Maggotdrowning.com
Fun Match.
Today promised to be a fun day out as Simon the owner of Monk Lakes had invited the members of Maggotdrowning.com to have a light hearted match on Puma Lake. A few members had taken him up on his generous offer allowing them to try out a venue that was new to a lot of them.
Well at 8am I pulled into the car park to be greeted by a sign saying WELCOME MAGGOTDROWNERS that had been posted by the fishery staff, and as I got out of the car I could see Darren strolling towards me across the car park After a brief chat we decided to go and have a stroll so I could show him a few of the lakes on the complex.
On our return we bumped into Ginger and Sven and adjourned for a spot of breakfast as the others arrived. Looking out of the window I could see Malc ”The Jinx” arrive wearing a polo shirt and sunglasses, a sure sign that the weather would deteriorate in the not to distant future.
With half an hour to go before the draw Vince and I set off to peg the Bank that had been reserved for the match accompanied by Ginger and Big Sedge. It was the bank alongside the river and with a wind that was starting to freshen and blow straight into the bank it promised to be a tad exposed. As we walked back just to confirm that “The Jinx“ had arrived in Kent it started to drizzle.
On our return we bumped into Ginger and Sven and adjourned for a spot of breakfast as the others arrived. Looking out of the window I could see Malc ”The Jinx” arrive wearing a polo shirt and sunglasses, a sure sign that the weather would deteriorate in the not to distant future.
With half an hour to go before the draw Vince and I set off to peg the Bank that had been reserved for the match accompanied by Ginger and Big Sedge. It was the bank alongside the river and with a wind that was starting to freshen and blow straight into the bank it promised to be a tad exposed. As we walked back just to confirm that “The Jinx“ had arrived in Kent it started to drizzle.
Onto the draw and with 15 actually in attendance and with Simon (the owner) kindly only charging us a £6 peg fee, a £4 optional pool was added to keep the cost to a round £10 for most.
Vince and I drew last and attracted a few comments when it was realised that we had both end pegs between us. Luckily the fishery staff allowed us to drive down to drop our tackle, which was just as well, as by now the rain was lashing down.
With an 11am all-in everyone had time to set up, though I’m sure that it won’t have been long enough for Malc, It never is.The All-In was called on time, but the wind and rain meant that fishing the pole beyond 8mtrs was out of the question for me, and later as the wind increased that would be reduced to 6mtrs. With shallow margins the wind was blowing my Carp net out of the water, and my silvers net was only kept in place by putting a spare landing net handle inside it!!!
The actual fishing was for me at least, pretty simple, feeding a mix of 3mm pellet and red maggot, with a single red on the hook kept a pretty steady flow of small Chub, Skimmers, Barbel, Tench (both Green & Gold) + a couple of small Carp coming throughout the match.
So despite the conditions a nice steady match for me, resulting in a net weighing 41lbs 2ozs and 1st place.
Back to the car park for a welcome cuppa and plenty of banter and we found out that Simon had kindly donated 3 bottles for prizes in his absence, so a handy £24 and a bottle of Champagne came my way.
All in all a cracking day despite the weather doing it’s best to wreck things, and as usual with these sort of gatherings, plenty of banter before, during and after. Special mention has to be made at this point of young Lee’s performance, who handed out a good battering to his Uncle Malc from the next peg.
No comments:
Post a Comment