HAMPTON SPRINGS, LONG ISLAND, 14/11/10 ~ Mr. Crabtree would be impressed

Sod's Law again! Hampton had been producing good weights for months then along came Eggy Ferry. Talk about tough....flat calm and frosty, the fishing never got going.
Dave Cargill turned back the clock and, with little colour in the water, decided to use the good old fashioned waggler with maggot. Mr. Crabtree would have been so proud as Cargy put half  a dozen quality carp in his net and won the match comfortably with 26lb 08oz. A very impressive display Dave.
Also fishing a good match with rod and line was Lee Pickup, who cast a maggot feeder into Zimbo's peg and caught an assortment of species to record 21lb 04oz and ease into second place. Well done Lee.
Mr.Consistency, Dave Norman caught 4 fish, 2 carp, a tench and a skimmer to complete the podium with a weight of 12lb 14oz.
Just behind with 12lb 08oz was Pete 'zimbo' Delamaine, who is fast becoming "the thief II" as he won a section again. Zimbo caught a decent carp on pole with maggot, and added a few skimmers on the tip from Lee's peg. Good stuff Pete.
Venue regular Yozzer managed 11lb 04oz (1 carp, 2 perch and 5 gudgeon) to salvage some respectability as the other section winner.
With Norman Smith taking a break from his quest for a specimen dace, the Golden Nugget was back on and Norm reduced the deficit in a low weight affair. With 4 more scheduled outings this year, he could just about scrape a draw....we'll see.

CONWY, 7/11/10 ~ Sumo passes the test

Arriving at the venue, all the car park talk was of the Saturday match and a winning weight of 119lb (By the way, brilliant Simo). I believe it's really scary in this situation. Obviously everyone wants to have a good day's fishing, but drawing the peg piles on the pressure, and you're in a no win situation - win and it's a flier, don't win and you're a muppet!
Well, John Edwards drew the peg and passed the test with flying colours, winning the match comfortably after bringing 50lb 08oz of mainly carp to the scales. After a few early fish on the 'thod, the sun moved round sufficiently for Sumo to see a float, and fishing 4mm pellet shallow, he caught steadily throughout the match. On a day when most of the other known carp pegs did not produce, Sumo delivered, so well done.
The Gnome was relieved to draw a peg with little carp form, and after a brief spell early looking for quality, he concentrated on silvers by fishing maggot shallow, and weighed a pleasing 35lb 08oz of roach (1 carp, 2lb), to finish in second place. Wow, that was enjoyable.
Ken Stuart maintained his form revival, and also demonstrated the diversity of Conwy by catching 27lb of mainly skimmers to complete the frame. Good stuff from the master.
Gary Chambers also caught a skimmer dominated net, on corn, to win a section with 24lb 12oz. Consistent as ever, Gary.
The other section went to Jamie Pickup, who christened yet another new pole ( well it's back to the Sensas actually), with a few quality carp and F1s which went 26lb 04oz. Nice one Jambo, or should that be Wagbo, the son of Wagner?
Finally an apology from me to Sumo. After a short quiet spell for John, which coincided with me catching small roach at a rate of knots, he shouted over that he was worried that I was catching up with him, and I responded with, "f^%* off you sarcastic twit", but it seems he was genuinely concerned by my catch rate, so Sorry John.