The JINX Series 2005
Match 1.
This is my account of the 1st match in the series…………………………..
Well I arrived at the services at junction 8 on the M40 in plenty of time to meet up with the rest for the short jaunt to Rolfs.
Malc was early, didn’t appear to have forgotten anything and the sun was shining!!!
A quick 10 minute trip from the services following Matt Nutt and there we were, pulling into the car park at Rolf’s, Already present were a mix of old and new faces and soon the banter was flowing.
Now I’d read and heard a few reports about Rolf’s, but the reality is something else and something that I wasn’t prepared for. It’s only small, but quite picturesque with just 40 pegs that are all solidly constructed and nice and low to the water.
The real shock though was the sheer number of Carp cruising the surface basking in the sunshine, all apparently commons, and seemingly unconcerned, well at least till the start of the match.
Back to the car park for the draw and I drew peg 23 with young Dan drawing peg 24 to my left, Matt having voiced a preference for peg 7 promptly drew it and the general consensus was that we were all fishing for 2nd as Matt wandered off with a happy grin on his face.
Setting up didn’t take me long as my main pole was in need of a refurb, and probably not up to the stress and strain, so it was margin pole or nothing with 3 rigs, 1 shallow, 1 at depth for the 7mtr line and 1 for paste in the margin as I had a nice bush to my right. All the while the carp were still cruising and I swear a couple even winked as they passed.
Rolf the owner insists on a minimum of 2 nets, 1 for small carp up to 4lbs and 1 for carp weighing between 4 & 8lbs. Anything larger has to be weighed and returned immediately. This is achieved by having tanks containing a salt water solution (to kill any parasites) with a weigh sling in it behind every 4th or 5th peg along with a set of supported scales and a clipboard and pen to record the weights which you get a neighbouring angler to witness. It sounds complicated but works very well.
11am and the All-in and having started at 7mtrs, the float buried and I was attached to my 1st Rolfs carp! To say that these fish are fit doesn’t do them justice, especially as Rolf insists on anglers using top kits that allow a bit of elastic to be pulled out. Into the net and at probably 7lbs a nice start.
It wasn’t fast and furious and I was having problems avoiding the roach and skimmers that don’t really count, though I did spot Nick (polepot) weighing a couple to record them, but he was struggling, and had experienced the full power of THE JINX in previous seasons and was taking no chances.
Opposite me TA’s Neil McCurran & Eric(ejayar)Robothan were having their own match within a match , I think Neil McCurran won, well he certainly won the stretchiest elastic competition .
Back to the car park for the draw and I drew peg 23 with young Dan drawing peg 24 to my left, Matt having voiced a preference for peg 7 promptly drew it and the general consensus was that we were all fishing for 2nd as Matt wandered off with a happy grin on his face.
Setting up didn’t take me long as my main pole was in need of a refurb, and probably not up to the stress and strain, so it was margin pole or nothing with 3 rigs, 1 shallow, 1 at depth for the 7mtr line and 1 for paste in the margin as I had a nice bush to my right. All the while the carp were still cruising and I swear a couple even winked as they passed.
Rolf the owner insists on a minimum of 2 nets, 1 for small carp up to 4lbs and 1 for carp weighing between 4 & 8lbs. Anything larger has to be weighed and returned immediately. This is achieved by having tanks containing a salt water solution (to kill any parasites) with a weigh sling in it behind every 4th or 5th peg along with a set of supported scales and a clipboard and pen to record the weights which you get a neighbouring angler to witness. It sounds complicated but works very well.
11am and the All-in and having started at 7mtrs, the float buried and I was attached to my 1st Rolfs carp! To say that these fish are fit doesn’t do them justice, especially as Rolf insists on anglers using top kits that allow a bit of elastic to be pulled out. Into the net and at probably 7lbs a nice start.
It wasn’t fast and furious and I was having problems avoiding the roach and skimmers that don’t really count, though I did spot Nick (polepot) weighing a couple to record them, but he was struggling, and had experienced the full power of THE JINX in previous seasons and was taking no chances.
Opposite me TA’s Neil McCurran & Eric(ejayar)Robothan were having their own match within a match , I think Neil McCurran won, well he certainly won the stretchiest elastic competition .
Young Dan to my left was having a bit of a grueller, finding bites hard to come by but had managed to get off the mark with one early on, it was just adding a second that was proving elusive.
Halfway through I’d managed 3 weighers and a couple of smaller ones, so had a look at paste down the margin. Plenty of bites but only one carp as it seemed to be solid with small skimmers that ripped the paste to bits as soon as it hit the water. With hindsight I spent far to long trying to make it work, and with an hour to go went back to alternating shallow and deep for another 3 weighers and a couple of smaller ones.
At the end I’d had just under 60lbs of weighers with those in the net taking the total to just over 88lbs, which as it turned out was enough for the section money.
The weigh in is well practiced here with lots of weigh slings and with all the fish getting a dip in the salt solution before being returned.
Now for the comedy section, during the match Nick(Neo1)Williams had lost a pole section, so Malc needing no encouragement stripped off to his swimming trunks to retrieve it. He soon found it, but it turned out to be a section lost by another angler earlier in the week, however another paddle soon found Nick’s section.
Back to the car park for the raffle and results, and with 5 tons including Matt’s winning double ton, as well as a good number of weights in the 60 – 80lbs range nobody could really believe that it had been a JINX match, mind you I’m sure that we’ll all come down to earth with a bang at Drayton next Saturday.
At the end I’d had just under 60lbs of weighers with those in the net taking the total to just over 88lbs, which as it turned out was enough for the section money.
The weigh in is well practiced here with lots of weigh slings and with all the fish getting a dip in the salt solution before being returned.
Now for the comedy section, during the match Nick(Neo1)Williams had lost a pole section, so Malc needing no encouragement stripped off to his swimming trunks to retrieve it. He soon found it, but it turned out to be a section lost by another angler earlier in the week, however another paddle soon found Nick’s section.
Back to the car park for the raffle and results, and with 5 tons including Matt’s winning double ton, as well as a good number of weights in the 60 – 80lbs range nobody could really believe that it had been a JINX match, mind you I’m sure that we’ll all come down to earth with a bang at Drayton next Saturday.
Individual Results.
| 1st | Matt Nutt | 211lb 04oz |
| 2nd | Mark Causer | 116lb 02oz |
| 3rd | Keith(Gandhi)Ashby | 113lb 00oz |
| 4th | Malc(The Jinx)Doyle | 112lb 08oz |
| 5th | Roy Ravenhill | 105lb 02oz |
| 6th | Neil McCurran | 90lb 06oz |
| 7th | Peter(Mugger)Morton | 88lb 13oz |
| 8th | Dirk Williams | 77lb 00oz |
| 9th | Geoff Eggison | 75lb 01oz |
| 10th | Eric Robothan | 71lb 12oz |
| 11th | Dai Thomas | 69lb 06oz |
| 12th | Steve Wilson | 69lb 04oz |
| 13th | Paul Roberts | 55lb 08oz |
| 14th | Nick Williams | 52lb 10oz |
| 15th | Nick Jones | 42lb 15oz |
| 16th | David Ashby | 41lb 12oz |
| 17th | Derek Robothan | 32lb 04oz |
| 18th | Pete Thompson | 11lb 00oz |
| 19th | Dan Thomas | 10lb 08oz |
| 20th | Nick Watkins-Price | DNW |
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