Boyd Valley, 04 December (9 pegs)

It was a shame that only nine fished this one as it was originally fully booked with a waiting list so it does help a great deal if I get plenty of warning if someone can't make it to give others a chance to fish (it can be difficult to get hold of bait at times on a Saturday night)!
Anyway, fortunately there were no major disasters at the draw although strangely, having decided to leave out peg 5 (too muddy) and peg 11 (restricted by pegs 10 and 12) and to put the other 10 pegs in the bag I managed to find myself drawn on peg 11!  I wasn't too disheartened though as I hadn't brought any rods so had no intention of throwing things in the direction of the island even though the most recent match there had apparently been won with carp caught on the method with 10mm pellet.
At the off it soon became clear that the carp weren't going to respond to depth charges in the shallow water around the island and most turned their attentions to the roach, which were very obliging,in close and in the margins and odd skimmers. The occasional carp did make an appearance to boost the top weights although former male model-turned-ambulance chaser Paul Reed on peg 4 was having problems avoiding them. Despite losing 7 foul hookers he did manage to extract four which, along with some good skimmers and roach, gave him a comfortable win, well ahead of Alan Healy on peg 2 and Darren North on peg 1.
For the record, Paul (pictured below) caught by alternating worm and single or double caster on the hook over chopped worm and caster feed and a bit of micro down his left margin in 10 inches of water towards the reeds.  He found it was easier to wait for a gap to appear between the backs and tails of the feeding fish in his peg to lower his bait into the water!
If you're wondering why I know quite so much information about Paul's impressive win it's because I was fortunate enough to give him a lift home so if you draw next to Paul at the Christmas match make sure you ask him how he caught, in fact, don't bother because he will tell you anyway!

Full Result:

1. Paul Reed ... peg 4 .... 28-10
2. Alan Healy .......... 2 .... 18-10
3. Darren North ...... 1 ..... 18-6
4. Steve Burgess .... 11 ... 17-15
5. Bob Warren ........ 10 ... 16-8
6. Chris Gay ........... 6 ..... 15-8
7. Simon Belcham ... 7 ..... 10-8
8. Derek Lucas ........ 8 ..... 9-15
9. Mike Welling ........ 12 ... 7-0

Please note that eveyone is welcome to come along to the Midland Spinner on Sunday evening for the PSV Christmas festivities

Boyd Valley, 27 Feb (11 pegs)

Not much to say about this one, as unfortunately I was on "family duties" and wasn't there (hence the sketchy details), other than that Alan I've got Boyd sussed Healy won it and Chris Szakac's golden drawing hand had an "off day" resulting in an early finish and a big fat DNW!
The sad fact is though that in our last three matches at Boyd, the pheasant-beater has won twice and come second once so there is a lot to be said for spending hours rooting about at night looking for worms in the garden. Still, now that he has been forced into early retirement from professional football it seems that every pound counts regardless of where it comes from!

Overall Result!

1. Alan Healy ...... peg 3 ..... 42-6
2. Simon Belcham ..... 5 ..... 36-12
3. Darren North ........ 2 ...... 33-3
4. Mike Smith .................... 20-2
5. Bob Warren .................... 19-4
6. Paul Reed ....................... 18-4

Silvers

1. Simon Belcham ...... 5 ...... 14-4
2. Mark Britton ........... 1 ..... 12-6
3. Ade Crawley ........... 8 ...... 7-12

Boyd Valley, 23 Jan (12 pegs)

With Boyd's resident carp reluctant to feed only four anglers managed to hit double figures and keen to make up for a dismal performance from a gift of a peg last week at Westerleigh, the Knowle West pheasant beater was making no mistakes this week.
Having drawn yet another flier, peg 8, Alan caught steadily all day at 14m and up against the reed margins to weigh in 19lbs 8oz of quality silvers for a comfortable win with over five pounds to spare.
Winner of the same match this time last year, (view here) Neil Mercer arrived at the venue "Trigger-style" looking very much worse for wear and a strange greyish-yellow colour but he managed to get his act together tucked away in the relative shelter of peg 11 with his lucky stupid hat on! 
Fishing short in the margins and a bit longer as the day progressed (and the fuzziness cleared) Neil managed to put together 14lbs exactly to take second place.
At one stage it was necessary for Neil's mum to bring him some hot food and stroke the back of his neck for a while but I guess that's what mummy's are for!
Third spot went to born-again angler Paul Reed who was pegged next to the winner on peg 9.  If you are interested (and have the time) Paul will give you a blow by blow account of how he caught each of his fish for his well earned 11lbs 3oz.
Making up the frame was our in-form match secretary, Steve Burgess who skillfully (some would say luckily) managed to boost an unimpressive net of small roach and skimmers with the only sizeable carp to be landed on the day to give him a thoroughly impressive 10lbs 12oz from a mediocre peg 6.


Full Result:

1. Alan Healy ........ peg 8 ..... 19-8
2. Mugger Mercer ...... 11 ..... 14-0
3. Paul Reed ............. 9 ....... 11-3
4. Steve Burgess ....... 6 ....... 10-12
5. Mark Britton .......... 1 ....... 9-15
6. Bob Warren .......... 10 ...... 7-7
7. Simon Belcham ..... 2 ....... 6-0
8. Stevie Wynne ........ 7 ....... 5-0
9. Mike Wilson* ........ 12 ...... 3-13-1
10. Darren North ........ 5 ........ 3-13
11. Ryan Jordan ......... 3 ......... 2-11
12. Derek Lucas ......... 4 ......... 2-4

*golden peg

Mike Wilson's "Bargain Bucket" Invitation Match, Boyd Valley (11 pegs)

Two consecutive nights of hard frost resulted in all but one of Boyd Valley's twelve pegs being covered with a thick layer of ice and as a result another ice-breaking session was in order limiting the options in this 11 peg knock-up organized by wealthy local businessman and PSV outgoing Chairman, Mike Wilson.
Easily making the best of the tough conditions was silvers expert Neil the plummet Mercer on peg 4.
Neil caught steadily throughout the match netting quality roach and skimmers along with a couple of bonus small carp on the pole, using his secret "ssg" method, for a total of 15lbs 6oz.
Second place went to Knowle West badger-baiter Alan Healy, on peg 11, who fished long and shallow for 9lbs 7oz of blades and eyes, closely followed by Paul Elmes on peg 6 who, despite a late run of better quality skimmers, finished just 3oz short with 9lbs 4oz.
Ryan Jordan on peg 2 was into small skimmers throughout the match but 2 lost carp cost him dearly and left him one place out of the money in 4th position with 7lbs 14oz .... just 10oz ahead of Psv Match Secreatary, Steve Burgess on peg 7 who included one small carp and a confused baby tench in his 7lbs 4oz total.

Results:

1. Neil plummet Mercer (peg 4) ... 15-6
2. Alan Healy (11) ...................... 9-7
3. Paul Elmes (6) ........................ 9-4
4. Ryan Jordan (2) ..................... 7-14
5. Steve Burgess (7) .................... 7-4
6. Mark Radford(12) ................... 5-1
7. Bob Warren (1) ....................... 4-12
8. Mike Wilson (10) .................... 4-10
9. Darren North (8) .................... 4-6
10. Paul Reed (3) .......................... 3-15
11. Adam Caswell (9) .................. DNW