Sunday, 8 August 2010

Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. August 7th-8th, 2010

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Rolf’s Pairs Tournament 2010.
DAY 1
Well having stayed over at Rolfs after Dave Collier’s match, I awoke around 7·30am to a rather grey and cloudy day, it had obviously rained during the night, but I soon had the kettle on and breakfast sorted. There was going to be a full house today with some more anglers arriving, making 30 members of the Maggotdrowning forum (18 of them members of this years Jinx Squad ) assembled from all over the country to fish the Maggotdrowning.com Rolfs Pairs Tournament 2010, a 2 legged affair fished over both the Saturday & Sunday and this is the 5th year running that the competition has taken place.

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

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

With that out of the way it was time to draw for todays pegs, and it was around this time that things started to go wrong for me, Yes you guessed it, I opened my hand to find my Nemesis staring back at me………Peg 13. Unfortunately for Clive he committed the schoolboy error of standing right behind me in the draw and got caught up in the vortex of my misfortune and was duly rewarded with peg 32
 once more. Well it provided plenty of amusement for the assembled crowd while Clive and I debated what punishment was suitable for our drawing hands………
Well with the match being fished from 2 – 7pm there was plenty of time to set up, even if I didn’t exactly rush to my peg ……
 The rigs were simple, a Malman Adam 4×12 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 10mtr line on the deck. A Malman Adam 4×10 on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 QM1 hook for the 5mtr line. I also set up a MW Trev on 0·20 Power Match with a size 14 Drennan Carp Match for down the margin. Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

Well at 2pm John sounded the fishery bell to signal the All-In. My initial feed was at 5 and 10mtrs and down the right hand margin, and my 1st put in at 10mtrs with a banded 8mm pellet produced almost instant action as a Carp tore off across the lake leaving just a scale on the hook
……
 Dave next door on peg 11 had snared a quick skimmer on the “feederless feeder” and after about 20 minutes I’d managed a small Carp of around 6lbs. It all went a bit quiet after that however with just a couple of small Roach to break the monotony.

The car park bank looked like the place to be from where I was sitting with all the anglers playing fish at one time or another, indeed Steve snared a Common of 21½lbs but weighed and returned it without as much as a smile much to the consternation of 2 anglers that had dropped in to take a look at the lake before their forthcoming match there. However there was soon a sound that all anglers hate, 
a loud CRACK and I looked up to see Clive’s pole being towed toward the little lake. The number 5 section had failed but fortunately John managed to hook it out and with the fish still attached Clive played it out from peg 33……
 This was followed by another sharp CRACK, this time a top 2 belonging to Mitch on peg 3, amazingly Paul(tommyturtle001)Thompson on peg 10 hooked about 15 minutes later with his pellet wag. Well with nothing happening in my peg I reverted to my usual fall back, I filled it in at 5mtrs and set off with my camera. Mick(The Chippy)Pearson was on peg 9 and had been a bit worried about fishing so close to the bush, but he’d gone for it and been rewarded with a 16lb Common early on which gave him the confidence to stick at it ……
 Alex was on peg 8 and was steadily picking up a few fish from down the track at 6mtrs and across to the far bank ……
Scott on peg 7 was trying to get to grips with his peg but was slowly falling behind Alex despite his best efforts ……
 I found Geoff on peg 5 and it was a case of steady away for him as he looked to be on the way to building a decent net of fish  …
 Paul was on peg 4 and just pleased to be fishing the match after all, Tony was tucked away in the corner on peg 3 and was admitting to having a few, which knowing Tony meant he was on a shed full, but he too had smashed a number 5 section earlier on. Gem (The Minx) was on peg 1, fishing to the bush and with 3 weigher’s already on the board was looking good to add a few more to The Minxed List ……
 Working my way round I stopped to commiserate with Clive and try to work out just how many concrete trucks would be needed to fill in pegs 13 and 32 ……
 Malc was on peg 25 and it looked as if the power of The Jinx was having a positive effect as he was catching from both his swims and well on his way to a really good weight ……
Terry on peg 23 was looking a lot happier than I’ve seen him recently at Rolfs, with 3 good Carp in the opening period and the odd fish still putting in an appearance it seemed that there was every chance that he might avoid yet another Minxing today.
 Steve(steak) had moved round a couple of pegs today to peg 20 and still catching, but today he was suffering his fair share of foul hookers and also lost a huge Perch at the net that he felt may have gone 5lbs ……
 Tom admitted to having a real struggle on peg 19 and Colin was suffering with foul hookers on peg 18. Simon was having another decent day on 17, while Gaz on peg 16 was having a frustrating time and struggling to work out just how they wanted it ……
 My Pairs partner Richard was on peg 15 and had just switched to fishing worm, while Dave Collier was on peg 14 for a second day running and not really enjoying it anymore than yesterday. Back at my peg a quick chat with Webbo revealed that I hadn’t missed much, though he’d had a couple of fish that had snagged him in the bush to his left.
 Well time marched on with little happening for me, though the car park bank still seemed to be producing and I’d just glanced at my watch and noticed there was an hour to go when my float slid under, lifting into it I was suddenly aware that the amount of resistance indicated something other than a Roach on the other end……
 It proved to be a decent Common and a weigher to boot at 12½lbs. Happily it wasn’t on its own either as in the last hour I added a further 7 carp to the keepnet before John rang the bell for the All-Out. As we packed away a few of the lads were ribbing me that I may as well leave my gear there as I was bound to draw it again tomorrow, but surely fate wouldn’t be that unkind to me would it? Anyway declining to tempt fate I soon had my gear back to the car park.

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

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

So it was now time for a BBQ
and a beer or two and as the darkness moved in, groups settled down to discuss the day events …..
 or to mull over tactics for the match tomorrow, or simply catch up with the latest gossip and have a good laugh ……
 It was past midnight when I made my way back to my bivvie. Would I have nightmares of peg 13? Surely I couldn’t draw it again could I ? All would be revealed in the morning  …………………
DAY 2

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

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

Lining up for the draw I must admit to a feeling of dread as I knew ‘IT‘ was still in the draw bag as I inched closer.
However I was soon feeling better as I heard a groan from Scott ahead of me, Yes he’d claimed peg 13 for his very own today. I felt I should commiserate with him, but all I could manage was a silly grin and laughter
. Plunging my hand into the bag I found myself looking down on peg 1, yet another peg I’d not fished previously, that The Minx had fished yesterday……
 So round to peg 1 with the gear to set up. Now normally it’s just pegs 40 & 2 on this bank that are used, but for a change this weekend pegs 39, 1 & 3 had been used. Geoff had drawn peg 3 and was hoping for a similar result to that achieved by his partner Tony who’d fished it the previous day, while to my right on peg 39 was Gaz hoping for a better result than yesterday.
Poor Jonny Broadbent had just wheeled his Rive to peg 38 and turned round to do something else when there was an almighty SPLASH!!!! The box complete with wheelkit had rolled down the bank depositing itself in his peg, not the ideal start to his day
.

Rig wise I just set up a couple of Malman Adam 4×12′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 4×12 Snake IV on 0·20 with a size 14 Guru QM1 to fish the bottom of the marginal shelf under the bush to my left. I also got the feeder rod out of it’s ready sleeve just in case things got desperate Bait for the session would be my usual mix of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers.

I have to say that it felt quite strange setting up so early for a match at Rolfs, and I felt that we may all be in for a bit of a grueller, especially with the change in the weather as well. At 11am John signalled the All-In by ringing the bell and I fed all 3 of my lines before starting on a banded 8mm at 5mtrs. While I couldn’t see Geoff on peg 3 I could hear him and it was obvious that he’d caught a fish pretty quickly
. Dave had joined the action pretty quickly as well, winkling out a couple of Carp from down his right hand margin. Other than that though there didn’t seem to be much happening.
 Gaz had gone out long fishing shallow and got of the mark with a Common of around 12lbs……
I couldn’t buy as much as a bite however, nothing not even a solitary silver to show for my efforts after 3 hours. The bush that had produced for Gem yesterday offered little in the way of cover from the sun today and the only signs of anything were at 10mtrs where the usual fizzing kept happening over the feed. The feeder with dampened pellet and double sweetcorn on the hook finally produced a bite just after 2pm and a feisty little Mirror of around 6lbs was soon safely in the net to save the dreaded DNW, but with Gem on peg8 and getting a few fish I just knew that I was on for a Minxing today.

Malc had been on a stroll round and reported that most were struggling today and it appeared that Chris on peg 7 and Tony on peg 26 were having the best of it today and with Geoff having a few on a difficult day it would probably be enough for them to secure the title. However Ant had started to have a couple over on peg 38……
 Strangely despite struggling today I hadn’t filled it in and gone for a walk, just stuck at it and plugged away though it appeared to be all in vain. With about an hour left I managed a Common of around 7lbs on the pole at 10mtrs.
Could this be the start of a decent last hour for me for the third match in a row? In a word NO. All that followed were a couple of foul hookers which just left me with scales for souvenirs, while a third led me a merry dance forcing me to thread my top kit under the platform……
……. on two separate occasions before the hook pulled free. In fact it ended up feeling like a blessed relief when John rang the bell for the All-Out at 4pm.

So time to pack everything away which was all going smoothly until I noticed that 3 sections of my margin pole were missing
. I knew where I’d left them, and knew in my heart where they would be ……………. In the lake.
Oh well it had to be done, down to my underpants and flip flops and in, it wasn’t to unpleasant and I located the sections straight away. Geoff gave me a hand out and as I turned round who should I spy with a camera but Malc
, A fair cop I suppose after all the times I’ve caught him ……
 Rather than waste time I weighed my 2 carp at the weigh station behind me, recording a whole 13¼lbs on the board and returned to the business of packing away as the Weigh-In passed me by, the rate of it’s progress revealing just how hard the fishing had been today. Notable weights were Chris(cybermanc)Ellis who’d fished the feeder all day on peg 7 for 111lbs and his 1st ever match win. Tony coming 2nd overall for the second day running with 90¼lbs. While Clive managed to draw somewhere other than peg 32 and with a level 60lbs was 3rd on the day. Meanwhile Gem had 50½lbs which meant that apart from the top 3 and the Malman brothers the rest of us got Minxed.
 So with everything out of the way we assembled outside the hut for the results to be read out, pools to be paid out and the trophies awarded by Mr Maggotdrowning himself, Dave(Webbo)Webster to the winning team of………

 Geoff Palmer & Tony Roberts 
 
Congratulations to both of them.
Well earnt over the weekend finishing 22 points clear,
and Tony becoming the 1st angler to win it twice.
Finally a few words of Thanks are due to the following people………
John & Pauline Bennett for allowing us the use of their superb fishery during the weekend.
Dave Webster, for bringing us all Maggotdrowning.com and organising the whole weekend.
Tubertini who provided enough goodies to make sure that everyone took home a little something.
Finally, all those Maggotdrowners that took part, the weekend wouldn’t be the success it is without you.

Pairs Result

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











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