John has informed me that there will be an open next Sunday the 21st of February with a draw at 10.00 fishing 11.00 – 4.00 so if you would like to fish on an improving Rolfslake give John Bennett a call.

With Rolfs lake looking like a scene from the film the day after tomorrow and with the anglers not looking very hopeful of a good days fishing it was going to be a fitting end to the winter league series. After losing the lead of the league in round 5 Rolfs Team Gold were going to have to fish brilliantly today to win their eighth league title in a row. What they did not want to see was Rolfs Team Diamond’s captain Jon Walker back at the lake to help his team of Ian McCulloch and Mike Stimpson maintain their lead at the top of the league.

After the anglers had broken the ice for the 5th match in a row, it was off on another 5 tough hours of trying to catch either a fish to gain a point or stick it out to get a carp for mega points. With the weather very cold most of the anglers were fishing the pole only because the ice holes they had cut did not go past 10 metres so the bomb rod was a non starter. As i arrived Ian McCulloch on peg 18 was playing his first carp and after a five minute fight he had it looking at him from the bottom of his keepnet so good points were coming his way. In his section {which was B ] John Bennett who was really struggling to get a bite ,so Ian was at that point 6 points up. In C section the big battle was between Phil Powell and Jon Walker who were both catching silvers regular but with Phil using maggots and bloodworm he was catching slighter bigger fish than Jon.

In the dreaded A section all the anglers were struggling for any action so if Mike Stimpson could just catch one fish he was going to get good points, but when i went to talk to him he had tried all methods without any sort of indication so thing were not looking too good for him, but when i informed him that Mick Lane was also fish-less he had a wry smile knowing as they stood his team would be victorious. Around the lake the other anglers were having the odd fish and even some were taking nap knowing that they would not be far behind, but the general theme was feed and hope your float would go under.

As the match approached the last hour a few more of the anglers started to catch but after getting loads of stick from his team mate Phil Powell , Mick Lane eventually caught a fish much to his relief and that of his team, so it was two to weigh-in from both teams so it was going to come down to which team could get their third man to weigh. On my last walk round the lake i could see Paul Jay seeking a few perch on peg 14, Steve Palmer getting a few small chub from peg 34 and my co-blogger Simon Mound having a few fish by fishing towards peg 3 in the small lake. When I finally got round to John Bennett he was still without a fish but i must of brought him some luck because as I looked at his float it disappeared and a small perch of an ounce was in the landing net {well done John}.

As the all out was called you could sense a relief that the hardest league series ever was at last over, but the anticipation was all about who had won the league series and with Rolfs Team Gold having three anglers weighing in and Rolfs Team Diamond only having two anglers weighing in as Mike had blanked but they had a 3 point lead it was going to be very close. After all the anglers had weighed in and the points were added up the Rolfs lake teams of three winter series winners were Rolfs team gold who made up the three points and won by a single point { well done Mick, John and Phil but also well done to Mick, Ian and Jon for running them close}.

The individual title ended in a draw between Phil Powell and Ian McCulloch on points but was won by Ian on weight so done to the both of you.

Results to follow.

Simon’s Blog for this match can be viewed HERE

After the recent snow and very cold weather the anglers were greeted with another frozen lake, even after the very hard efforts of lake owner John Bennett in the previous week. Armed with ice breakers the anglers still had to work hard breaking and removing the ice to allow them to fish any distance and even when they saw before the match John Bennett in the boat trying to create a channel they knew the day was going to be a challenge.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luqXZ5bVeAM

With Rolfs Team Gold at the top of the league it was imperative that each of their anglers caught to ensure that they gained good points, and with Rolfs Team Diamond in second place and closing the gap but without John Walker who was away in China they were going to have to put in a big performance to keep up their good work and give them a chance to win the league in round 6.

So with the draw completed the anglers went off to their pegs hoping to spot a swirling fish to give them confidence of life in their swims but Rolfslake was motionless so a hard 5 hours was on the cards. Rolfs Team Gold had drawn flyer pegs 32, 26, and 38 in the small lake and their nearest rivals Rolfs Team Diamond had drawn 13, 22, and peg 4 so both teams were evenly matched in respect of good solid pegs. Elsewhere around the lake Steve Wilson had drawn peg 10 and was fishing down the edge towards the inlet pipe where water comes in from the stream, my blog/site partner Simon Mound was on peg 16 but was suffering from floating ice coming into his peg all match, Clive Pritchard had drawn the coldest peg on the lake ,Siberean peg 40 where the sun never shines ,and guesting for Match Fishing Scene was young Daniel Blackwell on winter peg 24.

All i can tell you about the match which was very tough, was that Clive Pritchard on peg 40 on his first put in on the corn rig was shocked to see his float dissapear straight away and after 3 minutes had a carp of 9-04 in the net and never saw another bite for the remainder of the match. All around the lake the carp really did not want to feed so the anglers were scratching around for silvers, but with the ice melting making the lake water even colder even the roach and perch did not want to feed. When and if the anglers got a bite they responded with  i can’t believe it i have had a bite in true Victor Meldrew style, and any size of fish caught today was going to score big points so concentration looking at the float or the tip was more important than ever. Young Daniel had four carp on the led but lost them all which would of put him in the final frame but went to show him how cruel Rolfslake can be when it does not want to give you any of its fish.

I would like to tell you of the lake picking up in the final hours but in reality it was really hard and only Steve Wilson who hooked 7 carp but landed 5 on pole fished worm and Mike Stimson who hooked 3 carp landed 2 on corn and Paul Jay on peg 28 who caught 7 perch were the only anglers who had any kind of action. Most of the other anglers weighed in 1 or 2 perch in what was a desperate match for every one, and at the weigh in [which was one of the fastest i have seen at Rolfslake] the big news was that Rolfs Team Gold had lost their lead to Rolfs Team Diamond due to a blank and no points from their star angler Mick Lane, although RTD also had a blank their remaining two anglers Ian McCulloch and Mike Stimson both scored big points.

As the anglers reflected after the match on their struggles the big question that was being asked was, “are Rolfs Team Gold about to be beaten in the league for the first time in 2 and a half years ! or can captain Phil Powell motivate his team for one final effort in the biggest come back this year ?. You will have to look out for the results of round six which is being held on the 31st of January .

Until the next report tight lines Eddie and Simon.

Results..

	A Section
1st	Clive Pritchard	peg 40	9-5	A
2nd	Fred Parker	peg 7	0-2	MFS
3rd	Phil Powell	peg 38	0-1	RG
4th	Lloyd Moss	peg 34	DNW	TS
5th	Derek Hammond	peg 4	DNW	RD
—	—	—	—	RP

	B Section
1st	Steve Wilson	peg 10	53-4	A
2nd	Ian McCulloch	peg 13	2-9	RD
3rd	Paul Jay	peg 28	1-2	RP
4th	Ernie M	peg 9	0-10	TS
5th	Marcus Burgess	peg 30	0-7	MFS
6th	John Bennett	peg 32	0-1	RG

	C Section
1st	Mike Stimpson	peg 22	15-6	RD
2nd	Steve Palmer	peg 18	8-3	TS
—	Simon Mound	peg 16	DNW	A
—	Danny Blackwell	peg 24	DNW	MFS
—	Neil Riddy	peg 14	DNW	RP
—	Mick Lane	peg 26	DNW	RG

	DAY TEAM POINTS	POINTS
1st	Assassins	12	A
2nd	Rolfs Diamond	11	RD
3rd	Team Spro	8	TS
4th	Match Fishing Scene	7	MFS
5th	Rolfs Gold	5	RG
6th	Rolfs Platinum	4	RP

OVERALL LEADERBOARD

	TOTAL TEAM POINTS	POINTS
1st	Rolfs Diamond	62	RD
2nd	Rolfs Gold	59	RG
3rd=	Rolfs Platinum	44	RP
3rd=	Assassins	44	A
5th	Match Fishing Scene	35	MFS
6th	Team Spro	32	TS