Rolfslake Wednesday Open 18th May 2011.
Another tough day at the office for the anglers in Rolfslake’s Wednesday Open.
Mick Jones fails in world record attempt to draw peg 10 five matches in a row.
The anglers turned up for todays midweek open faced with the prospect of it raining as the dark clouds had gathered around the lake which some people thought was Neil Riddys black magic sorcery in being able only draw flyer pegs.
With the draw being called I for a change was pressured into drawing first as I always draw last and to my disappointment drew peg 2 as it was as near as i was going to get to my favouite peg 3. Paul Jay who never draws a bad peg was on 38 in the small lake, Mark Newbold who never catches less than 200lb was on 34 his travelling partner Andy Raymond was on 8 John Bennett was near to me on 4 and Neil Riddy had drawn bum peg 32 so he told us, so at least he had a short walk from the car.
As the match started the fishing was slow for most except Kev Doulton who managed to sneak a few fish in early but also suffered a smashed top kit in playing one of Rolfslake’s monsters. Mark, Andy and Neil were also into fish early but for the rest of us it was a struggle and it was made worse when it started to rain. After about an hour with no fish action i was going to start to give John his usual serving of abuse but all i could see was a box with no John as he had gone for a walk but not before throwing 4 bags of pellet down the edge hoping to draw in some fish.
For the rest of the match the bites were few and far between except for the feature pegs ,and Rolfslake again reminded us of how difficult this fish stuffed lake can be at times.
The winner today was Andy Raymond who was fishing red hot peg 8 between the small and the big lake and Andy fished both the far bank but mostly the big bush to his left and he found out just how strong the fish fight on this peg as he lost quite a few as his elastic was the wrong grade for this peg. Andy fished paste feeding pellet just to the edge of the bush and was rewarded with a great mixed bag which included chub to just over 5lb bream ,roach and of course carp in his winning weight of 156-08 { well done Andy }.
Todays winner Andy Raymond .
In hot pursuit of Andy was Mark Newbold on peg 34, and Mark fished the rope to start with with little success but managed to find to a 10-11 metre line straight out in front where the fish were happy to feed and Mark managed to catch a 20lb common { his first 20lb carp at Rolfs and his first 20lb in a match }. Mark told me he also caught his fish on paste feeding pellet and if it were not for a fish he bumped off at the net Mark would of been celebrating victory and not Andy. After 5 hours Mark put 145-08 of small carp and bream on the scales to record another frame and his first weight under 200lb this year.
2nd place Mark Newbold.
Completing the frame yes you guessed it was Neil Riddy who today found himself the only one fishing the big lake amongst the pleasure anglers, but Neil made no mistake as he fished a long 10 metre line in line with peg 9. Neil used his favoured 8mm banded pellet feeding pellet and if it were not for a lost 20lb+ fish which was hooked in the fin but gave him a couple of chances to net and could of been landed by Andy on peg 8 at one stage, he also could of won todays match but ended with 132-08.
Osprey's Neil Riddy.
Results.
10 fishing.
| Place | Angler | Peg | Weight | Bait |
| 1st | Andy Raymond | 8 | 156-08 | Paste |
| 2nd | Mark Newbold | 34 | 145-08 | Paste |
| 3rd | Neil Riddy | 32 | 132-08 | 8mm Pellet |
| 4th | Mick Jones | 40 | 80-10 | Meat |
| 5th | Eddie Taylor-Green | 2 | 59-08 | Paste |
| 6th | Dennis | 7 | 50-02 | ? |
| 7th | Kev Doulton | 6 | 47-00 | Pellet |
| 8th | John Bennett | 4 | 44-00 | Corn |
| 9th | Graham Ridgley | 9 | 31-12 | Pellet |
| 10th | Paul Jay | 38 | 17-08 | Pellet/ Paste |
Not even the deep sea salvage team could raise HMS Bennett after another shot from the Pirates cannons.
The pirate ship ready for the next match.
As for my match against John we both had a tough day being roached out in the corner of the small lake, and as i reminded him to leave peg 4 out which he replied watch what a good angler can do on it today he certainly showed me in this match . We both caught a couple of doubles early but after that it was tough with John fishing down the right edge but only catching roach and 3 small carp on corn, and I had 2 doubles and 5 small carp and 4 bream fishing paste.
A lesson learned today was on peg 2 i fished to peg 3 but instead of fishing the shallow water i fished down the ledge with lots of liners. In the last hour i fished my paste float 3 inches overdepth so the float was at an angle and every bite i had was a lift bite as the float layed flat which resulted in a fish or lost fish in the bush.
The score between John and myself stands at.
Lake owner John Bennett.
John 2
- Eddie the Pirate.
Eddie 2
A special reminder to our visiting and match anglers down at Rolfslake.
There over the last month or so has been some confusion over a couple of our rules down the lake so i will now clarify them as these rules are designed to keep the fish in tip top condition.
1. All anglers have access to 3 nets each ,2 for carp and 1 for silvers and more are available if you are bagging, so No silvers are to be mixed in with the carp as they get damaged and any found mixed in will be put back with No weight recorded.
2. With the bagging time approaching the No fish over 10lb to put in the nets rule will be enforced at weigh-ins as there have been carp to 13lb in nets at weigh-in times which is not acceptable. John and Pauline have spent too much money on keeping the fish safe to have the big ones retained in the nets for upto 5 hours. Any fish over 10lb will be returned unrecorded and more than one will result in the anglers weight no being recorded at all. The weigh stations are within reach of all anglers and there are 7 of them around the lake so PLEASE use them as we do not want to spoil the fishing for anyone but will enforce the rules.
3. There is NO handlining of elastic or the practise of trapping the elastic against the pole except in extreme circumstances where a big fish is foulhooked and has been on for a while.
The reason for this is two fold
1. It is extremely dangerous having a float coming back at an angler at speed and
2. Playing fish on tight short elastic when the elastic is trapped does damage to the fishes mouth as you take out the natural stretch of the elastic AND IS NOT ALLOWED.
John and Pauline are easy going owners who want all our visiting anglers to have a great fishing experience so dont have too many rules, but will always have the fishes welfare as number priority.
Until our next report thanks for reading Simon ,John and Eddie.
I can honestly say that, just for a change, I had a different view of the lake this week having been somewhat camped on Peg 10 lately.
Peg 40 is 4 times better than 10.
Having not been to that end of the lake for quite sometime is it usual for hooked Carp to all go flying off towards the hut for a cup of tea? I couldn’t believe how far my Drennan Bungee was stretching at times!
Bennets Beasts are Turbo charged.
Another top quality read Eddie…. i’m glad you have re-iterated the rules…i could have hand-lined the common and maybe had won?..but i play fair..
Thanks Neil, but after talking to John today and getting his agreement to post the rules again as we are about to have a really busy time down the lake with the MFS 3 day match, a club booking and a bank holiday Monday match i want all anglers to abide by the rules as the match stewards will disqualify someone soon of that i am sure.
As you know these fish cost hundreds of pounds each an we all have a responsibility to look after them.
The welfare of the fish must come first…. carp in with silvers..not on..
Great reading Eddie, you still cant do the pictures can you 😛
Too much time off hehe