Brookhall Lake. Tiptree. Essex. October 5th, 2003.

Hawthorne AC club match.

Brookhall Lake just outside the village of Tiptree in Essex was the scene of the Hawthorne AC club match this weekend.
This is normally a prolific venue and I’d invited my fellow Maggotdrowner Dave the Fish to join us as a guest at the venue for the day.

One thing that I’ve noticed over the years is that regardless how good the weather is, the 1st Sunday of October is invariably darn cold. I’m sure that it’s something to do with this day always marking the start of the Winter Leagues. Today there was a cloudless sky and a really biting North Westerly wind.

Just to make us feel better, Betty the bailiff informed us that the previous day had been very poor in terms of fish caught and that it had chucked it down overnight, so with 22 of us searching around in our car boots for fleeces and warm cloths it was draw time.
I drew peg 9 while Dave drew 23. On arrival at my peg it was obvious that the water level was down, as where the banker margin swim should be was bone dry. Plumbing up at 11mtrs where I was expecting to find at least 6ft revealed only 4ft and not a feature to be found. I had a look in what was left of the margins and could only manage 8 inches before it dropped down the ledge into about 3ft.
I set up a dead depth rig for 11mtrs and a heavy margin rig to fish paste, and a straight lead rig as a get out of jail option.

At the off nearly a pint of pellet and hemp went into the margin swim,and in such a shallow swim it wouldn’t be touched until I saw a tail pattern or mud cloud disturb it.
Out to 11mtrs over a small pot of hemp and pellet, to no avail with just the odd small silver coming to single maggot, with the ripple and rising sun just adding to the difficulty.
11mtrs and……………….not a lot!


After a while Dave strolled past on his way to retrieve some meat that he’d left in the car, by which time I’d gone over to a straight lead with a lump of paste, and as Dave came back past the tip pulled steadily round, and the strike met with……………… NOTHING!!!!!!! Guess which idiot had managed to knock the fighting drag off on the reel without noticing?  Well it cheered Dave up if nothing else.

Not another touch after that,and with very little coming out anywhere on the lake Dave returned later on, with his flask and sarnies and probably hoping for another faux pas on my part to entertain him.
So back out onto the pole line and no sooner had the float settled and away it went, a nice little Tench of about 8ozs, a double bonus as it was also the fish of the day, and if no others were caught it would pay my expenses. Dave wandered off back to his peg muttering to himself, I’m sure it was something about how skillfull I was.

Well the afternoon dragged on with just the occasional small Roach or Rudd breaking the monotony,when with 25 minutes to go I saw a tail pattern in the margin. On with a lump of paste on the margin pole and within 30 seconds it’s sailing away…………..MISSED!!
Undetered I was soon back out with another bit of paste and 30 seconds later away it went again, only this time I connected. Off tears an angry Carp, and a few minutes later a nice 9lb’er is nestling in the landing net.
Nothing more till the end of the match, but that one fish had got me out of jail.
Weigh-in time and that one Carp and a few silvers gave me a level 13lbs, which was enough for 4th on the day.
Dave had managed 7lbs 5ozs for a creditable 9th.
The inquest in the car park after the match, laid the blame firmly on the cold weather and the biting wind. Everyone had to work for their fish today.

Brookhall Lake.Tiptree. August 4th, 2002.

Hawthorne AC club match.

Having survived yet another Little Chef “Early Starter” we arrived at the car-park for a 9am draw, to be greeted by Betty the Bailiff .

Now anyone that listens to Keith Arthur’s program “Fishermans Blues” on TALK SPORT (1053/1089AM) on Saturday & Sunday mornings will have heard Betty, and her weekly chats to Keith, and perhaps the story of her Cormorant Hound .

Betty assured us that a draw on the bottom half of the lake was what was needed, as the fish tend to follow the wind and it had been blowing in that direction for the past 4 days, and that the fish were being caught up in the water.

Brookhall Lake (looking from the car-park)

Need I say more, into the hat and out comes peg 28 (just about the longest walk, and the furthest away from the desired pegs) The ironic thing is that had the wind been blowing in the opposite direction, this peg would have been an absolute flyer.

While setting up ominous black clouds were gathering and the odd clap of thunder could be heard. Now call me a coward but the idea of being attached to 14½ mtrs of one of the finest lightning conductors known to man wasn’t on (especialy when I saw some fork lightning in the distance). So I decided to go with a feeder and waggler (and Norm’s “Secret” bait).

The swim really looked a picture

but apart from a few little Rudd worrying the bait nothing was forthcoming, and all the time the sky was getting blacker, so out with the brolly and out with the feeder as the heavens opened transforming the scene into something akin to “Carry on Noah”

In amongst all this I managed to connect with 4 Carp and 3 Tench (Nice One Norm)
The most savage take of all coming from a male Tench which weighed 3lb 14ozs. People have said to me that Tench don’t fare well when they have to compete with Carp, and this fish was long enough to be 5lbs+, but was one of the thinnest Tench that I’ve ever caught (food for thought)

That Tench…..

Thankfully the rain stopped about an hour before the end of the match, but then again so did my bites so when the scales arrived I recorded a weight of 24lbs 2ozs, which was good enough for 5th on the day, which to be honest was better than I had expected .
Now all I need to do is spend the rest of the week drying my kit out!!!!!!!!
What was Norm’s secret bait?………. Mussels.