Well the day promised to be a bit of fun as I was off down to Hartleylands to join a few of the lads that are fishing Nick Gilbert’s 1st Invicta Angling Match League and were looking to have a bit of a practice prior to the 1st match there next week. Loading up the car at 7am in Sydenham it looked as if we could be in for a decent day with the sun rising into a bright blue sky, just a breathe of wind and a pleasant 7°C showing on the car thermometer.
By the time I pulled up at the Knoxbridge Café for a spot of breakfast things had taken a turn for the worst however, with wind, thick grey clouds and the first hint of rain replacing the sun. A quick bit of breakfast with Matt, Nick, Alan and Ekythump and it was off to the fishery for the draw. Already there were Vince, Trevor, Jay and Kevin and while Nick sorted out the draw we sorted our kit out. Mistake no1!!!! I’d left my jacket at home!!!!! Thankfully Matt saved the situation lending me his spare jacket for the day. Nice one Matt.
With the wind increasing I fancied one of the pegs in the 30′s which were reasonably sheltered and almost flat calm. It was not to be as peg 25 was to be my home for the next few hours…
By the time I pulled up at the Knoxbridge Café for a spot of breakfast things had taken a turn for the worst however, with wind, thick grey clouds and the first hint of rain replacing the sun. A quick bit of breakfast with Matt, Nick, Alan and Ekythump and it was off to the fishery for the draw. Already there were Vince, Trevor, Jay and Kevin and while Nick sorted out the draw we sorted our kit out. Mistake no1!!!! I’d left my jacket at home!!!!! Thankfully Matt saved the situation lending me his spare jacket for the day. Nice one Matt.
With the wind increasing I fancied one of the pegs in the 30′s which were reasonably sheltered and almost flat calm. It was not to be as peg 25 was to be my home for the next few hours…
The wind was already starting to gust strongly as I settled in and set up and I just set up a maggot feeder and a couple of top kits to fish short, as I didn’t fancy battling with a long pole in the conditions, not that I was jealous looking across to Alan on peg 32 setting up with what appeared to be a millpond in front of him!…
10·30am and Vince blew the whistle for the All-in. I’d made up a slop of crushed hemp and Pineapple Atomic Cloud to feed the inside line and fished white maggot on the hook and this soon started to produce few small Roach. Sport in general appeared to be slow for most though Jay was getting a few Carp on the feeder over on peg 8, Nick had the wind full in his face on peg 6 (a most unusual occurrence for him) while Matt was blasting maggot and fishing the waggler on peg 9 but this was producing mostly Roach for him rather than the hoped for Carp. In fairness though most of the lads were trying to sort methods for the upcoming League so it was more of a question of sorting out wouldn’t work as opposed to sitting it out on a banker method.
Just after midday I had a look over on the feeder. 3rd cast and I stuck it into a tree on the island and cracked off. Temper? Laziness? I really should have stuck with it but didn’t. Instead I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk with the camera to warm up.
Up on peg 21 Trevor was sheltered behind his brolly and had settled on the waggler with a fair bit of open water in front of him, and while it was mostly Roach the occasional Carp was putting in an appearance to keep it interesting…
Just after midday I had a look over on the feeder. 3rd cast and I stuck it into a tree on the island and cracked off. Temper? Laziness? I really should have stuck with it but didn’t. Instead I had a cup of coffee and went for a walk with the camera to warm up.
Up on peg 21 Trevor was sheltered behind his brolly and had settled on the waggler with a fair bit of open water in front of him, and while it was mostly Roach the occasional Carp was putting in an appearance to keep it interesting…
while Ekythump 2 down on peg 23 was fishing his top 2 and finding a few more Carp amongst the Roach…
Back down on peg 32 Alan was getting a few on the Waggler but had been feeding a margin line that as it turned out, was to come good for him in the last hour.
Kevin on peg 34 was having a bit of a grueller and was sitting it out on the feeder…
Vince was on peg 32 and complaining that he was freezing despite being sheltered from the worst of the conditions. The feeder was producing the odd Carp for him as it appeared the fish wanted a dead still bait.
Nick on peg 6 (a peg he didn’t want to put in, so you just knew he would draw it) spent most of his time chopping and changing trying various methods out when he wasn’t having a walk about chatting and trying to get out of the wind…
That just left Jay and Matt on pegs 8 & 9……
and while Jay stuck it out on the feeder all day, Matt started the match on the waggler spraying maggot before switching to the method halfway through.
I spent the rest of the match fishing the top 2 but unlike Ekythump, couldn’t find a Carp for love or money, I did however manage a Barbel which was a bit of a surprise because as far as I’m aware Paul only stocked about 14 of them into the lake originally (needless to say it was in perfect condition)
3·30 and Vince blew the All-out, a most welcome sound, which was quickly followed by the weigh-in. 12lbs 12ozs was my reward for the day, leaving Vince happy that he’d beaten me for the 2nd time this year. The lake had fished hard though in some of the worst conditions I’ve experienced there, though hopefully it will be better for the lads fishing the League there, starting next week.
3·30 and Vince blew the All-out, a most welcome sound, which was quickly followed by the weigh-in. 12lbs 12ozs was my reward for the day, leaving Vince happy that he’d beaten me for the 2nd time this year. The lake had fished hard though in some of the worst conditions I’ve experienced there, though hopefully it will be better for the lads fishing the League there, starting next week.
| Position | Peg | Angler | Weight |
| 1st | peg 9 | Matt Love | 35lbs 04ozs |
| 2nd | peg 32 | Alan Loader | 34lbs 12ozs |
| 3rd | peg 8 | Jay Lay | 33lbs 04ozs |
| 4th | peg 23 | Ekythump | 24lbs 00ozs |
| 5th | peg 21 | Trevor Little | 14lbs 06ozs |
| 6th | peg 36 | Vince Gould | 13lbs 12ozs |
| 7th | peg 25 | Peter Morton | 12lbs 12ozs |
| 8th | peg 6 | Nick Gilbert | 11lbs 00ozs |
| 9th | peg 34 | Kevin Betts | DNW |
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