The JINX Series 2005

Match 4.

Well Saturday saw me arrive at Makins for the 4th match in The Jinx summer series.

Owing to a double booking by British Waterways we had been moved from Phase 1 Lake 2, and reports from Phase 3 didn't bode well.

I drew peg 23 and Geoff E on peg 22 soon informed me that we would struggle as he was a regular at Makins.

Plenty of grass growing through the platforms on most pegs rather gave the game away that it doesn't get a lot of fishing pressure and I have to say Geoff was dead right.

After 5 hours 5 fish (all carp) from 6 bites gave me 10lbs 8ozs for 11th on the day.

At least I managed to win my section by default, giving me a brown envelope to cover my costs, my 3rd pick up of the 4 matches so far. 

Next comes Clattercote Reservoir in 2 weeks time.

The JINX Series 2005

Match 3.

Well I arrived at Stockton with plenty of time to spare having left early to try and miss any traffic that was heading to the Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The weather was glorious, a nice contrast to the dull grey of the previous 7 days in London, and as I strolled round the reservoir, I couldn't help thinking that the stories I'd heard of the place being a heartbreaker in matches had to be exagerated.

Looking across at the boards I was shocked to see a fisherman on the pegs reserved for the match..............

However although he was more successfull than Scott, he wasn't doing a lot of harm .

Back at the carpark Nick(monkey) had arrived, and with plenty of time we decided a pre-match pint was in order, so off to The Blue Lias for a drink in the garden, where we were joined by Keith and his lad David .

After a couple of pints it was back for the draw, where amid groans and laughs I found myself fishing peg17. A quick chat with Malc recommended 7mtrs for proper fish or 4 mtrs for silvers, so off i set to see what Stockton had to offer.

I found myself between Nick(polepot) on 18 who was quick to inform me of his love of Stockton............NOT .

and Dai on 16 so a few laughs would be had at least .

The all-in was delayed by 15mins so at 2·15PM we were off.
Out went a method feeder to see if I could find a quick mug fish, but after 10 mins without so much as a knock that was filed away and it was pole time having seen Keith and young Dan nick an early fish each on their poles.

Now paste fishing is not something I do a lot of, but having read plenty of Malc's reports of his exploits with paste at Stockton, I'd come prepared with 3 balls of it already made up (nothing special, just green swimstim with some tuna Felix added) which I was going to fish over loose fed swimstim micro's.

Plenty of knocks followed as rudd attacked the paste, but after 30 mins the float just vanished down the plughole. Loads of what Malc refers to as 'Knicker-elastic' poured out of the end, and there was me thinking that I'd set it to tight! I finally got it down to my top 3 and then the fun began, these carp don't like coming off the bottom, but finally after about 5mins there was a nice mirror in the net of about 6lbs .

Sport for me was never fast and furious, but at regular intervals the float would vanish and another lunatic Carp would put in an appearance. 9 in all while another couple decided they wanted to reach the other side of the Reservoir resulting in hook pulls before I went water sking .

Towards the end we were treated to Malc giving a chub a flying lesson from under the boards, while Matt was seen standing on his Rive trying to get a carp in the net..........................

good job he had those new trays fitted. He's now searching the Rive catalogue for the accessory step ladder  .

Finally Nick (neo-1) having gone out on a light rig to snatch a few rudd to avoid the horrow of a DNW latched onto the carp that had avoided him all match and as the all-out sounded we were treated to the sight of him playing it on what appeared to be a top 8, and having manfully battled it close to his platform (with plenty of sympathetic support from his fellow anglers) it proceeded to smash his top kit and shed the hook! Never mind Nick, it's what they call character building .

Come the weigh-in and the scales worked their way down from peg 24 where Eric's dad Derek had managed a creditable 12lbs 8 ozs (The same peg that Scott had managed 6ozs from on the previous weeks Intersite.) with Eric (ejayar) putting an excellent 30lbs+ of rudd on the scales for a total of 37lbs 2ozs.

I managed 9 carp for 58lbs 10ozs to put me on pole as Geoff could only manage 54lbs 13ozs and Matt on peg 3 53lbs 6ozs. So finally to Dirk on peg 2 who put 9carp and a tench onto the scales for a winning 59lbs 2ozs and the win. I'm sure that Tench had been force fed ½lb of Lard though .

Back to the carpark for the raffle and a bit more banter and that was it untill a fortnights time at Makins. Can't wait . 

Individual Results.

Southern Intersite Match.

What can you say?
Team MD's approached the match in their usual professional manner.

Preparation..... Absolutely None!!
Team Selection..... Last Minute Panic ..... But all members of the team were forum members.
Tactics..... Just catch a bleedin fish.
Objectives..... Enjoy the day.

The scene was set at 8·30am with a phone call from THE JINXinforming me that he had taken a slight detour from Reading and was just turning round at Jct1 of the M3.

8·55am and My phone goes again, Yes you guessed it, it's THE JINX again.
"I'm here at GOLD VALLEY but where is everyone else?"
My reply wasn't really suitable to post here but was along the lines of so I passed the phone to Dave the Fish to guide him in while I went in to draw for the team.

The match itself is probably best glossed over, as for most it was a bit of a struggle though special mention must go to young ashley who along with his dad John stepped into the breach at the last minute and managed a creditable 25lbs 15ozs for 2nd in his section from the Middle Lake.

A vote of thanks also to Jason (NoFinFish) who popped down during the day to support the team, and Beebs who also put in an appearance and invited us back to his house for a pint after. Much appreciated

Here's how the team performed on the day........

My Thanks to all that fished, everyone tried their best and you can't ask for more than that.

And here's a few pics from the day.....

Ashley with Keith "Fishermans Blues" Arthur .

Dai struggling manfully trying to fish his "washing machine" swim...

Dan with a specimen Perch...

And a Bream for me...

and finally Malc & Gemma watch the Weigh-In...

Maggotdrowning.com

 Fish-In.

Well I arrived around lunchtime and Les directed me to Maggotville and provided a welcoming cuppa. I decided to get my bivvie up post haste as the heavens were threatening to open, Dave the Fish providing a handy mallet to help with the pegs .

After a stroll round to meet and greet faces old and new I decided that I had enough time for an afternoon dabble, so getting my gear I eased into a swim on pond B, next to Dai, his good lady Anne and son Daniel .

A hand full of pellets to the pads on my left and an expander on the hook was soon producing a mix of bream, barbel and roach with a few carp thrown in for good measure and much to Dai's delight a GOLDEN TENCH. At least having had a good look at one, Dai shouldn't have any trouble identifying one if and when he eventually catches one of his own . Perhaps Dai and The Hat should have a session at Monk lakes down near me? one of them's bound to catch one there.

Just as I was packing up Anne managed to catch her 1st ever Tench  .......

A quick wash and brush up and off to the pub for a meal and a couple of pints was merely a prelude to the cabaret round at Dai's bivvy as Ady kept us all entertained as only he can .

Saturday morning arrived sometime around 9am and again I found myself on pond B, but this time between Ady and Teepee. Pole across to the island found all of 9" of water and a succession of chub and barbel, all in super condition and thriving in their natural environment............................WATER .

Ady to my left decided to try and choke a few carp with a selection of improbably large hookbaits and appeared to be having some success, despite the attentions of Ghillie Geoff and 'evil' Amy........

Here's one of them that survived the ordeal  ............

While Red Leader was adding to Coshida's profits opposite me to tempt an eventual 10 carp. Dave the Fish and Colin were fishing either side of the bridge dividing pond B from A with them both putting fish regularly in the net.

Big Brian arrived and introduced himself, and it was obvious where he got the name from, but he was showing some class by being attired in a BURGUNDY MD's sweatshirt

I meanwhile elected to fish paste in the margin, to see if I could get a carp. I soon hooked a good common, but after a fair old fight it slipped the hook.At this point I'd like to say that all those that witnessed this commiserated with me over my misfortune,
I'D LIKE TO, but true to form the p**s taking was mercy-less, B******S!!!! 

Stu was fishing my peg from the previous day with a pole that he makes look like a whip and was happily getting amongst a few.....

While Dave assumed the Ghillies duties as Teresa managed to catch her 1st carp ..............

Simon R was managing to catch a few carp from under a bush on pond A when he wasn't foulhooking errant free swimming topkits  .......

Reading this you could be forgiven for thinking that the place was fishing it's head off, but some were struggling and I'm sure I heard snoring coming from Teepee's direction on more than one occasion .
Michelle seemed to be taking great delight, strolling around and announcing that Nick was being battered by her in no uncertain terms .


Superb skill and ability  finally yielded a reward for me though in the shape of a nice 11½lb Mirror, despite certain allegations of 'Mugging' from some quarters that should know better  .....

Just prior to packing up for the day, I decided to feed a margin swim on the other bank that I fancied fishing Sunday AM. Unfortunately Red Leader decided this was a cue for a catapult war, and was only persuaded to desist as a result of a direct hit with a 14mm halibut pellet, though how I managed to hit so small a target at that range is a bit of a mystery .

Back to the pub for a meal and liquid sustenance led to another cabaret session round Dai's bivvy, though Ady did seem a little subdued as he was issued with a charity challenge . Should he choose to accept, both Dave and I have pledged £50 to a charity of Ady's choice, should he furnish proof of completing the challenge.
Will he succeed? Frankly I think that our money is as safe as houses .

Sunday morning and for some strange reason I was up at 6am to be greeted by blue sky and sunshine, the 1st since arrival, so decided to grab a couple of ours before packing up for the journey home.
Popping down to the ponds I found only Colin and Haydn had beaten me to it, with only Haydn putting a couple of carp in the net during the quiet of the early morning .

9am saw Stu and I invited to partake of a cup coffee on the veranda of Red Leader's IKEA bivvy prior to breakfast and after that it was time for me to pack away ready for the 200+ miles down the motorway to home.

All packed away it was time for a last stroll round to say my farewells. Despite the warmth of the day, the fishing remained slow.
Nick was still getting battered by Michelle, this time with his own pole  .........

Ady however was grinning as an 8½lb mirror grabbed a bit of flake to reward his efforts and happily posed for a photo despite doing his best to juggle it back into the water 1st .

Scouse was found hiding in the bushes with only 1 bream having fallen for his paste, and bemoaning a distinct lack of hubcaps, now that most cars have alloys and locknut's .

While the final site was of Red Leader standing back in admiration of the ease with which Teresa handled 11mtrs of his pole  ....................

So that was my Blyton Fish-In, Good laughs, Great company and a few fish as well, not a bad way of spending a weekend . 

The JINX Series 2005

Match 2.

Drayton! Well what can I say? It was hot, Boy was it HOT The fish were still spawning, and did I mention it was HOT? At the start we were told you would need a peg in the 30's to catch and the further away you were, the more you would struggle. They weren't wrong.  My 1 fish, a 10lb mirror came with 15mins to go. The winner was Malc THE JINX Doyle (peg36) with a great bag weighing 118lbs ...... The runner up was young Daniel Thomas (peg35) with a bag weighing 95½lbs, just 1 fish short of his 1st 'TON' and including a new PB Mirror of 15½lbs ...... Dan's new PB.......   Individual Results.   1st    Malc Doyle          118lb 00oz   2nd  Dan Thomas     95lb 08oz  3rd  Paul Roberts     89lb 00oz  4th  Matt Nutt     45lb 00oz  5th  Mark Causer     19lb 00oz  6th  Steve Wilson     11lb 08oz  7th  Derek Robothan     11lb 00oz  8th  Peter Morton     10lb 00oz  9th  Tim Westmoreland               8lb 08oz  10th  Dai Thomas       6lb 00oz    Nick Jones       DNW      Nick Watkins-Price                      DNW    Keith Ashby       DNW    Roy Ravenhill       DNW    Eric Robothan       DNW    Dave Moore       DNW    Nick Williams       DNW    Geoff Eggison       DNW    Dirk Williams       DNW

The JINX Series 2005

Match 1.

Since finishing with my club, I've entered a small match series run by a certain Malc Doyle. This series is known as THE JINX Bag-up Series, though in other seasons it's been anything but, but then Malc isn't known as THE JINX for nothing. 

This is my account of the 1st match in the series................................

Well I arrived at the services at junction 8 on the M40 in plenty of time to meet up with the rest for the short jaunt to Rolfs.

Malc was early, didn't appear to have forgotten anything and the sun was shining!!!

A quick 10 minute trip from the services following Matt Nutt and there we were, pulling into the car park at Rolf's, Already present were a mix of old and new faces and soon the banter was flowing .

Now I'd read and heard a few reports about Rolf's, but the reality is something else and something that I wasn't prepared for. It's only small, but quite picturesque with just 40 pegs that are all solidly constructed and nice and low to the water.

 The real shock though was the sheer number of Carp cruising the surface basking in the sunshine, all apparently commons, and seemingly unconcerned, well at least till the start of the match.

Back to the car park for the draw and I drew peg 23 with young Dan drawing peg 24 to my left, Matt having voiced a preference for peg 7 promptly drew it and the general concensus was that we were all fishing for 2nd as Matt wandered off with a happy grin on his face .

Setting up didn't take me long as my main pole was in need of a refurb, and probably not up to the stress and strain, so it was margin pole or nothing with 3 rigs, 1 shallow, 1 at depth for the 7mtr line and 1 for paste in the margin as I had a nice bush to my right. All the while the carp were still cruising and I swear a couple even winked as they passed .

Rolf insists on a minimum of 2 nets, 1 for small carp up to 4lbs and 1 for carp weighing between 4 & 8lbs. Anything larger has to be weighed and returned immediately. This is acheived by having tanks containing a salt water solution (to kill any parasites) with a weigh sling in it behind every 4th or 5th peg along with a set of supported scales and a clipboard and pen to record the weights which you get a neighbouring angler to witness. It sounds complicated but works very well .

11am and the all in and having started at 7mtrs, the float buried and I was attached to my 1st Rolfs carp! To say that these fish are fit doesn't do them justice , especially as Rolf insists on anglers using top kits that allow a bit of elastic to be pulled out. Into the net and at probably 7lbs a nice start .

It wasn't fast and furious and I was having problems avoiding the roach and skimmers that don't really count, though I did spot Nick (polepot) weighing a couple to record them, but he was struggling, and had experienced the full power of THE JINX in previous seasons and was taking no chances.

Opposite me TA's Neil McCurran & Eric(ejayar)Robothan were having their own match within a match , I think Neil McCurran won, well he certainly won the stretchiest elastic competion .

Young Dan to my left was having a bit of a grueller, finding bites hard to come by but had managed to get off the mark with one early on, it was just adding a second that was proving elusive.

Halfway through I'd managed 3 weighers and a couple of smaller ones, so had a look at paste down the margin. Plenty of bites but only 1 carp as it seemed to be solid with small skimmers that ripped the paste to bits as soon as it hit the water . With hindsite I spent far to long trying to make it work, and with an hour to go went back to alternating shallow and deep for another 3 weighers and a couple of smaller ones.

At the end I'd had just under 60lbs of weighers with those in the net taking the total to just over 88lbs, which as it turned out was enough for the section money .
The weigh in is well practiced here with lots of weigh slings and with all the fish getting getting a dip in the salt solution before being returned.

 Now for the comedy section, during the match Nick(Neo1)Williams had lost a pole section, so Malc needing no encouragement stripped off to his swimming trunks to retrieve it. He soon found it, but it turned out to be a section lost by another angler earlier in the week, however another paddle soon found Nick's section.  

Back to the car park for the raffle and results, and with 5 tons including Matt's winning double ton, as well as a good number of weights in the 60 - 80lbs range nobody could really believe that it had been a JINX match, mind you I'm sure that we'll all come down to earth with a bang at Drayton next saturday. 

Individual Results.

Watching the weather forcast last night before Match of the Day, Maria remarked "Looks like being nice tomorrow, Why don't you pop out fishing?"

Well no further invitation was needed , so 7am saw me loading the tackle into the car. I had decided to go down to Hartleylands Farm, as with 8 different lakes & ponds you can normally find somewhere to fish on even the busiest day. Well on arrival 6 of these were booked for matches, just leaving a choice of 2 of the smaller ponds, Finches & Woodside.

I popped up to Finches and with only 3 other anglers fishing at the far end settled on a swim to the right of peg 7. This is the narrowest point, being just 8mtrs to the far bank.

Bait owing to the unplanned nature of the trip, was to be whatever was in my holdall, which was 4mm & 6mm GOT Baits expanders and sweetcorn

The rig was simplicity itself, an eyed series2 fox match, knotless knotted to 2½ft of 0·17 Carpteck with a Drennan Carp1 cocked with a no6 and a no10 dropper.

An underarm flick with a pinch of 4mm pellets and 6 grains of corn primed the swim and off I went. Within a couple of minutes the float slid away and a gentle lift contacted the 1st fish of the day which proved to be a fighting fit Mirror Carp of around 2½lbs .

The pattern continued for most of the session, the disruption caused by each fish neccesitating refeeding and a patient wait till the next found the bait. Around 11am an angler who had set up next to me on peg 6 came round for a chat as he couldn't buy a bite .
I ended up giving him one of my identicle rigs and some corn, but for him it was not to be and he packed up at 1pm without so much as a bite .

I carried on getting fish probably every 15mins, and when I decided to pack up at around 2pm, the obligatory 'Last Cast' produced the best fish of the session at around 6lb.

A nice finish to an unplanned session with 21 carp for around 50lb+ of fish on a sunny spring day .