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.

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 .

Pairs Result

Dave the Fish's

Invitation Match.

Well today I'm once again making the trip down to Rolfs Lake for an invitation match organised by Dave the Fish as a prequel to the Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament 2010. This has become something of an annual event fished by a number of those that will be fishing at the weekend and a few that won't. It's a nice light hearted match, fully in keeping with the Maggotdrowning ethos that allows everyone to settle in for the weekend ahead with plenty of time to spare .

I'd been looking forward to this with a keen sense of anticipation for a few weeks prior to the event, but had a bit of a shock on Thursday when I got a phone call from Dave(Webbo) informing me that he'd been unable to get any trophies for the Pairs Match, and asking me if there was anything I could do to remedy the situation Fortunately there is a company local to me who deal in nothing other than trophies and a quick trip down to their shop sorted the problem, so a big THANK YOU to Alan Clarke and his staff at CLASSIC TROPHIES for getting us out of the brown sticky stuff at very short notice .

 It was a bit of a dull grey day with a hint of drizzle in the air when I woke up on Friday morning, so with the car loaded with all my gear, including the extras necessary needed for a 3 day stay it was off to Battersea for breakfast before driving through London to reach the M40, Thankfully this went amazingly well and I pulled into the fishery car park just after 10am . Geoff P and Mick the Chippy were already in situ as were our hosts for the weekend ahead John & Pauline. First things first, so I soon got my bivvie erected as it was obvious that we were going to get some rain at some point in the day. With that out of the way and the car park staring to fill as others arrived I gave Mick a hand with his bivvie. Like many of us, not being a hardened carper the bivvie only comes out for the annual trip to Rolfs and remembering where all the rods go takes a while. we got there in the end though .

By now the car park was filling up, Dai had brought his caravan, along with his wife Anne, daughter Hayley and the dog, while Malc had Liam and Crystal in tow. Now Malc had invested the large sum of £14 in a new 4 man tent and was trying to erect it for the 1st time with the aid of the kids and Hayley, unfortunately the only instructions were a single photo of what it should look like, Despite showing him how to fit the supporting poles, you could tell it wasn't going well when Hayley told Malc to "Step away from the tent" and as she had a mallet in her hand  it seemed like a good idea at the time . I then got a phone call from Paul(nomorelongwalks)East who had pulled out due to a family commitment, and he told me that the arrangement had been cancelled so he was coming down later anyway for a weekend with the gang despite not being able to fish .

Chris(cybermanc)Ellis and Tom(tommodiesel)Little had arrived early to set up as they were fishing The Pairs at the weekend, but Dave invited them to fish today as they'd arrived ahead of schedule so there were 19 of us ready to go when Dave called for the draw around 12·30pm despite a few of the attendees being caught up in M40 traffic . We were going to fish from 2·15 - 7·15pm anyway so Pauline drew for those missing.
Into the draw bag and I found peg 28 on the car park bank would be my home for 5 hours, a nice short walk and a peg I hadn't fished before......

 John had mentioned that today looked ideal for the feeder and that seemed as good a starting point as any especially as I had it already set up in its rod sleeve. Pole wise I just set up a couple of Malman Adam 4x12's on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1's for fishing to the bushes on either side and a Malman 4x12 Snake IV on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 for a line at 5mtrs. Bait for the session would be a variety of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

Simps, Gem and Budgie had made it in time for the start so it was a full compliment of 19 by the time that Dave signalled the All-In with what sounded like a strangled duck . Geoff over on peg 10 soon had a few feet of orange Vespe coming from his pole and was soon off the mark with the 1st Carp of the weekend .

I managed a quick Carp on the feeder, a Mirror of around 7lbs to get me off the mark, while Simps was soon out onto the pole line and got a decent 16lb'er to get him off the mark, but it was Dave on peg 24 who seemed to get off to the best start fishing the pellet cone or "Feederless Feeder" as he calls it, it seemed to be doing the business today as a succession of fish came to the net ......

 Gem was on peg 9 and after her customary shout signalling her 1st fish had a lot of us worried about a Minxing as it's a peg capable of producing a good weight, as Gem had proved taking a 'Ton+' and a load of scalps off of it a couple of weeks ago in a Jinx Match .......

Well things didn't get any better for me with nothing further to show on the feeder or all 3 pole lines apart from foul hooking a rather angry Carp in the tail. This gave me a good run around but I thought I was in with a chance of landing it, unfortunately as I piled on the pressure in an attempt to net it the line close to the hook parted shooting the rest of the rig back towards me and embedding the float into the middle finger of my right hand . Looking at it with a degree of shock I decided that it shouldn't really be there and pulled it straight out only to be rewarded with the sight of large amounts of blood pouring out of my battered digit. Luckily Maria has always insisted that I carry a small first aid kit in my carryall for just this type of event so I was able to staunch the flow and bandage it up .

So with nothing else having come my way after 2½ hours so I decided to fill it in on the 5mtr line and go for a stroll with the camera. I passed a rather disconsolate Tom(Tommodiesel)Little on peg 30 who was fishless  .......

....... and found Clive on peg 32, now this peg is starting to haunt Clive like peg 13 haunts me, and I have to say that Clive had the look of a man resigned to a Minxing  and just going through the motions as he could see that he was falling behind Gem who was directly opposite him .......

Mick was on peg 34 and was having a bit of a struggle getting to grips with it today, but was plugging away and putting his faith in Mary Q to turn things round .......

 Malc was tucked away down on peg 38 and had Liam and Crystal to keep him company and maybe bring him some luck......

 .......... strangely Malc was fishing the feeder , a surprising site as he normally fishes the pole all the time at Rolfs but it appeared to be working for him as he was into a run of Carp on it .......

 Budgie on peg 40 was nowhere to be seen, which summed up the way his match was going , while Dai was on peg 2 and putting a few together, but just glad to be there after suffering concussion having cracked his head on the tailgate of Geoff's car the previous weekend  ......

 Chris Withall was having a real struggle on peg 4 and had resorted to fishing the waggler and maggot for anything with fins to put some fish in the net .......

peg 6 found Dave Moore wrapped up in his hoodie, not in the best of health, he probably shouldn't have been fishing and the sport wasn't exactly providing the tonic he needed .......

 Terry had finally managed a half decent draw in peg 7 but the residents had obviously heard of his previous exploits this season and decided to heap a bit more suffering on him leaving him facing a sixth Minxing on the trot .......

....... while Scott(methodgob) had run to peg 8 only to find that he needn't have rushed as the fish were making him work hard for each one of them .......

 By the time I arrived back at my peg Paul had arrived and came over to say Hello, I was also rewarded with a bite! not the hoped for Carp, but a decent skimmer that was soon safely in the net and it was soon followed by another, and such fish can save a Minxing on a hard day . Over on my Nemesis peg 13  Chris(Cybermanc) was getting a few, but losing to many for his liking ......

Dave over on peg 14 was suffering a bit of a grueller, I reckon it was the sound of that strangled duck at the start had scared his fish off ......

 All the action seem to be coming from the pegs to the right of me though, Simon was playing catch up with Dave who was still getting regular fish, and while Simon was getting quite a few foul hookers from his 5mtr line he was landing quite a few of them......

 However Ant over on peg 18 was coming on strong with a good run of fish late on and Steve(steak) on peg 22 was quietly getting on with things fishing worm and avoiding the foul hookers that were causing havoc for most ......

I'd managed one more Carp by the time that Paul came back to see how I was doing. No sooner had he sat down behind me than I latched into a foul hooker that went tearing off across the lake taking my rig with it. I remarked to Paul that I couldn't be bothered to set up another rig with 45 minutes to go so just dropped my feeder rig onto the 5mtr line with a single grain of corn on the hook. Well the tip wrapped round almost instantly and I soon had another carp in the net and I managed another six before Dave found that strangled duck again to sound the All-Out. I have to say that I was quite surprised to have finished so well and though I had 50lbs+ which just might save me from a Minxing .

So with the gear packed away it was time for the Weigh-In and Malc soon set the pace with 73¾lbs to easily win his section, after which it was a tale of woe for many with the next weight of any relevance to most being Gem's who set the mark of 52¼lbs + to avoid a Minxing. The Minxed List grew until the scales reached Ant who recorded the first Ton of the day with 109¼lbs, good enough for 3rd on the day  and just pipping Steve who weighed 108½lbs. Round to Dave who was well chuffed with his 136½lbs, but it was only good enough for 2nd   as Simon took a fine win recording 144½lbs . My late run of fish resulted in a weight of 62lbs for me so no Minxing for me today and a surprise section win as a bonus . THANK YOU to Dave the Fish for todays Invite , an enjoyable match regardless of the weights and a great way to kick off the weekend .

So with everything out of the way it was back to the bivvies as the barbecue and various cookers were fired up, beers were opened and the inquest on the days events were discussed along with the prospects for the weekend ahead. It went on long into the night for some, and was still going when I rolled into my sleeping bag just after midnight and it didn't take long before I was sound asleep.
What would lie ahead? It wouldn't be long till we found out .

Faye's Match

Organised by Maggotdrowning.com
With all proceeds going to support

Around this time last year Bill G organised a fund raising match in aid of PostPals.co.uk in support of a young lady called Faye, who has become very close to the hearts of a lot of the members who use the forum on the website Maggotdrowning.com and you can read the story of just how that day went HERE . It was such a success, that Bill has taken up the reins once more and we're back down at Monk Lakes today to do it all over again .

So having risen at some ungodly hour to take Mrs M to work for 6am, I couldn't help noticing just how cold it was outside , so the first job after another coffee and toast was to dig the thermals out and climb into them before loading the car. With one thing and another it was just gone 7 am once I set off, but a smooth run down saw me pulling into the car park around 8am . Evidently I passed Clive and Tony on the way down, but they were unable to pick up my slipstream and arrived a little later .
A good turnout seemed assured as people assembled and various breakfast goodies were devoured  as introductions were made to new faces and friendships renewed. People had come from far and wide for this match, notably Geoff and his better half Mags, from Motherwell in Scotland, while Arkwright and his good lady Pat had trekked down from Lancashire along with a few other 'Monkeys' from above the Watford Gap  and the 'Pink One' that is Jessebobs escaped from Bristol for the day .

Faye's Dad, Dave T had come down for the day to offer his support, as unfortunately Faye was still in Adenbrookes with Mum Liz keeping her company. With the draw rolling round it was also good to see Vince putting in an appearance . Unfortunately he's been suffering from a bout of pneumonia, preventing him from fishing, but he still found the time to come down to meet everyone and lend Bill a hand with the draw. So in for the draw and peg 145 stuck to my hand. Up on Lake 4 and I was quite happy as with the islands and a fair bit of vegetation it may offer a bit of shelter on what promised to be an absolute grueller of a day weather wise........   yeah right.

Well the peg looked great, but the wind was howling in, but at least it was at my back. It meant that I could comfortably fish at around 7mtrs on the pole and with a decent 2½ft in the margin and a nice level 3ft+ at 7mtrs those would be my 2 lines utilising 2 rigs that were still in my box from an earlier club match on the lake back in March. I also set up my feeder rod as I had it with me in its ready sleeve. Bait for the day was maggot, pellet and corn with some groundbait for the method. For company I had Bill's club mate John to my left while to my right was 'Mermaid' Linda's husband Chris and Al. Did I mention the wind  ??? 1st job was to retrieve my seat box cover that went flying past me and then navigated half the lake before docking in Jessebobs swim, mind you he was going to need all he could get if he thought he was going to fill 3 nets today  ......

So 10·30am and Bill called the All-In, feed onto both lines and out to 7mts with double maggot on the hook, a bit of lifting and dropping and 5 minutes in a nice fat Gudgeon broke the duck. The next hour saw just a couple of small Carp and a few skimmers for me, but John seemed to be finding a few as was Steve (spots) Potter up on peg 149......

Dave T came along for a chat and I gave him my camera with instructions to take a few pictures on his travels. Bill put in an appearance a little later, but word was that while most had caught, very few were catching regularly as the wind was doing its best to make life difficult for most on both lakes.

Next up Kevin's partner Jean and Pat (The Raffle Ticket Mafia) arrived and with their subtle charms had soon extracted cash from us all in exchange for 1000+ raffle tickets .

Meanwhile over on Lake 2 it was starting to look more like an audition for 'Deadliest Catch' than a fishing match as the wind , rain and occasional bouts of hail interspersed with sunshine was making conditions more than a tad difficult for a lot of the anglers. However tucked away behind his brolly on peg 67 Jon (Mutley) Reed was having one of those sessions we all dream about......

 Now Jon is no match angler but a combination of simple feeder tactics and regularly pinging feed over the top kept fish coming to his rod virtually all match .

Further up on peg 73 Keith (shallowman) Haynes was making the most of it fishing chopped worm & caster for anything with fins and was slowly building a good weight.

I'd invited a work colleague, Dave Janes along today to fish his 1st ever match, he's not long started pole fishing, and struggled a bit as the concept of a match was so new to him......

but he was delighted to get his best ever carp on the pole which weighed in at 12½lbs......

For a lot though it was just a case of battling through and nicking the odd fish where possible Geoff had told me that Mags always brings the rain with her when she leaves Scotland ............... He wasn't wrong . Arkwright must have wondered why he'd travelled all the way down from Lancashire, as us southern lads had obviously lied to him about these Southern 'Baggin' waters, but he stuck at it and had a few  ......

Mick was under severe pressure as he had granddaughter Rosie for company on the next peg  ......

......  No that's wrong as Mick really doesn't 'do' pressure, being one of the most relaxed anglers you could ever hope to meet......

...... and between nicking a couple and helping young Rosie, honour remained intact at the end with Mick getting the decision by a clear 10ozs .

Gary (garycatch) Catchpole had drawn the fabled peg 45 and was slowly putting a few together  ........

Linda aka Mermaid was also getting a few, and it was just a question of whether it would prove to be enough to give her the bragging rights over husband Chris who was over on Lake 4......

Meanwhile back on Lake 4 Trevor was getting a few towards the island when the wind dropped, but it was never for long enough......

Al was battling on and getting the odd fish, but couldn't put a run of them together......

So with a couple of hours to go I decided that enough was enough with the pole and reached for the feeder rod. 3 grains of corn hair rigged and lobbed towards the island. Within a minute the tip wrapped round and a small Mirror was safely into the net . That set the pattern for my last 2 hours, regular fish, but a few hook lengths were claimed by various snags that seemed to litter the area, but at least it kept me reasonably busy till Bill called the All-Out at 3·30pm.

Al and I had the scales for Lake 4 and thankfully given the conditions the Weigh-In didn't take to long as the weather started to close in once more. Steve (spots) Potter taking the section with 56½lbs  ahead of Steve (Jessebobs) Burgess's 42¼lbs.

So with the gear packed away it was back to the car park for the results. Overall the day belonged to Jon (Mutley) Reed  with a fine 101lbs to take the win  ahead of Keith (shallowman) Haynes's level 85lbs , while Steve (spots) Potter's 56½lbs filled 3rd place .

Bill G then said a few words of thanks before announcing that the total raised for Post Pals on the day had come to £853 and with another £270 still to come from an auction for a day at Rolfs Lake should take the total to over £1100 .

Dave T  then thanked everyone for their efforts and read out the following letter that Faye had sent as she was unable to attend  .....

Thanks to everyone for coming to the match.
  We know many of you have travelled a long way. I'm sorry I can't be there in
person. I was hoping to be there but Addenbrookes won't let me come home yet.
Me & my mum will be thinking of you all today. Hope you all caught lots of fish
& have enjoyed yourselves. Thanks for supporting my charity Post Pals. The money
raised helps many other seriously ill children.
Thank you for all your messages on the Maggot Drowners site.
A special thank you to Bill for organising everything again.
Hopefully I will see you all at the next one.

Love to you all
Faye.

Well after that all that remained was to draw the raffle, and with that out of the way farewells were bid. I'd just like to say a word of thanks, firstly to Bill G for all his efforts organising the day , and to all those anglers that took part , and Monk Lakes who donated a sizable part of the peg fees back to the cause . Same again next year folks?

Overall Results

Maggotdrowning.com

Southern Fur & Feather.

Time for the annual Maggotdrowning Southern Fur & Feather match and we're back down at Wylands on House Lake today. Pressure of work has meant that I haven't been out fishing for nearly 2 months so it was good just to be going fishing today . I was hoping that the weather would be a little kinder than last year, but looking through the curtains it was looking pretty cold and that was confirmed as I loaded the car. I rolled into the car park around 7·50am in tandem with Mark (MoleMan) and found Bill, Simon, Trevor and Wayne already in residence at the tea hut. The bad news however was that there was no food on the go , and the bailiff had only opened it so we could get a cuppa before we started.
Looking across the lake it was obvious that some drastic gardening had gone on since last year with the island that's reached by the footbridge cut in half to form two, a lot of the trees cut back and a number of bivvy friendly swims installed on the woodside bank and the bank to the left of the bridge.
Mark soon had the draw underway for the 14 of us in attendance and put in 3 more pegs for absentees who hadn't cancelled . I ended up with peg 16, one of 4 new pegs to the left of the bridge. For company today I had Tony to my left on 17, while to my right was Wayne on 15 and Trevor on 14 next to the bridge. Positioning my box I couldn't help noticing the icy easterly that was blowing from right to left into our pegs, and then for good measure it started raining .

Now with a good head of silvers present and the cold snap probably slowing the carp down, I'd picked a couple of top kits with soft white Hydro and made up a couple of silvers rigs, 4X12 carpa tricky's on 0·12 to 0·10 with size 20 Red Drennan Barbless Carp Maggot hooks. Now the main body of house lake offers depths of around 4-6 ft on the pole line, so I was a little taken aback to find no more than 2½ft regardless of where I plumbed up . Bait for today was red & white maggot, 4mm expanders and some micro pellet.

10am and Mark blew for the All-in, I potted some maggot and pellet straight out at 8mtrs and a similar amount about 10ft to the left of it.
Out with the rig baited with a single red maggot and 30 seconds later a small roach made sure that I wouldn't be facing a DNW . Further small roach followed in the next 2 hours, but Tony and I were really struggling, Wayne appeared to be doing a bit better, while Trevor fishing the whip was definitely doing the best of the four of us......

Feeling a little disheartened I grabbed the camera and took a stroll. Jeff had once again drawn on the island and was getting regular action with some skimmers helping him build a decent net. Looking across I could see Mark on the 1st peg and rumour had it that he already had a bonus Carp in the net.......

Indeed it appeared that all those on the wood bank had got off to a decent start, especially Simon and Andy......

and I could see that Vince over on the dam was getting a few meaning that he was looking odds on for another Golden Nugget off me today ......

I could see Bill sitting in splendid isolation with the tea hut bank all to himself, and as I made my way over he was into a fish that was taking just a bit to much elastic for it to be anything other than a Carp. A couple of anxious minutes followed, but soon it was safely in the net, a nice bonus fish ......

Mick looked to be lost in concentration and getting amongst a few silvers himself ......

Indeed the whole of the main part of the lake seemed to be fishing quite well as I made my way back to my peg. I stopped off for a chat with Trev to try and pick his brains as it's his local fishery and he suggested that I needed to up my feeding despite the bitter cold as that's what the fish normally responded to. So back to my peg and off with the kinder pot and out with the catapult.

Well it worked to a degree, in that the roach started to come a bit more frequently, but they were still just 1-2oz fish with the occasional 4oz bonus fish. With around half an hour to go Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff appeared having come down to see how we were getting on, and it was as I chatted to Tony that I struck into another roach bite only to see quite a lot of White Hydro , and a nervous couple of minutes followed before I slid the net under a Carp of around 5lbs. However that was the end of the excitement for me and Mark blew the All-out at 3pm just as the rain returned for us to pack up in. Thankfully we were using fishery keepnets so were able to pack up in double quick time and get the gear back to the car before the weigh in .

Mark kicked off with 20¾lbs and was rapidly overtaken by Simon with 24¼lbs, Stuart managed 15½lbs before Andy brought 37lbs to the scales including 3 Carp. Vince's 16lbs+ secured the Golden Nugget from yours truly while Jay put a match winning 38¼lbs on the scales . Mick recorded 12¾lbs while Bills level 34lbs left him ruing 3 lost carp, anyone of which would have given him the win. Next up Jeff and Trevor both put 25½lbs on the scales for joint 5th place. Wayne had 14½lbs, my meagre total was 11lbs 6ozs leaving poor Tony last to weigh and last on the day with just 4¼lbs to show for his efforts .

At least everyone took home a prize on the day , one day hopefully we'll catch it on a day when the weather gods are smiling on us.
A Big Thank You to Mark for organising the match , and to all that turned up on the day. Same again next year folks?

Maggotdrowning.com

Southern Championship 2009.

 Down to Hartleylands Farm today just outside the village of Cranbrook to fish the Maggotdrowning.com Southern Individual Championship on Nick's Lake. Nick Gilbert had kindly taken care of organising this match and there promised to be a good turn out for it .

The view out of the window first thing was a little dull and grey, but the forcast predicted a bright warm sunny day so hopefully things would pick up. With the car loaded it was off to The Knoxbridge Cafe for breakfast, quite a few of the lads had the same idea so there was a good bit of banter and a couple of new faces introduced themselves before we made our way down to the fishery for the draw . Arriving at the fishery it was obvious that we had a pretty decent turn out for todays match, 24 of us to be exact. Nick finally got the draw under way with Matt's help. Peg 34 for me, a nice short walk from the car, but not where I really fancied and with Vince drawing peg 23 I feared the loss of a Golden Nugget was very much on the cards .

With my kit at my peg it was time to set up, but for some reason today I really couldn't get into it and remarked on it to Terry who was on peg 33 to my right......

Anyway with 1½hrs to get ready I finally managed to get things done. 1st thing set up was the feeder rod with a small method feeder to drop to the edge of the island. For the pole I set up 3 rigs......

These were essentially similar to those I'd used the previous weekend ie: a couple of Malman 4X12 Adam's on 0·18 Power Match with size 16 Drennan Carp hooks to fish pellet as well as a small Malman SC Paste float on 0·20 Power Match with a size 12 Ashima Barbless hook for paste down the edge. Bait was a selection of various pellets and paste with 6mm pellet for feed, while the groundbait was Sonubaits Method Mix......

11am saw Nick call the All-In and I potted in 2 large pots of pellet and groundbait at 6mtrs and a handfull of pellet down the margins, then went out on the method feeder to allow the pole line to settle. Well that was the plan but as I picked up the rod I noticed that somehow I'd managed to miss out threading the line through the bottom rod rig !! (told you I wasn't really focused when setting up ) So I had to strip things down and start again. Anyway having re-rigged I dropped it to the edge of the island. A couple of taps and the tip wrapped round, the 1st fish was on, only for it to slip the hook halfway to the net . Better luck next cast however and a small Common of around 1lb had me off and running. I managed another couple of similar examples in the next 20 minutes but got the impression that there weren't any number of fish there so decided to try the pole line while catapulting some pellets over to the island in an attempt to draw some fish .

Unfortunately the pole line was no more productive, 45 minutes producing just another couple of small Carp and a skimmer. Time for another look on the method. Dropping the feeder close to the island, I'd just set the tip when it wrapped round, lifting into the fish I noticed a boil in the water by the island and a Duck paddling off at a rate of knots. Unfortunately I was attached to the Duck . Well the subsequent fight caused a deal of hilarity , but Terry managed to do the honours with the net. 'Jemima' was freed and appeared none the worse for her ordeal and Clive kindly did the 'David Bailey' bit for posterity .......

With that episode out of the way I went back to the pole. It produced another couple of small Carp and a couple of small Roach, but it was still a struggle so I re fed all the lines and took the camera for a quick stroll. In fact I could hear splashing from Terry's swim as I stood up, and was just in time to catch him sliding a Carp into the landing net ......

Looking across from Terry's swim I could see Vince and Jessebobs staring straight out in front of them, either they were concentrating hard or was it trying to ignore the bloody awful row singing coming from Al on the next peg ......

Meanwhile Clive was attached to something that was giving his purple Hydro a decent work out and giving him a bit of a run around ......

Simon and Mick were engaged in exchanging witty repartee, though some may have mistaken it for ripping the pee out of each other and wonder of wonders Mick was actually fishing the pole ......

Over on the other side thing were obviously not going to plan however as Matt (MD's very own slapper ) was fishing short down the margin !!!!!!!!!......

On the way back to my peg I noticed that Clive was now concentrating his line of attack down the margin ......

...... and felt that it was probably my best chance of getting anything decent, so out came the paste rig for the final part of the match.
Jeff D had started fishing his margin as well and was having a good run of fish, but it really never happened for me. Just 4 Carp in the last hour, though they were of a better stamp than I'd been getting previously. When Nick called All-Out at 4pm I have to say that I was glad it was all over and I soon had the gear packed up and back in the car .

The Weigh-in was soon under way and Jeff's 59lbs+ was the first weight of any note. My meagre total of 30¼lbs being last in section .
Roy's (Anglingman) 61lbs+ was beaten by Nick's level 69lbs, while Al took the section and 3rd overall with 78¾lbs . Vince, despite suffering almost as bad a match as me (Including snapping his waggler rod) had managed 31½lbs and had a rather large grin as I handed him a Golden Nugget . Nick (BAG UP) had walked the section with 114½lbs that also won him the match . Ian Carley (CasterBlaster) put 70lbs on the scales to take the next section while Neil Beard's 107lbs took the final section and 2nd overall .

Back to the car park for a quick presentation, then the inquests and pee taking started in earnest. Congratulations to Nick(BAG UP)Costar who now holds the title of MD's Southern Champion, but more importantly 'The Bragging Rights' for a year . Thanks to Nick Gilbert for organising the whole thing and Thank You to all the anglers that turned up, without whom there wouldn't have been a match . Let's do it all again next year.

The Southern Intersite Match.

Well today was the day of the annual Southern Intersite Match, where 4 teams of 10 anglers representing 4 angling forums pit their wits and fishing skills against each other in a light hearted match . Well I say light hearted, but over the years it's become quite competitive for some, but as usual I'm fishing for the team from Maggotdrowning.com and our ethos is still to enjoy ourselves and the day without actually trying to win . The other teams are from Angling Forums, Total Fishing.com and TalkAngling so we'll see how the day goes . The first look out of the bedroom window was promising, offering the promise of a decent day weather-wise ahead, though the forcast reckoned we might get a few showers at some point .
A cup of coffee to kick start the old grey matter, then get the car loaded before setting off for the fishery. A nice easy drive down saw me pulling into the fishery just after 8am and pulling up in the car park next to Mick the Chippy. Climbing out of the car it was strangely still, and people were saying that the lakes were like glass with no hint of a ripple to be seen, a very rare occurrence at Monks!!!!!

Down to the chuck wagon for a bacon sarnie and coffee and the greetings and banter were soon in full flow as the 4 teams started to assemble prior to the draw.. New faces being introduced, while old ones were greeted and abused in equal measures . 9am and the team captains drew their teams pegs which were then alloted to their team members. The MD's draw was done and with 5 sections on each lake peg 60 on Lake 2 was mine. I was quite happy with that as I much prefer Lake 2 having fished it more than Lake 1.

With new match rules in place at Monk Lakes including bait and net limits, decisions had to be made about bait and as I loaded my kit up onto the barrow I selected 7 pints of pellets, a couple of tins of corn and 2kg of groundbait for the day as well as 4 keepnets (well you never know your luck ).

With my gear safely round to my peg it was time to set up. Peg 60 has a decent bit of depth and a decent left hand margin to a bush. The plan was to fish paste and pellet and concentrate on 2 lines today, 5mtrs straight out where there was around 5½ft and the margin with around 2½ft. For the 2 paste rigs I selected a couple of Malman SC paste floats made up on 0·18 Power Match with size 12 Ashima Barbless hooks. I also set up a Malman 4X 14 Champers on 0·14 power match with a size 16 Drennan Carp Match hook for fishing the pellet on the deck out at 5mtrs and a Malman Slapper, again on 0·14 Power Match with a size 16 Drennan Carp Match hook for up in the water, that would also double up for the margin if needed. Bait wise the paste was a bag of Dynamite Swim Stim Amino Original that I had put through a liquidiser to make it really fine and added a packet of GOT Baits pineapple Atomic Cloud which mixes up to a nice soft consistency, a selection of hard and soft hook pellets and some corn, with 6mm pellets for feed.

With the new weight limits in place I put 3 keepnets in straight away just in case, as I didn't want to run the risk of disturbing the margin later if I was catching well. Everything was ready by 10·30am and with half an hour to go I strolled back to the car to get my jacket just in case we got the odd shower (You aren't allowed to cross the bridge now once the match has started ) Nick(Bag Up) was settling in to peg 46 as I got round to the car, and you couldn't accuse him of being the worlds tidiest angler ......

As I made my way back I took the opportunity of snapping a picture of Clive on end peg 77 as he sat waiting for the off ......

Fred(Milo)Parker fishing for TalkAngling had draw the other end peg (56) and was obviously hoping for a decent day ahead ......

While the lads at the other end were obviously discussing their prospects, and I had to Fancy Nick Gilbert's chances (but not his dress sense ) after he'd drawn peg 67 as he's got a good record at Monks......

So 11am and the All-In was called and I cupped in 2 big pots of pellet at 5 mtrs and fed some pellet down the left margin. I started off with a banded 8mm pellet at 5mtrs which resulted in a couple of lightening fast bites that I couldn't connect with. Third time lucky though as a slower more positive bite resulted in a first fish, a nice plump Mirror of around 2lbs nestling safely in the net . It was a case of steady away from then on really, working the bait , lifting and dropping the rig or a little drag to one side to try and induce a bite. There was just a little to long between bites but the fish that I was getting were plump Mirrors so at least a bit of weight was going in the net and at the end of the first hour I had 7 fish for around 18lbs .

Looking across I could see Hathers(moleman) who appeared to be going along quite nicely on peg 54 and luckily he had a cap on, so I wasn't getting dazzled by the reflection from his bonce ......

while over on peg 46 Nick appeared to be going along quite nicely thank you, regularly putting fish in the net......

Try as I might I just couldn't seem to up the rate , while Mark on peg 59 to my right seemed to be catching faster than me, though he was getting a lot of Barbel (I couldn't actually see though as he was hidden by the bush). So about 12·30 I had my 1st look with the paste rig and while it didn't provide any increase in bites, they were a lot more definite when they came and easier to connect with.

By 1·30pm I was feeling a little parched and realised that I'd left my drinks in the car , and as you're now not allowed across the bridge once the match is on I took a stroll up to Mick to scrounge a drink. The man himself kindly obliged with a whistle wetter and appeared to be enjoying himself as he slid another fish into his waiting landing net while I watched ......

I took the opportunity to pop down and see how Nick was getting on, and he reported that he'd had a blinding start with 20 fish in the net in the 1st hour, things had slowed for him however and he was actually fishing on the deck to keep some fish going in the net !!!!!! Anyone that knows Nick will know that he's a confirmed "up in the water" man, so thought I'd better catch proof of this rare event on camera ......

Just after 2pm I noticed a tail pattern in my left hand margin, so felt it was time for a look there. Just 3 sections were needed to drop the paste down the margin and after a couple of minutes the float slid away and I found myself attached to a better fish that appeared to be determined to go and visit the opposite side of the lake. Almost straight away I could feel it was a foul hooker, but fortunately after a few minutes I was able to slide it tail first into the landing net, another plump Mirror, but this one went about 6lbs .

I stayed with the margin swim for the remainder of the match, yet again I couldn't up my catch rate though. However I was putting fish into the nets on a regular basis even if it wasn't quite as quick as I would have liked and felt I should have brought some maggots with me as they would probably have drawn a few more Barbel into the peg .

Looking around it was hard to see how others were doing due to the lush bankside vegetation, indeed I could just see Clive's head peeking above making him appear somewhat like a Jap Sniper in the jungle ......

While Mick being somewhat loftier in the height department (though he may have been standing up ) could be seen playing another fish when I glanced round ......

My final 40 minutes were quite frustrating as sport seemed to slow right down, and I only managed to put a couple of fish in the net in this period meaning that when the All-Out was called I'd ended the match with 40 fish in my nets. Clive and I had drawn scales duty for the causeway so I managed to get packed away and my kit back to the car while we waited for the scales as they weighed the car park bank first.
Unfortunately Nick(Bag Up) fell foul of the new rules as his 2 nets at the Weigh-In were both over 60lbs so he only recorded a level 100lbs (50lbs for each net ) I'm not really sure what happened there though as he had 4 nets in the water during the match .

So we finally got round to the Weigh-In on the causeway and Morgan kindly took on the recording duties allowing Clive and myself to get on with the weighing. Fred kicked off with 114lbs. Mark Smith took the honours in my section (8) with a fine 145lbs, which proved to be the 3rd best weight on the day, and giving me a right battering off the next peg as my 98 lbs was only good enough for 3rd in section . Section 9 saw 3 consecutive 'Tons' brought to the scales with Nick Gilberts being the best of them at 168¼lbs and the top individual weight on the day . The final section (10) saw all four anglers record 'Tons', with Roland Lucas's 153½lbs, which was the 2nd highest weight on the day winning the section . Billy Lowe put 128½lbs on the scales to record his first ever 'Ton' in a match and take 2nd in section, while poor Clive's 112½lbs was only good enough for last in section .

So with the Weigh-In completed we made our way back to the car park for the results and it was obvious that Lake 2 had been the one to draw, with Lake 1 fishing much harder, in fact just a single 'Ton' weight was recorded on Lake 1 by Paul Law (justin case) the Talk Angling Team Captain . With all the results in it was the lads from Total Fishing that took the honours on the day by just a single point from the Angling Forums team. Maggotdrowning trailed into 3rd place with the lads from Talk Angling bringing up the rear.

All in all it had proved to be a good day though, Thanks to Vince for organising todays match with his usual customary efficiency . Thanks to Morgan and his staff for providing his fishery for the day  and finally Thanks to everyone from all the forums who made it a most enjoyable day with the match fished in the right spirit, nice to catch up with some we already knew and others for the first time . Happily for me, and unfortunately for Vince  normal service had been resumed and Vince had to hand back one of my Golden Nuggets that he'd taken from me at Rolf's, so a nice end to the day for me at least .

Maggotdrowning.com

Rolf's Pairs Tournament 2009.

So 7am and the sun is shining through the bivvy door as I raised myself from my slumber . First things first and on with the kettle for that first cup of coffee to jump start my brain . Terry greets me with several expletives as it seems my snoring woke him around 6am , I reckon it was just John mowing the grass . I was going to catch a lift with the lads down to Tesco's for a bit of brekkie, but missed the lads, so Paul, Terry and I decided to pop up to the services for breakfast. Let's just say that it filled a hole and leave it at that .

Back to the Lake and today there's going to be 30 members of the Maggotdrowning forum assembled from all over the country fishing the 2009 Maggotdrowning.com Pairs Tournament, a 2 legged affair that gets fished over both the Saturday & Sunday. It's very much a social occasion apart from the matches, and as such is always oversubscribed and has become an annual fixture in the forum calendar . This is the 4th year running that the competition has taken place. I was fortunate enough to win it with Tony(spamwham)Roberts in 2007, and would love to be the 1st person to win it twice, as I'm sure any of the other previous winners would .

Soon the car park was full, and as people sorted themselves out for the weekend ahead the banter was flowing. I had a chat with Simon and Budgie who had decided to stay on even though he wasn't fishing, The excitement was too much for Gemma however who snatched 40 winks (probably dreaming of Minxings to come ) ..........

At 11 o'clock the draw for the Pairs was made by Gemma who had risen from her slumbers. Not Experts and Novices this year as the majority fishing now have various degrees of experience at Rolf's . Some interesting pairings came out and I found myself paired with my fellow MD's moderator Dirk . With the draw for todays match not being till 12·30pm I took a stroll round the lake with Terry, and as is usual at Rolf's there were plenty of Carp sunning themselves in all the swims .........

Where did I want to draw? well anywhere between peg 1 and 8 would do me, in fact anywhere but 13 . Getting back to the car park for the draw I noticed that some wag (Vince ) had written 'Peg 13' by my name on the draw board, It couldn't happen could it?

 So at 12·30pm the draw started with Webbo drawing 1st and ending up with peg 11, the same one he'd struggled on yesterday. I then stepped confidently forward stating "Let's get peg 13 out of the way then" and promptly drew it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gutted , though the assembled crowd found it hilarious. The rest is a bit of a blur as various lads offered their sympathy ............. NOT .

Well I walked my gear round to you know where, with the match being fished from 2-7 there was plenty of time to set up and it really wasn't going to take me long as I still had my top kits set up with the rigs from the previous days match, so no need to go over the details of them here. I'm sure you're all fed up with looking at the photo from behind the peg, so I had a stroll along the bank to get a different angle on things .............

I stopped and had a chat with Webbo, and he didn't seem to be to enthused about his chances and then stopped for a chat with Clive who was looking a bit happier with his prospects for the match ahead .......

Looking at the draw I had to fancy Paul East (peg 9) and (peg8) Dave Moore's chances in the Pairs today, while a Golden Nugget looked to be in danger as Vince had drawn peg 6 . Looking across from my peg as I waited for the off I could see Dirk on peg 29, Malc on peg 30, Tony on 31 and Tim on 32..........

So 2pm and John rang the fishery bell for the All-In, feed as per yesterday and out with a banded pellet at 6mtrs. Not a lot happened though, a few bubbles were rising from the swim, but there were no bites to be had. I plugged away but from what I could see sport in general appeared to be slow, though Paul on peg 9 was getting a couple ........

Half an hour in and I had a bite !!!!!!!! I was so shocked that I missed it but latched onto a foul hooker. Lots of elastic poured out of the top kit as I was obviously attached to a Carp via its tail. Despite loads of encouragement I managed to get it to the net, a weigher to get me off the mark ........

Paul Thompson had a bit of a mare as he was connected to a Carp when the sound of smashing carbon was heard leaving him to play the fish on the remains of a shattered top 2 .........

A few more foul hookers followed for me, none of which I landed, so feeling that I was getting nowhere fast, I decided to feed and have a short stroll with the camera . Dave Moore on peg 8 had got off to a good start and was picking up a few fishing paste down the track and was into another fish as I watched ........

...... Unfortunately a bit of a disaster was to befall Dave a few moments after this though, as his keepnet fell in and by the time he retrieved it 3 carp had escaped .
Simon, over on peg 34 had hooked a big Carp which ploughed into the lillies on his right hand side, he tried to free it but only succeeded in breaking his No 4 section. Lucky Mitch was on hand and soon stripped down to his boxers and recovered his top kit .......

Gemma's customary scream was heard from peg 22 meaning a few more hearts dropped , and with good reason as she was receiving a bit of coaching from visiting Rolf's regular Eddie Turner-Green on the finer points of paste fishing, something that Eddie excels at ........

Bill was up on peg 20 and had endured a fishless 2 hours before he'd had his 1st fish, a decent weigher at 14¾lbs to get him off the mark at last ........

Now a bit of light relief is always nice to raise the spirits when things are tough, and today it was provided by Terry on peg 15 . It turned out that his landing net had parted company with his handle as he tried to land a Carp, and having lost the fish he was faced with having to take a dip to retrieve it. Well it would have been rude to have ignored the photo opportunity wouldn't it .......

Things really didn't improve a lot for me, I was simply plagued with foul hookers though I did manage another couple of smaller fish that had actually taken the bait.......

Opposite me my pairs partner Dirk was suffering too, while Malc had sat doing his best garden gnome impression for over 3hrs before taking his 1st fish ........

In fact Malc was about to provide one of the funniest moments of the day ...... Now Malc likes to sit with his pole between his legs, and after lifting into a bite and missing it a Carp must have grabbed the bait and powered off, the force of which pulled the pole down and the butt right up into his family jewels !!!!!!! You could hear the scream across the lake, the fish got off leaving Malc to wipe the tears from his eyes while receiving sympathy from all those around him ......... NOT .

Clive was sliding a few into the net on the quiet, but was having a bit of a problem with his keepnets that were floating around in front of him, and in the end would cost him 3 lost Carp ........

Tony was another enduring a frustrating day as he tried to get to grips with fishing paste on peg 31, even picking John Bennett's brains, but they weren't really having it despite Tony striking like Zorro on numerous occasions , though he did finally manage to connect with a couple........

I managed just one more before John rang the fishery bell for the All-Out at 7pm, and I have to say that I was glad to hear it after enduring what had been a very frustrating 5 hours for me . All that remained was to pack the kit away before the weigh-in, and I was seriously debating whether to just leave it there . It was just a question of if I'd suffered a Minxing and whether Vince had taken a Golden Nugget off me as well. All would be revealed by the weigh in .

So the Weigh-In started with Simon on peg 34 who put 41¾lbs on the scales to kick things off . This was swiftly overtaken however, firstly by Alex Malman (peg 37) who weighed 83lbs+ and then his brother Gaz who recorded 113¾lbs from peg 38 . Vince had managed 56¾lbs from peg 6 and I knew that my 18 month run had come to an end and a Golden Nugget would be going his way at last . Dave Moore's 116¾lbs from peg 8 proved to be the winning weight on the day despite his earlier disaster with his keepnet . Clive's 110¼lbs from peg 10 gave him 3rd place on the day and Webbo's 52¾lbs from peg 11 meant another Nugget disappearing to Yorkshire as my 39½lbs came up short . Indeed with nobody else threatening the frame, It was just a question of whether I could avoid a Minxing I avoided that by the skin of my teeth as Gemma's fish came to exactly the same weight as mine at 39½lbs . Malc's weight of 80½lbs was the best from the final pegs .
So with the Weigh-In over the inquests started, and Eddie was good enough to capture the moment when I had to part with a Golden Nugget and hand it to Vince  ...........

 Dave Moore & Paul East were leading with 13 points while Dirk and I were stone cold last with 44 points . Paul, Vince and I popped down to the pub for a couple of drinks with Dirk and his son, before raiding Asda's for something to pop on the barbie for dinner and the evening wound down with a chin wag and a few beers round the barbie before I hit the sack around 1·30am. What would tomorrow bring? We'd soon find out . 

Sunday, August 09, 2009

I stuck my head out of my sleeping bag around 7am and it was obvious that plenty of people were already up and about. This was probably down to the fact that people had to get their bivvies and all the other paraphernalia packed away prior to the match so after a couple of cups of coffee and a bite to eat it was time to dismantle my bivvy and get it packed away into it's improbably small bag . Considering that I only use it once a year it always amazes me that I manage to do it, but once more it went away OK .

Now we were going to draw at 11·30am and fish from 1pm-6pm in order to allow everyone to get off homeward at a reasonable hour. Having got all my gear packed away I came across our hosts for the weekend John & Pauline tucking into a spot of breakfast themselves .

There was a bit of speculation as to whether I could possibly draw Peg 13 for a third day in a row (How much suffering did people want to see me go through? ) and it had been agreed that I would draw first to put myself out of my misery. So at the appointed time I dipped my hand into the fateful draw bag, and pulled out ............................................ Peg 20 . (Not the best of pegs, and 13 would probably fish it's head of today ) It was a shortish walk anyway and Bill had briefed me on how he'd fished it yesterday. For company I had Dave(Rockyroads)West on peg 19 and Tony on peg 22, while Webbo was next up on peg 23 .

Setting up was a simple job as I still had the top kits set up from yesterday and with just 8 inches less depth I merely adjusted the depth of the rigs that were already in place. So plenty of time till the off, meaning a stroll with the camera was in order. Down on peg 34 Paul was settling in and with his partner Dave having drawn peg 9 it looked as if they would take all the catching , though it wasn't impossible ......

Tony(teepee) was settling in next to Paul on peg 35, and it was good to see him fishing again after he had to miss out last year when he was taken ill .......

My partner Dirk had drawn peg 38 and appeared to be warming up with a bit of Tai Chi, and a repeat of Gaz's performance off that peg the previous day would be the minimum we needed (No pressure there then )........

I couldn't help noticing Gemma on peg 8, she's good enough to Minx a lot of us, without her drawing a flyer like peg 8, but I'm sure it was a cunning plan to distract us further by fishing in those shorts ........

As I made my way back I had a brief chat with Vince who'd drawn peg 32, and I feared he'd be taking another Golden Nugget home with that peg today . I also saw that Bill was settling into peg 11 which hadn't really produced all weekend.

Back at my peg it was just a question of waiting for the All-In and Rocky did the honours with my camera (more like a condemned man waiting for the gallows )

Anyway at 1pm the All-In sounded and we were off, I fed a line at 7mtrs out in front and another to the bush to my left. Starting with hard pellet and alternating between those, expanders, paste and corn produced not a touch , though Tony was off the mark pretty quickly with a decent fish. The Big Lake was pretty slow however, and word had it that the Little Lake was the place to be today. Rocky had managed a nice common and had then lost another. In fact most people had taken the odd fish, mostly on the pellet waggler and Webbo had taken a couple on a floating rocket feeder . For me it was just a question of keeping faith and hoping that something would turn up. I did get the pellet waggler out briefly after Simon had threaded the line through the rings for me (I was struggling without my glasses ), but was pretty restricted in where I could cast so soon gave it up as a bad job and went back to trying the bush to my left.......

One person who did seem to be doing OK though was Mitch who was on peg 13, fishing up in the water at 13mtrs, I'd seen him going to the scales with weighers on several occasions . Simon had managed to extract a couple of fish from peg 15, and had resorted to fishing at 14½mtrs to try and nick a couple more........

Gemma had been noticeably quiet on peg 8, despite Simon reckoning that she'd caught, but when she let out a scream halfway through I thought I was in trouble . Webbo had nicked a couple more and I'd seen Vince picking John's brains about peg 32 and could see him into a fish, so that wasn't looking good either in the Golden Nugget department .........

I finally managed to tempt a Carp from the bush, nothing big at around 7lbs, but a fish none the less . Al seemed like he was in pretty much the same boat as me, and just sticking it out in the hope that they would turn up.......

With about an hour to go I managed to get another Carp from the bush, again around the 7lb mark , and next put in hooked another that I played with kid gloves. However Webbo just couldn't resist saying "make sure you get that in the net" , which of course was the cue for the hook to come free leaving me muttering under my breath .

With half an hour to go I had a final bite, but rather than a surging run from a Carp there was just momentary resistance before a skimmer of about 2½lbs slid over the net. Not quite what I was after, but welcome none the less . Finally at 6pm the All-Out was sounded, and I have to say that I felt glad it was over, and was quite happy to pack my kit away and get it back to the car.

Paul East was first to weigh and his 69¼lbs from peg 34 would net him 6th place on the day bringing him good points . However Gaz on peg 37 blew everyone away with 165lbs and the win on the day . Meanwhile his brother Alex on peg 40 weighed 79lbs for 5th overall. Malc weighed 93½lbs from peg 4 for 3rd, while daughter Gemma only managed 16¼lbs off of peg 8. Dave Moore had a mare on peg 9 managing just 18lbs throwing the whole match wide open. Mitch weighed a very creditable 89¼lbs from peg 13 for 4th overall . Round to my peg where incredibly my 2 carp and a skimmer weighed 16¼lbs meaning I'd tied with the Minx and escaped again for the second day in a row .
However I lost another Golden Nugget to both Webbo and Vince , while Scott recorded the best weight off the car park bank with a fine 94¼lbs on the day for 2nd overall .

So back to the fishery hut and while Dave sorted through the points the banter flowed. It transpired that 1st day leaders Dave Moore & Paul East had been pipped by a single point in the final reckoning, which meant that the winners of the Rolf's Pairs 2009 were.............

Alex Malman & Dave Collier
Congratulations to both of them . 

Finally a few words of thanks are due to
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.
Finally, all the anglers that took part, It's you that make the weekend the success it is.

 Overall Pairs Result.

Saturday Individual Result.

Sunday Individual Result.

 

Well today is the day of the Maggotdrowning.com Individual Championship, and this year's venue is the Match Lake at Larford Lakes. It meant an early start for me as it's about 150 miles for me to drive. So with the car loaded up by 5am I was off, and a nice smooth trip with just a stop for coffee on the way found me pulling into the fishery car park just after 8am . It's a small world, as I parked next to Andy(andy222)Feltham an MD's member who hadn't posted for a while, and was there to fish a club match on the Specimen Lake.

Soon after people started to arrive in force, Vince who had organised today's match was soon joined by Clive and after dipping our nets we decided to get in quick for breakfast. A Full English for £5 was soon dispatched and fishery pellets purchased. I have to say that I find it strange that you can only feed a maximum of 4 bags of fishery pellets(2 pints of skrettings in a bag costing £2·50p), but you can feed unlimited amounts of meat or corn, which can't be good for water quality Waiting for the draw it was good to catch up with faces, both old and new , The customary side bet of a Golden Nugget was struck with Vince and Gemma(The Minx), while John's good lady Lynn parted us from our cash in exchange for raffle tickets, the proceeds of which will be going to The British Heart Foundation, and by the time that Vince called the draw at 9am, 38 of us were ready to go, meaning that we could leave out the even pegs giving everyone a bit of space . Into the hat and I'm rewarded with peg 37, while Vince asks me to draw for him and receives peg 51 as a present from me .

At least peg 37 being on the clubhouse bank means I can drive up and almost park behind it. It doesn't look to bad to be honest with a chuck to the island on the feeder and a nice bed of lilies in front of the bush to my left and should be good for a few.

Looking around I've got my fellow Marsh AC member,Tony(spamwham)Roberts to my left, so there should be a good bit of banter during the day ..........

To my right I've got Andrew(Marginman)Willet and next up fellow blogger and Jinx Series partner Clive, who appears to be knocking up some groundbait, though he might have had the prayer mat out and be offering up a plea to the fishing gods ...........

Looking across I can see Vince over on peg 51, so at least I'll be able to keep tabs on the likely destination of the Golden Nugget .

The set up today is 2 4X12 Malman Adam's to 0·16 with a size 18 Drennan Carp Match hooks to fish 6mm banded pellet and meat on the deck at 7mtrs straight out and on the edge of the lilies to my left where there's about 3feet of water and a Malman MTD2 dibber, again on 0·16 with a 18 Drennan Carp Match hook for up in the water. I also set up a Malman SC paste to 0·22 Power Match with a size 12 Drennan Carp Feeder hook for paste, just in case any lumps put in an appearance and the feeder rod.
Bait for the day was a mix of pellets, meat and paste, with feed taken care of by dampened 4mm fishery pellets.

So 11am and Vince calls the All-In. A handfull of pellet straight out to 7mtrs and another to the edge of the lilies and before I can ship out a banded pellet to 7mtrs a shout rings out signifying The Minx has her 1st fish in the net, sending a shudder down the spines of more than a few blokes .
Out to 7mtrs and after lifting and dropping the rig a couple of times the black hydro rips out of the top kit and soon a plump F1 of around 1½lbs is safely in the net ...........