Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. June 4th, 2011.

Jinx Match 2

Isn’t nature a wonderful thing? That’s debatable when it seems the whole dawn chorus is focused on waking you up at 5·45am on a Saturday morning. Well having stayed at the lake overnight after yesterdays MD’s Fund Raiser I was probably a bit disorientated but I was soon up, changed and had the kettle on for an early morning coffee. It seemed that I was first up today, even the traffic on the motorway was reasonably quiet at that time of the morning and it was easy to appreciate the lure that Rolfs has for the anglers that fish it.

It was quite overcast, but I took the opportunity to have a slow stroll round the lake. Not a lot was moving as I made my way round apart from a moorhen scuttling out from under the bush on peg 23. A few carp were cruising, but not in the numbers you often see prior to the matches. A couple of ducks awoke from under the cover of the bushes between pegs 3 & 4. By the time I got back to the car park Jean had risen and stuck the kettle on so another cuppa would soon be in order.

We sat around discussing various things as one by one the rest of the campers surfaced. Some of us had already decided that breakfast at The Harvester in Wheatley would be a fitting start to the day and just after 8am 8 of us set off to partake. The service might not of been the friendliest but breakfast certainly hit the spot along with loads of toast and tea and on our return everyone was up and about as they packed up their bivvies and tidied things away.

It’s the 2nd match The Jinx Series today and it was just a question of waiting for the rest of the participants to turn up, as some hadn’t fished yesterday. Banter flew around as usual, mostly focused on the prospects for the day ahead and the pegs people wanted to draw. The other topic was of course the subject of the Pink Elephant Hat and it’s wearer for the Day. That was pretty much a done deal though after a post that Jon had put on the forum saying that he was going to bring his young son Sam who’d asked “Why is that man wearing a silly hat? ” and “Does that mean you’re going to wear the hat next Dad? ” when Jon had shown him the reports from the 1st match. Well it would have been rude to disappoint him wouldn’t it……

 So onto the draw and A section. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want peg 7 again after yesterday, but unfortunately it escaped my clutches and I found myself holding peg 38. It’s one of those all or nothing pegs and with the wind in the wrong direction for it today and only a solitary carp coming off it yesterday I wasn’t feeling confident as I wheeled my kit round there.

I had Gem to my right on peg 36 along with Kev on peg 34, so not to far for Jean to bring a coffee. Budgie had claimed peg 40 while Webbo had peg 2. Paul and Nick had pegs 4 & 5 with Al and Steve on 7 and 8 to complete A section.

Settling in to the peg I examined the options, The bush down the left hand margin being the only obvious feature. Rigs were simple and pretty much all in place after yesterdays match. A MW 0·6 Diamond on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 14 Guru MWG would be for straight out at 7mtrs where I had an even 3½ feet of water in all directions, while the NG 0·3 XT Sampson margin on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 12 Guru QM1 would be used to fish at the bottom of the ledge by the bush. One additional rig made up with an 0.2 NG Edger on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 12 Guru QM1 would be used on top of the ledge in front of the bush, while the feeder rod was on standby if it got really tough. Bait was the same as yesterday, 6,8 and 11mm fishery pellets and a selection of various GOT Baits soft hookers, though I did have some paste I could make up should the lumps turn up in the margin.

So 1pm and the All-In was called, a couple of pots of mixed pellet onto the 7mtr line and a couple of generous handfuls to the bush on my left before shipping out a banded 11mm to 7 mtrs. It was soon obvious that the wind was going to be a pain gusting as it was from left to right and in my heart of hearts I just knew that sport was going to be neither fast or furious. In fact it seemed to be pretty slow all around the Little Lake except for Webbo on peg 2 who was fishing the ‘feederless feeder’ (a pellet cone to anyone else) into the sheltered water against the bushes between pegs 3 & 4 which was producing a few carp for him from what I could see…..

My first fish appeared after 45 minutes, but rather than the hoped for carp proved to be a plump skimmer of around 2lbs. Gem was having a real struggle on peg 36, but at least that meant that I might escape a Minxing today. Indeed it wasn’t till nearly 2 hours in that a rather stifled Yeeesssss was heard as she landed a skimmer to get her off the mark. I’d managed a couple of carp by then, but it was really hard work and apart from Webbo the only one I could see who was doing any good was Steve up on peg 8.

Jean popped down with a cup of coffee and told me that Kev had a couple of weighers on the board from peg 34 and Paul appeared to put a couple of fish together but it was short lived……

 A couple of quick looks down the margin yielded nothing other than a couple of small roach that hung themselves on an 11mm pellet. While to my left Budgie was working his way through numerous combinations and only fairing marginally better than me……

In fact as the match wore on it was rapidly turning into one of those that I couldn’t wait to end. Dave was still taking fish every 10-15 minutes and looked bolted on to take the section and looking up towards the Big Lake I could see Al working hard……

The lack of walkers today made me feel that the Big Lake was probably fishing the better of the 2. Gem had resorted to targeting silvers with maggot to put a bit of weight in the net and with around an hour to go treated us to a proper YEEEESSSSSS as she finally had a carp to show for her efforts. I managed a solitary carp from the margin swim but that was it, and I was pestered by silvers after that till the end when the All-Out was called at 6pm.

Packing away I had no expectations as I knew I only had around 30lbs. With my gear back at the car I set off for the weigh-in, but they’d already started and had reached Budgie before I caught up. A quick glance at the sheet revealed that Gem had only recorded 10½lbs after finding a hole in her silvers net, while my weight was 38¼lbs. Indeed it was Webbo that had taken A section with 123¼lbs and third overall.
Malc on peg 9 had comprehensively walked B section and taken the overall win with a weight of 175¾lbs, while Simon on peg 10 avenged his previous days Minxing with 133¾lbs for second in section and second overall. Clive took a fine C section win with 96¾lbs and in the process became Peg King for Peg 20, while Nick W-P had the misfortune to record a mere 1lb 6ozs from peg 17 and as the only regular member of The Jinx Squad to be Minxed guaranteed himself The Pink Elephant for match 3.

The next Jinx Match is on 18th June, with a night match on the Friday. I won’t be fishing the night match, but I’m in B section on the Saturday, and with the way I’ve been drawing so far in the Series, what’s the betting that I end up on PEG 13 !!!!!.

 

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 9	Malc (The Jinx) Doyle	175lbs 12ozs
2nd	Peg 10	Simon Mound	133lbs 12ozs
3rd	Peg 2	Dave Webster	123lbs 04ozs
4th	Peg 20	Clive Pritchard	96lbs 12ozs
5th	Peg 8	Steve Wilson	95lbs 12ozs
6th	Peg 25	Ant Haywood	75lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 26	Dave Collier	71lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 7	Al Loader	68lbs 00ozs
9th	Peg 13	Neil Riddy	65lbs 10ozs
10th	Peg 28	Tony Roberts	64lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 22	Dai Thomas	62lbs 04ozs
12th	Peg 34	Kevin Loveland	57lbs 00ozs
13th	Peg 18	Jon Hatch	54lbs 04ozs
14th	Peg 5	Nick Williams	53lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 40	Marcus Burgess	52lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 23	Pete Tapp                 Guest	46lbs 12ozs
17th	Peg 4	Paul Roberts	46lbs 00ozs
18th	Peg 14	Dave Moore	45lbs 04ozs
19th	Peg 32	Alex Clark	43lbs 12ozs
20th	Peg 15	Terry Goff	42lbs 00ozs
21st	Peg 19	Mick Godber            Guest	40lbs 08ozs
22nd	Peg 11	Mitch Auger	40lbs 00ozs
23rd	Peg 38	Peter Morton	38lbs 04ozs
24th	Peg 31	Ady Williams	10lbs 12ozs
25th	Peg 36	Gem (The Minx) Doyle	10lbs 08ozs
26th	Peg 29	Doug Heathcote        Guest	9lbs 00ozs
27th	Peg 17	Nick Watkins-Price	1lbs 06ozs

Names in Pink are those that were “MINXED”

Section A
Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 2	Dave Webster	123lbs 04ozs	1
2nd	Peg 8	Steve Wilson	95lbs 12ozs	2
3rd	Peg 7	Al Loader	68lbs 00ozs	3
4th	Peg 34	Kevin Loveland	57lbs 00ozs	4
5th	Peg 5	Nick Williams	53lbs 08ozs	5
6th	Peg 40	Marcus Burgess	52lbs 08ozs	6
7th	Peg 4	Paul Roberts	46lbs 00ozs	7
8th	Peg 38	Peter Morton	38lbs 04ozs	8
9th	Peg 36	Gem (The Minx) Doyle	10lbs 08ozs	9
Section B
Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 9	Malc (The Jinx) Doyle	175lbs 12ozs	1
2nd	Peg 10	Simon Mound	133lbs 12ozs	2
3rd	Peg 26	Dave Collier	71lbs 08ozs	3
4th	Peg 13	Neil Riddy	65lbs 10ozs	4
5th	Peg 28	Tony Roberts	64lbs 00ozs	5
6th	Peg 32	Alex Clark	43lbs 12ozs	6
7th	Peg 11	Mitch Auger	40lbs 00ozs	7
8th	Peg 31	Ady Williams	10lbs 12ozs	8
9th	Peg 29	Doug Heathcote        Guest	9lbs 00ozs	0
Section C
Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 20	Clive Pritchard	96lbs 12ozs	1
2nd	Peg 25	Ant Haywood	75lbs 12ozs	2
3rd	Peg 22	Dai Thomas	62lbs 04ozs	3
4th	Peg 18	Jon Hatch	54lbs 04ozs	4
5th	Peg 23	Pete Tapp                 Guest	46lbs 12ozs	0
6th	Peg 14	Dave Moore	45lbs 04ozs	5
7th	Peg 15	Terry Goff	42lbs 00ozs	6
8th	Peg 19	Mick Godber            Guest	40lbs 08ozs	0
9th	Peg 17	Nick Watkins-Price	1lbs 06ozs	7