August 7, 2010

• Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

  Maggotdrowning.com

   

  Rolf’s Pairs Tournament 2010.

  

  DAY 1

  Well having stayed over at Rolfs after Dave Collier’s match, I awoke around 7·30am to a rather grey and cloudy day, it had obviously rained during the night, but I soon had the kettle on and breakfast sorted . There was going to be a full house today with some more anglers arriving, making 30 members of the Maggotdrowning forum (18 of them members of this years Jinx Squad  ) assembled from all over the country to fish the Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament 2010, a 2 legged affair fished over both the Saturday & Sunday and this is the 5th year running that the competition has taken place.
  
  Soon people were sorting out their kit while others were arriving and adding to the tented village for the weekend. Conversations were turning to what pegs were going to be fancied draws and how the pairings would turn out. At 11am I had a phone call from Al Loader to let us know that unfortunately work had conspired to stop him fishing this weekend , this left us one short but luckily John kindly agreed to lend Paul East his gear to fish so we were soon back up to the required number .
  
  Around 11·30am John sounded he fishery bell signalling that Dave and I were going to conduct the Pairs Draw, and it has to be said that there were a few strong pairs drawn including 5 pairs made up of anglers that had all been fishing The Jinx Series this year so they were up to speed with how the lake was fishing. My partner for the weekend was Richard(tricky)East, one of the newer forum members and a newcomer to Rolfs.
  
  With that out of the way it was time to draw for todays pegs, and it was around this time that things started to go wrong for me, Yes you guessed it, I opened my hand to find my Nemesis staring back at me………Peg 13 . Unfortunately for Clive he committed the schoolboy error of standing right behind me in the draw and got caught up in the vortex of my misfortune and was duly rewarded with peg 32  once more. Well it provided plenty of amusement for the assembled crowd while Clive and I debated what punishment was suitable for our drawing hands………

  

  Well with the match being fished from 2 – 7pm there was plenty of time to set up, even if I didn’t exactly rush to my peg …….
  

  

   The rigs were simple, a Malman Adam 4×12 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 10mtr line on the deck. A Malman Adam 4×10 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 5mtr line. I also set up a MW Trev on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match for down the margin. Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.
  
  Well at 2pm John sounded the fishery bell to signal the All-In. My initial feed was at 5 and 10mtrs and down the right hand margin, and my 1st put in at 10mtrs with a banded 8mm pellet produced almost instant action as a Carp tore off across the lake leaving just a scale on the hook ……..

  

   Dave next door on peg 11 had snared a quick skimmer on the “feederless feeder” and after about 20 minutes I’d managed a small Carp of around 6lbs. It all went a bit quiet after that however with just a couple of small Roach to break the monotony.
  
  The car park bank looked like the place to be from where I was sitting with all the anglers playing fish at one time or another, indeed Steve snared a Common of 21½lbs but weighed and returned it without as much as a smile much to the consternation of 2 anglers that had dropped in to take a look at the lake before their forthcoming match there. However there was soon a sound that all anglers hate, a loud CRACK and I looked up to see Clive’s pole being towed toward the little lake. The number 5 section had failed but fortunately John managed to hook it out and with the fish still attached Clive played it out from peg 33…….
  

  

   This was followed by another sharp CRACK , this time a top 2 belonging to Mitch on peg 3, amazingly Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson on peg 10 hooked about 15 minutes later with his pellet wag. Well with nothing happening in my peg I reverted to my usual fall back, I filled it in at 5mtrs and set off with my camera . Mick(The Chippy)Pearson was on peg 9 and had been a bit worried about fishing so close to the bush, but he’d gone for it and been rewarded with a 16lb Common early on which gave him the confidence to stick at it  …….
  

  

   Alex was on peg 8 and was steadily picking up a few fish from down the track at 6mtrs and across to the far bank ……
  

  

  Scott on peg 7 was trying to get to grips with his peg but was slowly falling behind Alex despite his best efforts ……
  

  

   I found Geoff on peg 5 and it was a case of steady away for him as he looked to be on the way to building a decent net of fish  …..
  

  

   Paul was on peg 4 and just pleased to be fishing the match after all, Tony was tucked away in the corner on peg 3 and was admitting to having a few, which knowing Tony meant he was on a shed full , but he too had smashed a number 5 section earlier on . Gem (The Minx) was on peg 1, fishing to the bush and with 3 weigher’s already on the board was looking good to add a few more to The Minxed List  ……
  

  

   Working my way round I stopped to commiserate with Clive and try to work out just how many concrete trucks would be needed to fill in pegs 13  and 32  ……..
  

  

   Malc was on peg 25 and it looked as if the power of The Jinx was having a positive effect as he was catching from both his swims and well on his way to a really good weight  ……
  

  

   Terry on peg 23 was looking a lot happier than I’ve seen him recently at Rolfs, with 3 good Carp in the opening period and the odd fish still putting in an appearance it seemed that there was every chance that he might avoid yet another Minxing today  ……..
  

  

   Steve(steak) had moved round a couple of pegs today to peg 20 and still catching, but today he was suffering his fair share of foul hookers and also lost a huge Perch at the net that he felt may have gone 5lbs ……
  

  

   Tom admitted to having a real struggle on peg 19  and Colin was suffering with foul hookers on peg 18. Simon was having another decent day on 17, while Gaz on peg 16 was having a frustrating time and struggling to work out just how they wanted it ……
  

  

   My Pairs partner Richard was on peg 15 and had just switched to fishing worm, while Dave Collier was on peg 14 for a second day running and not really enjoying it anymore than yesterday . Back at my peg a quick chat with Webbo revealed that I hadn’t missed much, though he’d had a couple of fish that had snagged him in the bush to his left  …….
  

  

   Well time marched on with little happening for me, though the car park bank still seemed to be producing and I’d just glanced at my watch and noticed there was an hour to go when my float slid under, lifting into it I was suddenly aware that the amount of resistance indicated something other than a Roach on the other end……..

  

   It proved to be a decent Common and a weigher to boot at 12½lbs. Happily it wasn’t on its own either as in the last hour I added a further 7 carp to the keepnet before John rang the bell for the All-Out. As we packed away a few of the lads were ribbing me that I may as well leave my gear there as I was bound to draw it again tomorrow , but surely fate wouldn’t be that unkind to me would it  ? Anyway declining to tempt fate I soon had my gear back to the car park.
  
  So to the Weigh-In and the first weight of any note was Jon Hatch who managed the first ‘Ton’ with 100¾lbs from peg 39 . Gem had suffered a quiet second half to her match meaning that the cut off for a Minxing was 45¼lbs today. Tony had a cracking day in more ways than one and recorded an excellent 197½lbs, just short of a ‘Double Ton’ from peg3, yet it would prove to be only good enough for 2nd on the day . Tony’s Pairs Partner Geoff backed him up well with 93½lbs from peg5, which would see them going into day 2 in 1st place . My fish registered 64½lbs which at least meant that I’d escaped a Minxing  while my partner Richard managed 1lb more leaving us in mid table. Simon managed the ‘Ton’ with a fine 155¾lbs from peg 17 for 3rd on the day . Malc had the catch of the day though with a superb ‘Double Ton’ recording 211lbs for the win on the day  While Steve Wilson recorded the days final ‘Ton’ with 113¾lbs from peg 19 .
  
  So with all the results collated it was Tony & Geoff in 1st place with Ant & Steve in 2nd and Malc & Gaz in 3rd .
  
  So it was now time for a BBQ and a beer or two  and as the darkness moved in groups settled down to discuss the day events …..

  

   ….. or to mull over tactics for the match tomorrow, or simply catch up with the latest gossip and have a good laugh  ……
  

  

   It was past midnight when I made my way back to my bivvie. Would I have nightmares of peg 13 ? Surely I couldn’t draw it again could I  ?
  All would be revealed in the morning  ………………….

  DAY 2

  I awoke around 7am and shock horror, I’d had a good nights sleep. Even better, the sun was shining from a blue sky .
  On with the kettle for the first cup of coffee, while Webbo’s kind offer of Sausage & Bacon rolls took care of breakfast .
  
  Today was going to be an early draw just after 9am as we were fishing from 11am-4pm so that those that had travelled a considerable distance would be able to get home at a sensible sort of time. So having washed breakfast down with a second cup of coffee it was time to think about packing away the bivvie . It’s one of those jobs I hate, but for a change it seemed to go reasonably well and I managed to cram it all into the unfeasibly small carrying bag on the first attempt , so with everything packed away into the car I was ready for whatever fate would throw my way today .
  
  Lining up for the draw I must admit to a feeling of dread as I knew ‘IT‘ was still in the draw bag as I inched closer .
  However I was soon feeling better as I heard a groan from Scott ahead of me, Yes he’d claimed peg 13  for his very own today. I felt I should commiserate with him, but all I could manage was a silly grin and laughter . Plunging my hand into the bag I found myself looking down on peg 1, yet another peg I’d not fished previously, that The Minx had fished yesterday……
  

  

   So round to peg 1 with the gear to set up. Now normally it’s just pegs 40 & 2 on this bank that are used, but for a change this weekend pegs 39, 1 & 3 had been used. Geoff had drawn peg 3 and was hoping for a similar result to that achieved by his partner Tony who’d fished it the previous day, while to my right on peg 39 was Gaz hoping for a better result than yesterday.
  Poor Jonny Broadbent had just wheeled his Rive to peg 38 and turned round to do something else when there was an almighty SPLASH!!!! The box complete with wheelkit had rolled down the bank depositing itself in his peg, not the ideal start to his day .
  
  Rig wise I just set up a couple of Malman Adam 4×12′s on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1′s to cover the 5 and 10mtr lines which were of similar depth and a Malman 4×12 Snake IV on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 to fish the bottom of the marginal shelf under the bush to my left. I also got the feeder rod out of it’s ready sleeve just in case things got desperate Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.
  
  I have to say that it felt quite strange setting up so early for a match at Rolfs, and I felt that we may all be in for a bit of a grueller , especially with the change in the weather as well. At 11am John signalled the All-In by ringing the bell and I fed all 3 of my lines before starting on a banded 8mm at 5mtrs. While I couldn’t see Geoff on peg 3 I could hear him and it was obvious that he’d caught a fish pretty quickly . Dave had joined the action pretty quickly as well, winkling out a couple of Carp from down his right hand margin. Other than that though there didn’t seem to be much happening.
  

  

   Gaz had gone out long fishing shallow and got of the mark with a Common of around 12lbs……

  

  I couldn’t buy as much as a bite however, nothing not even a solitary silver to show for my efforts after 3 hours. The bush that had produced for Gem yesterday offered little in the way of cover from the sun today and the only signs of anything were at 10mtrs where the usual fizzing kept happening over the feed . The feeder with dampened pellet and double sweetcorn on the hook finally produced a bite just after 2pm and a feisty little Mirror of around 6lbs was soon safely in the net to save the dreaded DNW, but with Gem on peg8 and getting a few fish I just knew that I was on for a Minxing today.
  
  Malc had been on a stroll round and reported that most were struggling today and it appeared that Chris on peg 7 and Tony on peg 26 were having the best of it today and with Geoff having a few on a difficult day it would probably be enough for them to secure the title. However Ant had started to have a couple over on peg 38……
  

  

   Strangely despite struggling today I hadn’t filled it in and gone for a walk, just stuck at it and plugged away though it appeared to be all in vain. With about an hour left I managed a Common of around 7lbs on the pole at 10mtrs.

  

  Could this be the start of a decent last hour for me for the third match in a row? In a word NO . All that followed were a couple of foul hookers which just left me with scales for souvenirs, while a third led me a merry dance forcing me to thread my top kit under the platform…….

  

  ……. on two separate occasions before the hook pulled free. In fact it ended up feeling like a blessed relief when John rang the bell for the All-Out at 4pm .
  
  So time to pack everything away which was all going smoothly until I noticed that 3 sections of my margin pole were missing . I knew where I’d left them, and knew in my heart where they would be ……………. In the lake .
  Oh well it had to be done, down to my underpants and flip flops and in, it wasn’t to unpleasant and I located the sections straight away. Geoff gave me a hand out and as I turned round who should I spy with a camera but Malc ,
  A fair cop I suppose after all the times I’ve caught him ……..
  

  

   Rather than waste time I weighed my 2 carp at the weigh station behind me, recording a whole 13¼lbs on the board and returned to the business of packing away as the Weigh-In passed me by, the rate of it’s progress revealing just how hard the fishing had been today. Notable weights were Chris(cybermanc)Ellis who’d fished the feeder all day on peg 7 for 111lbs and his 1st ever match win  . Tony coming 2nd overall for the second day running with 90¼lbs . While Clive managed to draw somewhere other than peg 32  and with a level 60lbs was 3rd on the day  . Meanwhile Gem had 50½lbs which meant that apart from the top 3 and the Malman brothers the rest of us got Minxed .
  

  

   So with everything out of the way we assembled outside the hut for the results to be read out, pools to be paid out and the trophies awarded by Mr Maggotdrowning himself , Dave(Webbo)Webster to the winning team of………..

  
  

   Geoff Palmer & Tony Roberts  

  Congratulations to both of them .
  Well earnt over the weekend finishing 22 points clear,
  and Tony becoming the 1st angler to win it twice .
  

  Finally a few words of Thanks are due to the following people………
  John & Pauline Bennett for allowing us the use of their superb fishery during the weekend .
  Dave Webster, for bringing us all Maggotdrowning.com and organising the whole weekend .
  Tubertini who provided enough goodies to make sure that everyone took home a little something .
  Finally, all those Maggotdrowners that took part, the weekend wouldn’t be the success it is without you .

  Pairs Result

  Position	Pairs	Saturday	Sunday	Total
  1st	Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer & Tony(Spamwham)Roberts	25/29=54	24/29=53	107
  2nd	Ant(Antwood)Haywood & Steve Wilson	22/27=49	16/20=36	85
  3rd	Malc(The Jinx)Doyle &  Gaz Malman	30/12=42	14/27= 41	83
  4th	Gemma(The Minx)Doyle & Clive Pritchard	7/19=26	25/28=53	79
  5th	Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent & Jon(Hatchye)Hatch	5/26=31	22/20= 42	73
  6th	Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess & Colin(The Pike)Sharrard	23/14=37	1/23=24	61
  7th=	Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound & Dave Moore	28/ 9=37	13/ 9 =22	59
  7th=	AlexMalman & Tom(tommodiesel)Little	24/ 5=29	26/ 4= 30	59
  9th	Keith(Keith74)Powell & Chris(cybermanc)Ellis	10/3=13	15/30=45	58
  10th=	Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East & Dave(Webbo)Webster	18/2=20	10/21= 31	51
  10th=	Dave(The Fish)Collier & Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson	13/1=14	17/20=37	51
  12th	Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff & Mick(The Chippy)Pearson	20/15=35	12/ 3= 15	50
  13th	Richard(tricky)East & Peter(Mugger)Morton	18/16=34	8/7=15	49
  14th	Steve(Steak)Akal & Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas	21/ 6=27	11/1=12	39
  15th	Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger & Scott(methodgob)Weston	11/8=19	5/ 6=11	30

  Saturday Individual Result

  Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
  1st	25	Malc(The Jinx)Doyle	211lbs 00ozs
  2nd	3	Tony(Spamwham)Roberts	197lbs 08ozs
  3rd	17	Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound	155lbs 12ozs
  4th	29	Steve Wilson	113lbs 12ozs
  5th	39	Jon(Hatchye)Hatch	100lbs 12ozs
  6th	5	Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer	93lbs 08ozs
  7th	8	AlexMalman	85lbs 00ozs
  8th	31	Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess	84lbs 04ozs
  9th	30	Ant(Antwood)Haywood	82lbs 08ozs
  10th	20	Steve(Steak)Akal	77lbs 12ozs
  11th	23	Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff	75lbs 08ozs
  12th	32	Clive Pritchard	74lbs 12ozs
  13th=	4	Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East	65lbs 08ozs
  13th=	15	Richard(tricky)East	65lbs 08ozs
  15th	13	Peter(Mugger)Morton	64lbs 08ozs
  16th	9	Mick(The Chippy)Pearson	63lbs 12ozs
  17th	18	Colin(The Pike)Sharrard	62lbs 12ozs
  18th	14	Dave(The Fish)Collier	56lbs 00ozs
  19th	16	Gaz Malman	54lbs 08ozs
  20th	34	Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger	51lbs 08ozs
  21st	28	Keith(Keith74)Powell	49lbs 04ozs
  22nd	36	Dave Moore	48lbs 12ozs
  23rd	7	Scott(methodgob)Weston	47lbs 12ozs
  24th	1	Gemma(The Minx)Doyle	45lbs 04ozs
  25th	22	Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas	36lbs 08ozs
  26th=	38	Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent	33lbs 08ozs
  26th=	19	Tom(tommodiesel)Little	33lbs 08ozs
  28th	26	Chris(cybermanc)Ellis	23lbs 08ozs
  29th	11	Dave(Webbo)Webster	22lbs 08ozs
  30th	10	Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson	13lbs 12ozs

  Sunday Individual Result

  Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
  1st	7	Chris(cybermanc)Ellis	111lbs 00ozs
  2nd	26	Tony(Spamwham)Roberts	90lbs 04ozs
  3rd	14	Clive Pritchard	60lbs 00ozs
  4th	39	Gaz Malman	56lbs 04ozs
  5th	5	AlexMalman	55lbs 08ozs
  6th	8	Gemma(The Minx)Doyle	50lbs 08ozs
  7th	3	Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer	49lbs 08ozs
  8th	18	Colin(The Pike)Sharrard	49lbs 04ozs
  9th	36	Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent	49lbs 00ozs
  10th	4	Dave(Webbo)Webster	42lbs 08ozs
  11th=	20	Steve Wilson	42lbs 04ozs
  11th=	32	Jon(Hatchye)Hatch	42lbs 04ozs
  11th=	17	Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson	42lbs 04ozs
  14th	9	Dave(The Fish)Collier	39lbs 12ozs
  15th	38	Ant(Antwood)Haywood	38lbs 08ozs
  16th	25	Keith(Keith74)Powell	38lbs 00ozs
  17th	34	Malc(The Jinx)Doyle	37lbs 04ozs
  18th	18	Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound	34lbs 08ozs
  19th	29	Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff	30lbs 08ozs
  20th	23	Steve(Steak)Akal	29lbs 00ozs
  21st	31	Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East	20lbs 00ozs
  22nd	10	Dave Moore	18lbs 12ozs
  23rd	19	Richard(tricky)East	18lbs 08ozs
  24th	1	Peter(Mugger)Morton	13lbs 04ozs
  25th	13	Scott(methodgob)Weston	10lbs 00ozs
  26th	11	Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger	8lbs 12ozs
  27th	30	Tom(tommodiesel)Little	8lbs 08ozs
  28th	28	Mick(The Chippy)Pearson	6lbs 08ozs
  29th=	22	Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess	DNW
  29th=	15	Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas	DNW

  

  

   

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