Jinx Series 2013 – Match 5 – 17-08-13

The Jinx Series 2013

Match 5

Rolf’s Lake

Saturday 17th August 2013

Jinx Series 2013

At Rolfs Lake again today for my last visit before packing up the caravan and heading home for Wales, though not to fear will be returning in September for Neil’s matches and the final Jinx match of the series. When I arrived went through the usual meet and greet with most of the regulars before settled down to sort out the draw with Neil Riddy as Malc had phoned as he was going to be about an hour late, no surprises there lol. Neil collected in the pools money and we sorted the sections and held the draw. Today my home would be in the small lake as I was in section A. I drew peg 34 with Dai Thomas on 38, Dave Wall on peg 40, Ade Williams peg 2, Tony Roberts peg 4, Fred Parker on peg 5 and Dave Collier peg 7.

My home for today.

Rolfs Lake Peg 34

Happy with my draw today although peg 34 is known for holding a lot of small fish so if the lumps show up from pegs 38 around to 5 I might struggle to compete today. Peg 34 like it’s counterpart on the opposite bank peg 7 are very consistent so I was confident in catching a few today. I set up 5 pole lines today plus the feeder. 1.  Right margin down to the bush close to the bank on a .1 JW Diamond on .22 to .20 size 14 DCF, 2. Left margin to the reeds on a .15 JW Diamond on .22 to .20 size 14 DCF, 3 at 5mtrs to my left towards peg 5 on a .3 JW Diamond on .22 to .20 size 14 DCF, 4 to the buoy on the rope nr the lilies to my right on a .2 JW Diamond on .22 to .20 size 14 DCF and 5. at 13mtrs straight out on a .6g Garbolino DC8 on .14 to .12 size 18 B911 and a 6-10 elastic for bream plus a small cage feeder to cast alongside the lillies.

My feed for today was krill gorundbait for the right margin, damp 6mm for the left margin and 5mtr line, damp micro’s and 4mm’s for the bream and feeder and 8mm banded pellet for the hook and some 8mm to feed on the 5mtr line.

At the all in I fed the two margins with a couple of pots of groundbait / pellet respectively and cast the feeder to the lilies and then catapulted a few 8mm’s over the top. After a few minutes the tip flew around and I was into my first carp. Steve Wilson on peg 8 was into carp from the start and hooking fish almost every put in, thankfully he was not in my section. Elsewhere in the small lake it was quiet with only the odd carp being caught now and then. I continued on the feeder for the first hour catching another 4 carp all net fish.

I then tried my right margin which produced a very small carp and no other bites, so I re fed this line and moved to my left margin which produced no bites. I then tried the long line for bream and landed a few but the bites were too slow to be effective so switched to my 5 mtr line which I had been feeding with 8mm pellets. I caught another 10 carp off this line through to the whistle four of which were weighers going 50lb on the scales. Every so often I tried the margin swims but the carp didn’t show up today. Fred on peg 5 was able to catch in the margin and they were good weighers as well and he was looking like favourite to win the section. Steve on peg 8 had been flying all day and had easily walked the match and his section.

At the weigh in I was first to be weighed as is normal on peg 34 and managed to put 107lb 6oz on the scales for my 15 carp and a few bream. Next to weigh was Dai on peg 38 who had 85-06, Dave Wall peg 40 – 79-04, Ade Williams peg 2 – 47-04, Tony Roberts peg 4 – 76-14, Fred Parker peg 5 – 154-07 and Dave Collier peg 7 – 52-05 giving me 2nd in section which I was well pleased with for the day.  Steve on peg 8 recording 264-01 for lake and section win and a new PB, well done Steve.

Results

Section Results
A Section
Pos Name Peg Weight Points
1. Fred Parker 5 154-07 1
2. Nick Williams 34 107-06 2
3. Dai Thomas 38 85-06 3
4. Dave Wall 40 79-04 4
5. Tony Roberts 4 76-14 5
6. Dave Collier 7 52-05 6
7. Ade Williams 2 47-04 7

B Section
Pos Name Peg Weight Points
1. Steve Wilson 8 264-01(pb) 1
2. Neil Riddy 28 128-14 2
3. Simon Watkins 9 88-11 3
4. Terry Goff 13 79-00 4
5. Kev Loveland 30 36-10 5
6. No Angler 32
7. No Angler 10

C Section
Pos Name    Peg  Weight Points
1. Clive Pritchard 14 161-07 1
2. Matt Edwards 24 98-11 2
3. Mike Corsini 18 62-05 3
4. Paul Roberts 16 52-06 4
5. Malc Doyle 20 32-11 5
6. Nick W-P 26 25-09 6
7. Gino 22 134-06 Guest

Individual Result
Pos……. Name………………………Peg……..Weight
1. Steve Wilson 8 264-01
2. Clive Pritchard 14 161-07
3. Fred Parker 5 154-02
4. Gino (Guest) 22 134-06
5. Neil Riddy 28 128-14
6. Nick Williams 34 107-06
7. Matt Edwards 24 98-11
8. Simon Watkins 9 88-11
9. Dai Thomas 38 85-06
10. Dave Wall 40 79-04
11. Terry Goff 13 79-00
12. Tony Roberts 4 76-14
13. Michael Corsini 18 62-06
14. Paul Roberts 16 52-06
15. Dave Collier 7 52-05
16. Ade Williams 2 47-04
17. Kev Loveland 30 36-10
18. Malc Doyle 20 32-11
19. Nick W-Price 26 25-09

Another good days fishing at Rolfs, picking up a section second and of course a nugget from Malc the icing on the cake.

The nuggets stand at  Nick – 9   Malc – 7   🙂

This years Jinx is almost over with the final match to come on Saturday September 21st.

The top two positions are already decided as none of us can catch Steve or Mat if they both finish the series with a section win or section 2nd they will end on the same points so Mat will need to beat Steve by 229lb as Steve has the weight advantage.

There is a potential 6 way shoot out for 3rd place between Neil, Malc, Mikey, Myself, Dave Wall and Simon Watkins who could steal 3rd place if we all finish 5th or below in section. As you can imagine there are many permutations so it will make an interesting final match four of us could possibly end on 11 points Neil, Malc, Mikey and Myself.

There have been 24 Ton + weights so far in this years series with a new Jinx record of 316lb 5oz by Mikey and a new PB and double ton entry of 264lb 1oz for Steve Wilson, Well done Mikey and Steve.

This years Ton + new entrants (so far) are :-

Michael Corsini (2)…… 316lb 5oz Rolfs 2013
Steve Wilson (3)……….264lb 1oz Rolfs 2013
Marcus Burgess (1)……197lb 7oz Rolfs 2013
Malc Doyle (2) …………188lb 1oz Rolfs 2013
Clive Pritchard (2)……..161lb 7oz Rolfs 2013
Fred Parker (2) ……….. 154lb 2oz Rolfs 2013
Neil Riddy (3) ………….139lb 13oz Rolfs 2013
Mat Edwards (2) …….. 131lb 13oz Rolfs 2013
Simon Watkins (2) ……129lb 1oz Rolfs 2013
Neil Riddy (3) …………..128lb 14oz Rolfs 2013
Nick Williams (3) ………127lb 9oz Rolfs 2013
Nick Williams (3) ………127lb 9oz Rolfs 2013
Dave Wall (2) …………..126lb 9oz Rolfs 2013
Mat Edwards (2) ……….122lb 5oz Rolfs 2013
Dai Thomas (1) ………….121lb 12oz Rolfs 2013
Simon Watkins (2) ……. 121lb 10oz Rolfs 2013
Steve Wilson (3)……….. 119lb 13oz Rolfs 2013
Malc Doyle (2) …………..113lb 5oz Rolfs 2013
Dave Wall (2) ……………112lbs 14oz Rolfs 2013
Michael Corsini (2)…….112lb 3oz Rolfs 2013
Steve Wilson (3)……….108lb 5oz Rolfs 2013
Nick Williams (3) ………107lb 6oz Rolfs 2013
Fred Parker (2) ……… ..103lb 10oz Rolfs 2013
Clive Pritchard (2)……..103lb 3oz Rolfs 2013
Neil Riddy (3) …………..102lb 8oz Rolfs 2013

 

Rolfs Lake Wednesday Open 14-08-13

Rolfs Lake

Wednesday Open

14th August 2013

11 Anglers Fished.

 

Fished the Wednesday Open at Rolfs Lake today after travelling from the campsite and dropping off the family at Thornhill to catch the shuttle into London for the day. Met up with most of the usual suspects for a Wednesday at Rolfs.

Today I drew Peg 9 which was also an end peg so was hopeful of a good bag of fish. Most of the anglers were pegged in the small lake with myself on peg 9, Andy Rayment on peg 32 and Kev Dalton on end peg 30.

My home for today.

Peg 9

Today I will be fishing two lines, one at 6mtrs towards peg 33 and one in the right margin to the bush. on the 6mtr line I fished a .3g JW Diamond on .22 to .20 and size 14 DCF hook. In the margin fished a .1g JW Diamond on .25 to .22 size 12 DCF feeding Krill groundbait in the margin topped up with 6mm damp pellets and feeding the same damp 6mm with a few 8mm on the 6mtr line.

The margin didn’t produce  today only silvers so all my fish came to 8mm hard pellet at 6mtrs. I caught slow and steady all through the match but not as often as I was expecting ending up with 133lb for nowhere today, albeit an enjoyable day catching fish as always at Rolfs.

1ST   PEG  5   PAUL JAY   225-6-0

2ND   PEG 32  ANDY RAYMENT   218-9-0

3RD   PEG 30  KEV DOULTON  157-15-0

4TH   PEG  4  MARK NEWBOLD  157-5-0

5TH  PEG  8 JOHN DRAPER  144-10-0

6TH  PEG  9 NICK WILLIAMS  133-2-0

7TH  PEG  7 PETE ARNOLD   125-15-0

8TH  PEG 34 DEREK HAMMOND  77-4-0

9TH  PEG 38 MICK JONES  69-5-0

10TH PEG  2 JOHN BENNETT  32-8-0

11TH PEG 40 DAVE RIDLEY  12-15-0

Dave Wall’s 40th Birthday Match – 9-8-13

Dave Wall’s Birthday Match

Friday 9th August 2013

Rolfs Lake

Draw 1pm Fish 2pm – 7pm

13 Fished.

Today I travel back the 20 miles from our campsite in Chipping Norton for an invite match at Rolf’s Lake celebrating fellow Jinxter Dave Wall’s 40th Birthday, thanks for the invite Dave, meeting up with some very familiar faces – from the Jinx Series – Dai Thomas, Malc Doyle, Dave Collier, Dave Moore, Tony Roberts, Clive Pritchard, Simon Watkins, Neil Riddy, Marcus Burgess and from MD’s Keith Powell with lake owner John Bennett also joining us today. At the draw I pulled out peg 14 once again a peg I had drawn last weekend at Neil Riddy’s Festival, with less anglers fishing today hoping for a better days fishing from this peg than I managed last week.

Rolf’s Lake Peg 14

 

I set up pretty much the lines as last time with 1. at 9mtrs straight out on a JW Chimp .3g .20 – .18 size 14 DCF, 2. at 5mtrs straight out on a JW .2g Diamond .22 – .20 14 DCF, 3.  at 5mtrs to my left margin where I caught most of my fish last week on a .1g Garbolino DC8 .22 – .20 Size 12 DCF and finally 4. at 4mtrs to the righthand bush on a .3 JW Diamond .22 – .20 size 14 DCF, also set up a small cage feeder to fish the bar or over my 9mtr line. Pretty much an identical set up to last time and what is becoming my standard set up for most pegs at Rolf’s recently.

At the start i fed the left margin with two pots of 50/50 kril/sweet fishmeal groundbait, the right margin with a pot of dampened 6mm feed pellet, my 5mtr line with 3 8mm feed pellets and my 9mtr line with 1/2 cup of 6m dampened pellet and fished over this with an 8mm banded pellet, after a few minutes of lifting and dropping the rig and a few small dips of the float it buried and a skimmer of aprox 1lb came to the net so the dreaded ‘Blank’ had been avoided. I continued feeding and fishing this line catching the occasional skimmer and foul hooking and losing two carp before eventually catching my first carp today from this peg at 3.45pm, whilst topping up my other lines with the same baiting as my initial feed, gorundbait down the left margin, pellet to the right and a few 8mm on the 5mtr line. I did not get anymore carp on the pole from the 9mtr line but did continue to catch bream albeit not very often, although I did foul and lose a few carp on this line so tried the small cage feeder over my feed for a few casts and did pick up another carp on this method.

Having tried all my lines at various intervals during the match and getting no bites or indications it was looking like being a fruitless day on peg 14 when I tried my 5mtr line again with 40 mins to go. I shipped out with an 8mm banded pellet and fed three 8mm pellets over the top by hand and miracle the float buried and I was into my 3rd carp of the day which went 15lb 4oz on the scales, next put in and the float again buried and this time an 11lb 8oz came to the net. I continued catching from this line right to the whistle ending up with 11 carp and some bream for 103lb 6oz 2nd in section and 3rd overall. Not a bad ending to the match, although I was just piped by Malc on peg 8 with 118lb for my £1 side bet with Keith Powell taking top slot from peg 32 with 127lb, well done Keith on his first win at Rolfs on what was an extremely enjoyable day out fishing amongst friends.

The £1 stakes now stand at  Nick – 8   Malc – 7

Looks like Malc is making a come back after slipping to 6 – 1 at one point, looks like I need to up my game to avoid him drawing level at the next Jinx match next saturday lol.

Leaving Rolfs

Monday August 5th 2013

 

Today is leaving day for us at Rolfs Lake, having been camped out for the last three weeks at the lake it is now time to take the Caravan and family touring the Oxfordshire and surrounding Cotswolds countryside. We woke up early to the sound of rain so had breakfast and packed as much of the caravan away as we could that didn’t involve taking down the awning or working outside. Soon after breakfast the rain stopped and the sun came out so we took that opportunity to pop out to the shops with Dai our neighbour at Rolfs, to fuel up and also let Dai pick up some necessary provisions since he had no transport until later in the week when Ann would be joining him.

When we returned the sun had dried everything nicely so we proceeded to take everything down and pack it away in the caravan and hitch up and be on our way. We said our goodbyes to Dai and set off for Merry Weather Farm in Chipping Norton which was to be our next stop on our tour of the Cotswolds. We encountered a slight problem on our route as there where signs at Pear Tree telling us to take an alternative route as the A361 was closed at Chipping Norton for 5 Weeks, oh dear not what we needed to hear lol. So we followed the diversion signs and eventually made our way to Chipping Norton through some B roads up and down dale, around 90 degree bends and every which way I’d prefer not to take a caravan doing a 73 mile detour to find ourselves the wrong side of the village as it was in fact the main road through the village itself that was closed for repairs. Using the map and Sat Nav I eventually navigated a route around the town and arrived at last at our destination phew what a journey from hell that was.

We booked in and set up camp and just managed to get the awning up with just a couple of pegs left to put in when the skies open and what seemed like a monsoon hit, although I was soaked to the skin putting in those final pegs before running for the shelter of our awning lol, sat down with a nice warm cup of coffee before using the showers provided here for campers and then off to the local chippy for our supper before snuggling up all warm and cosy at our new location for the next fortnight.

Caravan at Chipping Norton Campsite

Neil Riddy’s 2 Day Match – Day 2 Sunday Aug 4th 2013

Neil Riddy’s 2 Day Festival

Rolfs Lake

Day 2 – Sunday Aug 4th 2013

Day two of Neil’s mini festival at Rolfs, today fishing 1pm – 6pm and I drew peg 32 and once again had my fellow Jinxter Mat as a neighbour on peg 31, with Geoff Edwards on peg 8, Neil Riddy on peg 7, Dave Whiteman peg 5 and Phil Hillier on peg 9 completing my section it was going to be hard going today.

Rolfs Lake Peg 32

I fished my usual .3 Walker Diamonds on .22 to .20 and size 14 DCF’s on five lines, 1. straight out at 9mtrs, 2. straight out at 5 mtrs, 3. down to the right hand bush, 4. Towards peg 8 at 9mtrs and 5. a throw away line at 3 mtrs towards peg 31. At the start I cupped out 1/2 a pot of dampened 6mm feed pellet on the 9mtr line and fished over this with 8mm banded pellet which produced a bite and a lost foul hooked fish and no more bites so I re-fed this line but no more bites came. I fed the 9mtr line towards peg 8 which also produced a lost foul hooked fish and then went dead. This pattern continued on my 5mtr lines also, feed get a bite sometimes a lost fish sometimes a landed fish before going dead again. The only way I could catch was to keep changing lines but bites and fish were painfully slow to come by. This continued for most of the match before the carp turned up on my 5mtr line infront where I caught a few carp from in the last 30 mins ending up just behind my neighbour Mat with 63lb 1oz for nowhere in the section or match for the second day running, not such a good weekend for me as the last festival I fished at Rolfs, oh well nevermind always next week and Dave Wall’s match to look forward too at least I reclaimed my £1 from Malc who failed to get the margins on peg 13 to work, cheers Malc 🙂 .

The £1 stakes stand at  Nick – 8    Malc – 6

Results – Day 2

DAY 2 AND FINAL RESULTS

SEC A

1ST  PEG  40  MICK JONES  127-4-0

2ND PEG  38  JOHN DRAPER  45-14-0

3RD PEG  34  BRENDA STENT  41-8-0

4TH PEG   4  JULIE BRISCOE   35-10-0

5TH PEG   2  DAI THOMAS  25-5-0

SEC B

1ST  PEG  5  DAVE WHITEMAN  211-4-0

2ND PEG  8  JEFF EDWARDS  168-15-0

3RD PEG  7  NIEL RIDDY  137-9-0

4TH PEG 31 MATT EDWARDS  68-8-0

5TH PEG  9 PHIL HILLIER  63-9-0

6TH PEG 32 NICK WILLIAMS  63-1-0

SEC C

1ST  PEG 10 PAUL JAY  70-13-0

2ND PEG 14 WEZ HILLIER 64-3-0

3RD PEG 29 IAN Mc CULLOCH  45-14-0

4TH PEG 13 MALC DOYLE  31-12-0

5TH PEG 28 PAUL ROBERTS  DNW

SEC D

1ST  PEG  16 STEVE WATERS  115-15-0

2ND PEG 23 ANDY QUARMBY  99-10-0

3RD PEG 18 IAN MILLIN  68-2-0

4TH PEG 25 KIETH STENT  39-4-0

5TH PEG 22 JUSTIN McCabe  21-11-0

6TH PEG 26 KEV HILLIER  DNW

FINAL RESULTS

1ST DAVE WHITEMAN 2PTS

2ND ANDY QUARMBY 3PTS

3RD PAUL JAY 3PTS

4TH JEFF EDWARDS 4PTS

5TH MALC DOYLE 5PTS

6TH MICK JONES 5PTS

7TH STEVE WALTERS 5PTS

8TH MATT EDWARDS 5PTS

9TH JOHN DRAPER 5PTS

10TH IAN MILLIN 5PTS

Neil Riddy’s 2 Day Match – Day 1 Saturday 3rd Aug 2013

Neil Riddy’s

2 Day invitational Match at Rolf’s Lake

Day 1 – Saturday 3rd August 2013

22 Fished

 

Today I am fishing Neil’s two-day event at Rolf’s Lake with 21 others. The draw is at 12pm and we will be fishing from 2pm to 7pm. I will be fishing with some familiar faces as Jinxster’s Dai Thomas, Matt Edwards, Malc Doyle and Paul Roberts also Wez Hillier and crowd who I met earlier this year and some members of Osprey’s angling club who I have guested with before so a friendly match with plenty of banter is expected.

At the draw I pulled out peg 14 which is on the motorway bank with fellow Jinxter Matt on peg 13 and Rolf’s regular Dave Whiteman on peg 16 for company.

Rolf’s Lake Peg 14

I decided to fish both margins plus a couple of lines straight out today one at 9mtrs and two at 5mtrs one straight out and one towards peg 22 to my left. The left margin is shallow at about 18″ – 2ft and I plumbed that up with a Garbolino DC8 .1g on .22 main and .20 hook length and a size 12 DCF hook. The right margin has an overhanging bush and is quite deep at about 5ft, I used a .2g JW Diamond on .22 to .20 and a size 14 DCF hook. Both 5mtr lines were plumbed up on  .3 JW Diamonds to .22 main .20 hooklength and size 14 DCF’s. My 9mtr line I plumbed up a .3 JW Chimp on .20 main and .18 hooklength to a size 14 DCF and also a .3 JW Chianti on .18 main .16 hooklength and a size 16 DCF for the bream on a kit with Maver 12-20 and a puller incase I hooked carp on this rig. I also set up a small cage feeder as a back up to the pole lines.

My hookbait for today would be pellet and worm feeding dampened pellet on most lines and krill groundbait on my right margin which i will fish over with worm. At the whistle I fed the left margin with a pot of dampened 6mm pellet and the right margin with two balls of groundbait then went out on the 9mtr line with banded 8mm and potted in 15-20 feed pellets after a few min the float buried and I was into my first carp with went 16lb 8oz on the scales. I fed the same on that line and waited a while for a bite which eventually came but was only a small skimmer. Further put ins on this line produced no bites so I decided to switch to the small cage feeder for a while. After a couple of casts the tip went around and a small carp came to the net but no more bites on this method prompted a change to my 5mtr line straight out. I fed this line via a tos pot with about 20 pellets and waited for a bite, none came on my first put in so I fed again and after a while the float buried and I was into my 3rd carp of the day, but once again after my initial fish no other bites were to be had on this line. I switched to the 5mtr line to my left and fed that with a pot of pellets and once again caught a carp on this line before it too dried up.

A switch to my left margin and on my first put in the float buried and another carp came to the net, a few more put ins on this line only produced a roach so I switched to the right margin with worm and the float buried and yet another carp was in the net. My next put in with worm produced a small perch, and the next a foul hooked and lost carp before that margin went quiet so I fed another ball of groundbait and tried the left margin again which immediately produced a bite and the pole wrenched with the carp hurtling around towards peg 16 before the hooklength parted company with my rig. A new hooklength fitted and the swim re-fed and the next put in with 8mm pellet saw the float bury and this time the carp came to the net. So I fed again and put back in but only little roach dinks and knocks on the float so I potted a whole cup of pellet in and switched back to the right margin. On my first put in the float again buried and the fish went straight through the bush heading for Matt on peg 13 taking the whole rig and float with it and trashing that swim. I did plumb up a new rig on that line and re-fed but no more bites were forthcoming. On my left margin I managed to get out one more carp and lost a few others probably foul hooked before the all out was called.

I had an enjoyable if not frustrating day’s fishing as had hoped for a few more  fish from this peg today, but hey that’s fishing for you. I ended up with 50lb odd once again for nowhere in section but as always enjoyed the challenge. Matt won the section on peg 13 with 116lb odd.

SEC  A

1ST  PEG 4  MALC DOYLE  175-6-0

2ND PEG 2  IAN MILLIIN   63-3-0

3RD  PEG 34  KIETH STENT  54 2-0

4TH  PEG  2 PAUL ROBERTS  50-2-0

5TH  PEG  40  KEV HILLIER  42-15-0

 

SEC B

1T  PEG  7  ANDY  QUARMBY  195-13-0

2ND PEG 5  PAUL JAY  115-2-0

3RD  PEG  8  IAN MCULLOCH  76-12-0

4TH  PEG  9  WEZ HILLIER  68-13-0

5TH  PEG  31 STEVE WALTERS  62-13-0

6TH  PEG  32  JUSTIN Mc CABE  16-8-0

 

SEC C

1ST  PEG 13  MATT  EDWARDS  116-12-0

2ND  PEG 28  GEOF EDWARDS  107-8-0

3RD  PEG  29  JOHN DRAPER  64-7-0

4TH  PEG  10  MICK  JONES  63-9-0

5TH  PEG  14  NICK  WILLIAMS  50-10-0

 

SEC D

1ST  PEG  16  DAVE WHITEMAN  112-10-0

2ND PEG  23  DIA  THOMAS  70 -1-0

3RD  PEG  25  PHIL HILLIER  28-8-0

4TH  PEG  22  PETE ARCHER  18-14-0

5TH  PEG  18 JULIE BRISCOE  18-14-0

6TH  PEG  26  BRENDA STENT  DNW

Rolf Lake Night Match 02-08-13

Rolfs Lake

Night Match

Friday August 2nd 2013

Draw 7.30pm Fish 8.30pm – 1.30am

18 Fished.

Tonight I was fishing what is most likely my only night match at Rolf’s this year, having missed the previous three due to car troubles and other complications. I was already at the lake staying in the caravan as booked in for this weekends 2 day event run by Neil Riddy so was looking forward to this weekends fishing. At the draw I pulled out peg 8 which had won the previous Wednesday’s open with 195lb and was happy with that peg.

Rolfs Lake Peg 8

I set up two main lines one at 8mtrs down the track on a .3 JW Diamond to .22 main .20 hook length and a DCF size 14, a second to fish the left hand bush on a Garbolino DC8 .1g to .22 main .20 hook length and a size 14 DCF hook. I also had a throw away line to my right tight to the bank at 2mtrs on a JW Chianti 0.05g to .22 main .20 hook length and a size 14 DCF. I also set up the bomb to fish over to the far side bank as did not fancy fishing 14+ mtrs in the dark.

At the start I potted in half a pot of dampened 6mm feed pellet on the 8mtr line and a couple of handfulls on each margin line and then popped the bomb over to the far bank and pinged a few pellet over the top. After a few line bites and a lot of tip twitching from the roach I decided to abandon the far bank for now and try my luck on the pole at 8mtrs. I potted in aprox 15-20 pellets and after a few minutes the float buried and a skimmer of about a 1lb came to the net and the dreaded blank was avoided at least. Next put in and I foul hooked a carp which was came off after a short struggle so I re-fed and put in again on 8mm banded pellet and again foul hooked and lost. After a few minor adjustments to my float depth I managed to hook one clean in the mouth and my first carp came to the net. I again re-fed and after a while the float once again buried but this carp just went in an arc straight under my left-hand bush and snapped me off, it didn’t seem foul hooked but I was powerless to stop it even on orange vespe.

I know my eyesight is not what it once was and I’d forgotten to take a pair of glasses with me to my peg, I only need them for close up work and reading and they are only a +1 but trying to tie on a new hook length in the dark with failing eyesight is not clever. I could not see the loop in the main line or the hook length clearly enough to thread them so it took an age of trial and error and eventually I managed to connect the two together lol. Now all I needed to do was hook on a banded pellet, which after hooking my finger a few times I eventually managed. This was fast becoming a farce and I was beginning to realise that maybe i wasn’t up to night fishing anymore.

I continued to fish the 8mtr line catching a few more carp and losing and missing a lot more either foul hooked or missed bites. I did try both margin lines a few times throughout the night but could only get roach there. I ended up with 7 net carp and lost 14 foul hookers and god knows how many missed bites for a disappointing but enjoyable nights fishing weighing in 51lb odd and expectedly coming nowhere.

Paul Jay won the match from peg 2 with 166lb with John Bennett 2nd from peg 9 with 127lb

Place	Angler	Peg	Weight
1st	Paul Jay	2	166-10	Rolfslake
2nd	John Bennett	9	127-10	Rolfslake
3rd	Andy Quarmby	16	124-03	Middy
4th	Josh	14	102-10	Experience Fishing Newbury
5th	Dave Howe	22	96-02	Browning Crowsports
6th	Ernie Malyon	32	88-05	Spro
7th	Neil Chard	5	86-09	Rolfslake
8th	Mick Jones	13	72-03	Rolfslake
9th	Ben	4	67-06	Experience Fishing Newbury
10th	Mick Chappell	34	55-12	Rolfslake
11th	Nick Williams	8	51-11	Jinx League
12th	Dave Ridgely	28	35-11	Experience Fishing Newbury
13th	Don	38	29-07	Experience Fishing Newbury
14th	Eddie Taylor-Green	24	21-11	Rolfslake
15th	Reg	40	DNW	Rolfslake
16th	Colin	26	DNW	Rolfslake
17th	Mark Chard	18	DNW	Rolfslake
18th	Ian Haynes	7	DNW	Rolfslake