Viaduct, Spring Lake, 28 November (8 pegs)

With 4 no-shows and pretty much the whole of Match Lake frozen over it was decided to switch the match to the relatively ice-free top bank of Spring Lake and ....... nobody caught a bleedin thing!
Fortunately a few anglers reported having the odd bite and Steve Burgess lead the way with his float dipping twice on his first put-in and not long after missing a "proper" bite which completely took his maggot hookbait! He managed a third bite later on in the afternoon when he dropped his rig in and the float carried on going under but that may have been down to excess ice formation on his pole float.
Ade Crawley had his pinky chewed (which was nice for him) while Paul Elmes had several good knocks on his feeder rig in between tangles with an overhanging tree.
Derek Lucas had one definite bite on his tip rod but by then was frozen to his platform and unable to pick the rod up while Darren North also reported indications on his rod tip but they may have been liners from floating pack ice!
All was not completely lost however, as after the all-out Alan Healy dropped his pole rig into the River Cary behind him and bagged up with a pair of 2oz roach and Paul Elmes adopted a similar tactic (with Ade Crawley's pole) and landed a roach of about 8oz.

Paul Elmes with the best fish of the day and the biggest fish Ade Crawley's pole has seen all season.

Alan with half of the Healy family's fish supper.

Bullocks Farm, Match Lake, 14 November (10 pegs)

Expectations for this match weren't too great and it was expected to be hard going with the water being gin clear and the carp not expected to show in great numbers.  Alan Healy though, having spent the previous week living on rabbits and roadkill was eager to get back to winning ways and restock his diminishing pound coin collection and so used psychic powers and various other means to pull out peg 17 from the bag (which won the Avon Angling open for Paul Elmes last weekend)
Having successfully drawn the only good peg on the lake Alan predictably went on to win both the match and the silvers weighing in a total of 21-1 all caught on maggot.
Also fishing maggot on peg 1 was Mike Smith who's two carp weighed in at 20-11 to take second place followed by Steve Burgess on peg 9 with 11-13 of crucians, fantails and 2 small tench caught on maggot and soft pellet.
Following the sad demise of his stud guinea pig (and main source of income) this match saw a welcome return to the fold for Mark Britton but unfortunately playing with rodents has meant Mark's fishing has gone a bit rusty and he could only manage a lowly 4-10. But on the plus side, Mark did manage to fish the whole match without throwing his toys out of the pram and, much to everyone's surprise, was still approachable afterwards!

Full Result:

1. Alan Healy ........ peg 17 ..... 21-1
2. Mike Smith .............. 1 ...... 20-11
3. Steve Burgess .......... 9 ...... 11-13
4. Adam Caswell ........... 26 .... 10-14
5. Simon Belcham* ....... 30 .... 8-2
6. Mark Radford ............ 25 .... 8-1
7. Mark Britton ............. 19 ..... 4-10
8. Bob Warren .............. 7 ..... DNW
9. Derek Lucas ............. 15 .... DNW
10. Paul Reed ................. 24 .... DNW 

Silvers:

1. Alan Healy ...... 13-13
2. Steve Burgess .. 11-13
3. Mark Radford ... 8-1 (silvers winner by double default)!
4. Mark Britton ..... 4-10
5. Adam Caswell ... 4-6

*golden peg

Westerleigh, Old Lake, 31 October (12 pegs)

More often remembered for his monumental Sunday morning hangovers and string of ex-wives than his match fishing pedigree, Southmead's finest (only) Steel Fixer, Stevie Wynne turned the form book on it's head to produce a comfortable win.
Drawn on peg 13, Steve alternated between corn, meat and maggot at 13m and in the margins ending up with a 53-7 mixed bag which included a 10lb 7oz lump caught on double red maggot.
Surprisingly that now makes it eight matches in a row that Steve has fished without breaking a pole section or having a rod towed onto the lake!

The Southmead fishing bus was a happy place to be on the journey home as Steve's long-term partner and soulmate, Rich Jones, took second spot with 38-14 from peg 4.
Richard fished similar tactics to the winner but had more success with 8mm banded pellet on the hook. Unfortunately he did manage to lose two good sized fish which spent the rest of the day feeding in the safety of Adam Woodland's peg where they were in no danger of being caught!
Third place went to Simon Belcham on peg 19 with 38-2 caught on maggot and meat while Ryan Jordan completed the frame with 36-3 from peg 9 using the same baits in the margins and out at 13m.

Mike Smith was not far behind with 34-1 from peg 18 but lost ground however, due to a couple of spells of goose wrestling while Bob Warren chose to go for a swim after the "all out" to retrieve his new hook.  Luckily Bob's wallet is watertight so his Green Shield stamps, pension book and bus pass were all perfectly safe and dry!

Ade Crawley playing a feisty 2lb carp ........

...... and landing it 30 minutes later.

A very cold, wet, but happy Bob Warren after successfully retrieving his brand new size 14 Tubertini 808 and half a pint of leftover casters.

Full Result:

1. Steve Wynne ....... peg 13 ...... 53-7
2. Rich Jones .................. 4 ....... 38-14
3. Simon Belcham ........... 19 ...... 38-4
4. Ryan Jordan ................ 9 ....... 36-3
5. Mike Smith ................. 18 ...... 34-1
6. Darren North .............. 12 ....... 25-2
7. Ade Crawley ............... 2 ........ 18-14
8. Paul Reed ................... 15 ...... 17-10
9. Stuart Ashton .............. 1 ....... 17-3
10. Bob Warren ................. 11 ..... 16-12
11. Alan Healy .................. 10 ...... 11-7
12. Adam Woodland ........... 6 ....... DNW