Sunday 13th August - Willinghurst Old & New
Sunday 20th August - Willinghurst Top

A quick mention of Sunday 13th:
- its was split across Old & New. You wanted to be on Old, ideally 7 or 14 would do it - New was fishing awful since reopening (closed due to bad algae / fish deaths)
- subsequently drew New 20. My blogging oppos PIkey & Hathers naturally drew Old 7 & 14
- i had 2 quick fish on paste at 7mtrs in the first 40 mins
- i then had no bites for 4 & 1/2 hrs, not one fish showed itself, no blows, no nothing
- and it rained. A lot.
- at 4pm i had a fish in the margin, another next put and 2 more before then end, all on corn in 18" of water.
- i've come 3rd on the lake, beaten by peg 8 (flier) and the Sargeant on the high bank. I didnt miss a bite, lose a fish or nowt, there just wasnt the fish in the peg, so I'm not gumbling.


Sunday 20th - Top lake
Originally scheduled as a silverfish match on the Xmas tree lake, which i thought was great idea, its stuffed with skimmers and the like, however we've moved due to algae, fish deaths etc. No compaints though, Top is a cracking venue, and with a decent draw I can hopefully frame and might even nick my first club win. At this time of the year a draw in the back spit is gonna put you amongst a lot of fish, its produced a 270lb weight on Weds, and yesterday's match was won with 250 followed by 210 from pegs 24 & 26. I stuck me paw in and duly pulled out 25. Hurrah. Naturally, I was commended and greeted with good cheer from my compatriots....

The spit is 2-3' all the way across, about 20-25yds at its widest, lots of fish show up in the margins especially later. You can do a big weight on the feeder to the far bank too, and after much humming and hawing, i decided to fish a small method to a clump of grass, keep an eye on what everyone was doing on the pole and then come in the edge in the last 3hrs or so. We're fishing 7 hrs today, 10:30 til 5:30. I have Paul Taylor for company on 24 who is fancying his chances, and further up Ross Nursey is on 22; he's already had 300lb from 23 in the last match here and a 400lb weight not long after, so he knows how to haul. But most crucially, I've gone right to the heart of the mattter and taken Pikey on for a £5 side bet. He's on Peg 12 behind me on the other side of the lake - he can see me, but I cant see him. Naturally I offer someone a quid to give me constant reports on his progress. Me, competitive ? Nooooo.

I have 9 fish in 9 chucks in the first 45 mins, and set an early lead. They aint big though, averaging 2lb. I'd rather be using maggots, but aint gone none, so hair rigged corn it is. The action then slows a bit, and I feed for the first time down the edge - everyone is catching on the pole, and they might be bigger and come in quicker, so 5 mins after feeding I have a quick look. I foul hook one and wait 10 mins for another bite before landing one. Back onto the feeder. However thats not thick & fast, and I only add 3 or 4 fish in the next 30-40 minutes. Pikey has overtaken me, Ross is catching on 22, and Brian is no longer giving reports on Pikey cos he's started catching on the method too, and has probably overtaken me. Hmm. I need to make a clear decision about what to do and get my head down.

I decide to stay on the feeder, really concentrate and go onto the pole about 3pm. It starts to pay off and the fish return; it doesnt go mental, but the tip usually wangs round after 5 mins or so. I switch to a pellet wrapped in paste, the fish size goes up a bit. I reckon by 2:30 i have about 23, 24 fish, maybe 85, 90lb, but I know thats not enough, 250lb is gonna win this match, so i really need to nail it the pole.

I feed mushed catmeat & hemp to my left & right and get stuck in. They start coming almost straight away and by dripping the feed in, theres plenty of clouding & bubbling. Foul hookers are a bit of a problem, but theres so many fish its hard to avoid. The duplicate rigs come in handy too, 2 or 3 invariably get trashed in 2' of water. The right hand swim starts to provide more fish, of a better size, but really its a bite a chuck, proper bagging style, right upto the end when the biggest fish of the day, maybe just touching 10lb, joins his pals and its all over. I've no idea what i've got, possibly 180, its not enough to win though, I think pikey has 230, and I'm sure Ross has 200lb too, despite his protests of "no more than 150"

As i start weighing, i hear that Smiffy has 230+ from peg 8. Oh-oh. After 6 weighs I finish with 204. Its a PB by a long way, but I cant deny i'm a bit disappointed. More importantly Pikey puts 240+ on the scales. There goes a fiver. (this time). However, he's soon beaten too, Peter Turnbull has been hiding from my sight on 21, he puts 270+ on the scales, with Ross' "no more than 150" being a tiny little bit more, actually its 269. Genial Willinghurst stalwart Eddie Green slips a measly 223 on the scales from 23 too, all caught on his beloved dogfood. (I'm wondering what other mechanically retrieved meat treats i can experiment with. Tripe paste ?). I'm 6th with 204lb, theres a few 180s and loads of other ton plus weights too. What a venue.

In hindsight, this was a pole match, I'm completely confident that i would've had at least 50lb more if i'd've fished on the pole all day. All the top weights have been caught by blokes fishing in one spot short in the edge, mainly on catmeat. And whilst a double ton is great, I cant deny I'd've rather caught 5lb & won....