Rockells Farm. Saffron Walden. Essex. July 22nd, 2012.

Marsh AC club match.

Once again it’s Rockells Farm in Essex that is the venue for the Marsh AC match today. It’s renowned as a bagging water, in fact it’s where Martin Hucker set the clubs best ever match weight of 383lbs 04ozs back in 2009 so it’s a venue that we always look forward to fishing. However I’d heard from a couple of people recently that it wasn’t producing like it had in the past. Was the reason down to the terrible weather we’ve experienced recently or had something changed? We would find out today.

I met up with Dave at his house at around 6·45am to follow down to the venue. It was already a pleasant morning with the promise of a warm sunny day ahead as we set off , but Dave must have been using his Beatles Sat Nav as we went on a Magical Mystery Tour of Stanstead Airport and the surrounding villages before we arrived at the venue car park around 8am .

Everyone was looking forward to this one and a few of the lads soon had it pegged out while Dave sorted out the money and organised the draw. Peg 14 was mine for the day, pretty much where I’d drawn last year and with plenty of water today hopefully it would produce better sport. Turning left from the car park with my kit I found Eddie, Al, Vic and Kev on the first 4 pegs. My peg was actually the one Simon had last year while Dave had the flyer on the point then Zack and Clive was back on his peg last year. Elsewhere John had peg 1 with Simon on 2 and Martin had run to his peg having drawn peg 3 the same peg he’d broken the club match record on in 2009.

Settling into the peg I couldn’t help noticing a couple of things. The first was the water colour or lack of it, it had that somewhat slate grey appearance that you normally see when the first frosts knock the colour out of the water, and the second thing was that there didn’t appear to be any signs of fish moving. Rockells is so heavily stocked that the fish are always competing for food, colouring up the water and you normally see tail patterns and swirls along with cruising fish as you set up, but hardly anything was showing ….. Very Strange.

The venue is that prolific that the match format is slightly different from our usual in that we have two, three hour matches with a weigh -in after each to avoid keeping too many fish in keepnets for long periods and to make things easier for the scales men. Rigs are simple and strong as you’re looking to catch on a top 2 from the margins to do a really big weight and as such were just 0.3 NG Edger’s on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for pellet and size 12′s for paste. Bait for today was just 6mm hard pellets and strawberry GOT Atomic paste.

With a bit of time before the start Kev strolled down with a coffee and a freshly cooked bacon and sausage roll which set me up nicely for the start.

10am saw the All-in called and some pellets were fed into both margins and right away alarm bells rang again as I could see them fall through the first 12-18 inches of water which is really unusual  as the water is normally so coloured. I banded a 6mm and dropped it into the left hand margin, the float dipped and a lift produced a 1oz roach, not what I was looking for. Now normally at the start of the matches here you start to hear splashing as people are landing carp straight away but today it was very quiet, nobody was into fish straight away.

10 minutes in and I had my first carp, but it was an 8oz stockie, absolutely mint which still had the curtain in its mouth intact, definitely not what’s expected at Rockells.
 I’d like to say it got better but it didn’t. Dave strolled round expressing surprise that nothing was coming to floaters and he strolled down the bank and returned with news that Al and Vic were struggling to put any fish together along with everyone else.

I’d added a couple of sections to try further out but after a couple of hours just had another 3 stockies and a few roach added to my catch so took a stroll looking for some inspiration. Kev was fishing a feeder but was in the same predicament as the rest of us……

Strolling down to Al he was trying his margins, but all the while we chatted he didn’t have a single bite yet alone a fish……

Vic was totally disheartened with the lack of fish as well and it was fast becoming obvious that all was not well……

I strolled back up to see Clive and it was the same story at his peg, just the odd stockie and roach showing, Zack was fairing no better, but Dave was getting the odd stockie from the margins and this was probably due to the fact that he only fed floaters at the start so didn’t overfeed the swim……

John was on peg 1 and was getting a few, but nowhere near the quantity expected ……

Just before 1pm Dave strolled down with another coffee and bacon and sausage roll for me  and with no sign of any improvement we cancelled the first weigh -in and decided to fish straight through. Meanwhile over on peg 9 Ken had managed to connect with a decent sized carp and after carefully playing it had it safely in the net and weighed at 11¼lbs before returning it . I heard that Tony was getting a few but couldn’t really see him although I could see Keith who was having the odd fish……

Vic had decided that he’d had enough in the meantime and tipped back and gone home , and I have to admit that the idea had crossed my mind as well.

Around 2pm there was one hell of a splash from Kev’s peg, he’d tripped and lost his footing as he returned to his peg and gone straight in, by the time I got round to see if he was alright he was back on the bank and draining out and declined my invitation to get back in so I could get a photo……

Meanwhile over on peg 8 Graham had hooked into something that was capable of stretching his elastic as he was fortunate enough to latch onto a decent carp……

I kept searching the swim adding sections exploring further out but to no real effect as no matter where I tried it just produced the odd stockie or tiny roach and it was a blessed relief when the All-Out was called at 4pm.

 I really couldn’t wait to get the kit packed away and the weigh-in had to be one of the quickest in the clubs recent history. on our bank Eddie had 7¼lbs, Al 10¾lbs and Kev had 6¾lbs. My few fish made 9lbs. Dave had the best weight on our bank with 19½lbs, Zack had a meagre 3½lbs and Clive ended with 11½lbs.

The owner appeared while we were weighing in and when I asked him about the lack of fish he was adamant that no fish had been lost or netted and no stockies had been introduced, but I’m afraid that I don’t believe that to be the truth and as a result of what we experienced today I think it’s fair to say that we won’t be returning to Rockells any time soon.

Back at the car park the results were soon sorted John taking the win today with just 41¼lbs, Tony was second with 32lbs and Mick’s 31¼lbs gave him third place and the MK Nugget. The sections went to John, Ken, Al and Dave. Next up for the club is The Reservoir at Hartleylands Farm and hopefully a better days fishing for all.

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 1	John Holdsworth	41lbs 04ozs
2nd	Peg 7	Tony Roberts	32lbs 00ozs
3rd	Peg 4	Mick Wright	31lbs 04ozs
4th	Peg 2	Simon Watkins	22lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 15	Dave Collier	19lbs 08ozs
6th	Peg 5	Keith Ashby	16lbs 12ozs
7th	Peg 9	Ken Walker	14lbs 08ozs
8th=	Peg 17	Clive Pritchard	11lbs 08ozs
8th=	Peg 8	Graham Manning	11lbs 08ozs
10th	Peg 11	Al Loader	10lbs 12ozs
11th	Peg 14	Peter Morton	9lbs 00ozs
12th	Peg 3	Martin Hucker	7lbs 08ozs
13th	Peg 10	Eddie Dobson	7lbs 04ozs
14th	Peg 13	Kevin Loveland	6lbs 12ozs
15th	Peg 16	Zack Johnson	3lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 6	Terry Goff	3lbs 04ozs
17th	Peg 12	Vic Nugent	DNW

Rolf's Lake. Holton. Oxfordshire. July 14th, 2012.

The Jinx Series 2012
Match 3

It’s match 3 of this year’s Jinx Series today and having stopped over I was up early just after 6am and soon had the kettle on for a coffee. Dave Moore was also up and about so I made him a coffee too. We sat on the bench in front of the hut discussing the prospects for the day ahead and watched the resident Red Kite patrolling above the lake and were fortunate enough to see it swoop and take a fish from the surface of the lake not 10 yards away from us. Why is it you never have your camera with you to capture moments like that ?

Soon we were joined by several others including Dave Wall who had stopped over on the off chance that there might be a spare peg allowing him to fish today. As the morning wore on more people started to stir from their slumbers and after another coffee Dave and I headed for The Harvester for a spot of breakfast. With that taken care of it was back to the lake where the banter was in full swing. The weather was looking similar to yesterday but the forecast warned of showers later in the day.

Around Noon Malc called for the draw and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t hoping to draw peg 6 again. However it was not to be and I found peg 38 resting in my hand when I pulled it from the draw bag.

 So time for a stroll round to peg 6 to collect my kit and move it round to peg 38. Ade had peg 6 today with Dai on peg 4 ….. 

and Neil on peg 2…… 

Nick W would be to my left on peg 40 ……

while to my right was Geoff on peg 36 …… 

while Terry on peg 34 completed A section ……

Setting up was once again simplicity itself as the rigs from yesterday were still set up on the top kits, but to recap for those that haven’t read the previous report they were a couple of Nick Gilbert’s handmade 0·5g Power Pencils that were made up on 0·21 Ultima power match with size 14 Guru MWG’s at the sharp end to cover the seven metre line along with a 0.3 NG Edger again on 0·21 Ultima power match straight through to a size 16 Kamasan B911X for the left hand margin where there was about 18 inches against the clump of grass that overhangs the water. Bait was a mix of 4 and 6mm fishery pellet for feed, some of which was well wetted down. Hookbaits would be 6 and 8mm’s to band along with some GOT Baits soft hookers and corn.

So with plenty of time before the All-In I had a wander back to the car to collect my jacket in case the predicted showers arrived and got a coffee as well. The question on my mind was would it fish as well as yesterday? I’d noticed that the wind had changed for a while earlier in the day blowing up into the Big Lake and had to wonder if it had taken the fish with it? we would soon find out.

2pm and the All-In was called and I potted a cup of mixed pellet and corn onto the 7mtr line and a handful of wetted pellet into the margin. Peg 38 has a reputation of being one of those all or nothing pegs, relying on the fish turning up in the margin at some point and if they do they tend to be decent fish and you can do a big weight, if they don’t it can be a struggle. Anyway out with a banded 8mm to the 7mtr line and start plugging away.

Well it wasn’t fast and furious but after half an hour I was off the mark with a bream. Dai had made the best start out of all of us though with 3 or 4 carp in the net after an hour. A carp was next up for me just after the hour, not a big fish at around 8lbs but welcome none the less and that was soon joined by another bream. Dave Wall came down for a chat, unfortunately for him it was a full house today so he hadn’t been able to fish but had stayed on to watch and top lad that he is even went back to his motor to make me another coffee.

It really wasn’t happening for us though down in the Little Lake and when Dave returned with the coffee word was filtering down that people were starting to catch up in the Big Lake including The Minx which was worrying along with Kev and Dave the Fish. After Dave had drunk his coffee he said that he was going to have a stroll round before heading home, so I took the opportunity to give him a run down on my camera and sent him off to take a few shots for me and after taking one of me ……

He soon caught Geoff landing what looked to be a weigher and heading off toward the weigh station ……

So the next bit is the story of Dave’s stroll around the lake with my camera. Ade (Slim Shady) was having a quiet time on peg 6 …….

but round on peg 7 Dave Moore was having a better time of it battling a carp ……

eventually getting it safely in the net ……

Paul Roberts was having a slightly less hectic time on peg 8 which rather sums up his performance so far in this years series……

Steve Wilson was on peg 9 and hoping to put one over The Jinx ……

who was on the next peg and suffering one of his quieter matches at Rolfs , or was it that he was just missing Julie? ……

Tucked away on peg 13 was Nick W-P (monkey) trying to tempt a fish from the margin. 

Tony Robert was working hard on peg 16 but obviously had one eye on what The Minx was doing on peg 18 ……

and it was plain to see that the rumours of impending Minxings were true as there she was with a nice Mirror that she’d just weighed……

Round on the car park bank Kev was into more action on the feeder and obviously doing the business today……

and it looked like the car park bank could be the place to be today ……

with Mat on peg 28 landing a Mirror right on time to have a picture taken with it ……

While Simps and Clive were having a bit of a head to head battle on pegs 30 and 32 ……

and as he made his way back he even managed to capture that rarest of events… Paul landing a carp over on peg 8……

As he arrived back I lifted into a carp which powered of and as he tried to get a photo I suffered the curse of my own camera, the fish shedding the hook and the rig flying back.

Almost immediately though there was a splash as while Nick was feeding his peg a carp made off with his pole before he could react……

Luckily for Nick though the fish made it’s way over to Dai’s peg where Dai saved the day and retrieved the pole with the fish still attached. Nick finally landed the fish which wouldn’t count to find that it was an 18½lb’er. Dave said his farewells and left us to it. I’d had a couple more carp and another bream while he’d been strolling around the lake but sport still hadn’t picked up and most were struggling for a bite and Neil had even given the pellet wag a go in an effort to find something to no avail.

With time marching on it was time to take another look down the margin but all I was getting were bites from little roach so I shortened up one of the pencil rigs to fish the bottom of the shelf around 4 feet out from the bank but had to wait a further 15 minutes for the float to bury. A decent fish powered off determined to go and see Neil on peg 2, then disaster struck, the dacron in the top kit parted meaning I lost not only the fish but the rig and elastic as well.

I shortened up the other pencil rig to match the first and went back out and was soon rewarded with another bite, another decent fish that seemed to take an age to get in but land it I did, a Mirror of 15½lbs that was hooked outside the mouth explaining why I’d had so much trouble controlling it. The worrying thing was that the sky was becoming a darker grey as the match drew to a close. Another decent fish put in an appearance and I was just on my way back from the weigh station when the heavens opened, luckily I had my umbrella ready and was soon huddled under it as it poured down. I managed another couple of carp as the rain persisted but as I slid the second one into the net the All-Out was called.

There’s nothing worse than packing away your kit in the rain, but it had to be done. I thought I had around 80lbs and was hopeful that it would be worth some decent section points but it was hard to tell how others had done. I got the kit back to the car just as the rain eased off as is always the way and soon had it loaded up and back in the car before going to the Weigh-In.

As usual it started on peg 34 where Terry had just 25lbs to show for his efforts. Geoff weighed 52½lbs and my fish came to a level 89lbs. Nick W had 87¾lbs and Neil 88lbs.
Dai beat us all with 97lbs to take the section as Ade had just 65lbs on peg 6. Onto B section where Dave Moore had 72lbs and Paul R 31½lbs. Steve had managed 71¼lbs from peg 9 while on peg 10 The Jinx had suffered his own curse to take just 21lbs 14ozs. Nick W-P had taken 42lbs from peg 32 to finish off the first part of the section. Fred kicked off C section with 64lbs followed by Tony R with 60½lbs. Gem obviously had suffered a quiet second half as The Minx Mark was set at 44¾lbs. Round to the car park bank where Kev had a decent day recording 95lbs followed by Dave C with 79¼lbs and Budgie just 28lbs and Mat tied with Dave C on 79¼lbs. The final part of C section was finished off by Simon with 108lbs and Clive with 100lbs exactly.

Back to the hut for the results and the winner today was Simon with Clive in second  and third going to Dai. The section winners were Simon, Dai and Kev.
The Minx claimed 5 victims today including her Dad (The Jinx) and I collected a Golden Nugget from Neil and Gem.

The next Jinx Match is August 18th when the sections get redrawn for the second half of the series and it’ll be interesting to see how those sections work out as it will probably decide who’s in with a chance of taking the title this year.

Overall Result

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight
1st	Peg 30	Simon Mound	108lbs 00ozs
2nd	Peg 32	Clive Pritchard	100lbs 00ozs
3rd	Peg 4	Dai Thomas	97lbs 00ozs
4th	Peg 22	Kev Loveland	95lbs 08ozs
5th	Peg 38	Peter Morton	89lbs 00ozs
6th	Peg 2	Neil Riddy	88lbs 00ozs
7th	Peg 40	Nick Williams	87lbs 12ozs
8th=	Peg 28	Mat Edwards	79lbs 04ozs
8th=	Peg 24	Dave Collier	79lbs 04ozs
10th	Peg 7	Dave Moore	72lbs 00ozs
11th	Peg 9	Steve Wilson	71lbs 04ozs
12th	Peg 6	Ade Williams	65lbs 00ozs
13th	Peg 14	Fred Parker	64lbs 00ozs
14th	Peg 16	Tony Roberts	60lbs 08ozs
15th	Peg 36	Geoff Palmer	52lbs 08ozs
16th	Peg 18	Gem (The Minx) Doyle	44lbs 12ozs
17th	Peg 13	Nick Watkins-Price	42lbs 00ozs
18th	Peg 8	Paul Roberts	31lbs 08ozs
19th	Peg 26	Marcus Burgess	28lbs 00ozs
20th	Peg 34	Terry Goff	25lbs 00ozs
21st	Peg 10	Malc (The Jinx) Doyle	21lbs 14ozs

Names in Pink are those that were “MINXED”

A Section

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 4	Dai Thomas	97lbs 00ozs	1
2nd	Peg 38	Peter Morton	89lbs 00ozs	2
3rd	Peg 2	Neil Riddy	88lbs 00ozs	3
4th	Peg 40	Nick Williams	87lbs 12ozs	4
5th	Peg 6	Ade Williams	65lbs 00ozs	5
6th	Peg 36	Geoff Palmer	52lbs 08ozs	6
7th	Peg 34	Terry Goff	25lbs 00ozs	7

B Section

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 30	Simon Mound	108lbs 00ozs	1
2nd	Peg 32	Clive Pritchard	100lbs 00ozs	2
3rd	Peg 7	Dave Moore	72lbs 00ozs	3
4th	Peg 9	Steve Wilson	71lbs 04ozs	4
5th	Peg 13	Nick Watkins-Price	42lbs 00ozs	5
6th	Peg 8	Paul Roberts	31lbs 08ozs	6
7th	Peg 10	Malc (The Jinx) Doyle	21lbs 14ozs	7

C Section

Position	Peg	Angler	Weight	Points
1st	Peg 22	Kev Loveland	95lbs 08ozs	1
2nd=	Peg 28	Mat Edwards	79lbs 04ozs	2
2nd=	Peg 24	Dave Collier	79lbs 04ozs	2
4th	Peg 14	Fred Parker	64lbs 00ozs	4
5th	Peg 16	Tony Roberts	60lbs 08ozs	5
6th	Peg 18	Gem (The Minx) Doyle	44lbs 12ozs	6
7th	Peg 26	Marcus Burgess	28lbs 00ozs	7