BRON EIFION WEEKEND, 17th/ 18th September 2011

What a shower!

A knock-up was arranged for those travelling down to Criccieth on the Friday. A noon start at the very pleasant Eisteddfa venue, and six members sat under brollies as the heavens opened. The torrential rain did not put a dampener on sport though as hordes of small silvers made everyone reach for larger baits to find the carp and F1s.
Norman Smith cracked open a bag of frozen prawns, caught a few fish, and this proved to be his downfall as he stuck to the prawn for the whole weekend, and they helped him catch precisely zilch.
The match produced joint winners as Dave Norman and The Gnome both weighed in with 35lb of paste caught Carp and F1s. Pato weighed 25lb, and the signs looked omenous for Sumo as he started the weekend with a DNW, and the big sulk had begun. We took his shoe laces off him and went to the pub.

No need for the Samaritans, Sumo's on the flier

Popular opinion, which turned out to be rowlocks as usual, was that a draw on the wall was the better option, although the end peg on the shallows would produce a weight.
John Edwards drew that end peg and made the most of it by weighing in with a match winning 57lb 08oz. Ghosties and 'proper' carp made up the weight, with half coming to the method feeder, and then later on, some to pole-fished corn. A great performance by Sumo, but with confidence restored, what a pain in the alehouse!
Second, again from the shallows, and another stunning effort, was Gary Chambers. Fishing maggot on short pole, Gary had nearly 30lb of roach, and added a few paste caught carp in the last hour for a total of 46lb 12oz.
Steve Coleman maintained an air of dignity after frustratingly drawing the dreaded corner for the second year in a row. A lesson for us all, as Steve got his head down, fished it as he found it, and came third with an honourable 40lb 08oz of margin caught carp and F1s. A great attitude mate, and a well deserved frame.
Next best, and again from those shallows, was Pete 'zimbo' Delmaine, who despite using 15mm halibut pellet, managed to put 37lb 15oz in his net, which was good enough for the section. Well done Pete, and this time the blog man was there to witness.
Former king of Bron, Jamie Pickup, was best performer on the dam wall with a well earned 37lb 08oz, and section win. A triumph for hard work as Jamie scratched a few on the method, then a couple shallow, then another few on the tip, then a couple more on pole at depth. Impressive son.
    
Yozzer bursts the double bubble

Following last year's double success, John Edwards was keen to repeat the feat. Having launched a method feeder about 80yards (so he was fishing the shallows again), Sumo had caught a carp on every chuck, whilst those around him only went 30/40 yards and struggled. He had that look in his eye as he keenly followed the scales around the lake.
Half way round and the double dream was shattered, along with the club record, as The Gnome, pleasure fishing by the boathouse, put two nets full of F1s on the scales and together they weighed 80lb 02oz.
Moving round to Sumo on the wall, and with one net containing only 3 skimmers for a pound and a half, it looked like he was well off the pace. However, he'd crammed 73lb of carp into the other net, and secured 2nd spot with 74lb 05oz. Another excellent show, good job weight estimation plays no part though.
Illustrating that he really is the method maestro, and fishing a venue to suit, was Pete Lucas, who showed his improvement once again by taking the bronze medal with 54lb 04oz. Great stuff Pete, isn't it better to succeed at lower level than get battered in fishomania?
Agonisingly close to the frame, but good enough only for a section win, was Neil Paterson. Despite all the frivolity and voodoo spells of the previous evening, Pato managed to avoid peg 15, and fished with a tiny in-line cage as oppose to the method in the shallow water. It proved effective as he weighed a level 54lb. Well thought out young man.
My 'man of the weekend' completed the payout places. Steve Coleman gave another solid performance on the mediocre dam wall, with a well earned 44lb 03oz.......     40lb+ on both days, from pegs many would have moaned about, an example to follow, well done Steve.
Two more consistent performances, with 30lb+ each day , by Tony Wilson, was the basis for the pairs success of Tony and Yozzer, who totalled 168lb over the two days.
Another enjoyable venture to Criccieth,and many thanks to Arthur and Dave for their efforts.