Marsh AC club match.

An early start for me today as it’s a return to The Reservoir at Mill Barn Coarse Fishery for the 3rd Marsh AC match of the year. A glance out of the window confirmed that it looked like a pretty changeable day would lie ahead, so with the cats fed and a couple of coffees drunk the car was loaded up and the waterproofs included along with the rest of the kit . I met up with Chris at Dave’s house just after 6am, the reason for the early start being that the first stop today would be a stop at the Castle pub in Little Wakering for breakfast . A steady trip down saw us pulling into the pub car park just after 7·15am to find Kev, Jean and Keith already waiting. I have to say the Full English was Top Quality and well worth the £6 , and having satisfied the inner angler we made our way down to the fishery about 5 minutes down the road.

On arrival we found a number of carpers bivvied up on the car park bank , despite notices posted on the fishery gate reserving this and the left hand bank for our match, but rather than have confrontation we decided to just use 17 pegs down the left hand bank. Waiting for the draw the banter flowed, though I’m not sure that Tony was impressed when he enquired ” Where’s the sunken island” and I helpfully informed him that “It’s under the water“.

Time for the draw and when I went up for mine there were no pegs left in the hat!!!! Somehow only 16 numbers had gone in the hat. I agreed to take number 17 to avoid the aggro of a redraw, but John quite fancied fishing next to Martin who was on peg 16, so it was agreed that I would take John’s draw (peg 9).

I made my way round to my peg and got down to settling in, the water was well down, well below the swims and with steeply sloping clay there was no way I could get my box down to water level . I elected to stake my nets and fish sitting on the sleeper, a little awkward, but better than being perched high above the water.

Jinx Match 2

Isn’t nature a wonderful thing? That’s debatable when it seems the whole dawn chorus is focused on waking you up at 5·45am on a Saturday morning . Well having stayed at the lake overnight after yesterdays MD’s Fund Raiser I was probably a bit disorientated but I was soon up, changed and had the kettle on for an early morning coffee . It seemed that I was first up today, even the traffic on the motorway was reasonably quiet at that time of the morning and it was easy to appreciate the lure that Rolfs has for the anglers that fish it .

It was quite overcast, but I took the opportunity to have a slow stroll round the lake. Not a lot was moving as I made my way round apart from a moorhen scuttling out from under the bush on peg 23. A few carp were cruising, but not in the numbers you often see prior to the matches. A couple of ducks awoke from under the cover of the bushes between pegs 3 & 4. By the time I got back to the car park Jean had risen and stuck the kettle on so another cuppa would soon be in order .

We sat around discussing various things as one by one the rest of the campers surfaced. Some of us had already decided that breakfast at The Harvester in Wheatley would be a fitting start to the day and just after 8am 8 of us set off to partake. The service might not of been the friendliest but breakfast certainly hit the spot along with loads of toast and tea and on our return everyone was up and about as they packed up their bivvies and tidied things away.

It’s the 2nd match The Jinx Series today and it was just a question of waiting for the rest of the participants to turn up, as some hadn’t fished yesterday. Banter flew around as usual , mostly focused on the prospects for the day ahead and the pegs people wanted to draw. The other topic was of course the subject of the Pink Elephant Hat and it’s wearer for the Day. That was pretty much a done deal though after a post that Jon had put on the forum saying that he was going to bring his young son Sam who’d asked “Why is that man wearing a silly hat? ” and “Does that mean you’re going to wear the hat next Dad? ” when Jon had shown him the reports from the 1st match. Well it would have been rude to disappoint him wouldn’t it ……

 So onto the draw and A section. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want peg 7 again after yesterday, but unfortunately it escaped my clutches and I found myself holding peg 38 . It’s one of those all or nothing pegs and with the wind in the wrong direction for it today and only a solitary carp coming off it yesterday I wasn’t feeling confident as I wheeled my kit round there .

I had Gem to my right on peg 36 along with Kev on peg 34, so not to far for Jean to bring a coffee . Budgie had claimed peg 40 while Webbo had peg 2. Paul and Nick had pegs 4 & 5 with Al and Steve on 7 and 8 to complete A section.

Settling in to the peg I examined the options, The bush down the left hand margin being the only obvious feature. Rigs were simple and pretty much all in place after yesterdays match. A MW 0·6 Diamond on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 14 Guru MWG would be for straight out at 7mtrs where I had an even 3½ feet of water in all directions, while the NG 0·3 XT Sampson margin on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 12 Guru QM1 would be used to fish at the bottom of the ledge by the bush. One additional rig made up with an 0.2 NG Edger on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 12 Guru QM1 would be used on top of the ledge in front of the bush, while the feeder rod was on standby if it got really tough. Bait was the same as yesterday, 6,8 and 11mm fishery pellets and a selection of various soft hookers, though I did have some paste I could make up should the lumps turn up in the margin.

So 1pm and the All-In was called, a couple of pots of mixed pellet onto the 7mtr line and a couple of generous handfuls to the bush on my left before shipping out a banded 11mm to 7 mtrs. It was soon obvious that the wind was going to be a pain gusting as it was from left to right and in my heart of hearts I just knew that sport was going to be neither fast or furious . In fact it seemed to be pretty slow all around the Little Lake except for Webbo on peg 2 who was fishing the ‘feederless feeder’ (a pellet cone to anyone else ) into the sheltered water against the bushes between pegs 3 & 4 which was producing a few carp for him from what I could see…..

My first fish appeared after 45 minutes, but rather than the hoped for carp proved to be a plump skimmer of around 2lbs. Gem was having a real struggle on peg 36, but at least that meant that I might escape a Minxing today. Indeed it wasn’t till nearly 2 hours in that a rather stifled Yeeesssss was heard as she landed a skimmer to get her off the mark. I’d managed a couple of carp by then, but it was really hard work and apart from Webbo the only one I could see who was doing any good was Steve up on peg 8 .

Jean popped down with a cup of coffee and told me that Kev had a couple of weighers on the board from peg 34 and Paul appeared to put a couple of fish together but it was short lived……

 A couple of quick looks down the margin yielded nothing other than a couple of small roach that hung themselves on an 11mm pellet . While to my left Budgie was working his way through numerous combinations and only fairing marginaly better than me ……

In fact as the match wore on it was rapidly turning into one of those that I couldn’t wait to end . Dave was still taking fish every 10-15 minutes and looked bolted on to take the section and looking up towards the Big Lake I could see Al working hard……

The lack of walkers today made me feel that the Big Lake was probably fishing the better of the 2 . Gem had resorted to targetting silvers with maggot to put a bit of weight in the net and with around an hour to go treated us to a proper YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS as she finally had a carp to show for her efforts. I managed a solitary carp from the margin swim but that was it, and I was pestered by silvers after that till the end when the All-Out was called at 6pm.

Packing away I had no expectations as I knew I only had around 30lbs. With my gear back at the car I set off for the weigh-in, but they’d already started and had reached Budgie before I caught up . A quick glance at the sheet revealed that Gem had only recorded 10½lbs after finding a hole in her silvers net , while my weight was 38¼lbs. Indeed it was Webbo that had taken A section with 123¼lbs and third overall .
Malc on peg 9 had comprehensively walked B section and taken the overall win with a weight of 175¾lbs , while Simon on peg 10 avenged his previous days Minxing with 133¾lbs for second in section and second overall . Clive took a fine C section win with 96¾lbs and in the process became Peg King for Peg 20 , while Nick W-P had the misfortune to record a mere 1lb 6ozs from peg 17 and as the only regular member of The Jinx Squad to be Minxed guaranteed himself The Pink Elephant for match 3 .

The next Jinx Match is on 18th June, with a night match on the Friday. I won’t be fishing the night match, but I’m in B section on the Saturday, and with the way I’ve been drawing so far in the Series, what’s the betting that I end up on PEG13 !!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Names in Pink are those that were “MINXED”

Maggotdrowning.com

Fund Raiser

Marsh AC club match.

The Top Lake at Rayne Lodge just outside of Braintree in Essex is the venue for what is the second Marsh AC club match of the year. A quick glance through the curtains confirmed that the forecaster hadn’t been kidding last night and it promised to be a fine sunny day , so shorts and tee shirt were the order of the day. Cats fed and coffee drunk I loaded up the car and set off round to Dave’s house where I met up Chris and Dave for the trip down to the fishery. An accident on the way to the Dartford Tunnel meant we had to divert round it making us a little late, but we still pulled into the car park just after 8am.

Soon all the kit was transfered down the hill to the lake and discussions were underway about the prospects for the day ahead. Vic( SHANGER) Nugent was fishing his first club match with us since joining and had brought his partner Diane along to fish as well , while Keith had brought workmate Mick along as his guest once more. Into the draw and peg 14 was mine for the day (one away from the one I had on my last visit here)……

while Keith drew peg 14A to my left……

 with Kevin and partner Jean to my right on peg 12 and Al next up on peg 11A……

I have to say that the lake looked cock on, There were plenty of fish showing, however they just appeared to be mooching about and it looked as if they were getting ready to spawn to me.

With us fishing from 10·15am till 4·15pm today there was plenty of time to set up, so everything got an outing today. 2 pellet waggler rods and a method feeder set up came out of their ready sleeves along with 3 top kits for the pole.

The top kits were set up with 2 Sackup CX 4×12 pencils on 0·16 Ultima Power Match finishing with size 16 Guru MWG’s and a NG 0·3 XT Sampson margin on 0·16 Ultima Power Match finishing with size 16 Guru MWG for the margin line. Feed was 6mm hard pellet, with dampened pellet for the method while hook baits were 6 & 8mm hard pellet, corn and a selection of GOT Baits soft hookers.

Jean kindly provided me with my customary coffee and a bonus today in the shape of a freshly cooked sausage & bacon roll so I was well set by the time Dave sounded the All-In at 10·15am. A pot of pellets and corn onto each my selected lines then I shipped a banded 6mm pellet out to 7mtrs. A minute later and the float slid away and carp number 1 was on its way to the net . Unfortunately it was only a couple of ounces, not quite the stamp I was looking for . A better example of around a pound was next up and this was followed by a couple of skimmers and I got the impression that the fish I was really looking for weren’t present in any numbers.

I’d started catapulting a few pellets across to the corner of the island and after around an hour took a look with the pellet waggler after re-feeding my pole lines. There were fish there alright, I could see them cruising, but after half an hour I’d only managed 3 small carp for my efforts. A quick look with the feeder was unproductive so it was back to the pole.

At this stage nobody appeared to be running away with it, and the word was that it was generally fishing slow. I started to get a few carp interested on my 7mtr line, nothing remarkable, but enough to make me feel that I was holding my own against Keith . Another coffee and sausage & bacon roll from Jean was most welcome , so having been re-fed myself, I re-fed the swim and took a quick stroll to try and see what was happening elsewhere.

Keith was starting to find a few on a more regular basis, though he was ruing the loss of a ‘Double’ that had taken off out of his swim and just kept going ……

 Simon appeared to be ticking along nicely picking up fish by alternating between on the deck and up in the water in an attempt to keep in touch with the fish……

 Diane was playing a fish as I passed and seemed to think that she might have the beating of Vic …….

 …… and although Vic was also playing a fish, a quick chat revealed that he was far from confident in gaining the upper hand today ……

 Terry on peg 22 claimed to be struggling, though he was playing a fish while we chatted. while Eddie on peg 1 appeared to be ticking along nicely and enjoying his first day out on the bank for a while ……

Dave had started to catch fishing floaters under the tree to his left and while he was having trouble feeding due to the resident geese he seemed to be getting a decent stamp of fish , and it seemed that Martin had followed his lead and was starting to catch a similar stamp of fish from peg 6 round the corner from Dave ……

Clive was claiming to have a mare, but the fact that he was happy to pose with a small roach that he caught led me to believe that he might just be sand bagging about how his match was going …..

I found Mick in the corner on peg 11 and was shocked to see him fishing the waggler , but he was having a bit of a lean time and figured that it was the best way to tempt a few……

 As I got back to my peg Keith was into another fish so it was time to get my head down and concentrate. First put in and the float buried as a carp intercepted the bait and although the sport was never fast or furious, I managed to keep the fish coming on a reasonably regular basis by keeping the pellet going in to hold the fish. It was nip and tuck between me and Keith right the way to the end with a bit of banter back and forth between the two of us right up till the end when Dave called the All-Out at 4·15pm while I played a final fish that took my total up to 51 carp.

As we packed up I knew it would be to close to call between Keith and I and with the weigh in starting on peg 1 it had made it’s way round to Martin on peg 6 before I caught up with it to find Dave leading with a fine 114¾lbs which would prove to be good enough to take the win on the day as Martin’s net came up a little short at 103¾lb, but still good enough for 2nd . Clive had indeed been economical with the truth as his net came in at a level 89lbs for 3rd overall . Al managed 64½lbs while my fish weighed a total of 73lbs giving me the section and just edging out Keith’s 71½lbs . Simon’s 64½lbs allowed him to tie for 6th with Al . Round to peg 20 where Diane placed a level 48lbs on the scales to take the decision from Vic’s 34½lbs, though of course we were all full of sympathy for him …………….NOT

Back up the hill to the car park for the results and the section monies and that was it for another match . The next match is at Mill Barn Reservoir on June 11th where I’ll be defending a narrow 1 point lead from Al and Clive with Keith just a point further back.

Jinx Match 1

Marsh AC v  Morefax AC

Well I’m down at Hartleylands today for a small Knock Up on Nick’s Lake. A couple of weeks ago Dave Collier posted the following on my club forum…… “ Some of my son-in-laws mates have invited me and a few Marsh members for a little knock up on 23rd April. They normally fish as a small club with usually 8 or 10 of them. Between their organiser and myself we have booked the whole of Nicks lake for Saturday 23rd of April. So how many of you want to risk the wrath of SWMBO and come fishing on Easter Saturday”   Well after an invitation like that, it would be rude not to wouldn’t it .

We had been hoping to have a Marsh club match around this time, but a combination of Easter, Royal Wedding and a lack of available bookings on suitable venues meant that the invitation from the Morefax lads offered a welcome opportunity for about a dozen of us to get out on the bank .

With plenty of time to set up before the All-In at 10am the pellet wag and feeder rod were taken out of their ready sleeves, though in all honesty I was only expecting to fish the pole. 3 rigs took care of my options, once again all Sackup CX 4×12 pencils on 0·16 Ultima Power Match finishing with size 16 Guru MWG’s. pretty much the same rigs I’d used at Monks on the previous Marsh match ……

The first to fish at around 10mtrs where there was around 4ft of water and the other two to cover two margin lines. Bait for the day being a combination hard pellets and soft hookers.

 while second and third had come from adjacent pegs with Dave Collier’s 90lbs from peg 21 giving him 2nd place ahead of Lee Rose (peg 20) whose 79lbs gave him 3rd overall .
Kevin on peg 24 had 64lbs to give him the section on the day while Nick Bondeau on peg 27 managed 59½lbs to take the final section and his first ever pick up in a match . All in all a good day, with everyone having some fish and I’m sure it won’t be the last time that the Marsh and Morefax clubs get together for a friendly Knock Up .

Maggotdrowning.com

Fund Raiser

Something a little different this Saturday as I was off down to Rolfs Lake where Malc The Jinx Doyle had organised a Fund Raiser to help with the hosting costs of the Maggotdrowning.com website. All 38 pegs are going to be in use as this was over subscribed within a few days of it being announced. I wouldn’t be fishing, just roving the bank with my camera to record the events of the day as with quite a few Rolfs novices in attendance there should be more than a few laughs and shocks along the way.

Looking out of the window it was obvious that the forecast for the warmest day of the year was right for once, and with no fishing kit to load in the car, just a few raffle prizes along with the camera, a leisurely cup of coffee was enjoyed while I fed our 3 cats before setting off via Battersea for a spot of breakfast . With that taken care of I was back on the road, arriving at Rolf’s around 9·15am.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the car park so full, hardly surprising as there were 36 anglers who actually made it to Rolfs on the day. Malc even appeared to be organised for a change sorting out the draw  ……

with raffle tickets being sold along with the ‘Guess the Weight’ sweep-stake. Lots of banter with faces old and new ensued as draw time approached ……

All to soon it was under way, accompanied by moans , groans, smiles and all other manner of reactions as people made their way to their allotted pegs.

I made my way round to help John & Pauline sort out the nets for all the anglers, while chatting with a few about the prospects of their various pegs. How would it fish? Nobody knew as Rolfs doesn’t ever see Matches with so many pegs in use.

The All-In was sounded at 11·15am as I made my way round the motorway bank. Steve Wilson was already doing battle on peg 14 with what was obviously a good carp, unfortunately it appeared to snag him under his nets, and we both thought it had shed the hook when a good fish surfaced by them and swam off. Steve started to retrieve his net to extract the hook when he realised that the fish was still attached, and after resuming the battle soon had it safely in the landing net, an obvious weigher, it went 16lbs, a great start to Steve’s day ……

Down to peg 13 and Neil Riddy remarked that he’d had a couple of early bites with nothing to show for them, when his float slid away once more, This time he connected but was convinced it was a bream, till it surfaced,  Carp!!!!! but after a short battle it was in the net getting him off the mark ……

Over on peg 32 Mark Gilbert had his elastic stretched for him before it snapped back into his pole and the hook came back with a scale on it, and as Neil remarked “Nobody likes to see that ” though that may just have been a bit tongue in cheek .

Things appeared to be hotting up on the car park bank to, as I could see Pete (crayfishtraps) was well into a fish, though it was certainly giving a good account of itself on his Black Hydro ……

A chilling sound was soon to be heard however as a scream of “YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!” reverberated round the lake, Gem (THE MINX) on peg 21 was off the mark and searching for victims to add to her list , not a big fish at around 7lbs, but good enough to start with and put the fear of failure in many a heart ……

Making my way round to the car park bank I could see Keith 74 was into a decent fish, however he was having a bit of trouble controlling it especially when it went through peg 26 and collected Len Wade’s rig as well. Who was playing who? or was the fish playing with both of them?……

Fortunately Len’s rig came loose and it was a very relieved Keith who finally bundled the fish into a landing net, a weigher that had really made him work for it ……

Looking around after a while it became obvious that it was just the odd fish coming out. The warm sun had certainly got the fish moving about, but they didn’t appear to be settling, just mooching around, almost as if they were already thinking about spawning. Jean had provided me with a coffee and I was able to have a leisurely look around, a nice change to the view I normally get when fishing myself.

Over on peg 11 Liam (Jinx Jnr) was a picture of concentration as his Dad offered guidance and encouragement ……

While Dai next door on peg 10 had that look of fierce concentration that told you that he’d rather not get beaten off the next peg by an eight year old  ……

Next to Dai on peg 9 was Chris Lovelock, a good angler who had been more than happy with his draw and hopeful of putting a decent weight together today, unfortunately for Chris though the fish appeared to be having other ideas  ……

Al had drawn peg 7, ideal for his favoured long pole approach, however today he had his 3 children with him, Al Jnr , Jenny and Gary who had come along to offer Dad their support  ……

and to be fair he had been getting quite a bit of stick from a few of us, having been christened “Daddy Daycare” for the day  ……

Next up on peg 7 was Clive looking reasonably happy with his peg, while next along were Ian (Chin) on peg 6 and Geoff on peg 5 ……

Kevin was tucked down in peg 34 with his partner Jean keeping an eye on him, and as I made my way round he was landing what was to prove to be his 2nd fish of the day  ……

Next up came Martin (Coopster1) having his first go at Rolfs and a little unlucky to find himself on peg 35, a peg that normally doesn’t get a lot of use  ……

Adam (dumdum) was another of those on his 1st visit, and while peg 36 had a bit more form, he wouldn’t have found to many wanting to fight him for it today  ……

Meanwhile on peg 37 Budgie already had the look of a man resigned to his fate , it’s not a peg he fancied and he already felt that he was just going through the motions ……

Mitch had already set out his stall to attack the margins on peg 38, a plan that if it came off could reap big dividends, but could also backfire on him  ……

Down on peg 40 Dave could be found in splendid isolation as with neither peg 39 or peg 1 being drawn he had plenty of water to go at, it just needed the fish to co-operate  ……

  Tucked away right in the corner on peg 3, and trying to get to grips with match fishing I found Steve Preston (Luckyluca) ……

 While sat on peg 2 was his son Joshua who had come along to fish his first ever match and it has to be said that it looked like Dad was in serious danger of receiving a battering from his lad  as Josh was 2-1 up on him and playing another fish as I passed by  ……

Simon (Simple) was having a bit of a struggle on peg 4 , with just a single fish and fearing the worst knowing that girlfriend Gem had caught, but I seemed to bring him a bit of luck (a Mugger Moment© ) as he was soon into another carp which was obviously happy to pose for the camera ……

Carrying on round for another lap of the lake Geoff seemed happy enough with his lot, with a couple of fish already in the net being enough for him to be happy that he’d not blanked  ……

Peg 7 and shock horror , I found Clive not only fishing LONG but SHALLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those that know Clive will truly appreciate the rarity of this event  ……

Al in truth was having a bit of a mare on peg 8, which wasn’t helped by people reminding him that the peg had won the match on Wednesday with the 1st 300lb weight of the year and having to keep an eye on his 3 kids, however he did manage to land one while I was there……

      and was happy enough to pose for a photo to cheer himself up a bit  ……

As I approached Dai’s peg I could hear a fair bit of splashing and arrived just in time to witness Dai sliding the net under what was obviously a good double  ……

which I was only to happy to weigh it for him, and it was good to see his smile as I returned with the fish and the news that it weighed 15¼lbs .

 Liam was sticking at it, and by now had 3 carp to show for his efforts, despite feeling tired after being dragged out of bed at 5am for the trip up with his Dad  ……

Neil was swapping between various lines trying to find what they wanted, you could see the fish cruising, getting them interested was another thing however  ……

The rest of the motorway bank seemed to be fairing no better although fish could be seen in the area  ……

Steve was struggling follow up his good start, while Scott, Chris E and Tricky only had the 1 fish each, something that Rod Rose (Isis) on peg 18 would have happily settled for at that point  ……

 Royst was working hard on peg 19 with 2 fish to show for his efforts, while Mark on peg 20 was still to get off to any sort of start. Gem however had a smile as she knew that she already had more than a few running scared at the prospect of being added to The Minx List  ……

Most of the car park bank were off the mark apart from Jay (nemesis) MarkC and Bazza. It was no fault of Bazza’s however as the poor soul was suffering horribly from what appeared to be food poisoning that was making him be sick at regular intervals .

With the match well into it’s second half I settled down with another coffee (Thanks Jean ) for a chat with Kev. He’s one of my Marsh AC club mates and was still stuck on the 2 carp he’d caught earlier. I could see fish in his swim and suggested a few small changes to his approach. With these taken care of and a bit of fine tuning Kev was rewarded with his own Mugger Moment© and soon had carp no3 in the net……

In fact he soon got the hang of what was needed and started to pick up fish on a steady basis .

In general though most on the Little Lake were finding sport pretty slow, though looking across I could see that Ian was picking up one or two better fish on peg 6 ……

The man to beat however appeared to be Clive, who seemed to be getting a better stamp of fish, mind you all fish look big when Clive’s holding them  ……

Making my way round for a final time Simon was bemoaning the fact that even his ever reliable get out of jail tactic of a white boilie fished shallow wasn’t producing , however within seconds of me arriving he was in again he was in as carp no 4 made it’s way to the landing net, definitely a Mugger Moment©  ……

Strolling round I looked over to see that Kev was in the process of landing another fish, so things had definitely picked up in the later stages for him  ……

For the final 25 minutes I sat with Gem to see if I could bring her a little bit of luck, and although she did have a couple of bites, she didn’t manage to connect with either of them .

The All-Out was sounded at 4·15pm with Tricky shouting “Fish On “  and plenty of elastic coming from his top kit indicating it was a good fish, and despite lots of encouragement? he was rewarded with a cracking 17lb+ Common ……

While all around were packing up ready for the Weigh-In, Al gave in and let his kids have a little go with his kit, and of course with son Gary fishing down the channel where Al hadn’t had a bite all day the float buried ……

With plenty of onlookers Al did the honours with the landing net, Gary’s reward being a 17¾lb Common , the largest fish from the peg all day, I told Al he should have let his kids fish  ……

 

On to the Weigh-In, Kevin (peg34) set the mark with 53¼lbs to win A Section . Ian (peg6) put 65¾lbs on the scales which would give him 3rd place overall but Clive (peg7) weighed in 88½lbs to take the spoils in B Section and the overall win on the day .

 Liam recorded 20¾lbs to take a few scalps while Neil (peg13) weighed 67¼lbs to take C Section and 2nd overall . Tricky’s last minute carp gave him a total of 33¾lbs for the win in D Section , while Pete (crayfishtraps) took E Section with 41¼lbs . Finally Mick (peg30) won F Section with 35lbs 1oz .

Back to the car park and our Hosts, John & Pauline had been working away to  get the barbecue ready……

and once everyone had been fed it was time to announce the results, and pay out the Section Winners……………

Kevin……………………………..Clive…………………………………Neil




Tricky………………………..Pete………………………..Godber

The Pairs Winners

Pete & Al
&
Guess the Weight Winner

Gem The Minx

This was followed up by a raffle of donated prizes, and I have to say that people were more than generous with prizes. It seemed to take an absolute age to get through and if someone missed out I can only suggest that they give up buying raffle tickets .

Just a small part of the prizes on offer.

Now it’s a Big Thank You to Malc The Jinx for organising the day , which was a huge success,
raising the sum of £449·20p to help towards the running costs of the Maggotdrowning Site .

Another Big Thank You to John & Pauline for allowing us the use of Rolfs Lake for the day .

Finally a Very Big Thank You to All who attended and raised the money,



it’s really heartening to see your Support for which I know Dave is very greatful .

Individual Result

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 7	Clive Pritchard	88lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 13	Neil Riddy	67lbs 04ozs
3rd	Peg 6	Ian Ward (chin)	65lbs 12ozs
4th	Peg 9	Chris Lovelock	60lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 8	Al Loader	60lbs 04ozs
6th	Peg 34	Kevin Loveland	53lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 23	Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps)	41lbs 04ozs
8th	Peg 25	Keith Powell (Keith74)	40lbs 14ozs
9th	Peg 35	Martin Cannon(coopster1)	37lbs 00ozs
10th	Peg 30	Mick Godber	35lbs 01ozs
11th	Peg 4	Simon Mound (Simple)	34lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 17	Richard East (Tricky)	33lbs 12ozs
13th	Peg 5	Geoff Palmer	32lbs 00ozs
14th	Peg 14	Steve Wilson	30lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 21	Gem Doyle (THE MINX)	29lbs 09ozs
16th	Peg 36	Adam Daniells (dumdum)	29lbs 08ozs
17th	Peg 2	Joshua Preston	26lbs 12ozs
18th	Peg 32	Mark Gilbert	26lbs 02ozs
19th	Peg 38	Mitch Auger (mitch-fish)	21lbs 12ozs
20th	Peg 11	Liam Doyle (JINX JNR)	20lbs 12ozs
21st=	Peg 10	Dai Thomas (dai-fish)	20lbs 00ozs
21st=	Peg 19	Roy Ravenhill (royst)	20lbs 00ozs
23rd	Peg 22	Dave Enderby (Dave52)	19lbs 00ozs
24th	Peg 40	Dave Collier (dave the fish)	16lbs 00ozs
25th	Peg 37	Marcus Burgess (Budgie65)	12lbs 04ozs
26th	Peg 16	Chris Evans (Chris E)	11lbs 12ozs
27th	Peg 27	Terry Pearce (Auto)	9lbs 12ozs
28th	Peg 26	Doug Heathcote (Len Wade)	9lbs 04ozs
29th	Peg 15	Scott Weston (methodgob)	8lbs 00ozs
30th	Peg 29	Tony Roberts (spamwham)	7lbs 04ozs
31st	Peg 3	Steve Preston (luckyluca)	5lbs 01ozs
32nd	Peg 18	Rod Rose (ISIS)	0lbs 08ozs
33rd=	Peg 31	Mark Causer (MarkC)	DNW
33rd=	Peg 20	Mark Barrett (Mark B)	DNW
33rd=	Peg 24	Bazza Cullen (Bazza C)	DNW
33rd=	Peg 28	Jay Tucker (nemesis)	DNW

	Section Results
	Section A
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 34	Kevin Loveland	53lbs 12ozs
Peg 35	Martin Cannon(coopster1)	37lbs 00ozs
Peg 36	Adam Daniells (dumdum)	29lbs 08ozs
Peg 38	Mitch Auger (mitch-fish)	21lbs 12ozs
Peg 40	Dave Collier (dave the fish)	16lbs 00ozs
Peg 37	Marcus Burgess (Budgie)	12lbs 04ozs
	Section B
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 7	Clive Pritchard	88lbs 08ozs
Peg 6	Ian Ward (chin)	65lbs 12ozs
Peg 4	Simon Mound (Simple)	34lbs 00ozs
Peg 5	Geoff Palmer	32lbs 00ozs
Peg 2	Joshua Preston	26lbs 12ozs
Peg 3	Steve Preston (luckyluca)	5lbs 01ozs
	Section C
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 13	Neil Riddy	67lbs 04ozs
Peg 9	Chris Lovelock	60lbs 08ozs
Peg 8	Al Loader	60lbs 04ozs
Peg 14	Steve Wilson	30lbs 08ozs
Peg 11	Liam Doyle (JINX JNR)	20lbs 12ozs
Peg 10	Dai Thomas (dai-fish)	20lbs 00ozs
	Section D
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 17	Richard East (Tricky)	33lbs 12ozs
Peg 19	Roy Ravenhill (royst)	20lbs 00ozs
Peg 16	Chris Evans (Chris E)	11lbs 12ozs
Peg 15	Scott Weston (methodgob)	8lbs 00ozs
Peg 18	Rod Rose (ISIS)	0lbs 08ozs
Peg 20	Mark Barrett (Mark B)	DNW
	Section E
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 23	Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps)	41lbs 04ozs
Peg 25	Keith Powell (Keith74)	40lbs 14ozs
Peg 21	Gem Doyle (THE MINX)	29lbs 09ozs
Peg 22	Dave Enderby (Dave52)	19lbs 00ozs
Peg 26	Doug Heathcote (Len Wade)	9lbs 04ozs
Peg 24	Bazza Cullen (Bazza C)	DNW
	Section F
Peg	Angler	Weight
Peg 30	Mick Godber	35lbs 01ozs
Peg 32	Mark Gilbert	26lbs 02ozs
Peg 27	Terry Pearce (Auto)	9lbs 12ozs
Peg 29	Tony Roberts (spamwham)	7lbs 04ozs
Peg 31	Mark Causer (MarkC)	DNW
Peg 28	Jay Tucker (nemesis)	DNW

Pairs Result

Position	Anglers	Points
1st	Al Loader & Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps)	12pts
2nd	Gem Doyle (THE MINX) & Neil Riddy	17pts
3rd	Clive Pritchard & Joshua Preston	18pts
4th=	Mitch Auger (mitch-fish) & Chris Lovelock	23pts
4th=	Martin Cannon(coopster1) & Steve Wilson	23pts
4th=	Richard East (Tricky) & Simon Mound (Simple)	23pts
7th	Liam Doyle (JINX JNR) & Kevin Loveland	26pts
8th	Doug Heathcote (Len Wade) & Ian Ward (chin)	31pts
9th	Keith Powell (Keith74) & Terry Pearce (Auto)	35pts
10th=	Dave Enderby (Dave52) & Mark Gilbert	41pts
10th=	Mick Godber & Steve Preston (luckyluca)	41pts
12th	Chris Evans (Chris E) & Adam Daniells (dumdum)	42pts
13th	Geoff Palmer & Bazza Cullen (Bazza C)	46pts
14th	Tony Roberts (spamwham) & Dai Thomas (dai-fish)	51pts
15th	Jay Tucker (nemesis) & Roy Ravenhill (royst)	57pts
16th	Mark Causer (MarkC) & Dave Collier (dave the fish)	60pts
17th=	Marcus Burgess (Budgie65) & Mark Barrett (Mark B)	61pts
17th=	Rod Rose (ISIS) & Scott Weston (methodgob)	61pts

 

Marsh AC club match.

Down to Monk Lakes today for the first Marsh AC club match of the year. It’s always good to be back out with the lads and lasses who make up the club membership for these matches, they’re nice light hearted affairs, more like a days pleasure fishing with a weigh-in at the end than a serious match. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few personal rivalries and scores to settle , but at the end it’s all about a good day out with mates . The forecast for today was looking good and with the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee to wake me up the kit was soon loaded into the car I was off by 7am. It’s around 40 miles down to Monk Lakes and a steady run down saw me pulling into the car park around 8am.

Most of the usual suspects were gathered round the food bar with tea’s, coffee’s and various breakfast concoctions being demolished ahead of the draw. A jumbo sausage stick took care of my needs as the banter flowed back and forth , Dave soon had the monies collected and with 19 of us in attendance the draw got under way. I quite fancied a peg in the 160′s today as these pegs frequently produce good bags, however my drawing hand had other ideas and presented me with peg 142 when it emerged from the hat.

So off to our respective pegs and I found that I had Al for company to my left on peg 143 which is tailor made for his long up in the water approach against the reed lined island, while Mick Wright, Keiths guest and travelling companion had Peg 145. Peg 142 had a very shallow area at the end of the island which the lakes waterfowl, especially the geese love to occupy . Down to my right on peg 140 was Keith on the same peg as he had for last years match and yielded a 2nd place for him, so I was going to have my work cut out for a result today. Next to Keith was Kev on peg 139 and with Jean keeping him company I should be OK for a couple of cups of coffee throughout the match .

Settling into the peg it looked like the wind could make fishing long awkward so I decided on a line at 8 mtrs as the depth was pretty consistent all the way across and a couple of margin lines. I just set up 3 rigs, all Sackup CX 4×12 pencils on 0·16 Ultima Power Match finishing with size 16 Guru MWG’s. I find that they’re nice stable but sensitive floats and one was set to fish at dead depth at 8mtrs where I had around 4 feet of water while the other two were set for the margins where I had between 18 inches – 2 feet and could also cover if I needed to fish shallow. Bait for today would be a mix of maggot, corn and pellet, with feed taken care of by 6mm pellet.

With everything set a few of the lads were discussing the prospects for the day ahead………..

 While Paul East could be found wandering around, probably looking for tips as it’s been 6 months since he last picked up his kit ………..

So at 10am Dave sounded the All-In and Marsh AC’s season was underway. A pot of mixed pellet, maggot and corn was shipped out to 8mtrs while the left hand margin received a handful of maggots and the right hand one pellets. Out to 8 mtrs with double red maggot and the float soon buried, a 4oz Roach becoming the the first resident of the keepnet today. It was soon joined by a pair of small Tench, a small skimmer and a plump Gudgeon . Al had started with a feeder to the island, but soon reverted to the pole across which produced a Carp for him. Keith had got off the mark after around 10 minutes with a Carp as well, and soon seemed to be putting a few together. Kev had a couple to get him off the mark as well………….

Meanwhile Jean appeared with a welcome cup of coffee , but I was beginning to feel that I was getting left behind as Al started to get among the Carp. I managed just 3 small Carp in the hour, but didn’t feel as if I was getting anywhere. A look in both margins produced just a solitary Orfe to my efforts.

I felt that Al was already over the hill and far away unless his swim dried up, but thankfully he wasn’t in my section. It’s funny how you can put yourself under pressure, it seemed that every time I looked Keith was playing a fish and I convinced myself he was walking the section . I decided to add another section and fish out past my fed area to see if the fish had backed off. Sure enough I started to get a few bites and started to get a few small Carp. With this change of fortune I started to feel a bit better but I was still struggling to put a run of fish together.

Dave appeared having a stroll and judging by his comments nobody was really taking the place apart. Jean had been kind enough to get me a cheeseburger from the food bar and as I consumed it I mulled over my next move. One of my fallbacks that’s served me well when I’ve been struggling has been to fish what I feed so I decided for the rest of the session to fish banded 6mm hard pellet and just feed those as well. It seemed to have the desired effect as slowly but surely I started to put a run of fish together , mostly small Carp but they kept coming at a steady rate . Jean had supplied another welcome cup of coffee  while Kevin had gone out on the feeder with a couple of hours to go, a sure sign that he was struggling. Al was still catching and wasn’t going to be caught . It was just a question of whether I could make up the deficit that I thought I had to Keith.

 Sport stayed strong for me and with 5 minutes to go I had my best fish of the day, a nice Common of around 8lbs (a definite Mugger moment©) and managed a further 3 Carp before Dave sounded the All-Out at 4pm. I felt sure that Al had close to the ‘Ton’ and wouldn’t be caught, but Keith felt that I may have edged him. I really couldn’t call it as I had been so focused on catching that I had no real idea as to what was in my nets .

The club has purchased a second set of scales this year and the Weigh-In for our part of the lake started from Al’s peg. Two weighs and 94lbs was a fine effort by Al on a day where the wind hadn’t made it easy to fish at 16mtrs. I was next to weigh and a figure of 71½lbs was to prove good enough for a section win as Keith’s fish weighed 57½lbs, meaning that he had at least secured the bragging rights over his guest Mick today . So with the kit packed away everyone assembled back at the food bar for the full results.

Over a refreshing cuppa it soon became obvious once the weight sheets were totted up that the lake as a whole hadn’t fished up to expectations.  Al’s weight had indeed been good enough for 1st on the day  while I took 2nd place  and Keith finished 3rd . Clive had managed top weight on the roadside bank with 56¾lbs , while Paul finaly remembered how to catch a few fish after his lay off . The backing weights however weren’t quite what we’d hoped for although everyone had a few fish and we’re off and running for another year .

Ospreys Angling Club

Well I’m finally out for the first time this year, and it’s thanks to Neil Riddy who has invited me to fish as a guest on his club match at Rockells Farm. Dave the Fish is joining me as well after Neil phoned me on Friday with news of a late vacancy. 

I first met Neil at Rolf’s Lake and we’ve kept in touch since and swapped banter via Facebook, and for his sins he’ll be fishing the Jinx Series in the coming year.   I caught my best ever match weight at Rockells back in 2009 which was 330lbs. It’s a bit to early in the year to expect anything like that today, but with a decent draw and favourable conditions a decent days fishing should still be on the cards.

Getting up today to go fishing proved to be a bit of a struggle as I’d got out of the habit after 3 months off, but I managed it. Fed the cats while a couple of cups of coffee and 4 rounds of toast and marmalade took care of my needs . I got to Dave’s for 6·45am loaded all my kit into his car and we were off. A noticeable frost as we left the tunnel into Essex started a few alarm bells ringing in my head, but couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm, especially as I’d discovered a packet of lemon flavoured Jammy Dodgers in Dave’s glove box , and we made good time, pulling into the car park just after 8am.

The lake looked spot on as always, though there wasn’t as much colour in the water as I would have liked and very little evidence of fish moving. Dave and I both notice how cold the wind was as well , so it could turn into a bit of a grueller. Soon the car park filled up and with 24 of us in attendance for the day, Neil had the draw under way. I came away from the draw with peg 20 and found out that it was at the top end on the right hand side. It’s the left hand one of a double peg that we normally leave out on our club matches, normally leaving todays peg 21 in as our peg 4. Peg 21 can fish a fair way down the margin, while the bush only really allows a top 3. Should still be good for a few fish though.

 For company today I’ve got Brian Ritchie on 21, while Neil was to my left on peg 19 and Dave was further down on peg 17.
Setting up took a bit longer than usual for no reason other than I was a bit rusty and it took a while to get back into the swing of things. I was going to keep things simple today, and just set 3 rigs up, all Sackup Floats CX1 4×12 pencils on 0·16 Ultima Power Match with size 16 Guru MWG’s at the business end. One set at around a couple of feet which was all the depth I could find out front and chose a line at 7mtrs to fish, while the other 2 were set at 15inches for the margins. Bait was taken care of by pellets and corn today .

At 10·30 Neil sounded the All-In and I shipped a pot of mixed pellet and corn out to 7mtrs and fed the bush by hand. Out to the 7mtr line with a grain of sweetcorn but 10 minutes in and despite lifting, dropping and dragging the bait I hadn’t had a touch. Brian had a couple of lightning fast bites that he’d missed. A change to pellet produced the smallest of dinks which I managed to connect with, unfortunately it was from as small a carp as I’ve ever caught here, normally they gravitate toward Clive’s swim, but with him absent they obviously thought that I would do!!!!  Anyway it was in the net, 1st fish of the year and all that, just a shame it wasn’t closer to 4lbs than the 4ozs it probably weighed. Another soon followed, the twin of the 1st then a Roach before the line totally dried up.
Brian had managed a solitary small Carp in the meantime and he to was struggling for a bite. In fact apart from a couple of swims on the far side it seemed that most of us were struggling .

After re-feeding at 7 mtrs I was resigned to an early look at the margin by the bush, earlier than I wanted to, but I felt that I didn’t have much of an option. Bites were finicky, the merest dink and if you didn’t hit it that was your lot, and I could only get those on a 6mm banded pellet. The fish just weren’t there in any numbers though and those that were were in the 4-8oz bracket. It was just a question of taking the odd one or two and then a 10 minute lull before another would have a go. Brian was fishing his margin by now as well and although he wasn’t catching the numbers that I was, his fish were at least in the 2-3lb bracket .

In general though the lake was showing it’s harder side today. Ricky Green across on peg 22 was catching steadily as was Mick Whitmore on peg 1, but most were having to work hard for their fish. I took a quick stroll down to see how Neil and Dave were doing. Neil had a few on the bomb and Dave had managed to put a few better samples together, but it seemed that it was Tony Taylor on peg 18 between them who just had the edge on their little tussle…….

I wish I could say that it got better as the match progressed, but I would be lying if I did , I did manage a couple of bonus fish, but they were only around a couple of pounds each. Neil called the All-Out at 3·30pm and I knew that Brian had me well beaten on the next peg. I hoped that I might have 50lbs to show for my efforts, but the scales would soon tell. and when they arrived Brian’s 76¼lbs comfortably eclipsed my 52½lbs.

Back at the car park for the results and it was indeed Mick Whitmore on peg 1 whose 116½lbs had taken the honours on the day , with Ricky Green on peg 22 managing 98lbs for second   ahead of Chris Lovelock .

All in all though it had been good just to get back out on the bank and blow the cobwebs away. Thanks to Neil and the members of Ospreys AC for the invite and making us feel welcome , and Thanks to Dave for being driver for the day and his Lemon Jammy Dodgers  .

Maggotdrowning.com

Southern Fur & Feather.

Once more it’s time for the annual Maggotdrowning Southern Fur & Feather match  and once again we’re down at Wylands on House Lake. Various things conspired against me this morning meaning that I was running a little late as I loaded up the car, so I rang Mick the Chippy and asked him to draw for me if I was a little late arriving. Now after last year when there was no hot food to be had from the tea hut I made a quick stop on route for a couple of sausage & egg McMuffins to fuel me up for the day ahead. Thankfully a smooth trip down saw me pulling into the fishery car park at around 8·20am ahead of the draw to find 10 other hardy fools idiots anglers assembled for the day ahead. Indeed it was only Mick and grandaughter Rosie who were missing, but a quick phonecall confirmed that they were on their way . Just time for a bacon sarnie and a cuppa then.

Now Mark being the organised fellow that he is had put 14 pegs in, all in the main bowl, so with only 13 fishing took one out (peg 14) come draw time, however when he came to take the last peg from the bag it was missing, Somehow peg 9 had escaped, but rather than redraw it went to Mr Organiser. The Bailiff had called pegs 2,3 and 4 as potential winners, so I was a little bit out with peg 13.

We’d been hoping that despite the cold snap the lake wouldn’t be iced up. No such luck however , so we agreed to delay the start till everyone had cut out a swim. It wasn’t to thick in front of me and I made a start breaking out a swim with my Drennan landing net handle, before strolling round and borrowing Squeaky’s ice breaker to finish off with .

The Fur and Feather is always a light hearted affair and everyone goes home with a prize so I wasn’t planning on taking a serious approach, simply one top kit with White Hydro and a single rig that I made up consisting of a 4×12 KC Carpa Tricky on 0·12 Ultima Power Silk finished off with an 18 Guru WMG hook. Bait for today was simply red maggots with a few micros for feed.

With some still setting up I took the opportunity to stroll round and get another cuppa from the tea hut . Inevitably I ended up having a chat with Mick and Rosie, and by the time I made my way back Mark was ready to call the All-In. For company today I had Stuart aka squeaky roller to my right on peg 1 on the island while to my left was Simon Elsey.

So at 10·40am we were off, double red maggot impaled onto the hook and a pinch of maggot and micros potted in. A shout from across the lake signified that young Rosie had bagged the first fish of the day, no pressure there then as a 10 year old girl took an early lead. A few lift and drops and my float slid gently away resulted in a small roach residing in the keepnet to save the dreaded blank .

It was far from fast and furious, but there was plenty of banter flowing back and forth across the lake. It was soon obvious that the Bailiff had been right about the pegs to be on as they seemed to be producing decent skimmers while all I could find were  small Roach…..

 At least I was getting bites though and the fish while small were keeping me busy. By about 1pm I reckoned I might have had 5-6lbs in the net and the lure of a cheeseburger  and another hot cuppa from the tea hut proved far too tempting so I set off for a stroll.

Jay was tucked down in the corner on peg 10 and was sliding what looked to be a decent skimmer towards the waiting net………..

…….. he protested that it was his biggest fish of the day, but Jay knows Wylands well and may have just been fibbing .

Mark was alternating between a couple of lines, taking a couple of fish from each before swapping back again ………….

He was having a good battle with Greg on the next peg and it looked as if it would come down to whoever nicked a few bonus fish between them……..

Andy was facing the handicap of not having a pole to fish with, but he was having a good battle with Rosie on the next peg . Cheeseburger consumed  I found Mick chatting to Terry(Wily Coyote) who had popped down as he lives locally to see how we were all doing. Mick was regreting not having broken out a larger swim for himself and Rosie but was doing his best to make the most of it.

Jeff, Wayne and Nick were definately sitting in the pound seats however , and it was obvious that it was just a question of what order they would finish in the top 3……….

Returning to my swim Simon reported having been seen off by a good fish that he thought  was a Carp, while Toby had shown him how it should be done as he’d landed a Carp of around 8lbs, a real bonus on a day like today . Simon renewed his efforts after this but it obviously wasn’t going to be his day as he then latched onto what he described as a decent Bream only to see that come off short of the net .

I carried on till the end and managed to pick up a few better examples before Mark called the All-Out at 3pm. We soon had everything packed away and in all honesty it didn’t take that long to do the Weigh-In, the results of which are in the table below…….. 

All that remained was for Mark to work out the results and collect up the prizes for those assembled……………

We added a little twist this year and reversed the prizegiving so Rosie got first pick , while Wayne recieved the Winners Trophy  and the honour of organising next years Southern Fur & Feather .

Same again next year please Wayne, I can’t think of to many venues that would have produced such good sport in those conditions. Thanks to Mark for organising todays match .

That’s probably it for me this year , Roll on 2011.

Mick the Chippy’s Knock Up.

Back at the end of July Mick the Chippy placed a post on Maggotdrowning.com informing us that he’d booked the whole Match Lake at Hawkhurst for today. Needless to say the whole 20 pegs were soon filled for a day on a venue that has the potential to throw up some huge match weights, With a good café on sight serving an excellent breakfast and a load of like minded anglers fishing it’s a match that I’ve been looking forward to for a while . However after a couple of days of real cold temperatures I was rather saddened to hear heavy rain beating against the bedroom window as the alarm went off and a quick glance out of the window confirmed it was pouring down . A mug of strong coffee soon had me functioning and having fed the cats and loaded the car it was off to Hawkhurst. It wasn’t the best drive down, rain and heavy spray persisting till I got the other side of Tonbridge, where it started to ease off, however by the time I pulled into the fishery car park it had stopped .

Quite a few of the usual suspects were in attendance and a number of ‘Golden Nuggets’ had been wagered on todays outcome. Mick had set up a rolling draw so that we could get set up before partaking of breakfast in the fishery café. Peg 5 was mine for the day about half way up the roadside bank, and I was off to a good start when it was draw out as todays lucky peg, meaning that I just had to catch a fish to receive £10 .

I soon had myself settled in, the pegs are a decent size and allow you plenty of room to get set up. Just 3 top kits to cover the options today. 2 Malman 4×12 Champer’s on 0·16 Power Match with size 18 QM1 hooks, the 1st to cover lines at 4mtrs at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock, and the 2nd to cover 6mtrs straight out in front, while a 0.2 HB Grizzly on 0·16 Power Match with a size 18 QM1 took care of the margin line against the boards. Bait today was my usual selection of GOT Baits soft hookers, expanders and hard pellets while feed would be the fishery 6mm hard pellets.

Marsh AC club match.

It’s off down to Hartleylands fishery at Cranbrook in Kent for another club match today. We’ve booked the whole of Nick’s Lake and invited a few guests so hopefully all will have a decent day . A dark damp picture greeted me as I looked out of the window this morning and as I loaded the car there was a definite chill in the air , Autumn had well and truly arrived .
By 7·15am I was sitting down in the Knox-Bridge Café for a ‘Full English’ and I was soon joined by Mick the Chippy who was my guest for the day while John, Martin & Zack were soon followed by Graham, Al, Keith and Pete Thompson, all in search of some pre-match sustenance . So with breakfast taken care of it was back to the cars and off to the fishery for the draw.

Most of the usual suspects were present and with the sun beaming down hopes were high for a decent days fishing, though a cool north easterly wind made sure that everyone was glad that they were well wrapped up . Into the draw bag and peg 4 revealed itself as my home for the day at head, a nice short walk once I’d moved my car and I would have the sun on me all day to take the edge off the chill . I had Martin for company on my right on peg 2, while to my left I had Dave Collier along with daughter Chrissy and her partner Nick on pegs 7, 8 & 9.

Set up for the day would be nice and simple. Feeder rod with a small method feeder to fish to the island and 3 pole rigs. the 3 pole rigs were all Malman 4×12 Adam’s on 0·16 Power Match with size 18 QM1 hooks set at various depths to cover from the margins where I had around 2ft out to 5mtrs were there was around 4ft. I wasn’t planning to fish any further out on the pole as the wind would make it awkward. Bait today was my usual selection of GOT Baits soft hookers, expanders and 6mm hard pellets while feed would just be a mix of 4 & 6mm hard pellets and some groundbait for the method.

While I waited for the All-In I had a few misgivings in that I hadn’t seen many fish showing on what is normally a very prolific venue and the water had what I can only describe as a cloudy look to it as the algae was starting to break down with the onset of the cooler weather. Anyway at 10am Dave blew the whistle for the All-In and I cupped 2 pots of pellets in on the 5mtr line and fed both margins before going out to the island with the method feeder. Ken seemed to be straight into a few fish on the waggler ……

……. while Dave, Chrissy and Nick all seemed to be into fish as well . Twenty minutes in and I hadn’t had as much as a knock on the method which was very unusual , however I noticed a couple of bubbles on the 5mtr line and soon swapped over to the pole line.

A couple of lift and drops and the float slid away, the culprit being a mint little Common of around a pound to get me underway .
Now I wish I could say that this was the start of a major bagging session but if I did I would be telling porkies . I did start to put a few fish together but it was far from fast and furious despite Jean arriving with a welcome mug of coffee . Two hours in and I’d only managed 10 small Carp from the 5mtr line and despite another couple of looks across on the method, had still not had as much as a tap on it .

Going nowhere fast I re-fed both pole lines and went for a stroll with the camera to try and suss out how others were catching, if indeed they were. Dave was dropping a bait by the young willow in his left margin and was soon into a fish as I watched ……

Chris was a picture of concentration and while he was getting quite a few small silvers had only had 2 small carp to go with them and boost his catch …….

Keith was having a bit of a struggle, but being comfortably ahead in the points table was using the day to experiment fishing paste which was producing some very positive bites but little in the way of fish …….

……. while Clive wasn’t fairing much better, and I’m sure I heard him telling his drawing hand that he’d be teaching it another sharp lesson after today …….