Queens Birthday and Project Nostalgia

Thanks to the Queen for I (as a Civil servant) had the day of today for her birthday. Sometimes nostalgia gets a hold of me.  I long for the days when I strapped my rod and kit to my pushbike.  Loaded with worms, mothers pride and a few precious maggots raced off to Elizabeth Gardens or Peters Finger lakes to sit in the shade of a willow, fishing.

Key ingredients’ of the time were kit of the day Avon mark IV rod efgeeco net and landing net and Diawa spinning reel. Folding stool (couldn’t afford a wicker basket)

Bottle of Corona, (bought and paid for by saving up 10 p returns on collected bottles), paper bag of Fruit salads, Black Jacks and a sherbert dip.  This was the extent of my universe, and probably why I am today a sugar bloated diabetic lard arse. 

The other thing to live for was football and the  the mighty Leeds with heroes like Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles and Peter Lorimer, the Gray brothers Frank and Eddie; Sniffer Clarke Mick Jones and Norman bites your legs Hunter.  Other football associated heroes QPRs Stan Bowles my absolute favourite, oh and Rodney Marsh.  Managers like Cloughy, Malcolm Alison.  There was “Charlie boy” Charlie George, just cannot force my fingers to type his teams name.

The fairer sex came into focus for the first time with Charlies Angels and the glorious Jaclyn Smith (right in pic).

Anyway why this trip down memory lane, well I had other heroes as well. Kevin Ashurst, Ivan Marks, Phil Coles ,Ian Heaps, and later Kim Milson. Having recently finished a book on “Ivan Marks and the Likely Lads “.  It inspired me to dig out the older tackle and go as if I was a kid again.

So with a minimum of kit I set forth.  Barnmoor was the intended venue.  Bit of a risk after the long weekend at which Barneys annual festival would have hammered it.   Modern version of a deck chair a Ian Heaps (world champ 75) rod. ABU 506 reel, maxima line and Mustad hooks; and of course Ivan Marks floats.  Trying to stick to the period the smallest shot will be a no 8 and maybe what was known as dust shot (10). Bait worms, white maggot a few casters. Delivered by hand “thrown” yes thrown ground bait (mix of white and brown crumb no additives)

I would allow a maggipult but other than that it was minimal almost stalking kit to carry.  No Corona but can of Lemonade. Project Nostalgia underway would I catch?  Because as a friend said to me recently, when I moaned about my lack of bites “that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching”.

It was a strange feeling knowing I didn’t have any back up gear like the pole kit or multiple feeder rods.  No massive selection of hook baits to try just the basics.  That said the day progressed and I made tiny alterations to shotting patterns  to encourage more positive bites. 

I do recall the first time I really considered small hooks, shot and light lines.  It used to be (on Still water) the bog standard 4 or 5 lb. main line either straight through to a 16 or 14 eyed hook, or on tough winter days 3lb maxima mainline down to 1.7 Bayer Perlon  and a tiny size 18 hook.  What a difference today.  

At the time you either came from the Dick Walker school of robust kit (knowledge gleaned from the Angling Times or the new Anglers Mail – the only fishing publications I could afford) or you followed Marksy who went for qty rather than quality.  Fine lines small hooks etc certainly produced more bites; and quoting from the book I mentioned earlier, Ivan said you need bites first then you get the fish.  Makes sense, so obvious now, but at the time I did follow Walker and the sit and wait school.

So back to today and well not really too different today its 3 lb Maxima straight through to a Mustad spade end size 20.  Experiment or not to go lighter on this lake would be a mistake and put the fish at risk.  Fish at risk was not a commonly heard term when I was young; but again anglers today realise the need to protect fish stocks and quality for the future.

Of course my brother was well ahead of me and seen as one of the guys to beat along with John Stephenson, Dave Moody, and many others.  When my brother was there he would always check the tackle and offer advice as to how I might improve.  When he wasn’t there I was lazy and would slip into the sit and wait mode. 

Eventually though, it became second nature “to work at it”, don’t sit there make something happen.  Don’t sulk , work it out.  Think, do something different to the rest of the sheep.   Methodically go through your set up, change depths, go further out maybe the fish have backed off.  This was especially true after a struggle with a big Tench or Carp (big being 3 lb for the Tench and 5lb for the Carp).  Feed little and often and draw them back into your swim.

It was surprising how tiny changes to the bottom “dust shot” would make a difference, suddenly you had bites that would pull the float under or (depending on the pattern) lift it clear (see later).  

The difference in float was also key, wagglers, pacemakers, drift beaters, sarkander reed, hardwood Lygnum, softer wood cane, wire stemmed or even copper stem canal darts.

The one thing I couldn’t get right in my head was my brothers’ advice for stealth and a noiseless approach to the match bank or towpath.  

Set up your kit, stretch your net out, roll the net gently in off the towpath and walk away from your peg - get off the horizon.  Of course pleasure sessions were different you had no need to walk away but the principals were the same.  Where I couldn’t get my head around it was whenever I saw Ivan in the AT.  He always had a huge crowd of spectators behind him.  Yet he still caught despite the noise.

So to the fishing its now 10.15 and peg chosen (6)  

Little aside story here as I am setting up opposite the white post (end of the island) a carpy boy comes along from the 4 pegs to me right.  Excuse me he says alright, yes says I .  I want to fish off the end of the island.  Well says I you need to be sat here then, not 50 yards away.  But he says I have a bait on the end of the island and your going to mess that up.  Mate says I, suggest you go back to you bivvy and reel in the rod you cant fish three rods across 5 pegs  to the determent of everyone else.   Disgruntled he shuffled off. I thought about for a second and called him back .  Look says I as long as you are accurate and get it on the end of the island , I wont be fishing right across we can both fish the swim.  He was pleased and agreed to the compromise promising to be more thoughtful in future.

I thought back to my first visit to Withy some time ago when a fella used to come around on his mobility scooter and you would pay him for the day ticket.  In addition he took to supplying hot pasties and sausage sarnies etc right to you peg – luxury, sheer luxury.

A click of the close faced bail arm and I lobbed a high curving terminal tackle a rod length past the baited area, dipped the rod tip in , sunk the line …….. OK that’s what was supposed to happen, but the line had looped behind the spool, and the whole lot jammed like a Rottweiler reaching the end of his tether, and dropped into the lake short.

4 minutes passes and I have untangled and wiped the line free of grease and WD 40.  So smooth as a baby's bum my metronomic action sent the whole lot a rods length past the baited area , sunk the line and reeled back to the baited area which was beginning to fizz nicely. Kevin Ashurst would have been proud.

So lets not muck about 8 orange size balls of ground bait stuffed with half a kilo of worm and a few dead pinkie from yesterdays canal match, all in a tight area at around 15 meters.  The throwing arm still good and accurate. Leave alone for 5 minutes why I go back into the tackle shop and get a sausage sandwich and a bottle of pop.

Before long the float is dipping and bobbing and I am missing bite after bite as the swim is so full of fish that the float wont settle.

Twenty quick fire Rudd.  

Already I am thinking how can I get through these to the Bream.  On cue Mr Dave Moody (God with a rod) turns up to sit behind me and offer no tell me how I am going wrong.  Need another number 10 shot on that float, you need to be fishing closer, you need to be on worm not maggot. Yes thanks Dave but I explained the Nostalgia project I am in no hurry I am pleasure fishing 70's style.  Well says Dave I wouldn't have done that in the 70's and neither would my mate Ivan Marks, you need worm or pellet, and off he goes.

He did of course have a point, Ivan would have been looking all the time to get onto the Bream, and whilst there was no Peter Drennan to supply all your needs then, I caved and went to the tackle bag and back to the shop. 6 mm soft hookers as a last resort, match pack of dendrobena and some wide gape Drennan 18 hooks.

Back on the peg I continued to fish 15 meters, but the voice of Dave saying come closer on this peg made me try at 13 meters.  He wasn't wrong but I wouldn't tell him that. But in fact 14 meters was about bang on.  A final change to the tackle by replacing a number 4 shot with 1 number 8 and 2 number in 10's on the bottom 14 inches. Meant I could see the lifts better as they developed.

They were the bites I remembered and although modern tackle and floats would show them better I am sure .  This was just what I wanted today. Old fashioned rod in hand fun.

Sweeping the rod hard left which is my style , I bumped a few the older Rod and tackle not as soft in the middle section of the rod.  It was an Ian Heaps (1975 World Individual Champion) Silstar Match a good Dace rod very tippy for the river , but not quite the right tool here.

Even the local bird life was getting in on the act watching this old fella reliving his childhood

 I was loving it Dave's option of a Dendro tail was discarded , I found that got the small skimmers.  I was now using a whole dendro and the bites were so much better.  The Bream were replaced with smaller Roach Bream hybrids for ten minutes before the 2 and half to 3 and half pound were flying high like Sail fish in all directions great fun.

Many of the Bream and bigger skimmers were sand paper rough and a lot of blemishes and sores, It took the edge of it a bit ; but the spawning over they were feeding in overdrive.

A nice pound Perch shook up the variety along with the occasional 10 oz Rudd.  Then a weird fight from a "jiggling" fish that I hadn't had for a while.  It was a bloody Eel.  Another memory revived from fishing for the huge Eels, on the river Nadder at 14 Hatches (edge of Pembroke estate) Quidhampton. This one maybe six to eight ounces.

 I untangled the Eel wristband as Dave arrived to each his lunch.  The sun came out and Dave said that's the last of the skimmers they won't feed in these bright conditions.  We chewed the fat, He told me of his weekends disasters and one that happened to a friend of mine Mark Blake, during the weekends Barney Festival.  It would be unkind and not right for me to go into detail, but I thought I had bad luck; but after hearing that tale I am sure Blakey has out done me this weekend gone.

Dave finished his lunch sure he was right the sport had slowed in the midday bright conditions but I was still catching.  At around 2.15 (4 hours in) the bites had slowed to around 1 every 10 minutes, there was rain in the air and I was getting hungry again. Time to pack it in and go home dry and happy.

Fish count for the day 26 Bream / Skimmers between 2.5 and 3.5 pound, 6 smaller skimmers/ roach hybrids. 35 Rudd half of which were between 6 and 12 pounces. 1 pound plus Perch, one Eel and two snap ups on Carp over 9+ lb. A conservative 65 lb of silvers, not to be sniffed at.

Thank you Barnmoor a beautiful day, thanks to Dave Moody, glad I avoided catching on the pellet ( not strictly true - the two lost Carp were on pellet), but that aside, for the majority of the day I did it the old way and had a smashing time.

Back on the cut this weekend.

Blind leading the blind

Nice day for the annual Blind pairs match.  This year run by the legend James Carty/  We gathered at the school for an old fashioned no breakfast draw.

The draw done we went of to our pegs , mine being number 5 milkhouse, Perm pag 17.  It looked a cracker, nice features. Surely a winner.  We were ready to go when I realised I had forgot my landing net, so I borrowed from Kev Chubb a back up net.

The match was slow a couple of fish on the whip, then nothing for 30 minutes.  The Bread not doing it to day.  The worm line too was not doing very while. The close oppresive cloudy weather was dishing up a nasty head ache which I could do without.

The normal lines of attack were not working and many a minute was passed hangling a worm in the hop of Hybrid or Perch.

Spanners was going well, I couldn't see how big his fish were but the splashing was abound and the landingnet was going out.  He told me they were Gudgeon and Ruffe, lying git,  Looks like another pound will be parting my ownership to land on the Spanswick Estate.

The match was a non event really; but we struggled on . The whistle came in amongst a down before pour of rain.  Spanners skimmer fest had smashed me and he was now 4 nil up in the side bets.  Never been 4 nil down before.

Spanners looking good for the match but this was a pairs.  Other people did well like Steve Dean lb + on peg .  A well deserved catch.

Pints in for everyone then I did the draw again for JC.  T o see who had been fishing with who . James did the paperwork me the shouting.

The draw threw up some surprises, not least the top weight of Spanners paired with Colin the lowest weight. Steve Deans good 6 lb + was added to by me  and Marc Kay and Liam Bradell doing well.

Allin all Spanners and Colin Weston won it.

Steve Dean and I were second and Marc Kay and Liam 3rd over all.  

A big thanks to JC and to Simon Burden fr pegging the whole thing.  A nice friendly match and a credit to Pewsey.
See you next week , hopefully havea few more things to report on as its the Ladys Bridge club match normally a talking point.

Don't THINK I did to good today funny how fate pays up, think I might have another trip tommorow watch this space.

SSS4 Bee careful its the end

So to the last round of this years Sensas Spring League.  Hungerford.  I have to say I have enjoyed the comp even though I have saved up some of my worst performances in sometime.  Today we met at the Sun pub for the draw and the place was heaving with full English breakfasts being shovelled down.

I was pushed forward to draw, good said I believing it would change my run of midsection mediocre to rubbish pegs.

 It didn't work as I drew B8 Church Lane roughly the middle Ditch said .  Wonderful the despondent reply. I hoped it was near the wires and a chance of an end peg.  So having parked up we walked through the Churchyard and I said a little prayer to Ivan Marks, Kevin Ashurst  and Ian Heaps, not that they have all passed away to the canal in the sky but you know what I mean.

It could be another bad one and perhaps or maybe the graveyard shift and a late charge.

Got to the swing bridge and guessed left.  Turned out to be right and maybe I would be on the wires and an end peg.  As I got closer I saw Ray Mears prostrate (looked like he was drinking from the canal) but no it was my Beach master mate Leo Pocock having an intimate moment with a nice size hole he found in the tow path.

As I arrived it was clear I was 3 short of the wires on another shallow indistinct peg. Right on top of a Bees nest. Swarmed all day but didn't get stung once.  That said the fish were everywhere. Literally climbing the reeds and dougals opposite.  I was set to go half an hour ahead of time. I couldn't wait for the match to start convinced I was gonna smash it.  There was a particular large fish with its dorsal and an inch of its back stuck out smashing the stick ups.  The others quivering with excitement against it.  Surely they can't still be spawning!

The match started and I had set up a shallow rig which wouldn't have been out of place on a commercial (just for this very scenario).  The biggest elastic I had Middy 6 to 8.  I baited the track with worm line and bread line short then stuck the rig across onto the edge of the 4 sticks up and biggest dougal. Toss pot of choppy and dry ground bait and lowered the rig into the centre of it. The float dipped and lifted with the energy of fishing down the edge on a commy.  Only to launch a see through Gudgeon air borne.

Laughing to myself , I dropped the amoeba in the net and thought well I haven't blanked.  Across again and gently lowered half a dendro in. Wham the water erupted as a hybrid (3 lb ish) shot skyward out of the water; and bank wards into the dougals and brambles and fish flew in all directions.  I tried I really did to retrieve the fish from the tangled mess but only received a slime covered rig to the bank.

That was it for around an hour.  No more fish from the trashed swim opposite. So after a few boats and constant topping of the worm line, finally the Dino Genesis worm rig dipped positively.  The 4 elastic stretched and bounced a couple of times but as I started to retrieve the fish was gone.  It did this another two times and the swear words tumbled from my mouth.  Finally I got a fish to the surface - but no the culprit was a huge signal red crayfish.  Clearly after 7 of the blighters I knew my worm line was f**ked.

The match was a struggle for the first two hours as nobody around me was catching either.  Only the welsh fella on the end peg wires was catching.  Then a few fish from left as the Thatchers guy had several Dace and bleak, Leo to my right was starting to get a few snotties and to his right the fella had 5 sections of pole in the air playing a Pike.

At 12.45 I had my second fish a small dace .  The match dragged on and I rotated through the Team plan and 7 different swims trying desperately to catch anything. Leo the git was creeping ahead and Thatchers man had a Bream as he desperately tried to keep pace with the man from Wales.

Me well I was being royally spit roasted .  Salt poured into the wound as I bounced 3 fish.  With 10 minutes to go I had four tiny fish.  I was glad to see the end of the match, as "Run for Home" by Lindisfarne came into my head.

I walked up to see the weigh in.  Some very talented anglers were scratching their heads as to where it had all gone wrong and why they only had ounces.  There were good weights the Welsh fella on the wires had 10 lb + and Thatchers 6 and 3 quarters. Me well 6 fish for 4.5 ounces.  And that's how it went Leo did ok then there were ounces and then a good weight and so on.  That said as we headed back to the swing bridge the weights got better.  Wit 13 lb 13 oz on the end before the swing bridge.

My Browning squad colleague vying for section by default.

Back at the pub we realised none of us had set the world alight , Ian Madden and Kinger both doing well with 20 points.  But we smiled and joked and looked back on what could have been.  Crayfish had featured well for a few of us and the canal, flowing hard and dropping by as much as 6 inches for some had affected promising swims.

All in all, not bad and some good lessons learned for next time.

  It was clear to all of us Garbolino had not just won it but smashed it.  They had a flying start and kept it going fair play to quality anglers.

So the boys did the mathematics and the monies were handed out.

Pick up for my mate Kinger good on yer section by default.

So as the GBMV Gold team enjoyed their Sensas prizes there was a lot of back slapping and general drinking and having a good time.

Despite my last two horrendous rounds I enjoyed it, but cant wait to ditch the poor run and start catching again.  All that remains is to say a massive thank you to Ditcher .

You the Man

SSS R3 Great Bedwyn Strongman holds em up

 Start the day with a mug of tea, feeling good , fishing and practising well two picks up in last two weeks and well prepared for today  fresh elastics in all the top kits, rigs perfectly balanced today is when I could make a mark.

So off we go again north to Marlborough Football club for the draw of round 3 of Ditchers Sensas Spring League. I am hoping for a better draw today as round 2 wasn't so good for me.  Last time I fished these sections was for an Army teams of four back in 2011 and to be honest although mid section that day; it was a day when I almost packed it all in getting frustrated and only catching gudgeon.

Blowing my own trumpet a bit I was and still am a competent natural water angler, and that's down to my brother in law Gordon Rowland http://grfishingmemories.blogspot.co.uk/ who took me fishing from a young age.

 But it took that day, and my team mate John Dewberry (above) to mentor me in the modern ways and for a season following that day at Bedwyn he took me under his wing; beat the remaining "confidence" out of me, and broke me down.  Then from scratch he built me up again in modern tactics and a real back to basics approach.  He never really cured me of my excitable habit of over feeding when the fish get going, and till this day; I still struggle to get feeding right, sometimes cocking up a swim. What Gordon taught me is still relevant especially with rod in hand, water craft is never redundant.  But John was there at the right time for me to learn pole fishing.

I genuinely feel that sometimes he is on my shoulder like that mythical devil , saying "keep it simple stupid" and don't over feed.

The draw that day I remember was a hectic affair held in the pub in Bedwyn the venue was small and not up to it it seemed.  But what else do I know about Bedwyn.  Well I know from my history lessons at school that King Alfred bestowed the area (including Burbage and Grafton, Crofton etc) to his son Edward.

Its on the River Dun and the canal was completed between 1799 and 1809.  Its name is derived from a Celtic word meaning "white grave", a reference to the chalky area.

I know that my mate Chris the Pony Rushton lives there so no woman (and some handsome men) are not safe; and I know there is a rare English apple called the Bedwyn Beauty from the area.  I grow the apple in my garden as part of a conservation scheme.

But bugger all that what about the fishing.

Well the Browning family are doing well so far (considering the impeccable and skillful opposition) and need to consolidate today to truly make a mark on this years competition.  As I rush headlong to the draw to meet my new mates, I am a little nervous, but that's good keeps the concentration up.

Determination is high to do well.  These matches do make for a long day as its not easy herding cats (Anglers) as they say. Especially when its over 100 of them.  By the way; again this weekend this is probably one of the biggest matches in the country, yet still struggles to get newspaper column inches compared to the local fish races bagging F1s in a commercial hole in the ground.  Wheres the justice?

The canal itself was looking clear in the edges, pegging ( by Gary "the fish" Etheridge) could not have been easy.  Gary is a great guy and fisherman whose only concern is that its as close to a level playing field as possible and that as many people as possible have a good days angling.  Besides pegging or not you cant fix the draw that's just LUCK.

So how did my draw go today, well I had peg 23 in section C at little Bedwyn. So I fix in the coordinates to the tom tom and set of with hope and determination in my heart.  The kits prepared the bait has been fussed over, riddled again and again.  Blinkers on its time to fish to team plan. I didn't have the big bush features of the peg to my right and the end peg, or the doogles or reeds of the peg to my left

First off the swim , its around 4 feet deep and with no real features.

Todays rigs, for a change I thought I would show the top kits.

Close ups a cane Drake float for across shallow white top , a Mick Bassett pinkie track float, and fellow Browning member Steve Musitano float

 Dino Roach (black top) and a Dino Genesis 

Drennan Worm, Dino Squatt and Garbolino DS 4 X 12

Lines include Bayer perlon, Powerline and Drennan flouro carbon.  Hooks Sensas 3000, Drennan Fine Match, Gamakatsu, Tubertini and Kamasan.  So thats the kit bait today was Maggot, pinkie , squat, worm, and bread punch.

The match started and to my left he has 3 little skimmers in 15 inches across on far side.  The bites are hard to come by and I struggle to even get a tap in the first hour. 2 then 3 hours in I am not too worried although I have hardly had a fish.  But then neither has anyone around me the guys to my right are struggling , and I cant see properly the matrix guy to my left.  Wonder how big his little skimmers go.

A double boating kills my swim and some boat Captains have no clue.

With an hour to go the heavens opened, and men the my bites died.  On the other hand the two to my right were now getting one a bung and even the landing net was going out!  If it had not rained my landing net would have gone home dry!

I hate that powerless feeling where you know people are catching you and overtaking and you cannot buy a bite.  But thank the lord a elastic stretching fish at last thank you god thank you.  But oh no its a Tesco carrier bag.

Both blokes to my right have had a good last hour, and all i can hope is everyone else has struggled.

So I weigh in 26 fish and 1 lb exactly. Indeed 6 of my fish would not have made an ounce together

Back to the Hungerford football club for the results and although I didn't see my section sheet I am told I am second from last with a whole raft of weights in that 1 to 2 lb area the difference being a skimmer + lots of small fish.. So once again no bonus fish for me , but I am the strongest holding up those above me.

A blow I really thought it would be good for me today, shows what a leveller fishing is.

Time for a mug of tea and see where it went wrong.  Well done to Kinger and Ian Madden both picking up for Browning.

Summer sun for the super sub R2 Wx Summer league

 

Dazzer

Maybe it is my Sunday school upbringing that embedded in me the egalitarian seed.  Indeed in many areas of life I have striven to ensure that equal stature, whether it is religious, economic or social. I do genuinely believe we should all share equally the opportunities available to us; and it should be a level playing field.  One area though where the level equal playing field of life has continued to slope away from me is LUCK.  It is well documented now that I do believe I have a curse in this regard.

Listening to a bit of Marillions Misplaced Childhood “Lavenders Blue dilly dilly, Lavenders Green, when I am King Dilly dilly you will be Queen, a penny for your thoughts my dear a penny for your thoughts"

Well my thoughts were that  I strive not to encourage bad luck by putting shoes on a table, spill salt, let black cats cross my path, hang horseshoes points down, step on a grave or give a pocket knife as a gift. But still the dice it seems are loaded against me.  These past weeks have proven again that I get the occasional luck, but this is often imbalanced by a multitude of small issues that tip the scales back toward bad luck.  Surely life is not a constant uphill struggle and I am not a direct descendant of King Sisyphus.

For sure these past weeks have been an example of ups and downs.  I digress slightly but a few weeks ago I went to the docs, as you do.  Doc, say I, I have been feeling my testicles.  Purely in a health oriented way you understand, (picture Pinocchio’s nose getting longer) and I have found a “lump”.  Okay says the doc let’s have a look.  So boxers around my ankles he drops to his knees and has a look.  Good news he says nothing to worry about that’s your penis! 

No not that says I the other bigger bump underneath. (ps reader don’t laugh, nothing grows in the shade of my six pack and by the way it was cold in the Docs surgery)

Oh he says I see what you mean.  After a few uncomfortable moments of fumbling he pulls of the latex glove with the twang achieved only by a dominatrix and announces that I should have a small biopsy.  Fast forward to today and its good news, yes good luck good news they come in equal measure to me.  No issues carry on watching and “feeling” brief.  The feeling I can do, and now with the approval of the establishment.  Watching, well, might need a mirror for that one. Lol

So to today’s bad luck, oops I mean fishing trip.  Round 2 of the Wx Summer League, where I am guesting in a sort of super sub role.  The organisers had arranged this round to be the Pewsey home leg, and it was to be on the canal.  This was slightly worrying as recent destruction of the canal by the Devizes to Westminster canoe and boat race, coupled with a large proportion of fish indicating they only had sex and spawning on their mind.

I didn’t hold out much hope of bumper weights.  

Some may say don’t whinge Gary it’s the same for all.  True, but sometimes it’s not just about the egalitarian struggle. Sometimes you just need it to be a good days fishing when everyone catches enough to go home happy.  Breakfast first at the fantastic Golden Swan in Wilcott. The to the dreaded draw.  Unfortunately not being an open I couldn’t employ my new positive approach of getting in early and letting the gods of the draw give me a fighting chance.  Here its in the hands of whoever is my Caption for the day.  That turned out to be Steve Dean as I was filling in for a different team (3).  A sections Bowdens, B Wilcot C Crab Apple and D Milkhouse.

I was handed c6 Crab apple.  I was happy with the swim although the bank was crumbling and a bit dodgy.  Next to me I had the fantastic Bob Garrett, really nice guy he was sat in front of the Crab apple.

Next on from him the ebullient Dancing Doug Foreshaw a long way from his favourite River Wye and fellow (along with his name sake (Alistair) organiser of the comp this year.

Next on from Doug, Dazzer - top pic - and then Team Russ and then on the end peg Simon Burden.  The match didn't start till ten but I did have a nice Roach which doubled my last weeks weight in one fell swoop, 4 more Roach on the whip punch doing well. 

Two boats one after the other stirred up my silty shallow swim. Indeed the first 8 feet out from the bank was around 20 inches deep and then sloped away to 3.5 feet.  Far side was 2 feet deep but no real cover from the sun , which was yet to shine today.  In fact I needed to put the hoody back on.

10 minutes passed before the swirling silt settled, and I had a Perch over the choppy line , maybe 4 ounces not great but acceptable after recent weeks.  The boats came through with boring regularity, forcing me across a steady supply of fish was welcome - all small - and then my first bad luck of the day hooking a big Bream and losing on the under keel of a passing boat why did the boat have to come through then!! Bad luck it seems.

After an hour and 20 minutes, the sun pushed through to establish itself as bright and warm as could be. It was like an off switch.  From that moment I never had another 45 minutes to go where I had two tiny roach.

Bob, Doug and Dazzer were all struggling till Doug hooked a flying 3 and half pound Bream.  Which left feeling hale and hearty for the rest of the match.

So the end came around the Boats kept up a steady pace , in fact, one moored in front of me and I had to move my net.  Which I was disappointed in.  I thought I had more than I actually did.  Funny how the mind plays tricks, I suppose it was the many bites I had compared to recent times.

Dougy was looking good for the section, his 3.5 pound Bream and a few snotty Roach enough for the section win.

If not for Doug, the section would have been Pewsey 1,2 and 3. Bob had struggled and Dazzer a blank poor sod.

The other sections A. Bowdens. Well done Leo

B Section.  Another Pewsey section win well done Alan Gibbs.

C Section we've done so its to the final section at Milkhouse.  Spanners takes it and by virtue of weight goes 2 nil up on me for side pound bets.

 So Doug wins,Spanners second and Simon Burden 3rd. My 1 lb 11.5 oz giving me 5th in the match but no money hard luck Gary.

I suppose the luck today was with (as it always is) the Winner.  Well done Doug.

See you next week as I join up with the Browning Family and we go again in round 3 of Ditchers SSS League. Roll on Great and little Bedwyn.