It may look like it fished well with the top 3 but only 2 other anglers had over a pound. Some of the sections were one with just 1 small fish, at the top section there were 3 fish caught out of 12 pegs, to say it was a bit grim would be an understatement.

Still we were all there for a good cause. Bob and Steve drew either side of the boat where all the fish seem to be shoaled up for the past few weeks, Bob had less fish but of a better stamp, nearly all Roach on the punch and a few Perch on the worm, Steve had like wise.

Ian was just along from them and had small Roach again on the punch. Jay Baecke won his section with 2-0-0 Mark Squire won his with 1-5-0 Rob Blackburn won his with 0-3-0 Ramsey King won his with 0-1-0.

Bob was in my section and I was winning it until 20 minutes from the end with a Perch of about an ounce, he had a bit of a tangle on the top of his pole so just put his bait down the edge while he sorted it out and when he picked it up again there was his massive 3 ounce Perch hanging it self, cant beat good luck. The rest was that dire the only bites had were back in the Dolphin.

The team event on the day was one by Gerrards Cross .A which was Bob Hawes, Jay Baecke, Martin Harper and myself, we had 2 section wins and a second and won it on weight from Fishermans Cabin, as we also had a blank as did most teams, Martin asked for the bad end as he was prepared to scratch around, the only thing he scratched all day was his backside.LOL.

I would like to thank all who helped on the day, Martin, Brian and Ian for sorting out the draw and the pegging, Derek for arranging the munchies after in the Dolphin.

Noel at the Dolphin, as always for laying on such a fine spread, if you live local give it try on a Sunday. The team from Yeading A.S who were fishing it for the first time and really got into the spirit of the day.

They were Kevin Jones, Mark Squire,John Lee and Tony Adams with great support from Gerry, Diane and staff at the Hut thanks a lot lads and ladies.Also the regular boys from Fishermans Cabin.

Before I give the total raised I would like to thank the Specimen Group who held there match last May and raised £1,000 towards the total, with a special thanks to Tim and Mike Lomas for running that match.

The full total raised was £3,465-00 which was a great result, so once again THANK YOU all who supported the boys as we could not have done it without you.

We have been supporting the Shooting Stars Childrens Hospice for the last 6 years and I am pleased and proud to state that we have in that time raised the total of £21,515-00.

Terry and Rita who received the cheque on behalf of the charity were delighted with all we have done for them and relayed the thanks from all who work and volunteer for them. Heres hoping for a good result next year, with hopefully a few more fish.

Don

Well we would have loved to have lost some fish as last week, most of us did not even get a bite let alone a fish.

The fish were shoaled up in one spot and Ian drew on them, my exact words were he could of put some dogs wotsits on his hook and they would have it, there was that many fish there.

He had most of them on the punch. Lyle was just up from him and had fish on and off through the day, again mainly on the punch.

Brian was just up past the fence and struggled to keep the fish in the swim and had nearly all small fish for his weight. 5 of us never had a bite, and Stuart had one tiny Perch, that was the rest of us on the day.

Lets hope it fishes a bit better for the charity match.

Don

It was a day of the ones that got away for a few of us. It was best to sit it out for the better fish, which Derek done moving into peg 44, he had the one Barbel on the float to maggot.

Brian was on Dolphin bridge and once again the small fish were not to be found. He had 2 Roach and a Chub on the maggot.

Lyle was on the sluice and had the one Chub, with his second place he was equal points with Derek over the 4 legs, but Lyle nicked the king of the colne title on weight count back.

The day proved hard with big fish being lost. I was on the grill and had one bite all day, I hooked something and had it on for 5 minutes and never even saw my float let alone the fish, it just would not budge and done me diving under the weed on the near bank.

Bob was on the main river and was going to move when one of our members who fished the peg for Barbel put him straight as he was walking around. Bob proceeded to hook a Barbel first put in and after playing it for a while he could not fit it in to his landing net, I told him not to use the net he uses for his goldfish, he was not a happy bunny.

An hour later he decided to go back on the float with single maggot after a few small fish, but the barbel took a liking to that as well. And you guessed it, he lost that one as well, to say he was a bit peeeeed off would be an under statement, when he told me and I had stopped laughing, my cant beat bad luck comment did not go down to well.

The said Barbel boy Tony, was standing with me, he to nearly fell off the platform laughing listening to Bob on my phone. Still heres to getting them out next year.

Don

Well it was another one of them matches where if the fish were sitting in front of you it was ok, if not it was a bit of a struggle.

Brian had a lot of fish with some quality Roach on the hemp, mainly catching on the punch.

Ian had all his fish on the punch, as did I, we would both of had more but for our old friend mr Pike having a snap at fish throughout the day.

This venue is really fishing well, we pegged a bit further up this time and Brian was a fair way past the gate, Roger was also up there and had 10-12 Bob was down with us before the gate and he had 10-2-0 so you can see how spread out the fish are.

If someone gets the bigger fish sitting in front of them the whole match then 30 pounds will be on the cards.

We had a small match with Intertype on here last week and that was won with 18-15-0, there was 26 fishing and the weights were GX 95-7-0 Intertype 83-3-0 so you work out how many fish were caught, the winner Ian had 244. It was a great day and the Intertype boys could not believe them weights from a canal.

Don

We hoped that the venue would fish a bit better after the rain and a bit of a flush out, but it was not to be.

Bob had the one Barbel of 4-14-0 and a few minnows, he just about saw his feeder rod on its way in to the river as he looked down at something and off it went, he was on single red maggot.

Derek moved in to the top swim near the culvert and had some decent Roach on the waggler, he may of done better but a pike decided to take up residence in the slack he was fishing in to and spooked the fish off.

Brian was down on the new section and put the pole over in to a slack and had a Bream of 3-3-0 and a couple of decent Roach on the maggot. It shows how hard it was with 5 of the boys blanking, I was 4th with 8 ounces of minnows, and I had most of them in the first hour.

John Barnes had the bad luck of the day, losing a Barbel on the feeder, then a bit later one on the pole, cant beat bad luck. This venue will surprise us one day with some good weights, I hope its soon. I may try a few dates in the summer to see if thats better.

We are to do 4 or 5 work parties on there this coming close season so keep your eye on the news page for the dates just prior as a reminder.

Don

Well you hear of a game of 2 halves, this was a match of 2 halves.

Roger drew on the near section along the fence which did not fish well at all last week and he was into small fish mainly Roach for the best part of the match on the punch and pinkie.

A few of the boys near him also had a few fish. There was 5 of us on the top section and we had just 5 fish between us at about 11-30, Malcolm had 3 of those, Ian caught his first fish, then I had my first fish at 12-00 then caught for the rest of the afternoon all on the punch, as did Ian.

Bob,Brian, Dave and Martin all had the same thing in there swims,with 3 of them having the same weight of 5-10. It seemed to pick up as the air temperature got up a bit and they just went over the feed already put in, it just goes to show anything can happen if you keep at it, at least the conditions were a bit better this week.

Don

Well how do you start with weights like this from a canal in terrible conditions. Dave drew before the kissing gate and had a terrific bag of Roach with approx 7 going over the pound, he fished hemp on both the pole and waggler. If he put maggot or punch on the hook he got the smaller fish, so he stuck it out on the hemp and got his rewards.

Just think what he could of had if the conditions were better as it was blowing a gale and peeing down for most of the day, but I was pleased to pack up a bit early to weigh him in and see the fish, well done Dave.

Derek was one swim back from the gate and again had a great bag of Roach with some decent skimmers, again on the waggler with maggot. Who would think you could weigh in over 18 pound on a canal and come second, cant beat bad luck.

Lee was just through the gate and had all his fish to punch on the whip, he had just a few fish in the first hour so he would have weighed more for sure. Ian was halfway up from the bridge and had a lot of fish but they were a bit smaller, also on the whip and a few on the waggler to punch.

Bob was next in that section with 6-9-0 also to the punch and maggot on waggler, if he had not left his phone at home I would have probably rang him and done the off, and I would not have seen the weigh in, because if you went to get off your box the wind would have blown the lot into the canal with the brolly connected, so I just sat it out.

As it was just a knock up we invited a few of the Yeading boys along and they had a good day with some of them having 3 or 4 pound, it was a great advert for one of our waters.

The first section was a bit harder as it was so clear you could see the fish going for the bait, Kev had 5 pound but the rest of us on that bit had a struggle to keep the fish in one spot.

Heres hoping the match next week fishes as well.

Don

There was 28 of us on the day and it was a bit of a struggle to fit us all on the island.

We used a few pegs not put in for a while and Tony went and drew one on 37, he fished the float in to the hole for a couple of small Chub, then switched to the feeder to end up with 6 Chub, the best going just short of 5 pound.

He was so pleased to beat his son Carl who drew peg 11 but only had a few ounces, but at least Carl won the silly hat day with his chicken hat. You can see a few of them on the news page.

I was left peg 42 on the corner and had 2 good Perch of approx a pound and a half each and 5 smaller ones with a small chublet on the stick. Ian was on the back water and we expected him to bag up, but with the water so low the fish had moved a round a fair bit and he had a struggle once the sun hit the water.

The little pike trying all day to get in to his keepnet did not help. The wieghts went a bit grim after that with Derek getting just under 4 pound then a lot of the boys struggling with ounces.

Barry had 3 pound, 2 of which was made up with one Perch. The main river proved better than the backstream for a change with the top 2 coming from there. One of our members was walking around and told me to follow him to a peg we had left out, I was then watching 4 Barbel which were nearly all double figures just feeding in the main river, who said fish were silly.

As soon as one of the boys dropped in the swim they done the off. I would like to thank Martin for sorting out the pegs the day previous, he had to drop off of Xmas shopping to do that, he was so upset. Also Derek for getting the spread sorted out in the Dolphin which once again was superb, Thanks to Noel and his team.

Don

Well we turned up and thought it cant fish as bad as last time as it was nice and mild, well we were proved wrong. Except for these 3 top weights the rest never broke a pound.

Derek was on the feeder with maggot and had the one Chub, and 4 minnows for the win. I had at least a pound of minnows with a Roach and 5 Perch on the stick with maggot.

Bob had a good Roach of not far short of the pound on his first trot down and he thought he was on for a good day, then he struggled for the rest of the day for a few Perch.

Still as you can see from the pic at least it was a nice Autumnal walk to the pegs.

Don

Well what can I say, we had badgered the Canal and Rivers Trust to clear the weed which they managed partly and it allowed us to fish the boats properly with bait being able to be presented right.

Derek had a great bag of mainly Roach and skimmers with a few Rudd and Perch all on the maggot and waggler feeding pinkies. He said that all day by the time he dropped the fish in the net and wiped his hands he was swinging in another fish and had 249 in total.

It really was a great weight on the wagg, well done Turts. Ian was on the whip feeding small balls of crumb and had his fish on punch and pinkies, he had 283 fish, again nearly all Roach.

I was next to him and had Roach and skimmers to punch on the pole, 2 metres out fishing about 18 inches deep, I dont know how many fish I had because I have not got one of those little clicky things you press when you catch, but I had a lot.

It was a good day all round as the weather helped with it being so mild,it fished that good that I thought I will put up all the other weights.

B.Dart 12-7-0
M.Harper 11-9-0
S.Turk 10-5-0
K.Burroughs 10-3-0
R,Salmon 9-11-0
R,Hawes 9-10-0
L,Charlton 9-0-0.

So as you can see poor old Lyle was last with what would normally be a winning weight on this stretch, the bit where he and a few of the others were on started slowly with only a few fish in the first hour, so it would have been even better if they had caught from the off.

If you pop down for a try we were up past the kissing gate on the towpath, starting about 4 boats along from there up to the boat called Amy.

Don

To say it was bit grim would be an under statement, it was minus 2 when I left my house with the first frost of the year so we thought it may fish hard.

And we were not proved wrong. Matt was up on the new section and had small Roach and Dace at intervals on the stick with bronze maggot. Malcolm was down towards the culvert and after moving in to shallower water he had a few small Dace with a few Minnows for good measure. Lyle done like wise with a few smaller Dace.

Stuart was on the end of the middle section and had nearly all minnows and 1 Dace. The rest of us were happy to get a couple of minnows for points, Malcolm should have been disqualified for the hat he had on, it put Davy Crockett to shame.

Derek told me Malcolm had gone home because he moved his head and an hunter had a shot at him, Bob even offered to wipe its arse thats how real it looked.

Still we had a laugh even if we were freezing our nads off. Oh forgot, Martin lost 2 big Chub, one on first trot down and one later, cant beat bad luck.

Don

t was a bit weird on the day with a lot of small Roach showing to anyone who put in groundbait, which usually pulls in the better fish.

Bob was the exception with loose feeding maggot and catching quality Roach on the caster at 4 metres out. Ian won the Thames Cup with a return of 2 wins and 1 second. He also managed a few better fish for his weight but could not feed off the smaller ones.

Both Derek and Richard had a net load of fish, Richard estimated 150 but they were all about 2 inches long. I had my usual day there on the feeder hoping for the better fish, only when I hooked one, either a good Bream or Chub, a Pike took a liking to it halfway across the river, when it surfaced in front of me the old pants had a bit of movement, it was massive.

Then it decided to go back across the river, I was not going to stop on 4 pound line. I would estimate it at a mid twenty easy, needless to say I ended up with 5 pound of mainly decent Roach and 1 lumpy Perch.

Don

With the low water levels we knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle, especially when the sun got on the water. Some of the noted swims just never produced with Richard moving off of Dolphin Bridge after catching 2 fish in 4 hours. Lyle was drawn on the back water and was catching quality Roach and Dace from the off, also a few Perch thrown in for good measure.

This is one of the best weights from that stretch for quite a while and all came to Waggler and Maggot, well done Lyle. Bob was up on peg 13 and was going to move if he did not catch in the first hour, he had around 2 pound in that time so decided to stay put and he had some good Dace and Perch to pip Derek, also waggler and maggot got his fish.

Derek was on the Elliott Bridge and had nearly all Roach and Dace again on the wagg and maggot, he lost around 20 fish in a clump of weed just in front of him, bet that comes out on this weeks work party him and a few of the boys are doing on Tuesday. He also had a few problems with little snappy pike putting the fish off for long periods.

The rest of us had a patchy day with a few minnows helping get points for the K.O.C. Ian was on the point and had 1 Chub but lost 3, cant beat bad luck.

Don

Well as you can see from the weights it was a bit of a hard day. We went all in instead of silvers and we were glad we did as it seemed to turn off all over the lake.

It was my first outing for 6 weeks due to holidays and a new hip being fitted, wish I had stayed in doors, I had 2 bites for 2 Carp all day. Richard drew a different swim for a change, but still had 6 Carp and a Bream on the pellet feeder, it is now known as the Smithie benevolent lake as he has won all 3 on there this season, he must be doing something right.

Derek was drawn just near the cafe and had 4 Carp and a few silvers on the pellet and maggot. Dan was on the point swim and had 3 Carp and a Bream on the method. The rest of us had just a couple of fish each, Ian stayed on the silvers all day and he had 13-4-0, the silver match last year was won with 38-0 so it shows how it dropped off after the little cold snap we have had.

Still it was nice to get out after the lay off, and Bob very kindly offered to carry my gear to my peg, it was not my fault I was left with the furthest peg on the lake, cant beat bad luck, I said as I gave him a pat on the back for doing it. All joking aside they did look after me and only stole my crutches when I said I wanted to go to the toilet, what lovely lads I fish with.

Don

It was bit of a struggle on the canal, as after the dredging the water was a bit clearer and it has been full of weed for the past couple of months.

Derek was trying to get it cleared before the matches on there but they did not manage to do it. The boys were forced to fish over the weed in the top layers, so it was very hard to get the bait down to where they could see a few better fish, including a few Tench.

Lyle had mostly small Roach and few Perch and Rudd on the punch and pinkie. Brian did likewise with a few better Roach included in his weight. Derek stuck to the trusted waggler and maggot. Lyle is now the old git champion, and with Brian also won the pairs.

We hope to have the weed cleared as soon as possible as, it is making it very difficult to fish. A few members are having a few decent Perch on the drop shot, so that may be worth a go with some roving tactics.

Don

Bit of a low turnout on this one with just Derek and Lyle making up the numbers on the day. Ian went down past the copse to the reeds swim and stuck with the hemp and tares for a nearly all Roach catch.

Brian went down further to the Ray mouth and had mainly Roach Perch and small skimmers on the maggot to waggler and stick float. Mike fished similar tactics with a few more fish on the pole line.

Please remember that if you wish to fish this venue on the club ticket you must obtain one from myself or Derek before you go down there.

Don

Well draw arm Smithie went and done it again, yep drew the same swim as he won from in the earlier match, he obviously knew where to put the feeder, as close to the reeds or in them if possible.

He had 17 Carp with a few Bream in his weight on pellet feeder. Bob was on one of the first pegs near the reeds, but had 6 Carp down the edge under a bush after seeing a few swirls over a bit of bait he had put under there, he dropped a small method feeder on top of them with corn as hook bait.

Matt had 4 Carp and 6 Bream on the feeder, with a lot of his fish coming late on. It was a bit poor over the rest of the lake and it was a bit of a poor turnout with a lot of the boys, myself included on holiday, that may of stopped smithie the arm getting that peg.

Don

Well this proved to be a bit of a grueller for most of the boys as you can see from the result.

Bob was over on the willows in the corner and had 5 Carp and roach and skimmers, mainly on the method with the smaller fish coming to mag and wag.

Ian was on the road side and had just the one Carp. Mike was also in the willows and had Roach on the wag for his weight.

For some reason the Carp just never got there heads down, Bob said he had to put down a lot of bait to draw the fish in, but when this was done on other sections it did not seem to have much effect.

It was a pity that it was the first cold night of the year as well, as the lake had been fishing really good prior to that.

Don

Well Ian has started his defence of the Thames Cup with a win.

He had Roach and Perch throughout the day on both maggot and caster.

Kev had a lot more smaller fish as the better Roach did not put a look in,

Derek had a couple of small skimmers and mainly small Roach.

Don

Well they got the weather right on this one, it started peeing down just as the match did and never let up all day.

Richard was on the near bank and had to cast a couple of inches from the bank on the island literally, he caught on pellet feeder with pellet on the hook, most of the fish were Carp with a few smaller Bream.

Ian was on the far side and had all his fish on the paste at 11 metres which was hard work with the wind and rain.

Brian was next to Richard and also fished tight to the isalnd for Carp on the pellet and a few on caster down the middle. I was next to the winner,again as I sat next to Kev the other week, I could not get to the island due to a tree above and brolley over my head, still next time.

The best bit of the weigh in was Lee, he realised his net was lying sideways as we went to weigh in, he had 9 Carp but 3 were escape artists and done the off when the net tilted, cant beat bad luck. Kev was getting suicidal on the reeds peg, hooking and losing 10 fish, cant beat even badder luck.

It was a bit frustrating on the day with the conditions and a few of the boys losing fish and casting up the trees with the wind, but even with that there were some good back up weights, heres to the next time on here.

Don

Well Ian was on the lake the previous week and had his first fish after 22 hours of matches on there, he put that to good use on the road bank and had 4 Carp on method feeder with pellet, he also lost 4.

Martin was on the shallows and had 5 small carp again on the method.

John was on the far swim on the island and had 3 Carp with a few lost on the method.

It was one of them days when you waited a long time for a bite, and when it came out of the blue and you was not ready a few fish were lost in the weed as they took off.

Martin said he had his first fish from the lake on pellet waggler, a skimmer of all of 5 ounces, thats specimen hunting for you.

Don

As usual we started our match season with the lake supposedly fishing its head off with 100 bags of mixed fish coming out all round the lake.

Then gerrards cross turn up and it switches off, well for most any way. Kev was on the low pegs and had mostly Carp catching fish up in the water on banded pellet.

Brian was tucked away in the corner like Billy no mates and had Mainly Carp close to some reeds, also on the pellet.

Derek was on the last peg and had Carp on both the Pole and the Waggler, again mainly on pellet.

The rest of the lake was a bit of a let down from previous weeks, with the silver fish and Tench not playing the game. We all caught with a few back up weights of 30 pound but we also had a few grim bits with just 4 or 5 fish caught, me being one of them. Lets hope for better on the August match.

Don