Disappointment all around the pool at an out of sorts Lodge Lane for our latest match. For all those who did not attend, you missed nothing, nuff said.
The result was easier to predict if only Guy could wrestle the carp out of the reed bed on peg 1, or did he actually even need to catch them, as the catch rates were so low elsewhere around the pool. Si Garbett had enough and put his catch back in – packing up early to register a DNW. Simon Harris on the other hand hooked 21 carp and landed only 8 of them, believing them to be foul-hooked. Where did Mickey get his fish from? Did Ted 😎drop them off Mickey? Was that what you were laughing about? 🤣
We weighed in a total of 133lb at this match. We’re back on here in a months time, it has got to be better than this.
Due to a later than normal start time (venue gates open at 8:00) we drew pegs online again using Zoom meetings. This enabled everyone to get to their pegs once allowed on site.
Anyone who knows the pool, will tell you about the other wild life on-site from crayfish to snakes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ they were all in the pool on Sunday, even Brian of the Pickstone variety made an appearance at this match 🤣.
Once the sandwich order had been devoured, (thanks to the club 👍) the fishing got going in earnest. With every method being tried to catch the catch rate went through a lean period with the usual carp not cruising the upper layers.
The result was also a bit of a shock when Terry took first place with 80-12 ahead of Guy, who drops points for the first time this season and Dan who really favoured his practice session peg. With only 9lb between the top three, it proved to be a good contest.
Our annual day out trip still went ahead, although a completely different day out from our normal transportation, breakfast, fishing, and beer affair this year due to COVID-19. Even the draw, which was held online via Zoom so that we were organised for the match ahead of us and seemed to go well.
The match was split over two pools, Oak and Laurel and on arrival at our pegs the heavens opened, and it looked likely that it was going to be raining all day. Thanks to a gusting wind the rain ceased and we were basking in sunshine after a good soaking.
The match was incident filled throughout right until the weigh in! Dan Podmore lost a top 2 of his pole which was swiped out of his grasp by an edge dwelling carp on Laurel. Quite a few of us were having foul hooked fish, as the carp moved up in the water to feed. On Oak, Terry was battling with double figure carp again! The best method of the day was right in the edge and top 2 shallow as by now the carp were in a feeding frenzy.
Guy was stalking fish, in his purpose built ‘hide’ and it was working, ending up with 7 nets in front on him.
Guy’s ‘hide and seek’ method worked a treat!
Dan was having similar success, and they were both filling their nets throughout the entire match. Over on the Oak pool, Simon, Terry and Barry were emptying the pool.
Incident filled right to the weigh in!
As the weigh in progressed around the 2 pools our club record was broken twice on the Oak Pool – with Terry putting 237-0 on the scales and Simon Garbett weighing in 334-14 with the weigh in moving onto the Laurel Pool, first to weigh was Dan who was rumoured to have over 340-0 in his 7 nets, however the first net he pulled out had nothing in it other than a bloody big hole in it, which his catch had used to escape from. Unlucky or what, Dan ended up with 272-8 to beat his previous club record set last season. Ryan, was a guest on the day and weighed in 103-0. As the weigh in arrived at Guy’s peg did he have 7 nets full of fish?
With the wind blowing into the shallows pegs 3 to 6 and 30 to 32 were contentiously favourable draws. Our socially distanced draw took on a new format with angler’s names being drawn followed by their drawn peg, thanks go out to adjudicator Trev, and draw machine Mickey for keeping an orderly draw.
So Guy did it again! He weighed in 152-8 to take 1st place in the frame from peg 3 which makes him the first member of the done a ton club this season, well done mate. It was good to watch 👀.
He finished ahead of Terry who put 80-0 into his nets to take second place on peg 6 Terry included a 15-0 carp 🐬caught on the pole, and so puts him into the running for the biggest individual fish. Simon weighed in with 58-8 to claim third place from peg 30. We weighed in a total of 632lb at this match.
So our start to the season finally commenced at Broseley, the same venue that we finished off last season with our fund raiser. It was a cloudy, blustery day with the odd rain shower, but generally the weather stayed fine. It was good to see the other club members on the bank, and to see plenty of fish being caught.
Guy weighed in 82-4 to take 1st place in the frame from peg 9 which included 10-0 of silver fish – as if he needed them! He finished ahead of Simon who put 55-4 into his nets to take second place on peg 8. Paul weighed in with 37-0 to claim third place from peg 6. There was also Mickey, Simon and Mel who all finished on 27-8. We weighed in a total of 404lb at this match.
We are pleased to announce that with the recent lifting of restrictions on organised match fishing, we start our season this year at Broseley, Lodge Lane on Saturday 6th June with a draw time of 8:00 AM.
Obviously, I’m sure that you do not need reminding that things will be done differently with regards to social distancing, especially when it comes to paying your fees, drawing pegs, getting to your peg safely and weighing in. These are all important items that have been addressed by our committee in consultation with respective fishery owners, and the new ‘normal’ will be applied to all matches until further notice.
The main thing is that for those that can join us, this is the start of the new season and a chance for us to get match fishing again in a safe manner.
Our match at Monkhall on the Swallow Pool has been re-arranged for 31 October, 2020 (hopefully). Mickey has been working behind the scenes to try and get matches re-arranged where possible. 👍
