Plantations, Horseshoe Lake, 08 May (10 pegs)

With the recent renovation and restocking of the lake only having been completed a few days before this match the rumour mill was in full swing so I had heard everything from there being no fish in the lake to the lake having no water in it and I had also been reliably informed that the owner had removed the sunken bars that can be seen in the photo above.
However, having spoken to the owner in the week it was clear that most / all of the above was a load of crap and that all the work was complete, the fish were back in their home and they even had some water to swim in.
In addition to that, one of the locals had "test fished" it during the week and had over 100lbs out on two different occasions (don't they always say that?) so things were looking good for our match.
In actual fact the owners have now put in corrugated tin sheeting supported by wooden posts on top of the bars, either that or the bars are no longer there and the tin sheets continue for about 8 feet below the surface!
And on arrival at the lake it seemed that the occupants were so pleased with their new surroundings that most of them were celebrating by getting laid in the margins! (not a good sign) And to make matters worse there was a hefty wind blowing down the lake which was going to make things difficult.
As it turned out, the wind got worse as the day progressed which meant that Bob Warren and Mike Smith in pegs 1 & 2 (nearest the car park) were unable to fish out at any length and could only fish down the edge.
In hindsight I would have left these pegs out and just put in the sheltered pegs as there's no point in having a "good" peg if it's unfishable and Bob probably wouldn't have broken his no6 section when his pole blew off the roller but shit happens!
Man of the moment, Alan Healy's luck with the drawbag continued when he pulled out the £72 golden peg, peg 5 which was reasonably sheltered at the back of the "shoe" and an end peg that appeared to be solid with fish. In fact there were so many in his peg that he found it difficult to plumb up!
Sure enough the pheasant beater caught all day long alternating between 13m to the opposite bank reeds and short into open water to weigh in 48lbs 4oz which netted him £132, his second golden peg win of the year.

 

Derek Lucas (above) was close behind on peg 6 which was on the central spit and completely unaffected by the wind.  Derek fished double red maggot on his top4 straight out in front catching mostly small carp around 8 to 12oz with the odd good fish to finish up with 42-13.
Third place went to Chris Szakacs on peg 8 with 41-13 of carp caught on corn.

Full Result:

1. Alan Healy* ..... peg5 .... 48-4
2. Derek Lucas ........ 6 .... 42-13
3. Chris Szakacs ...... 8 .... 41-3
4. Simon Belcham ... 10 ... 35-4
5. Ade Crawley ........ 9 .... 21-0
6. Paul Reed ............ 7 .... 19-8
7. Mike Smith .......... 2 .... 12-8
8. Steve Burgess ...... 3 .... 10-0
9. Bob Warren ......... 1 .... DNW
10. Darren North ....... 4 .... DNW

*golden peg

Westerleigh, Top Lake, 17 April (10 pegs)

This Sunday last year we were on Campbell and the match was won by Trigger in his flip-flops with 133lbs 4oz and, if I remember rightly, the weather conditions on the day were identical .. warm, bright sunshine and little or no wind.
The fishing, however, couldn't have been more different as many of Westerleigh's resident carp were cruising around just below the surface with no intention of feeding whatsoever and to make matters worse, even the roach and skimmers were playing hard to get.
Stuart Riddle, on peg 31, made the best of it with 23lbs 4oz caught across and down his left margin, although his weight was boosted half an hour before the "all out" by a near double-figure grass carp that had it's afternoon sunbathing spoilt when it was coaxed into breathing in Stuart's hookbait! 
Rich Britton took second place (the best genuinely caught weight on the day) with 15-1 from peg 35 and Stuart Ashton claimed 3rd and the best silvers weight with 11-11 from peg 21.
Mark Britton unfortunately only got as far as the car park and never even managed to draw as he was suffering from "dodgy guts" ..... it was mentioned that he may be pregnant but I won't say where that rumour came from otherwise Bob's wedding invite could be going in the bin!

 

After coaxing out a 10lb grass carp Stuart unfortunately suffered a minor mental breakdown 

Full Result: 

1. Stuart Riddle ..... peg 31 .... 23-4
2. Rich Britton ........ 35 ........ 15-1
3. Stuart Ashton ..... 21 ........ 11-11
4. Chris Gay ........... 23 ........ 10-8
5. Simon Belcham ... 27 ........ 8-14
6. Bob Warren ......... 29 ....... 6-11
7. Darren North ....... 28 ....... 6-5
8. Yan .................... 26 ....... 6-4
9. Derek Lucas ........ 33 ....... dnw
10. Steve Burgess* ............. 32 ........... dnw

Silvers:

1. Stuart Ashton ..... 11-11
2. Rich Britton ........ 9-14
3. Simon Belcham ... 8-14
4. Chris Gay ........... 7-15
5. Bob Warren ........ 6-11
6. Darren North ...... 6-5
7. Yan .................... 5-0
8. Stuart Riddle ....... 4-12

*golden peg

Trinity, 03 April 2011 (11 pegs)

Chris Szakacs was back in winning mode after a poor (by his standards) start to the year and also posted the biggest weight of the year so far of 103lbs 7oz.
I've no idea who is stood behind him in the picture below but it appears that he's a big fan of his!
Mugger Shanks had an off day and could only manage second place with 96-2 and, despite breaking his pole and having to fish at 5m for most of the day, the pheasant beater still managed to claw his way into the payout with 90-9 for third place.



Full Result:

1. Chris Szakacs ........... 103-7
2. Mugger Shanks .......... 96-2
3. The Pheasant Beater ... 90-9
4. Ron Hardiman ........... 64-13
5. Mike the paste Smith .... 63-11
6. Ade creepy Crawley ...... 61-6
7. Eddie Wynne .............. 57-2
8. Darren North .............. 46-6
9. Simon Belcham .......... 39-3
10. Steve Hutchinson ....... 22-10
11. Paul Reed ................... 13-9

Silvers:

1. Steve Hutchinson ... 22-10
2. Simon Belcham ...... 16-5
3. Brian Shanks .......... 11-4
4. Mike Smith ............. 11-1
5. Ade Crawley ............ 11-0
6. Alan Healy ............... 10-4
7. Eddie Wynne ........... 6-1
8. Paul Reed ................. 4-3
9. Ron Hardiman ......... 3-0

no peg numbers (I wasn't there)!

Westerleigh, Top Lake, 26 March (12 pegs)

Despite the decent weather on the day it was unfortunately one of those days where the lake's inhabitants weren't playing ball and, for most, a bite from anything was a premium.
Not so however for that legend of the coffin dodger circuit Bob Warren.
Armed with a fountain of knowledge and a bag full of leftover bait (nothing new there) from Thursday's Kingswod over-55's match, plus an healthy suntan from his recent Caribean cruise, Bob started the match on a roll catching skimmers and good sized silvers on soft pellet at close range from peg 23.
Simon Belcham, tucked around the corner on peg 21 was also catching on maggot while at the opposite end of the match Alan Healy on peg 29 was getting the odd good fish in between catching roach fry as was Mike Smith on peg 27.
Steve Burgess did manage to boost a fairly dismal net with a near 5lb carp that was hooked in the tail but despite trying every area in his swim and everyone else's, he also struggled.

Full Result:

1. Bob Warren ...... peg 23 ... 13-3
2. Simon Belcham ...... 21 ... 12-4
3. Alan Healy .............. 29 ... 11-4
4. Mike Smith ............. 27 ... 9-0
5. Steve Burgess .......... 32 ... 6-10
6. Eddie Wynne .......... 28 .... 6-0

Silvers:

1. Bob Warren ....... 10-5
2. Simon Belcham .. 8-2
3. Mike Smith ......... 7-3
4. Alan Healy .......... 6-8
5. Eddie Wynne ...... 3-9
6. Steve Burgess ..... 1-14

Updated 2011 Match Calender

Click on the calender below for a large version which can be saved / printed.

Landsend, Match & Speci Lakes, 20 Mar (18 pegs)

With a decent turnout of 18 for once, Landsend's multi-millionaire fishery owner and thoroughly nice bloke, Mike Duckett was kind enough to give us five pegs on the back of the speci lake to ease the pressure on Match lake.
The downside of this was that Brian mugger Shanks was drawn on 25 which is the corner of speci and wins most matches on that lake.
Mind you, if Brian had drawn the puddle behind the toilet he would most likely still have won the match!
The match itself fished reasonably well despite the fact that it was a bright, clear day with none of Landsend's normal gale force winds. And that a lot of fish were cruising around just below the surface enjoying the warm spring sunshine.
Alan Healy, keen to add to his growing pile of pound coins, got off to a flying start on peg 15, fishing his top2 just off the edge of his platform and next to a part submerged bush. While Darren North who apparently could draw a corner peg on a round lake in corner peg 13 was matching his catch rate.
Steve Burgess, on peg 19, was also catching well but was losing them all probably due to the fact that he was using 18 hooks and 0.10 line as he hadn't been arsed to make up any "proper" rigs!
Entertainment was being provided by Adam Caswell (pictured right) who after hooking up the island, broke his number 5 section and then fell off his box and broke his number 7 section.
Adam managed to redeem himself later on by catching well in the last hour on pellet shallow including one fish of over 10lbs that he had estimated at 7 (in that endearing way of his)!
Somehow, Adam had managed to draw next to his hero, mentor and brother-in-law Mark Radford, but following his winter lay-off Mark struggled to recreate the magic from previous seasons and could only manage 13th, avoiding being beaten by Paul Reed by just 6 ounces!
Brian Shanks was the winner on the day by a considerable margin, weighing in 90lbs 12oz consisting of 46lbs of carp and a hefty 44lbs of silvers!

Full Result:

1. Brian Shanks .... peg 25 ..... 90-12
2. Darren North ........ 13 ...... 47-11
3. Chris Gay .............. 30 ...... 47-4
4. Alan Healy ............ 15 ....... 37-12
5. Steve Burgess ....... 19 ....... 33-7
6. Chris Szakacs ....... 24 ....... 26-8
7. Adam Caswell ...... 21 ........ 25-11
8. Derek Lucas ......... 7 ......... 19-5
9. Ade Crawley ......... 32 ....... 6-11
10. Eddie Wynne ....... 29 ....... 17-5
11. Simon Belcham ... 3 ......... 16-14
12. Steve Hutchinson 6 ........ 15-4
13. Mark Radford ...... 22 ...... 13-7
14. Paul Reed ............. 27 ...... 13-1
15. Stuart Ashton* ..... 1 ........ 7-9
16. Bob warren ........... 11 ..... dnw
17. Rich Britton .......... 18 .... dnw
18. Ron Hardiman ...... 16 .... dnw

Silvers:

1. Brian Shanks ..... 44-8
2. Eddie Wynne ..... 17-5
3. Chris Gay ........... 13-12
4. Paul Reed .......... 13-1
5. Simon Belcham . 12-4
6. Alan Healy ......... 11-9
7. Steve Hutchinson .. 10-15
8. Ade Crawley ........ 7-10
9. Stuart Ashton ..... 7-9
10. Steve Burgess ..... 7-5
11. Chris Szakacs ..... 6-0
12. Darren North ..... 5-13
13. Mark Radford .... 3-6
14. Derek Lucas ....... 3-5

* golden peg

Acorn, Old match lake, 13 March (8 pegs)

It's often been said that some people can fall in a pile of shit and come out smelling of roses. And that is a very fitting description for Alan 'the pheasant beater' Healy.
Anyway, as I'm not a bitter person or a sore loser or anything like that then that's enough bitching for today's post.
So not being happy enough with winning Matchman of the year, the winter league, the last two club matches and a pile of pound coins mugged from other club members, Alan (who was responsible for pegging out the match) managed to pull the golden peg, worth £46, out of the drawbag (peg 6) and, as you have probably already guessed, went on to win that as well!
Alan fished and fed maggot at 14m and in both margins and with the help of an hectic last hour put 35-8 onto the scales (not including the fish caught 10 minutes after the all out), consisting of carp between 8oz and 4lbs along with a bonus tench and a solitary skimmer.
Second on the day was the ever consistent Darren North on the end peg 17. Darren fished corn over micro pellet feed into open water at 8m and into the corner margin for a total of 25-12.
Match Sec (and possibly new Chairman), Steve Burgess completed the frame with 25-4 from peg 9 caught on red maggot over micro pellet and maggot feed at 12m to the corner of a clump of reeds on the far bank. Steve was fish for fish with Alan for the duration of the match but with an hour to go, a good fish smashed his rig in the reeds and killed the swim for the rest of the match leaving the pheasant beater to cruise to an easy victory.

Alan looks pleased with his catch which netted him £97

















Darren North looks overjoyed with coming second.












Ade Crawley looks for inspiration.














Simon Belcham looks scruffy!













Overall Result:

1. Alan Healy* ..... peg 6 ........ 35-8
2. Darren North ........ 17 ....... 25-12
3. Steve Burgess ........ 9 ........ 25-4
4. Simon Belcham .... 12 ....... 19-8
5. Ade Crawley ......... 15 ....... 10-13
6. Stuart Riddle ........ 16 ....... 8-12
7. Chris Szakacs ........ 4 ........ Dnw
8. Mark Britton ......... 2 ........ Dnw

*Golden peg

Bullocks Farm, Rushcombe, 6 March (12 pegs)

This match, the first of the Psv 2011 /12 season, was switched at the last minute from the Match Lake to the more productive Rushcombe Lake but a return to winter temperatures during the previous week put paid to any bumper weights. However, everyone had a few bites and nobody blanked!
And, exactly as at last year's Rushcombe match, pegs 50 and 52 (respectively) produced first and second places.
Alan Healy was fortunate enough to find himself on the lake's best peg (which incidentally had that many goldfish in it that the water had turned orange) and made no mistakes to put 16-14 onto the scales for first.
Stuart Riddle drew the bridge peg (52) and managed second place with 14-10 caught on a variety of baits fishing mainly to the outfall pipe on the opposite side and close to the bridge itself.
Only 2oz behind, Darren North took third spot from peg 39 with 14-8 of better quality carp (proper ones) caught on corn. And new member Rich Britton, on golden peg 35, completed the frame with 10-12 of goldfish and odd small carp caught on punched bread and later, pinkie from the cover of an overhanging bush on the opposite bank.

Overall Result:

1. Alan Healy ......... 50 ..... 16-14
2. Stuart Riddle ..... 52 ...... 14-10
3. Darren North .... 39 ....... 14-8
4. Rich Britton* ..... 35 ....... 8-12
5. Simon Belcham .. 37 ...... 8-10
6. Rich Jones ......... 48 ...... 8-5
7. Derek Lucas ....... 46 ...... 5-9
8. Chris Gay ........... 42 ...... 4-11
9. Steve Wynne ...... 41 ...... 2-12
10. Steve Burgess ..... 34 ..... 2-8
11. Ade Crawley ....... 33 ..... 1-14
12. Mark Britton ...... 44 ..... Dnw

* golden peg