Avalon, 29 July (18 pegs)

A far better turnout today with 18 fishing, which included a welcome return to the Psv family for Ryan Jordan who's creaky Garbolino swivelling seatbox has been sorely missed at our matches for a number of years now.  As a result we had the entire left bank and three pegs at the top of the right bank so lots of room.
Predictably, the pellet waggler was the dominant method and with Rich Britton taking time out from his busy work schedule to fish it looked like a case of who would take second as when it comes to fishing the wag there aren't many (if any) at Psv that can match him at it.
True enough, Richard (pictured below) cruised to victory from peg 11 with 139lbs 7oz.

The competition for the rest of the framing places was a closer battle between two more waggler experts (Will Dearlove and Chris Szakacs) and Stewart Riddle.  Greatly assisted by drawing a "pleasure fishing" peg (16), Stewart took second place with an all-carp catch of 99-3 followed by Chris on peg 23 who fished the whole match today and mixed long pole up the end margin and waggler for 94-14.  Will completed the top four with 86-8 from peg 13.

  Having drawn the winning peg from the last match here, 19, Alan Healy opted to ignore the masses of carp that hang around this corner of the island and instead fished for the silvers. Fishing at 8m with soft pellet and paste he managed a healthy 26-9 for the top weight of slimy things.

Paul Reed took second with 17-8 from peg 12. Paul was a bit cagey about tactics but I believe he caught in a similar fashion to Alan.  Paul is pictured below, fortunately not smiling!

Unfortunately, what was otherwise a good day's fishing was blighted by some interruption from a group of "doggers" who had took up residence in the undergrowth.  The shocking picture below just goes to show how low some members of society will stoop to get their kicks!

Overall Result:

1. Richard Britton (peg 11) ... 139-7
2. Stewart Riddle (16) ....... 99-3
3. Chris Szakacs (23) ........ 94-14
4. Will Dearlove (13) ......... 86-8
5. Mike Smith (26) ........... 76-12
6. Mark Radford (17) ........ 62-5
7. Lionel Legge (24) ......... 60-9
8. Alan Healy (19) ............ 56-1
9. Steve Burgess (28) ....... 55-4
10. Matt Tainton (1) ........... 54-3
11. Chris Gay (21) ............. 46-15
12. Ryan Jordan (5) ........... 41-7
13. Adam Caswell (30) ....... 35-11
14. Matt Williams (7) .......... 28-11
15. Paul Reed (12) ............. 25-0
16. Derek Lucas (3) ............ 22-9
17. Ryan Radford (9) .......... 22-7
18. Pete Uzzell (6) .............. 22-3

Silvers:

1. Alan Healy ....... 26-9
2. Paul Reed ........ 17-8
3. Matt Williams .... 10-4
4. Chris Gay ......... 21-7
5. Derek Lucas ..... 7-5
6. Adam Caswell .... 6-13
7. Ryan Jordan ...... 6-3
8. Pete Uzzell ........ 5-12
9. Steve Burgess .... 5-10
10. Matt Tainton ....... 4-12 

Trinity, Woodlands, 22 July (11½ pegs)

Originally there were sixteen booked in for this match which was an ideal number however, by Saturday that number had dwindled to 9 but was boosted up to 11 by a couple of new members. Last week there were just ten at Landsend, not great numbers by any means and makes it difficult to book venues for a year in advance when you have no idea how many you are going to have until the day before the match (or even at 8:45 on Sunday morning in some cases)!
Anyway, at least the sun was shining (for once) and a gentle breeze on the lake promised some decent tans and maybe a few fish.
Rich Jones made the best of it with an almost identical performance to the last time he fished Trinity back at the end of May when he came second with 86-14 from peg 33 fishing corn down the edge.  This time he was on peg 31 and finished up with 96lbs 2oz caught on ...... corn down the edge!
Darren North gave him a good run for his money though, just one fish behind with 90lbs exactly from peg 4.  Darren fished pellet shallow at 5m.
Third place went to Stevie Wynne (below) with 76-13 from peg 7 caught shallow at 13m and down the edge under the tree at 5m.

Part of Stevie Wynne's 3rd place catch, the t-shirt is wishful thinking!

Fourth place for the second week running went to Steve Burgess on peg 27 with 72-13 caught on pellet, shallow at 14m and later on the waggler fished 3 feet deep over the pole line.  This included the top accidental silvers weight of 13-7 consisting mostly of chunky roach plus a couple of slimy green things which all took a fancy to banded 8mm pellets.

Entertainment today was provided by Stevie Wynne who can usually be relied upon to break something, this week it was his topkit which gave up the ghost on his last fish of the day.  Colin Ellaway impressed his neighbours by growing a sixth finger after pulling for a break on a snagged rig and spearing his hand.

And Mike Smith entertained his neighbours with a very poor attempt at singing!

If you were wondering why the title of this post says 11½ pegs, the "½" refers to Derek's grandson Wayne who pleasure-fished next to grandad. Wayne caught 2lb 9oz of silvers on maggot but numbers-wise had more fish than everyone else combined (they weren't that big)!

I did manage to get a good picture of Rich Jones with his winning net but somehow during the excitement of the weigh-in it must have deleted itself from my phone, and seeing as Darren was a little bit put out that I never took his picture I've dug this one out from under my pillow.

One for the ladies!

Overall Result:

1. Rich Jones ...... (peg 31) ... 96-2
2. Darren North ...... (4) ... 90-0
3. Stevie Wynne ..... (7) ... 76-13
4. Steve Burgess* ... (27) ... 72-13
5. Derek Lucas ....... (13) ... 51-14
6. Matt Tainton ...... (25) .... 46-9
7. Colin Ellaway ..... (22) .... 46-0
8. Dominic Ellaway ... (9) .... 40-3
9. Paul Reed .......... (11) ... 38-14
10. Mike Smith ......... (20) ... 36-5
11. Lionel Legge ....... (29) ... dnw

*golden peg

Silvers:

1. Steve Burgess ...... 13-7
2. Dominic Ellaway .... 12-7
3. Mike Smith .......... 8-13
4. Colin Ellaway ....... 7-10
5. Matt Tainton ........ 7-5
6. Darren North ....... 4-5
7. Rich Jones ........... 4-0
8. Derek Lucas ........ 3-13
9. Paul Reed ........... 3-12

Landsend Match Lake, 15 July (10 pegs)

Only ten fishing today so plenty of room for all and after the recent deluge the weather stayed dry for a change so that was good news although a good downpour may have sobered up the match organiser a tad as he was a bit ropey-looking for most of the day after a night sampling the hotspots of Staple Hill.
The honours went to Chris Szakacs on peg 24.  Chris, having decided to stay to the end of this one, fished caster to his left and later meat along the end margin for 62lbs 15oz.
Second place went to Adam Caswell on 19 with 54-10 and Stewart Riddle took third with 48-14 from peg 15.
Top silvers went to Mike Wilson on peg 3 with 20-13 caught on chopped worm.

Overall Result:

1. Chris Szakacs ... (peg 24) ... 62-15
2. Adam Caswell ..... (19) ..... 54-10
3. Stewart Riddle .... (15) ..... 48-14
4. Steve Burgess .... (13) ...... 47-2
5. Mike Wilson ........ (3) ....... 33-11
6. Darren North ...... (7) ....... 29-13
7. Simon Belcham ... (1) ....... 28-6
8. Alan Healy ......... (11) ...... 26-8
9. Derek Lucas ....... (21) ...... 24-1
10. Will Dearlove ...... (5) ....... 18-7

Silvers:

1. Mike Wilson ...... 20-13
2. Alan Healy ....... 20-0
3. Simon Belcham ... 19-8
4. Steve Burgess ..... 9-10
5. Darren North ....... 8-12
6. Adam Caswell ...... 7-10
7. Chris Szakacs ...... 6-13
8. Will Dearlove ....... 4-5
9. Stewart Riddle ..... 3-4
10. Derek Lucas ........ 2-14

Viaduct, Campbell, 08 July (20 pegs)

Holgan Farm Weekend update

I've had a bit of a rethink regarding the pools and payouts and I reckon it will be better to have a £10 pool per match and an optional overall super-pool of £15. 

Holgan Farm Festival arrangements

Fishing:
Friday 3rd August:  Match Lake
Saturday 4th August:  Carp Lake
Sunday 5th August:  Tench Lake

Draw will be at 9-ish, fishing 11 to 5.30
Ian will organise the draw and weigh-in and be on hand for advice on how best to fish the lakes.
All nets are provided, fishery pellet only for feed.

Payouts:
Pools will be £15 per match
Payout per day:
1. £50
2. £40
3. £30
Silvers £20

Overall Payout  (to be decided on points):

1. £100
2. £75
3. £50
4. £30

Accommodation:
Seven people will be staying at Holgan Farm (1 double room, 1 twin and 1 triple)
The remaining six will be in a local B&B
(Keith and Kev have arranged their own accommodation at Banks Farm)
Evening meals have been arranged for 7:30 / 8:00 at The Bush Inn at Robertson Wathen
which is 200yds from Banks Farm

Cost:
Cost for the weekend will be £153.50 (£55.50 for those that have arranged their own accomodation) which includes all peg fees, accommodation and breakfast and evening meals on Friday and Saturday.

Websites:
Holgan Farm Website
The Bush Inn

More Stuff for Sale!

Anybody interested in some Daiwa tournament luggage, circa 20 months old consists of 12 tube holdall, carryall including net bag and if i can find it a single rod sleeve, this is the blue version still in very good condition.
looking for £50 ono. anybody interested drop me a txt on 07912849178
Will. 

Avalon, 1 July (13 pegs)

Avalon is a great venue with plenty of fish but due to the nature of the venue it sometimes requires a bit of effort to get them out.  For best results a waggler or lead is required to be chucked within inches of the islands' margins which are in most cases guarded by trees and other vegetation. In addition there are also plenty of unseen snags below the water which the carp are well aware of and head for at a great rate of knots as soon as they are hooked which can lead to a frustrating day with lots of lost tackle and fish.
On the upside I've been told there are 20 pounds of skimmers on every peg although only two anglers managed to locate their twenty pounds worth on this occasion! (more of that later)

Today's top performer was Lionel the legend Legge on peg 19.  Lionel fished a pellet waggler to the right-hand edge of the island to land 20 carp for a total of 95lbs 2oz fishing and feeding 8mm and twitching his float to get bites.
Lionel very kindly lent me his tip rod as mine came out of it's rod sleeve minus it's reel. He wasn't too bothered as he reckoned he's never caught a fish on it (Tony Rixon would be proud).
I did manage to christen it for him but my second fish "done me".  Pulling for the break was a bit hair-raising as I think the last time Lionel used that reel he was fishing for conger over a wreck!
Anyway, second place went to Mugger Shanks on peg 5 with 82-2 caught on pellet wag and later on the pole, shallow at 12m and 3rd went the way of Mark Radford with 66-11 of carp on the wag (yes he owns a rod) and skimmers on paste from peg 7.
Will Dearlove took fourth spot with 55-0 from peg 23 fishing 16m up the margin and losing 20 fish in the process.

Top silvers went to Mark Radford (right) with 23-1 of paste-caught skimmers.  In the picture you can see Psv's silvers expert Adam Caswell looking admiringly at his idol's catch (bless him)!
Running a close second was the mugger's traveling partner Ron Hardiman (pictured below) with 22-5 of big skimmers  from peg 11.























Overall Result:

1. Lionel Legge .... (peg 19) ... 95-2
2. Brian Shanks ......... (5) ... 82-2
3. Mark Radford ........ (7) ... 66-11
4. Will Dearlove ....... (23) ... 55-0
5. Chris Szakacs ....... (16) ... 43-2
6. Stewart Riddle ...... (12) ... 36-15
7. Adam Caswell ...... (21) ... 33-15
8. Ron Hardiman ...... (11) ... 33-9
9. Kev Jefferies ......... (6) .... 32-4
10. Steve Burgess ....... (17) ... 30-4
11. Alan Healy ........... (1) ..... 29-10
12. Derek Lucas ........ (13) .... 24-12
13. Ryan Radford* .... (9) ...... 15-13

*golden peg

Silvers:

1. Mark Radford ........ 23-1
2. Ron Hardiman ....... 22-5
3. Steve Burgess ........ 10-11
4. Alan Healy ............. 7-14
5. Derek Lucas ........... 6-0
6. Adam Caswell ....... 5-12
7. Stewart Riddle ....... 5-7
8. Kev Jefferies ......... 2-3
9. Ryan Radford ....... 1-13
10. Will Dearlove ....... 0-12

Psv July Meeting

Monthly Club meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday 3rd) at the Midland Spinner for 8.
Will be taking bookings for the next matches which are:  Viaduct (Campbell) on the 8th, Landsend (Match Lake) on the 15th,  Trinity on the 22nd and Avalon on the 29th.
As always, booking priority will go to those who turn up for the meeting.
see you there (smart casual dress please)