8mm hard pellet, corn and various soft hookers for change baits. With a little time to go I just checked my elastics when I noticed some deterioration in it in one of my top kits. All three kits had been elasticated at the same time and although the other two looked OK I didn't want to risk them. The only elastic I had available was some Vespe Bi-Core so this was hastily rigged into the 3 kits meaning I missed the All-In as I finished the third kit .

I only missed the first five minutes however and soon shipped a small cup of pellet out to 8mtrs followed by another small pot spread along the edge of the bushes to my left, plus a pinch into both margins before shipping a banded 8mm out to 8mtrs. Unfortunately the next 20 minutes was pretty futile as despite working a selection of various baits not a single bite was forthcoming , in fact the only thing coming my way was rain and increasing amounts of it, (At this point I'll apologise that this report doesn't contain more photos from the day, but the weather meant that the camera stayed safely in it's case.) Time for a look over by the bushes and it was a banded 6mm that produced the required response, the float gliding under, it was only a small roach but at least I'd avoided the dreaded DNW. Next put in and away the float slid again, a carp this time that dived for the cover of the bushes, but steady pressure soon saw me in control and the fish, a stocky mirror of around 8lbs in the net. As I lifted the net the mesh started to give way though resulting in the fish nearly sliding through an increasingly large hole !!!!! Luckily I was quick enough to save the situation, but I had to go and find another landing net before continuing.

I had to go up to the next net bin so stopped off for a chat with Dave Moore who was also having a struggle and having to watch Neil opposite steadily walking away with the section. Back at my peg I then suffered a brief spell where I had a couple of foul hookers, obviously big commons judging by the scales that came back on the hook, I thought I'd got away with it till "Nobody likes to see that" carried on the wind from peg 34 as Neil looked on .

Still the rain poured down but I managed 4 carp, but they were spooky which I felt was due to the fact that there wasn't enough leaves on the bushes yet to offer the cover they needed to settle. I settled down feeding around 20 pellets at a time and waiting for a bite before re-feeding. About half way through Keith Powell came walking round, his face a picture of abject misery , sat on peg 10 his waterproofs had proved not to be and he was off to his car to try and warm up, have a fag and try to dry out a bit.

The rain just didn't relent and Gem had given it best having only had a single roach from peg 26 and retreated to the dry and warmth of the caravan she and Simps were using for the weekend so at least people would be saved from a Minxing. The rest of us battled on through the incessant rain (in fact the water level rose 1½ inches during the match, showing just how much water was falling) I managed another 4 carp during the course of the match, but I was mightily relieved to hear the All-Out come 6pm .

Of course once we started packing up the rain eased off and as we started the Weigh-In it had virtually stopped and the wind died down too adding insult to injury. Neil was the first to weigh and pretty much as I had expected he put a very creditable 125½lbs on the scales , Budgie had 56lbs 2ozs and my fish came to 69lbs 2ozs . Sport had picked up for Dave toward the end leaving him with 64¼lbs while Simon Watkins had just 16¼lbs and Geoff a level 63lbs to complete the section, so 2 points for me today to keep my chances alive .

Simon with 49¼lbs, Keith 27½lbs and Clive with 77lbs from peg 13 made up the first half of B section before we got to C section where Nick W-P's one decent roach was weighed at 1lb. Dave Wall on his first ever visit to the lake put 79½lbs on the scales which would prove enough to take the section today . Nick Williams with a level 75lbs and Fred with 56½lbs followed only to be pipped by Paul's 60½lbs. Dave C had suffered a bit of a grueller with just 13¾lbs while Gem had just 8ozs for her one roach to complete C section. Kevin managed 25½lbs and Dai 37¼lbs while Mat completed B section with 22½lbs.

Back to the hut for the results and Neil had taken the Lake win today and along with Clive and Dave Wall was in the pound seats with a section win and 1 point to take into Day 2 tomorrow.

Day 1 Results

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	34	Neil Riddy	125lbs 08ozs
2nd	16	Dave Wall	79lbs 08ozs
3rd	13	Clive Pritchard	77lbs 00ozs
4th	19	Nick Williams	75lbs 00ozs
5th	3	Peter Morton	69lbs 02ozs
6th	6	Dave Moore	65lbs 04ozs
7th	8	Geoff Palmer	63lbs 00ozs
8th	23	Paul Roberts	60lbs 08ozs
9th	21	Fred Parker	56lbs 08ozs
10th	39	Marcus Burgess	56lbs 02ozs
11th	9	Simon Mound	49lbs 04ozs
12th	30	Dai Thomas	37lbs 04ozs
13th	10	Keith Powell	27lbs 08ozs
14th	28	Kevin Loveland	25lbs 08ozs
15th	32	Mat Edwards	22lbs 08ozs
16th	7	Simon Watkins	16lbs 04ozs
17th	25	Dave Collier	13lbs 12ozs
18th	14	Nick Watkins-Price	1lbs 00ozs
19th	26	Gem Doyle	08ozs

Final Positions and Points

(Countback on Weight  to decide ties)

Position	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peter Morton	209lbs 10ozs	3
2nd	Neil Riddy	224lbs 04ozs	4
3rd	Paul Roberts	180lbs 04ozs	5
4th	Clive Pritchard	140lbs 08ozs	5
5th	Fred Parker	166lbs 00ozs	6
6th	Geoff Palmer	152lbs 04ozs	6
7th	Mat Edwards	152lbs 12ozs	7
8th	Dave Moore	138lbs 12ozs	7
9th	Simon Watkins	138lbs 00ozs	7
10th	Dave Wall	109lbs 08ozs	7
11th	Marcus Burgess	118lbs  14ozs	8
12th	Dai Thomas	100lbs 08ozs	8
13th	Keith Powell	86lbs 14ozs	8
14th	Simon Mound	77lbs 04ozs	8
15th	Nick Williams	102lbs 00ozs	9
16th	Malc Doyle	87lbs 12ozs	10
17th	Nick Watkins-Price	41lbs 08ozs	11
18th	Kevin Loveland	25lbs 08ozs	12
19th	Dave Collier	13lbs 12ozs	12
20th	Gem Doyle	08ozs	14

So that's it, The Jinx Series is up and running for another year. Well done to all that fished the 2 days, with what the weather threw at us everyone deserves a medal for endurance at the very least. Hopefully things will improve by the time the first match of the Series comes round on 2nd June, but hey this is The Jinx Series, anything could happen and probably will .

Rayne Lodge Fishery. The Top Lake.

Marsh AC club match.

The Top Lake at Rayne Lodge just outside of Braintree in Essex is yet again the venue for the second Marsh AC club match of the year. However we normally visit the venue in late may once things have started to warm up a bit. The view through the bedroom window today promised a decent start to the day ahead, but the forecast was for heavy showers after midday . I soon had the cats fed, while cereal and coffee fuelled me to load up the car and set off. A good traffic free run saw me arriving in the car park just after 7·30am along with Kevin & Jean. Soon the others started to arrive and with just 14 of us fishing today things were soon underway. Dave asked Keith and I to sort out the pegs to use today so we set off round the lake while others ferried their gear down the hill and Dave collected the monies. Virtually every peg looked good for a few fish and Keith and I made the picks trying to give most anglers a bit of room and our 14 choices went into the hat ready for the draw .

Into the hat and it's peg 14A for me, the 2nd time in the last 3 visits (the other one was peg 14) I never seem to be able to get out of this corner of the lake when we visit, but it's normally good for a few fish .

Knowing the area so well it didn't take long to get set up, just 3 top kits with black hydro. It can tow a bit in this corner if the wind gets into it so I set up a couple of rigs to fish at 6mtrs where there's around 3 feet of water, the first was an 0·4 NG XT Gimp on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X while the second was a, 0·3 NG XT Power Pencil Mk 2 again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X which was a little more delicate and would see use if it wasn't towing. The third rig was my customary 0.2 NG Edger again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for the margin lines that had around 2 feet of depth. Bait was simply 6mm coarse pellet for feed and the hook along with some sweetcorn and 6mm GOT Rippers as alternative hookers.

There was still a good 30 minutes to go so I took a stroll to see how others were going to tackle things. Al and Dave were already exchanging banter on the prospects for the day that lay ahead . Kev was settling into peg 1 which I'd fancied for a few fish when Keith and I selected it earlier. Jean kindly provided a freshly cooked sausage and bacon roll and a mug of coffee to wash it down . Chris had set up for a catch anything with fins approach. Most seemed to be going with the pole, though Martin next to me on peg 14 was going for the feeder to the island in front .

10am and the whistle sounded for the All-In. A cup of pellets with a few grains of corn was fed at 6mtrs along with a handful of pellet into the left hand margin before I shipped out with a banded 6mm pellet, Dave over on peg 21 had got off to a flyer with 6 fish in his first 6 put in's!!!!!!!!! and I had seen Al netting a couple of quick fish as well.
A few more pellets flicked over my rig and a couple of lift and drops soon saw the float slide away and a spirited fight from a small common followed before I netted it to get myself off the mark . The first hour was nice and steady, keeping a little bit of feed going in and working the rig kept the bites coming and a few small carp and skimmers coming to the net.

Word was filtering down that Dave was already in the pound seats as he'd found the fish in the margins and feeding from the off, while Al had reverted to the method to the point of the island in an attempt to keep up with him as he couldn't buy a bite from his margin . I could hear the two of them talking and tales of 3-4lbs fish, which meant I was going to need some more and larger fish than I'd already got, especially when my next fish was this mint little common ......

I took an early look down my margins but to no avail so it was back to 6mtrs to keep working it, occasionally adding another section to see if anything had backed off the feed, but they didn't seem to be there in any numbers. I would take 2 or 3 fish and then have to wait 10-15 minutes for a bite. This seems to be the pattern in this part of the lake since 2009 when all the overhanging trees that provided cover were cut down and it now seems that fish just move through the area and you almost have to ambush them as they pass through as they seem reluctant to settle for any length of time.

Mick over on peg 16 was putting a few together but having to work for them, though this was disturbed when a passing duck snaffled his bait as he was laying his rig in. Thankfully Mick managed to get the duck to the bankside where he finally managed to unhook it after some deft work with a disgorger, the duck swimming off with just a few feathers and its dignity ruffled . Martin was having a hard time of it, latching into various snags round the island and then seeing his reel handle fly off and land in the lake. Undaunted he soon changed reels and was back in action ......

For me it was just a question of plugging away and keeping a few fish going into the net as apart from Dave and Al nobody else seemed to be getting among the fish from what I could see or hear. I kept having the odd look down the margins but they steadfastly refused to produce as much as a bite, and after a blank spell of nearly 20 minutes at 6mtrs I re-fed it pretty heavily and set of for my customary stroll with the camera . John was struggling next door to Martin and it looked like the two travelling companions would be battling to the end of the match for the bragging rights today .......

Clive was settled into peg 11A and having a look down his left hand margin, having struggled to catch from the right hand side of his peg ......

Keith was on peg 10 and working hard to put a few together and beat Mick in another battle of the travelling companions, though I did manage to bring a smile to his face when I related the tale of Mick's encounter with the duck .....

Simon and Graham had similar tales of struggle, though Graham's did ring a little hollow as he lifted into a fish as I passed by ......

Ken seemed quite content with his lot tucked away in a corner on peg 5 and was happily putting a few together today ......

Chris on peg 3 was also putting a mixed bag together with his approach, but felt that he could be doing better .......

Kev on peg 1 was having a mare in all honesty, not only was he struggling for bites from his swim, he also had the perfect view of Dave and Al apparently bagging up just across from him ......

Dave had vanished for a stroll by the time I got round there, but I probably shouldn't have asked Al what the crack was, as it wasn't a pretty site ......

Back at my peg it was just a question of head down and get on with it, nick a couple of fish then wait a while before getting another couple. At least they were getting a little larger as time wore on with a few 2-3 pounders mixed in among the smaller ones . After yet another blank spell I took another look down the margins with 45 minutes to go and the float buried by a feisty little mirror that was soon in the net and thankfully this continued right up to the whistle sounded the All-Out at 4pm .

Packing away my kit I couldn't help wondering what the outcome would have been had they turned up earlier in the margins? I was sure that Dave and Al were way out in front but reckoned that my late run of fish should see me with around 70lbs of fish to put on the scales.

The Weigh-In started with Kev on peg 1 who only managed a meagre 12lbs . Chris recorded 38½lbs while Ken was happy to see his fish weigh 53lbs , Graham's 42¼lbs was followed by Simon's 36½lbs and Keith chipped in with 39½lbs. Clive had a smile on his face due to his 56½lbs while Martin and John both recorded a level 16lbs to share the bragging rights in the car. My fish came to 77lbs leaving me happy with what I'd got from my peg . Mick's 36½lbs meant that Keith had the bragging rights for their trip home and Terry could only muster 26½lbs for his days efforts. that just left Al who was admitting to 70lbs (meaning he probably had a Ton+ ) and Dave who was owning up to 80lbs and he's normally pretty close with his estimates. Al in fact put 106lbs on the scales and Dave 87½lbs .

So back up Heart Attack Hill to the car park where Dave sorted out the days results and the monies. The Winner today was Al with Dave taking 2nd and third place for me . The sections went to Ken, myself and Al .

Next up for Marsh AC is an Inter-club match at Hartleylands Farm against Morefax AC , but before that I'm off on my first trip of the year to Rolf's Lake next Friday for a 2 day Special Jinx Match.

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 20	Al Loader	106lbs 00ozs
2nd	Peg 21	Dave Collier	87lbs 08ozs
3rd	Peg 14A	Peter Morton	77lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 11A	Clive Pritchard	56lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 5	Ken Walker	53lbs 00ozs
6th	Peg 7	Graham Manning	42lbs 04ozs
7th	Peg 10	Keith Ashby	39lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 3	Chris Withall	38lbs 08ozs
9th=	Peg 16	Mick Wright	36lbs 08ozs
9th=	Peg 9	Simon Watkins	36lbs 08ozs
11th	Peg 18	Terry Goff	26lbs 08ozs
12th=	Peg 14	Martin Hucker	16lbs 00ozs
12th=	Peg 13	John Holdsworth	16lbs 00ozs
14th	Peg 1	Kevin Loveland	12lbs 00ozs

Hawkhurst Fishery. The Match Lake.

Al's Match.

Marsh AC club mate and fellow Maggotdrowner Al Loader had booked the Match Lake at Hawkhurst for a knock up today and with a good few booked on for it everyone was hopeful of a good days sport . Unfortunately the view from the bedroom window was a bit bleak when I looked out, dull grey and overcast with rain falling, but with the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee to fortify me I soon had my waterproofs on and the car loaded up and headed for Hawkhurst. Thankfully the rain soon stopped, but with the temperature showing just 6°C and some fog outside Tonbridge it looked like a none to glorious spring day ahead .

I pulled into the car park just before 8am to find most already assembled and the last couple followed me in. A cool North easterly wind was noticeable as Keith collected the match fees for Al, before we headed to the fishery Restaurant for breakfast before the draw. The breakfast served at Hawkhurst is one of the best (2 sausage, 2 bacon, 2 eggs, mushrooms, beans/tomatoes, fried slice + toast and tea or coffee) which sets you up nicely for the day ahead, and as we chatted over this, Mick the Chippy was adamant that the Golden Nugget would be returning to him today .

With breakfast taken care of it was back to the car park for the draw. With 16 anglers present all 20 pegs were in and when my turn came peg 3 was mine for the day. Collecting my kit I chatted to Mick McMillan who was happy to have drawn peg 5 , though he wasn't quite so happy when he found out that I'd drawn peg 6 for Al .
A short walk to my peg revealed Tony on peg 1 while Brodie was on peg 2 and Dave Hough to my right on peg 4. Happiest angler on the day should have been Derek Lockwood on the other bank as he had one empty peg to his right and three to his left. You can see where everyone else drew on the peg plan below ........

My set up for Hawkhurst was pretty simple. 3 top kits loaded with black hydro and the first 2 rigs were identical, made up of a 0·3 NG XT Power Pencil Mk 2 on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a 5mtr line (top 2 + 2 sections) on the deck where I had around 4ft of water, while the third was a 0.2 NG Edger again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a margin line against the boards. Bait for the day was going to be hard 6mm fishery pellet along with some 6mm GOT Rippers .

With the match being fished from 10·15am till 4·15pm I had a bit of time before the start to have a stroll round and have a chat prior to the All-In so I strolled along the top of the banking behind the pegs to get a better view. Mick McMillan and Al were settled into pegs 5 and 6, a couple of the favoured pegs and would be hard to beat today as they're both more than capable of doing a big weight ......

On peg 7 Mick was hoping that the power of Beechams powders would hold his cold at bay in his quest to gain back his Golden Nugget and Clive obviously had a cunning plan that was focused on the contents of a tin ......

I had a quick chat with Keith who wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Mick today, while Terry was having a chat with Paul on peg 10, picking his brains as Paul has a very good record fishing here ......

John seemed happy enough on peg 12, as he had Dave for company today on peg 11 and the 3 empty pegs to his right ......

Derek was in splendid isolation on peg 16, Rod was going with the waggler from peg 19 and Mick Wright was tucked into the corner on peg 20 and hoping to get the bragging rights for the trip home to Milton Keynes with travelling companion Keith today, while over in the opposite corner Tony seemed lost in contemplation of the day ahead ......

10·15am and the whistle was blown signalling the start of the match. Before I could even pot in a cup of pellet Mick was netting his first fish of the day!!!!!! and was netting a second before I shipped out a rig with a 6mm banded pellet on the hook . The hoped for instant bite didn't materialise for me and others were already into fish before a bit of lift and dropping of the rig was rewarded with the float jagging under. A quick lift resulted in a pleasing resistance and a small common of around 1lb was soon in the net to get me off the mark . That set the tone for me, a pinch of pellet every put in and keep working the rig produced the bites and kept the small carp coming and I ended the first hour with 14 fish in the nets. That north east wind was really chilling despite the sunshine, but kept a decent ripple on the swim.

In the second hour the wind dropped a couple of times but it was noticeable that without the ripple the bites dried up, only returning with the wind. This was especially noticeable as Terry opposite me had the wind off his back leaving his peg a lot calmer, which resulted in him really struggling for a bite ......

Despite the lulls in sport when the wind dropped I managed to maintain my catch rate and at the end of the second hour I'd added another 17 fish to the nets, and felt that I was holding my own with Tony and Brodie, though Dave to my right seemed to be catching at a slightly faster rate ......

Steady away was the story of the third hour for me though Brodie felt that he needed to try a different approach to maintain his catch rate and switched to fishing shallow in an effort to keep them coming ......

Derek over on peg 16 was getting his head down, catching regularly and was obviously profiting from having those empty pegs around him ......

...... as well as being able to keep an eye on Mick and Al who, according to the grapevine were neck and neck and both catching well, though Al did have to take a break to go and get some more pellet as he had run out.

Strangely though I hadn't seen Dave having his customary stroll during the match and looking up toward his peg I could see him hunched over and concentrating on his right hand margin, so he was obviously catching well .......

into the 4th hour I had 50 fish on my clicker when a bit of a disaster struck. As I netted another carp which thrashed around and broke the line on the rig , and despite going straight back out with a second identical rig I couldn't buy a bite, no apparent reason for it, but I decided to take a couple of minutes to retie the original rig and once I'd done that had a bite first put in with it.

Mick was still plundering his right hand margin over on peg 20, but the fish that he was getting seemed to be quite small ......

However it was soon apparent that all was not well as sport seemed to slow down for most around the lake, The margins beside the boards were devoid of fish for me and I couldn't get a bite when I tried there indeed in that 5th hour I only managed to put 8 fish in the net.

The final hour was no better for me either, and in all honesty I was quite relieved when the whistle sounded the All-Out leaving me with 65 fish to weigh-in.

I soon had my kit packed away and back to the car and chatting to others they had all seemed to suffer a poor last couple of hours.

First to weigh-in was Paul on peg 10 putting 97¾lbs on the scales. Keith and Clive had 66½lbs and 71½ respectively while Mick the chippy's cold had finally caught up with him as he weighed 31½lbs . Al placed a fine 139lbs on the scales but it would only be good enough for second today as Mick McMillan topped that with 148½lbs to take the win on the day . next up Dave Hough's 123½lbs would give him 3rd . I weighed 105lbs, Brodie 87½lbs and Tony 81lbs. Round to the opposite bank and Mick secured the bragging rights over Keith with a level 98lbs. Rod recorded 23lbs and Terry 34½lbs. Derek recorded a fine 114½lbs to finish just out of the frame. John put 91½lbs on the scales and Dave was last to weigh with a decent 104½lbs.

So Thanks to Al for organising the day , just over 1400lbs of fish put on the scales averaging over 80lbs per man can't be a bad days fishing on a cold spring day, and Thanks to Mick the Chippy for another Golden Nugget .

Monk Lakes. Match Lake 4.

 Marsh AC club match.

Well today would see me fishing the first Marsh AC match of the season down at Monk Lakes on Match Lake 4 . Having not fished since the last club match in the middle of October I was really looking forward to this, getting back on the bank and blowing a few cobwebs away. I was soon back into the old routine, up early, get the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee for myself before loading up the car and setting off for the venue.
It was a dull grey overcast morning as I drove down toward Staplehurst with the temperature showing just 8°C . I'd like to say that it was an uneventful trip, but a bit of debris falling from a truck I was following shot under the car, with a bang signalling that it had hit something!!!!! The centre box of the exhaust as it happens, which will now need fixing . Anyway I made it to the fishery with Rod and Clive arriving behind me. Getting out of the cars Clive looked around and uttered the immortal words "Well at least it isn't windy"....he really should have known better .

Over to the food bar for a breakfast roll and a cuppa where a healthy turn out of club members was assembling along with Mick the Chippy who was my guest for the day .
The draw took a little longer than usual as Dave had club fees to collect, but the draw was soon underway and I found peg 154 was mine while Mick drew 155 meaning we would have a good old chat today if nothing else.

Into the cars and up to the lake, I soon had my gear at my peg as I was able to park within 20 yards of it. I can't say I was delighted with it as pegs 154-160 are generally regarded as "The Corner of Death" and not the most favoured to say the least, but hopefully we would still get a few .

As we started to set up the wind got up, a nasty chill north easterly from my right blowing down into the corner, making it feel cooler still . Having not fished for a while it took a bit longer than usual to get set up, even though I was going to keep it pretty simple today. Just 2 top kits loaded with black hydro and a couple of rigs the first was an 0·4 NG XT Gimp on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X to fish on the deck at around 10mtrs, while the second was a, 0·3 NG XT Power Pencil Mk 2 again on 0·14 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for a 4mtr line on the deck. Both lines had a similar 4ft of depth. Bait for the day was going to be a mix of maggot and hard 6mm pellet along with some 6mm GOT Rippers .

Mick meanwhile had the site of a couple of randy swans on his pole line that decided it was the perfect time and spot to make cygnets !!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully they soon departed though.
Kev also appeared with a welcome cup of coffee from Jean . Dave signalled the All-In at 10am and I fed a mixed pot of maggot and pellet at 10mtrs, before starting with double red maggot over it, while Mick started on the method just short of the island. Mick was soon off the mark with a gudgeon which led to a discussion of the merits of the humble gobio and soon followed it with a small carp and another gudgeon before my float dipped and I bumped a bottle top off. However it was soon followed by another, all of 2 inches long, but at least I landed it saving myself the dreaded DNW .

I could already hear splashing from up on peg 151 though where Al was able to fish across to the side of the island in relative comfort and seemed to be catching carp already.
Mick was ticking along till he got broken by an unseen denizen of the deep, but I was starting to worry about the destination of the Golden Nugget that was riding on our head to head. Maggot appeared to just attract tiny skimmers and roach so a pot of 6mm's was followed by the rig with a 6mm ripper on the hook. a bit of lifting and dropping resulted in a positive bite and finally a carp was on it's way to the net, a nice plump little mirror of around 1½lbs .

It was still hard graft for me, though Mick kept slipping one or two into the net. By 12o'clock I just had 6 carp and that solitary tiny skimmer to show for my efforts so I fed 3 handfuls of pellet onto the 4mtr line and decided to take a stroll with the camera .

Rod and Ken on the other bank of the Corner of Death were having an ever worse time of it than Mick and I as they had the North Easterly blowing full into their faces ......

Graham at least was sheltered by the island, but was still having a struggle to find some fish and had an early look down his margin with some paste to try and snare a carp or two ......

Vic's peg looked lovely but he was having to work hard for fish that really didn't want to play ball ........

Kev was also struggling despite encouragement from Jean (at least I think that was what it was ) I found Tony fishing his right hand margin as his main swim appeared to have died on him, and was lucky enough to get him to pose for a photo with his next fish ........

Simon was struggling as well despite using his new Maver Elite Carp for the first time and I managed to talk him into letting me have a go with it. A nice pole, but not for me as the balance didn't feel quite right I'm afraid even after I got Simon to fit the 13mtr extension the right way round .

Round to Keith who complained he was being battered by Mick on the next peg, but he was soon into a fish, but as I raised the camera for an action shot the hook gave way. The curse of the camera? who knows but I felt it best to depart before copping a top two round the ear-hole .

Chris was whittling a few out on his first session since recovering from his broken arm, while Dave had gone for a stroll. Looking back though I could see that Keith and Mick were having a good old ding-dong with the two of them both playing fish ......

Clive seemed utterly miserable as he found fishing at 16mtrs to reach the island to much in the wind that was buffeting him and had resorted to the feeder but with little joy . It didn't help that he had to watch Al on the next peg catching well from the side of the island as it sheltered him from the wind, and it was pretty obvious already that he would be the one to beat today ......

As I returned to my peg Jean arrived with a welcome cuppa and a cheeseburger from the food bar, so that was consumed before I got back to the business in hand.
Time to attack the 4mtr line and see if I could make something happen. Feed a small handful of 6mm's and swing a banded 6mm out to the same spot. A couple of lift and drops and the job's a good un as the float buried resulting in a nice little Mirror . It was never hectic but by sticking at it I soon had small carp and F1's coming regularly to the net, forcing Mick into trying a similar approach in an effort to avoid the loss of a Golden Nugget.

Fortunately for me, I managed to keep them coming at a greater rate than Mick and when Dave called the All-Out at 4pm we both knew the destination of the Nugget.

With the kit back in the cars the Weigh-In started at Mick's peg with a hard earned 39½lbs while my net came to a level 63lbs . John chipped in with 23½lbs. Al had made the most of his island peg with a fine 113½lbs . Clive had suffered with just 29lbs and Martin had fared even worse with 17¾lbs . Dave and Chris had had 84lbs and 53lbs and Jim 27½lbs. Mick's 83lbs left him short of Keith's 97½lbs. Zack added 23lbs to the total and Simon could only muster 20lbs while Terry was rewarded with 46lbs. Tony put 61½lbs on the scales, while Jean's coaching had resulted in 37lbs for Kev. Vic's hard work produced 70¼lbs for him while Graham could only muster 20½lbs. Rod and Ken finished things off with 9½lbs and 18¾lbs respectively.

Back to the car park for the results, with Al taking the win . Keith second and Dave 3rd  .   Al, Dave, Keith and Vic taking the sections on the day and Mick's Golden Nugget found a new home in my pocket .

Next up for me is Al's Knock Up at Hawkhurst on the 14th so keep your eyes out for that report .

Position	Peg	Angler		Weight
1st	Peg 151	Al Loader		113lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 141	Keith Ashby		97lbs 08ozs
3rd	Peg 146	Dave Collier		84lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 142	Mick Wright		83lbs 00ozs
5th	Peg 162	Vic Nugent		70lbs 04ozs
6th	Peg 154	Peter Morton		63lbs 00ozs
7th	Peg 136	Tony Roberts		61lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 145	Chris Withall		52lbs 00ozs
9th	Peg 137	Terry Goff		46lbs 00ozs
10th	Peg 155	Mick Pearson	Guest	39lbs 08ozs
11th	Peg 163	Kevin Loveland		37lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 150	Clive Pritchard		29lbs 00ozs
13th	Peg 143	Jim Boase		27lbs 08ozs
14th	Peg 152	John Holdsworth		23lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 139	Zack Johnson		23lbs 00ozs
16th	Peg 161	Graham Manning		20lbs 08ozs
17th	Peg 138	Simon Watkins		20lbs 00ozs
18th	Peg 158	Ken Walker		18lbs 12ozs
19th	Peg 148	Martin Hucker		17lbs 12ozs
20th	Peg 159	Rod Turner		9lbs 08ozs