Western Intersite Match.

Well I travelled down to Sells Green just outside Devizes today for The Westen Intersite Match and arrived at around 7am.
Into the 3 Magpies pub for breakfast and the draw. It was a Top Breakfast and along with Coffee and top ups cost just £4 .
As always it was nice to meet up with some old friends again and put a few faces to those that had previously been only names on a computer screen.

One of the lads in our team had been kind enough to share his info with me via PM, and as I hadn't ever seen the venue I went with it .
As a result of the draw Peg C1 saw me faced with a gap between 2 moored narrowboats at 14½ mtrs, and I fancied it for a few fish, despite it feeling like a winters day .

Meeting up in the car park at Monk's just after 7·30am the 1st thing on the agenda was brekkie, kindly paid for by Dave . Duly fortified we made our way down the left hand side of Puma Lake and selected a couple of swims for ourselves, in fact Dave ended up in the same swim that Andy (The Hat) had fished when we visited last December at Simon's invitation.

Dave and I both set up our poles to fish at around 11mtrs which offered a comfortable 4½-5ft of water.Feed wise Dave elected to cup in hemp I adopted a loose feed approach with pellet, maggot and a few grains of corn.

Almost straight away small Chub found our baits taking them on the drop, so a quick delve into my winder tray found a margin dibber rig more suited to Carp that was added to a top kit with green dual core (6-10) And i soon had some more small Chub on double maggot fished 2ft deep .

What we really wanted was to get amongst the better fish so back onto the bottom rigs and Dave soon had something a little better pulling back, which resulted in........

.............A Goldie for Dave.

Don't mention the Goldies to The Hat.

Well he may have bred every fish in the lakes, but they obviously decided that being netted by him once was enough, so shut up shop and refused to bite for him.

Throughout the morning a few of the larger Carp had been cruising around, in fact earlier 1 had cruised past Dave's feet in the margins and despite Dave hanging a bait in front of it, it had carried on its merry way .

Well as Dave and I stood chatting, having said farewell to Simon, one cruised into the margin of my peg, I threw a few grains of corn in front of it and it went straight down for them. Grabbing my up in the water rig and hooking a grain of corn on I dropped it in only to see the Carp suck it in straight away. STRIKE and it's on and it's then I remembered that it's only a light elastic Thankfully it was more of a plodder than a turbo nutter and 5 mins later Dave is doing the honours with the net.
It looked to have a little bit of damage so rather than weigh it,it was slipped straight back, as we both agreed that it was probably a scraper double.

while Dave managed a few more Goldies and Skimmers among the ever present Chub.
4pm saw us call it a day as a cool wind sprung up. All in all a most enjoyable day in good company, with things looking good for the Southern Friendly MD's match in May.

Maggotdrowning.com

 Fish-in.

Dave the Fish and I arrived at about 3pm having endured the road to hell that is the A1. (roadworks & roundabouts)
A few of the lads were already fishing, so we decided to set up camp in Maggotville. The 1st challenge was to set up my Defender bivvy that had never been out of its bag, and of course doesn't come with any instructions!!!!!! Luckily Alan P has a 2 man Defender and was able to supply a few clues as to where everything went .

So all set up and settled in, it was time for a stroll around to see what was on offer. It's quite strange to find a fishery like this which is essentially set on an Industrial estate, but with the heavily wooded surroundings you would never know it. Paths through the woods lead to lots of small ponds and lakes dotted all over the complex, and sitting on the Tench pond I came across Norm and his young son Chris who were busy getting amongst the small Carp & Tench which inhabit it.....................

Carrying on round the complex it was becoming apparent that all the ponds and lakes contained not a lot of colour, in fact the water was amazingly clear, also the lilies had been allowed to run riot and could do with some serious attention. Marginal shelves appeared to be almost non existent, and most of the anglers fishing appeared to have at least 5ft of water just a rod length out.

The Match Lake.

Looking across the Match Lake which is the largest lake on the complex, lots of Carp could be seen cruising around and topping everywhere, although they didn't seem to be all that interested in feeding. On the way back, I bumped into Dave (Red Leader) who was trying to tempt one of the Carp on a mixer. To say that these Carp were wise to the method would be a bit of an understatement, as they proved to be well practiced at mopping up the freebies and ignoring the one with a hook in it. Finally dapping a bait in the lilies resulted in a take, but the action proved to be short lived as the hook parted from the line, due it appeared to a poorly tied knot.

The frustrated Stalker.

At this point Beebs finally arrived having also endured the road to hell, and a few of us decided to retire to the local pub (The Mallard) and partake of the carvery and a couple of pints.  Returning fully refreshed I couldn't resist having an hours dabble on the match lake, but with not a single bite and the light fading fast, it was back to base camp to christen the barrel of beer and a bit of banter before turning in for the night.

7am saw myself and Red Leader setting up for a feederfan match on the match lake.To say that sport was fast and furious would be a total lie. A heavy mist that covered the lake at first soon burnt off and we were obviously in for another scorching day.
My 1st bite resulted in an obvious foulhooker that set off for the other side of the lake before the hook pulled. It would be nice to say that everyone bagged up, but a combination of gin clear water, scorching sun and mostly flat calm conditions meant that most struggled on the day. Dave and I ended our session with honours even with 3 Carp each!

My Catch.

Dave the Fish who had spent the day in the swim to my right finished with 6 Carp, all taken on dapped pellet for a total bag that must have approached 30lb.

Graham further up the lake had managed 4 with the best being a nice Common, estimated at around the 15lb mark, while bigladwigan managed to get amongst a few late on fishing casters.
A wander around the lakes during the day found Jeff and Dave Scouse fishing the Scummy pond next to the Tench pond, and merrily baggin up on the stockies,but getting sorted out by some of the larger samples that weren't meant to be in there!

Saturday night was Barbecue night with hot dogs and burgers all round and another attempt at emptying the beer barrel.
"Deckchair Pants" made sure that the raffle ran smoothly, Well done Haydn.
Then once more it was banter time with discussions ranging from leg length, to gratitude, female attendance at fish-ins, Hovis and various other subjects till midnight.

Sunday morning, and a chance of a final couple of hours before packing up and heading home saw me and Dave the Fish on the scummy pond.

A few small Carp and Tench, with a few better examples to Dave and his dapped pellets made for a pleasant morning.
A chat with me, no I wasn't talking to myself but me (Simon) and another with bigladwigan as he got himself amongst a few of the small Carp was interrupted when Chris decided to plunge into the pond head first, while Norm to his credit got his priorities right by saving the pole before helping Chris out.

bigladwigan and a small stockie.

Strolling back past the match lake to pack up and Craig (Bashy) was into one on the corner peg and despite a few nervous moments soon had it in the net.

Dave, a couple of swims along was also putting a few into the net, but for us it was time to pack up and get going, Via the M1 this time rather than face the A1.

So there it is for another year, impressions of Yaddlethorpe? Hard to truly judge given the heatwave conditions, but i would say that it needs some serious management to get to grips with the lilies that appear to have run riot and make life very difficult in most swims on all the lakes . A lovely looking venue though that really brings a touch of the countryside to an urban area .
To Dave and Stu, thanks for all your efforts once again , and to all those that attended, Thanks for your support. It was great as usual to meet some new faces and catch up with others met at previous Fish-ins once again.
The fishing itself may not have been up to much, but the company and banter was superb as usual.

Maggotdrowning.com

Southern Championship.

A rather threadbare turn out of only 8 anglers assembled in the car park at Hartleylands, on a bright sunny morning for the Southern round of the M/D's Individual Knockout Championships that was fished on the Reservoir at Hartleylands Farm just outside Cranbrook in Kent .

Little did we know that we were to experience the full range of weather in the course of the day ranging from warm sunshine to torrential rain, wind, Thunder & lightning and hailstones.

Ay the draw I was fortunate enough to pull out peg1, that has a small willow overhanging the water and is normally capable of providing a framing weight in matches .

Having fished the reservoir the previous Saturday, I'd already decided that contrary to normal practice, I was going to try a close in attack at around 3mtrs (the length of a power top2) in an effort to put a net of silvers together, but with a strong enough rig to stand a fighting chance with any Carp that put in an appearance .

The top2 was elasticated with yellow Drennan Bungee (rated 10-12) with a straight through rig made up on 0·17 carptek line, a 4X14 Preston PB13 ending in one of the new Fox series2 carp match hooks in a size 18. Bait was my favorite 6mm expanders coated in VDE pellet oil, sweetcorn and ¼inch cubes of luncheon meat that had been soaked in VDE Predator+ overnight. Feed was taken care of with a mix of Swimstim natural and green 3mm pellets.

At the all in, it was a generous handfull of pellets under the willow and another straight out at 3mm. 1st put in to the front and the float buried resulting in me getting off the mark with a 3oz Roach,and a top up with a pinch of pellet every put in as I alternated between out front and under the willow kept the bites coming all match.

 Periodically I would connect with a Carp and when this happened it was a matter of adding the rest of the pole and letting it play itself out away from the catching area before netting it, thus avoiding wrecking the swim I'd been catching in .

Malc finally managed to sort things out and put a few fish together towards the end of the match ......

but poor Vince's insider knowledge of the venue rather let him down today as he struggled being between Malc and me, though he did manage to put a few in the net, it was a case of to little to late.......

It did get a little lairy in the afternoon when we were treated to a combination of torrential rain accompanied with thunder & lightning (very very fightening ) but even during this i managed to keep a few going in the net.

Thankfully it stopped before 4pm when Paul,one of the fishery bailiffs came to do the weigh in for us.......

 The weights were as follows.......

Vince very kindly donated a trophy for the winning angler,and here he is presenting it

Finally a word of thanks to Malc & Vince for organising a thoroughly entertaining day and a word of thanks too for Paul Ward (the owner) and his staff at Hartleylands. Once again despite the weather throwing the lot at us, the fishery produced the goods, proving what a consistent fishery Hartleylands is .

First a word of warning Dear Reader,

If you fancy a quiet days fishing in pursuit of Perch DON'T post the idea on Maggotdrowning.com.
Hijacked?.........Well at least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask.

Last week realising that i'd be off today (friday) I posted on the going fishing section,

"I fancy a day at Hartleylands on Friday the 2nd to kick off the New Year.
Anyone else up for it?"
Thinking that someone may be mad enough to fancy a trip out after the excess of Christmas & New Year.
Dave the Fish mentioned that he fancied a crack at the large Perch that inhabit Samson pond, and before you could say "STRIKE" they were all lining up to join in.

Welshmen (Dai & son Dan) were planning round trips from the valleys, while a grumpy ex-pat old Englishman, moved a doctors appointment to stow away to his homeland.
Colin joined in because he had to supply a kettle for Dave the Fish, While Mick (Weyback) tagged along on the flimsy pretence of aquiring a ring for an old rod.
Terry aka Wily Coyote decided that as he'd found his "Winter Woolies" he'd better use them, and on the day from out of the blue "The Hat" aka Andy appeared.

Vince, the bailiff on hearing of this mini invasion, suddenly found a visit to his
Mother-in-law to be preferable,in case he had to get the excavator out to extend the pond, though he did appear briefly to part us from some ££££'s for BDAA raffle tickets.

Malc? Who knows with his inherent sense of direction, he may still be wandering the surrounding lanes seeking a sign.

So to the fishing.
Well it was soon apparent that 9 into a tiny pond that may at a squeeze take 7 wasn't going to happen so some split to other parts of the fishery.
The Hat & Wily to the reservoir, with The Hat armed with his new margin pole to try for his target of a "Twenty" on the pole, while Wily just wanted to be alone to recover from the shock that grumpy ex-pat old Englishman (Geoff),was in fact the very same Master G Palmer that he had been at school with some 40 years before.
Mick to the relative seclusion of Finches, while Colin elected to try Hennicker, though he later shifted to Nick's Lake.
The rest of us?
Being Lazy Buggers piled onto Samson, despite it being at least a 2 yard walk from the car park.

Oh yes , the fishing.............. Well not exactly stunning.
The Hat got his Carp, just a shame that it had been on a diet and lost 15lbs, but did get a specimen Perch

Colin managed to save his day with some small Carp from Nicks lake.

Dave wondered if his float tip would ever get wet, but did manage a couple of silvers at the death on some month old pinkies. Mind you he did have the handicap of seeing a beardless Geoff in the swim next door all day.

Geoff managed a couple of Gudgeon and a few silvers, but was left cursing after losing a Common Carp of about 5lbs, that smashed him having swum through some brambles, and promptly retreated under his hood and baseball cap to hide his shame.

Dai, despite the provocation of Geoffs phone playing "Sweet Chariot" at various times got a few silvers and a start in "The Fishing race 2004", but poor Dan despite trying with Dads pole in his swim only succeeded in bumping the 3 Roach he hooked.

Me?
3 small Carp and another Common lost when the hook came out, and about 20 assorted small Skimmers, Roach and Hybrids.

And 12 points for The Fishing Race 2004 ...........

The best bite of the day? Without doubt the hot pasties and pies that Dave the Fish kindly supplied half way through the day from the farm bakery. Nice one Dave.

So that was it a nice quiet day out that became a mini fish-in.
Friendships made and renewed, and faces put to names. A laugh and a joke with the fishing becoming incidental.
All in All......A Grand Day Out.

Well What a Weekend!!!!!

Saturday:

The Southern Intersite Match.

This has been pretty well detailed elsewhere, so I'll keep it brief.
I drew peg 72 on the big lake at Willow Park. You really need a good ripple on the surface, and the Culvert bank pegs were flat calm, so I knew it would be a grueller.

Looking across to the Bungalow bank from peg 72....

Pole at 12mtrs with the float at dead depth and dotted right down was the order of the day for a bag of small skimmers, roach and perch.
Onto the scales at the end for a weight of 11lbs 11ozs.
Only good enough for last in section.

11lbs 11ozs of hard earned fish......

Sunday:

Hawthorne AC club match.

Elphicks Fishery, Sandwich Lake.

Up at the crack of dawn again, and 19 of us met up for the draw, with peg 18 sticking to my hand, I have to say my heart sunk.
Peg 18 is in the far right hand corner as you look across from the car park bank, and Alan & Loz (who fished that peg on an MD's mini fish-in) will vouch for the fact that the average depth is about 18 inches.
Still got to make the most of it. I only set up 1 float rig for the pole fished dead depth (yes all 18 inches of it!) to fish pellet over pellet, with white hydro in the top kit, and I set up my feeder rod.(well I put it back in when i got home the previous night )

Looking over to the car park bank from peg 18....

Yet again flat calm conditions and warm sunshine turned it into hard work, but slowly I managed to get a few bites and put a few fish in the net.
Those that have fished it will tell you that Sandwich lake is a bit of an aquarium with such a wide range of species in it that you never really know what you're going to catch next.
Well by 1pm the pole line had dried up, so it was out with the groundbait feeder with hair rigged meat on the hook which managed to keep the fish coming till the end.
It was a real mixed bag that I took to the scales, Common & Mirror Carp, an ornamental Fantail, Crucians, Roach, Perch, Skimmers, Chub and green and golden Tench.
Nothing big, but they took the scales round to 35lbs 6 ozs, Good enough for 2nd on the day, and a nice way to end a busy weekend.

 

Maggotdrowning.com

 Northern Fish-in.

Well arriving on the Friday at about Noon, it was soon obvious that this was in danger of turning into a 3 day event, as numerous attendees had managed to find an extra day from somewhere.
Ray & Scouse had made it despite the suspension on Rays car going AWOL on the trip down. (Must have been the weight of kit )

After a couple of years of pounding the keyboard it was great to finally catch up with Norm, TeePee, Haydn, Mookie and others which up to that point had only been names on the Forums.

Dave & Stu had departed to get some important provisions (The Beer ) so I decided to while away a bit of time, so out came the fishing gear,and I soon had a few small Roach and Skimmers, before Stan (Elvingtons Owner) had parted me from the day ticket money and informed me that Carp and Poles weren't really on his approved list.

Dave & Stu soon returned and camp for the weekend was set up with bivvies put in place. Trogg had already set up with the flag of St George, strangely topped with a small Lizard flag proudly flying next to his bivvy, and Sil the Rotty standing guard.

Les arrived to take up his post of chief Bar Steward,and around about 7pm a group of us set off for the local pub for a meal and a couple of pints, and very nice it was too.

With no nightfishing being allowed normally at Elvington, the only thing to do on our return was to go and support the cause in the beer tent, which with the beer being only a £1 a pint wasn't to onerous a task , with some sausage baps being dished up as well, we disappeared to our bivvies to await the proper start of the Fish-in in the morning.

6.30 Saturday morning and people were rising ready for breakfast and getting ready for the off at 8am. Breakfast consumed, the Fish-in got underway as an already warm sun continued to rise in the sky.
Whether it was the hot weather or the sheer pressure of all the swims being occupied, but sport was slow to say the least with just the odd fish coming out.

Thankfully Red Leader had his rods out and these were producing fish, Just not for Dave.
It would appear that someone had drunk the beer tent dry overnight, so Dave had to jump into his car and go and get another barrel
Stu was soon of the mark with a 3lb Eel on Daves rod, and later I managed to get off the mark with a nice 9½lb Common Carp again on Daves rod.

Just as well really as during the course of the weekend I managed to lose all 4 of the Carp that I hooked on my own rods.
I did manage a Ruffe though,for 3 points in the Fishing Race.

Dai managed to liven up proceedings by having his rod dragged in by a rather determined Carp, while Trogg showing a rather nimble turn of foot rushed to the rescue, but in trying to avoid a landing net handle, stumbled crashing down on a sleeper on the bank and ending with his head under water . Still the rod was retrieved with the Carp still attached, an 8lb Common, but at some cost as it became obvious that Trogg had cracked a rib for his trouble.

Dinner time and it was fish & chips for some and back to the pub for a few of us, prior to fishing through the night (a concession from Stan for the Fish-in)

Dave & Stu on their return tackled up for an attempt on the Cats, while myself, Simon R, Tiny and Geoff settled down to spectate.
Well the banter was good to say the least, and the hysteria was probably heard round the whole lake well into the night, until we retired and left them to it  .

At this point I should probably apologise to Dave,as it appears that i managed to keep him awake the whole night,as evidently my snoring resembled a Diesel Generator working overtime.  Me? I never heard a thing.

Sunday morning and at breakfast a rather bleary eyed Mookie appeared, blaming Uncle Geoff for leading him astray in the beer tent the previous evening and wondering why his legs were still having trouble obeying his brain.

Dave actually managed to catch a fish on his own rod...........

.......... and Jack Thresh managed to get the biggest Carp of the weekend with just a ½ hour to go, a lovely Mirror of 19½lbs.

All to soon it was over and time for Troggs ceremonial beheading shaving.  Amazingly this was accomplished without a drop of blood being spilt.

The raffle was drawn and the auction was held, and for those of you that weren't there i can only say that you missed a treat in the shape of Rose the Auctioneer, as Stu said "what a gal"

All to soon it was all over for another year, Hands were shaken, farewells said as we all disappeared in our different directions.
Thanks to everyone that made it possible, those that attended, and all the sponsors, but most of all Thanks to Dave & Stu for all their hard work in making it a Fish-in to remember .

Maggotdrowning.com

 Day Out.

This all started out with Geoff asking me a couple of months ago to suggest a venue that he could visit on a free weekend.
As with all harmless requests it soon turned into a mini Fish-in, as when I suggested Elphicks, Geoff realised that he could tie it in with a visit to Mum in Hastings.
Wey Back (Mick) had just joined MD's and Geoff had established that they had fished in similar areas in the past,and Beebs (Steve) was soon roped in to join the party .
So a thread was posted on the "Fishing Talk" forum (For Wey Back or Beebs) and as these things are prone to do, it developed a life of it's own .
Soon NoFinPhish (Jason) had decided to accompany Beebs and Martin found himself available to have a crack at a new water. Alan P (Eastangler) then decided that it would be a nice day out for himself and his son Loz P. Newbie Dave the Fish liked the look of it as well and joined in, so we all decided to meet at 7am in the Car Park.

Geoff stayed at my place overnight, and we set off at 6am towards Elphicks.  6.30am and we have come to a grinding halt on the A21, and there we sat for the next 3 hours caught in a 5 mile tailback.

During all this chaos Dave the Fish managed to save a young lady's blushes by hastily erecting his brolly to shield her as nature called, and as she told us after "It was the most impressive 50 inches" she had ever seen . Meanwhile mobiles were ringing to find out where everyone was, or more correctly wasn't .

Well the Traffic finally moved and Geoff, Dave and I finally arrived, just in time to see Beebs landing a nice Carp of 13lbs weighed by Martin. Introductions were made and swims were picked and finally we were ready for the off. Due to the recent dry spell the lake was a good foot below it's normal level and all those that had chosen the far side platforms could find was about 18 inches of water. I took advantage of peg 11 being free and had about 3 feet on the pole line.

Sport it has to be said was far from hectic, but everyone was getting the odd 1 or 2 examples of the various species that inhabit the lake.
I had got off the mark with a Tench of about 3lbs and a few Rudd caught on an expander pellet. About noon Joe32 put in an appearance as agreed to collect some tackle that various members of the site have donated to help him get a youth project off the ground. This was taken as an excuse to adjourn to Sally's Reel Food Bar in the car park for another round of chat, tea's & burgers.

As with all these sort of days, fishing seems to take a back seat, but during the afternoon I managed to bring my total upto 12 Tench (6 green & 6 golden) with a few skimmers thrown in for good measure.

Meanwhile Geoff had got himself a nice Golden Orfe and was adding to his species count..........

Martin was coming to terms with a peg considerably shallower than he is used to on the drains,as was a pal of his (Reg) who had come down with Martin for the day.

Wey Back and Dave the Fish were engaged in various states of relaxation as this whole get-together thing with the Maggotdrowners was a first (but hopefully not the last) for them .........

Alan P and his son Loz were suffering with a definite lack of water in their swims and so moved onto the next Lake (Kettles) in the afternoon and things picked up a bit for them with Alan finally being able to christen his new pole. though young Loz took things easy as he was suffering a headache.

Beebs having had his generous gift for Uncle Geoff refused (A Welsh Baseball Cap ) split his time between the 2 lakes while Jason soldiered on.

All too soon it was time for me to leave so I made my way around and bid my farewells. As usual the fishing seemed to have come 2nd and in truth the lake didn't fish as well as it can, but it seemed as if everyone had enjoyed themselves, and Uncle Geoff even managed to add a Crucian to his tally as i bid him farewell.

Me? I had a blast, Thanks to all the lads that came down, Hope you all enjoyed yourselves, we must do it again sometime.

Maggotdrowning.com

 Welsh Fish-In.

I arrived at Hazel Court ponds at about 6.30am, after a nice leisurely trip down from London, to be greeted by various stumbling figures emerging from the collection of bivvies and tents that was base camp for this latest M/D's Fish-in over the course of the weekend .
The fishery is comprised of 4 ponds that are fishable and a stock pond and various hatchery pools that are dotted around the complex.
After greeting and introductions were completed, 7am signaled the start of fishing for the day and everyone elected to fish the bottom pond.

The weather was absolutely glorious , though a steadily freshening breeze was to make presentation awkward for some as the day wore on.

Now as is the style at these gatherings, the social side of things tends to get in the way of the fishing, as everybody catches up with the gossip, and more walking gets done as everyone circulates and stops for various chats.
Having set up a waggler and a feeder I soon established that there were more than a few small Rudd present . A slight understatement as every pool on the complex appears to be heaving with them. Very soon though I was into a decent fish, fishing the waggler tight to a bed of lilies.............

........... and after a spirited scrap I had this nice Mirror Carp to show for my efforts .......

Geoff arrived for a chat and we walked up to the "Match Lake", stopping off at the stock pond to admire several large Koi that were in residence.(2 of which were 10lbs+ with another not far behind )
On arrival at the Match Lake we were confronted by the site of a tent with a flag of a little red lizard flying over it!!!!!
Sitting there on the bankside on a small scale model of a North Sea oilrig, surrounded by enough kit to open a tackle shop was Ray Owen.
Now Ray after 30 years of fishing matches, has this year decided to give it a rest and try "Pleasure" fishing, but is still having a little difficulty adjusting to the pace of this form of the noble art, but after this weekend i'm sure he'll get there.
After a short chat Ray decided to move down and join the rest of us, and with the help of a small team of sherpas (Me & Dave) duly moved.
Throughout the day, some nice Carp, mostly Ghosts and Mirrors were caught.
Around about midday Dave caught a Ghostie with a deformed face that Stu christened "The Parrot". A couple of hours later i was into a Carp myself and Stu wandered round and did the honours with the landing net,and there in the folds was "The Parrot"!!!!!!! Don't they feed these fish??????????

As the day wore on Stu decided to break out his "Noddy" kit (his words,not mine) and get into a serious bit of Rudd bashing with his lad Daniel.

  

Now some might be tempted to say that Stu using a pole resembles a Garden Gnome (Trogg), but as he is considerably larger than me, I wouldn't dream of it .

As the afternoon wore on, more and more anglers arrived and to be honest the fishery is probably too small to handle the amount of pressure placed on it by these numbers.
All day long Dai and his son Daniel (Yes,same name as Stu's son) had been fishing to a lily bed as had Geoff. Now Dai's lad has definitely got "The Bug" following his recent exploits with Carp, and as the afternoon wore on he was into a Carp that was intent on getting back into the pads .........

I think the smile says it all,and he did it again later on,with another larger fish!!!!!!!!!! 2 PB's in an afternoon. Well done Daniel. At least I think that's what Dai said, but my Welsh is a little shaky.
Geoff meanwhile soldiered stoically on, despite having one of those days, where more fish performed Houdini impressions than he would have liked .

As the day ran towards it's end, I had moved over to the next pool to escape the constant wind in my face, and after casting a small feeder towards the central island, the tip wrapped around and I was rewarded with a nice Tench of about 3lb (but not one of the golden one's I'm afraid, sorry Trev. )

As everyone packed away for the night (No nightfishing allowed I'm afraid,) I decided to try out one of the Hotcan ready meals that i had won in the Elvington raffle. What can I say, following the instructions and piercing 3 holes as instructed, a mini nuclear reaction appears to take place, resulting in one very hot can with steam pouring out of the top. 12 minutes later and a piping hot meal is ready. This one was a vegetable curry and very nice it was too .
After dinner some of us visited the local hostelry, and were treated to a couple of pints by Dave , courtesy of a Lottery Win.
A brief chat ensued on our return, by the moonlit ponds, as the bats flew above our heads, before retiring to our bivvies ready for the next day ahead.

6.30am, and Cliff (the owner) has appeared for a chat with the gang as we assembled for the 7am start. It promised to be another breezy day, although it was coming from the opposite direction!
Dai was on his own as his lad has gone on a rock climbing course, and he was joined in the next swim by Ray who was determined to get to grips with his first foray into the world of Knotless Knots and hair rigs , but still seemed a little shocked by the size of gaff (size 16 actually Ray)that made up his rig!

Dave had set up on the opposite bank to launch his customary 2 method rods towards the central island. Stu and Daniel were in Dai's swim from the previous day. I had returned to the swim that I had finished in yesterday. Geoff meanwhile has settled into a swim on the next pond along. It had a large patch of lilies to fish to and the far bank appeared to be solid rushes. Supposedly it held a large head of Ghost Carp and almost certainly an even larger number of Rudd!

I started on the waggler with a single grain of corn and slowly but surely the swim came to life, but it was only the Rudd worrying the bait, however by keeping the corn going in a number of better examples around the 8oz mark came to hand.

In general though,things are slow. Poor Ray had a close encounter with a Coot that managed to get tangled in his line, and put up a spirited resistance before I managed to net it for him. In the net it managed to disentangle itself, and to swim off with nothing more than it's feathers ruffled .
I struck into another Rudd bite only to find that it wasn't, and after a brief but spirited fight, i was rewarded with an immaculate Mirror Carp of about 6lbs.

Geoff meanwhile has been wading through the small Rudd in pursuit of the Ghosties that inhabit the pond he was fishing. Dave had a couple of Carp while Stu and Daniel were having great fun with the pole in pursuit of the Rudd.
All of a sudden Dai's margin rod was away,and after a brief struggle I did the honours with the net and Dai was rewarded with this nice chunky Mirror Carp .........

My swim seemed to die as more anglers arrived in the swims that were previously vacant,and with 180 miles of the M4 to negotiate before i got home, it was time to pack the kit away .
Soon it was time for farewells and thanks. Walking round to Dave I arrived just as he hooked into another Ghostie..................

..........................the fish managed to run through Dave's other line and the resultant tangle acted as Dave's cue to finish up and get ready to head home.
Stu And Daniel were still slaying the Rudd on his "noddy" tackle.
(Bet you're glad you didn't sell it now Stu )
Dai was still soldiering on while waiting for the family to arrive, and Geoff had come over for a chat and a break from the Rudd, and Ray was loading his mountain of kit away, while trying to get his head round this whole new approach to fishing that is so foreign to him.

Thanks a lot lads it was really enjoyable and a great weekend, We must do it again soon .

"Three Men in a Boat"

The following is the report originally posted on Maggotdrowning.com about the day above, by a very good friend of mine,Trevor Manning aka Ziptrev.
Unfortunatly Trev is no longer with us, but reading this will i hope give you a taste of the mans style which is so missed by those who were fortunate enough to know him .............

An Enjoyable Excursion.

As I approached Junction 23 of the M1 on Thursday 4th July, I cursed my weakness as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
I was so looking forward to a new experience that was a long standing arrangement and here I was less than 50 miles into a 180-mile journey and falling asleep at the wheel!

I had arranged weeks ago to go and visit Peter in London and fish a, quite unique in my experience, venue.
As the day approached, I asked Peter for directions and found they took me through Central London! At Rush hour time!!
Panic!
Peter solved that problem, by a) inviting me to stay the night & b) By arranging to meet me around the M25, a road I was much happier with!
So, cheerfully, I set off (well early at 3am to arrive by 7pm ) with all the carefully prepared lightweight gear and bait.
The Venue in question was Bury Hill Lake, which we were going to fish by punt!
Yes PUNT!
Redolent of my old Cambridge days on the Cam, I could say (except I would be a liar, as I never went to University! Let alone Cambridge!)

Peter had promised me a good chance of a Tench, something I had been looking for since January1, but this years Tench have refused to respond to my tempting.
Secondly, there was an outside chance of my 1st Zander, albeit a Stillwater fish, as they sometimes fell to maggot.
And Thirdly, Geoff had watched the discussion and remembering the times ‘years ago’, when he had fished the lake, had also wheedled an invitation and he is always fun to be with.


So, I groaned to myself as I pulled into the Shepshed lay-by at 3.30 and decided that 20 minutes was all I could afford, so as not to miss the fun of the next day!

When I awoke at 10 to 6.00pm, I had a choice! Either give up the idea and let this damned weakness win, or try and achieve the next 130 miles as fast as possible!

Well, of course!

At 7.00 I phoned Peter,
‘Are you there mate?’ he said
‘Not Quite’ I replied
‘Whereabouts are you then?’
‘Err just coming into Cambridge’ I said weakly!
In fact, I should have said Cambridgeshire, as I was on the outskirts of Huntingdon!

I quickly explained my predicament, and as I had to visit my parents in Suffolk anyway, to collect Macmillan Charity Money, offered to call it off.

Peter rose to the news with his lovely laid back style and wouldn’t hear of my idea. ‘Just take it easy, mate, no problems and ring me when you hit the A20’
So gratefully, I carried on down, joined the M11, hit the last services on the M25 before the scenic Queen Elizabeth Toll Bridge to buy a peace offering bunch of flowers for making Maria’s meal so delayed and made my way to the A20.
On phoning, I was directed to a pub of all places and by the time Peter and Geoff arrived, had ordered 3 pints! £6.80 for the record Martin and only 1 a decent Black one!
Due to the time, we only had a swift half to follow and were soon enjoying an excellent home made Spaghetti Bolognese, which was the first meal I had been able to eat for 3 days! It just goes to show how you can relax in great Company.
Faced with a 5.30 start, we did as normal under those circumstances and stayed up too late yarning away, with the sheer pleasure of discussing fishing and the forums as like minded people do.

However, Peter woke me on time on Friday morning and quick preparation of flasks etc, A bundling of kit into Geoff’s car and we set off on what proved to be an hours drive enlivened by Geoff’s colourful monologue of other drivers abilities, self abuse habits and parental uncertainties!

Arriving at the Lake after negotiating overtaking the final ‘******’ we found we were only the second car to arrive and the guy in the 1st was just through unloading enough kit on a trolley to set up a base camp for a Himalayas expedition.
He went through to the gate, we followed with the minimum of kit and whilst we waited for the bailiff to arrive, Peter and Geoff watched the Carp near the Boathouse rise to pieces of bread.

The wait was short: We paid our £15 pounds each! And chose a punt.
I had undertaken 2 difficult tasks, Firstly not to fall in, so I obviously needed to hold on with both hands and secondly not to lose my glasses, so again, I had to keep checking on them!
Therefore I relied on Redgrave in the Bow 

And had to let Pinsent take the blunt end!

Come to think of it, both ends were blunt!
Under the guidance of these 2 master boatmen, we made our way (sometimes straightish, often at an angle and on more than one occasion, sideways on) to the far bottom end of the Lake, known as ‘The Jungle’
Choosing a swim to the right, we started to fish close to the bank in about 3’ of water.

We all had waggler floats, Geoff and Pete with 6lb mainline and I with 10! Hook lengths of 3lb for Peter and Geoff and 3.6lb for me! Well I had come to catch a big Tench.

The 1st fish quickly fell to our Matchman!

A nice clean Bream that Peter caught within the 1st ½ hour of fishing. At about 8.30.am. We were fishing mostly red maggot, feeding Red Sensas Ground bait, dead and alive white maggot sweetcorn and hemp. Geoff and I had also brought worm, but had no bites at all on these. Geoff switched back to maggot and succeeded quickly in landing his 1st fish.........

This fine specimen of a Roach was all he needed to loudly proclaim ‘Well, I’ve not blanked and so I can rest now’
As he said it for the 5th time, I nearly replied, as I had sat there, in the middle for 1 and ½ hours without seeing a Single bite!
Then Peter, who had abandoned his forward facing swim in favour of fishing out the back, with the excuse that ‘My Bum hurts’ hit into a much better fish and landed this result!

The Bream was weighed carefully and proved to be 5lb 8oz, a cracking fish that would have been a PB for me!
Then at last my float dipped, the line tightened, went screaming off to the right...............................AND SNAPPED!

I ruefully wound in and found the 3.6lb hook length had parted some 4” from the hook and that with a Kamasan 911 hook to Drennan Double Strength line!
A very nice Tench I guess!
Then Peter was in again! This time, much more fight than the Bream!
The fish took line and ran! Peter brought it in, it ran again! 3 or 4 times this happened and then it rolled on the surface, coming towards the net.
Unmistakably a large Green Tench and if it wasn’t over 7lbs, it was a damn heavy 6!

We shall never know, as with one final lunge, the Fish snapped Peters line the same as mine earlier and disappeared into the depths (or shallows to be more accurate!)

Peter then retied, using a heavier bottom line and Geoff went and caught this Bream, to make me even more envious!

Shortly after, I had my second bite of the day!
The fish was on for even less time this time, made straight for a pile of overhanging bushes to the right and splashed on the surface underneath the bush, before my float and line came catapulting back! Annoyed? Yes! but not devastated, the Fish were here! If I just got it right, I could have my Tench to start the season AND anything over 5lb would give me a verifiable PB. So, Going over the top as usual, I tied up a 14 hook to 7lb hook length. Lets see how this would hold them!

Peter then quickly caught another 6 to 8 Bream of the this stamp in quick succession

I had lost my 2nd fish at about 10.30 and when 12.00 came along, with no more bites to the heavier line, reluctantly went along with the suggestion to move to the other side of the lake, as I was sure the fish would come!

In the meantime, Peter had made yet another interesting catch.
On the forum recently a Bullhead had been caught and identification was unsure as to whether it was a Bullhead or a Ruffe.

Well for clarification, this is Peter’s Tommy Ruffe!

We went across the Lake and rebaited a swim; fishless for half an hour Peter came to the rescue again. Suggesting we try a pellet approach, he produced some and shared them with Geoff and I. I meanwhile had retied onto 5lb line a Kamasan711 intermediate size15 hook.
This small scale down worked, as at last the float dipped and after a (heart stopping for me, in view of my previous experience) 3-minute fight, guided this fish to Peters waiting net.

Yes! I succeeded in catching my Tench, which weighed 3lb 3ozs! For me a great result!
As always happens, I got a second, even better at 3lb 13oz and then another bizarre one!
Striking, I was into a fighter that made straight for the bushes (we were fishing so close, my rod could touch them!) Pulling hard, the fish turned and made straight for the punt. Went solid as it spun round the anchor rope! I could only hold and swear, as Peter leaned over the side with the landing net to try and scare it out. A minute passed and nothing moved and then for the third time, my line parted! I swore again, but it turned silent, as grinning hugely, Peter lifted the landing net, with my fish and hook, which he had managed to capture as it tethered itself to the anchor rope!
This was a male of 3lb 7ozs.

Then Geoff caught what proved to be our 4th and final Tench, his 1st male out of over 40 Tench this year, which weighed 3lb 2ozs.

I caught at last a Bream of about a lb, but the bites were proving slow and probably as we were getting tired, poor casting was causing breakages and tangles in the undergrowth of the aptly named ‘Jungle’.

We moved to the Island at about 5.15pm, but when Geoff decided at 6.00pm, that he needed to visit ‘The little Boys room’ then we declared it a day. I believe he did need to go too, as we crossed the lake in less than half the time the outward journey took and he hit the boathouse running!

I dozed contentedly in the back of the car as we made our way home, stopping only to collect a Chinese Meal, that Geoff and I decided was only just reward for Peter and Marias hospitality and even the discovery that some nice person had stolen a wing mirror cover off my courtesy car (mine is undergoing repair) could not dampen the day.

The following morning, as Peter led me back to the M25, I could not help but feel grateful that I had fallen onto an Internet forum that has provided so many enjoyable experiences and where most of the people I have met have turned out to be genuine and true friends.
Thanks Geoff for sharing the day, Thanks Peter for providing the opportunity and your great hospitality and thanks Tench for playing ball and making my wish come true!

Trev.