Shiplate, Hawthorn / Westpool, 24 March (13 pegs)

This time last year we were enjoying temperatures around 20• and getting sunburnt.
But unfortunately there seems to be no end in sight for this winter and yet again the dashboard display of the fishing bus was flashing away and warning (in Spanish) of a risk of ice.
And on this occasion it was well worth taking my Spanish friend seriously  as heading up to the airport whilst trying to find a section of A38 suitable for a Lewis Hamilton manouvre on the Sunday morning idiot doing 25mph we went past a minibus on it's side in a ditch and several other cars in uncompromising positions before it became apparent that we were no longer driving on tarmac but instead were skating along on a sheet of  ice and that Mr Sunday driver wasn't such an idiot after all.
So as a result it took a little longer to make it to Shipham cafe than normal.
Anyhow, you're probably wondering why I'm waffling on about the weather etc instead of the fishing so, we had 13 merry souls and both canals to go at so loads of room.
Nobody was expecting any huge weights and it seemed that most fancied a draw on Westpool as the talk was that Hawthorns was fishing hard at the moment and the normally productive peg 1 particularly so.  The best chance of a few fish would be the far end of Hawthorn and so Alan Healy could hardly contain himself when he drew Hawthorns 13 which happened also to be the  golden peg worth around £80.
Sure enough following a very slow start to the match which saw a good few walking the banks after an hour, Alan took the lead with one carp in the net and another lost which seemed like a lead nobody was going to catch as the only other person to have caught by the halfway mark was Rocket Ron Hardiman with a couple of blippy roach and a chublet.
Fortunately Matt Taynton on Westpool 5 (end peg) managed to find a couple of carp that were brave enough to feed and ended up with four of them caught on a maggot/pinkie cocktail over groundbait at 5m at the bottom of the nearside shelf for a massive matchwinning total of 21lbs 2oz.
Alan managed a second late carp to take second with 8-4.
Third place went to Ryan Radford on Westpool 11 with 6-11 but as Ryan doesn't go in the pools it meant Pete Uzzell's 4-6 carp, caught as he was packing up with his topkit resting on his net, sneaked him into third in the pools (by default).
Rocket Ron took the silvers money with a lowly 1-8.
As for me, my match probably ended after the first cup of micros and maggot hit the water and I never had a discernible bite all day.
Similarly Adam Caswell's match was probably over after his 4th ball of groundbait hit the deck although, in fairness, Matt, Ryan and Ron all "caught" over groundbait but in slightly smaller quantities!
I didn't go home completely empty handed though as Carol and Steve took pity on me and I ended up with a fresh laid Easter (goose) egg!

Full Result:

1. Matt Taynton (peg W5) ..... 21-2
2. Alan Healy* (H13) ........ 8-4
3. Ryan Radford (W11) ... 6-11
4. Ron Hardiman (W13) ... 5-12
5. Pete Uzzell (H15) ........ 4-6
6. Steve Wynne (H9) ...... 2-13
7. Chris Szakacs (H11) .... 2-2
8. and 6 blanks (myself included)

*golden peg (nearly but not quite)!

And finally, a couple of reminders.Firstly, Tuesday 2nd April is Agm time. Which is that special time of year when the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Match Sec and Treasurer all stand down and suddenly everything goes all quiet presumably in anticipation of who will be voted in on the new committee!

And, of course, subs are due for paying.

And secondly, I will be away with my good wife on Friday and Saturday (sightseeing) so could all the "last-minute.com" book-ins (and outs) let me know before then please.