Maggotdrowning.com
Fund Raiser
Something a little different this Saturday as I was off down to Rolfs Lake where Malc The Jinx Doyle had organised a Fund Raiser to help with the hosting costs of the Maggotdrowning.com website. All 38 pegs are going to be in use as this was over subscribed within a few days of it being announced. I wouldn’t be fishing, just roving the bank with my camera to record the events of the day as with quite a few Rolfs novices in attendance there should be more than a few laughs and shocks along the way.
Looking out of the window it was obvious that the forecast for the warmest day of the year was right for once, and with no fishing kit to load in the car, just a few raffle prizes along with the camera, a leisurely cup of coffee was enjoyed while I fed our 3 cats before setting off via Battersea for a spot of breakfast. With that taken care of I was back on the road, arriving at Rolf’s around 9·15am.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the car park so full, hardly surprising as there were 36 anglers who actually made it to Rolfs on the day. Malc even appeared to be organised for a change sorting out the draw ……
Looking out of the window it was obvious that the forecast for the warmest day of the year was right for once, and with no fishing kit to load in the car, just a few raffle prizes along with the camera, a leisurely cup of coffee was enjoyed while I fed our 3 cats before setting off via Battersea for a spot of breakfast. With that taken care of I was back on the road, arriving at Rolf’s around 9·15am.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the car park so full, hardly surprising as there were 36 anglers who actually made it to Rolfs on the day. Malc even appeared to be organised for a change sorting out the draw ……
with raffle tickets being sold along with the ‘Guess the Weight’ sweep-stake. Lots of banter with faces old and new ensued as draw time approached ……
All to soon it was under way, accompanied by moans , groans, smiles and all other manner of reactions as people made their way to their allotted pegs.
I made my way round to help John & Pauline sort out the nets for all the anglers, while chatting with a few about the prospects of their various pegs. How would it fish? Nobody knew as Rolfs doesn’t ever see Matches with so many pegs in use.
The All-In was sounded at 11·15am as I made my way round the motorway bank. Steve Wilson was already doing battle on peg 14 with what was obviously a good carp, unfortunately it appeared to snag him under his nets, and we both thought it had shed the hook when a good fish surfaced by them and swam off. Steve started to retrieve his net to extract the hook when he realised that the fish was still attached, and after resuming the battle soon had it safely in the landing net, an obvious weigher, it went 16lbs, a great start to Steve’s day……
The All-In was sounded at 11·15am as I made my way round the motorway bank. Steve Wilson was already doing battle on peg 14 with what was obviously a good carp, unfortunately it appeared to snag him under his nets, and we both thought it had shed the hook when a good fish surfaced by them and swam off. Steve started to retrieve his net to extract the hook when he realised that the fish was still attached, and after resuming the battle soon had it safely in the landing net, an obvious weigher, it went 16lbs, a great start to Steve’s day……
Down to peg 13 and Neil Riddy remarked that he’d had a couple of early bites with nothing to show for them, when his float slid away once more, This time he connected but was convinced it was a bream, till it surfaced, Carp !!!!! but after a short battle it was in the net getting him off the mark ……
Over on peg 32 Mark Gilbert had his elastic stretched for him before it snapped back into his pole and the hook came back with a scale on it, and as Neil remarked “Nobody likes to see that ” though that may just have been a bit tongue in cheek.
Things appeared to be hotting up on the car park bank to, as I could see Pete (crayfishtraps) was well into a fish, though it was certainly giving a good account of itself on his Black Hydro ……
Things appeared to be hotting up on the car park bank to, as I could see Pete (crayfishtraps) was well into a fish, though it was certainly giving a good account of itself on his Black Hydro ……
A chilling sound was soon to be heard however as a scream of “YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!” reverberated round the lake, Gem (THE MINX) on peg 21 was off the mark and searching for victims to add to her list, not a big fish at around 7lbs, but good enough to start with and put the fear of failure in many a heart ……
Making my way round to the car park bank I could see Keith 74 was into a decent fish, however he was having a bit of trouble controlling it especially when it went through peg 26 and collected Len Wade’s rig as well. Who was playing who? or was the fish playing with both of them?……
Fortunately Len’s rig came loose and it was a very relieved Keith who finally bundled the fish into a landing net, a weigher that had really made him work for it ……
Looking around after a while it became obvious that it was just the odd fish coming out. The warm sun had certainly got the fish moving about, but they didn’t appear to be settling, just mooching around, almost as if they were already thinking about spawning. Jean had provided me with a coffee and I was able to have a leisurely look around, a nice change to the view I normally get when fishing myself.
Over on peg 11 Liam (Jinx Jnr) was a picture of concentration as his Dad offered guidance and encouragement ……
Over on peg 11 Liam (Jinx Jnr) was a picture of concentration as his Dad offered guidance and encouragement ……
While Dai next door on peg 10 had that look of fierce concentration that told you that he’d rather not get beaten off the next peg by an eight year old ……
Next to Dai on peg 9 was Chris Lovelock, a good angler who had been more than happy with his draw and hopeful of putting a decent weight together today, unfortunately for Chris though the fish appeared to be having other ideas ……
Al had drawn peg 7, ideal for his favoured long pole approach, however today he had his 3 children with him, Al Jnr , Jenny and Gary who had come along to offer Dad their support ……
and to be fair he had been getting quite a bit of stick from a few of us, having been christened “Daddy Daycare” for the day ……
Next up on peg 7 was Clive looking reasonably happy with his peg, while next along were Ian (Chin) on peg 6 and Geoff on peg 5 ……
Kevin was tucked down in peg 34 with his partner Jean keeping an eye on him, and as I made my way round he was landing what was to prove to be his 2nd fish of the day……
Next up came Martin (Coopster1) having his first go at Rolfs and a little unlucky to find himself on peg 35, a peg that normally doesn’t get a lot of use ……
Adam (dumdum) was another of those on his 1st visit, and while peg 36 had a bit more form, he wouldn’t have found to many wanting to fight him for it today ……
Meanwhile on peg 37 Budgie already had the look of a man resigned to his fate, it’s not a peg he fancied and he already felt that he was just going through the motions ……
Mitch had already set out his stall to attack the margins on peg 38, a plan that if it came off could reap big dividends, but could also backfire on him ……
Down on peg 40 Dave could be found in splendid isolation as with neither peg 39 or peg 1 being drawn he had plenty of water to go at, it just needed the fish to co-operate…
Tucked away right in the corner on peg 3, and trying to get to grips with match fishing I found Steve Preston (Luckyluca) ……
While sat on peg 2 was his son Joshua who had come along to fish his first ever match and it has to be said that it looked like Dad was in serious danger of receiving a battering from his lad as Josh was 2-1 up on him and playing another fish as I passed by ……
Simon (Simple) was having a bit of a struggle on peg 4, with just a single fish and fearing the worst knowing that girlfriend Gem had caught, but I seemed to bring him a bit of luck (a Mugger Moment©) as he was soon into another carp which was obviously happy to pose for the camera ……
Carrying on round for another lap of the lake Geoff seemed happy enough with his lot, with a couple of fish already in the net being enough for him to be happy that he’d not blanked ……
Peg 7 and shock horror, I found Clive not only fishing LONG but SHALLOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those that know Clive will truly appreciate the rarity of this event ……
Al in truth was having a bit of a mare on peg 8, which wasn’t helped by people reminding him that the peg had won the match on Wednesday with the 1st 300lb weight of the year and having to keep an eye on his 3 kids, however he did manage to land one while I was there……
and was happy enough to pose for a photo to cheer himself up a bit ……
As I approached Dai’s peg I could hear a fair bit of splashing and arrived just in time to witness Dai sliding the net under what was obviously a good double ……
which I was only to happy to weigh it for him, and it was good to see his smile as I returned with the fish and the news that it weighed 15¼lbs.
Liam was sticking at it, and by now had 3 carp to show for his efforts, despite feeling tired after being dragged out of bed at 5am for the trip up with his Dad ……
Liam was sticking at it, and by now had 3 carp to show for his efforts, despite feeling tired after being dragged out of bed at 5am for the trip up with his Dad ……
Neil was swapping between various lines trying to find what they wanted, you could see the fish cruising, getting them interested was another thing however ……
The rest of the motorway bank seemed to be fairing no better although fish could be seen in the area ……
Steve was struggling follow up his good start, while Scott, Chris E and Tricky only had the 1 fish each, something that Rod Rose (Isis) on peg 18 would have happily settled for at that point ……
Royst was working hard on peg 19 with 2 fish to show for his efforts, while Mark on peg 20 was still to get off to any sort of start. Gem however had a smile as she knew that she already had more than a few running scared at the prospect of being added to The Minx List ……
Most of the car park bank were off the mark apart from Jay (nemesis) MarkC and Bazza. It was no fault of Bazza’s however as the poor soul was suffering horribly from what appeared to be food poisoning that was making him be sick at regular intervals.
With the match well into it’s second half I settled down with another coffee (Thanks Jean) for a chat with Kev. He’s one of my Marsh AC club mates and was still stuck on the 2 carp he’d caught earlier. I could see fish in his swim and suggested a few small changes to his approach. With these taken care of and a bit of fine tuning Kev was rewarded with his own Mugger Moment© and soon had carp no3 in the net……
With the match well into it’s second half I settled down with another coffee (Thanks Jean) for a chat with Kev. He’s one of my Marsh AC club mates and was still stuck on the 2 carp he’d caught earlier. I could see fish in his swim and suggested a few small changes to his approach. With these taken care of and a bit of fine tuning Kev was rewarded with his own Mugger Moment© and soon had carp no3 in the net……
In fact he soon got the hang of what was needed and started to pick up fish on a steady basis.
In general though most on the Little Lake were finding sport pretty slow, though looking across I could see that Ian was picking up one or two better fish on peg 6 ……
In general though most on the Little Lake were finding sport pretty slow, though looking across I could see that Ian was picking up one or two better fish on peg 6 ……
The man to beat however appeared to be Clive, who seemed to be getting a better stamp of fish, mind you all fish look big when Clive’s holding them ……
Making my way round for a final time Simon was bemoaning the fact that even his ever reliable get out of jail tactic of a white boilie fished shallow wasn’t producing, however within seconds of me arriving he was in again he was in as carp no 4 made it’s way to the landing net, definitely a Mugger Moment© ……
Strolling round I looked over to see that Kev was in the process of landing another fish, so things had definitely picked up in the later stages for him ……
For the final 25 minutes I sat with Gem to see if I could bring her a little bit of luck, and although she did have a couple of bites, she didn’t manage to connect with either of them.
The All-Out was sounded at 4·15pm with Tricky shouting “Fish On “ and plenty of elastic coming from his top kit indicating it was a good fish, and despite lots of encouragement? he was rewarded with a cracking 17lb+ Common ……
The All-Out was sounded at 4·15pm with Tricky shouting “Fish On “ and plenty of elastic coming from his top kit indicating it was a good fish, and despite lots of encouragement? he was rewarded with a cracking 17lb+ Common ……
While all around were packing up ready for the Weigh-In, Al gave in and let his kids have a little go with his kit, and of course with son Gary fishing down the channel where Al hadn’t had a bite all day the float buried ……
With plenty of onlookers Al did the honours with the landing net, Gary’s reward being a 17¾lb Common, the largest fish from the peg all day,
I told Al he should have let his kids fish ……
On to the Weigh-In, Kevin (peg34) set the mark with 53¼lbs to win A Section. Ian (peg6) put 65¾lbs on the scales which would give him 3rd place overall but Clive (peg7) weighed in 88½lbs to take the spoils in B Section and the overall win on the day.
Liam recorded 20¾lbs to take a few scalps while Neil (peg13) weighed 67¼lbs to take C Section and 2nd overall. Tricky’s last minute carp gave him a total of 33¾lbs for the win in D Section, while Pete (crayfishtraps) took E Section with 41¼lbs. Finally Mick (peg30) won F Section with 35lbs 1oz.
Back to the car park and our Hosts, John & Pauline had been working away to get the barbecue ready……
Back to the car park and our Hosts, John & Pauline had been working away to get the barbecue ready……
and once everyone had been fed it was time to announce the results, and pay out the Section Winners……………
Kevin……………………………..Clive…………………………………Neil
Tricky………………………..Pete………………………..Godber
Gem The Minx
This was followed up by a raffle of donated prizes, and I have to say that people were more than generous with prizes. It seemed to take an absolute age to get through and if someone missed out I can only suggest that they give up buying raffle tickets.
Just a small part of the prizes on offer.
Another Big Thank You to John & Pauline for allowing us the use of Rolfs Lake for the day.
Finally a Very Big Thank You to All who attended and raised the money,
it’s really heartening to see your Support for which I know Dave is very grateful.
Individual Result
| Position |
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| 1st | Peg 7 | Clive Pritchard | 88lbs 08ozs |
| 2nd | Peg 13 | Neil Riddy | 67lbs 04ozs |
| 3rd | Peg 6 | Ian Ward (chin) | 65lbs 12ozs |
| 4th | Peg 9 | Chris Lovelock | 60lbs 08ozs |
| 5th | Peg 8 | Al Loader | 60lbs 04ozs |
| 6th | Peg 34 | Kevin Loveland | 53lbs 12ozs |
| 7th | Peg 23 | Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps) | 41lbs 04ozs |
| 8th | Peg 25 | Keith Powell (Keith74) | 40lbs 14ozs |
| 9th | Peg 35 | Martin Cannon(coopster1) | 37lbs 00ozs |
| 10th | Peg 30 | Mick Godber | 35lbs 01ozs |
| 11th | Peg 4 | Simon Mound (Simple) | 34lbs 00ozs |
| 12th | Peg 17 | Richard East (Tricky) | 33lbs 12ozs |
| 13th | Peg 5 | Geoff Palmer | 32lbs 00ozs |
| 14th | Peg 14 | Steve Wilson | 30lbs 08ozs |
| 15th | Peg 21 | Gem Doyle (THE MINX) | 29lbs 09ozs |
| 16th | Peg 36 | Adam Daniells (dumdum) | 29lbs 08ozs |
| 17th | Peg 2 | Joshua Preston | 26lbs 12ozs |
| 18th | Peg 32 | Mark Gilbert | 26lbs 02ozs |
| 19th | Peg 38 | Mitch Auger (mitch-fish) | 21lbs 12ozs |
| 20th | Peg 11 | Liam Doyle (JINX JNR) | 20lbs 12ozs |
| 21st= | Peg 10 | Dai Thomas (dai-fish) | 20lbs 00ozs |
| 21st= | Peg 19 | Roy Ravenhill (royst) | 20lbs 00ozs |
| 23rd | Peg 22 | Dave Enderby (Dave52) | 19lbs 00ozs |
| 24th | Peg 40 | Dave Collier (dave the fish) | 16lbs 00ozs |
| 25th | Peg 37 | Marcus Burgess (Budgie65) | 12lbs 04ozs |
| 26th | Peg 16 | Chris Evans (Chris E) | 11lbs 12ozs |
| 27th | Peg 27 | Terry Pearce (Auto) | 9lbs 12ozs |
| 28th | Peg 26 | Doug Heathcote (Len Wade) | 9lbs 04ozs |
| 29th | Peg 15 | Scott Weston (methodgob) | 8lbs 00ozs |
| 30th | Peg 29 | Tony Roberts (spamwham) | 7lbs 04ozs |
| 31st | Peg 3 | Steve Preston (luckyluca) | 5lbs 01ozs |
| 32nd | Peg 18 | Rod Rose (ISIS) | 0lbs 08ozs |
| 33rd= | Peg 31 | Mark Causer (MarkC) |
DNW
|
| 33rd= | Peg 20 | Mark Barrett (Mark B) |
DNW
|
| 33rd= | Peg 24 | Bazza Cullen (Bazza C) |
DNW
|
| 33rd= | Peg 28 | Jay Tucker (nemesis) |
DNW
|
Section Results
| ||
| Section A | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 34 | Kevin Loveland | 53lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 35 | Martin Cannon(coopster1) | 37lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 36 | Adam Daniells (dumdum) | 29lbs 08ozs |
| Peg 38 | Mitch Auger (mitch-fish) | 21lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 40 | Dave Collier (dave the fish) | 16lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 37 | Marcus Burgess (Budgie) | 12lbs 04ozs |
| Section B | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 7 | Clive Pritchard | 88lbs 08ozs |
| Peg 6 | Ian Ward (chin) | 65lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 4 | Simon Mound (Simple) | 34lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 5 | Geoff Palmer | 32lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 2 | Joshua Preston | 26lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 3 | Steve Preston (luckyluca) | 5lbs 01ozs |
| Section C | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 13 | Neil Riddy | 67lbs 04ozs |
| Peg 9 | Chris Lovelock | 60lbs 08ozs |
| Peg 8 | Al Loader | 60lbs 04ozs |
| Peg 14 | Steve Wilson | 30lbs 08ozs |
| Peg 11 | Liam Doyle (JINX JNR) | 20lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 10 | Dai Thomas (dai-fish) | 20lbs 00ozs |
| Section D | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 17 | Richard East (Tricky) | 33lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 19 | Roy Ravenhill (royst) | 20lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 16 | Chris Evans (Chris E) | 11lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 15 | Scott Weston (methodgob) | 8lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 18 | Rod Rose (ISIS) | 0lbs 08ozs |
| Peg 20 | Mark Barrett (Mark B) |
DNW
|
| Section E | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 23 | Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps) | 41lbs 04ozs |
| Peg 25 | Keith Powell (Keith74) | 40lbs 14ozs |
| Peg 21 | Gem Doyle (THE MINX) | 29lbs 09ozs |
| Peg 22 | Dave Enderby (Dave52) | 19lbs 00ozs |
| Peg 26 | Doug Heathcote (Len Wade) | 9lbs 04ozs |
| Peg 24 | Bazza Cullen (Bazza C) |
DNW
|
| Section F | ||
Peg
|
Angler
|
Weight
|
| Peg 30 | Mick Godber | 35lbs 01ozs |
| Peg 32 | Mark Gilbert | 26lbs 02ozs |
| Peg 27 | Terry Pearce (Auto) | 9lbs 12ozs |
| Peg 29 | Tony Roberts (spamwham) | 7lbs 04ozs |
| Peg 31 | Mark Causer (MarkC) |
DNW
|
| Peg 28 | Jay Tucker (nemesis) |
DNW
|
Pairs Result
| Position |
Anglers
|
Points
|
| 1st | Al Loader & Pete Tapp (crayfishtraps) |
12pts
|
| 2nd | Gem Doyle (THE MINX) & Neil Riddy |
17pts
|
| 3rd | Clive Pritchard & Joshua Preston |
18pts
|
| 4th= | Mitch Auger (mitch-fish) & Chris Lovelock |
23pts
|
| 4th= | Martin Cannon(coopster1) & Steve Wilson |
23pts
|
| 4th= | Richard East (Tricky) & Simon Mound (Simple) |
23pts
|
| 7th | Liam Doyle (JINX JNR) & Kevin Loveland |
26pts
|
| 8th | Doug Heathcote (Len Wade) & Ian Ward (chin) |
31pts
|
| 9th | Keith Powell (Keith74) & Terry Pearce (Auto) |
35pts
|
| 10th= | Dave Enderby (Dave52) & Mark Gilbert |
41pts
|
| 10th= | Mick Godber & Steve Preston (luckyluca) |
41pts
|
| 12th | Chris Evans (Chris E) & Adam Daniells (dumdum) |
42pts
|
| 13th | Geoff Palmer & Bazza Cullen (Bazza C) |
46pts
|
| 14th | Tony Roberts (spamwham) & Dai Thomas (dai-fish) |
51pts
|
| 15th | Jay Tucker (nemesis) & Roy Ravenhill (royst) |
57pts
|
| 16th | Mark Causer (MarkC) & Dave Collier (dave the fish) |
60pts
|
| 17th= | Marcus Burgess (Budgie65) & Mark Barrett (Mark B) |
61pts
|
| 17th= | Rod Rose (ISIS) & Scott Weston (methodgob) |
61pts
|
