News 2008
Mitchell Cup 2008
Good Friday 2009 saw the 2008 Mitchell Cup final take place on Osprey Lake.In it were Gary,Darkie and Simon.It was a day of drizzle but this didn't stop all three anglers from giving it their all.Simon had the benefit for an hour or two of having Keith Huggins coaching him but sadly came in third with 6lb.-11 oz. on the method.Well done Simon for getting this far and a big thanks to Keith for all his help.Simon certainly learnt a lot. Gary and Darkie were both alternating between the method feeder and the pole but had to work hard for bites.After four hours Gary was in front but not by far.Then Darkie took a couple of Carp.Then Gary did.Then Darkie Did.At the whistle it really wasn't clear who had won.Darkie weighed in first with 28lb. -10 oz.Then Gary took his turn and was astonished when they went round to 41lb.-8oz.This meant that Gary had pulled off the treble(the league, the Jeff. Lincoln and the Mitchell Cup).His luck must break soon!!!It was a great final and well done to everyone who took part.
Borde Hill 07/12/2008
Well what a finish to the season this turned out.The big lake was frozen so we had to move the match onto the small one which was only partially frozen.Seven anglers braved the cold and the battle between Darkie and Gary for the league continued.Darkie caught a tiny Roach first which meant that Gary had to catch otherwise it was all over.Gary then caught one and the battle went on for the rest of the match.Mid match Gary took a bonus 1lb.-7oz. roach which helped to seal victory.The final result being Gary 4lb.-11oz. to Darkies 1lb.-11oz.Incredibly there was a tie for 3rd place between 3 anglers who all caught 1oz.each.Gary would like to say a big thankyou to everyone that took part this year and he hopes you all have a great Christmas and New Year
Sea Fishing News
Crawley Industrial Cup fished at Seaford beach on Saturday 29th November – 6pm till midnight.
Quick History
The Industrial Cup has been going for years and was originally sponsored by the Crawley Observer newspaper and Edwards High Vacuum, but is now organised by Doug Rann of Crawley Angling Centre. All teams are made up of businesses firms in the Crawley Industrial area and are fished once a year. Cups fished for are – Best individual weight, best team weight, best round fish and best flat fish.
This year Industrial Cup
It was a dark and stormy night, lightning flashed across the sky and rain fell in sheets. Wolves could be heard howling at the moon. Not really it started to rain on the way down, but stopped when we reached the pub for a livener, where we sorted out our curry order for later, as Gary had done his homework as usual and found a local curry house that done deliveries. We had 2 teams of 3 entered and after we registered we proceeded to the nearest bit of beach about 50 yards away – set up our tackle and dished out the fresh lug and rag worm that Geoff had managed to get that morning, travelling to Pevensey, Brighton mariner and Newhaven tackle shops. It was a little drizzly but quite warm we all chucked out a 6pm on the dot and thought well that’s that – high tides at midnight – nothing will happen till about 10pm. Were at Seaford! How wrong. We were all catching in dribs and drabs from the start and where having some good fun. Drinking, catching fish, drinking, drinking, catching fish and drinking- you get the idea. Then at 9pm the curry was delivered to the beech and we all took ½ hour out to sit together and eat our curries and have a chat and a drink. What a time to pick! Ray had just had a codling! - still food, chat and a drink first. All in all fish where being caught all night and we all had a good session. No blanks at Seaford are a good result. At the weigh in it was amazing that Ray wasn’t being held up by Geoff as usual – what had happened? Ray had a bucket full of Whiting, Pout, Ruckling and a Codling – catching fish had interrupted his drinking.
Post Office Results
| Ray Hill | B Team | 4.9 kg | 2nd Overall |
| Gary Mitchell | B Team | 3.02 kg | 11th Overall |
| Stu Roddick | A Team | 2.32 kg | 19th Overall |
| Rob Fairbrother | B Team | 2.06 kg | 25th Overall |
| Geoff Ingram | A Team | 1.33 kg | 31st Overall |
| Marcus Loureiro | A Team | 0.8 kg | 36th Overall |
Team Event
Post Office B – 3rd Overall.
Not a bad result out of 50 anglers.
Thanks to Geoff for sorting out the bait. Thanks to Gary for sorting out the curry. Thanks to Stu’s other half for supplying nice plates and spoons for the curry, and thanks to Doug and his weigh in guys for making a good evening.
P.S Rob – Get a pair of forceps and a tape measure.
Sumners Match Lake 16/11/2008
The race to win the league took another exciting turn this week because Gary could only manage to come 4th. Darkie capitalized on this by taking a brilliant 17 Carp for 92lb-3 oz. fishing at just 2 meters with corn as bait. This now means that Gary is just 2 points in front going into the last match of the season. Roger Apps did a fantastic job to land the biggest fish in the clubs history with a Carp of 19lb.-3oz.on the pole. This was a big help towards his total of 67lb.-3oz. which put him in 2nd place. Ray Hill took the 3rd spot with 32lb.-4oz. mainly on the waggler.
Woodpeckers 26/10/2008
This was yet another match fished in the rain.Considering we had the first frosts of the year the previous week it fished remarkably well with everyone catching.The league has now turned into a 2 horse race between Gary and Darkie. On the day Gary took top spot with a mixed bag for 56lb.-3oz. and Darkie took 2nd with 40lb.-13oz. on the pole close in.This now means that there are 5 points in it with 2 matches to go.Third place went to Roger Apps with 37lb.-14oz.For an in depth look at how Gary fished the match check out the MATCH TALK section on our website. (www.cpoac.co.uk/forum)
Maze Lake 05/10/2008
This match was fished in heavy rain once again.Mac who has had a bit of a quiet year so far found his form once again to take the top spot with 41 lb. - 14 oz. on the pole mainly.Trevor Burgess must love this lake as he took 2nd spot fishing straight lead and corn as he did in the last match here which he won incidentally.29lb. - 7 oz. was his weight .Darkie took bronze with21 lb. - 6oz. on the pole.
Seaford Beech 28/09/2008
The annual beech fishing competition took place on Saturday 28th September at the usual venue of Seaford Beech. It was a bright clear day and the sea was like a mill pond. Although quite a lot of mackerel was caught - they didn't count for the weigh in. So it was time to change tactics and Ray Hill having the only float among everyone plundered 5lb 7oz of Garfish on a thumbnail size squid on a 12 carp hook. To take the title for the 2nd year running. (Matt Bridle might have done better, but he slept most of the time nursing a hangover from the night before!)
Borde Hill 14/09/2008
Our next match after the Pro-Am saw us back at Borde Hill although the weather was a lot kinder this time.Gary after 2 hours had a dry net so made a big decision to go out on the pellet waggler after seeing Jason Willie take several fish on it off the next peg.It turned into a fish for fish race but at the end Gary took top spot with 53 lb. -14oz. to Jasons 34 lb -8 oz. Unfortunately this was only good enough for 3rd place as Keith Huggins took 2nd with 46 lb. - 2oz.on pole and feeder tactics.We must also mention that poor old Trevor Burgess used the legs method to plumb up at the start.It was Darkies fault though!
Pro-Am Borde Hill 24/08/2008
This year the Pro-Am took place at Borde Hill once again.Fifteen pairs took part and full credit has to go to every one who fished as it rained most of the day.Debbie Boyce and Chis Brown took 3rd spot with an impressive 35 lb.-7 oz.Darkie and his partner Kezza also did well or should we say Kezza did to take most of their 37lb. -12 oz. haul.Hero of the the day though was Bill Norris who partnered by his Pro Roger Apps took almost 50 pounds of their 53 lb. - 5 oz. catch for top spot.WELL DONE AMS!!
Maze Lake 03/08/2008
This was a match on a venue that none of us had fished for some time.On the day Trevor Burgess took top place after fishing the straight lead and corn for mainly Carp weighing in 16lb.- 13oz.Poor old Darkie missed out by just 5 ounces fishing pole tactics.Third spot went to Merv. Willie also fishing the pole taking 11lb.- 6oz.
Mill Farm 13/07/2008
This match started well as Gary promptly fell in! This lake is full of small fish so you need lots of them to make a weight. On the day Jason Willie did best taking 13lb. - 6oz of mainly Crucians on caster for bait. He fished in close on light tackle . Gary was 2nd with12lb. - 2oz of mainly Roach and Silver Bream using a 3m whip and maggot. Darkie used similar tactics to take 3rd with 10lb.dead.
Osprey Lake 01/06/2008
This match took place at Osprey Lake because Leggats lake was closed for matches at the last minute. Keith Huggins(our clubs proffesional angling guide) DIDN'T weigh in!!!! Darkie did well fishing the method feeder to beat KEITH by 28 - 14. Ray Hill fishing his favourite waggler method beat KEITH by 26 - 7 and Stu Reddick did incredibly well to beat KEITH by 22 - 2 for third spot. The clubs new super hero is Simon Clayton who fished his Mitchell Cup qualifier against KEITH and knocked him out because he weighed in and KEITH never.Therefore KEITH is CHUMP OF THE MONTH. Never mind KEITH at least you're good at moaning.
Osprey Lake 11/05/2008
This years battle for the Jeff Lincoln memorial trophy took place on Osprey Lake.Gary's recent run of luck(sorry form) continued as he won his 3rd match of the season.He fished the method feeder into open water taking 42lb.-4oz of Carp.Tony Lavers did well to come 2nd with 35-10 on the pole and Keith Huggins was 3rd with 31-9 fishing the pole shallow in 12 feet of water.
Mill Farm 20/04/2008
Sunday saw us back at Mill Farm near Pulborough. An unusual venue in that there are very few Carp. Keith Huggins did well fishing the pole for silvers taking 9 lb.-13 oz. Gary was 2nd with 7 lb.- 5oz. fishing the pole whip-style and Clive Bolter fished brilliantly to finish 3rd with 6lb. - 15oz.We have to mention poor old Dave Neale who was fishing his first match of the season and managed to fall in. We now call him Nemo!!!
Sumners Pond 30/03/2008
Match Report
This match was fished after 24 hours torrential rain. As a result the lake was over the bank in several of the pegs. Gary won this match after taking 37lb.-14oz. of Carp on the method feeder at long range to the island. Keith Huggins fished the waggler at 30 meters to take a mixed bag of 26lb.-6oz. and Darkie was 3rd with 14lb.-13oz. on the method feeder.
Woodpeckers 09/03/2008
Match Report
The 2008 season kicked off at Woodpeckers. Gary won the match after making an early decision to fish light tackle to catch small fish on the pole. He ended up with 14lb.-3oz. for his trouble. There was less than a pound between the next 5 places. Richard (oh sod it )Balk did best with 8lb.-12oz. followed by Darkie with 8lb.-11oz. Richard gained his new name after breaking his pole and then dropping his glasses in the lake. Good news for any short sighted Carp!!!