With Bela, Geoff and me booked into the Viaduct Xmas match
the first stop as always, Canards Well – not a bad breakfast. Nick the Chef is
back.
A nice array of prizes with one guaranteed for everyone
fishing irrespective if DNW’d (pictured right). Nice to this tradition kept going.
Arrived an hour before the draw and with the usual car
parking spaces occupied we parked up by the cottage. With 98 booked in there
was plenty of chatting to do before the draw. I decided to wait until late
hoping all the crap pegs would be gone – none of it - out comes peg 117 – which
needed a second glance – not usually in. Bela drew peg 85 on Carey next to his mates Des and Ryan Shipp - The Westerleigh Crew. Geoff drew one of the two pegs everyone wanted on Campbell peg 110!
For company I had Kev Newman on peg 118 which is probably 8 metres
further out that my peg, 118 usually has the benefit of fishing down to 117 but
not today. Kev and I agreed fishing boundaries between us, both knowing we were
fishing for a box of biscuits. I didn’t have any intention of fishing towards
Kev anyway preferring to fish down to the tree to my Left which was only
top-set plus one away and the furthest I could go, where I was foolish enough
to think I could catch a Carp or two – too close with the water so clear. No
more on this one as I spent most of the day on the waggler and caster catching
small Ronnie’s, but because of the tree on my right I had to switch to left
handed and forgot to switch three times so some waggler retrieval necessary. I
half expected to catch a Perch or two but with the mild weather and the
battering they have had recently none showed. I had a mess about short on the 4
metre whip where I did get some slightly better Ronnie’s but it was a long wait
for them. The top end of
I weighed 6lb 9oz for nowhere, but was par for the Silvers
on Campbell ! I did go home with 20 bottles of larger.
The match was won by Andy Cranston (pictured upper right with his
spoils) from in-form peg 132 with 95lb. Andy started slowly then rang team mate
Des Shipp and switched to the waggler and meat shallow down to end bank peg 133
where he caught fifteen Carp. Good to see the youngtsers coming through, well done.
The Silvers was won by Paul Greenwood from unfancied Match Lake
Bela had a side bet with the Shipp’s on who could catch the
first Carp and to Bela’s delighted collect the spoils. Des beat Bela by 3lb
which included a 7lb Carp landed by, lets say unusual methods. Des had
accidently caught some broken line which was attached to the Carp! The picture right
was Des asking for bottle of red wine the second pictured is his response when
I offered him a Preston Off Box Crab Line - coming to a tackle shop near you soon!
Geoff weighed 28lb 13oz for a section win.
Plenty of anglers today may have felt they had a bad day,
but think on. The Welsh angler on peg 119 was up most of the night with his
daughter being sick, changing bed clothes and on the drive to the fishery his
Turbo broke on his van. With the van towed away he decided to fish drawing peg
119 only to fall in at the start. Now that’s a bad day.
A big thanks to the Long Family for the great fishing and
match organisation they provide throughout the year – definitely second to
none. It was great to see young Matt taking a big role in this over the year.
Today Matt got the full results out 10 minutes after receipt of the last weigh
sheet – very impressive. Hopefully next year will see Steve fishing more.
Full Overall Results – Top Ten:
Weigh Sheets (except Lodge – lost in transit):
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