News 2011
Ribbon Lake 13/11/2011
Last report of the league-Ribbon Lake at Sumners Pond for this one. It started with a full English breakfast at the lakes cafe with lashings of tea and coffee. The weather was sunny and dry but the fishing was hard due to the drop in temperature.
Top Honours for the day
1st place Keith Huggins with a mixed net for 16lb 10oz,caught on the pole at 16m with mixed hook baits.
2nd place was Roger Apps with a mixed net for 12lb 11oz caught on the pole next to the bridge mainly on worm.
3rd place was Rob Fairbrother with a mixed net for 12lb 6oz using his top 2 and dead maggot.
Chump of the month was JJ with a DWI as he went home half way through the match for an early bath!!
The final of the Mitchell cup was also fished with Gary Mitchell weighing in 9lb 15oz to Doug Bottings 4lb 4oz.
Hi Lights of the Match
I thought Kipper was gullible but Mac is on par as he genuinely thought Rob was using liquidized banana!!(an easy mistake to make as its the same colour as sweet corn!). Kipper managed to weigh in 2 fish that looked like they had barcodes on them,he would have had 3 if he was using Asda sweetcorn. Balky didn't want a mention in this report for breaking anything,so he decided not to bring his fishing gear,but instead being an electrician,he brought his tool box and various lengths of wire and spent the next six hours making a complete electric circuit for a Morris Minor! Keith Huggins didn't want a mention either,but his mate in the tackle shop told him that it was speed fishing that won on Ribbon Lake the week before,so he turned up in a camouflaged lycra suit that held him in,in all the right places!(his 'mate' in the tackle shop sold it to him at a discount!) Unfortunately after demolishing 4 breakfasts he exploded at the seams and ended up in wellies and a jumper!! And what about that Mitchell!!! I wondered what he was up to after breakfast when I saw him talking to the bailiff,who gave him a map of the lake,so I thought I would keep a beady eye on him after the draw. And true to his nature of wanting to win 'his' trophy at all costs,he started sticking pins into the map where Doug was fishing! Gary old mate this type of behaviour is bad for your health,it's got to stop,let someone else win 'your' trophy next year for your own sanity! And finally while we were having a beer in the pub afterwards,Deb asked Colin what he wanted for Christmas,just as he threw his pint in his lap,I think Tenna Men will help with your incontinence over Christmas Colin!!!
See you all next year! MERRY CHRISTMAS
Written as always by Ray 'the scoop' Hill
PS from Gary......
I would like to say a BIG Thank you to Ray 'the Scoop' Hill for taking on the job of writing the match reports. He does a great job,and doesn't miss a trick! As of next season there will be a paragraph added about Ray written by myself and Mr. Balk,cheers Ray!
Sumners Match Lake 02/10/2011
Sorry about the delay in the write up for this match,but I went on holiday the following week so didn't get round to it. This match was held at Sumners on the Match Lake,kindly sponsored by Tackle Warehouse of Crawley. Big weights were on the cards-yahoo!-two nets-yahoo!-heavy lines -yahoo!-loads of bait-yahoo!(I actually went camping therefor the weekend and saw the Saturday evening match fishermen filling the fish up on cat meat and pellets!!). So instead of the tons of fish that were expected it turned into a hard fished match boohoo! Apart from that it was a lovely hot cloud free day,with lashings of beer in the pub afterwards!
Top Honours for the day.
1st place was Rob Fairbrother with mainly carp for 91lb 13oz,on pellet waggler.
2nd place was Keith Huggins with mainly carp for 40lb 15oz,on pellet waggler and pole.
3rd place was John Powell with carp for 40lb 9oz on straight lead and luncheon meat.
Chump of the month was Colin Temple,thanks for your pound!!
In the Mitchell cup Doug Botting beat Geoff Ingram with 19lb 15oz to 11lb 6oz to go through to the final.
The Postman Pat trophy donated by Tackle Warehouse was won by Rob. Vouchers donated by Tackle Warehouse were given to our most improved angler of the season which was JJ Ocaya.
Hi-lights of the Match
We have finally worked out what makes moaning Huggins moan so much-its when he is using his pole! He was fine on the pellet waggler,we're hoping a herd of rampaging wilder beast turn up in his peg at the next match and decide to migrate over his pole!! And what went wrong with Kelly this match- 1st last time now a close run for chump in this one,I think she was mesmerized by the lump of polony floating in her swim! Gary was up for it till he visited the site toilet and came back looking ill,muttering 'Glastonbury Glastonbury -I think I'll use pellet and throw my polony in the lake'! Congratulations to Niff Noff overall 3rd with a nice carp of 19lb 2oz,which after its first run,didn't stand a chance,came across the surface like a skimmer,all over in 30 seconds!, 'who needs a pole Huggins'! I bet Robs gutted we have a small wager when me,him and Gary fish together ,pound a go,all he had to do was beat 95lb 13oz,one fish out,oh well £102 onto the next match,shame ah Gary! Some good news has come out of the delayed report,Balkys back for the next match,he has been saving like crazy and turning
up with loads of new gear! Can't wait to start adding him to my write up again!!
Osprey Lake 11/09/2011
Back at Ospreys for this one, and despite a bleak weather forecast for the day – it turned out rather nice with a lot of sunshine and only one shower.
I think the lake has a leak as it was about 2 foot lower than it should be! Plus the fishing was hard.
Honours of the day
1st place was Kelly Longbottom with a mixed net for 21lb 15oz on the method in open water using corn (This included a 12lb 12oz Carp – A personal best!)
2nd place was Keith Huggins with a mixed net for 19lb 15oz on the method and pole using worm, caster and maggot.
3rd place was Clive Bolter with a mixed net for 17lb 11oz on the tip rod and running lead to the edge of an island using double maggot.
Chump of the Month was Terry Botting with 2lb 3oz – his first time on the list!
The last of the quarter finals of the Mitchells Cup was fished with Geoff Ingram on 6lb 5oz beat Terry Botting on 2lb 3oz.
Hi Lights of the Match
Very quiet, as this was due to the vast amount of drop outs the night before after hearing Michael Fish give his weather forecast of heavy rain and high winds due for Sunday!
I think we have too many Anglers in the club that was born south of the River Mole!
You soft southern Shandy drinking wimps!!
The semi finals for the Mitchell Cup were drawn at the Pub:-
Gary Mitchell v Rob Fairbrother and Doug Botting v Geoff Ingram
But as you know this is not written in tablets of stone as Gary might change it once he gets back from storm chasing in Scotland!
Finally Keith Huggins must get a mention for being a miserable old bugger! He picked a perfect peg, fished well – and moaned that he had nothing to moan about! He’s only happy when he’s miserable
Message from Alan
Still waiting for match results as Gary is on holiday and Darkie is in charge. So as per usual you will have to wait until Gary gets back, cause Darkie is too lazy to type them up. LOL.
Mr & Mrs Match Henfold Lake 28/8/2011
Henfold Lake for this match, the 2nd annual Mr & Mrs Match.
It started off in the perfect way, a good old fry up in the club house!
This was followed by six hours of a bit of sunshine, a bit of cloud and a bit of rain, a typical British
Summers day! The fishing was hard for a lot of couples as the fish were at either end of the lake
And little in between.
Top Honours for the day.
1st place went to the Mitchells again! With a combined weight of 69lb 2oz of mainly carp on the
method using maggot and pellet. Sandy’s weight was 62lb 13oz and Gary’s weight 6lb 5oz!
2d place was Rob Fairbrother, and his soon to be wife, Kelly with a combined weight of 50lb, with
a mixed net on the method to the island using meat, Rob’s weight 42lb 4oz, Kelly’s weight 7lb 12oz.
3rd place was Keith and Lisa Huggins with a combined weight of 31lb 2oz of mixed fish on the pole
with pellet.
Chumps of the match Niff Noff and Caroline Brooker with a combined weight of 3lb 12oz. (if Caroline
had weighed in her empty Gin and Tonic cans they would have doubled their weight!!).
Hi Lights of the Match
To start with, Dave and Phillipa Botting had the flyer drawn for them as they were running late, but
they were running so late that they didn't make it!
Colin Temple was happy with catch and release, missing the net with the odd crucian which resulted
in Deb weighing in more than him again!
Marcos insisted weighing in with Jay was it because Jay had caught more?
Huggins was his moany old self, this time moaning at his good wife Lisa! (Lisa was last heard saying
'you've got to be joking I've got a headache).
A few breakages again, first was Jay Jay who broke his pole, then Gary had a go and stood on his number 4
section, you could hear the crack right round the lake (a lovely noise if it’s not your pole!!). Not that it was his
fault though he blamed his wife Sandy for allowing him to walk off with her disgorger then wanting it back!!
They might have won a few bob winning the match but will be out of pocket after paying out for a new number
4 section and buying new matching hats for next year as the 'Mr & Mrs Champions 2010' are now old hats
(sorry about the pun). At least your matching T shirts will be alright for next year!
All in all a good day out was had by all and the club house staff looked after us first class as normal.
Moorhouse Farm 31/7/2011
Moorhouse farm again,only this time it fished a lot better with everyone catching and a lot of weights in the 30lb region, but boy was it a hot day!
Top honours for the day
1st place was Rob Fairbrother with a mixed net for 45lb 9oz caught on the pole and rod with maggot and feeding pellet and meat in one inch of water in the margin. He left the float on the bank and the hook in the water,where the fish were coming in on their sides to take it!
2nd place was Martin Rann with a mixed net for 38lb 7oz caught on the pole to the far bank using pellet.
3rd was Ray Hill on the pole fishing to the far bank using maggot.
Chump of the month is shared this time with the father and son duo of Mark and Kieran(junior) Camps with 6lb 11oz and 6lb 8oz.
Hi lights of the match
As Richard Balk couldn't make it,Bill Norris stood in for him and managed to break his pole! Ray Temple decided to try the floating pole method,but managed to retrieve it from the lake before the off! And what about Keith Huggins, he pegs the lake then spends hours moaning about the swim he gets. By the end of four hours continuous moaning we were hoping he was going to stick his head in the wasp nest behind him and commit suicide of a thousand stings!
There was a few thick heads on the bank due to a long service award do at Lingfield park the night before-so half way through the match Colin Temple decided to catch up on some sleep for an hour! Ray Hill didn't have a clue what he was doing for the first hour until his 'livener' kicked in, and Gary Mitchell was wandering about at the start drinking lashings of coffee with his thumb up his arse and whistling Dixie! Ray Temple,Ray Hills apprentice again asked him for some sound advice -yes he said don't get drunk the night before!!
Another knock out of the Mitchell cup was fished between Clive Bolter and Doug Botting with Doug weighing in 35lb 9oz to Clives 11lb 8oz. Gary Mitchell fished against Roger Apps, Roger was first to weigh with 27lb 13oz,where upon Garys scheming head went into overdrive as he wasn't sure if he had enough weight to beat Roger,how was he going to think up another scheme to stay in the Mitchell cup? As it happens he managed to put together 32lb 4oz to go through to the next round!
Finally those who didn't recognise the 'rotund' gentleman going around and talking to you, it was Tim Wright that used to work with us a few years ago,that's how he knew your names!!
Sumners Match Lake 08/05/2011
The 4th match of the season saw us on the match lake at Sumners Pond,everybody was anticipating big weights,so we all geared up with heavy lines and enough bait to sink a battleship,but alas the big weights eluded us all again,oh well!
Top honours for the day;
1st place was Doug Botting with a mixed net for 58lb 8oz caught mainly on the pole at 8 metres.
2nd place was Keith Huggins with a mixed net for 45lb 8oz caught on feeder and pole close in.
3rd place was Rob Ingram again a mixed net for 35lb 11oz.
Chump of the month was Simon Wilson with a DWI as he felt sorry for his foul hooked roach and let it go!!!
Hi lights of the Match
Either your all getting cagey these days and not letting on about your mishaps,or you're improving on your fishing as not a lot was 'seen' this week- except for Ron Packham managed to break his pole. My 'apprentice' Ray Temple ,asked me for some advice for fishing the verges - I told him not to bother-you'll only get run over-fish the margins instead,that wet bit either side of you! Now Balky-he's a bit cagey -he's started ponsing tackle as he hasn't any left of his own-first a bungee,then a ground bait bowl-but all credit to him-they both came back in one piece and NO you can't borrow my pole!! We also had two juniors join us both worth keeping an eye on. Keiran Camps weighed in 30lb 5oz,and Ashley Camps weighed
in 35lb 14oz-well done.
A few of the Mitchell 'farce' cup anglers decided to fish their first rounds on this one,results; Doug Botting beat Keith Huggins-he's still blaming his hand! That dam Mitchell bloke beat me-see below! Geoff Ingram beat Kelly Longman-must have run out of pheromones!! Terry Botting beat Don Fielding, Clive Bolter beat Ray Temple,but he was on the 'verge' of winning.
I turned up to fish with thick Ed,my mate from the night before,and Gary saw what state we was in and managed to talk me into fishing the 1st round of his Mitchell cup! For the first hour I may as well have stayed in bed nursing Ed for all the use I was-not one cast in the same place,but I think I managed to pull the island a little closer! Then it clicked and I started catching,only small stuff,but I used the landing net on everyone ,I thought Gary's head was going to come off at one point the way it kept swiveling round! Then he came and had a chat,more like a nosey at what I was doing!I don't know how he done it but when I turned round to talk to him,his face had turned into what looked like a bush baby's face,with big round eyes,that looked at me all vacant, that look that says everything and yet nothing!I just couldn't concentrate after that,all I could see was those eyes!! 5 lost carp and lots of missed bites later,I'm looking forward to next years Mitchell cup,unless you could 'arrange' some sort of play off for the first round losers?? Gary,mate,old pal,old buddy!!
On a serious note.
When Gary blows the whistle at 3pm it means the match is over -all lines should come out of the the water straightaway, it does not mean you carry on fishing for another fish and sneak it into the keep net for weighing in,this is blatant cheating and if I see it happen again you won't be weighed in! If at 3pm you have a fish on you immediately let your neighbouring peg know you then have 15 minutes to land it.
PLEASE KEEP IT FRIENDLY
Woodpeckers 17/04/2011
Woodpeckers was looking ideal when we turned up, the sun was shining, the water dead calm and fish topping everywhere. Little did we know that with all this hot weather the fish decided to spawn early, so the expected big weights went by the way. Honours of the day went to Keith Huggins in 1st place with a 39lb net of mixed fish caught on the pole, using maggot, caster, and pellet just off some lily pads. 2nd place went to Kevin McIntyre with a mixed net for 26lb 9oz caught on a pole and a feeder to an island infront of him. 3rd was Rob Ingram with a mixed net for 22lb 1oz. Chump of the Month was Ron Packham with 1lb 15oz (a first for Ron!).
Hi-lights of the Match
What a bloke that Balky is! Because he hasn't got any of his own tackle left to break he's picking on other anglers tackle! I brought a nice new all singing and dancing tackle box that wouldn't look out of place in Canary Wharf. As soon as Richard saw it, his eyes glazed over and approached me to help me load it onto my trolley, I thought that was a nice gesture little did I know how jealous he could be......Half way to the bank everything flipped over, bits of my trolley was scattered all along the track, Balky sabotaged my trolley by adjusting bits on it and not doing up the screws afterwards!! Lesson to be learned by all you anglers, BEWARE OF THE BALK!!
Mac started off before the match doing his bit of bank clearance by chopping down a few trees to retrieve his top two that went for a swim!
Kelly dicked Darkie again by doubling his weight- where’s it all gone wrong Darkie?
I thought I'd heard and seen everything concerning the Mitchell cup-but no!! We had the draw for this years Mitchell cup at the pub after the match, fine? No! Gary wasn't happy with his opponent so concocted a scheme to force another draw....with the second draw I could see he still wasn't happy and you could see he was scheming again!
Sure enough he rang me later and told me we will have to do a third draw as another angler wanted to enter the competition. Three draws later and we have a draw that he's probably still not happy with, As it stands for the moment the draw for the Mitchell cup is;
R.Apps vs S.Roddick
D.Botting vs K.Huggins
R.Fairbrother vs M.Loureiro
D.Boyce vs M.Rann
R.Hill vs G .Mitchell
G.Ingram vs K.Longman
D.Fielding vs T.Botting
C.Bolter vs R.Temple
But as we now know with Gary, this is not written in tablets of stone (a Massey cliché!). So if Uncle Tom Cobbley wants to enter this competition contact Gary so he can arrange draw number four!
Finally to round it off Darkie won the lucky peg and took us to the most expensive pub in England to celebrate.
Match Report by Ray 'the scoop' Hill
P.S
Gary, however is now very happy with the draw and therefore his opponent should watch out, 'Daiwa Man'
Post Script by Gary' the cheat' Mitchell.
Morehouse Farm-Sidewinder 27/03/2011
The second match of the season was held at Morehouse Farm Fishery on the Sidewinder Lake. With a good turn out it looked like it was going to be a good match.Unfortunately the F1s that had been stocked in there about seven weeks ago decided to shoal up in the reeds and on the ends of the islands- so a lot of anglers spent a lot of time doing nothing!
Having said that,give the fishery a while to settle down and it will be a cracking venue as the top 3 weights show.
1st was Rob Fairbrother with a net of mainly F1s for 71lb 6oz,caught mainly on the pole a metre off the end of an island on maggot over a bed of hemp.
2nd was Richard Baulk with mainly F1s for 51lb 20z,again a metre off the end of an island on the pole using maggot,over loose feed maggot.
3rd was Kevin McIntyre with mainly F1s for 43lb caught on pole and feeder using maggot.
Chump of the month:- John Powell DWI
Hi-lights of the Match
Bit boring really everything seemed to go to plan with everybody,except Stu Blobdick should have won the match off his peg,but he's just fallen in love and spent most of the match chatting on the phone to his new girlfriend! Someone asked Martin Rann what an F1 was and he described himself to them- 'small,squat,and dumpy'!!- strange fellow that Martin!
Baulky must have a mention -he sailed through the match without breaking or losing anything! This must be a first! One thing though he did manage to lose his job earlier in the week-anyone need a good electrician?
Kelly and Rob have been practicing slight of hand tricks with the local magician as Kelly managed to draw Robs winning peg out of the hat for him ,and Rob drew Kellys peg out of the hat for the lucky peg(the depths some people will stoop to for a few bob!!).
And finally will someone show Kipper how to use a flipping method feeder!! Everyone knows he's got one in his box - he told us all about a dozen times!!
Match Report by Ray 'the scoop' Hill
Woodpeckers 06/03/2011
Finally the first match of the season,held on Woodpeckers Lake. What with a few cold frosty mornings we all knew that the fishing was going to be hard,and the lake didn't disappoint, slow to start,slow to finish. At least we didn't have to break the ice this year!
Top Honours of the Day
1st place; Gary Mitchell with a mixed net for 19lb caught on maggot alternating between 2 swims.
2nd place;Keith Huggins with a mixed net for 11lb 14oz on maggot and pellet
3rd place; Geoff Ingram with a mixed net for 10lb 7oz.
Chump of the Month
Colin Temple with a (reduced) mixed net for 14oz of tiny bits
Hi-lights of the Match
Where to start?!!
1) Marcus Lourerio brought a new chair and spent ages putting it together at home - unfortunately he didn't spend long enough as it collapsed on the bank with him in it!!
2) Ray Temple managed to break his rod.
3) Keith Huggins - what can you say about him - painful to watch,painful to hear! He had a small operation on his hand and didn't everyone know it! Moan,moan,moan -so many ohs and ahs coming from his peg- 'my eyes are watering' ,'my hand hurts' 'I can't hold my pole'! - 6 hours of it!! From now on Keith will be known as 'the Claw' Huggins and Gary will sort him out a disabled peg future venues!
4) Congratulations to Martin' do you want a pound on it' Rann for attending ,without him lots of us wouldn't have enough money for a beer afterwards!
5) What would a match report be like without mentioning Balky! Lets start at the presentation dinner where he stood up in front of everyone and declared that he was going to be a new man next season. You should have seen his wife,Cheryl,she was so proud of him - her head held high and tears in her eyes - full of pride for her Richard. Unfortunately buying a new pair of wellies does not make you a new man,they keep your feet dry! For a starters Richard turned up at the bank without his glasses! Oops! Then Richard broke his landing net handle ! Double oops! Then Richard lost his reel! Another big oops! (we don't know the full story yet as he was trying so hard not to let on about his mishaps,but you can't hide your cock ups from the rest of us!). Also in the weigh in he had a nut and bolt in his keep net - god knows what that fell off of! Richard I have to say that there's nothing new about you ,but some of your tackle might be as soon as you replace all the broken bits! Last I heard Cheryl wasn't answering the phone or the front door,and the curtains are drawn,Cheryl don't take it too hard we all knew it wouldn't happen!!!
Match Report written by Ray Hill.