December 13, 2008
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Wyland International Angling Centre, near Battle, East Sussex.
Maggotdrowning.com
Southern Fur & Feather.
Well it was off down to Wylands, just outside Battle today for the Southern Fur & Feather match
on the fishery’s House Lake, that’s been organised for the lads on the Maggotdrowning forum by Trevor(MT Net)Little. Loading up the car it was cold, windy and pouring down with rain (the sort of morning that makes you question your sanity 
) and it didn’t get any better during the trip down 
. Pulling into the fishery and as I got out of the car I realised it was even windier than I thought. A quick bacon sarnie and a coffee while I caught up with the other 14 lunatics assembled proceeded the draw and it has to be said that nobody looked too enthusiastic to get started 
. In fact the conversation revolved around which were the closest pegs to the snack bar 
.
Anyway peg 14 by the footbridge stuck to my palm. A stroll down with the tackle revealed a pretty steep bank that would test the seat box legs out, all in all a little precarious. Mick to my right on 13 was in pretty much the same predicament while across the footbridge I had Jeff D and Al on 15 & 16
. Once I’d managed to level the box up I stuck the brolly up. With the wind swirling and the angle I was fishing at, it meant that I couldn’t get right out of the rain but at least it offered a bit of shelter 
.
I just set up 2 pole rigs, both consisted of Malman 4×14 Snake 1′s on 0·12 to an 0·10 bottom with a size 20 red Drennan carp maggot hook, one for under the bridge, but with only just a couple of feet of depth I wasn’t expecting much from there. The other was for out into open water at 7mtrs where I had around 3½ft. Fishing any longer was out of the question really with the wind and driving rain, Bait was just red maggots with some corn for a change bait and some micro’s for feed.
10am and Trevor called the All-in. A pinch of micro’s and maggots followed by a maggot baited hook soon produced a small roach from the open water swim and set the pattern for the day. Looking round after about an hour though , very few were looking comfortable, though everyone appeared to be catching the odd fish. Now I’ve had my Preston Dri-Fish suit since they 1st came out and it’s served me well, but despite regular NikWaxing after 4 seasons of abuse it’s due for changing, and today the conditions found it out. I could feel the water starting to leak through, so decided to retreat to the snack bar for a warming coffee. I wasn’t the only one either. Mick produced a bottle of Brandy and a shot was added to the coffee (strictly for medicinal purposes of course ) Sitting there certainly seemed a better idea than battling it out with the elements and offered a good view of the lake.
Nick Gilbert right in front of us seemed to be doing OK, alternating between waggler to the island and the pole line, as did Mark(MoleMan)Hathaway a couple of pegs along to the left of Nick. Tony(spamwham) pegged between them was having a bit of trouble however with his umbrella with the wind doing its best to wrap Tony up in it
………….
I returned to my peg for another go, but I have to say that my heart wasn’t in it
, despite the Roach still being there. I stuck it out till about 1pm, but I was cold damp and miserable, so gave it best, tipping back about 6lbs of Roach and hastily getting my gear back to the car. A session with the hand drier in the loo got some feeling back in my hands and I returned to the snack bar to watch the rest of the match, and by the time that Trevor called the All-out at 3pm there were half a dozen of us there .
The weigh-in didn’t take long, Mark(Moleman) taking the honours on the day with 32lbs 15ozs from Nick’s 30lbs 03ozs, though the real shock was Omega Mike sticking it out for the whole 5 hours for 19lbs 10ozs and 3rd place
!
So a quick presentation saw Mark with a nice shiny trophy, while the rest of us all took home a little something from the prize table for Christmas. Thanks to Trevor for organising the day, we all agreed that it was a cracking venue and that we’d like another go at it in better weather. On a final note all the lads chipped in the pools money and Keith at Wylands chipped in £2 from each of our peg fees, meaning £75 was donated to the
Maggotdrowning Christmas Appeal Nice one lads 
.Position Angler Weight 1st Mark(MoleMan)Hathaway 32lbs 15ozs 2nd Nick Gilbert 30lbs 03ozs 3rd Mike(Omega Mike)Jameson 19lbs 10ozs 4th Jeff(Jeff D)Driscoll 13lbs 04ozs 5th Alan(Al)Loader 11lbs 10ozs 6th Tony(spamwham)Roberts 11lbs 05ozs 7th Trevor(MT Net)Little 7lbs 08ozs 8th Bill(Bill G)Gibbins 6lbs 06ozs 9th Simon Elsey 4lbs 04ozs Peter(Mugger)Morton DNW Mick(The Chippy)Pearson DNW Vince(Vince G)Gould DNW Kevin(The Catch)Loveland DNW Matt Love DNW Wayne(map)Taylor DNW The DNW’s aren’t a reflection on the fishery as the 6 anglers all caught,
but packed up early and tipped their fish back.
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