Dave the Fish’s
Fur and Feather Fun Match.
I met up with a few of the lads at the Knoxbridge Café at around 7·30am to find it a tad busy, a party of shooters had obviously beaten us to it, meaning that the service was about as far removed from “Fast Food” as you could imagine.
By the time that Jess & Szabi and The Welsh Contingent (Dai, Neo, Geoff & Malc) arrived it had slowed even more and as we left for the draw they were still waiting!
With the delays making the draw run late we decided that we would fish from 10·30 to 3·30pm so we all dipped in and made our way to our respective pegs.
I found myself on 22 with The Jinx for company on 23. Not only were our pegs in the shade but we had the wind howling into them and although there was no ice on the lake it was soon obvious that the only people that would be at home on them would be Eskimos. Looking across to the other bank it was bathed in sunlight with barely a ripple on the water!
I set up a pole and a feeder rod with a small maggot feeder, while Malc elected to fish the feeder all day to the island in front of him.
The All-in was called and I went out on the pole, and needless to say with both Malc and Dave standing behind me my first bite, a small very delicate affair (don’t believe Malc when he tells you “it speared the bottom”) resulted in me missing it horribly and wrapping the rig round the tip.
I stuck it out on the pole for an hour for 4 small fish (1 Skimmer, 1 Roach, 1 Perch and a Gudgeon). In the meantime Malc had managed 3 Carp and Neo a few pegs down had managed a few small stockies. I could see Omega Mike (who I regard as something of a venue expert) pegged further round and bathed in sunlight starting to put a few together on the long pole.
and with my hands starting to become numb with the cold the pole was replaced with the feeder rod.
Looking round it appeared that a Garden Gnome had turned blue with the cold, but it was only Malc staring at his tip willing it to go round..
Slowly I started to put a few small Carp together by dropping the feeder as close to the island as I dared.
Just after Noon the best part of the day arrived in the shape of Dave & Jean bearing Hot Pies & Pasties along with a bottle of Canadian Club. Truly inspired and most welcome, even if Malc did complain that they weren’t served on Dave's usual Silver Tray.
Into the fading light, and a few misgiving's were being aired about the wisdom of fishing to 3·30pm, it was getting that cold that I had a couple of feeders crack up where they had become so brittle in the cold. With 5 mins to go I’m sure that I heard the ominous sound of breaking carbon from further down the bank followed by a softly muttered Welsh curse, though I could be wrong.
Finally the whistle sounded, and it transpired that Malc and I would have to perform Scales Duty. My 27lbs 2ozs started the ball rolling (and secured £1 from Malc), Omega Mike came up just short with what was still a creditable bag as he’d fished the pole all day. Colin was soon in the box seat however with a 50lb+ bag, a worthy winner on the day. Sven & John on adjacent pegs had obviously had a close match, with Sven just having enough for 2nd on the day pushing John down to 3rd and me to 4th. A very good result for Sven as I’m sure he would admit that match fishing isn’t his thing. Nick Gilbert also managed 27lbs on the day.
Gathering up our kit Malc and I returned to find our nets frozen solid (told you it was cold) so back to the car park for the prizes and farewells.
I have to say that given the conditions the lake fished well on the day, even though the fish were shoaled up in pockets.
A big thank you to Dave for organising the match and to all those that attended from near and far, making the day the success it was. We’ll have to do it again, preferably in warmer conditions though.
The final results were :-
Just after Noon the best part of the day arrived in the shape of Dave & Jean bearing Hot Pies & Pasties along with a bottle of Canadian Club. Truly inspired and most welcome, even if Malc did complain that they weren’t served on Dave's usual Silver Tray.
Into the fading light, and a few misgiving's were being aired about the wisdom of fishing to 3·30pm, it was getting that cold that I had a couple of feeders crack up where they had become so brittle in the cold. With 5 mins to go I’m sure that I heard the ominous sound of breaking carbon from further down the bank followed by a softly muttered Welsh curse, though I could be wrong.
Finally the whistle sounded, and it transpired that Malc and I would have to perform Scales Duty. My 27lbs 2ozs started the ball rolling (and secured £1 from Malc), Omega Mike came up just short with what was still a creditable bag as he’d fished the pole all day. Colin was soon in the box seat however with a 50lb+ bag, a worthy winner on the day. Sven & John on adjacent pegs had obviously had a close match, with Sven just having enough for 2nd on the day pushing John down to 3rd and me to 4th. A very good result for Sven as I’m sure he would admit that match fishing isn’t his thing. Nick Gilbert also managed 27lbs on the day.
Gathering up our kit Malc and I returned to find our nets frozen solid (told you it was cold) so back to the car park for the prizes and farewells.
I have to say that given the conditions the lake fished well on the day, even though the fish were shoaled up in pockets.
A big thank you to Dave for organising the match and to all those that attended from near and far, making the day the success it was. We’ll have to do it again, preferably in warmer conditions though.
The final results were :-
| 1st | Colin Sharrard | 51lbs 12ozs |
| 2nd | Sven Castle | 28lbs 11ozs |
| 3rd | John Holdsworth | 27lbs 04ozs |
| 4th | Peter(Mugger)Morton | 27lbs 02ozs |
| 5th | Nick Gilbert | 27lbs 00ozs |
| 6th | Mike Jameson | 25lbs 01ozs |
| 7th | Nick Williams | 19lbs 10ozs |
| 8th | Tony Roberts | 17lbs 01ozs |
| 9th | Chris Withall | 11lbs 08ozs |
| 10th | Kevin Loveland | 9lbs 11ozs |
| 11th | Jim Boase | 8lbs 07ozs |
| 12th | Jess Brind | 7lbs 13ozs |
| 13th | Dai Thomas | 7lbs 11ozs |
| 14th | Malc(The Jinx)Doyle | 6lbs 02ozs |
| 15th | Geoff Palmer | 5lbs 07ozs |
| 16th | Rob Page | 3lbs 09ozs |
| 17th | Terry Goff | 11ozs |
+ two blanks and 3 who tipped back.
