Blyton Ponds. Lincolnshire. June 24th-26th, 2005.

Maggotdrowning.com

 Fish-In.

Time once more for another Maggotdrowning.com Fish-In with the chosen venue for this one being Blyton Ponds just outside Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. I arrived around lunchtime and Les directed me to Maggotville and provided a welcoming cuppa. I decided to get my bivvie up post haste as the heavens were threatening to open, Dave the Fish providing a handy mallet to help with the pegs. 

After a stroll round to meet and greet faces both old and new I decided that I had enough time for an afternoon dabble, so getting my gear I eased into a swim on pond B, next to Dai, his good lady Anne and son Daniel.

A hand full of pellets to the pads on my left and an expander on the hook was soon producing a mix of bream, barbel and roach with a few carp thrown in for good measure and much to Dai’s delight a GOLDEN TENCH. At least having had a good look at one, Dai shouldn’t have any trouble identifying one if and when he eventually catches one of his own. Perhaps Dai and The Hat should have a session at Monk lakes down near me? one of them is bound to catch one there.

Just as I was packing up Anne managed to catch her 1st ever Tench ……

A quick wash and brush up and off to the local pub for a meal and a couple of pints was merely a prelude to the cabaret round at Dai’s bivvy as Ady kept us all entertained as only he can.

Saturday morning arrived sometime around 9am and again I found myself on pond B, but this time between Ady and Teepee. Pole across to the island found all of 9″ of water and a succession of chub and barbel, all in super condition and thriving in their natural environment……………………….WATER.

Ady to my left decided to try and choke a few carp with a selection of improbably large hookbaits and appeared to be having some success, despite the attentions of Ghillie Geoff and ‘evil’ Amy……

Here’s one of them that survived the ordeal ........

While Red Leader was adding to Coshida’s profits opposite me to tempt an eventual 10 carp. Dave the Fish and Colin were fishing either side of the bridge dividing pond B from A with them both putting fish regularly in the net.

Big Brian arrived and introduced himself, and it was obvious where he got the name from, but he was showing some class by being attired in a BURGUNDY MD’s sweatshirt

I meanwhile elected to fish paste in the margin, to see if I could get a carp. I soon hooked a good common, but after a fair old fight it slipped the hook. At this point I’d like to say that all those that witnessed this commiserated with me over my misfortune, I’D LIKE TO, but true to form the p**s taking was mercy-less, B******S!!!!

Stu was fishing my peg from the previous day with a pole that he makes look like a whip and was happily getting amongst a few…

While Dave assumed the Ghillie's duties as Teresa managed to catch her 1st carp ....

Simon R was managing to catch a few carp from under a bush on pond A when he wasn’t foulhooking errant free swimming top kits ......

Reading this you could be forgiven for thinking that the place was fishing it’s head off, but some were struggling and I’m sure I heard snoring coming from Teepee’s direction on more than one occasion.
Michelle seemed to be taking great delight, strolling around and announcing that Nick was being battered by her in no uncertain terms.

Superb skill and ability finally yielded a reward for me though in the shape of a nice 11½lb Mirror, despite certain allegations of ‘Mugging’ from some quarters that should know better .....

Just prior to packing up for the day, I decided to feed a margin swim on the other bank that I fancied fishing Sunday AM. Unfortunately Red Leader decided this was a cue for a catapult war, and was only persuaded to desist as a result of a direct hit with a 14mm halibut pellet, though how I managed to hit so small a target at that range is a bit of a mystery.

Back to the pub for a meal and liquid sustenance which led to another cabaret session round Dai’s bivvy, though Ady did seem a little subdued as he was issued with a charity challenge. Should he choose to accept, both Dave and I have pledged £50 to a charity of Ady’s choice, should he furnish proof of completing the challenge.
Will he succeed? Frankly I think that in this case our money is as safe as houses.

Sunday morning and for some strange reason I was up at 6am to be greeted by blue sky and sunshine, the 1st since arrival, so decided to grab a couple of ours before packing up for the journey home.
Popping down to the ponds I found only Colin and Haydn had beaten me to it, with only Haydn putting a couple of carp in the net during the quiet of the early morning.

9am saw Stu and I invited to partake of a cup coffee on the veranda of Red Leader’s IKEA bivvy prior to breakfast and after that it was time for me to pack away ready for the 200+ miles down the motorway to home.

All packed away it was time for a last stroll round to say my farewells. Despite the warmth of the day, the fishing remained slow.
Nick was still getting battered by Michelle, this time with his own pole ………

Ady however was grinning as an 8½lb mirror grabbed a bit of flake to reward his efforts and happily posed for a photo despite doing his best to juggle it back into the water 1st.

Scouse was found hiding in the bushes with only 1 bream having fallen for his paste, and bemoaning a distinct lack of hubcaps, now that most cars have alloys and locknut’s.

While the final site was of Red Leader standing back in admiration of the ease with which Teresa handled 11mtrs of his pole .......

So that was my Blyton Fish-In, Good laughs, Great company and a few fish as well, not a bad way of spending a weekend.
 

Sumners Ponds. June 3rd-5th, 2005.

Maggotdrowning.com

 Southern Fish-in.

Well I arrived at Sumners Ponds at around 10·30am on Friday to find a few of the participants already ensconced for the weekend ahead.
Already in situ were Geoff and his grandaughter Amy, Dai and Daniel, Ady (BigLadWigan) , Sven C (with Gemma to follow on Saturday), Alex(Fish-Fingers), Dave(Scouse) with Neil(bluenose), Larry, Terry(Wily Coyote) and Jess & Szabi (Jackcatcher & Tincabelle)

I decided to drop into the swim next to Scouse and Neil so that I could keep an eye on my hubcaps, and as I was setting up my bivvy Dave(theFish) and Colin (thePike) arrived, and the usual round of greetings and abuse ensued.

Strange things these bivvies and bedchairs, No drawers for your tackle and only available in a rather drab green or heaven forbid CAMO!!!!!! You could lose them on the bankside.
I set up my 2 carp rods and baitrunners with method feeders and placed them on my pod, not quite a PUPSS but it would have to do.

So time to start fishing? Well not quite, a quick tour round the pond to meet and great everyone, and try out the new camera consumed another hour before I was settled in, with Sven obliging with a well timed bream as a subject ……

Pineapple & Tutti antbait softee’s on both rigs gently lobbed to midway were greeted after a while by a couple of respectable Bream, both around the 4lb mark, so off the mark and cause for a celebratory beer.

Wind and squally showers were doing their best to put a damper on the day, and Jason (NoFinPhish) arrived late on and managed to slide into a swim between Geoff & Dai.
Neil finally managed a carp on his pole between phone calls and texts as can be seen in the pic below……
Unfortunately, not being fishery members we weren’t allowed to nightfish (apart from Sven who’s a member) so most adjourned to the local hostelry (The Queens Head) to sample a few pints, before the evening soiree round Geoffs bivvy.

Saturday, weather wise brought more of the same, with the odd fish for most and Jason probably winning the numbers game with a good run of fish in the morning and Szabi showing up Jess, who in his defence spent a fair bit of time showing Fish-Fingers the ins and outs of various rigs. The morning only provided a single bream for me almost identical to the pair from Friday.

With the day moving on Jess, Szabi and Wily departed citing other engagements for the Sunday, while a few of the lads were tempted by the lure of the small pond, which appeared to have a higher stocking level than the main lake. Daniel brimming with confidence went for a £1 side bet with Jason on who would have the largest carp of the day.

3pm and I had a screamer on the rod I had cast close to the marginal tree on my right, and I thought I was winning the tug of war till the fish turned 180° and buried itself into the roots.
Having to retie the rig I could resist no longer and set up a waggler to see if I could mug anything in the margins. Sure enough after a few small skimmers and roach an unsuspecting tench obliged, not big at a couple of pounds, but most welcome none the less..
Once more the pub won the battle of the early evening, but after a curry and a couple of pints I sneaked off to return for a last hour before dusk. No action I’m afraid but we ended with a small gathering at my peg over a coffee before decending on Dai for the evening entertainment. Biglad was in his usual superb form, if a tad restrained by the presence of young Amy, while Jason thoughtfully checked out the depth of Dai’s Margin and Dan waved farewell to his £1.
June it may be, but Flaming it certainly wasn’t and with a cold dew forming the party was curtailed earlier than it could have, though probably much to the relief of those in the mobile homes and campers on the other bank.

We had been warned that a real gale was expected overnight, but thankfully it never materialised. First thing Sunday morning a few of us decided to take a quick trip up to look at the new match lake that’s just been opened on the site. It’s still very new with construction still in progress, but plenty of planting has taken place, I can’t say that it inspired me to make a visit, but who knows, maybe in a couple of years when it’s more established.

With it still being grey and overcast and very few fish showing, most were thinking of getting bivvies packed away ready for the trip home.
I was just starting to pull my bivvy pegs when a steady run developed on my rod baited with 4 bits of hair rigged corn and after a short but spirited fight I was rewarded with a plump common weighing in at 14lbs, a lovely end to the weekend.
Having packed all my kit up, it was time for farewells, and is always the case at these sort of meetings that tends to take a couple of hours in itself. Dai had managed to bag a carp as I passed.
Dave and Colin were packing away his bivvy, while the final site as I headed to the car
park was of Geoff and BigLad trying for a final fish before departing as Amy looked on……
The end of another MD’s weekend away in good company, some great laughs and a few fish caught by everyone. Well done to Dave the Fish for organising it all.
The only Mystery? Where was Beebs? Comatose under a Duvet somewhere no doubt.

Yaddlethorpe Ponds. Lincolnshire. August 6th-8th, 2004

Maggotdrowning.com

 Fish-in.

Dave the Fish and I arrived at about 3pm having endured the road to hell that is the A1. (road works & roundabouts) A few of the lads were already fishing, so we decided to set up camp in Maggotville. The 1st challenge was to set up my Defender bivvy that had never been out of its bag, and of course doesn’t come with any instructions!!!!!! Luckily Alan P has a 2 man Defender and was able to supply a few clues as to where everything went.

So all set up and settled in, it was time for a stroll around to see what was on offer. It’s quite strange to find a fishery like this which is essentially set on the edge of an Industrial Estate, but with the heavily wooded surroundings you would never know it. Paths through the woods lead to lots of small ponds and lakes dotted all over the complex, and sitting on the Tench pond I came across Norm and his young son Chris who were busy getting amongst the small Carp & Tench which inhabit it…………………

Carrying on round the complex it was becoming apparent that all the ponds and lakes contained not a lot of colour, in fact the water was amazingly clear, also the lilies had been allowed to run riot and could do with some serious attention. Marginal shelves appeared to be almost non existent, and most of the anglers fishing appeared to have at least 5ft of water just a rod length out.

The Match Lake.

Looking across the Match Lake which is the largest lake on the complex, lots of Carp could be seen cruising around and topping everywhere, although they didn’t seem to be all that interested in feeding. On the way back, I bumped into Dave (Red Leader) who was trying to tempt one of the Carp on a mixer. To say that these Carp were wise to the method would be a bit of an understatement, as they proved to be very well practiced at mopping up the freebies and ignoring the one with a hook in it. Finally dapping a bait in the lilies resulted in a take, but the action proved to be short lived as the hook parted from the line, due it appeared to a poorly tied knot.
The frustrated Stalker.
At this point Beebs finally arrived having also endured the road to hell, and a few of us decided to retire to the local pub (The Mallard) and partake of the carvery and a couple of pints. Returning fully refreshed I couldn’t resist having an hours dabble on the match lake, but with not a single bite and the light fading fast, it was back to base camp to christen the barrel of beer and a bit of banter before turning in for the night.

7am saw myself and Red Leader setting up for a feederfan match on the match lake. To say that sport was fast and furious would be a total lie. A heavy mist that covered the lake at first soon burnt off and we were obviously in for another scorching day.
My 1st bite resulted in an obvious foulhooker that set off for the other side of the lake before the hook pulled. It would be nice to say that everyone bagged up, but a combination of gin clear water, scorching sun and mostly flat calm conditions meant that most struggled on the day. Dave and I ended our session with honours even with 3 Carp each!
My Catch.
Dave the Fish who had spent the day in the swim to my right finished with 6 Carp, all taken on dapped pellet for a total bag that must have approached 30lb.

Graham further up the lake had managed 4 with the best being a nice Common, estimated at around the 15lb mark, while bigladwigan managed to get amongst a few late on fishing casters.
A wander around the lakes during the day found Jeff and Dave Scouse fishing the Scummy pond next to the Tench pond, and merrily baggin up on the stockies, but getting sorted out by some of the larger samples that weren’t meant to be in there!

Saturday night was Barbecue night with hot dogs and burgers all round and another attempt at emptying the beer barrel.
“Deckchair Pants” made sure that the raffle ran smoothly, Well done Haydn.
Then once more it was banter time with discussions ranging from leg length, to gratitude, female attendance at fish-ins, Hovis and various other subjects till midnight.

Sunday morning, and a chance of a final couple of hours before packing up and heading home saw me and Dave the Fish on the scummy pond.

A few small Carp and Tench, with a few better examples to Dave and his dapped pellets made for a pleasant morning.
A chat with me, no I wasn’t talking to myself but me (Simon) and another with bigladwigan as he got himself amongst a few of the small Carp was interrupted when Chris decided to plunge into the pond head first, while Norm to his credit got his priorities right by saving the pole before helping Chris out.
Simon and a small stockie.
Strolling back past the match lake to pack up and Craig (Bashy) was into one on the corner peg and despite a few nervous moments soon had it in the net.

Dave, a couple of swims along was also putting a few into the net, but for us it was time to pack up and get going, Via the M1 this time rather than face the A1.

So there it is for another year, impressions of Yaddlethorpe? Hard to truly judge given the heat wave conditions, but I would say that it needs some serious management to get to grips with the lilies that appear to have run riot and make life very difficult in most swims on all the lakes. A lovely looking venue though that really brings a touch of the countryside to an urban area.

To Dave and Stu, thanks for all your efforts over the course of the weekend once again, and to all those that attended, Thanks for your support. It was great as usual to meet some new faces and catch up with others met at previous Fish-ins once again.
The fishing itself may not have been up to much, but the company and banter was superb as usual.

Elvington Lake. Yorkshire. August 1st-3rd, 2003.

Maggotdrowning.com

 Northern Fish-in.

Well arriving on the Friday at about Noon, it was soon obvious that this was in danger of turning into a 3 day event, as numerous attendees had managed to find an extra day from somewhere.
Ray & Scouse had made it despite the suspension on Rays car going AWOL on the trip down. (Must have been the weight of kit)

After a couple of years of pounding the keyboard it was great to finally catch up with Norm, TeePee, Haydn, Mookie and others which up to that point had only been names on the Forums.

Dave & Stu had departed to get some important provisions (The Beer) so I decided to while away a bit of time, so out came the fishing gear, and I soon had a few small Roach and Skimmers, before Stan (Elvington's Owner) had parted me from the day ticket money and informed me that Carp and Poles weren’t really on his approved list.

Dave & Stu soon returned and camp for the weekend was set up with bivvies put in place. Trogg had already set up with the flag of St George, strangely topped with a small Lizard flag proudly flying next to his bivvy, and Sil the Rotty standing guard.

Les arrived to take up his post of chief Bar Steward, and around about 7pm a group of us set off for the local pub for a meal and a couple of pints, and very nice it was too.

With no nightfishing being allowed normally at Elvington, the only thing to do on our return was to go and support the cause in the beer tent, which with the beer being only a £1 a pint wasn’t to onerous a task, with some sausage baps being dished up as well, we disappeared to our bivvies to await the proper start of the Fish-in in the morning.

6.30 Saturday morning and people were rising ready for breakfast and getting ready for the off at 8am. Breakfast consumed, the Fish-in got underway as an already warm sun continued to rise in the sky.
Whether it was the hot weather or the sheer pressure of all the swims being occupied, but sport was slow to say the least with just the odd fish coming out.

Thankfully Red Leader had his rods out and these were producing fish, Just not for Dave.
It would appear that someone had drunk the beer tent dry overnight, so Dave had to jump into his car and go and get another barrel.
Stu was soon of the mark with a 3lb Eel on Dave's rod, and later I managed to get off the mark with a nice 9½lb Common Carp again on one of Dave's rods.

Just as well really as during the course of the weekend I managed to lose all 4 of the Carp that I hooked on my own rods.
I did manage a Ruffe though, for 3 points in the Fishing Race.

Dai managed to liven up proceedings by having his rod dragged in by a rather determined Carp, while Trogg showing a rather nimble turn of foot rushed to the rescue, but in trying to avoid a landing net handle, stumbled crashing down on a sleeper on the bank and ending with his head under water. Still the rod was retrieved with the Carp still attached, an 8lb Common, but at some cost as it became obvious that Trogg had cracked a rib for his trouble.

Dinner time and it was fish & chips for some and back to the pub for a few of us, prior to fishing through the night (a concession from Stan for the Fish-in)

Dave & Stu on their return tackled up for an attempt on the Cats, while myself, Simon R, Tiny and Geoff settled down to spectate.
Well the banter was good to say the least, and the hysteria was probably heard round the whole lake well into the night, until we retired and left them to it .

At this point I should probably apologise to Dave, as it appears that I managed to keep him awake the whole night, as evidently my snoring resembled a Diesel Generator working overtime. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ  Me? I never heard a thing.

Sunday morning and at breakfast a rather bleary eyed Mookie appeared, blaming Uncle Geoff for leading him astray in the beer tent the previous evening and wondering why his legs were still having trouble obeying his brain.

Dave actually managed to catch a fish on his own rod………

………. and Jack Thresh managed to get the biggest Carp of the weekend with just a ½ hour to go, a lovely Mirror of 19½lbs.

All to soon it was over and time for Troggs ceremonial beheading shaving.  Amazingly this was accomplished without a drop of blood being spilt.

The raffle was drawn and the auction was held, and for those of you that weren’t there I can only say that you missed a treat in the shape of Rose the Auctioneer, as Stu said “what a gal”

All to soon it was all over for another year, Hands were shaken, farewells said as we all disappeared in our different directions.
Thanks to everyone that made it possible, those that attended, and all the sponsors, but most of all Thanks to Dave & Stu for all their hard work in making it a Fish-in to remember.