BLUNDELLS, WEST LODGE, 4/5/14 ~ The Gnome ensures Sumo double chances go west

In contrast to our last Blundells visit, this time a flat calm canal greeted us, so everyone had the option to fish long if necessary. After last week's success, and subsequent abuse on this blog, John Edwards was keen to show he could win more than once. Drawing an end peg saw Sumo oozing confidence, and at the scales he set the benchmark at 47lb 08oz, with a mix of carp and F1s, caught on meat and pellet. A very good effort on the day.
Alas for John, The Garden Gnome, wielding 14metres of his not so sparkly new Tricast pole, foiled the double attempt. Pellet to the far bank, an alien approach for Yozzer, produced plenty of proper carp and a few quality F1s which totalled 64lb 08oz, to earn a comfortable gold medal.
Despite losing several rigs in far bank foliage, Lee Pickup managed to ship enough back with fish attached to register a decent return of 39lb 04oz, claim third spot, and maintain his recent run of form. Well done Lee.
One section wasn't as prolific as the others, and members struggled by comparison, with The Cookie Monster, Steve, again astounding everyone with his angling prowess. He brought 17lb 12oz to the scales and took a brown envelope away. Nice one Cookie.
With the next round of the challenges underway, Pato with 25lb, Jamie with 35lb. and Dirk with 25lb, all progressed with the framers.
 Although the massive head of silvers failed to show on the day, enough quality F1s and carp were caught to suggest that this venue is booked again.
See you at the meeting on Tuesday.

HAMPTON, LONG ISLAND, 27/4/14 ~ Sumo hits form in time for fisho

An average attendance at Hampton meant that everyone had a bit of room for once. However, Sod's Law kicked in and the venue proved difficult to crack, with even the new stockies not playing ball.
This time of year sees the qualifiers for Fishomania and MaverMatchThis starting in earnest, so with several members holding numerous tickets and hotel reservations, how significant could it prove to be that John Edwards appears to have hit top form?
Sumo match wins are like birthdays, he normally has one a year, so Many Happy Returns to John on an impressive display. Three or four decent carp on the tip were supplemented with a nice mix of crucians, skimmers and small stockies which together went 35lb 08oz, securing victory and putting Sumo in confident mood for those bigger forthcoming matches. Good Luck to him and other club members in those events.
Venue regular Yozzer was pegged in a Pickup sandwich, with Jamie on one side and Kenny on the other. Despite Jamie's insistence that 'me dad' had easily won the section, and possibly the match, The Gnome did his usual scratch for anything, and ended up second with a 28lb 06oz total, made up of pellet caught crucians, tench, skimmers and small carp. (Kenny had 25lb)
After struggling for most of the match, Lee Pickup found a few decent carp on the tip in the last hour, and weighed 27lb 08oz for third place. Well done Lee.
Andy Lawton added to his bits n pieces with 2 margin lumps late on and secured another section win with his 21lb 09oz total. Nice one Andy.

Congratulations to all who qualified in the 'challenges'. Round 2 starts next week and includes Blundells, Lingmere and Lloyds Badger.

LATHOMS No1, 13/4/14 ~ Angler - Jamie = awesome.... Venue - Lathoms = awesome....Together = UNBELIEVABLE!

Another first for the club as this time we visited Lathoms No1 at Burscough. A long trek of 20 miles, and tunnel money to boot, but opinion suggests it was worth the journey.
Pegging couldn't get any tighter unless we put two anglers on the same peg. Permanent pegs were about 5 metres apart, which pointed to a tough day with the fish backing right off, and sport being unrecognisable from previous pleasure sessions. How wrong the venue proved us.
Jamie Pickup did fish relatively long, at 12metres, shallow with maggot. A fish every go in was the result, with F1s, proper carp to 5lb, tench, ide and chub filling his keepnets. The final outcome showed an incredible return of 98lb to give Jambo an impressive victory. Well done J.
In sharp contrast, Gary Brislen admitted to fishing Gnome-like with a top kit and no.4 section with maggot, both on the deck and shallow, and with a similar mix to the winner, he put a wonderful return of 74lb 12oz on the tripod to claim a meritous second place, and maintain his good run.
Also keeping up excellent recent form was Dirk Wriggler, who employed slap n tap tactics with caster and pellet at 13metres. Carp and F1s dominated a net which went 74lb 02oz at the scales and gave Derek another well earned podium finish.
Tony Byers finally cracked the 20lb challenge, and had his first decent outing for a while. 46lb 08oz was his total, mainly on maggot at 6metres, and was enough to win him a section. Great stuff for The Cockney, with a confidence boost too.
Yozzer won the other section. After scratching around for a few fish here and there, he found a run of proper carp on top kit in the margins. Remarkable considering the pegging, but they boosted his weight to an honourable 64lb 08oz.
Other memorable performances, but without financial reward, were given by Sumo Edwards with 61lb 08oz (he even estimated them at 60lb, and put them in the weigh sling without mishap), Lee Pickup  who had 60lb, and not a pellet waggler in sight, and Paul Cargill, who's joy at Liverpool's victory over City was enhanced by an enjoyable 53lb of decent carp taken on 8mm pellet fished shallow.
All in all it was a superb day for most and I think it's fair to say that we will be going back asap.

JACOBS, 6/4/14 ~Pole position for The Gnome, but Sumo makes a race of it

Our 2nd visit to the F1 mecca that is Jacobs lake, and this time the venue showed its worth. With the lake situated off Long Lane, The Goodison crowd could be heard as Everton took on Arsenal, and with The Blues winning 3-0, even the sour-faced reds were happy.
Funny really, but the pre-match banter didn't mention peg 31 as a potential flier, yet at the end it had become the biggest certainty since Red Rum won the National. The beneficiary at the draw was golden arm Yozzer.
Starting with meat at 8metres, 25 F1s went into the net for an early lead. A lengthy pit-stop enabled John Edwards to close the gap and race into a comfortable lead, but The Gnome started catching again, this time on pellet fished short, and at the whistle had 60 F1s and a lone barbel to total 79lb 15oz, and get the first chequered flag.
Sumo had suffered a slow puncture in the last hour and agonisingly weighed 76lb 12oz, consisting of F1s, with a couple of bream and chub mixed in, all on caster, for a comfortable first losers medal. Unlucky!
Gary 'laughin boy' Brislen kept up his recent run of good form to complete the podium with a respectable 52lb 12oz. Well Done to Gary.
Pato was in buoyant mood as he started with a fish a bung, slowed in the middle, then finished well and managed 43lb 08oz on shallow caster. However, the joy vanished as Steve 'the monster' Cooke pipped him for the section by 4oz. Half a dozen decent bream and a 4lb carp, along with the F1s doing the damage. A pat on the back to both though, as they secured a place in the next round of the 20lb challenge.
Dirk Wriggler continued his quest for fame with yet another section win, this time with a decent 40lb 08oz return. So consistent, well done. Travelling partner, Andy Lawton was the other section winner with 26lb 08oz. An excellent result, and through in the 'challenges' too.
Kenny Stuart with 37lb 08oz, and Harry Simpson with 22lb, also made it into the next round. Nice one gentlemen.

BLUNDELLS, East Lodge, 23/3/14 ~ Lee dishes out a double dose.

The club's first visit to Blundells will probably get mixed reviews. What looks like a fairly even venue was marred on the day by early morning hail and snow flurries, and then by strong winds during the match. Half the field felt comfortable fishing at 14metres and beyond, while the other half found it impossible to venture beyond 8 metres.
What would be the odds that Lee Pickup didn't mention 'cesspit' for 2 consecutive weeks ? Well, he didn't, and made full use of a draw that enabled him to fish long pole. An impressive net of quality F1s ensured a comfortable victory with 28lb. Winning two matches back to back is a great achievement, so well done to Lee...what do you mean roll on Jacobs?
Long odds would also be available that Dirk Wriggler didn't mention Jamie Hughes. Well you wouldn't believe it, he was only mentioned about 73 times on Sunday, till Jbay told him to shut up!
Dirk continued his amazing run of form. Fishing the tip on the only flat peg on the lake seems a waste, but it brought a couple of proper carp. A late run of margin caught F1s gave a final tally of 21lb 02oz . Enough for another well deserved silver medal.
Entertainments Manager Gary Brislen completed the podium. A lovely net of silvers, including some big ide and skimmers, tipped the scales at 19lb 08oz. A good effort from Gary.
Another to defy the odds was the Jolly Green Giant. Amazingly, Neil moaned about his peg even before getting his tackle out of the car!!! I couldn't believe it, not like Pato at all. He sat with a face like a slapped aris for an hour before he started catching. Like his travelling companion, a cracking net of silvers totalling 10lb 10oz came to the scales. Enough to qualify for the next round of the section winners challenge. Super stuff from Neil, he could try giving pegs a chance in future instead of bleating like a baby all the time!
Steve Coleman's mojo is still working very well. Another section win, this time with 14lb 12oz seem to indicate that he's turned the corner now, so keep up the new outlook Steve, it's great to see.
Final section winner was Dennis the Menace Jones. With the worst of conditions limiting him to about 6metres, Den plodded through, putting the occasional fish in the net, including one of several good bream caught on the day, and ended with a very creditable 16lb. A typical 'winter league' effort. Spot on Dennis, well done.

LINGMERE, 9/3/14 ~ At last, no cesspit for Lee

Couldn't attend this one so results only.
Same section produced the first three:
Lee Pickup 33lb 04oz, Paul Cargill 31lb 10oz, Dirk Wriggler 28lb 08oz. Section wins for Dennis Jones 25lb 12oz, Steve Coleman 18lb 06oz, Gary Brislen 26lb 12oz, and Jamie Pickup 24lb 08oz.
Well done to all concerned.

HAMPTON SPRINGS, ROCK, 2/3/14 ~ Steve finds mojo...and a few lumps

This was slightly different to the usual Hampton fishing. Following extensive work over the winter, and an addition to the fish stocks, a variation to the normal approach was needed.
Steve Coleman has been struggling of late, even contemplating giving fishing a wide berth for a while, but a couple of positive pleasure sessions on Rock meant he was actually looking forward to this match.
What a difference a bit of confidence can make. Fishing pellet at 10metres, Steve caught steadily from the off, mainly 4oz mirrors and 6oz F1s, and in the latter stages, managed to find a few better lumps to about 8lb. His final tally was an impressive 44lb, resulting in a comfortable win.
A fantastic outcome for one of the good guys, well done Steve, now keep your head up. I think we've all been there, totally disillusioned, and it's not nice. This proves you can get through it.
A rare showing by Norman Smith, but another excellent effort on the day. Norm caught only the newly stocked pasties, probably about 100 of them, for a level 27lb and the silver medal. Never happy, he moaned that he couldn't fish beyond 6metres in the wind. Funny that, (1) normally he can't fish, period..and (2) why would you want to if you're getting one a bung?
Last spot in the frame went to Yozzer. No real tactic changes here, just the usual tiddler-bashing. The new stockies were supplemented by loads of razorblade skimmers and 2 decent ones for a total of 20lb 04oz.
Dirk Wriggler was struggling until Pato, on the adjacent peg, told him where to fish. Taking the advice on board, he went on to land 4 or 5 decent carp and ended with 18lb 02oz for a section win, much to the disgust of Sumo, who had been in line for the section prior to this. I think Neil should be congratulated. Part of the constitution is to 'foster good relations' between members.
The final section prize went to Col Cook with another small fish net of 16lb 12oz. Well done Col.
With only a few better fish being caught, I think the new stock helped to give most a reasonable day's sport, otherwise it might have been a real grueller.