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 4x12 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.

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 4x12 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 4x12 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 4x12 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 .......

Carrying on round I came to Colin who I knew had been down a couple of times practising during the week along with Tony, Terry and Dave. He'd caught well on paste (no surprise there ) but the drop in temperature looked to have scuppered his plans as he was having a struggle today .......

...... on the next peg Kevin had been struggling too, but he was just in the process of landing a small Carp, so hopefully things would start to pick up for him ......

 Al was ticking along and owning up to around 15 Carp in the net and Pete was a little frustrated that his plans for a days skimmer bashing was being thwarted by the fact that the skimmers were to small and Carp kept muscling in on the act .......

Mick seemed happy enough with his lot and was getting a few fishing the method but felt that he was waiting just a little to long between bites to do any real damage .......

Terry was another of those anglers who was finding that the fishing today bore no resemblance to that which he'd experienced earlier on in the week ......

Ken's bright start had slowed somewhat though he was still picking up the odd fish on the waggler and Graham was another of those who was finding to many small silvers and not enough Carp in the mix ......

Back at my peg it was just a case of getting my head down and getting the most from my peg for the rest of the match ......

It was far from fast and furious but by working away at it, constantly lifting, dropping and dragging the rig I kept picking up the odd Carp nothing bigger than 2 pounds and mostly smaller. My feeder line just refused to produce a fish despite another couple of looks and neither margin line produced a bite either . Dave's fish had slowed right up on him as well, but he'd got off to such a good start that I knew he was out of my reach. John and Zack came round to collect Martin as they were leaving early and John took the honours in the 3 way car sweep with his 18½lbs . I managed a bit of a spurt with 10 Carp in the last hour and when Dave blew the whistle for the All-Out at 4pm I'd managed 36 Carp.

So to the Weigh-In and my fish gave me a weight of 45¾lbs which would be good enough for a section win on the day . Chrissy's 35½lbs had beaten Nick's 27lbs, but Dave had won the family battle with a very decent 72¼lbs for 2nd overall . Keith had suffered his worst result of the series with just 12¾lbs to show for his efforts , while Clive's 45¾lbs tied my weight . Tony's 55½lbs secured 3rd on the day , but todays winner was Al with a fine 84½lbs . Pete ended with a creditable 53½lbs for 4th on his first ever visit to the fishery , while Mick managed 41¾lbs and Ken took the honours from the car park bank with 32½lbs .

So that's it for this years Marsh AC matches. Thanks to Dave for organising yet another enjoyable series of matches .
Well Done to Keith, Mr Consistent topping the points table . Thanks to all the members and guests who have fished, you're the ones who make it such an enjoyable day out each and every time .

Finally a special Thank You to Jean for those mugs of coffee during the matches, they were much appreciated .

The club doesn't operate a Championship as such but this year Dave's collated a table of the seasons results using a 30 point system. Guests results were not included in the table. As you can see Keith has been Mr Consistent over the course of the season coming out on top with 212 points  while Tony was Runner-Up with 204 points and Colin finished 3rd on 194 points .

(d.n.f. = Did not Fish.   30 pts = Match Winner.)

Kev the Catch's

 50th Birthday Bash

I'm off to Colemans Cottage Fishery in Essex today at the invitation of Kevin Loveland for a days fishing on Cottage Lake to celebrate his 50th Birthday . It will take the form of a small knock-up match, but the emphasis will be very firmly on enjoying the day and will no doubt finish off with tea and cakes in the clubhouse .

The alarm going off and a nudge in the ribs from Maria saw me rising just after 5·30am, our cats think an alarm clock ringing is a dinner bell, so having washed and dressed they were fed, while a large cup of coffee took care of my needs before loading up the car and setting off. A nice smooth trip down saw me pulling into the car park around 7·45am . First things first so it was straight into the clubhouse where I bumped into fellow Maggotdrowner Ron B who was here for a match with his club. One of Colemans excellent breakfasts was soon dispatched and the banter started to flow as todays participants assembled for the day ahead .

Keith, Terry and Pete set off to peg the lake while Dave collected the pools for the day, our only outlay as Kevin had kindly paid for the lake today . With the lads back from pegging out it was time for the draw. Peg7 proved to be mine for today so it was off to the car park to collect our kit and make our way over to the lake. As I made my way round to the riverside bank it was soon obvious that we were in for some fun today as some joker had placed my peg number on a culvert with half a forest in front of it, realising this was obviously a mistake I settled for the perfectly fishable peg a couple of paces further on . For company today I had Terry to my left on peg 6 and Colin to my right on peg 8.

Settling into the peg I recognised it as the one that Colin had won from when we fished the lake last October, while I could see Pete Thompson settling into the peg that I'd fished. Thankfully although the platform resembled a ski slope the adjustable legs on my box and footplate soon sorted that out. I had trees overhanging the water to the left and right which were the two obvious lines to fish so set up a couple of Malman 4x12 Adam's on 0·20 Power Match with size 14 QM1 hooks to fish at 5mtrs to the trees on the deck and a MW HC margin again on 0·20 with size 14 Guru QM1 for the left hand margin, though it seemed to be a bit of a snag pit and might prove awkward to get a fish out of it. Bait for today was simply a selection of GOT Baits soft hookers and 6mm hard pellets while feed would just be a mix of 4 & 6mm hard pellets. Keith put in an appearance prior to the off snapping a few photos for his blog and caught me setting up a top kit ........

So 10am and Dave blew the whistle for the All-In and I fed a couple of pots of mixed pellets into both swims and shipped a soft hooker out to the left hand swim. I was going to concentrate on this line as I had it to myself, and Colin would be fishing to the other side of the right hand one. A couple of lightning fast bites followed, both of which I missed, putting them down to silvers.
Rather than keep shipping back and forth I changed to a banded 6mm hard pellet, but before I could ship back out I could see Pete playing his first fish of the day ........

..... obviously a Carp it was giving a good account of itself, but Pete soon had it under control and safely in the net . So out with my rig with a pouch of pellet over the top and after lifting and dropping the rig a few times the float buried and a quick lift resulted in the elastic coming out, not a big fish but a small Mirror of around 2lbs that was soon in the net to getting me off the mark . Jean put in an appearance with a welcome cup of coffee and all was right with the world .

 A further 6 carp followed in the first hour which as far as I could make out was as good as anyone else. I'd seen plenty of elastic coming out on Keith and Dave's pegs, and the grapevine reckoned that Clive had a couple of lumps early doors, but sport seemed generally slow around the Lake. In fact Clive came for a stroll round to see how others were doing, a sure sign that it wasn't going well for him . handily though he was just in time to get an action shot of me landing what would prove to be my biggest fish of the day ......

Colin was struggling for a bite, and I'd not had any indications on the couple of occasions that I'd dropped into my right hand line, but I'd heard a bit of splashing coming from my left, so obviously Terry was getting a bit of action . I was getting little spurts of action, 1 or 2 fish then a gap before a bit more action, the vast majority of my fish were Carp with just the occasional silver, while Pete who seemed to be catching at a similar rate appeared to be getting a much larger percentage of silvers .

I've been having a bit of trouble with my right knee for a while and today it was really giving me grief so around half way through I decided to have a stroll as my knee felt like it was starting to seize up. Looking across I could see that Keith already had 3 nets in!!! was he bagging or just being prepared?........

Colin had at last got a couple in the net, but Martin was confessing to being behind his young son Harry in the catching stakes . Judy had moved to her inside line as the wind made things awkward on her longer line. I then arrived at the Birthday Boy himself, and I have to say that the mood was far from celebratory, probably due to the fact that he hadn't had as much as a bite at that point ......

Clive was wearing that well worn expression of his once more, he'd had a few early fish, but hadn't had a bite for a couple of hours and was beginning to wonder where the next one was coming from ........

A bit further round and Dave was admitting to having a few in his usual cagey way , while Keith was making light of the fact that he had those 3 nets in . I thought I'd better take a spare for myself while I was round there though just in case. Tony was having a bit of a mare with fish obviously in his peg but refusing to get their heads down and have a feed.......

 Pete was having a short stroll by then having been seen off by a rather sizable lump down his margin . Terry had the reasonably contented look of a man who was steadily putting a bag together from under the tree to his left .......

Back out to the edge of the tree at 5mtrs once more and it was just a question of steady away, Jean had provided another cup of coffee and slowly and surely I managed to keep the Carp coming in ones and twos for the remainder of the match.......

 By the time that Dave blew the whistle for the All-Out I had 30 Carp to show for my efforts and half a dozen silvers which hopefully would give me somewhere around 65lbs . We soon had our kit packed away and the weigh-in reached us quite quickly so obviously there hadn't been to many big weights. Pete's 36½lbs leading by the time they got to Terry. Terry had indeed been quietly been doing the business and put a fine 50½lbs on the scales that would be good enough for third place on the day . I was next up and my fish weighed in at an even 74lbs which as it transpired was enough for the win . Harry beat his dad by 4ozs - 0 while poor Kevin suffered a blank as well .

Clive's 38¼lbs was edged out by Dave's 38¾lbs while Keith was left to rue a biteless last hour when his fish weighed in at 64¾lbs to take 2nd place overall .

So with the weigh-in concluded it was back to the club house for the results where Kev and Jean had arranged for a buffet to be laid on.

Pride of place went to Kev's Birthday Cake ...........

..........and once the big fella had blown his candle out..............

................ and we'd sung a rousing chorus of   everyone tucked in .

I'd like to say A BIG THANK YOU to Kev and Jean for treating us all to the day out in celebration of his 50th , certainly a different way to celebrate a Birthday. Cheers Kev, and may you have many more to come .

Marsh AC club match.

 I'm off to Rockells Farm today for what is probably the most eagerly anticipated club match of the year. Last year Martin Hucker set a new club match record at 383lbs 4ozs  and a new club record total of 2911lbs 14ozs was put on the scales by the 19 anglers that fished the match. A lot can depend on the draw, but an awsome weight is on the cards if the draw bag is kind to you . 

As usual when visiting this venue in the depths of Essex I'd arranged to meet Dave at his place just after 6·30am and follow him and Colin down to the fishery . The weather looked good and a smooth run down saw us pulling up at the lake at around 8am to find Keith and his guest Troy along with Jean and Kev, Martin and John already in attendance. A quick look confirmed that the lake looked in good nick although the water level was a little down.

 Keith, Terry and I set off to peg out while the others arrived and I have to say that every peg looked like it was good for a few fish . Keith expressed a preference for a late peg in the high teens and the general consensus was that either the first 3 or the last 3 would be decent draws . So at 8·30am Dave called the draw, people seemed a little reluctant so I dived in early and found peg 19 to be my home for the day . Keith drew peg 3 and with Clive drawing peg 2 with Terry for company on peg 1 they would definitely be contesting the honours , I had Graham for company on 18 while peg 17 was Dave's for the day and was the one I felt we all had to beat. I had the peg last year and the willow that had been cut back then had re-grown and now offered some cover and would be tailor made for Dave's floater approach today .

So off to the pegs, and I have to say that I couldn't have any complaints with my own peg, with the boards to fish to on my left and some cover to my right, both of which had a depth of no more than 18 inches.

 My approach is pretty single minded in that I tend to ignore any long lines when I fish Rockells as shipping back and forth wastes to much time and look to catch on a top 2 from the off if at all possible. Rigs are Middy in-line paste floats made up on 0·20 power match with a size 12 owner barbless relying on the bait to cock the float. Bait is simply GOT Atomic paste with 4mm pellets (and plenty of them) for feed.

So with such a simple set up I had a bit of time before the All-in and had a stroll down to see Dave who was looking as happy as Larry despite not feeling quite 100%......

Dave had never recorded 300lbs in a match, but today he was definitely sitting on a peg that was more than capable of doing it if he could get off to a good start in the first 3 hour session . We fish two three hour sessions here with a mid point weigh-in as with the prospect of big weights it means that fish aren't retained in nets for to long and it gives the anglers a chance to have a breather as well .

So 10am and Dave blew the whistle for the All-in, a handful of pellet down both margins and in with my first piece of paste next to the boards, a couple of dinks and the float slid away resulting in a perfect little Common of around 8 ozs to get me off the mark and from then on in the bites kept coming regularly , unfortunately not all were connected with, I'd get 4 or 5 on the trot then miss a few or foul hook a couple, but I had 20 fish in the first hour. Peg 19 is pretty tucked away in a corner and you cant really see anyone else to judge how you're doing against them, though I could hear plenty of splashing coming from Graham and Dave's pegs so it was just a question off concentrating on my own peg. By the end of the second hour I had 39 fish, but they were mostly small. In the 3rd hour I upped the size of paste that I was fishing and although the bites slowed a bit I started to pick up a better stamp of fish. Judy popped round to see how I was doing, but it coincided with one of those frustrating periods of lots of missed bites and by the time that Dave blew the whistle to signal the end of the morning session I had 55 fish on the clicker and was hoping for somewhere around the ton.

The weigh-in started from my peg and I recorded exactly 100lbs . Graham had 84½lbs while Dave had a much better stamp of fish for 150½lbs and top weigh of the morning . Martin on peg 13 had also fished floaters for 101½lbs. Colin had also had a good morning on peg 8, making the most of the cover afforded from the overhanging willow on his peg and again fishing floaters for a fine 144¼lbs . The point pegs hadn't really produced as expected, lots of small fish, but not enough of the better stamp, with Keith's 89¾lbs being the best weight of the group . I'd fished Keith's peg 2 years ago though and expected it to fish much better in the second session. However 1095½lbs had been weighed in by the 18 anglers including four 'Tons', an average of just over 60lbs per angler so not too shabby .

By the time we all returned to our pegs and sorted ourselves out it was 2·15pm before Dave signalled the All-in for the second session. I'd fed a couple of pints of pellet into both of the margins prior to the end of the first session and was hopeful that it was enough to hold the fish during the break, and it seemed that it had been a success as I had a fish first put in .

Well the second session pretty much followed the pattern of the first, though I did manage to pick up a few more better fish, but nothing over 4lbs. Dave however was definitely getting a better stamp of fish and was looking good I felt for an overall win . Anyway after a further 3 hours Dave called the All-out for the second and final time today. I had 78 fish on the clicker this time and hoped they would be enough to take me to around 200lbs for the session if I had enough better sized fish, but I would have to wait and see as the weigh in would run in the opposite direction this time, starting from peg 1.

So with the gear back at the car park it was time to start the weigh in. Terry and Clive had both improved on their morning sessions with 128¼lbs and 123¼lbs respectively . Keith had had a standout session though, his 2 nets finally registering 219¼lbs for an overall weight of 309lbs which would prove to be good enough for 3rd on the day .

 John on peg five managed 101½lbs in the afternoon . Colin however had gone from strength to strength with 225lbs and a total of 369¼lbs to take the win on the day . Martin had another busy session putting 158¼lbs onto the scales . Dave had 3 nets in which gave him 193¾lbs, comfortably taking him past his own 300lb target for a total weight of 344¼lbs , a new PB match weigh giving him 2nd on the day . My own weight of 169¼ proved as I feared that I had to many small fish, but the total of 269¼lbs still gave me 4th on the day .

So back to the car park for the results. A total of 2878¾lbs had been weighed in on the day, just short of our record, still an incredible average of 159lbs per angler !!!!!!! with 3 'Triple Tons', 2 'Double Tons' and a further  6 'Tons' overall a phenomenal days fishing by any standards . Roll on next years match, looks like I may have to brush up on my floater fishing .

A RiveT Piscatorial Promotion

I'm off down to Rolf's Lake today for A RiveT Piscatorial Promotion along with the lads from  TalkAngling  . I missed getting my name down for this when it was posted on the forum, but managed to get a place on the match when a few people dropped out. I don't normally get the chance to fish during the week but as I've got few holiday days left it wasn't a problem for me to get a day off .
Now the thing is, the  TalkAngling  lads tend to like an early start to their matches and the plan was for a 9·30am draw with the fishing from 11-4pm. This meant an early start for me, but no problem as I said that I'd drop Maria off at work around 6am. This meant that I could still get a 'Full English' from my favourite little café in Battersea before doing battle with the London traffic .
Thankfully the plan went like clockwork and I rolled into the car park at around 8·45am.

A few of the lads were already there, including fellow Jinx Squad member Simon who'd managed to get a place on todays match the day before, and Mark C and Royst who I hadn't seen for a while as they no longer fish the series.......

Soon the car park started to fill up, and the chat turned to the prospects for the day ahead, and if I'm honest I wasn't sure just how it would fish . This was the third day in a row there had been a match on the lake and previous experience has shown that it can make for hard fishing, and the fishing times weren't going to help either as the fish tend not to get their heads down till around 3-4pm .

 Anyway come 9·30 and no draw !!!!!! We were all still waiting for Rive T and Larry who'd got themselves lost having ventured so far south. They finally rolled up around around 10am, and after the usual ribbing and pee taking the draw finally got under way with a revised time meaning we would be fishing from 12-5pm. Hand in the bag time, Simon had drawn peg 32 and I found myself holding ..................................... peg 8, well happy with that .

 Round to my peg and time to set up. I was planning to just fish a couple of lines today. 5mtrs down the track and to the bushes on my left, and although I also set up the feeder to fish across, that was a bit of an afterthought.......

Rigs were my usual ones, Malman 4x12 Adam's on 0·20 Power Match with size 14 QM1 hooks for the 5mtr line on the deck with 0·2 MW HC margin's again on 0·20 with size 14 Guru QM1's to fish to the bushes, while bait was the usual variety of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers, though I did have paste with me as well.

For company today on peg 7 I had Justin Watkins who fishes for Browning Crowsports and it looked like he was going to be fishing the pole across.......

 Having set up we were then treated to a sharp shower as the sky turned grey, such are the joys of an English summer . A quick stroll while I waited for the all In revealed Mark C still getting set up, obviously out of practise at Rolfs .......

 Royst was still beavering away too, evidently he'd forgotten how deep the big lake is and had found that none of his rigs were long enough , so had to make up new ones .......

Larry meanwhile has settled himself into peg 18 and was hoping that the next 5 hours would finally provide him with his first ever 'Ton'....... 

So at 12 noon John rang the fishery bell for the All-In. I potted a mix of pellets and corn onto the 5mtr line and a big handful to the bush, but before I could get a bait in the water Justin was playing his 1st fish of the day having shipped across and had the float bury before he could feed.

Not good for me, could I be on for a battering ? I shipped out with a banded pellet to 5mtrs, but the float tip obviously didn't want to get wet as it stubbornly refused to go under.

Simon meanwhile was obviously into a good fish over on 32, in fact it proved to be hooked in the tail, but he still managed to bundle it into the net and at 15lbs+ a great start for him . Well an hour in and I was still fish-less. Simon was starting to put a few together, but after that initial fish Justin was suffering from foul hookers and missed bites . I'd heard a bit of splashing coming from the other side of the bushes on peg 10 so 'The Brick' was obviously putting a few together so decided to take a look by the bush myself.

Now the fish know every root and twig that lurk under the bushes, so it's a question of how brave you want to be with how close you edge the rig in, the closer you get the more likely you are to get a bite. Well after 5 minutes I obviously got it right as the float buried and I was attached to a feisty Mirror that was determined to seek the safety of the roots, but plenty of side strain saw me gain the upper hand and after a couple of minutes an 8lb'er was safely in the net .

What followed though was one of the most frustrating couple of hours that I've experienced in a long while as time and again fish stormed off through the bush trashing rigs . I must have gone through 7 or 8 rigs and only had 4 smallish fish to show for it , and a couple of those had been foul hookers. The trouble was that if I fished short I just wouldn't get a bite and they just didn't want to be tempted further out by feed.

Simon by now had slowed down and was having to feed and fish over the top of the bush toward peg 33, and it seemed he was suffering from foul hookers as well, indeed one ran him ragged surfacing past the platform on peg 33 almost in front of me before he managed to get it in the net.

Then with about an hour to go it all seemed to come right for me in that I was hooking fish and getting them out into open water and safely in the keepnet , I even got a weigher, only 10½lbs but most welcome as I've really struggled to find the larger fish at Rolfs this year. As the clock ticked down I felt that if nothing else I was catching up with Simon. Glancing up I could see John going to ring the bell for the All-Out and just before he did my float buried again just as the bell rang. Fish On, at least Simon was pleased for me, though it may have been something else as I didn't quite catch exactly what he said , fortunately it stayed attached, an 8lb Mirror that joined the others in the net as others started to pack up .

As we packed away Justin and I discussed the day, he'd suffered real frustration and only had 5 fish to show for his efforts.
I'd had a good last hour, once again to little to late, but was left ruing the fact that we hadn't fished the match to more usual Rolfs times as the peg was getting better and better.

Having got the gear back to the car park it was obvious that some had had decent weights and once the weigh-in got under way those soon became obvious. froogy on peg 38 recording the first 'Ton' with 126½lbs quickly followed by Mo M with 102¾lbs .
My fish pulled the scales round to 88½lbs. Then round to peg 9 where 'The Brick' put a fine 161¾lbs on the scales which would prove to be good enough for 2nd on the day  as '20 Metre Bob' on peg 10 topped it immediately with a fine 187½lbs to take the win .
Dan(awesome fish) finished just out of the frame however with 142¼lbs as Jay on peg 24 took 3rd place on the day with 149lbs 10ozs . Finally I just pipped Simon in our personal battle when his fish came to a level 84lbs .

Back at the car park and after a few minutes of spirited debate Larry and RiveT managed to sort out the monies.......

......... and a pleasant surprise for me as I managed to take my section money . So an enjoyable day with the  TalkAngling  lads drew to a close as farewells were said and a hot air balloon drifted serenely past overhead .........

I'm of to Rockells Farm on Sunday for a club match, so keep a look out for the report .

Maggotdrowning.com

Badpegpicker's Southern Pairs 2010.

 It was off down to a Private Lake in East Sussex today for me to fish the Southern Pairs Match organised by Steve Oswick aka badpegpicker through the Maggotdrowning.com forum. The weather looked pretty promising as I loaded up the car and after a stop in Bromley for a spot of breakfast I made good time and pulled into the fishery car park around 8·10am .

 There was a good turn out come draw time, but unfortunately we had one no show, not a problem normally, but with this being a Pairs match a bit of a problem . The solution decided on was that after the draw the angler short of a partner would be allowed to count his weight twice, and that angler turned out to be Keith(shallowman)Haynes .

 I had found myself with peg 3 on the dam wall. Keith(gandhi) had drawn peg 1, and I had Steve on peg 2...........

   and Keith(keith74)Powell on peg 4 in the corner for immediate company today..........

My Pairs partner for the day was Paul(nomorelongwalks)East who had drawn peg 13. Mark(moleman)Hathaway was tucked away behind the island on peg 11 which was effectively an end peg meaning that he and Keith would have to be in with a chance as they are both more than capable of making the most of decent draws .

Now I don't fish the lake that much, but I tend to treat it in a similar way to Rolfs as there's a decent head of Carp present that run into double figures though the average is probably around the 6lbs mark, and with only Carp and Tench counting in todays match I just set up 3 rigs. A Malman 4x12 Adam on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 5mtr line on the deck, an a similarly rigged Malman Paste float but with a size 12 Ashima hook for paste while a 0·2 MW HC margin again on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 was set up to fish the margins and double up as an up in the water rig if needed. Bait for today was a mix of hard pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers and Atomic paste with 4mm pellets for feed.

With a bit of time to go before the All-In I took a quick stroll to see where others were drawn. Clive was ready for action on peg 16 and guaranteed at least one bite today .....

 Sven was trying to pick a few bits of local knowledge from Bill's brain, but unfortunately the strain appeared to be getting to Bill (it's not easy trying to hold a stomach that size in ).......

 I managed to get back just before Steve called the All-In. I shipped out a couple of pots of pellet and corn to 5mtrs and fed a couple of handfuls of pellet down the margins before shipping a grain of corn out to 5mtrs.............

Steve was into a fish first put in, but only briefly as it shed the hook however he was in again straight after, and soon had that one safely in the net . A couple of people had taken quick fish and it looked as if Jeff on peg 6 was in for a good match as he was soon into fish fishing the method out toward the island.

Fifteen minutes in and a change to banded 6mm pellet saw me into my first fish, a fighting fit Mirror of around 6lbs that was more than welcome to get me off the mark . However it was soon obvious that nobody was really taking it apart. It took me another twenty minutes before I got another bite, A Common this time, slightly smaller than the first fish but very welcome none the less. Jean strolled down with a very welcome cup of coffee and reported that things were slow all round. After around 1½hours I'd managed another couple of Carp when fellow Jinx Squad member Jon Hatch appeared, He was visiting relatives locally and had snuck down to the lake to see how we were all doing, it was a shame he couldn't fish, but family has to come first at times .

By 1·30pm I couldn't buy a bite so re-fed the 5mtr line quite heavily and took a stroll with the camera. Keith on peg 1 was having a frustrating time trying to work out just where in his swim his next bite would come from ......

 Dave on peg 18 was attached to what appeared to be a decent fish that was giving him a bit of a run around, but he was slowly gaining the upper hand .......

 Clive was plugging away but only had a couple of fish to show for his efforts at this stage and had that look that I've seen before (normally when he's on peg 32 at Rolfs ).........

 Bill was into a decent fish on the feeder and enjoying every minute of it, giving Clive a running commentary alluding to the final destination of the 'Golden Nugget' involved in their side bet ........

 Then I got to my Pairs partner Paul. I have to say that his news didn't inspire me when it came to our chances of framing in the match as he hadn't had a single fish apart from Perch which didn't count today . Kevin was admitting to 3 fish on peg 12 but was being handicapped by an aching shoulder meaning that he couldn't fish right across to the island........

 Fellow Chelsea supporter Hathers was into a fish as I arrived and certainly seemed to be going well for at least a section win, though he was a tad put out at having to return 5 chub weighing around a pound a piece as they didn't count today ........

 Richie(BME) seemed happy enough, this really isn't his normal type of fishing being more of a river man, but he had a Carp in the net that he was sure was a new PB so was well chuffed . Terry was sitting it out on the feeder at peg 7 and owning up to 4 in the net.......

 Jeff who I felt was well away for the section had been alternating between the method and the pellet waggler had it seemed had a bit of trouble keeping the fish on the hook and while he appeared to have been catching well, had lost a few to many for his liking before he could get them to the net ......

 Nick on peg 5 was having a bit of a grueller, he's just getting back into his match fishing having had a bit of a lay off and only had a single carp to show for his efforts . Keith on peg 4 as just slipping the net under a Carp as I arrived , so despite him being a Spurs supporter I did the decent thing and took a picture of it for him ......

 Back to my peg and there were a few bubbles showing at 5mtrs, and first put in produced a fifth Carp for me almost straight away, a better fish of around 8lbs , but try as I might I couldn't tempt another bite after a further 30 minutes. Time for a look in the margins. Lowering a grain of corn into the right hand margin the float cocked and disappeared. The fish gave a good account of itself.............

 .......... before finally slipping over the net, a really chunky Mirror of around 10lbs . Time to take a look down the left hand margin and once again an instant response saw another fish power off .......

 ...... unfortunately it totally trashed the margin swim in it's efforts to make good its escape, but thankfully it was unsuccessful and was soon safely in the net, another decent Mirror . That however was all the action from the margins as yet again the bites dried up.

Steve was trying everything and after going shallow finally managed his 3rd fish of the day, not before it had given him a bit of a run around though . I'd managed another couple of small carp from my 5mtr line, but with half an hour to go I was quite looking forward to the All-Out to put an end to a frustrating day. However at that point it all started to go right for me and in the final 30 minutes I managed to catch another 5 Carp before Steve called the All-Out. It just goes to show that you never can tell, it was just a pity that they didn't turn up a bit earlier .

So as we packed away the inquest started. Keith strolled round from peg 4 to hand me a 'Golden Nugget' that had been our side bet, all the sweeter coming from a Spurs fan , and though I feared that I would have to hand it onto Hathers I knew he would appreciate its origin . As we waited to start the weigh-in at peg 1 Paul strolled past with the news that he had nothing to weigh, so that was us out of the running before the weigh-in had begun .

Keith started the ball rolling with a hard earned 53¼lbs. My fish came in at a level 73lbs which surprisingly gave me the section win as Jeff put 68¾lbs on the scales. Richie had his big Carp weighed separately, and indeed it was a new PB for him at 15¾lbs and his smile said it all ........

 Hathers had topped the weight today with 95¼lbs and Kev had managed 42lbs despite his shoulder. Greg on peg 14 had obviously nicked all Paul's fish to record 57¼lbs . Bill had pipped Clive in the Battle of the Nuggets, While Keith was looking to double up having recorded 53¾lbs .

So back to the car park where Steve announced the results. and in first place on the day and the MD's Southern Pairs Winners 2010 were Keith Ashby & Mark Hathaway with 5 points . 2nd was Keith Haynes & Keith Haynes with 6 points , while Jeff Driscoll & Clive Pritchard took 3rd with 9 points .

All in all a hard days fishing, but fished in the right attitude by the anglers who made it a good day .
A Big Thank You to Steve for organising the match and Congratulations to all the Winners.
Same again next year?

Pairs Result

Individual Result

Jinx Match 6

Well it's the Final Jinx Match of the year today, and it's still all to play for with Malc, Clive and myself all still in with a chance of individual glory . It's been a fantastic Series this year , really enjoyable and we're finishing off with a BBQ at the end of the match . The cats decided they wanted feeding and got me up early this morning so the car was soon loaded up and found it's way straight to The Jimmy Griddle in Battersea for my customary 'Full English' before transporting me to Rolfs .

Pulling into the car park just after 9am there were a good few people present already as they had fished the Friday Night Open and were just starting to surface from their slumbers, In fact the first friendly face to great me was Dai's German Shepherd 'Gina'......

 Time for a coffee and a chat and it seemed that the night match hadn't fished that well, which most put down to low oxygen levels, and with that being the case John soon had the aerators and the pump up and running, then I set off to help Malc,Liam and John pack away the lights that had been set up from the previous night.

Just as we were finishing Malc's wife Julie put in an appearance, somehow Malc had persuaded her to come down and camp in a tent over the weekend, although she's not keen on either fishing or camping . It's taken me 9 years to meet this Saint, although I've spoken to her over the phone on numerous occasions, though it was a bit of a worry as it meant for the first time ever the whole Jinx Clan  would be in attendance at a Jinx Match !!!!!!!!!!!

So with the car park filling up Nick's wife Lisa arrived with a batch of homemade Eccles cakes, and while we sampled them (and very nice they were too ) talk turned to what lay ahead, and the general consensus was that it would probably be hard.
Draw time approached at 12ish and with B section being my home for the day and the honour of drawing first having won my section on the last match it meant that Peg13 was lurking in the bag for me, much to everyones amusement. Plunging my hand into the bag I was rewarded with....................................... peg 29 , Mat being the lucky angler on Peg13 today.

Well at least it meant a nice short walk, but with Simon on peg 32 and Dave Moore on peg 9 I was going to have my work cut out today.

I had Nick Jones, making a welcome return as a guest to my left on peg 30 and Steve(steak) my pairs partner to my right on peg 28 for company today. With a cloudy grey sky which the sun was trying to break through and a strong south westerly wind blowing down into the little lake today I couldn't help feeling that we could be in for a bit of a grueller .

The rigs were simple and freshly tied as we had plenty of time before the 1·30 pm start, consisting of a couple of Malman 4x12 Adam's on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hooks for the 5mtr line on the deck while a 0·2 MW HC margin again on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 was set up to fish to the bushes in the margins. I also set up my feeder rod as a back up, but was hoping I wouldn't need it. Bait for today would be the usual variety of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

So at 1·30pm John rang the fishery bell to signal the All-In. A couple of pots of pellet and corn and a handful of pellet to each bush took care of the feed before a banded 8mm was shipped out to the 5mtr line.

A few people were quickly into fish, so perhaps a good day was in the offing after all, indeed after 5 minutes my float buried and I lifted into what was obviously a Carp and within a couple of minutes a Common of around 8lbs was safely in the keepnet . However within 20 minutes the vast majority of the big lake appeared to switch off, in fact for the next 2 hours all I managed to add was a Bream of around 2½lbs and a few Roach. Steve was using worm but all he could find were small Perch no matter where he tried in his peg, though he was briefly attached to a Carp that was obviously foul hooked before it trashed his rig .

Indeed it was turning into the predicted grueller, though Simon was picking of the odd fish fishing to the bush on peg 32....

 ...... and along with a couple of weigher's he also managed a Chub of 4lbs which was a new PB for him  ......

 Jean arrived with a very welcome cup of coffee  while I had a look on the feeder and managed to nick another Carp of around 6lbs, but with Dave on peg 9.........

 ........... and Steve on peg 11 .......

 ....... still taking the odd fish it wasn't enough, so after re-feeding the peg it was time to let it settle and take a walk with the camera.

Paul's wife Jayne had pulled peg 8 out of the bag for him today and I caught him in the middle of a spirited fight with one of the pegs residents  .......

 Nick(monkey) and Jon were the Pink Hat wearers for this match  and Nick was having a bit of a mare on peg 5  and staring another Minxing firmly in the face despite support from Lisa and son Josh today......

 I could see Gem down on peg 38, tucked up in her fleece against the wind and with weigher's on the board leaving more than a few of us worried  ......

 A chat with Tony on peg 26 revealed that silvers were all he could muster and he was just hoping the Carp would turn up for him before the end of the match.......

Paul was next up on peg 25 and was positively 'bagging', the trouble was that they were all small silvers instead of the hoped for Carp, but fishing maggot was probably asking for it ......

Next up was Dave Collier on peg 23 admitting to a couple of carp and apparently sharing the bush between their pegs with Malc in an attempt to extract a few more from his peg......

 Malc for his part was fishing his usual match as close into the bank as he could get while keeping an eye out for how Clive was doing on peg 20.......

 Now Clive it has to be said isn't exactly enamoured with peg 20 , but with the fishing being hard for everyone was giving it his best shot and owning up to 3 Carp at that point......

 Geoff on peg 19 was happy enough with his lot and asked me to pop along with my camera at the weigh in as he had a couple of Perch that he wanted a picture of  .......

 So back top my peg, Steve was still working his way through what had to be one of the largest shoals of small Perch going, while the tip of my pole float was as dry as a bone, stubbornly refusing to go under and get wet . However it was Mat over on Peg13 who was taking a proper beating from the peg as all he had to show for his efforts was a couple of Roach  .......

 Well with around an hour to go, wonder of wonders, my float slid away , I almost missed it as it caught me by surprise, it gave a really good account of itself and although it didn't feel like a really heavy fish it took a surprisingly large amount of elastic out of the top kit, so much so that I was forced to land it on a top3......

 but a fish is a fish when you're struggling and I was happy just to see the Carp nestling safely in the net . I actually managed to catch another 4 after that, but in all honesty I could have done with another hour before the All-Out was called at 6·30pm, because the fish were bubbling in my swim as we packed away .

It transpired that a few of the lads that were stopping over and travelling back on Sunday started the Weigh-in almost immediately and by the time I'd packed away they were a good half way round the lake. Ade had kicked things off with a level 65lbs from peg 34 while Gem had set The Minx Mark at 34¼lbs from peg 38 . Budgie had managed a very creditable 84lbs from peg 40 but it would only be good enough for 2nd in section and 2nd overall on the day  as Terry on peg 2 had taken 98lbs 6ozs for the section win and his first ever Match win . Steve's 62¼lbs gave him 2nd in B section, while Kevin Loveland weighed 49¾lbs to win C section. Geoff's 44½lbs took 2nd in section and I caught up in time to photograph his 2 Perch......

 ........ my fish came to 41¼lbs but Simon won B section with a fine 68¾lbs and 3rd overall on the day .

So with the Weigh-in complete Malc retired to work out the final positions while we tucked into the BBQ prepared by John and the ladies  ..........

 Nick had brought some home brew for us to try and very palatable it was as well , while Burgers , sausages, chicken etc all found a willing home as the days events were discussed .......

Then Malc stepped up to Thank John and Pauline on behalf of the whole Jinx Squad for allowing us to run the series at the lake  before finally announcing the series result with the rider that it was all subject to verification as it was so close, but the winner of the Series was Clive  at long last having been runner up for the 2 previous years. 3 points back in 2nd place was Malc (The Jinx) , who tied with me on points, but beat me on aggregate weight to leave me in 3rd place .

However Malc  and Simon  had triumphed in the Pairs, while Clive took 2nd place   with his partner Ade  and 3rd place went to Gem (The Minx)  and her partner Budgie .

So with yet another Jinx Series coming to a close farewells were said and plans laid for next year, but as I made my way back to the car park in the gathering gloom I spotted Liam sitting on peg 32 having a go with Simons tackle and he appeared to be playing a Carp.......

..... which was soon landed with Simon acting as Liam's ghillie and proudly displayed for the camera  .......

  Scary really as it looks like we'll have yet another Jinx  to contend with in the future .

OVERALL RESULT

Marsh AC club match.

It's off to Essex for me today to Colemans Cottage to fish just my 4th club match of the year. Hopefully it'll be a decent day and everyone will catch a few . However I nearly didn't make it today having woken at 1·30am and been violently sick for no apparent reason . I finally got back to sleep around 3am, so only got about 3 hours sleep before the alarm went off. A grey drizzly day wasn't the greatest incentive, but I figured I would probably feel better on the bank out in the fresh air .

I arrived at the fishery just after 8am and decided a small breakfast was in order to check out the state of my stomach . Dave soon had the monies collected and the draw underway. Now normally the low numbers are the favourite pegs on Pathfield Lake, so you can imagine my delight at drawing peg 26 down on the shallow newer part of the lake. Dave of course had his usual low draw and I'm sure I detected a little smirk when he recorded my draw on the sheet .

So out to collect my nets and a stroll down to take a look at my peg, an end peg effectively as peg 25 was empty today and there seemed to be a few fish feeding, so back to the car park to collect my gear and stroll back down to the peg. I've got Kevin for company today on peg 28 so I should be good for a mid match cup of coffee courtesy of Jean .

 It's probably 13mtrs to the island, and the targets today are Carp, Mirrors and Commons + a decent head of recently stocked F1's along with silvers which include Barbel. Now I said it was shallow but even I was surprised when an initial plumb up revealed a maximum of 15 inches down the track at around 5mtrs and just 12 inches in the margins . Now given that there are some decent carp present and they tend to take off like bullets in such shallow water I set up a couple of modified Rolf's rigs, and these were Malman Adam 4x10's on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hooks adjusted to suit + a Malman MTD2 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 16 QM1 hook for shallow. I also set up a 4X12 Middy Paste Float, it's a really strong line through design made up on ·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with a Drennan size 12 Carp Method hook to fish paste in both margins. Bait was just 6 and 8mm hard pellet, 6mm GOT Baits Expanders and GOT Baits Atomic Paste .

So at 10am Dave signalled the All-In, a hand full of pellet onto the 5mtr line and a pinch into each margin. The plan was to concentrate on the 5mtr line and regularly flick pellet into the margins, but not to touch them till a tail pattern showed. Out to the 5mtr line which was already bubbling and fizzing with a 6mm expander produced an instant bite, a small F1 which was immediately followed by it's twin, not quite what I was hoping for, but I was off the mark . I swapped to a banded 8mm in the hope of attracting something slightly larger, but all I got for my trouble was a couple of foul hookers which tore off at a rate of knots before shedding the hook . A change to banded 6mm produced a series of frustrating little digs at the float until it finally buried and I connected with a feisty Common of around 3lbs which battled all the way to the net. This seemed to set the pattern for the next 3 hours, I wasn't setting the place alight with maybe 30lbs in the net, but nobody else was apparently from what I could see and gather from a couple of anglers that were strolling around, though Chris Newton on peg 23 reported having had around a dozen fish ........

...... and I'd noticed that Chris Withall had strolled down from peg 20 to collect a second carp net quite early on .

Around half way through I spotted a tail pattern in the left hand margin and soon had a couple of better Commons of around 5lbs a piece safely in the net . Clive appeared at this point and I had another of around 3lbs which he captured on camera before returning to his peg.......

  Unfortunately the next fish proved to be a foul hooker which absolutely trashed the margin before shedding the hook .
Rather than risk wrecking it further I decided to re-feed both margins with a couple of handfuls of pellet and take a stroll with the camera to allow it to settle.

Graham was on peg 30 which had plenty of marginal cover along with fish obviously feeding, but he was having a bit of a struggle trying to tempt them to take a bait ......

 Martin opposite seemed pretty quiet with what looked like a feeder rod set up to try and tempt a few.......

 Next was Keith on peg 33, who I noticed already had a second carp net in, he was pretty cagey about it though reckoning that it was empty at that point, but he's a damn good angler and I couldn't be sure that he wasn't telling porkies .......

 Tony on peg 36 hadn't broken any BeastMaster sections, but said that he was struggling to get to grips with things today......

 My last port of call was to Clive who was on peg 3 today. He had an overflow pipe trickling water into his left hand margin, and it was here that he was fishing, and judging by the tail patterns the fish were there too .......

 He said that he was being plagued by foul hookers though which was really frustrating him, but as I went to return to my peg he hooked and landed a lively pearl white Ghostie  ......

 As I made my way back down the bank I noticed Tony was also into a Ghostie himself, this one a lovely brassy flanked fish ......

 So it was starting to look that a few people were sandbagging with their tales of struggle, and with Keith also sliding a Carp over the landing net as I passed him, I knew that I was going to need a decent final couple of hours......

 Ever the optimist I grabbed a second carp net for myself as I returned to my peg and staked it out on my return. Jean supplied a welcome cup of coffee  as I made my mind up to ignore the 5mtr line and just fish paste in the margin for the remainder. It was slow at first with a few hesitant bites that I missed, but I soon got into a rhythm feeding and fishing both margins close to my nets......

........ taking a fish from either side before swapping over to avoid to much disturbance, the odd foul hooker disturbed this, but on the whole the last hour and a half saw my catch rate increase nicely .

By the time Dave called the all out at 4pm, I was confident that I had high double figures, but had lost track a bit having mislaid my clicker, but I was kicking myself a bit for not having fished the paste sooner and hoping that it hadn't cost me to badly.

With the gear back in the car, the inquests started, Keith was owning up to 60-70ish as was Clive, all would be revealed by the scales. Clive soon set the mark with 77½lbs which he seemed reasonably pleased with , but in general the low numbers hadn't fished as well as expected today with Dave Colliers's 66lbs being the next best. Indeed it wasn't till we got to peg 17 that we saw another weight to overtake Clive's, Ken Walker following up his 2nd place on the previous club match at Blasford Hill with a fine 80½lbs today , which would bring him a similar result . Chris Withall on peg 20 had a busy day, his 77½lbs equalling Clive's weight . Round to my peg and I was honestly surprised when my weight was called at a level 131lbs  which would prove to be the best of the day . The last weigh of note was Keith's at 78½lbs which gave him 3rd overall , just pipping Clive and Chris.

The nice bit about Colemans is going back to the clubhouse for the results and being able to get a cuppa and a bite to eat while Dave sorts the results and dishes out the section pools, before we bid our farewells .

The next club match is at Rockells Farm which is always one to look forward to, but before that I'm back at Rolfs Lake next Saturday for the final Jinx Match of the year.

Maggotdrowning.com

Rolf's Pairs Tournament 2010.

DAY 1

Well having stayed over at Rolfs after Dave Collier's match, I awoke around 7·30am to a rather grey and cloudy day, it had obviously rained during the night, but I soon had the kettle on and breakfast sorted . There was going to be a full house today with some more anglers arriving, making 30 members of the Maggotdrowning forum (18 of them members of this years Jinx Squad  ) assembled from all over the country to fish the Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament 2010, a 2 legged affair fished over both the Saturday & Sunday and this is the 5th year running that the competition has taken place.

Soon people were sorting out their kit while others were arriving and adding to the tented village for the weekend. Conversations were turning to what pegs were going to be fancied draws and how the pairings would turn out. At 11am I had a phone call from Al Loader to let us know that unfortunately work had conspired to stop him fishing this weekend , this left us one short but luckily John kindly agreed to lend Paul East his gear to fish so we were soon back up to the required number .

Around 11·30am John sounded he fishery bell signalling that Dave and I were going to conduct the Pairs Draw, and it has to be said that there were a few strong pairs drawn including 5 pairs made up of anglers that had all been fishing The Jinx Series this year so they were up to speed with how the lake was fishing. My partner for the weekend was Richard(tricky)East, one of the newer forum members and a newcomer to Rolfs.

With that out of the way it was time to draw for todays pegs, and it was around this time that things started to go wrong for me, Yes you guessed it, I opened my hand to find my Nemesis staring back at me.........Peg 13 . Unfortunately for Clive he committed the schoolboy error of standing right behind me in the draw and got caught up in the vortex of my misfortune and was duly rewarded with peg 32  once more. Well it provided plenty of amusement for the assembled crowd while Clive and I debated what punishment was suitable for our drawing hands.........

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

 The rigs were simple, a Malman Adam 4x12 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 10mtr line on the deck. A Malman Adam 4x10 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 5mtr line. I also set up a MW Trev on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match for down the margin. Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

Well at 2pm John sounded the fishery bell to signal the All-In. My initial feed was at 5 and 10mtrs and down the right hand margin, and my 1st put in at 10mtrs with a banded 8mm pellet produced almost instant action as a Carp tore off across the lake leaving just a scale on the hook ........

 Dave next door on peg 11 had snared a quick skimmer on the "feederless feeder" and after about 20 minutes I'd managed a small Carp of around 6lbs. It all went a bit quiet after that however with just a couple of small Roach to break the monotony.

The car park bank looked like the place to be from where I was sitting with all the anglers playing fish at one time or another, indeed Steve snared a Common of 21½lbs but weighed and returned it without as much as a smile much to the consternation of 2 anglers that had dropped in to take a look at the lake before their forthcoming match there. However there was soon a sound that all anglers hate, a loud CRACK and I looked up to see Clive's pole being towed toward the little lake. The number 5 section had failed but fortunately John managed to hook it out and with the fish still attached Clive played it out from peg 33.......

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 It proved to be a decent Common and a weigher to boot at 12½lbs. Happily it wasn't on its own either as in the last hour I added a further 7 carp to the keepnet before John rang the bell for the All-Out. As we packed away a few of the lads were ribbing me that I may as well leave my gear there as I was bound to draw it again tomorrow , but surely fate wouldn't be that unkind to me would it  ? Anyway declining to tempt fate I soon had my gear back to the car park.

So to the Weigh-In and the first weight of any note was Jon Hatch who managed the first 'Ton' with 100¾lbs from peg 39 . Gem had suffered a quiet second half to her match meaning that the cut off for a Minxing was 45¼lbs today. Tony had a cracking day in more ways than one and recorded an excellent 197½lbs, just short of a 'Double Ton' from peg3, yet it would prove to be only good enough for 2nd on the day . Tony's Pairs Partner Geoff backed him up well with 93½lbs from peg5, which would see them going into day 2 in 1st place . My fish registered 64½lbs which at least meant that I'd escaped a Minxing  while my partner Richard managed 1lb more leaving us in mid table. Simon managed the 'Ton' with a fine 155¾lbs from peg 17 for 3rd on the day . Malc had the catch of the day though with a superb 'Double Ton' recording 211lbs for the win on the day  While Steve Wilson recorded the days final 'Ton' with 113¾lbs from peg 19 .

So with all the results collated it was Tony & Geoff in 1st place with Ant & Steve in 2nd and Malc & Gaz in 3rd .

So it was now time for a BBQ and a beer or two  and as the darkness moved in groups settled down to discuss the day events .....

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

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

DAY 2

I awoke around 7am and shock horror, I'd had a good nights sleep. Even better, the sun was shining from a blue sky .
On with the kettle for the first cup of coffee, while Webbo's kind offer of Sausage & Bacon rolls took care of breakfast .

Today was going to be an early draw just after 9am as we were fishing from 11am-4pm so that those that had travelled a considerable distance would be able to get home at a sensible sort of time. So having washed breakfast down with a second cup of coffee it was time to think about packing away the bivvie . It's one of those jobs I hate, but for a change it seemed to go reasonably well and I managed to cram it all into the unfeasibly small carrying bag on the first attempt , so with everything packed away into the car I was ready for whatever fate would throw my way today .

Lining up for the draw I must admit to a feeling of dread as I knew 'IT' was still in the draw bag as I inched closer .
However I was soon feeling better as I heard a groan from Scott ahead of me, Yes he'd claimed peg 13  for his very own today. I felt I should commiserate with him, but all I could manage was a silly grin and laughter . Plunging my hand into the bag I found myself looking down on peg 1, yet another peg I'd not fished previously, that The Minx had fished yesterday......

 So round to peg 1 with the gear to set up. Now normally it's just pegs 40 & 2 on this bank that are used, but for a change this weekend pegs 39, 1 & 3 had been used. Geoff had drawn peg 3 and was hoping for a similar result to that achieved by his partner Tony who'd fished it the previous day, while to my right on peg 39 was Gaz hoping for a better result than yesterday.
Poor Jonny Broadbent had just wheeled his Rive to peg 38 and turned round to do something else when there was an almighty SPLASH!!!! The box complete with wheelkit had rolled down the bank depositing itself in his peg, not the ideal start to his day .

Rig wise I just set up a couple of Malman Adam 4x12's on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1's to cover the 5 and 10mtr lines which were of similar depth and a Malman 4x12 Snake IV on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 to fish the bottom of the marginal shelf under the bush to my left. I also got the feeder rod out of it's ready sleeve just in case things got desperate Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

I have to say that it felt quite strange setting up so early for a match at Rolfs, and I felt that we may all be in for a bit of a grueller , especially with the change in the weather as well. At 11am John signalled the All-In by ringing the bell and I fed all 3 of my lines before starting on a banded 8mm at 5mtrs. While I couldn't see Geoff on peg 3 I could hear him and it was obvious that he'd caught a fish pretty quickly . Dave had joined the action pretty quickly as well, winkling out a couple of Carp from down his right hand margin. Other than that though there didn't seem to be much happening.

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

I couldn't buy as much as a bite however, nothing not even a solitary silver to show for my efforts after 3 hours. The bush that had produced for Gem yesterday offered little in the way of cover from the sun today and the only signs of anything were at 10mtrs where the usual fizzing kept happening over the feed . The feeder with dampened pellet and double sweetcorn on the hook finally produced a bite just after 2pm and a feisty little Mirror of around 6lbs was soon safely in the net to save the dreaded DNW, but with Gem on peg8 and getting a few fish I just knew that I was on for a Minxing today.

Malc had been on a stroll round and reported that most were struggling today and it appeared that Chris on peg 7 and Tony on peg 26 were having the best of it today and with Geoff having a few on a difficult day it would probably be enough for them to secure the title. However Ant had started to have a couple over on peg 38......

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

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

....... on two separate occasions before the hook pulled free. In fact it ended up feeling like a blessed relief when John rang the bell for the All-Out at 4pm .

So time to pack everything away which was all going smoothly until I noticed that 3 sections of my margin pole were missing . I knew where I'd left them, and knew in my heart where they would be ................ In the lake .
Oh well it had to be done, down to my underpants and flip flops and in, it wasn't to unpleasant and I located the sections straight away. Geoff gave me a hand out and as I turned round who should I spy with a camera but Malc ,
A fair cop I suppose after all the times I've caught him ........

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

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

 Geoff Palmer & Tony Roberts  

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

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