Author: Eddie

Winter league series Starts the 7th of November

John Bennett has asked my to remind all competing team captains to confirm their teams to him as soon as possible so he can start preparing for this years winter league.

The target for all the anglers again will be to see if they can beat the invincibles aka Rolfs Team Gold { Lane ,Powell and Bennet } in their quest to win their 10 series in a row. Their team captain Mick Lane told me the secret to their success was to be consistent and ensure that all the team members weigh in, as in previous series there had been good weight from two of the team members from the opposition but a blank would wreck their teams chances.

So all anglers have a great series and give Rolfs Team Gold a run for their money.

Rolfs Team Gold { Powell, Bennett and Lane } the invincibles.

Rolfslake was a tough nut to crack in todays open.

Report to follow.

My day comprised of watching plenty of fish topping out on pegs 21 and 22 but even by fishing the waggler shallow and the bomb the fish were just not interested. I had a few fish fizzing and liners but the fish just did not want to feed properly, and the icing on the cake was after working really hard to get a proper bite and with 5 minutes to go the float buried on my 3 metre line and after playing the fish { which was about 10lb } i was just going to net the fish and the hook pulled and it swam away leaving me one fish short of John Bennetts weight.

The score now between me and John stands at John 11 Eddie 9.

One carp seperates top 4.

After a mad rush form work to get to todays match i was greeted with another top field in todays mid-week open. I have Neil Riddy to thank for my peg 8 draw and another battle with the big carp thank live in this peg { thanks Neil }.

Around the lake the ususal suspects were on the flyers with Derek Hammond on peg 9, John Bennett on form peg 6, Paul Jay on 10, Neil Riddy was on peg 4 and Andy Quarmby on peg 32 by the hut. As the all in was called i was still setting up but no one was flying away so i was not bothered to be starting 20 minutes late.

Spare a thought for Nick Dean on peg 7 as he was not upto speed with my and John Bennetts season battle and also the pirate theme so he was bemused when i showed him the gifts of an eye patch, a pistol a skull necklace and a bag of gold coins left on my empty peg waiting for my arrival. Also Nick had to endure the banter between us for the five hours and also my terrets which was in full flow by the end of the match.

From what i could see the anglers on the car park bank were having the odd few fish with Roy making a few visits to the weigh station so he seemed to be pulling away. It was slow in the small lake with only Nick on 7 really having any success by fishing the bomb over to the rope but only coming back with small carp to 5lb so it was going to take a few to make a good weight.

In first place today was Andy Quarmby on peg 32 who like most started very slow but Andy was still picking off a few fish either fishing shallow long with pellet, 6 metres on the deck or over the bush towards peg 33. Towards the end of the match Andy started to get a few bigger fish on his two short lines and in the end was only one fish ahead of the rest { well done Andy }.

Andy Quarmby and another victory down on the lake.

In second place and on a very good run of drawing pegs { sorry i mean form } was Neil Riddy on peg 4 and Neil was another angler out of view so he was catching without anyone taking notice. Neils main catching line was the margins to his right as he saw fish boiling there and also caught big fish to double figures and after five hours caught 165-14 for another framing weight. Completing the frame was Paul Jay on peg 10 and Paul mainly fished long down the margins to his left using banded pellet feeding heavy and had fish to double figures in his net { sorry on the board } in his weight of 164-14.

Neil Riddy on a roll down on the lake.

The one thing i have noticed in the last few weeks is that the really big fish to 20lb + are really having a go and pushing the small carp of 10lb out of the way and during each match there are at least 40 weigh fish on the boards and most are around the 12 to 19lb bracket. There are also many big fish being hooked and destroying both strong rigs and top kits so please make sure your gear is up to to the job.

As for me i had another nightmare day not only being stuck close to John and having to endure his banter for five hours , but having the right method and feeding but i was smashed out of sight by the big fish under the bush to my left. By fishing just down the ledge under the bush i had lots of bites and hooked fish but their desire to want to get either to the far bank or into the big lake cost me dear as i lost between 20-25 fish and got smashed up 5 times. I just could not calm down and sort it out and at the end was in full terret mode as i was totally frustrated. Add the fact by the way that John was giving me stick i thought i was going to be thrashed by him and lose my two month lead to him made it even worse, but in the end it was the three big fish in a row 18-12, 18-12 and 19-12 that did it for him to take John into a 10-9 lead.

All that was missing from todays match was Noah and the Arc.

As the anglers gathered at the draw the black clouds were covering the lake meaning only one thing a wet match, so water proofs were the order of the day but that did not help the anglers in todays match.

As the match started the rain started only light drizzle then it came down heavy for the next 4 and a half hours making it very difficult for all the anglers concerned except if you were drawn in the small lake where a few fish were happy to feed.

As i had a miserable time i never had a chance to look around as the rain was blasting in my eyes, but what i can tell you is that in first place was Chris Lovelock who was drawn in the small lake on peg 4. Chris fished with pellet at short range and down the edge and was rewarded with fish to double figures in his final weight of 208-04 { well done Chris }.

In second place and only 2 fish behind was Mick Lane who again drew another flyer this time peg 8 and Mick fished a combination of long across against the grass on the far bank and down the edge to his left. Mick used banded pellet feeding heavy and caught on both lines and after five hours caught 187-00 and another frame for the RTG team captain.

Completing the frame was Andy Quarmby on peg 7 who was way behind Mick after 3 hours but the fish moved in on Andys long shallow line and by using pellet Andy put a great weight together of 160-08 for only two hours fishing.

After the match the anglers were treated to a nice warm soup and a chance to get out of our soaking wet clothes but i don’t think i have ever seen that much rain come down at Rolfs ever.

After returning from holiday i was hoping for a good days fishing but the rain put paid to that and even worse was the fact that John Bennett has now managed to beat me again to level the score to 8 – 8 roll on the next match.

Until our next report tight lines Eddie and Simon.