As Rolfslake staged its first night match of the year an eager bunch of anglers were waiting at the draw ready for a chance to get one of the big weights that these matches normally bring, but the carp had other ideas as usual. After a heated debate about the pegs to be used in during this match the anglers drew their pegs and went off to set up and make their pegs safe for fishing in the dark.

This evening was warm with rain expected at about 10 am but that did not put off the club, open regulars and carp anglers sat around the lake but it did turn colder at about 9pm. These night matches start in normal light conditions but at around 9.30 John turns on the floodlight set up around the big and small lake and it certainly makes a difference but not if you are looking directly in line with one of these 1000 watt lights as it feels as if you are looking into the sun.

As the whistle sounded there was not the normal fish catching activity that happens when these matches start but with a few anglers opting to use the waggler and bomb in the small lake they were rewarded with a few fish to start with using big banded pellet feeding pellet over the top. As the evening got darker the wind died which made it harder for those on the big lake but around 11 o’clock i could see a few fish being caught and even my inside line on peg 10 started to yeald a few bites so all was not lost. From behind me i could hear a few weights being called so the guys in the small lake were catching a few lumps but it was not frantic by any stretch of the imagination.

The best thing about this match was that John had drawn peg 28 and not one of the flyers that he normally does so he was going to work hard to put a weight together so it meant a quiet night for me and also our pegs were evenly matched for a change.

The winner of tonights match was Rolfslake regular Neil Riddy who was drawn on red hot peg 8 in the junction between the small and big lake and Neil opted to fish by the bush and the middle of the gap and was rewarded with big fish to nearly 20lb but in the last hour on lowering his bait in to the water his pole float shot away and he missed the bite. He tried this again and the same thing happened but this time he got the carp in the net and by shallowing his rig to about 2-3 feet he managed to catch shallow for the remainder of the match using 8mm drilled pellet feeding pellet for his weight of 152-12 ( well done Neil ).

First and second today Neil Riddy and Paul Jay.

Hot on Neils heels was master fish loser Paul Jay on peg 34 who loses 4 fish to every one he catches but still managed to keep himself busy fishing at a range of 5-6 metres straight out in front using his favoured banded 8mm pellet feeding by pole cup and who also caught big fish to 18lb in his weight of 131-04 to continue his good framing run down the lake.

Completing the frame was Micheal Corsini who was watched on by his mum ,and Micheal who was fishing by Neil on peg 7 also suffered lots of lost fish on his 9 metre line but as the match went on he managed to settle into his catching rythm and ended with last ton of the night with 104-00.

After the weigh-in the anglers were treated to a lovely bbq supplied by Pauline and John ( thanks ) and the anglers left the lake at about 3am or the anglers staying for Saturdays match slept down the lake.

Just a quick thanks to John , Pauline and Paul who it takes a lot of time and effort to set up these night matches, with setting up lights ,cables and food for the benefit of our visiting anglers, and also to make Rolfslake unique in fishing under flood lights and for them to have a different experience down the lake.

Results .

18 fishing the match.

 HMS Bennett sunk by the pirates big cannons.

The pirate ship in dock awaiting its next battle.

After taking a battering from John in my last two matches down the lake ,i managed to return to some type of form down on peg 10. After having my 6 metre line fizzing for the first two hours with plenty of foulhooked fish ,i abandoned this to fish long down the edge to my left and was rewarded with 6 carp for 66-08 plus two roach for my total of 67-00 all caught on paste even though it is not really paste time at the moment.

John however struggled on peg 28 which is strange as there are usually a few fish on this peg but eventually John caught a few on the end of the left bush fishing donkey choker 11mm banded pellet but happily for me fell one fish behind to end up with 58-12 and currently the season battle between me and lake owner John stands at :

Eddie 1

John 2

Until our next report tight lines Simon, Eddie and John.

A strong wind spoils the fishing down the lake today.

John tells me that he expected the fishing to be better today than yesterday for Frank Donachie’s match today but with a strong wind blowing from the small lake to the big lake it made presentation for the anglers very difficult if you were on one of the car park bank swims.

With the fish looking like they had finished spawning { maybe } all the anglers were hoping for a few fish today but John tells me fishing was extremely difficult in the wind as it made presentation hard with anglers having to resort to the tip to get any bites.

Todays winner was Frank Donachie who was on Jekyll and Hide peg 4 as it seems that a good weight only comes off this peg ever comes off this peg ever 3 or 4 matches, but today was Franks day fishing the pole using meat and corn hookbait to catch his fish and during the match Frank caught fish to double figures in his weight of 182-04 for his win { well done Frank }.

12 fished this match.

Results.

The next match is tomorrow on Bank Holiday Monday so if you fancy fishing give John a call.

Until our next report thanks for reading Simon, John and Eddie.