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When the entry form appeared this year in Match Angling magazine, there was a surprise. Two anglers from each club would be allowed to enter. From results throughout the year it was decided that me (Yozzer) and Dirk Wriggler would represent Eggy Ferry. We chose to follow Pato's lead from last year, and enter the Tunnel Barn qualifier. Pete Lucas had qualified through a Warrington club so a Premier Inn was booked for 3.
Arriving at 9.15, we made enquiries in the tackle shop. I have fished most of the pools on the complex, along with Luco, with the exception of New pool. This is where I fancied having a practise. Staff told us to fish pegs 3,4 and 5, so off we went.
With Dirk on his first TBF visit we decided to just get a feel of things till noon, before starting a 6 hour knock-up. Good job we did this because it was a shock to find the lake had been stocked over the winter with hoardes of 3oz F1s. I had opted to fish pellet to start with but it was apparent very quickly that this would be a waste of time. A change to meat was in order. Having found some 'beef and chicken' luncheon meat in the 99p shop, and cut up four tins, I thought I'd go with it. Oh dear! no wonder it was cheap, every last piece floated, much to the joy of the lake's duck population and their young. Plan C, and onto my trusty TBF favourite of corn n hemp.
Pete and Derek both chose to do caster shallow and they were both into fish from the off. Unfortunately it was 6oz ide and other assorted silvers, and not the expected F1s.
By the time 12 o'clock came, we had each sorted things out to a degree. I was catching the odd decent F1 and the others were catching on the caster.
By mid afternoon I had progressed to catching slowly in the margins, as had Pete, who found that micros were working better than hemp for him and his meat also sank.
Dirk meanwhile, was battering F1s by fishing hard up against the far bank reeds and tapping 'mong' style. Banded red pellet was doing the damage.
At the weigh-in Luco's digital scales had flat batteries, DOH! so we admired each others catches, estimating that we'd all probably managed a ton, and tipped back.
We had a pleasant meal at a Beefeater pub, a few drinks, and a chat about the forthcoming match. By 10.30 we were all more than ready to sleep.
Now if the match had been a snoring competition, Dirk would have walked it, and been an England International. Jeez, me and Pete struggled to doze off and to add insult to injury, The Wriggler awoke in the morning and tried to tell us he'd not slept very well!
Big match excitement meant we were at the Barn by 7.30 having breakfast and talking to some people we knew, and some we didn't.
It was choc-a-bloc, and then they announced that there were 224 entries, and 21 qualifying places up for grabs. Spreads over 9 lakes on the complex, it was going to equate to roughly the top 2 anglers on each lake progressing to the final. Financially, there would be 5-peg sections paying £50 to the winner. Personally, it was a case of 'get a bite', get a fish and then if things go well, worry about the section. Mind you, it was good money for such a small section.
Draw time, and Dirk was keen to be at the front of the queue, worried that 2 hours wouldn't be enough time to tackle up. Lucas was chilled, and I would have been just as happy at the back of the queue.
Into the bag, and Degsy pulled out New 4, Pete's peg from yesterday. Gotta be happy with that, at least it was familiar territory. Luco drew Canal 14, which I didn't really fancy, but he seemed OK with. I ended up with House 18. Only fished the pool once previously, but was happy to give it a go.
After dropping Dirk off, I arrived at the lake and went searching for my peg. I liked what I saw, and really fancied a good day's fishing from it. Nothing special, but it felt right and I had a bit of room, a rarity with so many anglers fishing.
Starting on my top kit out in front, I went with 6mm pellet, Hampton-style. 30 seconds in and my first bite was converted into a 1lb F1. I'm happy. 3 more decent F1s came quickly, before a few silly missed bites had me thinking. Sure enough, it was those 3oz F1s again. Changing swiftly onto corn n hemp soon solved that. For 2 hours I caught steadily, getting 6/7 fish before moving a yard sideways to keep in touch with the fish, which would back off. It worked a treat, even if I did have to add a short 4 on occasions. I drip fed the margins on both sides from the off, and at midmatch, with action slowing, it was time for a look. Again, 4 or 5 fish from one side, then switch to the other, and then back again.
At the whistle I had 95 proper F1s. My initial thoughts were, I wonder how the others got on, Wow what a nice day's fishing, I might have won my section.
Phoned Dirk, 12 F1s, not good, 40lb has won his section. Rang Lucas, 26lb, his section won with 32lb, not good. Both lakes had not fished as hoped.
Seems that House pool would be last to get weighed, so I politely asked Pete if he had time to come down and lift my nets out for me. With Lucas getting more excited than me, I admit that I have a ton. An angler at the other end of my lake weighed in 111lb, and is currently in the lead. Second best is 100lb. I allowed myself to think I might qualify for the final, and possibly win my section. 3 weighs later and I totalled 134lb, which, unbelievably was going to be enough for me to win the whole qualifier.
After a photo session with Garbo superstars for the magazine, I made my way to the presentation. Again I was shocked when they announced that first prize was £400. Fantastic, but I would have been just as happy with no cash, as long as I can keep the buzz of winning.
Next time you win an Eggy section and pick up a 'measly' £21, think more about your Garbo Club Angler points. As the TV advert says, some things are priceless. This experience is one of them.
Pretty standard conditions for Lingmere, with a stiff breeze blowing down the lake and occasional showers. The Cockney geezer bowed out without wetting a line, and Lee Pickup did 'the walk' after a couple of hours. Everyone else sat it out, albeit frustrated at how difficult it was to get decent presentation. Despite the weather, it fished very well, with some excellent weights being recorded.
Using his knowledge gained from fishing the 'dodgers matches' on a Wednesday, The Garden Gnome put together 65lb 08oz, half of which were quality skimmers, on caster and pellet. Yozzer scraped home by the skin of his teeth.....okay, he's got no teeth but you know what I mean, with the rest of the field close behind.
A rare club outing for Col Cook brought him a decent return of 63lb 12oz, again consisting of quality silvers to enhance the F1s. Well Done Col.
With none of the pre-match info working for him, John Edwards decided to chuck it and chance it. His method tactics proved fruitful to the tune of a level 62lb and a well earned 2nd loser spot for the in-form Fishomaniac, Awesome Sumo!
Pete Lucas also made his first appearance in ages, following his departure from managerial duties. Showing he'd not lost the old magic, The Maestro did brilliantly to put 35lb on the scales with his first net. Declaring that he had the same in the other net, it seemed like game over, but alas for Luco, it only went 25lb and a total of 60lb 08oz. Good enough for a mere section win, and on the pole too. Maybe he's learnt a new trick or two in his absence.
Spadger bore the brunt of the wind and fished short pole for an excellent 54lb 14oz and a section win, while Dennis Jones again showed his scratching skills in the worst section, which he won with 31lb 12oz. Congrats to both.
A testimony to the quality of sport on offer was the fact that everyone who weighed in progressed to the next round of the 20lb challenge.
It was decided at the latest meeting to amend rule 4. Members must fish 6 matches. Only 3 visits to Lingmere will count, and 3 OTHER matches.
In contrast to our last Blundells visit, this time a flat calm canal greeted us, so everyone had the option to fish long if necessary. After last week's success, and subsequent abuse on this blog, John Edwards was keen to show he could win more than once. Drawing an end peg saw Sumo oozing confidence, and at the scales he set the benchmark at 47lb 08oz, with a mix of carp and F1s, caught on meat and pellet. A very good effort on the day.
Alas for John, The Garden Gnome, wielding 14metres of his not so sparkly new Tricast pole, foiled the double attempt. Pellet to the far bank, an alien approach for Yozzer, produced plenty of proper carp and a few quality F1s which totalled 64lb 08oz, to earn a comfortable gold medal.
Despite losing several rigs in far bank foliage, Lee Pickup managed to ship enough back with fish attached to register a decent return of 39lb 04oz, claim third spot, and maintain his recent run of form. Well done Lee.
One section wasn't as prolific as the others, and members struggled by comparison, with The Cookie Monster, Steve, again astounding everyone with his angling prowess. He brought 17lb 12oz to the scales and took a brown envelope away. Nice one Cookie.
With the next round of the challenges underway, Pato with 25lb, Jamie with 35lb. and Dirk with 25lb, all progressed with the framers.
Although the massive head of silvers failed to show on the day, enough quality F1s and carp were caught to suggest that this venue is booked again.
See you at the meeting on Tuesday.
An average attendance at Hampton meant that everyone had a bit of room for once. However, Sod's Law kicked in and the venue proved difficult to crack, with even the new stockies not playing ball.
This time of year sees the qualifiers for Fishomania and MaverMatchThis starting in earnest, so with several members holding numerous tickets and hotel reservations, how significant could it prove to be that John Edwards appears to have hit top form?
Sumo match wins are like birthdays, he normally has one a year, so Many Happy Returns to John on an impressive display. Three or four decent carp on the tip were supplemented with a nice mix of crucians, skimmers and small stockies which together went 35lb 08oz, securing victory and putting Sumo in confident mood for those bigger forthcoming matches. Good Luck to him and other club members in those events.
Venue regular Yozzer was pegged in a Pickup sandwich, with Jamie on one side and Kenny on the other. Despite Jamie's insistence that 'me dad' had easily won the section, and possibly the match, The Gnome did his usual scratch for anything, and ended up second with a 28lb 06oz total, made up of pellet caught crucians, tench, skimmers and small carp. (Kenny had 25lb)
After struggling for most of the match, Lee Pickup found a few decent carp on the tip in the last hour, and weighed 27lb 08oz for third place. Well done Lee.
Andy Lawton added to his bits n pieces with 2 margin lumps late on and secured another section win with his 21lb 09oz total. Nice one Andy.
Congratulations to all who qualified in the 'challenges'. Round 2 starts next week and includes Blundells, Lingmere and Lloyds Badger.
Another first for the club as this time we visited Lathoms No1 at Burscough. A long trek of 20 miles, and tunnel money to boot, but opinion suggests it was worth the journey.
Pegging couldn't get any tighter unless we put two anglers on the same peg. Permanent pegs were about 5 metres apart, which pointed to a tough day with the fish backing right off, and sport being unrecognisable from previous pleasure sessions. How wrong the venue proved us.
Jamie Pickup did fish relatively long, at 12metres, shallow with maggot. A fish every go in was the result, with F1s, proper carp to 5lb, tench, ide and chub filling his keepnets. The final outcome showed an incredible return of 98lb to give Jambo an impressive victory. Well done J.
In sharp contrast, Gary Brislen admitted to fishing Gnome-like with a top kit and no.4 section with maggot, both on the deck and shallow, and with a similar mix to the winner, he put a wonderful return of 74lb 12oz on the tripod to claim a meritous second place, and maintain his good run.
Also keeping up excellent recent form was Dirk Wriggler, who employed slap n tap tactics with caster and pellet at 13metres. Carp and F1s dominated a net which went 74lb 02oz at the scales and gave Derek another well earned podium finish.
Tony Byers finally cracked the 20lb challenge, and had his first decent outing for a while. 46lb 08oz was his total, mainly on maggot at 6metres, and was enough to win him a section. Great stuff for The Cockney, with a confidence boost too.
Yozzer won the other section. After scratching around for a few fish here and there, he found a run of proper carp on top kit in the margins. Remarkable considering the pegging, but they boosted his weight to an honourable 64lb 08oz.
Other memorable performances, but without financial reward, were given by Sumo Edwards with 61lb 08oz (he even estimated them at 60lb, and put them in the weigh sling without mishap), Lee Pickup who had 60lb, and not a pellet waggler in sight, and Paul Cargill, who's joy at Liverpool's victory over City was enhanced by an enjoyable 53lb of decent carp taken on 8mm pellet fished shallow.
All in all it was a superb day for most and I think it's fair to say that we will be going back asap.
Our 2nd visit to the F1 mecca that is Jacobs lake, and this time the venue showed its worth. With the lake situated off Long Lane, The Goodison crowd could be heard as Everton took on Arsenal, and with The Blues winning 3-0, even the sour-faced reds were happy.
Funny really, but the pre-match banter didn't mention peg 31 as a potential flier, yet at the end it had become the biggest certainty since Red Rum won the National. The beneficiary at the draw was golden arm Yozzer.
Starting with meat at 8metres, 25 F1s went into the net for an early lead. A lengthy pit-stop enabled John Edwards to close the gap and race into a comfortable lead, but The Gnome started catching again, this time on pellet fished short, and at the whistle had 60 F1s and a lone barbel to total 79lb 15oz, and get the first chequered flag.
Sumo had suffered a slow puncture in the last hour and agonisingly weighed 76lb 12oz, consisting of F1s, with a couple of bream and chub mixed in, all on caster, for a comfortable first losers medal. Unlucky!
Gary 'laughin boy' Brislen kept up his recent run of good form to complete the podium with a respectable 52lb 12oz. Well Done to Gary.
Pato was in buoyant mood as he started with a fish a bung, slowed in the middle, then finished well and managed 43lb 08oz on shallow caster. However, the joy vanished as Steve 'the monster' Cooke pipped him for the section by 4oz. Half a dozen decent bream and a 4lb carp, along with the F1s doing the damage. A pat on the back to both though, as they secured a place in the next round of the 20lb challenge.
Dirk Wriggler continued his quest for fame with yet another section win, this time with a decent 40lb 08oz return. So consistent, well done. Travelling partner, Andy Lawton was the other section winner with 26lb 08oz. An excellent result, and through in the 'challenges' too.
Kenny Stuart with 37lb 08oz, and Harry Simpson with 22lb, also made it into the next round. Nice one gentlemen.
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