I must admit I hadn’t been looking forward to this match, as
the venue has been very patchy, with some pegs seemingly devoid of fish. I was on a work Xmas do in Exeter the night
before, so left that early to catch the last train home and be in a fit state
to fish, although I’m not convinced that leaving a good night out, to endure a
torrid match, was such a good idea.
Thankfully no driving for me, as Tim Clark was once again
filling one of the vacant spaces, we stopped at Cannards for breakfast and I
did feel ripped off at paying £15 for two breakfasts that were missing hash
browns and tinned tomatoes, the fried bread was inedible and the final gripe,
is that the sausages are usually good quality, not today, they were like the
Asda smart price ones we use as dog treats……
So a bad start to the day, worsened when I drew peg 33, I
couldn’t refer to the previous form of the peg as this was the first time it
was in, several absentees forcing Mark Poppleton’s hand, in repegging to try
and ensure there were no huge gaps. I
would normally strongly disagree with altering pegging during a series, but I
have a lot of sympathy with him in this case and feel it was the best option.
The pegs either side of 33 had little form from the previous
rounds and with 38 being taken by Mike Nicholls and 37 by Ash Tomkins, I
thought that it would take a miracle to get anything from this, as I needed a
section win to have any hope of scraping into the final payout places. Chauffeur Tim drew 31 next to me and was
busily scrounging bait, as one of the no shows had agreed to bring his bait.
I set up a rod with the smallest size pellet feeder on and
then 4 topkits, one for down the edge, which I didn’t hold out too much hope
for, one for maggot down the track, one for meat at the bottom of the far shelf
and a rig for up the shelf, although opposite me the island has collapsed into
the lake. This meant that the area I
could get to along the far shelf varied wildly in depth from 4” to 3’, I found
an area that had about a foot or so of
constant 2’ depth and picked that as the area to fish.
I managed the odd tiny roach from here and then one small
carp, before holding 16m for no reward got too much, a look down the track
produced another tiny roach, but even they weren’t exactly prolific. Then a
foul hooker about 5lb, but I reckon he was a loner, as no further indications
were forthcoming. The pellet feeder did
not produce a bite, apart from one tiny roach when I tried live maggot under
the micro’s.
By now I was becoming fed up of watching Ash’s elastic
coming out, Mike Nicholls had a few and peg 35 was also getting some fish,
whereas myself and those to my left were struggling to get a bite. I had a short walk up to peg 28 and put the
kiss of death on Tony (Rixon) as I saw two bites whilst stood with him, before
his peg also died completely.
I went back and tried again, this time starting up a new
line and very frugally feeding 4mm meat, this produced one bite only, an F1
around the 2lb mark. With ¾ of an hour to go, with me on two carp and an F1 and
Tim struggling, we decided enough was enough and packed up. Whilst packing up I had underhanded the
pellet feeder into the margin, that had been totally unproductive on the pole
and it went round, another carp netted, but as I was so far behind the other
end of the section, there was no chance of a late flurry and comeback. The fish went back, all my gear was packed
away tidily, in the dry and we headed off to the garage for a Costa Coffee.
No idea of the results, but well done to
those who triumphed in the league, thanks to Mark and Nick for running it,
running a series is a thankless task I am well aware of. I must admit, the way I feel at the moment I
wouldn’t be rushing back to fish it again, unless the league is earlier in the
year.
Next match up for me will be an open on Avalon on 4th
January, as I am working flat out over Xmas and New Year, hope to get a good
result to christen my new Octbox on its first outing. Contact Tony Rixon to book in for that one.
So whilst it’s Bah Humbug really, I will wish anyone who has
got this far down my drivel, Merry Xmas
and a Happy New Year.
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