Wild Goose Chase

In the quest to find new venues, both for club matches, and to wile away our pensioner years, John Heald and I ventured out on a thoroughly wet and miserable morning. The rumour was that Harthill had dug and opened a new match pool, so we met at Broxton roundabout for 9am, and following a bacon toastie and welcome mug of tea, we made our way to the fishery.
Fortunately for us, the owner arrived just as we pulled into the car park. A brief chat ensued and it  transpired that there were no fish in the new lake yet! Apparently it will be up and running around the end of May. He's moving all the fish from the bottom lake(s) as nobody fishes down there, and specimens will go in the main lake, while the remainder are going into the new match lake.
Anyway, we decided to give the big lake a miss as the wind was howling, and we didn't fancy the walk. Where now? Milton Green, Cheshire, Hampton?
"How about Whitchurch?", asked John, "There's a place called Pool Lodge on the outskirts". I readily agreed, and we set off. Twenty minutes later we were on the other side of Whitchurch, and John pulls into a layby ( no comments about doggin thank you!). He said the directions he has mention the A425, but we could only find the A525. Even if this is the right road, which way do we turn, left or right? We carry straight on for another few miles!
Once again we pulled over, and at that moment, my senility took a break, and my brain started working. I recalled being given directions to a 'big carp' lake about a year ago, and the directions were in my glove box.
I suggested to John that we had two options, Villa farm, which I vaguely knew was in the area, or this carp lake. The directions had a post code, so out of HIS glove box came the SatNav. Off we went again, up hill, down dale, along all sorts of small country lanes, and eventually we passed a sign for 'fishing'. We came to an abrupt halt, and following a brief discussion, decided F88k it, right place or wrong, we'd give it a go.
There was a burger van outside the gates, and they informed us that we should pick a peg and start fishing, the owner would come round and collect his £4 some time later. It was ten to Eleven! Information was that the big lake had carp to thirty, some nice tench, and crucians over 3lbs. Another smaller pool had, amongst other things, some reasonable sized cats. A third pool looked like a match-type water, with an island in the middle, so we picked two pegs and settled in.
I started to catch small skimmers, cruies and gudgeon from the off, while John sat it out on banded pellet. He was eventually rewarded with a few nice tench and a barbel, then he caught several small carp. I caught a bonus bream of 2.5 lbs, and a few tench. When the owner came round he said we could use keepnets (bit late, but good to know for next time?). He said the carp went to 10lb, tench 4lb and some nice barbel.
All in all it was a very pleasant day's fishing, although probably not one you'd go to every week due to the distance (about 40 miles). The added bonus of keepnets is good.
For anybody interested, it's called Marchamley Pools. Just the other side of Whitchurch, on the A41 to Wolverhampton, there's a right turn to Marchamley and Hodnet. Along that road for about 5 miles, and fishery is on the right. Watch out for the burger van.

Pssst! Wanna buy some second hand Wupass? never been used.
Okay then, what about a Garbolino G10? Swap ya for a Tourney Pro....

Help!Where does me spray bar go on this new seatbox, I'm fishin top 4 today so I'll need it

Bloody Hell! Got no pineapple Tbags left....wonder if they'll take PGtips? If only I could win one more nugget, I'd buy some more.

CONWY WATER GARDENS 21/3/10 ~ Dave's not blanking this time

Following some bad days and unlucky draws, including a couple of blanks, Dave Norman stopped the wise-cracks with a great display of pole fishing. He caught so many carp, all at 16metres, that he was glad to hear the 'all-out' so he could have a rest. His carp net weighed 50 odd pound and with another 8lb in his silvers net, he put 66lb 10oz on the scales to record a comfortable, well-deserved victory. Who said Maver poles couldn't handle it? 
Kenny Pickup made sure Mr. Stuart didn't leave empty handed, by producing another solid performance, to follow up his 2nd on Lloyds. Kenny fished hair-rigged chicken lip, to catch mainly quality carp and weighed 46lb 08oz.
As if to prove that Conwy isn't just a carp water, Gary Chambers only had four small F1s in his 3rd placed catch of 43lb 12oz. The rest was made up of good sized skimmers, all caught on paste at nine metres. Great stuff!
Incredibly, another fantastic weight, this time 41lb 08oz of mainly carp, by Lee Pickup, was only good enough for a section win. Well done Lee, don't make a habit of it. John Heald won the other section, this time with a mere 39lb 04oz. Was this really an Eggy Ferry match?
Even the Golden nugget was a class affair for once! Following a few dreadful contests, Norman must have been thinking 2-2 after catching 29lb, but Big John had hurled the tea-bag about 80 yards, into several other swims, and remarkably, he battered Norm again, finishing with 34lb, to win just £1.
Spare a thought for Steve Coleman. He drew poorly, caught 5 roach while carp were getting caught all around the lake, took the walk of shame to the early bath, and then Liverpool got beat by Man U. Take his shoe laces off him quick!!!

LOWER RIDGE, Saughall 14/3/10 ~ Think I'll fish the tip

As the venue seems to have no shelter whatsoever, and the wind was allegedly 25mph (felt more like 50), although everyone set up a pole, most were quickly discarded as it was hard to hold more than about 7metres. Even one gram floats sat horizontally in the water, so the majority were on the tip within half an hour.
Jamie's "new" Garbolino went straight back in the bag in favour of his margin pole, while Sumo wished he'd done likewise, as he broke a no7 section...oops!
Anyway, on to the fishing, and the winner, from an absolute flier of a peg, was Yozzer Hughes, with 15lb 1oz. His catch consisted of small F1s and carp, and a few quality ide, all taken on red maggot, with micros in the feeder.
The next best weight was that of Eddie 'the bread' Quigley with 13lb 2oz, and a similar mix to the winner. Unfortunately for Eddie, he didn't enter the pools, so second prize went to Arthur Roche. The bluenose caught 12lb 2oz of small carp and ide on legered maggot. See what happens when you fish the full match, instead of going early for the football.
Third, and bucking the feeder trend, was Dave Norman, with a pole caught bag of  roach, skimmers and ide weighing 8lb 13oz. Well done Dave.
For the second week running, Dave Cargill sneaked a section win, with 6lb 12oz, nice one partner. Kenny Stuart won the other section with 5lb 14oz.
After showing some good form lately, Chopper decided to handicap himself this week and fished with two blackeyes, and this worked a treat as he was beaten "out of sight".
The golden nugget was a very fair contest this time as both participants drew the worst peg? The warmer weather played into Sumo's hands and he won comfortably.

Weekend at Bron Eifion

Just in case it's gone unnoticed, Arthur has posted details for the weekend at Bron Eifion, which will be on 18 & 19th September.
He has booked 10 twin rooms at the George IV Hotel, at a cost of £68 per room ( that's £34 each ). If you wish to stay on Friday night, please let Arthur know and he will make arrangements for you.
Arthur has also negotiated a deal to get evening meals at a cost of £10 as oppose to the normal £15, nice one. The hotel has been paid for so please get your monies to Arthur A.S.A.P.
With the club membership thriving, demand for places will be keen, so pay up, and guarantee your place on what is bound to be a fantastic weekend.
Thanks for your efforts Art, much appreciated.....BLUE ARMY!!!

Lloyds Meadow 7/3/10 ~ BAD g e r, that's an understatement!!

Wow, what a shocker! 11 dry nets out of 17 anglers tells it's own story. Even the winner, Gary Chambers, would hardly describe the action as prolific, as he weighed in 6 carp for 14lb 13oz. Gary fished at 16metres and rang the bait changes to pick off the odd fish.
Pegged next door, and second, was Ken Pickup, with 10lb 12oz. He had 3 carp in the first 20 minutes, and a further 3 carp in the last hour, all on maggot, again at 16metres.
That man Chopper Wilde crept into the money again, catching a handful of small ide and two carp, all hooked in the top lip!!! His weight was 6lb 04oz.
Dave Cargill won a section with 2 maggot-caught carp for 4lb.
Oops! the other section prize slipped quietly into the lottery peg fund, as no-one managed so much as a bite!
Congratulations to the other money winner on the day, John alias Sumo managed to take a nugget off Norman...hehe, his solitary carp, caught on the first chuck, gave him the incentive to stay for the full five hours.
Finally, I must mention Mr Heald. Hero to zero in 24 hours! Saturday saw him deliver a stunning performance in Wirral's match at Conway, winning with an incredible 126lb, but today his float tip remained dry, as he was a blanker, doh!

Looks like maggots

As you know, we have a match at a new venue on Sunday 14th March.... Lower Ridge farm, Saughall.
It's a bit of an unknown, so six of us decided upon a fact finding knock-up on Wednesday. Here are the results of the mission, so you can start to formulate a plan for the club match.
Everyone caught a few fish.....a few being very true in my case! I fished like a gnome-mark, stubbornly using pellet for the whole match. I ended up with a tench and 10 small ide for about 2lb (DNW).
All the others chopped and changed, and one by one they ended up fishing on maggots. John Heald, after an unsuccessful start on the tip, caught steadily on pole-fished maggot for a mix of quality ide, small carp & F1s, and finished a worthy winner with 16lb 8oz. He's got a future in fishing has that lad!
Gary Chambers was 2nd with a similar mix weighing 10lb 4oz, and Dave Gentile was 3rd with a net of ide, skimmers, F1s and a goldfish for 10lb.
Norman 'the nugget' Smith, had 9lb 12oz of mostly small roach, unlucky for him that it's weight that counts, not numbers.
Hope this will be of use and/or interest to you, see you at the match,and fingers crossed we have a good day out.
P.S. we're having another knock-up next Weds (10th), on Milton Green 3, everyone is welcome.