Rolfslake’s night match 25th June 2010.

With lake owner John Bennett starting the first of the 2010 evening/ night  matches the anglers were hoping for a continuation of big weights that followed fron last years matches. The set up for these matches were very simple you drew your peg at 6.30pm and fish 7.30 to half past midnight, with the floodlights being switched on when it got too dark to see your float.

As the anglers gathered at the draw it was actually nice to be able to fish this match  as i was able to finish work on time for a change. With only the big lake in for this first match the anglers were not too fussed where they wanted to draw as long as they were near a floodlight, but that was not a problem as John and Pauline to great expense had got lots of lights to go round the lake.

With the anglers having drawn their pegs there was only one left for me and as i took it out and turned it over peg 23 was my challenge for the night but it was also going to be a challenge for John as he was next to me on flyer peg 22 and he was going to get the usual stick that goes when we fish together. As Paul Jay called all in i returned to my peg got my top kit filled my cup full of bait went to ship out and could not find my number four section which John had said he heard drop in , smelling a rat i could not believe that he continued fishing whilst trying to stop himself from laughing as he had put my number four section inside the number five { nice one John 1 nil to you }. The smile on his face was wiped off 1 minute later as my paste rig settled then buried with a nine pound carp coming out a couple of minutes later. Around the lake the anglers on the carp park bank were all catching with Mark Chard on peg 32 catching more than most but was concious that Neil Riddy on peg 9 was keeping up with him, and for the next couple of hours fish were being caught from all around the lake as the fish were getting confident feeding late into the evening. At around 9.45 just as looking at your float was near impossible John turned on the lights ,and i can tell you it was no different that fishing in the daylight as each swim had its own light except Mark Orchard who had two one for his swim and one pointing directly into my eyes {thanks Mark}. For the rest of the match many carp were caught and many were lost in what was a really enjoyable match under the stars and it is really a challenge playing fish to 19-00 in the dark when you can’t see them .

In first place today was Mark Chard on peg 32 by the hut who had his son for company, and Mark fished the bush to his left just down the first slope ,fishing on the deck using red meat for hookbait. Mark fed fairly heavy to keep the fish in his swim and was rewarded with many fish to double figures in his final weight of 253-04 {well done Mark }. Just to show how many fish were in his peg Mark allowed his son to have a go and in ten minutes caught nearly more than Geoff and John. In second place and giving Mark a good run for his money was Neil Riddy opposite on peg 9 and Neil fished the paste just in front of the bush to his right and again caught big fish in his weight of 229-04. Completing the frame was Wednesdays open  winner Mark Newbold who was amazingly fish just one peg off were he caught his massive weight in midweek. The funny thing Mark told me was that Paul Jay was feeding the bush to his left on peg 28 and Mark would fish to the right of it and steal Paul’s fish from him. After five hours Mark had just kept in front of the chasing pack with his weight of 176-00 and his second pick-up in a week.

After the match the anglers were served a lovely barbeque by Pauline and John helped also by Gemma Doyle which the anglers thoroughly enjoyed and they would like to say thanks to both for a really enjoyable evening.

John will be holding a few more night matches this year so if you would like to experience fishing with a difference please keep an eye out for the next date which will be posted shortly, places are limited due to the number of lights available and the health and safety that is required with so many anglers around the lake.

Results top ten.

Place	Angler	Peg	Weight
1st	Mark Chard	32	253-04	Rolfslake
2nd	Neil Riddy	9	229-04	Rolfslake
3rd	Mark Newbold	29	176-00	Rolfslake
4th	Chris Lovelock	10	174-08	Rolfslake
5th	Dave Whiteman	26	163-08	Hydro 200
6th	Eddie Taylor-Green	23	156-08	Rolfslake / Walker Floats
7th	Richard Doolan	16	134-12	Rolfslake
8th	John Bennett	22	121-00	Rolfslake
9th	Geoff Edwards	31	100-04	Reading Angling Centre
10th	Paul Jay	28	99-08	Rolfslake

Until our next report tight lines Simon and Eddie.

P.S the score between me and John Bennett now stands at John 4 Eddie 6 after being 4-1 down ,and now my X4 paste is now starting to work watch this score increase.