Horsham Lake. Upchurch. February 13th, 2005.

Hawthorne AC club match.

Well I have to say that not for the first time I was doubting my own sanity this morning as I loaded the kit into the car. A near gale force wind and rain didn’t bode well for a club match on a venue that was new to me.
The venue in question is called Horsham lake, just outside the village of Upchurch in Kent. Nothing out of the ordinary, holding around 35 pegs, but a tad exposed as it’s situated about a mile inland from where the River Medway enters the Thames Estuary.

Into the draw bag and Peg 5 was mine for the day, and by now the wind was gusting to Gale Force. Thankfully the wind was blowing onto my back, and there was a small island in front of me at 14mtrs.
Peg 5

The picture below shows the view behind me, not a lot of shelter and the next stop is the Thames Estuary!!!!

Plumbing up revealed 3ft all the way across, not a dip nor a hump to be found anywhere, but with the wind behind me at least I could fish the pole across. I had been told that it was mostly small stuff with Carp and Rudd in the majority, so I started as light as I could with single maggot on a 20 to begin with.

I have a digital thermometer that I take with me and the water temp was 6°C but the air temp at the 10am start was only 4·5°C and by midday it had dropped to just 2°C.

Keeping it tight was the name of the game, just 12 maggots in a T-Pot at the start, with another 4 after every bite or fish, kept just enough interest going with the odd small Carp and Rudd visiting the keepnet at regular intervals.

All around anglers were struggling to cope with the conditions with those on the opposite bank finding the pole an impossibility to fish in the conditions, indeed 4 packed up rather than risk hypothermia, while the rest resorted to feeder rods.

Just after 1pm we were treated to snow and hail. This caused 3 more of the lads to pack up, but with the odd fish still coming I stuck it out till the whistle at 3pm.

Round came the scales and I was pleasantly surprised to see 23lbs 2ozs register on the scales.

Back to the car park and I found that I’d finished 3rd, second beat me by an ounce while 1st was a further 6lbs in front. Still a nice little brown envelope for me, hard earned but very welcome.