Review of 2013

Yet another year of match fishing comes to an end and for the fifth consecutive year I have travelled with Bela. Over this time we have become good friends which has extending into Saturday afternoon drinking sessions around the local area, sometimes co-opting some fellow match anglers Tim Ford, Darren Gillman and others – can’t say more because “what goes on tour stays on tour”!  Surprisingly during the whole year we only drew next to each other just the once at Acorn.

 

	2013	2012	2011
Total Number of Matches Fished	91	92	112
Total Number of Anglers fished the Matches	2,553	2,869	3,463
Average Number of Anglers per Match	28	31	31
Number of Different Fisheries Fished	20	10	16
Total Carp Weight	3249 lb 1oz	3,098lb 6oz	3,377lb 11oz
Total Silvers Weight	871lb 7oz	1,634lb 7oz	1,943lb
Overall Weight	4120 lb 8oz	4,732lb 13oz	5,320lb 11oz
Highest Overall Weight	158lb 10oz	177lb 10oz	193lb 12oz
Highest Silvers Weight	34lb 11oz	58lb 11oz	54lb
Heaviest Carp	19lb 10oz	17lb 2oz	19lb 12oz
Average Weight per Match	45lb 4oz	51lb 7oz	47lb 8oz
Number of Times in top 6 Overall	45	48	58
Number of Times in top 3 Silvers	25	38	42
Number of Times won Both	2	4	4
Number of Pick-ups	50	62	68
Strike Rate	55%	67%	61%
DNW	0	0	0
Blanks	0	0	1
Peg Fees	£450	£474	£645
Pools Entry	£1,250	£1,382	£1,730
Travel Costs	£430	£455	£550
Bait Costs (excludes bulk pellet)	£189	£267	£257
Capital Expenditure (spread over 3 years £500/3))	£170	£205	£167
Total Cost	£2,489	£2,783	£3,349

 

The 2013 statistics shown above are more or less consistent with last year. The strike rate is down due to a poor Viaduct Winter and Silvers Leagues. However, what is worrying for me is the amount of Silver fish I have caught during 2013. There is some mitigation because I have been targeting Carp more because that’s where the lion’s share of the coin is allocated. But I have found that there is a general reduction in Silver fish in most of the venues I fish. Because of their short life expectancy compared to that of Carp some Silvers re-stocking required I think. The cost of fishing and number of active match anglers has remained stable.

 

The 2013 started at Viaduct in their Winter League. This league is very popular because it‘s the biggest league running in the South West. There are 19 teams of 5 - 95 anglers and there would be more if they could be accommodated. Silverfox TM team didn’t fair that well this year with some team members beat before they fished, due to so say bad draws. I didn’t think we had neither the best nor the worse draws. I drew pegs 105, 52, 10, 110 and 90. I think I got the best out of the swims except peg 52. Arthritis in my hands was a real problem and I had come to terms that this would be my last winter league.

 

Also running through the winter was the Bathampton AA Silvers Championship ably run by Mike Jones on Thursdays. I had a really good series winning the league, knockout and third in pairs. Mike is running it again in 2014 and was sold out months ago. I am really looking forward to it especially the pint in the “Dando” after with the usual suspects. Mike is only using Bridge this year which I disappointed to hear as although there are some difficult swims behind the island it’s a reasonably fair venue. Perhaps we will have it back again next year.

 

Bela and I hen went in for the Acorn Pole only Series (was the Kev Perry Series). Again I had a great series off I must say some good draws. Finishing joint second on points, relegated to third on weight. A well run series by Chris Fox and Paul Faiers. We are already booked in for 2014.

 

My doctor had prescribed Dicolfenac for the arthritis and my hand were much, much better. That was until I received a phone one night from the surgery saying I had to stop them immediately because my liver functions test was extremely high. With our fishing holiday at Viaduct looming and my hands appearing to be far worse I persuaded the Doctor to give me steroids. This helped but wasn’t the long term answer, but it didn’t stop me from having a great weeks fishing, eating and drinking with Glenn, Martyn, Mark and Tim (pictured right enjoying a curry). The fishing was terrific with plenty of coin coming to us. We are already booked in for next year.

 

Mike Jones once again ran the Coffin Dodgers at Huntstrete which has proved even more popular with 28 regularly fishing. This is an interesting fact when comparing the apparent reducing numbers for other midweek matches which at best get low teens fishing. Is this because we still not getting youngsters coming in to match fishing. It seems clubs are investing in juniors but nothing seems to come off the conveyor belt, especially into match fishing. If the tackle industry wants to survive it really needs to start investing heavily in the sport.

 

Bela and I fished a number of open matches on Sundays around the South West and I was fishing regularly during the week. However, my hands were getting far worse and it was at this point I was considering giving up match fishing. The Doctor finally referred me to a specialist but the earliest appointment was November three months away! It was at a Coffin Dodgers match that matey Rich Coles mentioned a friend of his was taking Cider Vinegar for his arthritis. I had read about this before and had dismissed it as hokum pokum, but I was now desperate. So onto the internet and I found an article that described my symptoms exactly which was relieved by Cider Vinegar. The article was written by a church organist who had purchased a book by Margret Hills – Arthritis the drug free way. I purchased the book from Amazon and read through and decided to follow it to the letter. The cure is based around the following:

 

3 times a day one tea spoon of Molasses (or are Bela now calls it Moles Asses)

2 times a day two table spoons of Cider Vinegar with one table spoon of honey with a dash of hot water to mix it.

 

The mix does look like Thatcher’s Gold but that’s where the similarity ends, it’s bloody awful (Bela can’t stomach it). After the first week I could feel the benefits especially with my hands and fingers. My thumbs were a little better too. By the time I got so see the consultant my joints were the best they had been for 6 years. My shoulders were still a problem which the consultant immediately diagnosed as tendonitis and not arthritis and after two injections that too was feeling much better although I need to exercise it twice a day. – Happy days.

 

So it was off to the Viaduct Silvers league. It’s important to get a good start and when on the first match I pulled peg 80 it my series was already struggling! I did manage 18lb but last in section but not by much, hindsight and I would have been nearer the top. I followed this with peg 126 and after being battered all day by Carp and taking a dive in to the Lake my series was over. No more on this as I must mention Tony Rixon (pictured right) who won the league before the last match and then adding another section win to make it a clean sweep of six section wins. You hear comments that Tony was luck – well to a certain degree we all need an element of luck but that isn’t the reason he won the league. I put this down to his confidence in his method, rigs and feeding – simple. Tony has the confidence to sit on his chosen baits and wait 15 minutes or more for quality fish. Very impressive.

 

I decided to fish Andy Smith’s Amalgamation Ltd. Summer League with venues at Tockenham (plenty of pole breaking Carp in this Lake), Pawlett Ponds and Sabre Lakes. It took a few matches before I got grips with the venues and as such I have become fond of them. I did jointly win the league with “Pole Fixer” Barry Fitchew, but both falling on the final hurdle in the league fish off to “Gentleman” Dave Bacon. I will be fishing this league again next year which I expect to be more popular. Andy Smith matches are always been well organised and thought out.

 

Bela persuaded me to fish the Westerleigh Winter league ably ran by Bryan Shanks this year instead of the usual Landsend League so far the results aren’t looking good. I do enjoy this type of fishing. The upside is that we are having a pint by 4 o clock and home in time for a non micro waved roast dinner.

 

So the year has turned around for me as I have booked into this years Viaduct Winter league and looking forward to 2014 and so are my joints.