April 27, 2012

• 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

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

  With the action over for the day all that remained was to get into some dry cloths and while some were eating in their caravans and bivvies some of us went off to the local Harvester for a couple of pints and a meal which went down really well. On our return there was time for a quick chat with a few that were assembled round the hut, but I felt knackered and soon set off to settle down in my green VW Passat bivvie for the night, and almost as soon as I climbed into my sleeping bag and my head hit the pillows I was asleep .
  
  Day 2
  Saturday, April 28th, 2012.
  
  I awoke around 7am to the sound of rain on the windscreen, only a few drops, nowhere near like yesterdays but as I climbed out for a stretch it was noticeably colder than the day before . This was due to a change in wind direction, it had turned through 180° overnight and was now a north easterly blowing straight into pegs 19-21 in the Big Lake. I soon had the stove out and the kettle on for a coffee and also decided to have a pot noodle as I was a bit peckish . Pauline appeared taking Ollie for his morning constitutional and Dave Wall surfaced from his Renault bivvie. By 9am most were up and about and a few of us returned to the Harvester for breakfast .
  
  Fortified by that we returned to the lake and started to sort out our gear for the day ahead. Early reports indicated that the fish would follow the wind meaning the Big Lake would be the place to draw today. Dave Collier confirmed that he wouldn’t be fishing today if he didn’t get a favourable draw as the weather had played havoc with his arthritis, and Kevin was also leaning that way as Jean wasn’t feeling to good either. Around 10·30am the blaring of a car horn signalled the arrival of that force of nature that is The Jinx, yes Malc was at the lake. I have to say that it was good to see him as without him the series wouldn’t exist and definitely wouldn’t be the same (Is that a good thing? answers on a postcard to……………………. )
  
  So 11am and draw time once more. Into the bag and it’s peg 19 for me, another of those pegs that is rarely used as 18 is considered the better peg, but with no peg 18 in the draw and the wind blowing into it should be good for a few today . For company I had Dave Wall on peg 21 and Clive had draw one of his favorites………………..NOT in the shape of peg 23. Neil had drawn peg 9, another decent peg today so I would be able to keep an eye on all three section winners from yesterday .

  

  Settling into the peg It was immediately obvious just how cold the wind was , but I was hopeful it would at least keep the rain at bay. I set up 3 rigs, an 0·4gm NG XT Gimp on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for straight out at around 10mtrs as Nick W reckoned most of his fish had come from there yesterday while the two 0·4gm NG Power Pencil rigs from yesterday would be used hard up against the boat and to the end of the bushes to my right. I also set up the feeder rod today just in case I felt the need for it. Bait was identical to yesterday, a couple of bags of 6mm fishery pellets with some 8mm hard pellet, corn and various soft hookers for change baits with some 6mm’s soaked for use in the feeder should they be needed .

  

  With a bit of time before the All-In I could see a good few were chatting over the prospects for the day ahead over by the hut ……

  

  Rather than join them though Dave and I had a chat, he was fortunate in missing out on another chance to be Minxed as Gem had also decided not to fish today so the pressure was off there, but just for a bit of added interest we had a Golden Nugget on todays head to head ……

  

  Anyway 1pm and time for the All-In, half a small pot of 6mm’s out to the 10mtr line and a few to the bush and against the boat. A banded 6mm out to the 10mtr line resulted in an almost instant bite and the first fish of the day, a common of around 6lbs was soon safely in the net, this was soon followed by a similar sized mirror, a nice start to the match for me . Looking across I could see Malc on peg 25 and it looked as if he was fishing paste to the end of the bush on his left hand side. He was soon into what looked to be a good sized fish that was taking him a while to get under control …….

  

  It proved to be a very decent fish indeed, a Common weighing in at 21lbs 6ozs which Simps managed to get a photo of before Malc returned it ……

  

  The wind was getting up a bit more however making it awkward to fish at 10mtrs so I took an early look over toward the bush again with a banded 6mm, similar to yesterday feeding 20 pellets at a time and working the bait constantly to attract a bite. Soon the float buried and a lift brought solid resistance but gentle pressure lead the fish away from the bush and almost straight into the landing net. A definite weigher that went 15lbs, just what was needed and the start of a steady run of fish pretty much all the way through the match for me . Dave wasn’t so fortunate and was working hard just to attract a bite ……

  

  Over on 23 Clive was already on the feeder and didn’t appear to be enjoying things to much …..

  

  While down on peg 32 Paul appeared to have had a couple of decent fish on the pole …… 

  

  Around half way through the damp and cold wind had got to me and I had to take a break for a walk and today I took the trusty camera with me . Clive by now had swapped to the pole but steadfastly refused to smile for the camera (I told you he hates peg 23 ) …….

  

  Down on peg 30 Simon Watkins had started to put a few good fish together despite having it pointed out to him that he’s set up the top kits on his new pole wrong, telescoping them instead of assembling them as put overs, but soon fell victim to the curse of the camera as about a second after I took this picture the hook pulled ……

  

  Keith was looking a little lonely on peg 34 and was fishing the pole as opposed to the feeder …….

  

  Mat appeared to be fishing a pleasure session tucked away on his own on peg 3, while Budgie appeared to be busy trying to get to grips with his peg ……

  

  Geoff was plugging away down the track on peg 8 which he was fishing for the second day running, so at least he knew where the feed had gone in on the previous day ……

  

  Paul was less than delighted to see me appear with the camera , especially as Simps and Malc were also present to offer support, but he managed to avoid the curse and land the carp he was playing ……

  

  Neil surprisingly was having a bit of a grueller on peg 9 and Nick W-P was looking less than enamoured with peg 10 …….

  

  By the time I got back Dave was targeting the end of the bush on his right hand side and this was the swim he would stick with for pretty much the rest of the match ……

  

  Back to the bush for me and straight away I was into another fish another scrappy mirror of around 7lbs. I don’t know what it is about these fish as they seem to fight a lot harder than the commons. They remind me of the fish we used to catch at Stockton in that they seem to swim with their head down and fight well above their weight. Still they all count and are decent weight builders. A couple of better commons then put in an appearance adding more weight to my total on the board .
  
  I’d also noticed that as the match wore on plenty of people were picking up one or two better fish. Fred had plenty of elastic out on several occasions …….

  

  …… and had started to make regular trips to the scales.
  
  With around 80 minutes to go Neil’s swim woke up for him and he had a decent run of 9 fish that was sure to push him up the leader board ……

  

  I had a lull with around 45 minutes to go and finally took a look with the feeder just past the end of the bush. Within a minute the tip whipped round and after a spirited fight another decent common slid over the net and at 15lbs was a welcome sight . Unfortunately during the fight the rig had tangled in some old line and was badly tangled and rather than re rig it I went back to the pole and managed another 3 fish, two of them weighers before the All-Out was called at 6pm.
  
  I have to admit that I wasn’t to sad to pack the kit away, I’d had a decent day with around 80lbs of weighers on the board and hopefully another 50lbs in the nets but the constant cold wind and drizzle in my face had left me feeling knackered, though satisfied with my day . I soon had my kit back to the car and loaded away and by the time I caught up with the Weigh-In Keith had recorded 59lbs 6ozs and Mat had put an excellent 130lbs 4ozs on the scales to take the small C section of 4 with Dave C and Kevin not fishing. Budgie managed 62¼lbs and Geoff 89¼lbs. Neil’s late run netted him 116¾lbs . Nick W-P had a better second day with 40½lbs while Dave Moore finished the first half of B section with 73½lbs. Nick Williams managed 27lbs while Fred’s trips up to the scales yielded 109½lbs and my fish rolled the scales over to 140½lbs . Dave Wall could only muster a level 30lbs meaning he was waving farewell to a Golden Nugget . Clive with 63½lbs just edged out Dai’s 63¼lbs but Malc had the beating of them both with 87½lbs to round off A section . That left the rest of B section, Simps suffering a grueller with just 28lbs, Simon Watkins recording his first Jinx Ton with 121¾lbs and Paul finishing things off with a fine 119¾lbs .
  
  So a lake win for me today and the bonus of becoming Peg King for peg 19, so as we made our way back to the hut for the results I was happy with that . It got better though as it transpired my 3 points from a section 1st and 2nd was enough for the overall Win . Neil finished one fish short today meaning that a section 1st and 3rd gave him Second place overall while Paul’s 5 point score just edged out Clive’s on a weight countback for Third place .
  

  Day 2 Results
  Position Peg Angler Weight  1st 19  Peter Morton   140lbs 08ozs  2nd 3  Mat Edwards   130lbs 04ozs  3rd 30  Simon Watkins   121lbs 12ozs  4th 32  Paul Roberts   119lbs 12ozs  5th 9  Neil Riddy   116lbs 12ozs  6th 16  Fred Parker   109lbs 08ozs  7th 8  Geoff Palmer    89lbs 04ozs  8th 25  Malc Doyle    87lbs 12ozs  9th 13  Dave Moore    73lbs 08ozs  10th 23  Clive Pritchard    63lbs 08ozs  11th 26  Dai Thomas    63lbs 04ozs  12th 7  Marcus Burgess    62lbs 12ozs  13th 34  Keith Powell    59lbs 06ozs  14th 10  Nick Watkins-Price    40lbs 08ozs  15th 21  Dave Wall    30lbs 00ozs  16th 28  Simon Mound    28lbs 00ozs  17th 14  Nick Williams    27lbs 00ozs   6  Dave Collier DNF   39  Kevin Loveland DNF Section Results A Section
  Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
  1st	3	Mat Edwards	130lbs 04ozs	1
  2nd	8	Geoff Palmer	89lbs 04ozs	2
  3rd	7	Marcus Burgess	62lbs 12ozs	3
  4th	34	Keith Powell	59lbs 06ozs	4
  	6	Dave Collier	DNF	7
  	39	Kevin Loveland	DNF	7
  B Section
  Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
  1st	30	Simon Watkins	121lbs 12ozs	1
  2nd	32	Paul Roberts	119lbs 12ozs	2
  3rd	9	Neil Riddy	116lbs 12ozs	3
  4th	13	Dave Moore	73lbs 08ozs	4
  5th	10	Nick Watkins-Price	40lbs 08ozs	5
  6th	28	Simon Mound	28lbs 00ozs	6
  C section
  Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
  1st	19	Peter Morton	140lbs 08ozs	1
  2nd	16	Fred Parker	109lbs 08ozs	2
  3rd	25	Malc Doyle	87lbs 12ozs	3
  4th	23	Clive Pritchard	63lbs 08ozs	4
  5th	26	Dai Thomas	63lbs 04ozs	5
  6th	21	Dave Wall	30lbs 00ozs	6
  7th	14	Nick Williams	27lbs 00ozs	7

  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 .

   

  

  

   

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