BIRKENHEAD TOP PARK, 25/7/10 ~ 'Team Kenny' and a trip down memory lane

Everyone reckoned that the Gnome should win because he's fished it 27 times in the last month, but half the club have been fishing this lake for the last 30 years. Okay, so 'team Kenny', (Pickup n Stuart) haven't been for 15 years but they still used their experience to give us the old one two. For those who'd been before it was a real trip down memory lane, and for those who hadn't it was a pleasant surprise that a park lake should be such a nice environment. The surroundings of the lake haven't changed much, but the water itself has. Its now 4/5 feet deep with comfortable, well spaced pegs, and its been stocked full of fish.
Ken Stuart had a fish pretty much every put in for three hours before a dramatic slowdown dented his catch rate, He caught at three metres on soft 4mm pellet, and put skimmers, crucians, and the odd tench and roach in the net. When weighed, his bag totalled a level 29lb, and gave him a comfortable win. Well Done Ken, paid again to have a good days fishing, can't be bad.
On the other side of the lake, Kenny Pickup was also re-living the good old days, and his 22lb 8oz was made up predominately of skimmers, again caught on soft pellet. A couple of wobbles in the last few weeks, Ken, but you and I know, although your lads are good, you are Daddy Pickup and they shouldn't forget it! 
In third spot, and proving that practice makes perfect, (well nearly) was The Gnome. Despite the local alcoholic advising that he'd caught a bucket full of tench off the peg in the middle of the night, after feeding a whole loaf, and being woken up as we pegged the lake, Yozzer still managed a respectable 22lb 4oz. This was made up of mainly crucians, with a handful of tench, skimmers and roach.
Gary Chambers fished maggot and had 18lb of quality rudd, roach and perch - looks good for the winter - to win a section.
The other section was won by...wait for it....Norman 'no nugget' Smith with 13lb 8oz. He has been learning from Sumo, and declared that he had a 2lb golden tench in his net, but it lost weight in the net and was actually about 12oz. Some pools money and £1 off John, Get in.
It was my wish that we had a match on here, and I hope everyone had a good day out, and was not disappointed. I know the fish are small, but there are plenty of bites for all, and no carp...for a change. OK Lee, you got snapped off three times, could have been big gudgeon or maybe the terrapin has returned.
A big thank you to Mrs Roche for supplying first class bacon butties....and F.O.C. too.

Birkenhead Park Upper lake

Dave has arranged a match at the venue for Sunday 25th July.
 Briefly, the lake has been drained, desilted, and restocked. Average depths are round 4 feet. You will be fishing for tench, mainly around 6 oz, but up to a pound, crucians, roach and skimmers in 4/8oz bracket, and occasional small barbel. There are NO carp (maybe a stray one stocked illegally). 
Best bait will probably be pellet, 4 or 6mm, over micro feed, and possibly maggot. I have also caught on meat, but caster did not catch, and neither did corn. Things may be different for you.
I would envisage a winning weight of 25-30lb (fingers crossed). See you there, and best of luck.

GORSTY HALL, 18/7/10 ~ Sumo finally comes good

Despite a lot of hot air this season, John Edwards has had an up and down year. Three weeks ago he finished third at Whiteacres in a field of 58, weighing in with a brilliant 67lb. ( see my blog on http://www.news-reel.com/_pages/_feedback_blog.asp ) Last week at Yewtree, he did his usual walk of shame, even losing out to Norman in the Golden Nugget. Now, finally, he won his first match of the year at Gorsty. 
John caught some decent sized carp on method feeder cast to the lillies, along with a couple on pole, to secure victory with 30lb 04oz. Cream...top, more like yoghurt, its taken so long. Anyway, well done John.
A very close second, and beating the old man again, was Lee Pickup, who also had a net of carp on the feeder, this time weighing 29lb 08oz. A great performance Lee, unlucky.
Making the frame, and a clean sweep for tip-rods, was Dave Norman with 27lb 04oz. He caught a mixed bag of smallish carp and a few skimmers using pellet feeder and then straight lead. Nice one Dave.
Jamie Pickup made sure Dad finished as family pools fodder by bringing 25lb 12oz to the scales to take the section money. Dave Cargill spent the latter stages of the match bit bashing for small silvers down the edge and it proved decisive. The extra ounces saw him creep into the section money with 20lb 12oz.
A strange match, with the usual moans of crap fishing, but only a couple failed to reach double figures. Sometimes I think we just moan for the sake of it!
Following a brief rally at Yewtree last week, Norman was back to normal this week and enhanced Sumo's winnings by a further nugget...must try harder.
Although I thought about making light of it, Tony Byers had a serious near miss on Sunday. He caught a few fish and nearly got slime on his bib n braces....Sorry! About an hour into the match, everyone heard a large 'thud'. It turned out that a stray golf ball had gone right through Tony's preston box. Inches either way and who knows.........Glad you're ok, Cockney Boy.

Additional Matches

Fellas, please see venue list as Dave has booked additional matches since the first list was published. Knockout second round draw is also posted.
See you at Cheshire Cheese for the meeting on Tuesday 6th July, or at the next match, which is now Sunday 11th July at Yew Tree

BORDER CANAL, 13/6/10 ~ Kenny hit by Yellow Peril, again!

I hope all you canal fanatics are happy now. This one proved harder than the Shroppy at Backford in the middle of January. The only good thing was it made for a very close and competitive match, with ounces separating the places, and a full attendance till the all-out, as one fish could have changed everything. For some, one fish was enough, imagine blanking on a 'commercial'?
With striking similarities to Baden Hall, the Jolly Green Giant, and Canal legend that is Neil Paterson, started off on corn, and with 5 bream and a couple of 2lb carp, soon raced into what became an unassailable lead. He then fished the real match with the rest of us for three hours, catching diddlysquat, before finding a 6lb lump down the edge. At the scales Neil weighed 24lb 4oz, to take the spoils, and confirm that he will not be looking for golf clubs on Ebay after all. Well done big fella.
Trying to play catch-up again was Ken Stuart, but he couldn't quite recover from the early dose of yellow peril. Fishing 6mm pellet tight over, he caught small carp steadily throughout the match, and despite trying to drag the island closer on several occasions, he finished with a more than respectable 18lb 8oz. Another good performance by the master.
In third spot, but not in the pools, was that up and coming starlet called Eddie Quigley. He caught 4lb of silvers on maggot, and then fooled two carp on bread fished shallow, to record 10lb 2oz. Get a paper round Eddie, then you can go in the pools, Nice one son.
Third place coin went to Gary Brislin, who followed the fishery manager's advice and went for silvers on caster. He weighed in 7lb. I wonder if the Patomobile made it home with all that pools money in it?
After going through nearly 3kg of moans, and members on adjacent pegs checking for suicide notes every half hour, Yozzer Hughes actually won his section with 5lb 8oz. Two bites, two carp, what's all the cryin about?
With a weight of 4lb 12oz, the other section was shared between Dave Norman and Rod Coleman. Dave spent some time standing up to fish. I know the rushes were about 2ft 6in tall, but we could still see you sitting on your box........only just though.

LOWER RIDGE,Saughall 6/6/10 ~ Now that's what you call a bonus fish

I don't know about you, but I've thought time and again before a match, guarantee me 20lb and I don't mind coming last. Well, this was a proper match, with 12 weights over 20lb, and a lowest of 15lb. Rod and pole, maggot, pellet, paste and meat all helped to catch fish.
Ken Stuart was plodding along with the rest of the field, when, midmatch, his tip went round and he hooked and landed the bonus fish to end all bonuses. The carp weighed 13.5lb, but more significantly, boosted Ken's total to a match-winning 37lb 8oz. It also took him to within 8oz of his guess for the lottery peg, and added another £80 to the 'Kenny fund'. All that for two red maggots! :-)
The icing on the cake came when Kenny Pickup added to the fund by winning his section with 24lb, and all without a proper pole. Your share of the winnings will pay for new elastics KP.
The main victim of the bonus fish was Gary Chambers, who finished runner-up with 36lb. From the calmest peg on the lake, Gary caught an array of small carp on paste and assorted silvers on maggot. Unlucky.
Ian 'gnome' Hughes stepped up on recent dismal efforts to finish 3rd with a mixed bag of F1s, ide, and skimmers on maggot and soft pellet, which went 29lb 12oz.
Mike Peggy Lee was the other section winner, with 27lb of mainly F1s, caught on tip-fished meat cast into several other pegs. Mind you, the wind was quite strong so it wasn't deliberate, honest. Well done Pegleg.
The Golden Nugget was back on today with a familiar theme. Sumo took the pound, and extended his lead to 8-1.
Apart from the usual Saughall 'breeze' threatening to spoil things, the fishing was so engrossing that nobody had time to moan ...remarkable! As the cockney says, it fishes better with a ripple on it.

BADEN HALL, DONUT LAKE 23/5/10 ~ Pato devours the donut

How many times have Eggy Ferry gone to venues with the promise of big weights, only to be disappointed? Well, despite blistering hot sunshine all day, and loads of fish seemingly more interested in spawning, Baden's Donut certainly produced the goods.
Neil Paterson was singing the venue's praises for weeks, and justified his confidence by catching a near double figure carp first chuck! Thinking that the lake's carp population must be sitting in front of him cos he looked like a large white loaf, with no shirt on, it was soon apparent that the extra large pot of corn he fed at the all-in appeared to be the real attraction. Pato worked his way through 6 tins of jolly green giant, and ended up a happy pink giant (sunburn must hurt tonight) with a winning net of carp weighing 51lb. Well in Pato, presume you wont be jacking it in after all?
After a slow start on the next peg, the Master Catcher Kenny Stuart soon twigged on to the heavy feeding and started to get a few carp on bread (or a piece of Pato's left breast), and a late switch to paste meant his peg got stronger, and he threatened to win it. However, he fell just short with a weight of 47lb. Nice catch Ken, but that hat......?!?
Following last year's success at Baden, the Coleman clan were again in the money, but this time it was Rod who upheld the family honour, with a well earned 37lb net getting him into third place. Guest are always welcome, but not if they're gonna win money. Only joking, well done Rod.
Even though he was getting a bit cheeky, congratulations to Dave Norman on a hard fought section win with 36lb from a slightly dodgy area of the lake. Along with the other section winner, Jamie Wupass, who had a carp net for 29lb, they fished corn, again fed heavily, at 16metres.
Incidentally, I may have nearly blanked, and did the walk of shame, but I did win the most burnt knees contest, COME ON.