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  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Maggotdrowning.com

    magtrans.gif MD's Logo picture by pnm123

    Rolf's Pairs Tournament 2012.

    This weekend I'm travelling back to Rolfs Lake oncemore for the annual Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament. I normally fish Dave Collier's Friday match the day before, but this year I wasn't able to get Friday off . so it was an early start around 6am to try and avoid the Olympic road closures that would be in place. I couldn't avoid the closures as it happened, but the early start meant very light traffic and it was just after 7·30am when I arrived at the car park at Rolfs. It was already packed as the vast majority had been there since Friday having fished Dave's match .

    As usual Dave Moore was one of the early birds and was up and about and kindly made me a coffee as we discussed the prospects for the two days to come and he filled me in on how it had fished on the Friday. All this as he tied up some fresh rigs for the day ahead, I have to say that Dave deserves a prize for his preparation as he can always be found tying up fresh rigs on the morning of a match .

    As usual some were pitching tents for an overnight stay, most notably Steve Wilson who'd arrived with his latest purchase that looked more of a Big Top than a bivvie and seemed to be minus the instructions which caused some chuckles as we watched him trying to erect it ......

    StevesTent.jpg Steve's tent

    Chatting away to Tony and a couple of the other lads I asked Tony if he was ready for the New Pairs format, and when he asked what that was I explained that a pair drew a single peg and one fished to the left and the other to the right Bite, the bite was spectacular till everyones laughter gave the game away

    I'd decided that as I was staying for just one night I would be sleeping in the car rather than go through all the palaver of pitching a bivvie so spent a bit of time catching up with people including Paul's wife Jayne who had come down for the weekend with their new puppy Hector ......

    JayneandHector.jpg Jayne with Hector.

    The pleasing thing to see was just how well the lake looked, two weeks previously when I was down the banks resembled a muddy swamp in places, but a week of sun and a lot of hard work by John and his team had dried it out and got it looking good again .

    By 11·30am people were assembled outside the fishery hut as the draw for the weekends pairings took place and they worked out like this ........

    Saturdaymorning.jpg Saturday Morning

    Dave (dave the fish) Collier & Marcus (Budgie65) Burgess
    Scott (methodgob) Weston & Paul (NMLW's) East
    Nick (Neo1) Williams & Ant (antwood) Haywood
    Steve (steak) Akal & Geoff (Geoff P) Palmer
    Paul (The Turk) Roberts & Gem (The Minx) Doyle
    Barry (Bazza C) Cullen & Dave (Paste King) Moore
    Tony (spamwham) Roberts & Simon (Simple) Mound
    Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff & Clive (black hydro) Pritchard
    Steve (smiler) Wilson & Keith (keith74) Powell
    Al (al) Loader & Simon (sidev77) Watkins
    Jon (hatchye) Hatch & Peter (Mugger) Morton
    Dai (dai-fish) Thomas & Malc (The Jinx) Doyle
    Kevin (Kev the catch) Loveland & Dave (Webbo) Webster
    Dave (drynet) Wall & Terry (Auto) Pearce

    So with that done and out of the way it was time for the Day 1 draw for pegs. Jon my partner for the weekend came away with peg 35, one that sees very little use in matches and when I drew peg 10 I wasn't to happy myself, as with peg 11 in as well I wasn't expecting great things from it today especially as it hadn't been fished yesterday . Collecting my kit I made my way round to my peg and on the way struck my usual side bet of a Golden Nugget with Dave Wall on peg 25 and Gem on peg 18 .

    Saturdaypegs.jpg Saturday Pegs

    Arriving at the peg I found that I had Budgie for company on peg 11 and Terry P on peg 9. More worrying for Budgie and I was the large raft of scum that was covering our pegs that was sure to make presentation difficult .

    Peterpeg102.jpg Peg 10 for Peter on Saturday

    I've simplified my approach at Rolfs this year and today would be no different, just 3 rigs all for 5mtr lines, one straight out, another to the edge of the bush on the right hand side and the third for down the left hand margin. The first two were Nick Gilbert's handmade 0·5g Power Pencils that were made up on 0·21 Ultima power match with size 14 Guru MWG's to finish off with while the margin rig was a 0.3 NG Edger again on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to a size 14 Guru MWG. Bait was a mix of 4 and 6mm fishery pellets for feed and 6, 8 and 11mm hard pellets along with some paste and corn.

    With plenty of time before the All-In I went for a stroll to see how others were doing. I could see that Webbo down on peg 7 was holding court and extolling the merits of "The Feederless Feeder" to an interested audience ......

    FeederlessFeederdemo.jpg Feederless Feeder Demo

    Gem was setting up on peg 18 and with fiancée Simon just a couple of pegs away on peg 16 would be looking to hand out a few Minxings today ......

    GemSaturday.jpg Gem getting ready on peg 18

    A few had gathered round by the hut getting a last minute drink and trying to work out what the match had in store for all of us .......

    Waiting.jpg Waiting

    The big shock came when I got round to Malc on peg 39, he had virtually all of his pole assembled , this is a sight that's beyond rare as he just doesn't do more than 5mtrs and that's considered long for Malc as he's happiest just fishing a top kit, surely he was trying to fool those around him ......

    LiamandMalcpeg39.jpg Can't believe that Malc had this much pole out !

    Back at my peg and with the wind blowing into us Budgie and I were resigned to fighting the scum as John called the All-In at 2pm. I had soaked down some of my feed pellets and it was these that I fed down the margin and to the end of the bush before cupping a pot of mixed pellet and corn out to 5mtrs in front and following it out with a banded 8mm. It was a slow start however with no real action, but Terry G over on peg 32 was off to a flyer with a carp straight away ......

    Terryonpeg32-1.jpg Terry on peg 32

    Next up came Steve on peg 8 with a weigher of around 17lbs and when Webbo followed up a few minutes later with an 18½lb'er I was starting to fear the worst. However my float soon slipped away and after a brief struggle a common of around 7lbs was soon in the net to get me off the mark. This was soon followed by one of the bream that show more nowadays and another small carp which made me feel a lot better . Club mate John (tutu) Holdsworth had fished yesterday and had stopped over to watch the action today and take a few pictures and he was on hand when the shout of YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS went out , Never a good sound to hear early in a match as it signifies that The Minx is off the mark and worries a lot of the other anglers around the lake .......

    CarpforGem.jpg Safely in the net, Minxings on the way for some

    Simon wasn't one of those today though as he was back on peg 16, the peg he'd had 315lbs from a couple of weeks ago and while he would be hard pushed to beat that today, he was starting to put a few fish together .......

    Simpsplaying.jpg Simon plays a carp

    I was struggling, Terry P on peg 9 had started catching and it seemed as if he was blocking any fish from coming my way as nothing was coming from the left for either Budgie or Kev on peg 13. Dave Wall was having a bit of a hard time of it up on peg 25, he's spent a fair few matches on that part of the lake and I was sure that he would rather have been elsewhere on the lake .......

    YamYam.jpg Dave Wall

    As the match wore on Terry G was still picking up the odd fish from peg 32 and Simon Watkins on peg 29 was starting to get a bit of action .......

    SimonWatkins.jpg Simon Watkins plays a carp

    That left Scott between them on peg 31 facing a real struggle with just a couple of small silvers in his net to show for his efforts ......

    Scottonpeg31.jpg Scott on peg 31

    News was starting to filter through from the Little Lake that Ant was starting to get among a few decent fish on peg 6 while Jon on un-fancied peg 35 was also starting to find a few, as was Keith fishing the feeder down on peg 38 ......

    keithsaturday.jpg Keith Powell on peg 38

    Just after halfway through Terry P on peg 9 stopped catching and as if on cue I started catching with a couple of weighers and a bream coming my way in double quick time. A couple of foul hookers didn't help matters but by taking my time and keeping some feed trickling in they didn't cause to much disruption and I even managed to land one of them at 13lbs ......

    Peterpeg10.jpg Peter on peg 10

    Budgie had managed to get in on the act as well fishing paste and although he lost a couple of foul hookers he was rewarded with an absolute belter of a Common that tipped the scales at 22lbs, a new PB for him and one I was happy to photograph ......

    BudgiesPB.jpg Happiness is a PB carp.

    My peg seemed to get stronger as the match drew to a close with another 5 weighers and I hooked one final fish just as John called the All-Out at 7pm which I safely landed around four minutes later.

    Packing my kit away I was actually pretty happy with how my match had gone in the end after my initial misgivings before the start and felt sure I'd managed 100lbs+ . I had already decided to leave my kit behind the peg tonight, not that I wanted to draw it again tomorrow, but it was just easier than taking it back to the car park.

    Word was already circulating that Ant would be the one to beat as he'd had a good day on peg 6 and Webbo was looking pretty happy with his efforts from peg 7 as we made our way round to peg 34 to start the Weigh-In.

    Bazza hadn't really got to grips with peg 34 with just over 23lbs but my Pairs partner Jon had a creditable 88lbs 7ozs from 35 . Nick had a mare on 37 and recorded a DNW as Keith weighed 89lbs 7ozs from 38. Malc took 66lbs 9ozs from 39......

    Weigh-in.jpg Saturday Weigh-In

    ...... while Paul could only manage 27lbs 2ozs from peg 1 and Dai had 52½lbs from peg 3 to edge out Geoff's 47lbs 9oz from peg 4. Ant had indeed had a decent day recording a fine 202lbs 13ozs from 6 and Webbo managed 135lbs 6ozs on peg 7. Steak chipped in with 62lbs 15ozs from 7 and Terry P 36lbs 15ozs on peg 9. My fish came to a total of 125lbs 7ozs followed by Budgie with 66lbs 13ozs and Kev's 18¼lbs....... 

    SaturdayWeigh-in.jpg Saturday Weigh-In

    Tony had a level 87lbs and Simon took a fine 189¾lbs. The Minx's first fish had proved to be a solitary individual as her 9lbs 10ozs showed, leaving a lot of very relieved anglers . Al's 65lbs 13ozs and Dave Collier's 36lbs 15ozs led onto Paul who was only the second angler to suffer a Minxing today when he came up a couple of ounces short with just 9½lbs . Steve had 94¼lbs from peg 23 while Dave Wall managed 34½lbs from peg 25 and Dave Moore had 41lbs 9ozs from 26. Clive had 72¾lbs and Simon Watkins 47lbs. Scott had managed 3 small carp late on to avoid a Minxing with 17lbs and Terry G was last to weigh with 84lbs 3ozs .

    Back at the hut the post-mortem on the days events started as we waited for the scores to be posted and I collected a Golden Nugget from Gem and Dave . Individually today Ant had taken the win with Simon second and Webbo third . Finally the scores from the day appeared on the board and it was surprisingly close with.........

    Day1result.jpg Saturday Results

    ......Tony and Simon leading on 10 points, just one ahead of Jon and I along with Steve and Keith tied on 11 points.

    While the results were mulled over Malc returned to his peg with Liam who had a go with dad's tackle and promptly had a carp himself ......

    Liam2.jpg Liam's Carp.

    Some decided to barbecue some food, but Dave Moore and I set off for the Harvester with Al and Keith for a meal before returning later on for a chat and a drink with the rest which was still going on when when I left them to it and climbed into my sleeping bag around 1am .

    Day 2. Sunday 29th July.

    At around 6·30am a sharp knock on the car window woke me from my slumbers to find Dave Moore grinning like the Cheshire Cat . It transpired that Steak had awoken early for a call of nature and as he was in situ his van had locked itself with his keys and everything else inside. Dave being Dave had decided that Steak's misfortune was to good to keep to himself and he needed an accomplice to help with the micky taking . By pure chance the bolt on the bottom of the back door hadn't locked, so with twenty stone of Yorkshireman (Dave) persuading it to open a bit and Terry P with a bit of wire, Steak's keys were rescued, but it made for a fun start to the day.......

    Steve and the troublesome keys.

    With bodies rising from their various sleeping quarters a few of us decided that breakfast was called for, meaning that we ended up at The Harvester and after Webbo had played Thunderbirds and rescued Paul's van with a jump start we were back at the lake in time for the draw which was early as we were fishing from 12 till 5pm today.

    Into the draw bag for me and it's peg 32 today, happy with that , Jon my partner had peg 13, not a good draw as Kev had struggled there yesterday and it didn't bode well for us in the pairs but we'd try our best . So round to collect my kit and get ready. 32 is an end peg and I'd got Kevin to my right on peg 31 while Terry G was opposite me again on peg 9 with Simon Watkins on 10 and Dai on 11.

    Sundaypegs.jpg Sunday Pegs

     Setting up was just a case of adjusting the depths on yesterdays rigs as I'd be concentrating on just two lines today, one at 5mtrs out to the left of peg 9 and the second over the back of the bush in the left hand margin using the same baits as yesterday.

    With a bit of time to kill Dave Wall came down for a chat as he was on peg 23 today and keen to finally take a Golden Nugget back off of me, we would have to see about that later on as I fancied my chances of taking yet another yam yam Nugget today ......

    PeteandDave.jpg Pete and Dave Wall chat before the start of the match.

    At Midday John signalled the All-In and after feeding some wetted down pellets over the back of the bush I fed a pot of mixed pellets and corn at 5mtrs and followed it out with a banded 6mm and after a couple of lift and drops the float buried and I was into my first carp of the day, a mirror of around 7lbs to get me off the mark .
    I have to admit that I feared that fishing from 12-5pm would mean that fish would be hard to come by early on as they normally tend to feed late at this time of the year but that didn't seem to be the case today as most seemed to pick up fish early doors. I picked up another carp, a weigher this time and the obligatory bream before a foul hooker went mental in the swim before shedding the hook and killed it for a while .

    Terry G had started to get some action over on peg 9 ......

    Terryonpeg9.jpg Terry on peg 9.

    And Simon had got of to a good start over on peg 10 with a decent weigher but then suffered a blank period which I felt was down to the fact that he was fishing further out past the area that I'd fed yesterday ......

    SimonWatkinsonpeg10.jpg Simon Watkins on peg 10.

    YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS had been heard from down on peg 3 and I felt that a few Minxings could be on the cards today as Gem would be determined to have a better day today ......

    Gempeg3sunday.jpg Gem (The Minx) on peg 3.

    Things were starting to look up for me again as the bites returned at 5mtrs with another couple of net fish and another weigher and although I had another couple of foul hookers they swam well clear of the swim before the rig had come flying back on both occasions. Ant had drawn peg 7 today and was enjoying a head to head with Simon over on peg 34 and looking to get one over him again ......

    Antonpeg7.jpg Ant on peg 7

    Malc had moved one peg to 38 today but was having no joy at all and struggling to tempt as much as a bite from there today ......

    Malconpeg38.jpg Malc on peg 38.

    while Simon had suffered a torrid start to the match with a number of fish escaping through the bush in the right hand margin of peg 34 while Clive seemed to be finding some fish on peg 35 ......

    SimonandClive.jpg Simon on peg 34 and Clive on peg 35.

    Back on the Big lake I could see Webbo up on peg 38 and today his "Feederless Feeder" hadn't worked for him forcing him into fishing the pole and it has to be said that he didn't look as he was having a lot of joy with that either ........

    Webbononpeg18.jpg Webbo on peg 18.

    Looking up the car park bank it didn't seem to be going to well for most there either ......

    Lookingupthecarparkbank.jpg Looking up the car park bank from peg 32.

    especially Al who'd broken the tip of his pellet waggler rod and smashed a top kit as well today, meaning it was turning into an expensive weekend as he'd broken a number 5 on the Friday as well and to add insult to injury Tony was catching better from the bush between their two swims that they were both targeting. The final straw was probably Tony catching a 14lb weigher less than a minute after Al had weighed and returned it to his peg .

    With a couple of hours left I took a look over the back of the bush and the float buried straight away, a weigher at 12lbs and the next 2 put ins produced fish of 13 and 14lbs . Meanwhile on peg 8 Keith was starting to catch a few as well, obviously the coaching session that he'd had with Andy May at Cudmore on Thursday was starting to pay dividends .......

    Keithonpeg8.jpg Fish on for Keith.

    With about an hour to go Kev was really struggling but a few words of advice from John Bennett saw him finally start to find some fish to save his day . I just kept alternating between my two swims which saw me catching regularly right up till the end of the match when John called the All-Out at 5pm. Packing away my kit I was happy enough with my day as I was sure that I had around 150lbs to show for my efforts and thankfully with the car so close I soon had my kit packed away before the Weigh-In started.

    Simon kicked things off on peg 34 with 78lbs 10ozs followed by Clive's 60lbs 11ozs and Steak's 21lbs 14ozs but on 38 Malc suffered with a DNW  much to daughter Gem's delight . Steve had 34lbs 7ozs and Nick 29lbs 10ozs before Gem set The Minx Mark with a much improved 52lbs 1oz today. Terry P fell victim with 45lbs 15ozs while Scott suffered another mare on 6 with just 8lbs 5ozs . Ant had another good match with 139lbs followed by Keith with 88lbs 11ozs. Terry had 83lbs 1oz. Simon 57½lbs and Dai 42½lbs while my partner Jon took 59lbs 6ozs from peg 13 ......

    SundayWeigh-in.jpg Sunday Weigh In

    Dave Collier had 37lbs 6ozs while Budgie managed a creditable 91lbs 11ozs from peg 16 while Webbo had just 34lbs 6ozs for his efforts today. Geoff had 56lbs and Bazza 12½lbs while Paul managed a slightly better 30¼lbs from peg 22 today. Dave Wall weighed in with 37lbs and Tony had won his peg to peg battle with Al by 114lbs 2ozs to 57lbs 10ozs. Paul had 44lbs and Dave Moore 37¾lbs.

    SundayWeigh-in2.jpg Sunday Weigh-In

    Kevin mustered 27¼lbs and I was last to weigh in with a level 166lbs .

    Webbo and Dave Collier retired to work out the Pairs results while the banter got into full swing around the hut. I had taken the Individual win today with Ant in second and Tony third . Ant had managed to draw level with Simps on 18 matches each in their long running duel and I collected another Golden Nugget from Dave Wall and Gem . Gem was happy enough though with 15 additions to The Minx List today including a first time entrant in Dave Wall and sweetest of all, her Dad once more .

    Waitingfortheresults.jpg Waiting for the results

    Finally the two Dave's returned with the all important Pairs results to be read out, and the trophies awarded by Mr Maggotdrowning himself , Dave(Webbo)Webster to the winning team of...........

    Tony Roberts & Simon Mound
     
    WinnersTonyandSimps.jpg Champions 2012 and Webbo

    Congratulations to them both, maintaining their 1 point lead from day 1 to take victory from Jon Hatch and myself,
    no complaints as they caught 30lbs more over the 2 matches to prove worthy winners, In Tony's case for the Third Time .

    Finally a few words of Thanks are due to the following people.........
    John, Pauline & Ollie for once again allowing us the use of their superb fishery over the weekend .
    Dave Webster, for bringing us all Maggotdrowning.com and Dave Collier for organising the whole weekend .
    Finally, to all those Maggotdrowners that took part, It's you that make the weekend the success it is .

    Pairs Result

    Position

    Pairs

    Saturday 

    Sunday

    Points

    Weight

     1st Tony (spamwham) Roberts & Simon (Simple) Mound

    8+2=10

    3+7=10

    20

       469lbs 08ozs
     2nd Jon (hatchye) Hatch & Peter (Mugger) Morton

    7+4=11

    9+1=10

    21

       439lbs 04ozs
     3rd Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff & Clive (black hydro) Pritchard

    9+10=19

    6+8=14

    33

       300lbs 11ozs
     4th Steve (smiler) Wilson & Keith (keith74) Powell

    5+6=11

    20+5=25

    36

       306lbs 13ozs
     5th Al (al) Loader & Simon (sidev77) Watkins

    13+17=30

    10+11=21

    51

       222lbs 15ozs
     6th Dave (dave the fish) Collier & Marcus (Budgie65) Burgess

    19+11=30

    18+4=22

    52

       226lbs 13ozs
     7th Nick (Neo1) Williams & Ant (antwood) Haywood

    28+1=29

    23+2=25

    54

       371lbs 15ozs
     8th Steve (steak) Akal & Geoff (Geoff P) Palmer

    14+16=30

    25+12=37

    67

       188lbs 06ozs
     9th Dai (dai-fish) Thomas & Malc (The Jinx) Doyle

    15+12=27

    16+28=44

    71

       161lbs 09ozs
     10th Kevin (Kev the catch) Loveland & Dave (Webbo) Webster

    24+3=27

    24+21=45

    72

       215lbs 04ozs
     11th Dave (drynet) Wall & Terry (Auto) Pearce

    21+19=40

    19+14=33

    73

       154lbs 06ozs
     12th

     Paul (The Turk) Roberts & Gem (The Minx) Doyle

    22+26=48

    15+13=28

    76

       132lbs 13ozs
     13th Barry (Bazza C) Cullen & Dave (Paste King) Moore

    23+18=41

    26+17=43

    84

       115lbs 02ozs
     14th Scott (methodgob) Weston & Paul (NMLW's) East

    25+27=52

    27+22=49

    101

        65lbs 01ozs

    Saturday Individual Result

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st Peg 6 Ant (antwood) Haywood   202lbs 13ozs
     2nd Peg 16 Simon (Simple) Mound   189lbs 12ozs
     3rd Peg 7 Dave (Webbo) Webster   135lbs 06ozs
     4th Peg 10 Peter (Mugger) Morton   125lbs 07ozs
     5th Peg 23 Steve (smiler) Wilson    94lbs 04ozs
     6th Peg 38 Keith (keith74) Powell    89lbs 07ozs
     7th Peg 35 Jon (hatchye) Hatch    88lbs 07ozs
     8th Peg 14 Tony (spamwham) Roberts    87lbs 00ozs
     9th Peg 32 Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff    84lbs 03ozs
     10th Peg 28 Clive (black hydro) Pritchard    72lbs 12ozs
     11th Peg 11 Marcus (Budgie65) Burgess    66lbs 13ozs
     12th Peg 39 Malc (The Jinx) Doyle    66lbs 09ozs
     13th Peg 19 Al (al) Loader    65lbs 13ozs
     14th Peg 8 Steve (steak) Akal    62lbs 15ozs
     15th Peg 3 Dai (dai-fish) Thomas    52lbs 08ozs
     16th Peg 4 Geoff (Geoff P) Palmer    47lbs 09ozs
     17th Peg 29 Simon (sidev77) Watkins    47lbs 00ozs
     18th Peg 26 Dave (Paste King) Moore    41lbs 09ozs
     19th= Peg 20 Dave (dave the fish) Collier    36lbs 15ozs
     19th= Peg 9 Terry (Auto) Pearce    36lbs 15ozs
     21st  Peg 25 Dave (drynet) Wall    34lbs 08ozs
     22nd Peg 1 Paul (The Turk) Roberts    27lbs 02ozs
     23rd Peg 34 Barry (Bazza C) Cullen    23lbs 05ozs
     24th Peg 13 Kevin (Kev the catch) Loveland    18lbs 04ozs
     25th Peg 31 Scott (methodgob) Weston    17lbs 00ozs
     26th Peg 18 Gem (The Minx) Doyle     9lbs 10ozs
     27th Peg 22 Paul (NMLW's) East     9lbs 08ozs
     28th Peg 37 Nick (Neo1) Williams

    DNW

    Sunday Individual Result

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st Peg 32 Peter (Mugger) Morton   166lbs 00ozs
     2nd Peg 7 Ant (antwood) Haywood   139lbs 08ozs
     3rd Peg 25 Tony (spamwham) Roberts   114lbs 02ozs
     4th Peg 16 Marcus (Budgie65) Burgess    91lbs 11ozs
     5th Peg 8 Keith (keith74) Powell    88lbs 11ozs
     6th Peg 9 Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff    83lbs 01ozs
     7th Peg 34 Simon (Simple) Mound    78lbs 10ozs
     8th Peg 35 Clive (black hydro) Pritchard    60lbs 11ozs
     9th Peg 13 Jon (hatchye) Hatch    59lbs 06ozs
     10th Peg 26 Al (al) Loader    57lbs 10ozs
     11th Peg 10 Simon (sidev77) Watkins    57lbs 08ozs
     12th Peg 19 Geoff (Geoff P) Palmer    56lbs 00ozs
     13th Peg 3 Gem (The Minx) Doyle    52lbs 01ozs
     14th Peg 4 Terry (Auto) Pearce    45lbs 15ozs
     15th Peg 28 Paul (The Turk) Roberts    44lbs 00ozs
     16th Peg 11 Dai (dai-fish) Thomas    42lbs 08ozs
     17th Peg 29 Dave (Paste King) Moore    37lbs 12ozs
     18th Peg 14 Dave (dave the fish) Collier    37lbs 06ozs
     19th Peg 23 Dave (drynet) Wall    37lbs 00ozs
     20th Peg 39 Steve (smiler) Wilson    34lbs 07ozs
     21st Peg 18 Dave (Webbo) Webster    34lbs 06ozs
     22nd Peg 22 Paul (NMLW's) East    30lbs 04ozs
     23rd Peg 1 Nick (Neo1) Williams    29lbs 10ozs
     24th Peg 31 Kevin (Kev the catch) Loveland    27lbs 04ozs
     25th Peg 37 Steve (steak) Akal    21lbs 14ozs
     26th Peg 20 Barry (Bazza C) Cullen    12lbs 08ozs
     27th Peg 6 Scott (methodgob) Weston     8lbs 05ozs
     28th Peg 38 Malc (The Jinx) Doyle

    DNW

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Jinx Match 1

    It's that time of year again . Yes that group of angling nutters that make up The Jinx Squad  are back once more to fish The Jinx Series of matches at Rolfs Lake .

    Clive, Malc(The Jinx), Pete(Mugger), Simon(simps), Tony(spamwham), Terry(Wily Coyote), Steve.
    Ady(slim shady), Paul, Nick(monkey), Nick(neo1), Mitch, Fred(milo), Matt.
    Kevin, Jon(hatchye), Geoff(cap'n birdseye), Alex(bagger j), Dave(The Fish), Dave.
    Dai, Marcus(budgie), Neil, Ant, Al, Dave(webbo), Gem(The Minx)

    My usual alarm woke me (3 cats wanting to be fed ) and a lovely sunny morning greeted me as I gazed through the curtains. However this was a Jinx Match day so I wasn't going to be fooled into dressing in just shorts and teeshirt despite the lovely weather we've been having. With the cats fed and a couple of cups of coffee consumed I got the car loaded along with a fleece and my waterproofs. All set and as usual first stop was my favourite café in Battersea (The Jimmy Griddle) for a "Full English" Eating.gif Eat picture by pnm123. Suitably fortified it was back into the car for what was an uneventful trip to the lake, however with about 4 miles to go the sunshine vanished to be replaced by grey clouds as far as the eye could see ................Malc (The Jinx) was obviously there before me .

    Pulling into the car park my thoughts were confirmed as who should I see first but Malc and Liam (Jinx Jnr). Climbing out of the car it had already turned noticeably cooler, a good job I'd brought that fleece . Dave Moore appeared along with Simon and it was soon clear that they'd fished the Open Match the night before. Results were mixed, and while some feel it primes the lake to fish well the next day, I always feel that it can make it fish harder especially when there are 27 fishing . Soon the rest of The Jinx Squad started to arrive along with a few spots of rain, but I managed to get a cup of coffee and started to catch up with people while the banter flowed as it does on these occasions......

    Malc almost got ahead of himself, ringing the bell at 11am for the draw, however we soon told him to hold his horses as the draw wasn't due till 11·30am.
    First things though and Gem (The Minx) had to draw a peg number to decide who would have the honour of wearing The Minx's forfeit, a Pink Elephant Hat for this years Series, and Peg 40 was the one .

    Onto the draw and new Jinx Squad member Neil soon found himself in possession of the Pink Elephant for the day ......

    ...........after this the others soon dived in, and I came away holding Peg 20 , now I'm not saying it's a bad draw, but it hardly ever gets used in matches, and there hadn't been a weight recorded from it this year!!!!!!!! On the plus side, just weighing something in would mean that I would become Peg 20's reigning Peg King .

    JinxMatch1pegging.jpg Match 1 pegging

    Making my way round with my gear though that was the only positive I could come up with about my draw. Settling my kit into my peg I could see that Dave (Mr Maggotdrowning ) had drawn cock on with Peg 18 and Al next to him on 17......

    Nick was to my immediate right on Peg 19, while to my left Steve was on peg 22 and Kevin was on peg 23 with Jean, so at least I should be OK for a cup of coffee or two . Simon strolled round taking some photos for the Rolfs Blog and his picture captured my feeling on my draw ......

     Paul Jay offered a bit of advise on lines to fish and with plenty of time I opted to tie up some new rigs. Two of them were MW 0·6 Diamonds on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 14 Guru MWG's. These would be for 2 swims, one at 10 o'clock and the other at 12 o'clock at around 8mtrs where I had between 3½ and 4 feet of water. A third was a NG 0·3 XT Sampson margin again on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 12 Guru QM1 to fish by the bush to my left in around 2½ft of water. Bait was taken care of by 6 and 8mm fishery pellets and a selection of various soft hookers.

    1pm and the bell sounds the All-In, a pot of pellet onto each line and out with a banded 8mm straight in front. Nick's quickly off the mark with a carp and Steve's had a skimmer......

    ...... not a touch for me though. Time marches on, Jean arrives with a cup of coffee as others are starting to catch. Looking over toward Peg 14 there's an ominous site, lots of orange elastic streaming from Gems pole , Simon fished this peg last night and had just under a 'Ton' from it, so it's been well primed......

     ...............She soon had it in the net and her shout of "YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS" sent plenty of shudders round the bank.

    Paul was on Peg 15 and fishing the feeder across to the bar and it looked like it was starting to produce the goods for him ......

     An hour and a half in and I still haven't had a bite , Steve's suffered with a run of 7 foul hookers, Nick's had another one, in fact everyone seems to have caught something apart from me . Gems had another couple and I can see Dai in the distance on Peg 32 putting a few together as well......

    Time to re-feed and a quick stroll with the camera. Down to the Little Lake and it's obvious that very few are catching well. Malc's down the margins trying hard to tempt a fish on what he would call a "Sulky Saturday "......

     while Ady looked as if he was already ringing the changes in an attempt to find out just what they wanted......

     Simon however was into a fish which was giving a good account of itself and refusing to get it's head up......

    Dave the Fish and Tony (spamwham) were up on pegs 7 & 8 and while they were managing a few fish between them, neither was really having the day they'd hoped for when they drew those pegs......

    Dave did manage to get himself a decent Chub though which Geoff caught on camera, that rolled the scales round to 4lbs when he weighed it   ......

    Back at my peg and in an attempt to get a bite I decided to try something different and shallowed my margin rig to a couple of feet and fished it out front pinging half a dozen pellets every 30 seconds. After 30 minutes I was on the point of giving that up when the float vanished  !!!!!! A spirited fight saw me playing a fish with kid gloves as I was determined not to lose it having waited for so long, and it was a very relieved Mugger who slipped the net under a Common that weighed 11lbs after an anxious 5 minutes . Back out and almost straight away another bite resulting in another Common of 9lbs . I'd like to say that I didn't look back after that, but unfortunately that was it apart from 1 small roach that I bumped on the strike .

    Dave had set up his Feeder-less Feeder (a pellet cone to anyone else ) with an hour and a half to go and it produced a few carp for him right up to the all out. Al had nicked a carp on the pellet wag but had to pack up early as he'd promised to be home in time to go out for a meal for his daughters birthday . In fact he was walking past my peg with about 5 minutes of the match remaining when Nick hooked into a fish and to my surprise my float buried as well . Carp no3 thankfully found it's way to the net and weighed 9¼lbs and that was it as the All-Out was called before I could ship back out.

    With the kit back at the car park it was time for the Weigh-In with Mitch setting the early mark with a section winning 67½lbs . Simon had included a 19¼lb Common in his 43½lbs......

     While Tony's 58lbs from peg 8 was good enough for 2nd in section. Jon had a new PB Mirror of 18¾lbs in his 40¼lbs ......

    ...... and Mat had a creditable 65¾lbs from Peg 13. Gem set The Minx Mark with 67½lbs to tie with Mitch . Paul's peg had produced the goods with a Section winning 96¾lbs and 3rd overall on the day . My rather inglorious 29¼lbs  at least meant that I'm the new Peg King on Peg 20 . Steve managed a hard earned 69¼lbs but it was left to Clive on Peg 28 to record the first 'Ton' of the day with 107½lbs, but that would only be good enough for 2nd  as Dai on Peg 32 produced a match winning 122½lbs to take the honours on the day .

    So The Jinx Series is off and running once more, hopefully sport will pick up a bit as the Series progresses. 21 victims for The Minx today . Who gets the PINK ELEPHANT on the next match? She's going to keep us waiting till the next match and think about it while she suns herself on holiday in Portugal .

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st Peg 32 Dai Thomas   122lbs 08ozs
     2nd Peg 28 Clive Pritchard   107lbs 08ozs
     3rd Peg 15 Paul Roberts     96lbs 12ozs
     4th Peg 22 Steve Wilson     69lbs 04ozs
     5th= Peg 14. Gem(The Minx)Doyle     67lbs 08ozs
     5th= Peg 34 Mitch Auger     67lbs 08ozs
     7th Peg 13 Mat Edwards     65lbs 12ozs
     8th Peg 8 Tony Roberts     58lbs 00ozs
     9th Peg 4 Pete Tapp             Guest     50lbs 08ozs
     10th Peg 25 Marcus Burgess     49lbs 00ozs
     11th Peg 7 Dave Collier     48lbs 12ozs
     12th Peg 18 Dave Webster     45lbs 08ozs
     13th Peg 5 Simon Mound     43lbs 08ozs
     14th Peg 10 Jon Hatch     40lbs 04ozs
     15th Peg 2 Alex Clarke     38lbs 08ozs
     16th Peg 40 Neil Riddy     35lbs 08ozs
     17th Peg 38 Ady Williams     31lbs 04ozs
     18th Peg 26 Terry Goff     30lbs 00ozs
     19th Peg 19 Nick Williams     29lbs 12ozs
     20th Peg 20 Peter Morton     29lbs 04ozs
     21st Peg 23 Kevin Loveland     27lbs 00ozs
     22nd Peg 9 Rod Rose              Guest     24lbs 00ozs
     23rd Peg 17 Al Loader     20lbs 08ozs
     24th= Peg 29 Nick Watkins-Price     17lbs 00ozs
     24th= Peg 31 Dave Moore     17lbs 00ozs
     26th Peg 36 Malc(The Jinx)Doyle     12lbs 00ozs
     27th Peg 11 Geoff Palmer     10lbs 08ozs

    Names in Pink are those that were "MINXED"

    Section A

    Position

    Peg  

    Angler

    Weight

    Points

     1st Peg 34 Mitch Auger     67lbs 08ozs

    1

     2nd Peg 8 Tony Roberts     58lbs 00ozs

    2

     3rd Peg 4 Pete Tapp            Guest     50lbs 08ozs

    0

     4th Peg 7 Dave Collier     48lbs 12ozs

    3

     5th Peg 5 Simon Mound     43lbs 08ozs

    4

     6th Peg 2 Alex Clarke     38lbs 08ozs

    5

     7th Peg 40 Neil Riddy     35lbs 08ozs

    6

     8th Peg 38 Ady Williams     31lbs 04ozs

    7

     9th Peg 36 Malc(The Jinx)Doyle     12lbs 00ozs

    8

    Section B

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

    Points

     1st Peg 32 Dai Thomas   122lbs 08ozs

    1

     2nd Peg 28 Clive Pritchard   107lbs 08ozs

    2

     3rd Peg 13 Mat Edwards     65lbs 12ozs

    3

     4th Peg 10 Jon Hatch     40lbs 04ozs

    4

     5th Peg 26 Terry Goff     30lbs 00ozs

    5

     6th Peg 9 Rod Rose             Guest     24lbs 00ozs

    0

     7th= Peg 29 Nick Watkins-Price     17lbs 00ozs

    6

     7th= Peg 31 Dave Moore     17lbs 00ozs

    6

     9th Peg 11 Geoff Palmer     10lbs 08ozs

    8

    Section C

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

    Points

     1st Peg 15 Paul Roberts     96lbs 12ozs

    1

     2nd Peg 22 Steve Wilson     69lbs 04ozs

    2

     3rd Peg 14. Gem(The Minx)Doyle     67lbs 08ozs

    3

     4th Peg 25 Marcus Burgess     49lbs 00ozs

    4

     5th Peg 18 Dave Webster     45lbs 08ozs

    5

     6th Peg 19 Nick Williams     29lbs 12ozs

    6

     7th Peg 20 Peter Morton     29lbs 04ozs

    7

     8th Peg 23 Kevin Loveland     27lbs 00ozs

    8

     9th Peg 17 Al Loader     20lbs 08ozs

    9

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    A28.jpg Jinx 2010 picture by pnm123

    Jinx Match 6

    Well it's the Final Jinx Match of the year today, and it's still all to play for with Malc, Clive and myself all still in with a chance of individual glory Wink [;)]. It's been a fantastic Series this year , really enjoyable and we're finishing off with a BBQ at the end of the match ThumbsUp [:T]. The cats decided they wanted feeding and got me up early this morning so the car was soon loaded up and found it's way straight to The Jimmy Griddle in Battersea for my customary 'Full English' before transporting me to Rolfs Smile [:)].

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

    image044-2.jpg 'Gina' picture by pnm123

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

    Just as we were finishing Malc's wife Julie put in an appearance, somehow Malc had persuaded her to come down and camp in a tent over the weekend, although she's not keen on either fishing or camping Smile [:)]. It's taken me 9 years to meet this Saint, although I've spoken to her over the phone on numerous occasions, though it was a bit of a worry as it meant for the first time ever the whole Jinx Clan Evil [):] would be in attendance at a Jinx Match Shocked [:0]!!!!!!!!!!!

    So with the car park filling up Nick's wife Lisa arrived with a batch of homemade Eccles cakes, and while we sampled them (and very nice they were too ThumbsUp [:T]) talk turned to what lay ahead, and the general consensus was that it would probably be hard.
    Draw time approached at 12ish and with B section being my home for the day and the honour of drawing first having won my section on the last match it meant that Peg13Evil [):] was lurking in the bag for me, much to everyones amusement. Plunging my hand into the bag I was rewarded with....................................... peg 29 Big Smile [:D], Mat being the lucky angler on Peg13Evil [):] today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

     ...... and along with a couple of weigher's he also managed a Chub of 4lbs which was a new PB for him ThumbsUp [:T] ......

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     So back top my peg, Steve was still working his way through what had to be one of the largest shoals of small Perch going, while the tip of my pole float was as dry as a bone, stubbornly refusing to go under and get wet Tongue [:P]. However it was Mat over on Peg13Evil [):] who was taking a proper beating from the peg as all he had to show for his efforts was a couple of Roach Frown [:(] .......

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

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

    It transpired that a few of the lads that were stopping over and travelling back on Sunday started the Weigh-in almost immediately and by the time I'd packed away they were a good half way round the lake. Ade had kicked things off with a level 65lbs from peg 34 while Gem had set The Minx Mark at 34¼lbs from peg 38 Wink [;)]. Budgie had managed a very creditable 84lbs from peg 40 but it would only be good enough for 2nd in section and 2nd overall on the day 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123 as Terry on peg 2 had taken 98lbs 6ozs for the section win and his first ever Match win 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. Steve's 62¼lbs gave him 2nd in B section, while Kevin Loveland weighed 49¾lbs to win C section. Geoff's 44½lbs took 2nd in section and I caught up in time to photograph his 2 Perch......

     ........ my fish came to 41¼lbs but Simon won B section with a fine 68¾lbs and 3rd overall on the day 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123.

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

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

    Then Malc stepped up to Thank John and Pauline on behalf of the whole Jinx Squad for allowing us to run the series at the lake ThumbsUp [:T] before finally announcing the series result with the rider that it was all subject to verification as it was so close, but the winner of the Series was Clive 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 at long last having been runner up for the 2 previous years. 3 points back in 2nd place was Malc (The Jinx2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123, who tied with me on points, but beat me on aggregate weight to leave me in 3rd place 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123.

    However Malc 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 and Simon 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 had triumphed in the Pairs, while Clive took 2nd place 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123  with his partner Ade 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123 and 3rd place went to Gem (The Minx) 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123 and her partner Budgie 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123.

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

    ..... which was soon landed with Simon acting as Liam's ghillie and proudly displayed for the camera Big Smile [:D] .......

     Shocked [:0] Scary really as it looks like we'll have yet another Jinx Evil [):] to contend with in the future .

    OVERALL RESULT

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    2

     Terry Goff   98lbs 06ozs
     2nd

    40

     Marcus Burgess   84lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    32

     Simon Mound   68lbs 12ozs
     4th

    34

     Ade Williams   65lbs 00ozs
     5th

    11

     Steve Wilson   62lbs 04ozs
     6th

    8

     Paul Roberts   58lbs 04ozs
     7th

    36

     Jon Hatch   50lbs 00ozs
     8th

    18

     Kevin Loveland   49lbs 12ozs
     9th

    9

     Dave Moore   49lbs 00ozs
     10th

    19

     Geoff Palmer   44lbs 08ozs
     11th

    29

     Peter Morton   41lbs 04ozs
     12th=

    26

     Tony Roberts   39lbs 04ozs
     12th=

    22

     Malc Doyle   39lbs 04ozs
     12th=

    15

     Dave Webster   39lbs 04ozs
     15th

    38

     Gem Doyle   34lbs 04ozs
     16th

    20

     Clive Pritchard   32lbs 08ozs
     17th

    23

     Dave Collier   31lbs 08ozs
     18th

    14

     Nick Williams   20lbs 08ozs
     19th

    17

     Dai Thomas   19lbs 04ozs
     20th

    7

     Alex Clark        (guest)   13lbs 04ozs
     21st

    28

     Steve Akal   10lbs 12ozs
     22nd

    31

     Nick Jones       (guest)   10lbs 08ozs
     23rd

    25

     Paul Dolby   10lbs 04ozs
     24th

    5

     Nick Watkins-Price    8lbs 08ozs
     25th

    13

     Mat Edwards            12ozs

    Names in PINK are those that were MINXED

    SECTION RESULTS

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    2

     Terry Goff   98lbs 06ozs
     2nd

    40

     Marcus Burgess   84lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    34

     Ade Williams   65lbs 00ozs
     4th

    8

     Paul Roberts   58lbs 04ozs
     5th

    36

     Jon Hatch   50lbs 00ozs
     6th

    38

     Gem Doyle   34lbs 04ozs
     7th

    7

     Alex Clark        (guest)   13lbs 04ozs
     8th

    5

     Nick Watkins-Price     8lbs 08ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    32

     Simon Mound   68lbs 12ozs
     2nd

    11

     Steve Wilson   62lbs 04ozs
     3rd

    9

     Dave Moore   49lbs 00ozs
     4th

    29

     Peter Morton   41lbs 04ozs
     5th

    26

     Tony Roberts   39lbs 04ozs
     6th

    28

     Steve Akal   10lbs 12ozs
     7th

    31

     Nick Jones       (guest)   10lbs 08ozs
     8th

    13

     Mat Edwards            12ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    18

     Kevin Loveland   49lbs 12ozs
     2nd

    19

     Geoff Palmer   44lbs 08ozs
     3rd=

    22

     Malc Doyle   39lbs 04ozs
     3rd=

    15

     Dave Webster   39lbs 04ozs
     5th

    20

     Clive Pritchard   32lbs 08ozs
     6th

    23

     Dave Collier   31lbs 08ozs
     7th

    14

     Nick Williams   20lbs 08ozs
     8th

    17

     Dai Thomas   19lbs 04ozs
     9th

    25

     Paul Dolby   10lbs 04ozs

    Overall Individual Series Result.

    Position

    Points

    Angler

          

    Total Weight

     1st 10points Clive Pritchard

    1

    3

    1

    3

    2

    5

    424lbs 08ozs

     2nd 13points Malc Doyle

    5

    1

    6

    1

    3

    3

    436lbs 12ozs

     3rd 13points Peter Morton

    4

    2

    4

    2

    1

    4

    425lbs 00ozs

     4th 15points Simon Mound

    1

    5

    7

    3

    5

    1

    466lbs 12ozs

     5th 15points Marcus Burgess

    7

    8

    2

    3

    1

    2

    403lbs 12ozs

     6th 15points Steve Wilson

    3

    1

    5

    4

    8

    2

    369lbs 12ozs

     7th 17points Ade Williams

    2

    1

    6

    10

    5

    3

    318lbs 04ozs

     8th 18points Fred Parker

    10

    2

    3

    1

    2

    10

    369lbs 12ozs

     9th 18points Geoff Palmer

    3

    3

    7

    6

    4

    2

    296lbs 08ozs

     10th 19points Dai Thomas

    2

    3

    1

    8

    5

    8

    325lbs00ozs

     11th 20points Nick Williams

    10

    4

    1

    2

    6

    7

    277lbs 00ozs

     12th 23points Ant Haywood

    1

    10

    4

    5

    3

    10

    336lbs 00ozs

     13th 23points Al Loader

    8

    2

    5

    6

    2

    10

    273lbs 04ozs

     14th 23points Dave Webster

    2

    7

    10

    4

    7

    3

    241lbs 04ozs

     15th 23points Nick Watkins-Price

    5

    10

    5

    2

    4

    7

    221lbs 00ozs

     16th 24points Gemma Doyle

    7

    8

    7

    1

    3

    6

    276lbs 01ozs

     17th 24points Dave Moore

    3

    4

    8

    6

    9

    3

    253lbs 04ozs

     18th 24points Dave Collier

    6

    4

    10

    7

    1

    6

    224lbs 06ozs

     19th 27points Tony Roberts

    6

    6

    3

    7

    7

    5

    272lbs 08ozs

     20th 27points Jon Hatch

    4

    9

    3

    7

    8

    5

    259lbs 02ozs

     21st 27points Mitch Auger

    4

    10

    2

    4

    7

    10

    225lbs 00ozs

     22nd 27points Paul Roberts

    5

    6

    6

    8

    6

    4

    205lbs 12ozs

     23rd 29points Kevin Loveland

    10

    7

    4

    9

    8

    1

    101lbs 08ozs

     24th 30points Terry Goff

    7

    9

    8

    5

    9

    1

    209lbs 14ozs

     25th 30points Mat Edwards

    10

    9

    2

    8

    4

    7

    204lbs 00ozs

     26th 35points Steve Akal

    9

    5

    10

    9

    6

    6

    152lbs 12ozs

     27th 39points Paul Dolby

    6

    9

    10

    5

    10

    9

    98lbs 08ozs

    NB:Anglers were allowed to drop their worst section result during the series so that the Overall Series results were decided by best 5 out of 6 section points. Overall weight counting in the result of Anglers tieing on points.

    Overall Pairs Result.

    Position

    PAIRS

          

    Weight

    Points

     1st Simon Mound & Malc Doyle

    10

    15

    42

    10

    19

    15

    903lbs 08ozs

    69

     2nd Ade Williams & Clive Pritchard

    12

    6

    20

    37

    29

    20

    742lbs 14ozs

    87

     3rd Gemma Doyle & Marcus Burgess

    38

    40

    20

    12

    20

    17

    679lbs 13ozs

    107

     4th Geoff Palmer & Steve Wilson

    20

    19

    33

    29

    28

    15

    666lbs 12ozs

    111

     5th Ant Haywood & Nick Watkins-Price

    19

    19

    31

    20

    24

    54

    652lbs 00ozs

    113

     6th Dave Webster & Fred Parker

    46

    26

    33

    13

    21

    32

    639lbs 04ozs

    125

     7th Jon Hatch & Fred Parker

    38

    36

    14

    22

    27

    27

    641lbs 02ozs

    126

     8th Steve Akal & Peter Morton

    39

    22

    41

    26

    14

    32

    587lbs 12ozs

    133

     9th Mat Edwards & Dave Moore

    13

    40

    25

    38

    30

    34

    512lbs 04ozs

    140

     10th Nick Williams & Paul Dolby

    41

    47

    15

    18

    29

    41

    529lbs 14ozs

    144

     11th Paul Roberts & Tony Roberts

    31

    32

    28

    42

    36

    18

    478lbs 10ozs

    145

     12th Terry Goff & Dai Thomas

    26

    37

    27

    39

    41

    20

    535lbs 14ozs

    149

     13th Dave Collier & Mitch Auger

    36

    22

    39

    34

    30

    47

    462lbs 06ozs

    161

     14th Al Loader & Kevin Loveland

    45

    32

    26

    42

    33

    30

    385lbs 04ozs

    163

    NB: Pairs were allowed to drop their worst points total during the series so that the results were decided by best 5 out of 6 points scores. Overall weights counting in the result of Pairs tieing on points. Guests fished when a Pairs Partner was absent and their weights and  points were included in the overall totals.

    So just a few words of Thanks to finish off. It's been a great Series this year and that's due in no small way to Malc(The Jinx) himself, for organising and running the whole thing, and who has probably been more organised this year than at any time that I can ever remember . (EDIT:or not as subsequent checks have revealed Tongue [:P])

    John & Pauline who have been kind enough to put up with
    The Jinx Squad
    and their antics once more at their Fishery which does them and Rolf's memory enormous credit as always
    .
    Finally,
    The Jinx Squad
    and their Guests over the course of the Series. It's the people that fish it that makes the Series the pleasure it is . Take a bow, and see you all next year .

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Maggotdrowning.com

     magtrans.gif MD's Logo picture by pnm123

    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 Smile [:)]. 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 Wink [;)] ) 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 Frown [:(], 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 ThumbsUp [:T].

    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 Evil [):]. 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 Evil [):] 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 Angry [:(!].......

     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 Frown [:(]........

     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, Shocked [:0] 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 Shocked [:0], 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 Wink [;)]. 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 Smile [:)] .......

     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 Smile [:)] .....

     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 Wink [;)], 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 Wink [;)] ......

     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 Evil [):] and 32 Evil [):] ........

     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 Smile [:)] ......

     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 Wink [;)] ........

     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 Frown [:(] 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 Help [:H]. 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 Disapprove [V] .......

     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 Big Smile [:D], but surely fate wouldn't be that unkind to me would it Evil [):] ? 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 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123. 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 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123. Malc had the catch of the day though with a superb 'Double Ton' recording 211lbs for the win on the day 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 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 Big Smile [:D] ......

     It was past midnight when I made my way back to my bivvie. Would I have nightmares of peg 13 Evil [):] ? Surely I couldn't draw it again could I Shocked [:0] ?
    All would be revealed in the morning Wink [;)] ......................

    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 icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.
    On with the kettle for the first cup of coffee, while Webbo's kind offer of Sausage & Bacon rolls took care of breakfast Eating.gif Eat picture by pnm123.

    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 cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123, so with everything packed away into the car I was ready for whatever fate would throw my way today icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.

    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 Evil [):] for his very own today. I felt I should commiserate with him, but all I could manage was a silly grin and laughter Big Smile [:D]. 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 Frown [:(].

    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 Wink [;)]. 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 Disapprove [V]. 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 Shocked [:0]. I knew where I'd left them, and knew in my heart where they would be ................ In the lake Crybaby [:C].
    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 Tongue [:P],
    A fair cop I suppose after all the times I've caught him Big Smile [:D]........

     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  1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. Tony coming 2nd overall for the second day running with 90¼lbs 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123. While Clive managed to draw somewhere other than peg 32 Evil [):] and with a level 60lbs was 3rd on the day  3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123. 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...........


    1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 Geoff Palmer & Tony Roberts 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123 

    Congratulations to both of them Big Smile [:D].
    Well earnt over the weekend finishing 22 points clear,
    and Tony becoming the 1st angler to win it twice ThumbsUp [:T].

    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 ThumbsUp [:T].
    Dave Webster, for bringing us all Maggotdrowning.com and organising the whole weekend ThumbsUp [:T].
    Tubertini who provided enough goodies to make sure that everyone took home a little something ThumbsUp [:T].
    Finally, all those Maggotdrowners that took part, the weekend wouldn't be the success it is without you ThumbsUp [:T].

    Pairs Result

    Position

    Pairs

    Saturday  

    Sunday

    Total

     1st Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer & Tony(Spamwham)Roberts

    25/29=54

     24/29=53

    107

     2nd Ant(Antwood)Haywood & Steve Wilson

    22/27=49

     16/20=36

    85

     3rd Malc(The Jinx)Doyle &  Gaz Malman

    30/12=42

     14/27= 41

    83

     4th Gemma(The Minx)Doyle & Clive Pritchard

    7/19=26

     25/28=53

    79

     5th Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent & Jon(Hatchye)Hatch

    5/26=31

     22/20= 42

    73

     6th Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess & Colin(The Pike)Sharrard

    23/14=37

    1/23=24

    61

     7th= Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound & Dave Moore

    28/ 9=37

     13/ 9 =22

    59

     7th= AlexMalman & Tom(tommodiesel)Little

    24/ 5=29

     26/ 4= 30

    59

     9th Keith(Keith74)Powell & Chris(cybermanc)Ellis

    10/3=13

     15/30=45

    58

     10th= Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East & Dave(Webbo)Webster

    18/2=20

     10/21= 31

    51

     10th= Dave(The Fish)Collier & Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson

    13/1=14

     17/20=37

    51

     12th Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff & Mick(The Chippy)Pearson

    20/15=35

     12/ 3= 15

    50

     13th Richard(tricky)East & Peter(Mugger)Morton

    18/16=34

      8/7=15

    49

     14th Steve(Steak)Akal & Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas

    21/ 6=27

     11/1=12

    39

     15th Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger & Scott(methodgob)Weston

    11/8=19

    5/ 6=11

    30

    Saturday Individual Result

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    25

     Malc(The Jinx)Doyle

     211lbs 00ozs

     2nd

    3

     Tony(Spamwham)Roberts

     197lbs 08ozs

     3rd

    17

     Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound

     155lbs 12ozs

     4th

    29

     Steve Wilson

     113lbs 12ozs

     5th

    39

     Jon(Hatchye)Hatch

     100lbs 12ozs

     6th

    5

     Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer

      93lbs 08ozs

     7th

    8

     AlexMalman

      85lbs 00ozs

     8th

    31

     Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess

      84lbs 04ozs

     9th

    30

     Ant(Antwood)Haywood

      82lbs 08ozs

     10th

    20

     Steve(Steak)Akal

      77lbs 12ozs

     11th

    23

     Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff

      75lbs 08ozs

     12th

    32

     Clive Pritchard

      74lbs 12ozs

     13th=

    4

     Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East

      65lbs 08ozs

     13th=

    15

     Richard(tricky)East

      65lbs 08ozs

     15th

    13

     Peter(Mugger)Morton

      64lbs 08ozs

     16th

    9

     Mick(The Chippy)Pearson

      63lbs 12ozs

     17th

    18

     Colin(The Pike)Sharrard

      62lbs 12ozs

     18th

    14

     Dave(The Fish)Collier

      56lbs 00ozs

     19th

    16

     Gaz Malman

      54lbs 08ozs

     20th

    34

     Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger

      51lbs 08ozs

     21st

    28

     Keith(Keith74)Powell

      49lbs 04ozs

     22nd

    36

     Dave Moore

      48lbs 12ozs

     23rd

    7

     Scott(methodgob)Weston

      47lbs 12ozs

     24th

    1

     Gemma(The Minx)Doyle

      45lbs 04ozs

     25th

    22

     Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas

      36lbs 08ozs

     26th=

    38

     Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent

      33lbs 08ozs

     26th=

    19

     Tom(tommodiesel)Little

      33lbs 08ozs

     28th

    26

     Chris(cybermanc)Ellis

      23lbs 08ozs

     29th

    11

     Dave(Webbo)Webster

      22lbs 08ozs

     30th

    10

     Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson

       13lbs 12ozs

    Sunday Individual Result

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    7

     Chris(cybermanc)Ellis 111lbs 00ozs
     2nd

    26

     Tony(Spamwham)Roberts  90lbs 04ozs
     3rd

    14

     Clive Pritchard  60lbs 00ozs
     4th

    39

     Gaz Malman  56lbs 04ozs
     5th

    5

     AlexMalman  55lbs 08ozs
     6th

    8

     Gemma(The Minx)Doyle  50lbs 08ozs
     7th

    3

     Geoff(GeoffP)Palmer  49lbs 08ozs
     8th

    18

     Colin(The Pike)Sharrard  49lbs 04ozs
     9th

    36

     Jonathan(jonny_b1989)Broadbent  49lbs 00ozs
     10th

    4

     Dave(Webbo)Webster  42lbs 08ozs
     11th=

    20

     Steve Wilson  42lbs 04ozs
     11th=

    32

     Jon(Hatchye)Hatch  42lbs 04ozs
     11th=

    17

     Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson  42lbs 04ozs
     14th

    9

     Dave(The Fish)Collier  39lbs 12ozs
     15th

    38

     Ant(Antwood)Haywood  38lbs 08ozs
     16th

    25

     Keith(Keith74)Powell  38lbs 00ozs
     17th

    34

     Malc(The Jinx)Doyle  37lbs 04ozs
     18th

    18

     Simon(SimpleSimon)Mound  34lbs 08ozs
     19th

    29

     Terry(Wily Coyote)Goff  30lbs 08ozs
     20th

    23

     Steve(Steak)Akal  29lbs 00ozs
     21st

    31

     Paul(Nomorelongwalks)East  20lbs 00ozs
     22nd

    10

     Dave Moore   18lbs 12ozs
     23rd

    19

     Richard(tricky)East   18lbs 08ozs
     24th

    1

     Peter(Mugger)Morton   13lbs 04ozs
     25th

    13

     Scott(methodgob)Weston   10lbs 00ozs
     26th

    11

     Mitch(mitch-fish)Auger     8lbs 12ozs
     27th

    30

     Tom(tommodiesel)Little     8lbs 08ozs
     28th

    28

     Mick(The Chippy)Pearson     6lbs 08ozs
     29th=

    22

     Marcus(Budgie65)Burgess

    DNW

     29th=

    15

     Dai(Dai Fish)Thomas

    DNW

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    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 ThumbsUp [:T].

     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 Big Smile [:D]. 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 Angry [:(!]. 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 Tongue [:P]. 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 Wink [;)]......

     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 Wink [;)].

    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 Frown [:(] .......

    ....... 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 Evil [):] 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 Big Smile [:D]......

     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 Wink [;)].

    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 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123 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  2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123 as Simon took a fine win recording 144½lbs 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. 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 ThumbsUp [:T], an enjoyable match regardless of the weights and a great way to kick off the weekend Big Smile [:D].

    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 Wink [;)].

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    26

     Simon Mound 144lbs 08ozs
     2nd

    24

     Dave Webster 136lbs 04ozs
     3rd

    18

     Ant Haywood 109lbs 04ozs
     4th

    22

     Steve Akal 108lbs 08ozs
     5th

    38

     Malc Doyle  73lbs 12ozs
     6th

    28

     Peter Morton  62lbs 00ozs
     7th

    2

     Dai Thomas  56lbs 04ozs
     8th

    9

     Gem Doyle  52lbs 12ozs
     9th

    32

     Clive Pritchard  46lbs 00ozs
     10th

    8

     Scott Weston  44lbs 04ozs
     11th

    13

     Chris Ellis  42lbs 04ozs
     12th

    10

     Geoff Palmer  37lbs 04ozs
     13th

    34

     Mick Pearson  33lbs 08ozs
     14th

    14

     Dave Collier  31lbs 00ozs
     15th

    7

     Terry Goff  29lbs 12ozs
     16th

    6

     Dave Moore  26lbs 04ozs
     17th

    4

     Chris Withall  19lbs 04ozs
     18th=

    40

     Marcus Burgess

    DNW

     18th=

    30

     Tom Little

    DNW

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    A28.jpg Jinx 2010 picture by pnm123 

    Jinx Match 5

    Well it's back to Rolfs again today for the 5th match of the Jinx Series . Once more Malc has organised a Friday Jinx 2010 Special Evening Match after the success of the one last year, Although the evening match doesn't count toward the Jinx Series results a lot of the Series regulars were fishing it as well as a few guests. Unfortunately work has conspired to prevent me fishing it once more but hopefully the feed going in overnight should make for a decent match today icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. By the time I'd loaded the car it was starting to rain and by the time I was sitting down to breakfast at my usual stop in Battersea it was coming down in stair rods. It had stopped however by the time I got to the M40 and as I drove into the car park at Rolfs the sun was shining icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.

    It was quite strange to arrive at Rolfs and find an almost full car park as I'm normally one of the first to arrive, but with so many of todays anglers having fished Friday's night match it was to be expected. I soon caught up with the previous nights goings on, and as usual it comprised the usual mix of success and failure. Malc had won the match from peg 8 and with me being in A section today I remarked that I would be quite happy to draw it today. PINK HAT wearers today are Clive and Ade(having missed the previous match) with what must be a first as they are together in The Pairs.

     Well with virtually everyone there early the draw actually started early !!!!!!!!! (quite scary unheard of even icon_smile_shock.gif Shocked picture by pnm123). Into the draw bag and I opened my hand to reveal........... Peg 8, hopefully a good omen for the day ahead icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.
    So with the gear loaded up it was off round the Little Lake to my peg. For company today I had Mat Edwards on peg 7 to my right, while to my left on peg 9 was Kev along with his partner Jean, so I was guaranteed a mid match cup of coffee (Thanks Jean icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123).

    Now I knew having spoken to Malc that he'd fed and fished tight to the bush during the night so todays plan would revolve around there and a line out front at around 6mtrs. Rigs were just two MW 0·4 Power Diamonds on 0·20 with a size 16 Guru QM1 for on the deck at 6mtrs, while the margin rigs were two 0·2 MW HC margins again on 0·20 with size 16 Guru QM1's. I decided against setting up a feeder as I wanted to concentrate on just the 2 lines. Bait and feed were a combination of 6 and 8mm fishery pellets along with some sweet corn.

    So at 1pm John rang the fishery bell for the All-In. I potted out 2 large cups of mixed pellet and sweetcorn to 6 mtrs and fed a handful of pellet tight to the bush, then shipped out a banded 8mm pellet to the 6mtr line. Almost before I'd had a chance to start however Mat was landing his 1st feeder caught carp icon_smile_shock.gif Shocked picture by pnm123, only a small fish at around 5lbs but a decent start none the less.
    Well despite lifting and dropping the rig and flicking a few pellets out continually it was around 15 minutes before my float slid away for the 1st time. It was immediately obvious that it was A: a large fish and B: It was foul hooked. After around 2 minutes I was beginning to think that I might be in with a chance of landing it, however it was not to be as the rig came flying back with a scale the size of a 50p piece attached to the hook icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123. Another 15 minutes passed before the float slid away again, not such a large fish this time but properly hooked which resulted in a nice plump Mirror of around 8lbs safely in the net to get me off the mark.

    The next hour however produced nothing more for me other than another 3 foul hooked fish, none of which yielded anything other than a scale to join the collection on the side tray, a small perch on double sweetcorn and a couple of roach. Matt however was still getting a few on the feeder and appeared to be steadily pulling away from me.......

     As I pondered my next step my mind was made up for me by the site of a tail pattern in the water by the bush were I'd been feeding. The problem is getting the fish out before they bury themselves in the snags underneath it. Fish to far out from it and you wont get a bite, so it's a question of being brave and working your way in toward it till you get a bite. Inch by inch I got a bit braver, then the float buried. Maximum side strain saw the fish come out into open water, then the fun began. This was obviously one of the larger residents and it just plodded around for 5 minutes as I made a little ground on it.......

     Suddenly it popped up at my feet and I gratefully scooped it into my waiting landing net. A glorious Common and obviously a weigher I was more than happy to see it take the scales round to an even 18lbs icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. With the fish safely returned I edged the rig in carefully once more and the float immediately buried. An almost instant replay of the previous fish followed before I was once again sliding the net under another large Common and making my way up to the Weigh-Station only to find that this fish also weighed an even 18lbs !!!!!
    3 in 3 put ins was surely hoping for to much, but once more the float vanished and a spirited tussle ensued before the fish, another Common was safely in the landing net......

      Not quite the size of the previous two, this one was a mere 14lbs, but that was 50lbs on the board in around 20 minutes! icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123
    However it couldn't last and the next bite resulted in the rig being dragged through the snags before flying back completely trashed icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123.
    Back in with the spare rig but the disturbance had obviously spooked them so I re-fed and took the opportunity to tie another rig. At this point I heard Malc pipe up from the car park bank "Oi Pete, You're facing the wrong way" always the joker icon_smile_big.gif Big Grin picture by pnm123  he'd noticed that I was sitting with my back to the water as I made up the rig. By now Jean had supplied a welcome coffee icon_smile_wink.gif Wink picture by pnm123 and it was back to business, but as I looked up it was obvious that things were picking up on the car park bank as looking up I could see Clive (peg32) Nick (peg29) and Malc (peg28) all playing fish at the same time......

     By now Mat was alternating between the feeder and his pole and I was convinced he was still ahead of me especially as he'd had a 19½lb Common on the pole. Peg 8 is one of those that stops you from seeing what's going on around the lake and with very few people having a stroll today I assumed that most were catching. I was still getting bites, but the larger fish seemed to have disappeared, to be replaced by a bunch of psycho Mirrors that seem to fight like fish twice their weight and never know when they are beaten. In the last 1½ hours I did manage to get 8 of them safely into the keepnets but an equal number of them won the battle to stay out of them, but a decent Common weighing 12lbs did grace my landing net in the final 5 minutes before John rang the fishery bell for the All-Out at 6pm icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.

    Packing away my gear and chatting to Mat I was happy that I had caught a 'Ton' but still convinced that he'd beaten me, but he was adamant that most of his fish were small and he doubted that he'd got a 'Ton', though I was sure he had. Anyway with the gear back at the car park it was obvious that while a good few fish had been caught a few of the lads had struggled.

    So onto the Weigh-In and the 1st weight of note was Simon (peg 38) with 98lbs who'd finally managed to catch well in the final 1½hrs. However he was immediately overtaken by Ant (peg2) with 112½lbs. Fred (peg5) managed to top that with 115½lbs which would prove to be good enough for 3rd on the day 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123. Mat did indeed have a 'Ton', his 1st in a Jinx Match recording 106½lbs but my fish weighed 128lbs for the A section win and 2nd overall on the day 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123. Dave Collier (peg 11) weighed 100½lbs to take the win in B section, his 1st ever in a Jinx Match icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123. Marcus(Budgie) won C section and took the overall win on the day with a fine 130½lbs, also his 1st 'Ton' in a Jinx Match 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. Al (peg23) weighed 105lbs which included a magnificent Common of 20½lbs which is the heaviest fish ever weighed in on a Jinx Match icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123. Finally Clive weighed 99¾lbs to just miss the 'Ton' by 4ozs.

    So back to the hut where we all chewed over the day and waited patiently for Malc to sort out the day's results.......

     So with that out of the way it just remained for The Minx to sort out who would have the honour of THE PINK HAT for the final match .
    Now of course there are 2 PINK HATS in circulation now and having missed out on a Full House by not getting Fred today (he'll miss the final match as he's away on holiday) she decided to put the peg numbers of those that were Minxed today into the draw bag and draw them, so Step forward Jon(Hatchye)Hatch cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123 cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123 ..............

    and Nick(Monkey)Watkins-Price  cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123 .............

     ............. who will be the lucky wearers when the final Jinx Match is fished on Saturday 21st August icon_smile_big.gif Big Grin picture by pnm123.

    As for me, I've got a busy weekend ahead as I'm back at Rolfs on Friday for Dave the Fish's Invitation Match which is followed on the Saturday and Sunday by the Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament. Obviously a report of all 3 days will follow but it may be a couple of days after icon_smile_wink.gif Wink picture by pnm123.

    OVERALL RESULT

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    15

     Marcus Burgess

     130lbs 08ozs

     2nd

    8

     Peter Morton

     128lbs 00ozs

     3rd

    5

     Fred Parker

     115lbs 08ozs

     4th

    2

     Ant Haywood

     112lbs 08ozs

     5th

    7

     Mat Edwards

     106lbs 08ozs

     6th

    23

     Al Loader

     105lbs 00ozs

     7th

    11

     Dave Collier

     100lbs 08ozs

     8th

    32

     Clive Pritchard

       99lbs 12ozs

     9th

    38

     Simon Mound

       98lbs 00ozs

     10th

    28

     Malc Doyle

       94lbs 00ozs

     11th

    31

     Geoff Palmer

       87lbs 12ozs

     12th

    40

     Steve Akal

       85lbs 11ozs

     13th

    10

     Alex Clark       (guest)

       85lbs 00ozs

     14th

    36

     Tony Roberts

       73lbs 10ozs

     15th

    26

     Dai Thomas

       68lbs 12ozs

     16th

    29

     Nick Williams

       66lbs 00ozs

     17th

    34

     Steve Wilson

       59lbs 12ozs

     18th

    13

     Dave Webster

       54lbs 12ozs

     19th

    17

     Gem Doyle

       53lbs 04ozs

     20th

    22

     Nick Watkins-Price

       52lbs 08ozs

     21st

    25

     Ade Williams

       52lbs 00ozs

     22nd

    14

     Paul Roberts

       48lbs 08ozs

     23rd

    18

     Mitch Auger

       48lbs 04ozs

     24th

    19

     Jon Hatch

       44lbs 04ozs

     25th

    4

     Dave Moore

       39lbs 08ozs

     26th

    20

     Terry Goff

       18lbs 12ozs

     27th

    9

     Kevin Loveland

       10lbs 08ozs

    Names in PINK are those that were MINXED

    SECTION RESULTS

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    8

     Peter Morton 128lbs 00ozs
     2nd

    5

     Fred Parker 115lbs 08ozs
     3rd

    2

     Ant Haywood 112lbs 08ozs
     4th

    7

     Mat Edwards 106lbs 08ozs
     5th

    38

     Simon Mound   98lbs 00ozs
     6th

    40

     Steve Akal   85lbs 11ozs
     7th

    36

     Tony Roberts   73lbs 10ozs
     8th

    34

     Steve Wilson   59lbs 12ozs
     9th

    4

     Dave Moore   39lbs 08ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    11

     Dave Collier 100lbs 08ozs
     2nd

    32

     Clive Pritchard   99lbs 12ozs
     3rd

    28

     Malc Doyle   94lbs 00ozs
     4th

    31

     Geoff Palmer   87lbs 12ozs
     5th

    10

     Alex Clark  (guest)   85lbs 00ozs
     6th

    26

     Dai Thomas   68lbs 12ozs
     7th

    29

     Nick Williams   66lbs 00ozs
     8th

    13

     Dave Webster   54lbs 12ozs
     9th

    9

     Kevin Loveland   10lbs 08ozs
        
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    15

     Marcus Burgess 130lbs 08ozs
     2nd

    23

     Al Loader 105lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    17

     Gem Doyle   53lbs 04ozs
     4th

    22

     Nick Watkins-Price   52lbs 08ozs
     5th

    25

     Ade Williams   52lbs 00ozs
     6th

    14

     Paul Roberts   48lbs 08ozs
     7th

    18

     Mitch Auger   48lbs 04ozs
     8th

    19

     Jon Hatch   44lbs 04ozs
     9th

    20

     Terry Goff   18lbs 12ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    A28.jpg Jinx 2010 picture by pnm123

    Jinx Match 4

    Well after a break of 4 weeks I'm getting back on the bank side today with a return to Rolfs Lake for the 4th Jinx Match icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. Ade (Slim Shady) is in possession of the PINK HAT today, as is Paul D who missed his turn on the third match through illness so there's bound to be plenty of banter flying about. Initial thoughts when I looked out of the window this morning were that it looked like a lovely day to be going fishing. As usual a full English Eating.gif Eat picture by pnm123 was the order of the day at my favorite café in Battersea en route to the lake, and a smooth run down saw me pulling into the car park just after 10am.

    A few were already in attendance as there had been a Friday night Open match that they'd fished and stopped over. As usual the car park soon filled up as groups discussed the prospects for the day ahead. Hopefully the feed that had gone in overnight would find the fish with their heads down and ready to have a serious munch. With the 3 sections having been rotated on the previous 3 matches, there was going to be a fresh draw today to decide the sections for the final 3 matches. Unfortunately Ade wasn't in attendance for his turn on the PINK HAT so Gem decided to wear it herself, but Paul D was and proudly wearing his icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. Malc had the kids with him once more, so Crystal was dispatched with Liam to collect the 'Guess the Weight' monies, so that she wouldn't feel to bored icon_smile_tongue.gif Tongue picture by pnm123, and with that out of the way it was time for the draw.

    Plunging my hand into the draw bag I found peg 18 was to be my home for the day. I knew that Gem had fished it on the night match so had a quick chat with her to find out how she'd fished it before loading up my gear for the short stroll round there icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. For company today I had Steve Wilson on peg 17 while Steve(steak) my pairs partner was out of site on peg 19.

    It's a peg that I hadn't fished previously. It's a decent looking peg with the large bush separating it from peg 19 on the left and another bush in the right hand margin, but it hadn't produced a 'Ton+' since May 22nd. My plan of attack for today would be 2 margin swims at around 4mtrs that Gem had fished the night before and a line straight out at around 9mtrs.

      I set up 3 rigs, a Malman Adam on 0·20 with a size 16 Guru QM1 that would cover both margin swims. A MW 0·4 Power Diamond again on 0·20 with a size 16 Guru QM1 for on the deck at 9mtrs where I had around 5 ft of depth and finally a MW Cookie on a similar set up for up in the water over the 9mtr line. Peg 18 is one of the pegs that you can't use a rod on in this series, so they stayed in the holdall.
    Bait and feed was taken care of by 6 & 8mm fishery pellets and some sweetcorn, along with various soft hookers.

    So at 1·30pm Malc called the All-In. I shipped out 2 large pots of mixed pellets and sweetcorn to 9mtrs, fed 2 good handfuls of pellet into the 2 margin swims and went straight out to 9mtrs with an 8mm banded pellet on the hook. The float settled and 5 seconds later buried!!!! and after a spirited fight a chunky Mirror of around 7lbs was safely in the net to get me off the mark icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.
    Next put in and the float was soon away, this time I could feel straight away that the fish was foul hooked and despite my best efforts to get it in, all I was left to show for it was a large scale on the hook icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 . Now foul hookers can be a bit of a nightmare at Rolfs so I decided to catapult my feed in from that point, hopefully spreading the fish out a bit, rather than group them in too tight an area.

    At this point a triumphal scream was heard from Gem who was on Peg 9, it signified that she had her first fish safely in the net and meant that the other 25 anglers were staring down the barrel at a Minxing and a chance of wearing THE PINK HAT, especially as Peg 9 has been consistently been producing big weights, and Eddie TG had arrived with his camera and was bound to give her some coaching during the match icon_smile_wink.gif Wink picture by pnm123.

    Next put in for me produced a bit of a surprise in the form of a large skimmer, not quite what I was after, but welcome none the less icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. Steve was also off the mark but was already starting to suffer with foul hookers that would go on to frustrate him throughout the match icon_smile_angry.gif Angry picture by pnm123. Over on the Car Park bank I'd noticed that Nick on Peg 26 had already been up to the weigh station with a couple of fish.......

    .... Now Nick started fishing The Jinx Series back in 2005 and while he would only class himself as a pleasure angler, his one ambition is to catch a 'Ton' and we've all been willing him on to achieve it, but so far in 6 years of Jinx matches he's been thwarted, but he was off to a decent start today on a peg with a bit of form, so fingers crossed for him icon_smile_wink.gif Wink picture by pnm123.

    Tony was opposite me on Peg 22 and seemed to be having a bit of a struggle, indeed he'd been unfortunate enough to bust a top kit trying to keep a fish out of the bush to his left earlier on, and things wouldn't improve as he would break another later in the match icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ........

    While Dave Moore next to Tony on Peg 23 had also started quietly and was struggling to make anything happen, though he may have been glad of the slow start having fished last nights match as well  .......

    After my quick start it had slowed down a bit and after a couple of hours I had 6 carp, but had lost another 5 that had been foul hooked, so I decided to re-feed with 3 big pot fulls and take a stroll with the camera.

    Fred, fresh from joining the Rolfs 200+ club with a win on Wednesday's Open was ticking along on Peg 15 and hopeful of a decent last couple of hours down the margin. Simon was tucked away on Peg 14 and owning up to 8 fish, but you could tell that in the back of his mind lay the spectre of a Minxing ......

     Budgie was the lucky occupier of Peg 13 today and reckoned he only had half a dozen skimmers and a solitary carp to show for his efforts, though he appeared to be playing another carp as I walked away.......

     Jon on Peg 11 had the look on his face that told you just how much he was struggling, while Al had gone walkabout from Peg 10 which said it all as he seldom leaves his peg in the course of the match icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 .......

     I arrived at Peg 9 to find The Minx doing battle with what was obviously a decent fish.........

     Of course Eddie was there as well offering a few hints and tips so things weren't looking good, a feeling that was reinforced when Gem put the culprit on the scales, a cracking Common of 16½lbs icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123......

     Geoff and Dave the Fish were next door on pegs 8 & 7, but things obviously weren't going to plan as Geoff was fishing the feeder!!!! something I haven't seen him do for a long while......

     Dave was also on the feeder, and if anything was having a worse time of it than Geoff which was strange as there had been a load of fish feeding there prior to the match. However they did seem to be cheered up by watching Dave(Webbo) working his way through his supply of feeders over on Peg 34 as a number of carp took a tour of the lilies in his peg icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ......

     Malc was on Peg 5, sitting behind him were Crystal & Liam, Crystal looked a little bored so Liam decided she needed his help to smile for the camera icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123.......

     Clive on Peg 4 was just retrieving a rig from a tree when I arrived. He'd had a decent start then lost the fish so had decided to take a look down the margin toward the corner ......

     Nick Williams was over on Peg 38 and it seemed that the peg was producing a few for him today icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123......

     Dai on Peg 36 however had that fixed expression that only comes from having a grueller, while watching almost everyone else putting fish in their nets icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ......

     So back to my peg and with a few bubbles coming up at 9mtrs my first put in resulted in................ another foul hooker icon_smile_angry.gif Angry picture by pnm123.
    I decided at this point to fish the 6mm hard pellets that I was feeding and that seemed to make the difference. 3 carp and another couple of decent skimmers followed in short order. The one thing puzzling me however is the lack of weigher's I've had fishing at Rolfs this year, in the three previous matches I've only had two weigher's that weighed 10lbs and 13lbs. You really need a few bonus fish to do the decent weights, but I just haven't been able to find them. Still fortunately for me the fish kept coming regularly a mix of Mirrors and Commons that were all around the 7-8lb mark, though I did manage to find one bonus, a Common of 11½lbs before Malc called the All-Out at 6·30pm. Looking down at my clicker I'd estimated that I had around 125lbs, but with rumours of Gem having 100lbs of weigher's on the board the Weigh-In was going to be a nervous affair for many of us icon_smile_tongue.gif Tongue picture by pnm123.

    So with the gear back in the car, the general consensus was that an awful lot were on for a Minxing as we made our way to peg 34 to start the Weigh-In. Webbo kicked of things with a level 81lbs. Nick soon set the pace with 123lbs , but Malc put 176¼lbs on the scales, a mark that wouldn't be beaten, giving him the win on the day 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. Next was the weight that we'd all been secretly dreading icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123, and you could hear the sighs of resignation when 126¾lbs was called for Gem. Fred on peg 15 ran Malc really close with an excellent 173lbs, giving him 2nd on the day 2nd.gif 2nd picture by pnm123. My carp came up 8ozs short of Gem's weight but my 3 skimmers saved the day giving me a total of 133¾lbs which was good enough for 3rd overall 3rd.gif 3rd picture by pnm123. The largest cheer of the day was reserved for Nick (Monkey) who recorded 109¾lbs to finally get his 'Ton' after 6 years of trying. Nice one Nick icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123.

    So while Malc sorted the results Paul Roberts provided the cabaret as he went on to retrieve a keepnet fitting he needed for his next days match. Well it would be rude not to record the event wouldn't it icon_smile_tongue.gif Tongue picture by pnm123........

     So with that over and the results announced it just remained for The Minx to decide on the lucky recipient of THE PINK HAT for the next match, and she was spoiled for choice with the line up of The Minxed today, but after a couple of suspected heart attacks among the assembled candidates ......

    ............. it came to rest on Clive cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123.

     Well that should be that, but someone reminded Nick that he'd once said that if he ever caught his 'Ton' he'd jump in the Lake 'Fisho' style. Well Top Fella, true to his word he went for it and luckily Simon caught it on Video to save it for posterity icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123......

    OVERALL RESULT

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    5

     Malc Doyle 176lbs 04ozs
     2nd

    15

     Fred Parker 173lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    18

     Peter Morton 133lbs 12ozs
     4th

    9

     Gem Doyle 126lbs 12ozs
     5th

    38

     Nick Williams 123lbs 00ozs
     6th

    26

     Nick Watkins-Price 109lbs 12ozs
     7th

    4

     Clive Pritchard  97lbs 12ozs
     8th

    13

     Marcus Burgess  92lbs 08ozs
     9th

    14

     Simon Mound  90lbs 12ozs
     10th

    17

     Steve Wilson  88lbs 08ozs
     11th

    34

     Dave Webster  81lbs 00ozs
     12th

    32

     Mitch Auger  79lbs 00ozs
     13th

    2

     Paul Dolby  68lbs 04ozs
     14th=

    31

     Terry Goff  66lbs 04ozs
     14th=

    25

     Ant Haywood  66lbs 04ozs
     16th

    10

     Al Loader  57lbs 12ozs
     17th

    23

     Dave Moore  57lbs 00ozs
     18th=

    22

     Tony Roberts  47lbs 12ozs
     18th=

    8

     Geoff Palmer  47lbs 12ozs
     20th

    11

     Jon Hatch  36lbs 00ozs
     21st

    20

     Mat Edwards  35lbs 04ozs
     22nd

    7

     Dave Collier  30lbs 00ozs
     23rd

    19

     Steve Akal  27lbs 13ozs
     24th

    28

     Paul Roberts  24lbs 00ozs
     25th

    36

     Dai Thomas   15lbs 08ozs
     26th

    40

     Kevin Loveland    3lbs 12ozs

    Names in PINK are those that were MINXED

    SECTION RESULTS

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    5

     Malc Doyle 176lbs 04ozs
     2nd

    38

     Nick Williams 123lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    4

     Clive Pritchard  97lbs 12ozs
     4th

    34

     Dave Webster  81lbs 00ozs
     5th

    2

     Paul Dolby  68lbs 04ozs
     6th

    8

     Geoff Palmer  47lbs 12ozs
     7th

    7

     Dave Collier  30lbs 00ozs
     8th

    36

     Dai Thomas   15lbs 08ozs
     9th

    40

     Kevin Loveland     3lbs 12ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    9

     Gem Doyle 126lbs 12ozs
     2nd

    26

     Nick Watkins-Price 109lbs 12ozs
     3rd

    13

     Marcus Burgess  92lbs 08ozs
     4th

    14

     Simon Mound  90lbs 12ozs
     5th

    32

     Mitch Auger  79lbs 00ozs
     6th

    31

     Terry Goff  66lbs 04ozs
     7th

    10

     Al Loader  57lbs 12ozs
     8th

    11

     Jon Hatch  36lbs 00ozs
     9th

    28

     Paul Roberts  24lbs 00ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    15

     Fred Parker 173lbs 00ozs
     2nd

    18

     Peter Morton 133lbs 12ozs
     3rd

    17

     Steve Wilson  88lbs 08ozs
     4th

    25

     Ant Haywood  66lbs 04ozs
     5th

    23

     Dave Moore  57lbs 00ozs
     6th

    22

     Tony Roberts  47lbs 12ozs
     7th

    20

     Mat Edwards  35lbs 04ozs
     8th

    19

     Steve Akal  27lbs 13ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    A28.jpg Jinx 2010 picture by pnm123 

    Jinx Match 2

    Well, another Saturday and another Jinx MatchI awoke to the sun streaming through the curtains and the forcast was for a warm one, so after a quick shower it was time to feed the cats and make a coffee, and get the car loaded before setting off via Battersea for my usual stop at The Jimmy Griddle where Sausages, Bacon, Eggs and a Fried Slice Eating.gif Eat picture by pnm123 washed down with a mug of tea took care of breakfast. An uneventful run down saw me pulling into the car park at Rolf's around 10·30am to find the place rapidly filling up. With Pauline providing a mug of coffee the banter commenced as we waited for the others to arrive. The car park soon filled up and just prior to the draw Gem handed over that PINK HAT!!!!!!!!!! cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123......

    So on to the draw, I'm in A section which is the Little Lake today, and hoping that a half decent draw would allow me to have a better day today. So into the draw bag and I find that peg 36 is to be my home for the match......

    If I'm honest it's the last peg in the section that I wanted to be on, however someone had a decent result the previous Sunday fishing the feeder from there so that was going to be plan A for me today.
    The rod was a Mach 3 11ft feeder paired with a Daiwa 3012 Whisker spooled with 6lb Maxima. Just a simple running ledger rig with a Drennan cage feeder attached via a link swivel, finished off with a size 14 QM1 with a hair to take 3 pieces of sweetcorn. Groundbait was simply a bag of 4mm fishery pellets wetted down with a generous dusting of GOT Green Grub groundbait to bind them together. I also set up a Shakespeare Mach3 XT 11ft Pellet Waggler coupled with the new 035 MACH 3 XT Front Drag Reel spooled up with 4lb Maxima along with a 3AAA waggler to fish a banded pellet as I was planning to catapult pellets over where I was fishing the feeder and if it brought the fish up I may be able to nick a few. I also set up a couple of shallow pole rigs, but wasn't really planning on using them.

    So at 1pm Malc called the All-In. Out with the feeder rod and within a couple of minutes a firm wrap on the tip signalled fish on. A spirited fight ensued but the first fish of the day was soon residing in the landing net, a weigher that went 10lbs and a most satisfactory way to kick of the day icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123. Unfortunately a second fish was in no hurry to take the bait leaving me looking at a stationary tip for quite a while.

    Dave and Clive over on pegs 7 & 8 appeared to be going along quite steadily though. Indeed Dave had managed a proper lump on his feeder rod, weighing in at 18½lbs, comfortably the largest fish that Dave had caught on a rod and reel icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123......

    Steve to my right on peg 34 was fishing up to the buoys and had got off to a decent start and already looked like he would take all the catching......

    In general though things appeared to be slow for most, With the temperature around 27°C the sky had clouded over leaving it feeling oppressively sticky and both the anglers and the fish lethargic.

    Over on peg 4 I could see Simon, at first it appeared that he was having a good day with quite a few fish, but the reality was that he was being plagued with foul hookers, which having stretch his elastic to improbable lengths were shedding the hook before he could net them icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 .......

    "Budgie" on peg 40 appeared to be suffering another grueller, and hoping for a better outcome than he'd suffered on the 1st Jinx Match when he'd finished last icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ......

    Paul on peg 2 had managed a couple, but it looked as if the fish in his peg were on steroids, as they were giving him a right old run around before he could finally get them in the net......

    Around half way through the match Malc's dulcet tones were heard, which is always a worry as disaster for others seems to follow him as a constant companion. This time it was Steve's turn to suffer the force of The Jinx with his No 4 section breaking as Malc raised his camera......

    Meanwhile Jon to my left on peg 38 was working through plans A-Z but all he could tempt were a few small roach and perch from down by his keepnets.......

    Things had picked up for me however with a couple of quick fish falling to the feeder, but when I looked round while playing the second and found The Jinx himself pointing his camera in my direction I have to admit to a few anxious moments before it was safely in the net......

    Time marched on and I managed another couple of fish, 1 to the feeder and 1 to the waggler, but reports from round the lake indicated that the fishing was proving to be very hard for most. Dave and Clive appeared to be still ticking along nicely, especially Clive who appeared to be making hay on the feeder......

    ...... however it transpired that he was losing the majority of them. Steve was still catching on peg 34, even getting a decent Perch on a white boilie!!!!!!

    Dave over on peg 6 had managed a couple from his 6mtr line and was no doubt hoping for a strong finish to the match ......

    I'd had another quiet spell when Dave strolled round for a chat. He must have brought me a bit of luck, because I managed another couple of carp as we chatted icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. He soon departed no doubt inspired to redouble his efforts and Kev's partner Jean appeared with a welcome cup of coffee for me icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123.

    I managed a final couple of fish as the match drew to an end, one of which was foul hooked in the dorsal fin and gave me a right run around before I managed to bundle it into the net. Malc finally called the All-Out at 6pm, which in typical Jinx fashion was the cue for a short sharp rain shower just to cool us down prior to packing away.

    So with the kit packed up and back to the car it was time for the Weigh-In. Steve was first to weigh and his 92½lbs set a mark that wasn't going to be beaten 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. I thought I had about 50lbs so was pleasantly surprised to find 61½lbs as my final weight icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. Jon had over 40 fish to record 4lbs 10ozs, Mostly small stuff. Budgie had finally snared a carp to record 15½lbs. Paul's 41¼lbs was edged out by Simon's 45½lbs.
    Dave put a level 35lbs on the scales. I was a bit surprised at Dave and Clive's weights as I'd expected them both to be pushing Steve, but Clive's 55¾lbs edged out Dave's weight of 52lbs 2ozs. Rolf's Lake regular Pete Archer had been guesting on peg 13 but had suffered with untold foul hookers icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 and recorded 48¾lbs. Another team had weighed in the other half of the lake, the highlight of which were 44½lbs from peg 19 for Al, Malc with 47¾lbs from peg 25, while peg 30 produced a fine 76lbs for Ade. Gem had only managed 1¾lbs, but had still handed Minxings to 3 of the lads so at least I would be waving goodbye to THE PINK HAT cheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123.

    Back for the results and Pete Archer kindly provided some prizes from his sponsor Vespe. So with the results all done and dusted, all that remained was to find out who Gem would choose to be the lucky recipient that gets to wear that PINK HAT for the next match? Well readers, allow me to present Mr Paul Dolby  ................

    a16-3.jpg And the winner of the Pink Hat is....... Paul D picture by pnm123
     

    OVERALL RESULT

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    34

     Steve Wilson   92lbs 08ozs  
     2nd

    30

     Ade Williams    76lbs 00ozs
     3rd

    36

     Peter Morton    61lbs 08ozs
     4th

    8

     Clive Pritchard    55lbs 12ozs
     5th

    7

     Dave Collier    54lbs 02ozs
     6th

    13

     Pete Archer (guest)    48lbs 12ozs
     7th

    25

     Malc Doyle    47lbs 12ozs
     8th

    4

     Simon Mound    45lbs 08ozs
     9th

    19

     Al Loader    44lbs 08ozs
     10th

    23

     Dai Thomas    43lbs 08ozs
     11th

    2

     Paul Roberts    41lbs 04ozs
     12th

    6

     Dave Webster    35lbs 00ozs
     13th

    9

     Scott Weston (guest)    33lbs 08ozs
     14th

    10

     Fred Parker    32lbs 04ozs
     15th

    14

     Dave Moore    21lbs 08ozs
     16th

    40

     Marcus Burgess    15lbs 08ozs
     17th

    31

     Neil Riddy  (guest)    14lbs 00ozs
     18th

    11

     Geoff Palmer    12lbs 04ozs
     19th

    18

     Steve Akal    11lbs 08ozs
     20th

    32

     Nick Williams     9lbs 04ozs
     21st

    17

     Tony Roberts     7lbs 08ozs
     22nd

    38

     John Hatch     4lbs 10ozs
     23rd

    21

     Kevin Loveland     2lbs 00ozs
     24th

    26

     Gemma Doyle      1lbs 12ozs
     25th

    15

     Mat Edwards             12ozs
     26th=

    27

     Terry Goff

    DNW

     26th=

    28

     Paul Dolby

    DNW

    Names in PINK are those that were MINXED

    SECTION RESULTS

     Position

    Peg

    Name

    Weight

     1st

    34

     Steve Wilson

       92lbs 08ozs

     2nd

    36

     Peter Morton

       61lbs 08ozs

     3rd

    8

     Clive Pritchard

       55lbs 12ozs

     4th

    7

     Dave Collier

       54lbs 02ozs

     5th

    4

     Simon Mound

       45lbs 08ozs

     6th

    2

     Paul Roberts

       41lbs 04ozs

     7th

    6

     Dave Webster

       35lbs 00ozs

     8th

    40

     Marcus Burgess

       15lbs 08ozs

     9th

    38

     John Hatch

         4lbs 10ozs

     

     

     

     

     

     Position

    Peg

    Name

    Weight

     1st

    30

     Ade Williams

       76lbs 00ozs

     2nd

    13

     Pete Archer  (guest)

       48lbs 12ozs

     3rd

    9

     Scott Weston  (guest)

       33lbs 08ozs

     4th

    10

     Fred Parker

       32lbs 04ozs

     5th

    31

     Neil Riddy  (guest)

       14lbs 00ozs

     6th

    11

     Geoff Palmer

       12lbs 04ozs

     7th

    32

     Nick Williams

         9lbs 04ozs

     8th

    28

     Paul Dolby

    DNW

     9th

    27

     Terry Goff

    DNW

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     Position

    Peg

    Name

    Weight

     1st

    25

     Malc Doyle

     47lbs 12ozs

     2nd

    19

     Al Loader

     44lbs 08ozs

     3rd

    23

     Dai Thomas

     43lbs 08ozs

     4th

    14

     Dave Moore

      21lbs 08ozs

     5th

    18

     Steve Akal

      11lbs 08ozs

     6th

    17

     Tony Roberts

       7lbs 08ozs

     7th

    21

     Kevin Loveland

       2lbs 00ozs

     8th

    26

     Gemma Doyle

        1lbs 12ozs

     9th

    15

     Mat Edwards

              12ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    A28.jpg Jinx 2010 picture by pnm123 

    Jinx Match 1

    Well here we go again . Today sees that happy band of idiots fools maniacs nutters that comprise The Jinx Squad back on the banks to do it all again for yet another year with all 6 of this years matches at Rolfs Lake .

    Peter, Malc, Gem, Tony R, Terry, Steve, Ade.
    Simon, Paul D, Paul R, Nick W-P, Nick W, Mitch.
    Fred, Matt, Kevin, Jon, Geoff, Dave C, Dave M.
    Dai, Clive, Marcus, Ant, Al, Steve, Dave W.

    There's loads of questions to be answered over the course of the coming weeks........... 

    Can I avoid PEG 13 icon_smile_evil.gif Devil picture by pnm123 ? icon_smile_crybaby.gif Cry picture by pnm123
    How many will suffer a Minxing and who'll end up wearing the THE PINK HAT ?  icon_smile_blush.gif Blush picture by pnm123
    Will Paul ever draw a sunny peg when he brings Jayne with him? icon_smile_cool.gif Shades picture by pnm123
    Will Simps and Gem get hitched?
    Will Clive finish somewhere other than 2nd overall? icon_smile_help.gif Help picture by pnm123
    Will Jon actually land a fish if someone points a camera at him? censored.gif Censored picture by pnm123

     The answers to these questions and many more will all be revealed in the reports that will appear here in the weeks ahead.

    So on to the day, the luxury of fishing these matches is the start time, meaning that I don't have to get up at silly O'clock icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. I could have a lay in till 7·30am, feed the cats and make a coffee, a quick scan of the forums before loading the car and setting off via Battersea for my usual stop at The Jimmy Griddle where one of their 'Full English Breakfasts' Eating.gif Eat picture by pnm123 made for a good start to the day . A smooth run down saw me pulling into the car park at Rolf's around 10·30am along with Clive and Tony. Geoff along with Paul D and his guest Mick were already in situ, and once Pauline had provided a mug of coffee the banter commenced as we waited for the others to arrive. The car park soon filled up, Gem arrived, you couldn't miss her in her new shirt, along with that PINK HAT!!!!!!!!!!......

    A1-2.jpg Gem (The Minx) picture by pnm123

    ...... which was soon passed on to Steve (Steak) for the day as he'd 'won' it at the MD's Lindholme match icon_smile_clown.gif Clown picture by pnm123.

    A3-1.jpg Steve(Steak)Akal. picture by pnm123

    Well it was supposed to be an 11·30 draw, but of course it was late, a nesting Moorhen on peg 34 being blamed this time icon_smile_big.gif Big Grin picture by pnm123 ......

    A26-1.jpg Waiting for the draw. picture by pnm123

     Anyway with the draw underway I found myself with peg 21 (so no peg 13 icon_smile_evil.gif Devil picture by pnm123 for me today.) It's one of those pegs that doesn't get fished as often as some, so doesn't get as much bait going in, but can throw up a good weight on its day.

    A4-2.jpg Peg 21 for me today. picture by pnm123

    For company I had Marcus(Budgie)Burgess, Gem's Pairs partner on peg 19, while Paul Roberts was to my left on peg 23. There was a bit of scum on the water, but with the wind blowing into the peg I was hopeful of a few. Fish could be seen topping out towards the middle, ideal for the pellet waggler, but for this match I was on one of the pegs where rods aren't allowed.
    So I set up a 4 pole rigs. One for straight out at around 8mtrs was a MW 0·6g Diamond for the 8mtr line on the deck on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match and a MW Trev with similar line and hook for up in the water. and a further couple of MW 0·4g Power Diamonds on 0·20 Power Match with size 16 series 2 hooks to fish to the end of the bush on my right and down the side of the bush on my left. Bait for the day was to be a mix of soft and hard pellets in various sizes with some corn as a back up, while feed was 4 & 6mm fishery pellets.

    One worrying aspect of the day however was the fact that John and Pauline were having a day out and were leaving Eddie TG in charge. Now Eddie knows the lake like the back of his hand and has a habit of giving Gem a bit of coaching when he's in attendance, which is a bit of a worry when you're looking to avoid a Minxing icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123.

    So at 1·30pm Malc called the All-In, a good handfull of pellet into all 3 swims and out to the 8mtr line with an 8mm banded pellet on the deck rig.. A couple of lift and drops and the float buried icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123. A gentle lift met with a solid resistance, but the fish didn't bolt off just following the pole back, however just as I got back to the top 2 something spooked it and it dived at the keepnet, neatly transferring the hook in the process. Simon appeared to be suffering similarly as his first fish dived under his platform before snapping him off.

    Not the best of starts, and in all honesty it went downhill from there icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123. I had to wait nearly an hour for the next bite, which turned out to be one of the smaller Commons weighing around 5lb, but at least it was a fish in the net. The next bite came around 3pm. Malc was having a stroll, camera in hand, so of course I missed it only to foul hook a fish as I lifted the rig, well that led me a bit of a dance before the rig shot back with a scale on the end, much to Malc's amusement icon_smile_big.gif Big Grin picture by pnm123 ......

    A31.jpg Come on fishy. picture by pnm123

    Most of us in that corner seemed to be struggling, though none of us more than Budgie, who halfway through the match had just a solitary Roach to show for his efforts icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ......

    A7-2.jpg Marcus(Budgie)Burgess. picture by pnm123

    Needing a break I re fed heavily, then grabbed the camera for a stroll. Clive was fishing long for once and as I looked over it appeared to be paying dividends as he was in the process of landing one icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123 .......

    A10-2.jpg Fish on for Clive. picture by pnm123

    Simps was one of the few who appeared to be catching steadily, so Jon had reverted to the pellet waggler in an attempt to get in on the act......

    A12-2.jpg Jon Hatch. picture by pnm123

    Most however were feeling the full force of The Jinx Effect, but Dave Moore has a bit of a grin on his face icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123 denoting that he was obviously getting a bit of action despite being on peg13 icon_smile_evil.gif Devil picture by pnm123 ......

    A13-2.jpg Dave(Yorkie)Moore. picture by pnm123

    Al was on peg 12, but was feeling a little rough, so much so that he and Dave would pack up early to get him home......

    A14-2.jpg Al Loader. picture by pnm123

    Malc was on peg 9 with Liam in tow, but apart from the one weigher was in the same boat as a lot of us just waiting for things to happen .......

    A15-2.jpg Malc(The Jinx) & Liam. picture by pnm123

    Round on peg 8 was Nick(monkey) no doubt hoping that this would be the peg to finally provide him with that magic first 'Ton', alas it was not to be, in fact it was proving to be a real grueller for him icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123 ......

    A17-2.jpg Nick(Monkey)Watkins-Price. picture by pnm123

    ...... and it didn't make him feel any better to see that Ant on peg 7 was catching regularly without appearing to even have to feed .......

    A23-1.jpg Fish on for Ant Haywood. picture by pnm123

    Ade(Slim) was tucked away on peg 2, but as I made my way round he was into a fish having been fishing long down into empty peg 3 to his left......

    A21-1.jpg Ade(Slim Shady)Williams. picture by pnm123

    Over on peg 38 I could see Paul D who was returning to the Jinx Series after a few years break carefully playing what transpired to be his first carp of the day icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123 ......

    A22-1.jpg Paul Dolby. picture by pnm123

    Geoff was having a decent day on 36 and putting a few together, as was his old sparring partner Dai who was on peg 32 ......

    A16-2.jpg Dai Thomas. picture by pnm123

    Steak was having an absolute mare, was it down to that PINK HAT, or the fact that he had The Minx for company on the next peg?......

    A33.jpg Steve(Steak) and Gem(The Minx) picture by pnm123

    Jon by now was playing a carp on the waggler, and appeared to have broken the hoodoo of the camera as despite a number of shutters clicking he landed it safely icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123 ........

    A24-1.jpg Jon plays a Carp. picture by pnm123

    Back to my peg, and I wish I could say it got better, but the truth is it didn't icon_smile_sad.gif Sad picture by pnm123, the final 2 hours yielding just another 2 carp of around 6lbs and a solitary skimmer, and I have to say that it was a bit of a relief when Malc called the All-Out at 6·30pm.

    Once I got my kit put away I caught up with the Weigh-In. Geoff had started things off with with 87lbs, but was soon overtaken by Slim's 100¾lbs, however Ant ended up winning A section with a fine 126½lbs from peg 7 icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123. Dave Moore managed the best weight from the motorway bank with 65¼lbs icon_smile.gif Smile picture by pnm123, my 3carp and a skimmer rolling the scales round to just 20lbs. Clive took the win in C section with just 55lbs, while Simps was the man to beat in B section with a level 156lbs to take the win on the day 1st.gif 1st picture by pnm123. Gem put 33¼lbs on the scales meaning a dozen of us had been Minxed icon_smile_blush.gif Blush picture by pnm123, while Dai managed 99¼lbs from peg 32 icon_smile_thumb.gif Thumbs Up picture by pnm123.

    So to the results and after that all that remained was for Gem to chose the recipient of  THE PINK HAT for the next match icon_smile_blush.gif Blush picture by pnm123.
    Well it was no surprise to find it coming my way, much to everyones obvious delightcheerleader.gif Cheerleader picture by pnm123 , so it will be a PINK HAT day for me in 3 weeks time  ......

    A25-1.jpg Peter Minxed. picture by pnm123

    OVERALL RESULT

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st

    26

     Simon Mound 156lbs 00ozs
     2nd

    7

     Ant Haywood 126lbs 08ozs
     3rd

    2

     Ade Williams 100lbs 12ozs
     4th

    32

     Dai Thomas  99lbs 04ozs
     5th

    37

     Geoff Palmer  87lbs 00ozs
     6th

    13

     Dave Moore  65lbs 04ozs
     7th

    15

     Paul Jay   (guest)  55lbs 00ozs
     8th

    27

     John Hatch  51lbs 12ozs
     9th=

    24

     Clive Pritchard  51lbs 00ozs
     9th=

    9

     Malc Doyle  51lbs 00ozs
     11th

    10

     Tony Roberts  45lbs 08ozs
     12th

    6

     Mitch Auger  44lbs 08ozs
     13th

    29

     Gemma Doyle  33lbs 04ozs
     14th

    14

     Dave Webster  31lbs 08ozs
     15th=

    11

     Al Loader  31lbs 04ozs
     15th=

    18

     Steve Wilson  31lbs 04ozs
     17th

    8

     Nick Watkins-Price  21lbs 00ozs
     18th=

    21

     Peter Morton  20lbs 00ozs
     18th=

    38

     Paul Dolby  20lbs 00ozs
     20th

    23

     Paul Roberts   18lbs 04ozs
     21st

    30

     Steve Akal   17lbs 00ozs
     22nd

    40

     Terry Goff   16lbs 00ozs
     23rd

    4

     Mick Lenton   (guest)   12lbs 04ozs
     24th

    17

     Dave Collier     8lbs 04ozs
     25th

    19

     Marcus Burgess     2lbs 04ozs

    Names in PINK are those that were MINXED

    SECTION RESULTS

    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st    7 Ant Haywood  126lbs 08ozs
     2nd    2 Ade Williams  100lbs 12ozs
     3rd   37 Geoff Palmer   87lbs 00ozs
     4th    6 Mitch Auger   44lbs 08ozs
     5th    8 Nick Watkins-Price   21lbs 00ozs
     6th   38 Paul Dolby   20lbs 00ozs
     7th   40 Terry Goff   16lbs 00ozs
     8th    4 Mick Lenton   (guest)   12lbs 04ozs
     
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st   26 Simon Mound  156lbs 00ozs
     2nd   32 Dai Thomas   99lbs 04ozs
     3rd   13 Dave Moore   65lbs 04ozs
     4th   27 John Hatch   51lbs 12ozs
     5rd    9 Malc Doyle   51lbs 00ozs
     6th   10 Tony Roberts   45lbs 08ozs
     7th   29 Gemma Doyle   33lbs 04ozs
     8th   11 Al Loader   31lbs 04ozs
     9th   30 Steve Akal   17lbs 00ozs
    Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st   15 Paul Jay   (guest)   55lbs 00ozs
     2nd   24 Clive Pritchard   51lbs 00ozs
     3rd   14 Dave Webster   31lbs 08ozs
     4th   18 Steve Wilson   31lbs 04ozs
     5th   21 Peter Morton   20lbs 00ozs
     6th   23 Paul Roberts   18lbs 04ozs
     7th   17 Dave Collier    8lbs 04ozs
     8th   19 Marcus Burgess    2lbs 04ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Maggotdrowning.com

     magtrans.gif MD's Logo picture by pnm123

    Rolf's Pairs Tournament 2009.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    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 ) ..........

    a26-1.jpg Gemma catches 40 winks. picture by pnm123

    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 .........

    a27-1.jpg Carp at Rolf's. picture by pnm123

    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?

    a29-1.jpg Waiting for Saturdays draw. picture by pnm123

     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 .

    a33.jpg It says it all really. picture by pnm123

    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 .............

    a34.jpg Peg 13 yet again. picture by pnm123

    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 .......

    a35.jpg Clive waits for the off on Saturday. picture by pnm123

    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..........

    a31.jpg Dirk, Malc, Tony and Tim. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a39.jpg In the net for Paul(nomorelongwalks)East. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a67.jpg 1st of the day on Saturday. picture by pnm123

    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 .........

    a36.jpg Tommy plays a fish on a busted top kit. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a42.jpg Dave playing a Carp on peg 8. picture by pnm123

    ...... 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 .......

    a40.jpg Mitch after rescueing Simons top kit. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a45.jpg Gemma(The Minx) on peg 22. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a44.jpg Bill G on peg 20. picture by pnm123

    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 .......

    a46.jpg Terry plays "Hunt the Landing Net". picture by pnm123

    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.......

    a69.jpg Peter playing a Carp on peg 13. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a37.jpg Malc(The Jinx)Doyle. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a48.jpg Fish on for Clive. picture by pnm123

    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........

    a43.jpg Fish on for Tony(spamwham)Roberts. picture by pnm123

    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 Crybaby [:C] ...........

    a73.jpg A Golden Nugget for Vince. picture by pnm123

     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 .

    a56.jpg John and Pauline. picture by pnm123

    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 .

    a59.jpg Peg 20 for me on Sunday. picture by pnm123

    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 ......

    a52.jpg Paul prepares for Sunday. picture by pnm123

    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 .......

    a51.jpg Tony(teepee) gets ready on Sunday. picture by pnm123

    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 )........

    a55.jpg Dirk limbers up. picture by pnm123

    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 ........

    a54.jpg Gemma showing some leg. picture by pnm123

    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.

    a57.jpg bill gets ready on peg 11. picture by pnm123

    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 )

    a60.jpg Peter waiting for the All-In on Sunday. picture by pnm123

    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.......

    a71.jpg Peter on peg 20. picture by pnm123

    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........

    a64.jpg Simon fishing at 14½ meters. picture by pnm123

    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 .........

    a62.jpg Vince heading for another Golden Nugget from Peter. picture by pnm123

    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.......

    a58.jpg Alan Loader. picture by pnm123

    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 .

    a72.jpg Waiting for the results. picture by pnm123

    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 .
     
    a65.jpg Alex Malman, Dave Webster and Dave Collier. picture by pnm123

    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.

     Position               Pairs                    Points 
     1st Alex Malman & Dave Collier 42 pts
     2nd Dave Moore & Paul East 43 pts
     3rd Gaz Malman & Alan Loader 45 pts
     4th Mitch Auger & Scott Weston 48 pts
     5th Chris Kendall & Adrian Wood 52 pts
     6th Bill Bibbins & Tony Roberts 53 pts
     7th Malc Doyle & Mick Pearson 56 pts
     8th Clive Pritchard & Ant Haywood 57 pts
     9th Tom Little & Chris Ellis 61 pts
     10th Dave Webster & Gemma Doyle 67 pts
     11th Dirk Williams & Peter Morton 79 pts
     12th Simon Mound & Colin Sharrard 80 pts
     13th Terry Goff & Tony Prentice 80 pts
     14th Vince Gould & Tim Westmoreland 82 pts
     15th Paul Thompson & Dave West 82 pts

    Saturday Individual Result.

    Position Peg               Angler            Weight   
     1st Peg 8 Dave Moore 116lbs 12ozs
     2nd Peg 38 Gaz Malman 113lbs 12ozs
     3rd Peg 10 Clive Pritchard 110lbs 04ozs
     4th Peg 37 Alex Malman  83lbs 05ozs
     5th Peg 30 Malc Doyle  80lbs 08ozs
     6th Peg 18 Chris Kendall  72lbs 00ozs
     7th Peg 17 Chris Ellis  69lbs 00ozs
     8th Peg 25 Paul Thompson  60lbs 00ozs
     9th Peg 6 Vince Gould  56lbs 12ozs
     10th Peg 20 Bill Gibbins  55lbs 00ozs
     11th Peg 11 Dave Webster  52lbs 12ozs
     12th Peg 9 Paul East  49lbs 12ozs
     13th Peg 34 Simon Mound  41lbs 12ozs
     14th Peg 31 Tony Roberts  41lbs 00ozs
     15th Peg 2 Tony Prentice  40lbs 06ozs
     16th= Peg 13 Peter Morton  39lbs 08ozs
     16th= Peg 22 Gemma Doyle  39lbs 08ozs
     18th Peg 19 Scott Weston  38lbs 08ozs
     19th Peg 7 Mick Pearson  36lbs 08ozs
     20th Peg 14 Terry Goff  30lbs 04ozs
     21st Peg 16 Dave Collier  28lbs 04ozs
     22nd Peg 15 Alan Loader  26lbs 08ozs
     23rd Peg 40 Colin Sharrard  20lbs 12ozs
     24th Peg 35 Mitch Auger  15lbs 00ozs
     25th Peg 32 Tim Westmoreland  12lbs 08ozs
     26th Peg 23 Adrian Wood  10lbs 00ozs
     27th Peg 4 Tom Little   9lbs 06ozs
     28th Peg 29 Dirk Williams   7lbs 00ozs
     29th Peg 26 Ant Haywood   3lbs 08ozs
     30th Peg 28 Dave West      DNW

    Sunday Individual Result.

    Position Peg            Angler            

     Weight       

     1st Peg 37 Gaz Malman 165lbs 00ozs
     2nd Peg 26 Scott Weston  94lbs 04ozs
     3rd Peg 4 Malc Doyle  93lbs 08ozs
     4th Peg 13 Mitch Auger  89lbs 04ozs
     5th Peg 40 Alex Malman  79lbs 00ozs
     6th Peg 34 Paul East  69lbs 04ozs
     7th Peg 6 Chris Kendall  66lbs 12ozs
     8th Peg 31 Clive Pritchard  53lbs 08ozs
     9th Peg 2 Chris Ellis  49lbs 12ozs
     10th= Peg 11 Bill Gibbins  39lbs 04ozs
     10th= Peg 38 Dirk Williams  39lbs 04ozs
     12th Peg 30 Dave Collier  37lbs 04ozs
     13th Peg 29 Adrian Wood  36lbs 08ozs
     14th Peg 15 Simon Mound  31lbs 08ozs
     15th Peg 23 Dave Webster  30lbs 04ozs
     16th Peg 16 Paul Thompson  28lbs 12ozs
     17th Peg 7 Ant Haywood  23lbs 08ozs
     18th Peg 25 Tom Little  22lbs 04ozs
     19th Peg 22 Tony Roberts  22lbs 00ozs
     20th Peg 17 Alan Loader  19lbs 12ozs
     21st Peg 32 Vince Gould  19lbs 04ozs
     22nd Peg 28 Terry Goff  18lbs 12ozs
     23rd Peg 35 Tony Prentice  18lbs 08ozs
     24th Peg 9 Dave Moore  18lbs 00ozs
     25th= Peg 8 Gemma Doyle  16lbs 04ozs
     25th= Peg 20 Peter Morton  16lbs 04ozs
     27th Peg 10 Tim Westmoreland  15lbs 12ozs
     28th Peg 19 Dave West   9lbs 08ozs
     29th Peg 18 Mick Pearson   7lbs 08ozs
     30th Peg 14 Colin Sharrard      DNW

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Dave the Fish's

    Invitation Match.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    Today saw 16 of us assembled at Rolf's for an invitation match organised by Dave the Fish as a prequel to the 2009 Maggotdrowning.com Pairs Tournament . I was really looking forward to it, as I'd be fishing the Pairs on the Saturday and Sunday as well, and hopefully it would give me the chance to get into the swing of things ahead of the weekend . However it had absolutely chucked it down overnight and that can have a big influence on how Rolf's fishes so we'd see how it goes. Looking out of the window this morning showed a dull grey morning and there was still a bit of light rain as I got all the gear loaded into the car . There was a fair bit to take as well as I was stopping at Rolf's for 3 days including my bivvy, bed-chair and sleeping bag and all the other paraphernalia that you seem to think you'll need. Anyway I bid Maria farewell and set off around 8·30am as I wanted to get down in plenty of time to set up the bivvy and get sorted out before this afternoons match. Having made my usual stop for breakfast in Battersea, I had an uneventful trip down and pulled into the car park at Rolf's around 10·30am to be greeted by Pauline & John and to find that I was the 1st to arrive.

    I noticed I had a missed call on my phone from Bill, and phoning him back I found out that he and Mick were devouring a KFC bucket in the services while they waited for Al to arrive and guide them down to Rolf's. Dave was the next to arrive and was soon showing me his latest bit of kit, A Power Walker Trolley, and I have to say it's quite an impressive bit of kit, especially at the price Dave paid for it .

    a66.jpg Daves new power walker trolley. picture by pnm123

    Soon the rest started to arrive, and once John had finished cutting the grass we set about getting the bivvies and tents set up for the weekend, though Bill found that the bivvy that his son had lent him came without poles rendering it useless so ended up sharing with Mick. The only fly in the ointment was a phonecall from Webbo informing us that he was stuck on a gridlocked M40 due to a car on fire , so we agreed to draw for them both in the event of them not arriving on time. Chris(Cybermanc)Ellis & Tom(tommodiesel)Little arrived and while not fishing today had decided to travel down early and get settled in for the weekend ahead.

    So at 1·30pm with the sun starting to heat the afternoon up, we made our draw. We had The Big Lake today (pegs 9-32) as another club was there for a match on The Little Lake (pegs 34-8). So into the draw bag and with only 2 pegs left in Peg 13 stuck to my hand . Now it's not a bad peg, but I just can't get to grips with it and it's the 3rd time I've drawn it in 5 matches at Rolf's this year so I can't pretend I was delighted, though the assembled company thought it was hilarious .

    a33.jpg It says it all really. picture by pnm123

    So I made my way round with my gear, on what is becoming a well trodden path for me, and settled into what are becoming far to familiar surroundings for my taste. One thing is that I know just what rigs I need to tackle it with, but with just under 1½hrs till the start of the match I decided to tie up some fresh ones up anyway. These rigs ended up as a MW 0·4g XT for the 6mtr line on the deck on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook. a MW 0·6g Cane Diamond for the 8mtr line on the deck on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 and a MW 0·3g Margin on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the inside line. I also set up a Malman SC paste on 0·22 Power Match with a size 10 Ashima barbless for Paste. Bait was my usual combination of pellet paste and corn.

    a1-3.jpg Peg 13, Friday. picture by pnm123

    Waiting for the All-In I could see Simon, Bill, Budgie and Scott across on pegs 29-32 and Dave and Mick on pegs 9 & 10, while peg 11 waited for Webbo and peg 14 Tony(teepee) on their arrival. So at 3pm the All-In was called, a couple of pots of pellet onto the 6 and 8mtr lines and a handfull down the right hand margin and a banded 8mtr pellet was swung out to 6mtrs. Nothing really happened for me though, and I think Scott may have been the first off the mark on peg 32 with a weigher. After 30 minutes Webbo appeared with Tony in tow, and I remarked that I'd been decent enough to wait for him, Bill having been seen off by a couple of foul hookers soon had a real introduction to Rolf's in the shape of a Common that went 18lbs (a new PB for him ) closely followed by a 17½lb'er . I got off the mark with a 12½lb Mirror and Dave on peg 9 seemed to be into steady action ...........

    a19-1.jpg Dave gets ready to land a Carp. picture by pnm123

    While Mick having decided to do his own thing settled in with his avon rod awaiting his first action...........

    a10-3.jpg Mick waits for a bite. picture by pnm123

    Things in general were quiet for the most part though I'd added a Common of around 8lbs, so I re-fed and took a stroll with the camera. Scott was concentrating intently on peg 32............

    a12-3.jpg Scott(Methodgob). picture by pnm123

    While a look down the car park bank revealed a distinct lack of action for the most part ..........

    a13-3.jpg Looking down the car park bank. picture by pnm123

    Indeed Simon on peg 29 was looking decidedly unimpressed with the way his match appeared to be going ........

    a14-4.jpg Simon wasn't looking best pleased. picture by pnm123

    The only person on the car park bank that appeared to be having any real joy was Al on peg 23, while Tony despite his late start was quietly slipping into gear and sliding a few into the net . Webbo was having a bit of a mare with foul hookers, though everyone was suffering similar frustrations to a degree. Dave sidled up with a Common he was proud of and got Cyber to take a photo with my camera ......

    a21-1.jpg A lovely Common for Dave. picture by pnm123

    Mick had managed his 1st fish from Rolf's, not a huge fish at around the 7lb mark, but it certainly left an impression on Mick with it's spirited fight ........

    a25-1.jpg Look at that rod bend!!!!! picture by pnm123

    Simon finally got in on the action, and gave his purple 19 elastic a good stretching ..........

    a20-1.jpg Simon gets his elastic stretched. picture by pnm123

    ....... though Marcus(Budgie) provided the best entertainment as he explored the lengths that his elastic could stretch to with a few sizeable fish on peg 31, resulting in John having to lift the ropes to the aerator at one stage . I was managing to keep the odd fish coming, nothing big, just regulation 7-8lb'ers and while I wasn't exactly bagging felt that I was on for my best result so far from this peg . Bill was getting a better stamp of fish though and I always felt that he had the edge on me.......

    a22-1.jpg Bill gets to grips with one of Rolf's Babies. picture by pnm123

    Though Bill must have felt it was close between us as he remarked that my last fish could make a difference as I netted it just as Dave signalled the All-Out at 8pm........

    a70.jpg Peter landing a Carp on peg 13. picture by pnm123

    We packed our kit away prior to the Weigh-In and Dave kicked things off from peg 9 with a fine 101¾lbs which would net him 3rd place . I was one weigher short of a Ton recording a level 91lbs for 5th on the day. Tony took the days honours with a creditable 110½lbs from peg 14 . Al took 2nd place with 107½lbs from peg 23 , while Bill managed a Ton on his 1st ever visit to Rolf's with 100½lbs, a fine effort for 4th .

    So with the match over people sorted out some grub in various guises and generally wound down, discussing the events of the day and the prospects for the weekend ahead. The general consensus appeared to be that it had been a fine way to kick off the weekend and as we retired to our various sleeping quarters most would probably be dreaming of how the weekend ahead would go. We'd soon find out .

    Position  Peg    Angler                   Weight     
     1st Peg 14 Tony Prentice 110lbs 08ozs
     2nd Peg 23 Al Loader 107lbs 08ozs
     3rd Peg 9 Dave Moore 101lbs 12ozs
     4th Peg 30 Bill Gibbins 100lbs 08ozs
     5th Peg 13 Peter Morton  91lbs 00ozs
     6th Peg 27 Clive Pritchard  63lbs 08ozs
     7th Peg 16 Tony Roberts  62lbs 08ozs
     8th Peg 24 Paul East  58lbs 00ozs
     9th= Peg 31 Marcus Burgess  46lbs 08ozs
     9th= Peg 32 Scott Weston  46lbs 08ozs
     11th Peg 18 Terry Goff  36lbs 00ozs
     12th Peg 29 Simon Mound  34lbs 08ozs
     13th Peg 26 Dave Collier  29lbs 08ozs
     14th Peg 11 Dave Webster  25lbs 00ozs
     15th Peg 19 Tim Westmoreland  19lbs 04ozs
     16th Peg 10 Mick Pearson  16lbs 08ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Jinx 2009 Banner

    The JINX Series 2009

    Match 4.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    Today saw us back at Rolf's for the penultimate round of this years Jinx Series. Leading up to the match, the question that had been nagging away at the back of my mind was would the unsettled weather of the previous week have an adverse effect on the fishing today .
    Looking out of the window a dull grey day greeted me and it looked like we would be in for more rain at some point, and loading up the car there was a muggy feeling to the air. So having made sure that the waterproofs were in the car today I set off via Battersea for my usual stop at The Jimmy Griddle where one of their 'Full English Breakfasts' at least made for a good start to the day . The drive down was smooth enough, though I did drive through a few rain squalls and after a final stop for a coffee at the services, I pulled into Rolf's car park just after 10·30am.

    I was the first to arrive. Now normally the first thing to do on arrival is to dip your nets prior to the match ahead, However John now supplies the fisheries own keepnets and landing nets for visiting anglers to use, so that's one ritual less on a Rolf's match day . Anyway John and Pauline were just starting to refill the dip tanks on the weigh stations so I set off with them round the lake and gave them a hand with that and by the time we'd worked our way back round to the car park the others were starting to arrive .

    Soon the banter was in full flow. How would it fish? Clive spent a lot of the time with his fingers in his ears and changing the subject as people tried to get him to name a peg . Tony ribbing me as to whether I would draw 13 again? Would The Minx return to form and add a few more to her list? Marcus (Budgie) was back guesting again having been hooked by The Rolf's Experience as were Webbo and Steve(Steak) and with the weather today was The Jinx starting to flex it's power once more? .

    Well the draw was late today (much to Jon's relief as he had stated that he would swim the lake after the final match if all 5 of the series draws had gone ahead on time ) I hung back hoping that someone would get Peg 13 before me, and joy of joys Tony's ribbing bit him on the arse as Peg 13 stuck to his hand . Now Clive and I are partners for the "Pairs" event, and had been heavily tipped as favourites prior to the start of the series, however a couple of disasters in the first 2 matches had seen us languishing down in 10th place , the last match had seen us drag ourselves back to 3rd and we were hoping for a decent pair of draws today to help us improve our position further. Poor Clive however got Peg 23 again , and Jon had obviously drawn well as by the time I reached the draw bag he already had his kit on peg 7 !!!!! Into the bag and I was more than happy to see peg 8 sticking to my palm, a very decent peg that I've never been fortunate enough drawn before .

    a1-2.jpg Rolf's peg 8 picture by pnm123

    So with my kit round at my peg it was time to get set up. I tend to be pretty single minded with my approach at Rolf's, I find that if you set up to many options you just end up confusing yourself. Now you can fish long on peg 8 across to the far bank, but in all honesty my back isn't really up to fishing long for 5 hours and with the wind gusting and the promise of rain to come I discounted it. Instead I went for just 4 sections straight out in front on the deck, a comfortable distance that I could throw pellet to regardless of what the weather did , and a similar line to the bush on my left. Rigs would be just one for pellet and another for paste. The pellet rig was a was a 4X12 Malman Adam to 0·20 Power Match with a size 12 Guru QM hook while the paste rig was a Malman SC paste to 0·22 Power Match with a size 12 Drennan Carp Feeder hook. Bait for the day was 8mm hard pellet, paste and some corn, while feed was simply 6mm fishery pellet.
    So a pretty simple set up which left me a bit of time before the all in, though Jon looked like he was determined to cover all the bases as he made the most of every minute prior to the off .

    a2-2.jpg Jon prepares on peg 7 picture by pnm123

    So 1·30pm and Malc called the All-In and I fed 2 good handfuls of pellet straight out and another to the left then flicked a banded 8mm pellet out in front, and after lifting and dropping the rig the float buried and a good few feet of yellow Vespe streamed out of the top kit.
    Slow steady pressure soon saw one of Rolf's Commons resting in the landing net, a weigher that went 11¾lbs, a nice start .
    More pellets and back out with the rig, a couple of lifts and it's déjà vu as once more the elastic streamed from the top kit and a couple of minutes later it's another Common in the landing net, another weigher, this time going 11½lbs . Back out again, more pellets over the top and within a minute I'm in again resulting in yet another Common, going 10¾lbs this time .

    Now with a start like that you can't help feeling that it's almost to good to be true, and sure enough next put in sees me attached to a real creature that just steamed off to the far bank, however I managed to turn it then heard a crack, looking up I couldn't work out what had happened at first, but it was soon apparent that the elastic had gone at the stonfo. Obviously a little bit of wear that I hadn't noticed, but I couldn't help feeling annoyed with myself . Feeding more pellet I decided to re rig the top kit as I had all the necessary with me, but it cost me 15 minutes, though I kept feeding while I did it .

    a12-2.jpg Peter on peg 8. picture by pnm123

    Jon was having a bit of grief having lost a couple of fish (probably foul hookers) and was having a bit of a struggle getting to grips with just how the fish wanted it. Meantime I was back in action, my next fish being a Mirror around the 8lb mark. The fishing for most however was proving to be challenging. The Minx had given her customary scream signifying that she was up and running on peg 19 and you just knew that it had caused a few buttocks to tighten wondering if they were going to fall victim to her today . Indeed as I looked up the car park bank from my vantage point sport seemed to be slow. Indeed Webbo took great delight in phoning me to let me know that not only had Steak smashed a couple of top 2's, but had nearly lost his 3rd & 4th sections in the lake as well .

    a8-2.jpg Car Park bank at Rolf's. picture by pnm123

    A bit of a lull in proceedings for me, with a lot of finicky knocks resulted in me finally connecting with a fish which proved to be a Skimmer of around 1½lbs and a switch to corn only resulted in a small Roach . Jon however was attached to something that was obviously a lot more substantial. After a few anxious minutes he had it safely in the net, a lovely looking Mirror that rolled the scales round to 17lbs and a new PB for him .

    a4-2.jpg Jon's PB 17 pounder. picture by pnm123

    With me being plagued by finicky bites I decided to try the paste rig as I'd read on Eddie Taylor-Green's Blog that Vespe sponsored angler Chris Telling had won the previous Wednesday open from peg 8 fishing paste, but I just couldn't make it work for me on the day as I suffered a frustrating spate of liners and foul hookers . Malc appeared having had a stroll round the lake and he seemed to think that it was between Simon E on peg 22 and me, with more than a few struggling at that point, indeed Malc hadn't had so much as a bite down on peg 40 . Nick on peg 36 had been fishing long to the aerator nearly all match with little to show for it, but had finally started to get a bit of action as reward for his efforts.

    a14-2.jpg Nick fishing long on peg 36. picture by pnm123

    Dave the Fish was having a quieter time than he would have liked on peg 2, while rumour had it that Fred was  having a steady match on peg 4. Big Dave Moore had been strangely quiet on peg 6, and I did wonder if he'd fallen asleep after doing a nights work on the London Underground prior to the match until he appeared to ask me to witness a couple of weighers for him .

    a13-2.jpg Dave(yorkie)Moore on peg 6. picture by pnm123

    Back on the pellet rig and I started to connect with a few, a mix of Commons and Mirrors that all seemed to average around the 8lb mark. However I was getting quite a few foul hookers, so although it looked to some that I was absolutely bagging, the reality was that not all of them were ending up in the net. However sometimes you get something happen that gives you a hint that today might just be your day, and when I went to put a Mirror of around 8lb in the net and the top ring collapsed leading to me missing the net and the fish landed on the outside of the keepnet allowing me to scoop it back into the landing net, I couldn't help wondering if the fishing gods were smiling on me today .

    With the rain finally arriving in proper fashion with around 2 hours to go, sport appeared to pick up for me (well at least I wasn't suffering from so many foul hookers ) though the frustrating bit was that I couldn't pick up a single fish from the left hand bush, forcing me to concentrate on the one line. Ryan over on peg 34 was fishing tight up to the buoy in his right hand margin but it didn't appear to be producing for him today and he'd been snagged up on at least one occasion that I'd seen .

    a5-2.jpg Ryan fishes the margin on peg 34. picture by pnm123

    With around an hour to go I heard Malc shout out, which meant he'd finally managed to catch  while just 45 minutes from the end a huge sigh of relief could be heard from Simon on peg 9 as he got his first fish of the day, thus avoiding the dreaded DNW though he was still looking odds on for a Minxing . I was still nicking the odd fish, while Jon had gone across at 14½mtrs and finally started to get a few, though he was having problems with sticking sections which made shipping back a bit of a nightmare for him and cost him a few fish .

    a7-2.jpg Jon playing a Carp on peg 7. picture by pnm123

    With just a couple of minutes to go I was into a decent fish, but unfortunately made a schoolboy error . Knowing that there wasn't long to go I got greedy and tried to hurry it to the net so that I could get another put in before the all out, subsequently I shipped back to quickly and the feisty fish made a bee line for the platform and cracked me off round the legs of it, a silly mistake and I should have known better, and just to rub it in while I was cursing my stupidity Malc called the All-Out .

    Packing away wet kit is never fun and Jon had to get straight off but had a real problem with a top kit firmly stuck to a No4, but luckily with Fred's help he was spared driving home with it stuck out of the window. I soon had my kit back to the car and after chatting to a few of the lads it was obvious that the lake had fished hard for the most part . Just how hard would be revealed by the Weigh-In.

    So starting with peg 34 as usual Ryan weighed a hard earned 51½lbs to start things off, and that weight wasn't troubled till Fred on peg 4 stuck just over 65lbs on the scales edging Jon on peg 7 by 6ozs. With 4 weighers on the board and another 11 Carp in my nets I was sure I'd done the 'Ton' and so it proved when my weight was called at 131lbs 6ozs . Paul on peg 16 managed 80¼lbs which would prove to be good enough for 3rd on the day. Gemma on peg 19 recorded a hard earnt 33lbs, drawing more than a few groans as several people realised they'd suffered a Minxing  or were about to. Simon E had managed a fine 110lbs from unfancied peg 22 for 2nd on the day , while my partner Clive's 52½lbs gave him 2nd in his section . So a pleasing win for me on what had proved to be a hard day, with a Golden Nugget from the The Minx and one from Webbo by way of a bonus. Gemma had the biggest grin though with 13 victims added to The Minxed List, including Simon  and her Dad  . As for the Pairs, a couple of decent results today for myself and Clive has seen us move up to second place, but an even better pair of results from Fred and Simon E has seen them pull 2  points further in front, meaning that Clive and I will need to beat them by 13 points in the final match to win the Pairs competition, almost impossible but we'll give it a real good try .

    Next weekend it's back to Rolf's again with 3 matches in 3 days, It's a hard life, but someone has to do it .

    Position Peg            Angler                  Weight    
     1st Peg 8 Peter Morton 131lbs 06ozs
     2nd Peg 22 Simon Enticott 110lbs 00ozs
     3rd Peg 16 Paul Roberts  80lbs 04ozs
     4th Peg 4 Fred Parker  65lbs 02ozs
     5th Peg 7 Jon Hatch  64lbs 12ozs
     6th Peg 11 Steve Wilson  57lbs 04ozs
     7th Peg 23 Clive Pritchard  52lbs 08ozs
     8th Peg 34 Ryan Hughes  51lbs 08ozs
     9th Peg 36 Nick Williams  48lbs 12ozs
     10th Peg 29 Dave Webster       (guest)  44lbs 08ozs
     11th Peg 10 Alan Loader  43lbs 04ozs
     12th Peg 13 Tony Roberts  40lbs 04ozs
     13th Peg 19 Gemma Doyle  33lbs 00ozs
     14th Peg 38 Andy Spruce  32lbs 08ozs
     15th Peg 6 Dave Moore  32lbs 00ozs
     16th Peg 20 Keith Fellows  30lbs 00ozs
     17th Peg 27 Steve Akal            (guest)  29lbs 08ozs
     18th Peg 2 Dave Collier  26lbs 08ozs
     19th Peg 32 Ant Haywood  26lbs 00ozs
     20th Peg 9 Simon Mound  18lbs 04ozs
     21st Peg 26 Marcus Burgess     (guest)  17lbs 08ozs
     22nd Peg 40 Malc Doyle  16lbs 08ozs
     23rd Peg 18 Mitch Auger   7lbs 08ozs
     24th Peg 30 Terry Goff   6lbs 00ozs
     25th Peg 14 Nick Watkins-Price   5lbs 08ozs
     26th Peg 24 Tim Westmoreland       DNW

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Jinx 2009 Banner

    The JINX Series 2009

    Match 3.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    Well today is the day of the third match of the JINX Series at Rolf's Lake . It promises to be a little different today, as a good number of the lads were there last night to fish a JINX 2009 SPECIAL EVENING MATCH between the hours of 6·30pm till 11·30pm and were obviously stopping overnight. With a few of the series regulars not fishing that, but some guests taking their places it should be pretty full today.
    So after being woken just after 7am by our new kitten who wanted feeding, I logged onto the Maggotdrowning forum and sure enough Slim had already put a post up about the evening match .....

    "Just got off the phone from steve(sacker) wilson,seems rolf fished quite well last night. 3 x 200lb weights,and a fair few 100 lb + weights.Over 2000 lb of fish were caught and on average worked out about 120 lb per angler."

    So things looked promising for today despite the forecast predicting clouds and rain, and with the car loaded up I was soon on my way via 'The Jimmy Griddle' café in Battersea, for my customary stop for a 'Full English' to set me up for the day . Suitably refreshed and with just 1 further stop for a coffee at the services, I pulled into an already packed car park just after 10·30am.

    First things first, so I dipped my nets before catching up with the events of the past night. It seemed that Vince (my pound coin dispenser ) who has been trying to catch a Rolf's Ton for some time had achieved his aim in spades with a 200lb+ bag, Well Done mate .
    However people were already ribbing him that I hadn't been there for him to take a £1 back from me, and they were already speculating that normal service would be resumed with me present today .
    There was a pretty full house, as a couple of anglers that fished the evening match were guesting today, Vince and Budgie, while Dave had again travelled down from Leeds, this time with Bagger J in tow.

    So draw time once more, and Clive had refused to mention a single peg number in case his hand played up again, but was rewarded with peg 6 this time . I just wanted to avoid Peg 13 and hung back, but it refused to come out and was still in the bag when I drew . Slowly I opened my hand to reveal peg 34.
    Happy days , In fact Slim ended up with Peg 13 so it would be interesting to see how he fared on it.

    a1.jpg Peg 34 at Rolf's Lake. picture by pnm123

    With just a short walk from the car park to peg 34 there was no rush to set up, and I helped Dave Collier with his box to his peg (30) as he'd left it on 34 overnight, having fished it during the evening match.
    With nobody on peg 35, Vince of course just had to draw peg 36 (you couldn't make it up ) so we were bound to have some fun during the match one way or another .
    Neo was down on 38 with Webbo on 40 and Budgie on 2 while Jon had peg 4 as his home for the match. Opposite me was Clive on peg 6 with Tony(spamwham) on peg 7 with Steve on peg 8 for company, and I had a feeling that we would spend plenty of the match watching that trio bagging up off those flyers .

    a23.jpg Getting ready for the off. picture by pnm123

    With the match not starting till 1·30pm we had plenty of time to set up and I decided to tie some new rigs up. The 1st was a 4X12 Malman Adam to 0·20 with a size 12 Guru QM hook to fish 8mm banded pellet on the deck at 9-10mtrs straight out, no further as the wind was gusting from right to left across the peg, while the 2nd and 3rd were 0·3g Malman MTD1's again on 0·20 with size 12 Guru QM hooks to fish the margins on both sides and double up as up in the water rigs. Bait was 8 & 6mm pellets + some sweetcorn and some paste if needed, while feed was just 6mm fishery pellets .

    Well 1·30pm finally rolled around and Malc called the All-In. I shipped out 2 large pots of pellet onto the 9mtr line and fed more by hand down both margins as well as a spot about 3mtrs out to my left where John Bennett had told me he'd had a lot of fish from in the past . Vince appeared to be starting on paste at around 5mtrs (which is what he caught on during the evening match ) and it looked like Clive was shipping out a paste rig over on peg 6 as well........

    a6.jpg Clive starts off on paste. picture by pnm123

    I could see a few bubbles starting to appear on the 9mtr line but missed the first couple of lightning fast bites, before I briefly connected with a fish that was obviously foul hooked before the rig came flying back . Tony and Steve were both off the mark already though, in fact Tony seemed to have a bite every time he lowered his rig in !!!!!

    a7.jpg Tony on peg 7. picture by pnm123

    I finally connected with one of Rolf's super fit Commons and after a couple of minutes had it safely in the net.....

    a25.jpg Playing a Carp to the net. picture by pnm123

    Now at this point I must apologise to Malc , as I decided to weigh the fish to get a feel for just how they were weighing, the fish turned out to be just 8½lbs so rather than record it I decided to put it straight into my keepnet, however Vince remarked to me that there was no weight sheet at the weigh station, so I phoned him to let him know, however when Malc arrived the weigh sheet was under the crate (in case of rain) meaning a wasted trip round the lake for Malc , schoolboy error on my part Sorry Malc .

    Back to the fishing, and I noticed that Webbo had started to sneak the odd one out down on peg 40 and appeared to be in with a good chance of taking yet another Golden Nugget off me ............

    a3.jpg Dave gets down to business. picture by pnm123

    Budgie over on peg 2 had the look of a man who was a bit shocked , this being his 1st visit to Rolf's and who was beginning to realise that he was a little under-gunned in the tackle department, and that people hadn't exaggerated just what was needed to tackle the fish at Rolf's ...........

    a12.jpg A slightly shocked Budgie on peg 2. picture by pnm123

    Meanwhile Clive was having a bit of a struggle on peg 6 and was just having to be patient while he waited for the fish to hopefully turn up, He wasn't helped though by hearing the constant splashing that was coming from pegs 7 & 8 as Tony and Steve continued to catch regularly ..............

    a21.jpg A double header. picture by pnm123

    My next fish was a lovely Common of around 12½lbs that was to prove to be my biggest of the day..........

    a29.jpg Landing a Carp on peg 34. picture by pnm123

     and Vince kindly did the honours with the camera (Webbo even phoned to say I was being cruel to Vince, not only getting him to check the weight, but having him take a picture as well )............

    a30.jpg Twelve and a half pounds. picture by pnm123

    I had a look at JB's spot and while it did produce one Carp for me that was all, and with nothing from either margin it was back to 9mtrs for me  as it seemed to at least produce regular bites if not lots of them...............

    a24-1.jpg Peter on peg 34 at Rolf's. picture by pnm123

    Jon was tucked away over on peg 4, and while not taking it apart he was quietly slipping the odd fish into the net with a minimum of fuss .

    a11.jpg Jon Hatch on peg 4. picture by pnm123

    Webbo appeared to be having a bit of an eventful match however, earlier he'd smashed a top kit trying to net an angry foul hooker , but it went from bad to worse when he placed a top kit on his box and sat on it to hold it in place whilst playing a fish so that he could feed his swim and the fish pulled it in . True to form, Malc appeared to try and rescue it, but it had vanished from sight before he had a chance to leap in .........

    a15.jpg Has anyone seen my topkit? picture by pnm123

    Vince remarked that it was surprising that more gear wasn't lost at Rolf's, given the way that some of the fish fight, indeed he had a struggle on his hands of his own as a particularly fit Common led him a merry dance, before he got the upper hand, and I returned the favour with the camera ..........

    a16.jpg A nice double for Vince. picture by pnm123

    Meanwhile Clive had started to experience an upturn in sport after 3 hours of struggling and seemed to be having regular tug of war matches with a number of lumps, the vast majority of which appeared to be weighers..........

    a18.jpg Clive does battle with a good fish. picture by pnm123

    I was just ticking along at around 3 fish an hour , and it didn't seem to matter what I tried I couldn't up the rate, however it was enough to keep me ahead of Vince, despite him having a bit more on the board in terms of weighers than me.

    Tony and Steve continued to catch, though it was noticeable that Tony was making very few trips up to the scales..........

    a17.jpg Tony nets another. picture by pnm123

    a14.jpg Steve brings a fish to the net. picture by pnm123

    Clive however was flying by now, and it seemed that every time I looked over in his direction he was attached to another beast that was trying it's best to drag him off his platform , in fact he was doing battle as Malc called the All-Out at 6·30pm........

    a19.jpg Clive with another lump. picture by pnm123

    Then as if on cue it started to rain, just so we could get a soaking as we packed up and started the weigh-in. I was 1st to weigh and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'd managed a 'Ton' with a weight of 101¼lbs . Vince couldn't match that with a weight of 61lbs so handed over yet another Golden Nugget to yours truly . Dave despite his problems however managed to put 106¾lbs on the scales meaning that he at least recouped a Golden Nugget from me to offset the loss of top kits. The next serious contender was Clive and he put a highly impressive 192¼lbs on the scales and place himself firmly in the lead . Tony put 133lbs on the scales, he probably caught the most fish on the day, but suffered from them being mostly around the 5lb mark . In fact Steve almost edged out Tony with 127lbs (less fish but more weighers. Young Mitch did the business with 116lbs 2ozs from peg 9 and Simon E put a fine 163¼lbs on the scales from peg 11, while Slim had suffered a bit of a 'Mugger Moment©' on my nemesis peg (13) with just 29½lbs . Malc had 152½lbs and Al just missed out on a ton from peg 18 with 94lbs . Paul weighed a creditable 110¼lbs from peg 19 while poor Gem only manage a meagre 1¼lb of silvers from peg 21 meaning everyone had avoided a Minxing today . Simon extracted a measure of revenge on Gem with 94½lbs from peg 23 . The winner on the day however was young Ryan with an excellent bag from peg 26 that weighed 196¾lbs, Well Done Ryan . Fred was the last to break the Ton today with with 142½lbs from peg 28.

    So there you have it, there were an awful lot of very tired anglers at the end of it, especially those that had fished the evening match as well, but they all agreed that it had been worth it.

    Next up for me should be a Marsh AC match on Nick's Lake at Hartleylands Farm in a couple of weeks time.

    Position Peg                    Angler                Weight      
     1st Peg 26 Ryan Hughes        196lbs 12ozs
     2nd Peg 6 Clive Pritchard 192lbs 04ozs
     3rd Peg 11 Simon Enticott 163lbs 04ozs
     4th Peg 14 Malc Doyle 152lbs 12ozs
     5th Peg 28 Fred Parker 142lbs 08ozs
     6th Peg 7 Tony Roberts 133lbs 00ozs
     7th Peg 8 Steve Wilson 127lbs 00ozs
     8th Peg 9 Mitch Auger 116lbs 02ozs
     9th Peg 19 Paul Roberts 110lbs 04ozs
     10th Peg 40 Dave Webster        (guest) 106lbs 12ozs
     11th Peg 34 Peter Morton 101lbs 04ozs
     12th Peg 23 Simon Mound   94lbs 08ozs
     13th Peg 18 Alan Loader   94lbs 00ozs
     14th Peg 36 Vince Gould            (guest)   61lbs 00ozs
     15th Peg 4 Jon Hatch   59lbs 12ozs
     16th Peg 30 Dave Collier   58lbs 04ozs
     17th Peg 15 Terry Goff   58lbs 00ozs
     18th Peg 2 Marcus Burgess      (guest)   54lbs 12ozs
     19th Peg 13 Ade Williams   45lbs 02ozs
     20th Peg 32 Keith Fellows   42lbs 04ozs
     21st Peg 17 Alex Clark              (guest)   41lbs  13ozs
     22nd Peg 24 Nick Watkins-Price   27lbs 08ozs
     23rd Peg 38 Nick Williams   26lbs 04ozs
     24th Peg 10 Andy Spruce   21lbs 08ozs
     25th Peg 21 Gemma Doyle     1lbs 04ozs

    You will have noticed that I mentioned the JINX 2009 SPECIAL EVENING MATCH that was fished between the hours of 6·30pm and 11·30pm on the Friday night, and although I didn't fish this match myself, I've included the result from that match below for the reference of anyone who's interested.

    Position   Peg               Angler                Weight       
     1st Peg 16 Simon Enticott 242lbs 04ozs
     2nd Peg 30 Steve Wilson 225lbs 04ozs
     3rd Peg 2 Vince Gould 202lbs 02ozs
     4th Peg 28 Paul Roberts 144lbs 00ozs
     5th Peg 23 Mitch Auger 141lbs 12ozs
     6th Peg 24 Clive Pritchard 139lbs 04ozs
     7th Peg 26 Ryan Hughes 123lbs 08ozs
     8th Peg 38 Simon Mound 113lbs 12ozs
     9th Peg 10 Jon Hatch 113lbs 08ozs
     10th Peg 13 Malc Doyle 112lbs 08ozs
     11th Peg 8 Terry Goff 107lbs 12ozs
     12th Peg 4 Alan Loader   96lbs 00ozs
     13th Peg 32 Fred Parker   92lbs 00ozs
     14th Peg 9 Keith Fellows   86lbs 12ozs
     15th Peg 40 Tony Roberts   86lbs 04ozs
     16th Peg 18 Marcus Burgess   81lbs 10ozs
     17th Peg 6 Nick Williams   71lbs 00ozs
     18th Peg 34 Dave Collier   57lbs 08ozs
     19th Peg 14 Gemma Doyle   34lbs 08ozs

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Jinx 2009 Banner

    The JINX Series 2009

    Match 2.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    The second match of the series today, I'd heard that it had fished hard last weekend in adverse weather conditions and the midweek match was held on the Big Lake as the Carp were finishing their spawning in the Little Lake so it will be interesting to see how things go today . With Maria working today I was up early to take her to work, before setting off to the fishery. A leisurely stop for a 'Full English' and another for coffee at the services still saw me arriving ahead of the rest about 10·30am. John was cutting the grass and almost ended up in peg 34 when he got a little adventurous on his ride-on mower .
    Soon the car park was filling up with a full compliment of 28 anglers, with Simon E having replaced Pete Thatcher in the series as he can't spare the time off work, and Dave and Steve having travelled down from Yorkshire again to take 2 guest spots as they'd enjoyed the 1st match so much .

    With the draw on time again, the general consensus was that The Little Lake was still the place to draw. Webbo couldn't believe his luck, pulling out Peg 6 this time (Golden Hand or what? ) and immediately struck a £1 side bet with me knowing that he's again drawn a form peg, while Clive (my Pairs partner ) remarked that the one peg he didn't want to draw was Peg 23 on the car park bank.................... so of course he drew Peg 23 (it looks as if his drawing hand is going to be spending some serious time on the naughty step ). I drew Peg 13, and drawing it on the 13th wasn't the best of omens as I'd struggled on the same peg on the last match . On peg 14 I had Gemma The Minx for company and again the omens didn't look good as Eddie Turner-Green was coming down today to take some photo's for John, and Gem always does well when he's around.

    A1-5.jpg Peg 13 again. picture by pnm123

    Setting up took a matter of minutes as it was just a question of opening my box and picking out the 3 rigs I'd used the previous match , a MW 0·4g XT for the 8mtr line on the deck on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match and a MW Trev with similar line and hook for up in the water that could double up down the side, while a third rig consisting of a Malman SC paste to 0·22 Power Match with a size 12 Drennan Carp Feeder hook for paste down the Side. Bait for the day was once more a mix of various pellets, paste, corn and meat, with feed taken care of by 4 and 6mm fishery pellets.

    1·30pm and Malc called the All-In, and I shipped out 2 big pots of mixed pellets onto the 7mtr line, and fed the right hand margin by hand. The experience of déjà vu was ominous , having baited the rig with a 6mm expander and shipped out, my first two put ins resulted in foul hookers just like the previous match. Malc however was soon into the lake for an early bath, playing the good samaritan this time and retrieving Tony's spectacles that had dropped into his peg ......

    A25.jpg Malc in the swim again. picture by pnm123

    Indeed 1½hrs passed before I hooked into a proper fish which proved to be a weigher, a nice 11½lb Common . After another 45 minutes of inactivity and a phonecall from Webbo telling me that he'd only had 7 fish (  Oh how my heart bled for him......NOT ) I decided to feed heavily and take a stroll to see how the rest were doing .

    As I walked past Gem was into a fish, and was taking her time playing it as it was obviously a decent one..................

    A4-4.jpg Gem plays her PB. picture by pnm123

    .........indeed her patience was amply rewarded in the shape of a new PB Mirror Carp that swung the scales round to rest on a weight of 15lbs 2ozs ...................

    A7-4.jpg Gems PB 15lbs 2ozs. picture by pnm123

    Jon on peg 17 obviously had the Gods shining down on him, as I strolled past he lifted into a small roach, but as he started to ship back yards of elastic streamed out of his top kit, the roach obviously having been bumped off, a hungry carp had snaffled the hook and whatever was left on it on the drop !!!!!!!!!!!!...................

    A5-3.jpg Jon (Hatchye) peg 17. picture by pnm123

    Nick and Malc were both struggling at this point and looking down the car park bank nobody appeared to be taking the place apart...................

    A8-3.jpg Tony on peg 22. picture by pnm123

    Indeed Clive found that Peg 23 was living up to his worst expectations , with just a single fish that he'd had on his first put in, just to cruelly raise his expectations ..............

    A10-3.jpg Clive on peg 23. picture by pnm123

    .................. only to dash them, as he tried in vain to add a second to his tally ................

    A11-3.jpg Clive tries the bush. picture by pnm123

    Simon E on peg 29 appeared to be putting a few together alternating between fishing shallow and fishing big balls of paste on the deck, while Dave on peg 28 was admitting to 4 fish.......................

    A12-2.jpg Dave Collier. picture by pnm123

    Ant on peg 34 was having a few, but Simon on peg 35 seemed to be having the mother of all 'Mugger Moments©' as he hadn't been able to tempt a single fish and was looking at the very real possibility of a Minxing (as were a good few of us at this point ).....................

    A24-1.jpg Simon struggles on peg 35. picture by pnm123

    Slim on peg 37 had landed a carp before the off on a bare hook and was fishing long up in the water to try and tempt a few.......

    A20-2.jpg Slim Shady on peg 37. picture by pnm123

    While Al on peg 38 was having to chop and change to keep his bites coming.............

    A21-2.jpg Al Loader on peg 38. picture by pnm123

    Steve(steak) on peg 40 was putting the odd fish in the net, but was to suffer a minor disaster as one his keepnets top rings collapsed releasing 2 Carp before he could rectify the situation ........

    A22-2.jpg Steve (Steak) on peg 40. picture by pnm123

    Terry (Wily Coyote) had taken 4 fish down the margin on peg 4, but by the look of things they were all out in front of him ........

    A19-2.jpg Terry (Wily Coyote) Goff on peg 4. picture by pnm123

    Webbo was quite content on peg 6, though he was mourning the loss of one of his new Malman 'Elvis' floats, though looking at his peg I found it hard to feel to much sympathy for him ...............

    A16-3.jpg Dave (peg 6) and Keith (peg 7). picture by pnm123

    Keith was ticking along nicely on peg 7, but Nick was having a real struggle getting to terms with peg 8.............

    A13-2.jpg Nick Williams on peg 8. picture by pnm123

    Andy on peg 9 was getting a bit desperate and had filled in the margin with pellet in a kill or cure attempt to make something happen.............

    A14-1.jpg Andy Spruce on peg 9. picture by pnm123

    While Dave on peg 10 and Dai on peg 12 were both struggling, Dave having a skimmer and a perch to show for his efforts, while Dai couldn't buy a bite ................

    A15-3.jpg Dave Moore (peg10 and Dai (peg 11). picture by pnm123

    Back on my peg with a few fizzes of bubbles coming up and a few fish cruising I resumed, but despite going through the card, all I could muster were another couple of scales on the sidetray from foul hookers that had taken off at a rate of knots . I did hook one decent fish but that did me under my keepnets and despite managing to thread my top kit under them to maintain contact, it shed the hook soon after .

    A26-1.jpg Peter on peg 13. picture by pnm123

    With about an hour to go I had another foul hooker, but with the hook firmly in it's pectoral fin I managed to get it into the net, Dave on peg 10 had finally managed a couple of Carp and Dai had snared a Roach to avoid the dreaded DNW and would add a small carp as well before the end.

    With half an hour to go Ieuan strolled past having surrendered and resigned himself to a DNW. I managed a final fish, yet another foul hooker, this time in the tail, that did a great job of trashing the swim before I managed to net it.
    6·30pm and Malc called the All-Out ending what had been a very frustrating time for me and a few others .

    As always the scales told the tale of the day. A DNW and a Minxing for Simon, Al briefly leading with 74¾lbs till Webbo put 94½lbs on the scales that would eventually net him A Section and 3rd place . My own meagre 24½lbs was nowhere near enough to save me from a next peg Minxing once Gemma put 33lbs 2ozs on the scales and took a Golden Nugget off me. Steve had a quietly steady match on peg 15 to register 101lbs for 2nd , while Jon took the honours on the day off of peg 17 with 104¾lbs for B Section and the win . Simon E taking C Section and 4th overall with a level 93lbs to round things off .
    So 2 Golden Nuggets lost on the day, one to Webbo and the other to Gemma, along with my 1st Minxing of 2009, mind you I was just one of 13( There's that number again) that she added to her list today .

    So that's it for today , next up for me is the Maggotdrowning.com Individual Championship at Maver Larford's Match Lake next Saturday. How will it go? I've not got a clue as I've never fished there before, but it should be a good day out. I'll let you know next weekend.

    Position Peg         Angler                      

     Weight       

     1st Peg 17 Jon Hatch 104lbs 12ozs 
     2nd Peg 15 Steve Wilson 101lbs 00ozs
     3rd Peg 6 Dave Webster        (guest)  94lbs 12ozs
     4th Peg 29 Simon Enticott         93lbs 00ozs
     5th Peg 7 Keith Fellows  77lbs 04ozs
     6th Peg 38 Alan Loader  74lbs 12ozs
     7th Peg 32 Mitch Auger  60lbs 00ozs
     8th Peg 4 Terry Goff  56lbs 12ozs
     9th Peg 40 Steve Akal             (guest)  56lbs 04ozs
     10th= Peg 37 Ade Williams  55lbs 00ozs
     10th= Peg 28 Dave Collier  55lbs 00ozs
     12th Peg 34 Ant Haywood  43lbs 08ozs
     13th Peg 2 Ryan Hughes  40lbs 12ozs
     14th Peg 9 Andy Spruce  36lbs 00ozs
     15th Peg 14 Gemma Doyle  33lbs 02ozs
     16th Peg 8 Nick Williams  33lbs 00ozs
     17th Peg 10 Dave Moore  32lbs 08ozs
     18th Peg 20 Malc Doyle  31lbs 12ozs
     19th= Peg 13 Peter Morton  24lbs 08ozs
     19th= Peg 25 Fred Parker  24lbs 08ozs
     21st Peg 23 Clive Pritchard  21lbs 04ozs
     22nd Peg 31 Paul Roberts  19lbs 08ozs
     23rd Peg 22 Tony Roberts  18lbs 00ozs
     24th Peg 19 Nick Watkins-Price  14lbs 08ozs
     25th Peg 11 Dai Thomas    7lbs 08ozs
     26th Peg 26 Tim Westmoreland    2lbs 00ozs
     27th= Peg 18 Ieuan Davies     D.N.W.
     27th= Peg 35 Simon Mound     D.N.W.

     

  • Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire.

    Jinx 2009 Banner

    The JINX Series 2009

    Match 1.

    Rolfs.jpg Rolf's Lake pegging plan. picture by pnm123

    Well today saw 26 nutters lunatics fools anglers assembled at Rolf's for the start of this years JINX Series . This has become a "Must Fish" series of matches for me since I started fishing it back in 2005, and with 5 rounds to the Series this year, and there's bound to be more than a few tales to tell over the course of the matches .
    I'd been looking forward to today with a fair deal of anticipation as the matches are more like great days out with a bunch of mates rather than a match , so I was up bright and early and soon had the car loaded and was off to Battersea for my customary breakfast stop. Suitably fortified by a Full English and with the sun beaming down from a gloriously blue sky it was back into the car for a smooth drive down, with a further stop at the Services for Coffee before pulling into Rolf's car park around 10am, to be greeted by John and a few of the Welsh contingent who were already there, having stayed down for the whole week.

    1st things 1st, so the nets were dipped and laid out to dry, before John filled me in with how the place had been fishing and what he'd been up to since my last visit. The most notable addition being the aerators that he's purchased and is in the process of installing. Soon the car park started to fill up, including Simon Enticott along with Dave(Webbo) and Steve(Steak) who'd travelled down from Yorkshire to fish as guests .

    z8.jpg Ready for another series. picture by pnm123

     Even Malc (With Liam and Crystal in tow) was early , which was hard to get used to, especially as in a moment of madness he'd volunteered to loose his ponytail to raise money for MD's. I'd brought my clippers with me, so at 11·30am Mugger's Barber Shop was open for business .
    Fair play to him, he didn't cry much as his beloved ponytail escaped to freedom ................

    a2-4.jpg Off comes the ponytail. picture by pnm123

    swiftly followed by the rest of his locks ....................

    z3.jpg Just a quick trim please. picture by pnm123

    With suitable moral support from the assembled crowd ..................

    z6.jpg Gone........... picture by pnm123

    Click this link to see Simon's video of Malc losing his hair.

    So with the hairdressing done for the day it was time for the draw. Into the bag and I found Peg 13 was my home for the match. I'd never fished it before, but John confirmed that it could be good, a comfy 8 mtrs out in front and down the edge to the right once the fish move in being the plan . Settling in there was plenty of time to prepare as the All-In wasn't till 2pm. With this years JINX Series being 'Pole Only' setting up was reasonably easy.

    z9.jpg Peg 13. picture by pnm123

    A MW 0·4g XT for the 8mtr line on the deck (it's a line through the body design that's nice and strong )on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match and a MW Trev with similar line and hook for up in the water that could double up down the side, while a third rig consisting of a Malman SC paste to 0·22 Power Match with a size 12 Drennan Carp Feeder hook for paste down the Side. Bait for the day was a mix of various pellets, paste, corn and meat, with feed taken care of by 4 and 6mm fishery pellets.

    It was turning into scorcher but a bit of a breeze kept things comfortable. I must admit that I would have preferred to have drawn on the Little Lake today as I'd seen plenty of fish there earlier, but with any peg capable of throwing up a decent weight I wasn't to despondent .
    So 2pm and Malc called the All-In and in a matter of seconds a scream arose from the Little Lake as Gemma netted her 1st fish of the day (and had a load of us worrying about being on the wrong end of a Minxing ) Shipping out to 8mtrs with a 6mm expander on the hook followed by a handfull of pellet the float settled and after about 30 seconds buried!!!!!! Fish on and a good un by the feel of it, then the rig flew back with a scale on the hook. Another handfull of pellet out to 8mtrs and another down the edge before I shipped the rig out to 8mtrs once more. Again after about a minute the float buried with exactly the same outcome . Now I've experienced this before at Rolf's and it can be very hard to overcome. I altered the rig to lay a couple of inches of line on the deck and baited with double corn. Keep topping up the pellet in both swims and ship out. Nothing !!! keep lifting and dropping the rig and after around 5 minutes the float slid gently away. Lifting into it there was solid resistance but it didn't power off like a lunatic and gentle pressure saw me soon net the fish, a scale perfect Common and a definite weigher, it went 12lbs 4ozs on the scales, a lovely way to get off the mark .

    Unfortunately another 5 minutes went by without a bite. I'd seen that Tony over on peg 31 had a couple of weighers as had Paul on peg 32........

    z13.jpg Fish on for Tony. picture by pnm123

    z14.jpg Paul on peg 32. picture by pnm123

    Sprucey over on peg 23 was really struggling and from what I could see hadn't had a bite yet alone a fish ........

    z21.jpg Andy (Sprucey) Spruce. picture by pnm123

    and Ant on peg 10 to my right appeared to be in a similar boat and doing a blinding impression of a Garden Gnome .........

    z15.jpg Antwood struggles on. picture by pnm123

    My reverie was broken however by the float sliding away to the depths once more, and after a spirited fight another weigher slid into the landing net, this time a Mirror of 9½lbs . Young Ryan Hughes on peg 28 (fishing his 1st Jinx match) was starting to put a few together............

    z18.jpg Ryan Hughes(carpkid1)... picture by pnm123

    In fact most of the anglers that I could see on the car park bank seemed to be getting the odd one or two with the exception of Pete Thatcher on peg 29. Indeed, not long after he packed up and left !!!!!!!!!
    I was still struggling with just another couple of foul hookers and a few bumped roach to show for my efforts as Malc did his customary lap of the fishery offering words of encouragement (Yeah, Right ) with Liam and Crystal in tow.

    I had a few fish cruising around in pairs in front of me, but despite switching to the shallow rig couldn't interest them.
    Meanwhile Terry over on peg 27 (Who was fishing his 1st Jinx Match) was getting the odd one that stretched his elastic right out ..........

    z12.jpg Terry gets his elastic stretched. picture by pnm123

    Malc returned with news that the Little Lake looked like the place to be today with pegs 4,6,7 and 8 all producing fish.
    I had a look down the edge with the paste rig, more in hope than expectation as I hadn't seen a single sign of a fish there, and after 30 minutes gave it up as a bad job. However there were a few shouts of encouragement from the car park bank directed towards Malc's swim, so I decided to investigate only to find him up to his armpits in the water . A fish had snagged him in a sunken branch, and as he could feel that it was still tethered he'd gone in to free it. Well that was his excuse, I reckon he fancied a bath to go with his new haircut ..............

    z24.jpg Malc gets in the swim again. picture by pnm123

    Up on peg 19 I could see Clive (my Pairs Partner for the Series ) plugging away, not the best peg on the day, but if anyone could find a few from it, Clive should be capable as he's fished that peg more than a few times...........

    z20.jpg Clive....... picture by pnm123

    With nothing down the edge or up in the water I decided to concentrate at 8mtrs on the deck for the remainder of the match.
    Back out with a single grain of corn on the hook, and after about 10 minutes fish no3 arrived in the form of a 6lb Common , quickly followed by another couple of foul hookers that vanished at a rate of knots towards the Little Lake .

    By now Simon E was really getting into the swing of things over on peg 6 and steadily pulling away.............

    A3-4.jpg Simon Enticott on peg 6. picture by pnm123

    and Dave was making the most of having drawn noted peg 7 and was well on the way to recording his best ever match weight  ...................

    a1-4.jpg Dave Webster on peg 7. picture by pnm123

    With around an hour to go I managed 2 fish in 2 put in's , a couple of Commons, both around the 7lb mark. However it didn't herald the start of a great last hour as I only managed 1 more fish and that was foul hooked in the tail and fought like something twice it's size.

    Malc called the All-Out at 7pm to end what had been a frustrating match for me . As I walked my gear back to the car park it was obvious that the Big Lake hadn't really produced the goods today, and this was born out as we made our way round with the weigh-in.
    Keith Fellows on peg 34 kicked things off with the discovery that one of his nets had a large hole in it, so missing out on a certain 'Ton' weighing just 85lbs. Simon leapt into the lead on peg 4 with 161lbs 6ozs, though it would only prove to be good enough for 3rd as next up Simon E on peg 6 put a match winning 222¼lbs on the scales . Next up Dave(Webbo) put a new PB match weight of 138lbs on the scales from peg 7 that would only give him 4th place as it was beaten of the next peg by Al's 162¼lbs, giving him 2nd on the day .
    Nick on peg 9 managed 79¾lbs, a new PB match weight (That first 'Jinx Ton' can't be far away now ) while my fish came in at 46¾lbs, which if nothing else saved me a Minxing and got me a £1 off Gemma . Steve won his section with 91¼lbs from peg 16 and young Ryan won his with 96¾lbs from peg 28 .

    So that was it for the 1st match of the Series. Not quite the result that some of us were looking for, but I'm sure the fish are ready to spawn any day now, so hopefully when we're back there in 2 weeks time they'll have spawned and be ready for a proper munch. Well that's the theory anyway, we'll see for sure on the 13th .

     Position

    Peg

    Angler

    Weight

     1st Peg 6 Simon Enticott          (Guest)222lbs 04ozs
     2nd Peg 8 Alan Loader162lbs 04ozs
     3rd Peg 4 Simon Mound161lbs 06ozs
     4th Peg 7 Dave Webster           (Guest)138lbs 00ozs
     5th Peg 28 Ryan Hughes 96lbs 12ozs
     6th Peg 16 Steve Wilson 91lbs 04ozs
     7th Peg 34 Keith Fellows 85lbs 00ozs
     8th Peg 9 Nick Watkins-Price 79lbs 12ozs
     9th Peg 19 Clive Pritchard 75lbs 00ozs
     10th Peg 32 Paul Roberts 66lbs 12ozs
     11th Peg 31 Tony Roberts 64lbs 08ozs
     12th Peg 14 Malc Doyle 56lbs 08ozs
     13th Peg 27 Terry Goff 56lbs 04ozs
     14th Peg 2 Steve Akal                (Guest) 54lbs 04ozs
     15th Peg 38 Nick Williams 53lbs 08ozs
     16th Peg 13 Peter Morton 46lbs 12ozs
     17th Peg 17 Dai Thomas 45lbs 04ozs
     18th Peg 40 Mitch Auger 41lbs 08ozs
     19th Peg 25 Ade Williams 40lbs 12ozs
     20th Peg 21 Ieuan Davies 32lbs 08ozs
     21st Peg 18 Jon Hatch 30lbs 04ozs
     22nd Peg 36 Gemma Doyle 20lbs 08ozs
     23rd Peg 24 Dave Moore   7lbs 12ozs
     24th= Peg 23 Andy Spruce   6lbs 08ozs
     24th= Peg 10 Ant Haywood   6lbs 08ozs
     26th Peg 29 Peter Thatcher     D.N.W.