Monday, 21 September 2009

PROTAK TR Design Clothing Review. September 21st, 2009.



Bridges007.jpg picture by pnm123
I’d been looking to purchase a new set of waterproofs for a while, and could postpone it no longer after the Southern Fur & Feather at Wylands when my old suit gave up the ghost leaving me soaked through.

Having done some homework, 2 companies products stood out as having consistently good reviews from their users. Halkon Hunt Gortex® and Protak TR clothing. To be honest the cost of the Halkon Hunt made it hard to justify for me so I decided to go with PROTAK.

I looked at all the combinations available in the
TR Design Range to see what would suit my requirements. Doing a fair amount of pole fishing I wanted a Pole Jacket rather than a ¾length one along with a Bib & Brace. However both of these garments come with a 2oz quilted lining as standard and I was after a year round suit, that I could add a couple of layers to if needed come winter.

So back in January I phoned their order line (01625 590140) and spoke to a very helpful lady called Gail and explained to her just what I was after IE: both garments minus the quilted lining and an extra inch on the Bib & Brace legs along with my name and Maggotdrowning.com embroidered onto the jacket. Not a problem she assured me even though they would have to be specially made with a cost to me of £122 with a delivery time of 3 weeks. Their attention to detail being exemplified by a phone call I received after 2 weeks just to check the spelling before they embroidered the jacket.

1 week later the suit arrived and I have to say that I was very happy with the finished clothing. It’s all made with Tactel® textured nylon with a breathable, delamination-proof Exeat® coating. The Jacket features storm cuffs, nylon zip with storm flap, 2 storm pockets and 2 hand warmer pockets, 2 inside pockets (one of them zipped) a Fleece collar and a detachable hood while the Bib and Brace has 2 chest and 2 leg pockets, 2 way zip with storm flap and zipped gussets on the legs to allow ease of putting on over boots. All the garment seams are fully taped and sealed. It’s all machine washable as well.
Bridges006.jpg Protak TR Design (2) picture by pnm123

1st time out the weather threw the lot at me, wind, torrential rain and hail. I sat it out for the full 5 hours of the match without an umbrella and was warm and dry at the end, with not a single leak to be found.
This clothing has now had 6 months of reasonably continuous use so far and has confirmed my initial impression that it’s a quality bit of kit and Made in England by an English Company and well worth consideration if anyone is thinking of getting some new gear. I will however return to this review at a later date to update my thoughts on it so that everyone is kept up to date on how it continues to perform.



Saturday, 19 September 2009

Rayne Lodge Fishery. The Top Lake. September 19th, 2009.

Marsh AC club match.
R.jpg Rayne Lodge. Top Lake. picture by pnm123
So it was off to the Top Lake at Rayne Lodge just outside Braintree in Essex today for what should be the last Marsh AC club match of the year (Though we might manage to sneak another one in somewhere). It promised to feel a little strange as Dave Collier would be missing his first club match in nearly twenty years but I felt sure that we’d manage to muddle through without him.

The initial look through the bedroom curtains held the promise of a decent day ahead, and it was pleasantly mild as I loaded the kit into the car and set off for deepest Essex. An easy trouble free run down saw me pulling into the Top Lake car park just after 8am, where I found a few of the lads already sorting their kit and ferrying it down the hill to the lake. There were 16 of us today including two of our regular guests, Keith and Mick who had trekked down from Milton Keynes.

Now the Top Lake at Rayne Lodge is one of those picture book little lakes with trees trailing into the lake offering plenty of cover and features to fish to. Well it was !!!!
Unfortunately someone appears to have acquired a chainsaw and has yet to discover the OFF switch.
To say that the pruning in some swims has been extensive would be an understatement. Brutal bordering on vandalism would be more accurate in my opinion. By way of example the following photo shows the view from peg 16 last May……
DSCF2137.jpg View from peg 16 (May 2008) picture by pnm123
While the following photo shows the view from the same peg now ……
a3-10.jpg Pegs 11 - 14a. picture by pnm123
Anyway rant over and back to the business of the day. With Dave absent, Colin and Tony had taken care of the pegging and collection of the cash and it was soon time for the draw. Into the draw-bag and I find myself holding Peg 14a. Last year I would have run to it, but I wasn’t so enthusiastic today as it’s right at the heart of the recent ‘Pruning’. It’s one of Dave’s favourite swims, but in a way I’m glad he’s not here today as he would probably have cried to see it as it is now.

Well it was my swim for the next 6 hours so it was a question of making the most of it. For company today I had Keith over to my left on Peg 16, a quality angler and if he’s on a few fish, more than capable of doing the necessary. To my right there was Judy on peg 13 and Colin next to her on Peg 12. Tony has drawn peg 1 and there were a stack of fish in the corner to his right as we were drawing, and with Peg 22 drawn for Al (who hadn’t made it as it turned out) he’s got that corner to himself.

a4-10.jpg Peter's peg 14a. picture by pnm123
Time to set up and today I was going with a pellet and paste attack. The lake’s level was about a foot down from its normal level and I was going to fish one line straight out at around 7mts where there was around 3ft of depth, and down both margins where there was around a foot. Rigs were my favourite Malman 4X12 Adam on 0·18 Power Match with size 16 Drennan Carp hook to fish pellet as well as a small Malman SC Paste float on 0·18 Power Match with a size 12 Ashima Barbless hook for paste on the 7mtr line with a couple of Malman MTD1 dibbers rigged up on 0·18 Power Match, one with a 16 Drennan for pellet and the other with a size 12 Ashima for paste. I had my feeder rod rigged up in it’s ready sleeve but didn’t really want to go down that route unless I was struggling. Bait for the day was simply a selection of various pellets and paste, while feed was taken care of with 6mm Skrettings pellets while a bag of groundbait was in the carryall if I needed it later.

So down to business as Colin signalled the All-In at 10am. Out with a pot of pellet at 7mtrs and some more by hand down the margins. A banded 8mm to start was shipped out to 7mtrs. A few little dinks, probably silvers pecking at the pellet. A few lift and drops, float dipped, missed it. Now something I noticed on a previous visit is how bad the condition a lot of the fishes mouths are and I’m sure that’s the reason for a lot of missed bites here, as it must be hard to get a hook-hold with the state of some of their mouths. Keith had landed his 1st fish “That’s the blank saved” he remarked. I was in almost straight after and soon had a Common of around 2lbs safely in the net. I noticed that the fish was very slimy and hard to get hold of and made a mental note not to try lifting any into the keepnet. Another couple of fish followed for both Keith and myself, but sport was slow to say the least.

After a couple of hours I’d got 7 Carp and a couple of silvers, so out came the feeder rod and I knocked up a bit of groundbait, I’d banded an 8mm pellet and out went the method feeder to the corner of the island. An almost instant response in the form of a Mirror around the 2½lb mark didn’t lead to better things however. Colin strolled up with his sandwiches. He’d been having a torrid time of it with just 3 Carp to show for his efforts. Keith meanwhile has suffered from ’slippery fish’ syndrome and deposited a Carp safely back into the lake rather than his keepnet. With just 2 Carp to show for 45 minutes on the feeder I decided to cup in some loose groundbait and pellets on my 7mtr line and take a quick stroll with my camera to allow it to settle.

I took a stroll down to see Mick (Keith’s travelling partner) on 11a. Tony had this swim on our visit last year and took a good bag from the left hand tree. It’s not there any more, just a stump but Mick was nicking a few from the left hand margin ……

a7-10.jpg Mick Wright on peg 11a. picture by pnm123
I could see Eddie over on Peg 5 with what appeared to be a nice patch of lilies on his right to fish to, so hopefully he would be picking up a few ……
a8-10.jpg Eddie Dobson on peg 5. picture by pnm123
Making my way back, I stopped off at Colin, but things weren’t showing any signs of improving for him I’m afraid and he was at a loss as to what he could do to improve things ……
a9-10.jpg Colin and Judy. picture by pnm123
while Judy was in pretty much the same boat as Colin, but was plugging away and at least keeping up with him ……
a10-10.jpg Judy Hermite on peg 13. picture by pnm123
Back to my peg and I noticed a couple of bubbles coming up on the 7mtr line. Keith was a bit exasperated by the number of fish he’d had shed the hook and had managed to release yet another ‘slippery fish’ but he now appeared to be concentrating on his margin line……
a5-10.jpg Keith fishes his margin swim. picture by pnm123
Bites for me were still finicky so I decided to fish the 6mm Skrettings I was feeding banded on the hook as they were really quite small compared with some other 6mm pellets.
That seemed to make all the difference for me, and while Keith started to put together a run of fish I felt that I was managing to match him and maybe even ease ahead a little bit. In fact it was all going pretty well apart from a couple of foul hookers, one of which trashed my pellet rig with 15 minutes to go. However swapping to my paste rig still kept the bites coming and I managed another 4 Carp before Colin called the All-Out at 4pm.

Packing away I couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated at the way my match had gone, mostly due to the fact that the swim had been altered so drastically from the one I’d been expecting when I drew it, but on the plus side I felt confident that I’d beaten Keith and those around me. The Weigh-In was in full swing by the time that Keith and I caught up with it. Tony leading with a fine 79½lbs that would ultimately take his section and the honours on the day. Ron and Jim had managed a tie from adjacent pegs (3 & 4) with 28lbs each while Eddie had winkled out 21½lbs from peg 5. Martin had managed a very creditable 63½lbs from Peg 7 only to be pipped by 1lb from the next peg when Terry placed 64½lbs on the scales.

a11-10.jpg The Weigh-In. picture by pnm123
Poor Zack had struggled and could only manage a meagre 11½lbs from peg 10 while John put a level 73lbs on the scales that would give him the section and 2nd overall on the day, but most importantly the bragging rights over Martin & Zack in the car on the way home.
Ken recorded 13½lbs from Peg 11, but it was Mick on Peg 11a with 42½lbs who took the section spoils after Colin and Judy tied from their adjacent pegs with a level 18lbs each.

a12-10.jpg Weighing in Judy. picture by pnm123
Round to my peg and my 25 Carp along with a few silvers took the scales round to 67¼lbs for a section win and 3rd overall. Keith’s 53½lbs at least saw him with the bragging rights over Mick on the way home. Roger round on Peg 20 weighed in 32½lbs but once again suffered the agony of losing a PB carp at the venue as he’d done last year, While Rod was the last to weigh with a level 14lbs.

All that just left us with just the slog back up the hill to the car park. Thank Heavens that Dave wasn’t there to waltz up the hill with his powered trolley and take the mickey out of us all. So with the sections paid out the farewells were done, That’s it officially for the Marsh AC club matches this year, though we hope to fit one final outing in next month as Kevin is coming back to visit from the Bahamas, so we’ll try to sort out a day with him.


In the meantime it’s been a most enjoyable series of matches oncemore, and I’d like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Dave for organising the matches as always and another BIG THANK YOU to all that have fished the matches, both members and guests who’ve made them great fun to fish as always. Here’s to more of the same next year.



Position Peg               Angler              Weight    
 1st Peg 1 Tony Roberts  79lbs 08ozs
 2nd Peg 10 John Holdsworth  73lbs 00ozs
 3rd Peg 14a Peter Morton  67lbs 04ozs
 4th Peg 8 Terry Goff  64lbs 08ozs
 5th Peg 7 Martin Hucker  63lbs 08ozs
 6th Peg 16 Keith Ashby     (guest)  53lbs 08ozs
 7th Peg 11a Mick Wright     (guest)  42lbs 08ozs
 8th Peg 20 Roger Noakes  32lbs 08ozs
 9th= Peg 3 Ron Mannister  28lbs 00ozs
 9th= Peg 4 Jim Boase  28lbs 00ozs
 11th Peg 5 Eddie Dobson  21lbs 08ozs
 12th= Peg 12 Colin Sharrard  18lbs 00ozs
 12th= Peg 13 Judy Hermite  18lbs 00ozs
 14th Peg 21 Rod Turner  14lbs 00ozs
 15th Peg 11 Ken Walker  13lbs 08ozs
 16th Peg 9 Zack Johnson  11lbs 08ozs




Saturday, 12 September 2009

Hartleylands Farm Fishery. Nick’s Lake. September 12th, 2009.


Maggotdrowning.com

 magtrans.gif MD's Logo picture by pnm123
Southern Championship 2009.

h1.jpg Nick's Lake at Hartleylands Farm. picture by pnm123
 Down to Hartleylands Farm today just outside the village of Cranbrook to fish the Maggotdrowning.com Southern Individual Championship on Nick’s Lake. Nick Gilbert had kindly taken care of organising this match and there promised to be a good turn out for it.

The view out of the window first thing was a little dull and grey, but the forecast predicted a bright warm sunny day so hopefully things would pick up. With the car loaded it was off to The Knoxbridge Café for breakfast, quite a few of the lads had the same idea so there was a good bit of banter and a couple of new faces introduced themselves before we made our way down to the fishery for the draw. Arriving at the fishery it was obvious that we had a pretty decent turn out for todays match, 24 of us to be exact. Nick finally got the draw under way with Matt’s help. Peg 34 for me, a nice short walk from the car, but not where I really fancied and with Vince drawing peg 23 I feared the loss of a Golden Nugget was very much on the cards.
With my kit at my peg it was time to set up, but for some reason today I really couldn’t get into it and remarked on it to Terry who was on peg 33 to my right……
a2-9.jpg Looking to my right picture by pnm123
Anyway with 1½hrs to get ready I finally managed to get things done. 1st thing set up was the feeder rod with a small method feeder to drop to the edge of the island. For the pole I set up 3 rigs……
a17-8.jpg Peter sorting out some rigs. picture by pnm123
These were essentially similar to those I’d used the previous weekend ie: a couple of Malman 4X12 Adam’s on 0·18 Power Match with size 16 Drennan Carp hooks to fish pellet as well as a small Malman SC Paste float on 0·20 Power Match with a size 12 Ashima Barbless hook for paste down the edge. Bait was a selection of various pellets and paste with 6mm pellet for feed, while the groundbait was Sonubaits Method Mix……
a1-9.jpg Peg 34. picture by pnm123
11am saw Nick call the All-In and I potted in 2 large pots of pellet and groundbait at 6mtrs and a handful of pellet down the margins, then went out on the method feeder to allow the pole line to settle. Well that was the plan but as I picked up the rod I noticed that somehow I’d managed to miss out threading the line through the bottom rod rig !! (told you I wasn’t really focused when setting up) So I had to strip things down and start again. Anyway having re-rigged I dropped it to the edge of the island. A couple of taps and the tip wrapped round, the 1st fish was on, only for it to slip the hook halfway to the net. Better luck next cast however and a small Common of around 1lb had me off and running. I managed another couple of similar examples in the next 20 minutes but got the impression that there weren’t any number of fish there so decided to try the pole line while catapulting some pellets over to the island in an attempt to draw some fish.

Unfortunately the pole line was no more productive, 45 minutes producing just another couple of small Carp and a skimmer. Time for another look on the method. Dropping the feeder close to the island, I’d just set the tip when it wrapped round, lifting into the fish I noticed a boil in the water by the island and a Duck paddling off at a rate of knots. Unfortunately I was attached to the Duck. Well the subsequent fight caused a deal of hilarity, but Terry managed to do the honours with the net. ‘Jemima’ was freed and appeared none the worse for her ordeal and Clive kindly did the ‘David Bailey’ bit for posterity……

a16-8.jpg Jemima PuddleDuck. picture by pnm123
With that episode out of the way I went back to the pole. It produced another couple of small Carp and a couple of small Roach, but it was still a struggle so I re fed all the lines and took the camera for a quick stroll. In fact I could hear splashing from Terry’s swim as I stood up, and was just in time to catch him sliding a Carp into the landing net.
a3-9.jpg Terry nets a Carp. picture by pnm123
Looking across from Terry’s swim I could see Vince and Jessebobs staring straight out in front of them, either they were concentrating hard or was it trying to ignore the bloody awful row singing coming from Al on the next peg ……
a5-9.jpg Vince, Steve and Al. picture by pnm123
Meanwhile Clive was attached to something that was giving his purple Hydro a decent work out and giving him a bit of a run around  ……
a6-8.jpg Fish on for Clive. picture by pnm123
Simon and Mick were engaged in exchanging witty repartee, though some may have mistaken it for ripping the pee out of each other and wonder of wonders Mick was actually fishing the pole ……
a10-9.jpg A study in concentration. picture by pnm123
Over on the other side thing were obviously not going to plan however as Matt (MD’s very own slapper) was fishing short down the margin !!!!……
a13-9.jpg Matt fishes the margin. picture by pnm123
On the way back to my peg I noticed that Clive was now concentrating his line of attack down the margin ……
a14-9.jpg Down the margin for Clive. picture by pnm123
…… and felt that it was probably my best chance of getting anything decent, so out came the paste rig for the final part of the match.
Jeff D had started fishing his margin as well and was having a good run of fish, but it really never happened for me. Just 4 Carp in the last hour, though they were of a better stamp than I’d been getting previously. When Nick called All-Out at 4pm I have to say that I was glad it was all over and I soon had the gear packed up and back in the car.

The Weigh-in was soon under way and Jeff’s 59lbs+ was the first weight of any note. My meagre total of 30¼lbs being last in section.
Roy’s (Anglingman) 61lbs+ was beaten by Nick’s level 69lbs, while Al took the section and 3rd overall with 78¾lbs. Vince, despite suffering almost as bad a match as me (Including snapping his waggler rod) had managed 31½lbs and had a rather large grin as I handed him a Golden Nugget. Nick (BAG UP) had walked the section with 114½lbs that also won him the match. Ian Carley (CasterBlaster) put 70lbs on the scales to take the next section while Neil Beard’s 107lbs took the final section and 2nd overall.

Back to the car park for a quick presentation, then the inquests and pee taking started in earnest. Congratulations to Nick(BAG UP)Costar who now holds the title of MD’s Southern Champion, but more importantly ‘The Bragging Rights’ for a year. Thanks to Nick Gilbert for organising the whole thing and Thank You to all the anglers that turned up, without whom there wouldn’t have been a match. Let’s do it all again next year.




Position Peg                    Angler                  Weight      
 1st Peg 17 Nick Costar (BAG UP) 114lbs 08ozs
 2nd Peg 8 Neil Beard (neilbeard) 107lbs 08ozs
 3rd Peg 25 Alan Loader (al)  78lbs 08ozs
 4th Peg 3 Kevin Pack (Backintheday)  72lbs 08ozs
 5th Peg 14 Ian Carley (CasterBlaster)  70lbs 00ozs
 6th Peg 28 Nick Gilbert  69lbs 00ozs
 7th Peg 32 Roy Gudgeon (Anglingman)  61lbs 14ozs
 8th Peg 35 Jeff Driscoll (Jeff D)  59lbs 06ozs
 9th Peg 16 Greg Andrews (Splitshot1)  53lbs 04ozs
 10th Peg 24 Steve Burgess (Jessebobs)  46lbs 08ozs
 11th Peg 21 Matt Love  45lbs 08ozs
 12th Peg 13 Sven Castle (Svenc)  40lbs 12ozs
 13th Peg 33 Terry Goff (Wily Coyote)  33lbs 12ozs
 14th Peg 36 Clive Pritchard (clive)  33lbs 06ozs
 15th Peg 12 Dai Thomas (Dai Fish)  32lbs 00ozs
 16th  Peg 23 Vince Gould (Vince G)  31lbs 08ozs
 17th Peg 34 Peter Morton (Mugger)  30lbs 04ozs
 18th Peg 27 Richard Pearson (dhl man)  27lbs 12ozs
 19th Peg 2 Andy Hodd (Maver1)  26lbs 08ozs
 20th Peg 6 Mick Pearson (mickthechippy)  20lbs 00ozs
 21st Peg 20 Keith Powell (Keith74)  16lbs 08ozs
 22nd Peg 5 Simon Elsey   7lbs 08ozs
 23rd= Peg 9 Phillip Starkey (Crabpellet)       DNW
 23rd= Peg 30 Keith Driscoll (Disco)       DNW









Saturday, 5 September 2009

Private Lake, East Sussex. September 5th, 2009.


Marsh AC club match.
untitled.jpg picture by pnm123
Down to a Private Lake in East Sussex today for a Marsh AC club match. This isn’t really an official club match, but Dave managed to get a booking and felt that some of the members might enjoy the chance to have a days fishing there. We’re expecting 16 of us to be fishing, including 5 guests. The Lake is a prolific fishery with a large head of Carp that’s well capable of throwing up some very good weights . However the weather leading up to the match has been very changeable so just how it’ll fish today is anyone's guess.

Looking out through the bedroom window it looked like we were in for a decent day weather wise and I soon had the car loaded. A quick stop for a bit of breakfast on the way and I was pulling into the fishery car park just after 8am. A good number had arrived before me including the guests. Keith & Mick had come down from Milton Keynes, Bill and Clive had joined us as well for the day and Al arrived in the nick of time as usual.

Dave, in his usual efficient manner, soon had the monies collected and the draw under way. Keith drew Peg 1 and Bill couldn’t disguise his delight at drawing Peg 4 in the other corner. I found myself holding Peg 12, up on the right hand bank with Terry on Peg 11 and Tony on Peg 13 for company today.

Reaching the peg I realised that I’d fished it once before, and caught bugger all off it, but that had been in the depths of winter, so hopefully today would prove to be better.
a1-7.jpg My Peg. picture by pnm123
So down to business and get set up for the day. I set up a couple of Malman 4X12 Adam’s on 0·18 Power Match with size 16 Drennan Carp hooks to fish pellet and corn as well as a small Malman SC Paste float on 0·20 Power Match with a size 12 Ashima Barbless hook. I also set up a Malman Slapper on 0·18 Power Match with a size 16 Drennan carp match hook for up in the water and to double up down the margins. Todays bait was various pellets, paste and corn with 6mm pellets for feed.

With a few minutes before the All-In I strolled down to see Tony who appeared to be covering all the options with half a dozen top kits set up……

a2-8.jpg Tony, ready for the All-In. picture by pnm123
Keith and Mick appeared deep in thought, Keith no doubt wondering if he was going to get the better of Mick today, as Mick has developed the happy knack (for him) of beating Keith when they fish together ……
a3-8.jpg Keith and Mick. picture by pnm123
So at 10am Dave blew the whistle for the All-In I shipped out a pot of mixed pellets and corn to the 8mtr line and some fed by hand into the margins, but before I could ship my rig out I could see both Bill and Colin into fish straight away !!!! Anyway out with the rig with an 8mm banded pellet A bit of lifting and dropping of the rig soon saw the float slide away and I soon had my first fish of the day, a nice plump Common of around 4lbs safely in the net.

Looking across Jim had an early fish on the feeder to get him off the mark and so had young Zack……

a6-7.jpg Zack and Jim. picture by pnm123
Word had filtered round that Chris had got himself a decent Tench, and that Clive had found a couple of fish as well to get him off the mark. I’d taken another couple of Carp before I lost a fourth when the rig line parted for no apparent reason, it hadn’t parted at a knot or where any of the stotz had been applied. Anyway back out with another rig and I was soon into a fish once more, this one being a better sized Mirror that must have been around 7lbs. So with about an hour gone I reckoned I had about 20lbs and felt things looked good for the rest of the match.
a23-3.jpg Peter. picture by pnm123
Tony had taken 3 fish by now (“1 about a foot deep, 1 at around 3ft and another on the drop” ) while Terry to my right had 5 in the net ……
a5-8.jpg Terry Goff. picture by pnm123
In the next half hour I managed just one more fish, a Common around 5lbs, but it was noticeable that sport had slowed all round the lake apart from Peg 15 that is, as Al seemed to be the only one catching regularly. I decided to re feed quite heavily to see if I could draw some fish, and took a stroll with the camera.

Indeed Martin on peg 10 hadn’t even had a bite and was at a loss to explain why, while Terry seemed to have a re-occurrence of a problem he’d suffered with here before, in that he was losing 50% of the fish he hooked for no apparent reason. Chris was concentrating on the end of the bush in the right hand margin of his swim but was only admitting to 4 fish in his nets ……

a14-8.jpg Chris fishes his margin. picture by pnm123
Clive had resorted to casting a straight lead to the island, and as I arrived he was playing a Common that was giving a good account of itself, but was soon safely in the net ……
a13-8.jpg Clive with a Carp on the lead. picture by pnm123
Colin was fishing his favourite paste down the right hand margin, but despite a decent start was now biteless ……
a18-5.jpg Colin feeds the margin. picture by pnm123
Bill tucked away in the corner had started off like a house on fire, his first two put in’s having resulted in a couple of doubles, which had swiftly been followed by a couple of smaller fish, but he was struggling to and had resorted to fishing hard up to the reeds to try and tempt a bite from fish that could be seen moving in them ……
a16-7.jpg Bill. picture by pnm123
Indeed the tactic seemed to have worked for him, because as I reached Jim’s peg I looked back just in time to see him playing a fish ……
a12-8.jpg A bit of an elastic puller. picture by pnm123
Keith on Peg 1 was another having a bit of a frustrating time having been told he’d drawn one of the favoured swims. He’d managed a double early on followed by another couple of smaller fish, but was now struggling for a bite……
a19-3.jpg Keith takes a look down his margin. picture by pnm123
Al however was now putting a steady run of fish together, though he reckoned they were mainly small ones, but at least he was catching regularly ……
a20-3.jpg Another comes to the net for Al. picture by pnm123
I wish I could say that things improved from that point on, but I would be lying if I did. It was as if someone or something had switched the lake off with only the very occasional fish coming out in the next 4 hours. I had one more bite at around 3 pm which produced another Carp, but that was it for me. In fact there was a communal sigh of relief at 4pm when Dave sounded the All-Out to put us out of our collective misery.

As we packed away, the inquest on the days events started, with everyone scratching their heads and at a loss to explain just why the lake had appeared to have switched off, not that anyone could come up with a convincing answer though.

So to the Weigh-In, Keith kicked things off with a hard earned 30¾lbs, and just a single fish for both Zack and Jim. Bill registered 40¾lbs and was immediately overtaken by Colin with 42½lbs. Dave had just 2 fish while Simon managed 20½lbs. Clive managed 45¼lbs for the lead at that point, meaning that Bill had to part with a Golden Nugget and Chris recorded a level 31lbs. Round to the opposite bank where Martin had dry netted. Terry’s seven fish came to 36¼lbs leaving him regretting those lost fish. My six fish totalled 29½lbs while Tony’s six came to 26½lbs. Mick’s fish weighed in at 20¼lbs meaning that Keith had done him for once today. Al was home and dry with his first keepnet and eventually recorded an even 122lbs for a very comfortable win on the day, and was also the last to weigh as unfortunately Graham had dry netted as well.

So back to the car park. Congratulations to Al and a lot of head scratching all round, as none of us had experienced a day like that on the lake before and were at a loss to explain it. Still it had been another good day in great company and pleasant surroundings, even if the fishing hadn’t been up to expectations. We’ll have to do it all again soon, just a few more fish would be nice though.

 
Position Peg                  Angler                 Weight      
 1st Peg 15 Alan Loader                 (guest) 122lbs 00ozs
 2nd Peg 8 Clive Pritchard             (guest)  45lbs 04ozs
 3rd Peg 5 Colin Sharrard  42lbs 08ozs
 4th Peg 4 Bill Gibbins                 (guest)  40lbs 12ozs
 5th Peg 11 Terry Goff  36lbs 04ozs
 6th Peg 9 Chris Withall  31lbs 00ozs
 7th Peg 1 Keith Ashby                 (guest)  30lbs 12ozs
 8th Peg 12 Peter Morton  29lbs 08ozs
 9th Peg 13 Tony Roberts  26lbs 08ozs
 10th Peg 7 Simon Watkins  20lbs 08ozs
 11th Peg 14 Mick Wright                (guest)  20lbs 04ozs
 12th Peg 6 Dave Collier  10lbs 04ozs
 13th Peg 3 Jim Boase   6lbs 12ozs
 14th Peg 2 Zack Johnson   5lbs 04ozs
 15th= Peg 10 Martin Hucker     DNW
 15th= Peg 16 Graham Manning     DNW