Author: Eddie

 On arriving at the lake today you could of been forgive to think you had turned up for an open in the summer as there were 17 anglers and 4 pleasure anglers at the lake making for a very cosy day. The great thing about big turnouts is that we get to use both parts of the lake and as the pleasure anglers were already catching the omens were good.

With the weather starting off sunny with a gentle breeze but still fairly cold ,colder than last Sunday the anglers were hoping that the good weights  from last Sunday continued but in todays match it fished very different. The pegs the anglers wanted were end pegs 2, 18, 22 and with the draw being called there was a rush to the bag but the 3 most wanted pegs went to Geoff Edwards who had drawn peg 22, Mick Chappel had drawn peg 18 and John Daper amazingly had not drawn peg 9 but this time peg 2 on the far bank of the small lake.

The story of the lake as i was hidden on peg 5 in the small lake was the fishing in the big lake was much better than the small lake with many carp caught and in total there were 71 carp caught for 735lb at an average of 10.35lb per fish which was incredible for this time of year, and there were fish caught today any specimen carp angler would of been proud of with many carp caught between 10 and 20lb but not many stamp 5lb ders so strong gear was the order of the day. Even John Draper on peg 2 managed to smash a top 3 which went down to the bottom of the lake so 1- nil to the carp.

Today's winner Geoff Edwards and nearly king of the lake.

In first place today was Geoff Edwards ,who was fishing corner peg 22 in the big lake and Geoff was fishing the bush by peg 20 using corn hookbait feeding micro pellet fishing on the deck. Geoff was flying for the first 4 hours catching and losing loads of fish and the lake king was within his grasp but a very poor last hour put paid to that dream, but he still ended up with a great winter weight of 169-04 which conprised of some very big fish to nearly 20lb but due to a flat camera battery i did not get that shot but very well done Geoff you at least get peg king for peg 22.

The hottest swim on the lake peg 22.

Two ton weights in a week for inform angler Pete Arnold.

In second place was Pete Arnold who was fishing hot winter peg 24 on the car park bank, and today Pete opted to fish the bomb to about midway across the lake using a combination of corn and meat hook baits to catch his 13 carp which like Geoff’s went to close to 20lb and in the end was only 3 big carp behind first place with his weight of 130-12. Completing the frame was Stuart Yeomans on peg 14 and after catching 1 fish on the pole swapped to the bomb and caught more carp for a weight of 87-08.

Some more monster fish from todays match.

Dangerous Dave with a 18lb mirror from peg 10.

Graham Ridgley with a 14lb mirror from peg 13.

Wez with a 17lb common from peg 26.

Paul Jay with a 19lb common from peg 9 .

Results

17 Anglers Fished

John  2

Eddie 0

Thanks for reading Eddie, Simon and John

Firstly may I wish all our visitors a Happy New Year and a big thank you to Simon and John for keeping all our visitors up to date with all the results and news down the lake.

As I drove down to the lake it was a glorious day with bright sunshine and no wind and by the time I arrived 20 minutes later it was cold ,it was windy and I was greeted with my usual Rolfslake banter so at least the year started as the last one ended. Today it was decided to have a walk off and with John having the first choice he claimed peg 19 in the big lake as it had the wind to his back making it a little bit more comfortable. Second was John Draper who chose peg 9 , Graham then chose peg 16 and Neil was on form peg 24. When my turn came I chose peg 3 in the small lake only to be told i had to fish the big lake as John had missed me so much he wanted to keep an eye on me and keep me in shouting range but I was unhappy with the late rule change, the other two anglers had chosen pegs 14 and 26 so we were set for a cold 5 hours.

The big news in today’s match happened in the third hour as the skies turned black and Graham on peg 16 went off to get his umbrella and on returning put it up and left his box to stake the brolly down only for a gust of wind to blow the umbrella into the lake together with his box which was attached, he was definitely not happy { unlucky Graham } but a lesson for us all.

Today winner John Draper.

In first place today was John Draper who was fishing end peg 9 just in the junction between the big and small lake, and John fished to the end of the bush to his right at a range of 10 metres. John fished on the deck using corn hook bait and was rewarded with fish to double figures although he managed to lose a few big carp as well  but after five hours returned a weight of 72-04 for a win and also take Mick Jones king of the lake which lasted for only 3 days { unlucky Mick }.

Second place Neil Riddy.

In second place was Neil Riddy who fished the tip today at about midway across the lake using popped up marshmallow at a depth of one inch to two feet and was into a fish after 10 minute but found it difficult to line up the fish and again like Dave managed to lose a couple but ended up with 4 carp for 33-00 and only four ounces ahead of John Bennett who ended up third with 32-12 for third place.

Just a couple of small Perch from peg 13.

After being forced to fish the big lake I chose peg 13 on the motorway bank, and god I have never felt so cold being in the shade with the strong wind swirling and making fishing the long line near impossible as it kept gusting one way then the other.

After about half an hour I decided I had enough of struggling with the long pole so decided to go after Mick Jones top silver weight this year of 17-00 and though I would fish maggots on my 3 metre whip to keep me busy { wrong decision }. My first bite was a roach of 4 ounces and I thought great this should be easy, but my next bite the float slipped away and when I struck it all went solid and a carp was on and after a couple of minutes the hook pulled and I was cursing to myself. Next bite was rewarded with another roach and then the float sailed away again and I struck and what surfaced was a perch of 3 and a half pound and being on the whip I could not get it under control and it broke me. The remainder of the match saw me catch perch and roach but not fast enough and I ended up catching 15-00 of perch and Mick’s top silver weight was safe until the weekend.

After only 4 days of the new year I have already fallen a point behind in my 2012 battle with John Bennett.

JOHN 1

EDDIE 0

Results

8 Anglers Fished

Thanks for reading Simon, John and Eddie.