THE THICKNESS OF THE ICE IS  NOT REALY A PROBLEM AS REGUARDS THE SPRING PAIRS MATCH AS WE HAVE BROKEN ICE IN MUCH COLDER CONDITIONS.

,HOWEVER WITH THE FORCAST OF SNOW DEPENDING ON WHICH WEATHER REPORT YOU LOOK AT, WITH A POSSIBLE 5 INCHES OR MORE I HAVE TO CONSIDER TRAVELLING CONDITIONS, I WOULD NOT LIKE TO PUT ANYBODY IN AN UNSAFE SITUATION, SO KEEPING A LOOK ON THE WEATHER REPORTS I WILL MAKE A DECISION BY 5-30 TOMORROW.

I WILL HOLD AN OPEN ON THE LAKE FOR THE INTREPID ( OR DAFT) ANGLERS WHO ARE DETERMINED TO GET OUT

Today was the eagerly awaited pairs series based on 6 matches with you been able to drop your worst result.

I was very much looking forward to this as I have practically been in hibernation since I arrived back from Whiteacres last October. There were 9 other pairs fishing and on paper they all  looked very strong teams so the competition was going to be good along with plenty of banter.

John Bennett conducted the draw for the sections we were going to fish, unbelievably the first 8 pairs all drew A section with only the last pair breaking the sequence of A section draws.

Once the draw for the sections was done, we were on for drawing our pegs for the day. The fancied pegs in A section went to Paul Bennett, Paul Jay and Mick Chappell. I was personally in B section and having fished the section the day before without a lot of success, I was secretly hoping I would of avoided, even more when I drew peg 22 as I had struggled off 18 before

Conditions wise the lake was like a mill pond, well this was until Steve Waters plumbed up the depth and caught a carp on a bare hook. Solid springs to mind. Typical Steve Waters peg then !!!!

With the match kicking off at 10.45, Mark Newbold on peg 26 was running to the weigh station at 10.46 with his first carp. Looking round the lake it looked like the fish were having a bit of a feed as most people seemed to be catching except the guys between 17 and 23 who sat looking at motionless tips or floats.

Come the final whistle the carp had moved to our end of the lake but it was all to late. Mick Chappel on peg 13 was rumoured to have caught well plus Andy on peg 10 next to him. Come the weigh in Mick Chappel was confirmed as the winner catching mainly on banded pellet or corn over micro pellet. Andy next to him on peg 10 was only one fish behind him again catching on corn over pellet.

Overall the battle for B section was won by Mark Newbold on peg 26 fishing 14m fishing double corn over pellet. This was also enough to ensure his team were top pairs on the day with 17 points.

With the next match this coming Sunday, the teams at the top will be looking to consolidate there lead and the ones at the bottom will be looking for an improved performance, However with Baltic conditions forecast, anything can happen !!!

Lastly on the behalf of all the anglers at Rolfs, I would like to wish Phil Powell a speedy recovery and we will look forward to seeing you back on the bank soon.

(Report by Pat Pritchard)

Results….

9 Anglers Fished

On the first round the pairs will draw for A or B and then A section  will draw from the following pegs. 31  34 THE NEXT PEG IS EITHER 36 37 OR 38 WE HAVE NOT TOTALY DECIDED ON THIS ONE YET, THEN PEG 2 this peg will relie on the anglers integrity with the weighing of big fish,The next pegs are 4  7  8  9  10 13.

B section will then draw from the following pegs,  14  15  17  18  22  23 25  26  28  29 ..

Payouts..on day one we will be one team short mick lane and phil powell are unable to attend so will drop this match from the series ( that will be 2 flyers left for us mere mortals to draw)  Team money round 1 is as follows 1st team £82 2nd £72 3rd £62.

with 20 anglers the payout will be 1st team £90 2nd £80 3rd £70.

with 20 anglers fishing the final money payout will be 1st £150 2nd £135 3rd £115. at the end of the 6 match series

I MUST APOLOGISE TO JOHN DRAPER WHO HAS ALREADY HAS DONE ALL THE PAPER WORK FOR THE PREVIOUS FORMAT, WE WILL KEEP THAT ON FILE SHOULD WE DECIDE TO DO SOMTHING OF THE SAME IN THE FUTURE.

I think Andy Rayment cant make the first match i dont know if his partner Mark Newblold can get a partner or not it would make it a lot easier if he could please let me know.

THERE IS AN OPEN MATCH ON SATURDAY IF ANYBODY WANTS A PRACTICE ETC.

2nd peg 19 Kev Doulton 47lb-8ozs

3rd peg 24 John Bennett 46lb-0

4th peg 26 Mick Chapple 28lb-8ozs

5th peg 14 John Draper 18lb-4ozs

1st Peg 24 john bennett 93 lb-12ozs

2nd peg 14 jeff edwards 77lb-0ozs

3rd peg 16 dave whiteman-65lb-0ozs

4th peg 13 mick chapple 52lb-0ozs

5th peg 18 paul jay 38lb-0

6th peg john draper 28lb-12ozs

7th peg 30 kev doulton 23lb-4ozs

8th peg 28 jon walker 22lb-12ozs

OPEN MATCH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY DRAW 9-30 FISH 10-30-3-30

Last year was a very difficult and challenging time , the extreme temperatures and icy conditions at the start of the year was the forerunner of what was to come, fluctuating  weather patterns played a part right through out the year effecting fishing, also the unseasonal high temperatures later on did not help the fishing and even today with the unusual high temperatures are unreal.

we have opens on Wednesday and Saturday and Sunday this week so we look forward to seeing you, if not on these matches in the new year,So for now we wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas

2ND GRAHAM RIDGLEY PEG 32 48LB-8OZS

3RD JOHN BENNETT PEG 14 43LB 4OZS

4TH NEIL RIDDY PEG 13 34LB 8OZS