Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. September 8th, 2011.

A RiveTee Piscatorial Promotion

I’m off down to Rolf’s Lake today for A RiveTee Piscatorial Promotion along with the lads from  TalkAngling  . It’s a match that I fish every year, and it’s always a good day out.  However with it being a weekday and with the kids back at school I knew the trip would take a fair bit longer than my usual jaunt up to the lake at the weekends. With this in mind I asked Maria to get me up early and I’d drop her off at work. So having dropped her off it was back to load the car. Despite the extra traffic, the first port of call was still my customary stop in Battersea for breakfast at the Jimmy’s Griddle Café where a ‘Full English’ was soon dispatched to set me up for the day ahead before heading for Rolfs.

Despite the extra traffic I rolled into the car park at around 9·10am to find John along with Simon and Justin in attendance along with a couple of the other lads. Justin had stayed over as he’d fished the open yesterday, winning it from Peg 4 with 223¼lbs, his first ‘Double Ton’ from the lake. The plan was for a 9·30am draw, but a hold up on the M40 caused delays for a lot of the lads, meaning it was going to run late……

Rive T (Tony) and Larry Teepot (Pete) have been running this match for a few years now, and once they’d arrived, things got underway and the chat among the assembled anglers was that with 2 ‘Double Ton’s’ and 7 ‘Tons’ yesterday hopes were high for a good day ahead. Soon Larry had all the peg fees collected and we were called to order and the draw got under way……

Justin was looking happy having drawn peg 8, but Simon wasn’t looking to enthusiastic having drawn Peg 26. By the time I got to the bag there were 3 pegs left and I was more than happy to find Peg 9 in my hand as it’s one of the most consistent pegs on the lake.

As I made my way round with my gear I found Larry on Peg 16, he’s been trying for a ‘Ton’ since Moses was a boy and has never quite managed it, so it would be nice if he could do it today, and he certainly had a peg that was capable of it. For company I had Alan, a friend of Rive T on Peg 10. Not a match angler, he’d been lured along today with the chance of picking up a big Perch that the lake can throw up.

Settling into the peg it was time to decide how to approach it. On recent matches there I’d seen Steve Akal and Neil Riddy both suffer with numerous foul hookers costing them both top kits and rigs. However Neil sorted it out and won the last Jinx Match off it by fishing a short line straight out in front in the last hour to take a number of weighers, and that was the approach I was going to go with today……

 I picked a line at 5mtrs where a square of white water would make feeding easy and this would be tackled with a 0·3 NG Springer Open Water XT on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finishing with a size 16 Guru MWG. A second similar rig was set up to fish about 2 feet off of the bush to my right, while a 0.2 NG Edger on 0·20 Ultima Power Match finished off with size 16 Guru MWG would take care of the margin swim to the bush on my left. Bait and feed today would be a combination of 6 and 8mm fishery pellets and a tin of corn along with some GOT Baits soft hookers.

 With a little bit of time before the off I strolled down to see Tony on Peg 6. He was talking to Colin B who mentioned that he’d never had a ‘Twenty’ on the pole and I told him that this was the place to do it if anywhere was.

Anyway John sounded the All-In at 11·45am and I fed a small pot of mixed pellet and corn on all 3 lines before shipping a banded 8mm pellet out to my 5mtr line. The float barely had time to settle before it buried and a gentle lift soon told me that I had connected with a substantial Carp. Thankfully it didn’t go steaming off, gentle pressure told and a large Common suddenly popped up in front of my nets, into the landing net and as I went to lift it I realised that it was a bit larger than I first thought. Onto the scales and it went 19lbs which I got Justin to witness, a dream start for me.



With the fish returned it was back out with another 8mm, and after a couple of lift and drops the float buried once more. A spirited fight followed, not such a big fish this one but still a weigher, another Common which weighed 11½lbs. They say ‘Three’s a charm’ and that was the case today as the third put in saw the float bury again. Another good fish which had designs on reaching the bush in the left hand margin, however I managed to show it the error of it’s ways and introduce it to the landing net. A Mirror this time and at 14lbs another weigher.
 

Of course sometimes things go just to well and my next bite proved to be a foul hooker which tore around the peg like a lunatic before the rig came back with just a scale on the hook. After that I re-fed the 5mtr line with a small pot of pellet and corn and had a look over to the right hand bush. Twenty minutes over there proved fruitless as did a quick look down the left hand margin, so having allowed the 5mtr line to settle I had a look back there. Sure enough the float didn’t take to long to vanish, but this time instead of the expected Carp the culprit was one of the lakes Bream, but at around 3lbs it was still welcome. I decided to try corn on the hook, but it just produced lots of knocks and a Roach of around 4ozs, not what I was really after so it was back to the pellet.



Looking around at the other pegs I could see Froggy opposite on Peg 32, unfortunately he seemed to have had his fair share of problems with foul hookers today and had now decided to tackle the bush on his left hand side ……

 Next up on Peg 30 was Tony Williams and despite the fish giving what looked like his purple hydro a good stretching he seemed to be putting a steady run of fish together, leading me to think that it would be pretty close between the two of us if we both kept catching ……

I was soon into another fish, a Common of around 8lbs and my first net fish. This proved to be the start of a run of fish, 3 more Commons and a solitary Mirror, all much of a muchness at around 8lbs each, but very welcome and good weight builders. Then there was a 20 minute gap before I made contact with another foul hooker and the way it charged round in circles made me feel it was hooked in a fin. Well the hook held and as it came to the net it was hooked on the pectoral fin, no wonder it had be so hard to control, but at 12½lbs a nice bonus.

It was just a case of re feeding again and waiting for things to settle down, so I had a look back over to the right hand bush. I missed two quick bites but connected with the third, another Mirror and a good double. Justin however was having a bit of a mare after his win yesterday suffering with foul hookers and also smashing a top kit. Still he was seeing a fair few fish witnessing my weighers.



With just over 2 hours to go I suffered another lull in sport. I already had a ‘Ton’ on my clicker but felt that this could be the day to finally get my ‘Double Ton’ after a long time trying. I added a section on to see if they’d backed off the feed but nothing. Took a section off to see if they’d come closer inside, still nothing. Extra section on and out to the bush still nothing. Leaving the extra section on I took a look to the left on my 5mtr line and fed some pellet round the float. A minute later it buried and I was back in business with a good Common of around 14lbs. Fishing this line meant that I was looking toward Simon on Peg 26 and could see he was also into a fish……

 I’d also heard him encouraging Larry who was opposite him on Peg 16 and from the sound of things today would be the day he finally got his ‘Ton’. Word also filtered down that Colin B on Peg 18 had at last got his ‘Twenty’ with a Common of 22lbs+, and as the afternoon wore on J Mac on Peg 28 was also getting a bit of action……

 With around 90 minutes to go it was just a question of alternating between my two 5mtr lines and I managed a further 7 weighers and another Bream before John sounded the All-Out at 4·45pm. A tally up of my weighers on the board came to 158½lbs after Justin had double checked it and the number on my clicker was 205, so had I got the weight of the fish in my net right? With my gear packed away and back at the car park there was time for a quick chat before the Weigh-In, Larry had indeed got his ‘Ton’ as he had over 100lbs on the board. Colin was well chuffed with his ‘Twenty’ but Simon wasn’t sure if he had a ‘Ton’ and felt he’d struggled on the day.

So to the Weigh-In and a lot of the lads just had board weights and it wasn’t till we got to peg 4 there were fish to weigh, where Cov Blaze just missed the ton with 99½lbs. Tony having struggled at the start had fish turn up to late in the day and recorded 57¾lbs, and Justin had 123lbs. My 5 carp came up agonisingly short of what was needed for 200lbs but those 2 Bream and a Roach did me proud to take the total to 206lbs. Alan on Peg 10 had 45lbs while Cox62 had 53lbs and M Jones on 14 weighed 55½lbs. Larry had indeed battered the ‘Ton’ with 158½lbs and it may take a while to get the grin off his face……

 Colin B’s twenty had boosted his weight to 154¼lbs. Simon got his ‘Ton’ with 108¾lbs while J Mac had 45½lbs. Tony Williams had a fantastic weight of 197¼lbs and a new PB Match Weight for him, while Froggy was left ruing those foul hookers with 93¼lbs to finish things off.

Back to the hut for Larry to sort out the results and monies and the Winner on the day was……………………………………………………..ME.

 Second was Tony Williams and Third on the day was Larry. Sections went to Justin, Colin B and Froggy. A bonus for me was that I finally got my hands on a tee shirt I’ve been after for a while……

 So ended yet another RiveTee Piscatorial Promotion, a great success as always, and fished in the right atmosphere. Thanks to Larry and Tony for organising it, and the  TalkAngling  members that fished it. I’m looking forward to next years one already.

 

 

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 9	Peter Morton	206lbs 00ozs
2nd	Peg 30	Tony Williams	197lbs 04ozs
3rd	Peg 16	Larry Teepot	158lbs 08ozs
4th	Peg 18	Colin B	154lbs 04ozs
5th	Peg 8	Justin Watkins	123lbs 00ozs
6th	Peg 26	Simon Mound	108lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 4	Cov Blaze	99lbs 08ozs
8th	Peg 32	Froggy	93lbs 12ozs
9th	Peg 6	Tony (Rive T)	57lbs 12ozs
10th	Peg 14	M Jones	55lbs 08ozs
11th	Peg 13	Cox62	53lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 28	J Mac	45lbs 08ozs
13th	Peg 10	Alan	45lbs 00ozs
14th	Peg 34	R Evans	35lbs 14ozs
15th	Peg 38	Nuddy	18lbs 08ozs
16th=	Peg 7	Alan	DNW
16th=	Peg 24	Cockney Pete	DNW

Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. September 9th, 2010.

A RiveT Piscatorial Promotion

I’m off down to Rolf’s Lake today for A RiveT Piscatorial Promotion along with the lads from  TalkAngling  . I missed getting my name down for this when it was posted on the forum, but managed to get a place on the match when a few people dropped out. I don’t normally get the chance to fish during the week but as I’ve got few holiday days left it wasn’t a problem for me to get a day off.
Now the thing is, the  TalkAngling  lads tend to like an early start to their matches and the plan was for a 9·30am draw with the fishing from 11-4pm. This meant an early start for me, but no problem as I said that I’d drop Maria off at work around 6am. This meant that I could still get a ‘Full English’ from my favourite little café in Battersea before doing battle with the London traffic.
Thankfully the plan went like clockwork and I rolled into the car park at around 8·45am.

A few of the lads were already there, including fellow Jinx Squad member Simon who’d managed to get a place on todays match the day before, and Mark C and Royst who I hadn’t seen for a while as they no longer fish the series…….

Soon the car park started to fill up, and the chat turned to the prospects for the day ahead, and if I’m honest I wasn’t sure just how it would fish. This was the third day in a row there had been a match on the lake and previous experience has shown that it can make for hard fishing, and the fishing times weren’t going to help either as the fish tend not to get their heads down till around 3-4pm.

 Anyway come 9·30 and no draw !! We were all still waiting for Rive T and Larry who’d got themselves lost having ventured so far south. They finally rolled up around 10am, and after the usual ribbing and pee taking the draw finally got under way with a revised time meaning we would be fishing from 12-5pm. Hand in the bag time, Simon had drawn peg 32 and I found myself holding ……… peg 8, well happy with that.

 Round to my peg and time to set up. I was planning to just fish a couple of lines today. 5mtrs down the track and to the bushes on my left, and although I also set up the feeder to fish across, that was a bit of an afterthought……

Rigs were my usual ones, Malman 4×12 Adam’s on 0·20 Power Match with size 14 QM1 hooks for the 5mtr line on the deck with 0·2 MW HC margin’s again on 0·20 with size 14 Guru QM1′s to fish to the bushes, while bait was the usual variety of hard fishery pellets, corn and GOT Baits soft hookers, though I did have paste with me as well.

For company today on peg 7 I had Justin Watkins who fishes for Browning Crowsports and it looked like he was going to be fishing the pole across……

 Having set up we were then treated to a sharp shower as the sky turned grey, such are the joys of an English summer. A quick stroll while I waited for the All-In revealed Mark C still getting set up, obviously out of practise at Rolfs ……

 Royst was still beavering away too, evidently he’d forgotten how deep the big lake is and had found that none of his rigs were long enough, so had to make up new ones ……

Larry meanwhile has settled himself into peg 18 and was hoping that the next 5 hours would finally provide him with his first ever ‘Ton’…… 

So at 12 noon John rang the fishery bell for the All-In. I potted a mix of pellets and corn onto the 5mtr line and a big handful to the bush, but before I could get a bait in the water Justin was playing his 1st fish of the day having shipped across and had the float bury before he could feed.

Not good for me, could I be on for a battering? I shipped out with a banded pellet to 5mtrs, but the float tip obviously didn’t want to get wet as it stubbornly refused to go under.

Simon meanwhile was obviously into a good fish over on 32, in fact it proved to be hooked in the tail, but he still managed to bundle it into the net and at 15lbs+ a great start for him. Well an hour in and I was still fish-less. Simon was starting to put a few together, but after that initial fish Justin was suffering from foul hookers and missed bites. I’d heard a bit of splashing coming from the other side of the bushes on peg 10 so ‘The Brick’ was obviously putting a few together so decided to take a look by the bush myself.

Now the fish know every root and twig that lurk under the bushes, so it’s a question of how brave you want to be with how close you edge the rig in, the closer you get the more likely you are to get a bite. Well after 5 minutes I obviously got it right as the float buried and I was attached to a feisty Mirror that was determined to seek the safety of the roots, but plenty of side strain saw me gain the upper hand and after a couple of minutes an 8lb’er was safely in the net.

What followed though was one of the most frustrating couple of hours that I’ve experienced in a long while as time and again fish stormed off through the bush trashing rigs. I must have gone through 7 or 8 rigs and only had 4 smallish fish to show for it, and a couple of those had been foul hookers. The trouble was that if I fished short I just wouldn’t get a bite and they just didn’t want to be tempted further out by feed.

Simon by now had slowed down and was having to feed and fish over the top of the bush toward peg 33, and it seemed he was suffering from foul hookers as well, indeed one ran him ragged surfacing past the platform on peg 33 almost in front of me before he managed to get it in the net.

Then with about an hour to go it all seemed to come right for me in that I was hooking fish and getting them out into open water and safely in the keepnet, I even got a weigher, only 10½lbs but most welcome as I’ve really struggled to find the larger fish at Rolfs this year. As the clock ticked down I felt that if nothing else I was catching up with Simon. Glancing up I could see John going to ring the bell for the All-Out and just before he did my float buried again just as the bell rang. Fish On, at least Simon was pleased for me, though it may have been something else as I didn’t quite catch exactly what he said, fortunately it stayed attached, an 8lb Mirror that joined the others in the net as others started to pack up.

As we packed away Justin and I discussed the day, he’d suffered real frustration and only had 5 fish to show for his efforts.
I’d had a good last hour, once again to little to late, but was left ruing the fact that we hadn’t fished the match to more usual Rolfs times as the peg was getting better and better.

Having got the gear back to the car park it was obvious that some had had decent weights and once the weigh-in got under way those soon became obvious. froogy on peg 38 recording the first ‘Ton’ with 126½lbs quickly followed by Mo M with 102¾lbs.
My fish pulled the scales round to 88½lbs. Then round to peg 9 where ‘The Brick’ put a fine 161¾lbs on the scales which would prove to be good enough for 2nd on the day as ’20 Metre Bob’ on peg 10 topped it immediately with a fine 187½lbs to take the win.
Dan(awesome fish) finished just out of the frame however with 142¼lbs as Jay on peg 24 took 3rd place on the day with 149lbs 10ozs. Finally I just pipped Simon in our personal battle when his fish came to a level 84lbs.

Back at the car park and after a few minutes of spirited debate Larry and RiveT managed to sort out the monies……

…… and a pleasant surprise for me as I managed to take my section money. So an enjoyable day with the  TalkAngling  lads drew to a close as farewells were said and a hot air balloon drifted serenely past overhead……

I’m of to Rockells Farm on Sunday for a club match, so keep a look out for the report.

Position	Peg	Angler (forum names)	Weight
1st	Peg 10	20 Metre Bob	187lbs 08ozs
2nd	Peg 9	The Brick	161lbs 12ozs
3rd	Peg 24	Jay 411	149lbs 10ozs
4th	Peg 16	awesome fish	142lbs 04ozs
5th	Peg 38	froogy	126lbs 08ozs
6th	Peg 40	Mo M	102lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 18	Larry Teepot	91lbs 12ozs
8th	Peg 8	Pete ‘Mugger’	88lbs 08ozs
9th	Peg 32	Simple Simon	84lbs 00ozs
10th	Peg 30	Royst	82lbs 12ozs
11th	Peg 13	Steve 123	80lbs 12ozs
12th	Peg 26	Rive T	80lbs 04ozs
13th	Peg 2	Budgie	52lbs 12ozs
14th	Peg 34	Cov Blaze	46lbs 04ozs
15th	Peg 14	Marco	43lbs 04ozs
16th	Peg 6	Rive’s Mate	41lbs 14ozs
17th	Peg 7	Justin Watkins	39lbs 04ozs
18th	Peg 28	Mark C	28lbs 12ozs
19th	Peg 40	Flexi Mo	15lbs 00ozs

Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. September 3rd, 2008.

Rive T’s TalkAngling.co.uk Forum Match.

It was down to Rolf’s Lake today for A RiveT Piscatorial Promotion along with the lads from TalkAngling. I Missed getting my name down for this when it was posted on the forum, but managed to get on the reserve list, and nearer the day I was in probably due to the fact that it was a weekday, but as I’d got few holiday days left it wasn’t a problem for me to get a day off.
The weather didn’t look like it was going to be the best with rain pretty much all the way down.

People soon assembled and got their nets dipped, and it was good to catch up with some faces both old and new. Dave’Yorkie’Moore, one of the Jinx mob had snuck down for the day and I was able to finally catch up with Lee(Mouse)Woodhouse on his 1st visit to Rolf’s. Mr & Mrs Sumo were in attendance with Sue hoping to beat hubby once more. Tony(RiveT)Walsh and Larry gathered in the monies and it was Draw time. With everywhere fishing so inconsistently at the moment including Rolf’s I was hoping for either pegs 7 or 8 or the Car Park bank to avoid a long walk and the peg that stuck to my hand was 22, the 1st peg on the Car Park bank.

Now John had been gardening once more and the left hand bush has had a good old pruning, but the brambles to the right are still intact and with nobody to my right till Dave Moore opposite on peg 18 today I fancied it for a few. To my left I had Matt6900 on peg 23 and Curtains on peg 25……

Rigs were my usual ones for Rolf’s with 2 to fish pellet consisting of Malman 4×12 Adam‘s on 0·18 to a size 16 Drennan Carp Match hooks, one for straight out at 6mtrs where I had around 5ft of water and the other to fish up against the brambles and to the edge of the bush where there was around 3½ft. I also set up a paste rig with a Mk3 Malman self cocking paste float on 0·21 to a size 12 Drennan Carp Method. I also set up the feeder as I always do at Rolf’s. Bait wise it was 6 and 8mm fishery pellets. a bit of hemp, paste and 6 and 10mm cubes of meat.

So 11am and with the rain falling the All-in was called and I dumped 2 large potfuls of pellet onto the 6mtr line and a handful along the brambles and another to the edge of the bush to my left. While those settled I chucked the feeder over to the edge of the bush on peg 20. On the 4th chuck the rod wrapped round just as I was feeding the brambles once more, but fortunately I managed to connect and after a spirited tussle was rewarded with a nice Common of around 8lbs in the net.

Matt was fishing out a bit further on the pole and was soon off the mark as well…….

but already had the fish fizzing on his pole line and started to suffer with a number of foul hookers though he did manage an acrobatic Skimmer. I’d had no more joy on the feeder and with a few bubbles coming up over my feed at 6mtrs had gone onto the pole and by constantly working the bait I was rewarded with my 2nd fish of the day, a Mirror of around 6lbs.

With thunder starting to rumble in the distance and the rain getting heavier sport was slow with nobody appearing to be doing well around us, just the odd fish coming out though reports were that pegs 7 and 8 were doing OK and a few more fish coming out on the Little Lake. Matt and I had managed a couple more each and Dave had got off the mark with a fish that he’d hooked in the tail that had led him a merry old dance before he netted it.

Thankfully around 1·30pm the rain had eased off and the sun actually came out and with so little action I re-fed and took a stroll to let things settle. Tucked away on peg 13 I found Paul(Justin Case)Law who’d had a bit of a frustrating start but was starting to get amongst a few fishing down his right hand margin……

Looking across I could see Lee on peg 31 doing his best to get to grips with a sort of fishing which is pretty different to his normal approach on the Midland canals………

……….and it seemed that he was being handed a lesson off the next peg by Sue(Mrs Sumo) ………

Back to my peg just as the rain started again and the 6mtr line produced another couple of Carp and Matt found a nice Carp from under his right hand bush, but was then frustrated by a number of Roach that moved onto his bait. I couldn’t buy a bite from the brambles but finally managed a weigher from the edge of the left hand bush. Curtains on peg 25 finally started to get a few weighers and it looked like Matt and I would be playing catch up ……

Peg 17 had started to catch regularly but poor Dave on 18 was having one of those days that we all dread watching others catch without being able to do anything about it himself despite going through all the methods ……

Matt’s fish seemed to have dried up on him and he packed up before the all out and tipped back while I managed a final couple of fish from the 6mtr line before the All-out at 4pm.

 The scales started from my peg and 67½lbs was my reward for the day and a section win. Lee managed 24lbs 6ozs made up of 3lbs of silvers and 2 Carp of 9lbs and 12lbs 6ozs but had lost 7 fish during the course of the day but somehow managed a section win although he was soundly beaten by Sue. The best weights on the day came from the Little Lake with 160lbs winning, 148lbs 2nd and 120lbs 3rd. All in all not the best of days, but certainly better than being at work.

As always though it was good to catch up with friends both old and new and enjoy a day in good company, Hopefully it won’t be to long before we do it all again somewhere. One word of warning though, Don’t have a Mars Bar bet with Lee, as he doesn’t pay up, probably because he eats them all.

NB: It would appear that the result sheets have been mislaid, but if they ever turn up I’ll post the full results.

Rolf’s Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. June 20th, 2008.

TalkAngling.co.uk Forum Match.

I was lucky enough to get my name down for this match when it was posted on the TalkAngling forum back in January by Ian Hornby as I really enjoy visiting Rolf’s whenever I get the chance.

Pulling back the curtains a grey day with rain greeted me, and to think that today was the longest day!! Anyway car loaded in good time along with the waterproofs and off. With my usual stop in Battersea for a spot of breakfast I made good time with a trouble free trip down, pulling into the car park at around 8·30am.

 There were a few of the usual faces from the lads that fish The Jinx Series there, though Malc who should have been fishing was a notable absentee due to the fact that yet again his car had expired on the roadside the previous day, but it was good to catch up with the TalkAngling lads, some of whom I’d met previously and some who were new faces. It was also good to see that not only was the lake back down to something like it’s usual level with all the platforms above water, but the colour had returned to something approaching its normal hue after the flooding of a couple of weeks ago.

9am and draw time. Into the bag and peg 24 appeared in my hand! A bonus for me as it’s on the car park bank, somewhere I rarely get a sniff of and it has a bit of form. No barrow today, just a nice short walk. With a grey cloudy sky and rain still falling it looked like it would be a bit of a grueller, especially as we were fishing from 11am – 4pm which is earlier than most of the summer matches at Rolf’s that are normally fished from 2pm – 7pm as the Carp don’t seem to get their heads down till around 3pm.

Anyway I set the pole up with just 1 shallow rig and a margin rig to tackle the bush to my right. I also set up the pellet waggler and the feeder as a back up because I could see Carp topping over the bar at around 20yds, so hopefully I could mug a couple of fish early before they backed off. Feed was simply the fishery 6mm pellets and plenty of them, with some of them damped down and mixed with a good helping of hemp to put through the feeder. Hookbaits were the fishery 8mm hard feed pellets that would be fished banded on a hair.

So 11am and the All-in. 2 big handfuls of pellet fed by the bush to my right and a couple of pouchfuls out to the bar closely followed by the pellet waggler. Another pouchful and the line tightened up and I was into my first fish of the day and after a spirited fight I had a nice Common of around 7lbs safely in the net.

However try as I might I couldn’t tempt a 2nd and I’d noticed that Dave(Yorkie)Moore……

……opposite on peg 16 had managed a couple of fish on the feeder, so I swapped over to mine and was rewarded with a couple of quick fish including a weigher.

Now normally the feeder line doesn’t last, but I continued to get the odd fish . Looking down the car park bank most appeared to be struggling on the pole line, but at least the rain had stopped.

On the other side of the bush to my right on peg 23 I had Steve Wilson for company……

…he was fishing the pole shallow, but was being pestered by Roach that seemed to be beating the Carp to his bait.

Clive had dawn one of his favorite pegs, 19 but appeared to be really struggling to tempt a fish …

As did Ron next to him on peg 20 despite his natty line in headgear……

Simple Simon over on peg 14 had brought along his bank runner and sherpa Sprucey for moral support once more and was giving his new Maver 401 it’s maiden outing. Having won his last match at Rolf’s with a cracking 221lbs 12ozs he was hoping for a repeat performance, but the Lake seemed determined to teach him a lesson today……

…However he did have the enjoyment of seeing my feeder rod with a good bend in it at regular intervals and Sprucey was counting my fish and giving him regular updates. During all of this I also received a couple of phone calls from Malc and Dave Collier checking on the days progress, and while I commiserated with Malc on missing out, it was heartening to know that at least he was enjoying spending some quality time at home with his kids.

Around 3pm things started to pick up for most of the lads that had persevered with the pole, but as I was still getting fish on the feeder….

I stuck with it till the end. 4pm and the all out and with 5 weigher’s and 22 fish in the nets I was pretty happy with my match and was quite looking forward to the weigh-in.

However there was a short wait for the weigh-in, the reason being that John Bennett has acquired a LARGE piece of stone for the entrance of the fishery and needed a hand to get it in place. Well with the help of several stout bodies, some scaffold poles and finally Simple Simon’s car………

…… and a stout chain, it was finally in place, and very impressive it looks too.

So on with the weigh-in with Pole Killer setting an early benchmark with 94lbs from peg 34, that was soon being topped by Paul Law (justin case) on peg 36 with a fine 150¾lbs. Some real interest came at peg 38 however where Mrs Sumo (Sue) who’s starting to make a habit of beating her husband Sumo had spent the match. 

Sue’s fish weighed 41½lb and Sumo was looking glum. Steve Davis(DNW) on peg 2 had managed a very creditable 120½lbs while round at peg 7, Tim Suttle (first peg) had taken full advantage of a very good peg (especially with pegs 6&8 not in) to take 1st place on the day with an excellent 193lbs . Clive on 19 had finally managed a few in the last hour to take the section with 71lbs 10ozs. Round to Sumo on peg 22 where despite a couple of weigher’s on the board he could only muster 37½lbs…

……… allowing Sue to take the bragging rights on the day. Round to my peg and my 27 fish gave me a pleasing 161¾lbs for 2nd on the day and a new PB match weight.

In total a weight of 1531lbs 10ozs was put on the scales, an average of just under 70lbs per angler.

So all in all a good day. Thanks to Ian H for organising the day, and to all those that attended. We’ll have to do it all again, though perhaps we can fish it from 2-7 next time.

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 7	Tim Suttle	193lbs 00ozs
2nd	Peg 24	Peter Morton	161lbs 12ozs
3rd	Peg 36	Paul Law	150lbs 12ozs
4th	Peg 2	DNW	120lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 34	Pole Killer	94lbs 00ozs
6th	Peg 32	Steve Owen	83lbs 00ozs
7th	Peg 19	Clive Pritchard	71lbs 10ozs
8th	Peg 14	Simon Mound	68lbs 04ozs
9th	Peg 4	Tony Walsh (Rive T)	59lbs 12ozs
10th	Peg 16	Dave Moore	59lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 30	Harry911	50lbs 06ozs
12th=	Peg 10	Nige C	47lbs 08ozs
12th=	Peg 18	Bad Boy Bagger	47lbs 08ozs
14th=	Peg 23	Steve Wilson	45lbs 04ozs
14th=	Peg 26	Mark	45lbs 04ozs
16th	Peg 38	Mrs Sumo	41lbs 08ozs
17th	Peg 13	Ian Hornby	40lbs 08ozs
18th	Peg 9	Squeeky Roller	39lbs 00ozs
19th	Peg 22	Sumo	37lbs 08ozs
20th	Peg 40	Tim Westmoreland	33lbs 08ozs
21st	Peg 28	Lee 66	31lbs 02ozs
22nd	Peg 20	Ron Byus	11lbs 00ozs

	Section Winners
A  34 – 2	Paul Law
B   4 – 13	Tim Suttle
C  14 – 22	Clive Pritchard
D 23 – 32	Peter Morton