BIRKENHEAD TOP PARK, 22/8/10 ~ Who invited them???

With a host of different venues fishing hard of late, the 'toppy' followed suit and only fished half as good as last time. An assortment of faces had appeared during the preceding week, having a little practice, and they had found the lake in stubborn mood. All the main weights were down 50%. 
With half a dozen guests booked on, it was a competitive affair, with all the money winners thinking they hadn't done too well.
Our winner was a venue regular in the shape of John Robbo, who made no mistake from peg 24 (successful last time), with a mix of skimmers, crucians ,and the odd tench which fell to 6mm expanders. Robbo weighed in with 14lb 04oz. Congrats to John.
Second spot went to our very own Gary Chambers, who managed to winkle out 10lb of skimmers on pellet, which was a good effort on the day. Might spend his winnings on a new tosspot instead of borrowing mine.
The bronze medal went to another guest in the shape of Dave 'spadger' Lynch. Dave said he was struggling until he added secret squirrel to his pellets, and the transformation enabled him to bring 9lb 06oz of mainly skimmers to the scales. Well in Spadge.
The section prizes were amazing..... John Heald and Gary Brislin shared one section with 6lb 08oz apiece, while Neil 'green giant' Paterson and The Gnome split the other section with.....6lb 08oz. Unbelievable, I think we need new scales. It did, however, mean that the money was well spread.
As predicted by Sumo, Norman took yet another nugget to narrow the gap, but credit where it's due, John stayed on his peg until the end, unlike some!!!
No names mentioned regarding the walk of shame, I've been there myself :-)

LOWER RIDGE, SAUGHALL 15/8/10 ~ Fisho Star nets a Hat-trick

For someone with the talent to reach a Fishomania Final (albeit 1999), Gary Brislin has kept a remarkably low profile in Eggy matches. Over the past month or so he's found a rich vein of form, and completed a hat-trick of wins when he brought 32lb 08oz to the scales. He used his sloppy paste again and caught a succession of small carp and F1s. If you win next week you are getting a letter from the committee. Top fishin Gary, but you have been warned!
The penny has finally dropped for our runner-up. Jamie Pickup has been adamant that doubled-up 6 elastic would handle anything. Well not today, if only Jamie had landed everything he hooked... but then if me auntie had balls she'd be me uncle. Jay actually managed to put 31lb 06oz into his keepnet, including a munter of 10lb 06oz. Smashin, super, luvly.
Following a dismal start looking for carp, Gary Chambers abandoned the idea after a couple of hours and started fishing shallow with maggot. He caught quality silvers for the rest of the match to secure third place with a cracking net weighing 28lb 08oz. Personally I don't think maggots should be allowed between May and November.
Lee Pickup was next to his Bruvver Jay, and fished the method feeder for the most part. It brought him a satisfying 20lb 12oz, and a section win. Oops, whose the daddy?
Yozzer Hughes had a level 24lb of small carp and F1 hybrids to collect the other section. He was, however, punished for running a squirrel over on the way to the match. Having hung onto a rather large and angry carp for over thirty minutes, his elastic snapped and away went the carp, the laccy, and his favourite rig! Remember, God is watching you.
Another hat-trick man was Norman, as he clawed his way back into the Golden Nugget with a third victory from the last 4. Think it's game on, what about you, Sumo?

VENUE ADDITION AND CHANGE

An additional match has been arranged for Sunday 15th August, at Lower Ridge Farm, Saughall....draw 8.30
The match on Sunday 22nd August has been re-arranged for Birkenhead Top Park....draw 9am

BADEN HALL, DONUT 8/8/10 ~ Gary likes donuts too, just like Pato

Considering all the rain we've had in the last three weeks, the big mystery on Sunday was where's the water gone? Levels were down about a foot, leaving bare banks on the island, and inches of water for the carp to patrol in. This made for a difficult day, and a change to original plans.
Following Pato's success last time, jolly green giant was brought by the wheelbarrow this time. On the all-in, yellow peril was piled in with gay abandon, the carp appeared, and just as swiftly vanished as poles were waved over their heads in the shallow water.
Quite how Gary Brislin managed to resist the lure of the corn is hard to fathom, considering he is Pato's travelling partner. But he shunned the yellow stuff in favour of paste. It proved to be a wise decision as he ended up a narrow winner with 41lb 08oz of carp. Good use of venue experience Gary, well done.
Daddy Pickup was bridesmaid again, and brought 39lb 12oz of mainly carp to the scales, caught at 16m on meat and corn. Keep at it Ken, that win wont be long in coming.
Third place was a triumph for improvisation. After seeing carp shy away from the pole, Dave Norman attached a method feeder to his rig and swung it to the island. Suddenly the ultra cautious carp fed with confidence and he weighed 34lb 12oz. Clever thinking Dave.
Dave Cargill managed 4 carp and a skimmer to record 16lb 04oz and win a section.Venue knowledge again, he was on the same peg as last time.
Ian Hughes sat back and watched the corn bombardment around him, and decided to fish at 5metres for skimmers. He caught about 10lb worth before switching to paste at 14metres to snare 4 late carp and finish with 25lb 06oz which secured the other section.
Jamie was the first to take the walk of shame, but Sumo was the main source of amusement. 6 hour match...2 hours in, Sumo cries "only 4 an half hours of misery left". Maths isn't his strong point, he only attended 70% of his lessons, and played truant from the other half. With an hour to go he emptied his keepnets (3 skimmers) and hung them to dry. He then proceeded to catch a couple of lumps from where his nets had been, DOH!