GORSTY HALL, 30/1/11 ~ '8lb ghostie' helps ice-cool Jamie to a massacre

Having travelled to the venue with Jamie, discussion on the homeward trip turned to the blog, and he wanted some influence on the headline, hence 'ice cool' and 'massacre'.
Ice breaking was back on the agenda with Gorsty covered in varying degrees of thickness...that's the ice, not our members. Thanks once again to those who broke the ice.
Oh how rumours spread during a match. An hour into the match and Jamie's had an eight pound ghostie!
However, the scales, and our eyes told a different story. The carp was of regulation colour for a 5lb mirror. Pole fished pellet added a small pastie and some decent skimmers, and moved the scales to a level 15lb, and the massacre was complete. Why do we let these superstars into the club? A fine display jambo.
Ken Stuart started with a small roach first chuck,on maggot over groundbait, and then caught one on every other chuck too. After a busy day he weighed 11lb 02oz, for a comfortable second place. Not bad for an old'un, I was tired just watching the master.
Lee Pickup fished another tidy match, and brought a mix of silvers and a small carp to the scales to record 9lb 07oz and put himself in the frame. Well done, Lee.
The crafty cockney, Tony Byers, was pegged at the end of our stretch, before another match started on his other side. He would have comfortably won that match, and in the circumstances did well to win a section in our match after weighing an all roach net of 6lb 04oz. Nice one Tony.
Visitor Ant Davies sat it out on pellet and was rewarded with a handful of quality skimmers and a solitary carp, which went 8lb 04oz to win him the other section. A good performance on his first visit.
No golden nugget this week, so the feature was 'the battle of the bush'. Pato stuck at it on one side and was rewarded with a bonus carp with 15 minutes to go, which, added to his 100 roach, took him over 5lb. Hats off to you Neil, you battered me. With Kenny on my other side it's a good job there was no-one behind me or I'd have been F****d left, right AND centre.

LOWER RIDGE, SAUGHALL, 23/1/11 ~ Make mine a double

What a bloody awful day's fishing. On the rare occasion that we could comfortably fish the pole at Saughall, it wasn't worth a light. Everyone struggled for a couple of miniscule roach that barely flickered the needle on the scales.
Pete 'zimbo' Delmaine had a single F1 in his net when he latched onto a large carp in mid-match. Safely netted, it weighed 10lb 04oz, and put him miles out in front. Pete added a quality skimmer and finished with 11lb 12oz.
Arthur Roche meanwhile, had steadily caught about a dozen roach, and with an hour to go he too snared a rather large carp which, when netted, also went double figures at 10lb 08oz. Not surprisingly, his total catch also weighed 11lb 12oz. So we had double winners. Well done to you both, gentlemen.
Unusually, Sumo had drawn the lottery peg, plumped for 12lb, and with help from two anglers, took the money home again. This is exactly what the lottery peg is about, giving the club's less talented anglers the chance of some prize money, so nice one John.
Kenny Stuart had no help from big carp, and steadily winkled out a few roach and decent skimmers, to end up with a level 7lb to take third place. A decent performance from master catcher.
Yozzer Hughes caught a small carp first chuck, and added a handful of silvers to end up as section winner with 3lb 04oz, while Tony Wilson also had an early carp, which weighed 3lb 02oz on its own, and secured him the other section.
The golden nugget was an engrossing affair, and, following a late flurry from Norman, he won the battle of the blurts by seven drams to two.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Sure you'll be pleased to know that Lee Pickup and his wife have recently enjoyed the birth of a son. I know members will join me in passing on our very best wishes for the future.

VENUE CHANGE

Providing the weather isn't too cold, Sunday 23rd will be at Lower Ridge, Saughall. Conwy has been drained and netted and will not be ready. Dave has also arranged a match on Sunday 30th January at Gorsty Hall.

MORETON BRICKS, 9/1/11 ~ 5 fish for 38 pounds

The Brickies at Moreton provided the venue for a real old fashioned winter match. Instead of starting with delusions of 50lb bags, everyone was in realistic mood, and a bite was the first priority. Sumo drew his customary lottery peg, which also happened to be the carp flier. With whupass kept over from Conwy, he was oozing confidence, and plumped for a 17lb winning weight. Everyone else thought half of that would be good enough.
Remarkably for Eggy, sixteen started the match, and there were no early darts. With 5 minutes to go the whole field was still in with a chance of success. This had been a real grueller, but fished in high spirits. I think we appreciated wetting a line without it immediately freezing up.
There had to be a winner, and with 3 skimmers, 2 roach and 3 missed bites, Yozzer Hughes was forced to stay and weigh. The scales tipped 3lb 12oz and it was worth £38. Feeder fished pinkie was the "successful" method.
Second place went to the real King Kenny, Mr Pickup, who managed 2lb 15oz of mainly tip-caught roach on maggot. Mind you, Liverpool finished a close second on the day too. Well done Ken.
John Edwards also found some roach on pole with maggot and his 2lb 12oz saw him finish as second loser (3rd to everyone else). He also took an early lead in 2011 Golden Nugget, because despite catching well in practice the week before, Norman couldn't manage to repeat the feat on match day.
Gary Brislin again edged into the money, catching a level 2lb of roach on waggler fished maggot, even with the sun in his eyes all day, Aaarrrgggh. This winter fishing suits you sir.
The other section went to Ken Stuart, whose 2 roach went a startling 1lb 10oz, and put more cash in the Team Kenny coffers.
Imagine the weights on proper scales. Then again, maybe not.

CONWAY, 2/1/11 ~ Don't mess with the big boys

After a month of frozen lakes, snow, and no fishing whatsoever, everyone was keen to wet a line at Conwy. However, half the lake was still covered with inch thick ice, so swims had to be broken and cleared. Many thanks to all who did so, particularly Jay and Lee, it is much appreciated.
    John Edwards drew an average peg, and for an hour or so it fished average. Some coaching from Pato, sat on the next peg, encouraged Sumo to start fishing banded pellet. From then on he never looked back and steadily put skimmers, goldfish and F1s in his Keepnut (see rules on fishery gate for this one). When the scales arrived, John's fish tipped them to 28lb 04oz, and he gained a comfortable win. Well done Sumo.
Neil gained some reward for his generous coaching by winning the Xmas draw and went home £50 richer, much to everyone's delight. Nice one big man.
In second spot (described as first loser by Sumo) was The Garden Gnome, who once again fished maggot short and weighed in with 23lb 12oz of roach.
Third place went to Gary Brislin, who caught 19lb 12oz of roach on caster. He too only fished short, I reckon he copied me  :-). Good fishing, Gary.
Reward for his ice breaking efforts came to Lee Pickup, who fished long on pellet and found roach,skimmers and a couple of F1s to record 15lb and secure a section win. Good effort Lee.
The outcome of the other section was bizarre. Gary Chambers had drawn the point, only had maggots for roach, so made up a batch of paste. By his admission he had a nightmare, but caught a few small goldfish, F1s and a couple of skimmers. He packed up with half an hour to go, and was about to tip back. The crafty cockney was next door and persuaded him to weigh. He did so for 12lb 08oz, which was 4oz more than Tony, and good enough for the cash. Doh!
Tony and Ken Stuart had spent the week at a cottage in Conway, and sneaked a practice on Friday. After an evening in the pub, they staggered out to find a sheep with it's head stuck in some railings. Not wishing to waste an opportunity, Tony dropped his pants and was straight in. Upon finishing he turned and said to Kenny, " your turn mate". Ken promptly dropped his pants and put his head in the railings!
Good luck, Good health, and tight lines to everyone for 2011.