We pegged this match up past the kissing gate, and it was the same as a few of the previous matches with the fish shoaled up tight in some areas and hard to come by in others.

Alan had fish on the punch for most of the day just fishing the 2 swims about 2 thirds across.

Derek had some bigger fish on mainly the small waggler and maggot, I was there when he lost a nice Bream with a bit of a race between Derek and the pike to see who got there first, after trying to rush it in the Bream had other ideas and spat the hook, you cant beat bad luck.

Brian was on the bloodworm and had mainly perch for his weight, with his usual comment at the weigh in of, I have not got a lot, he should be thrown out for telling porkies that boy, His not a lot, was more than 5 of us not on the fish had between us.

Don

Richard went into the last KOC knowing that a top 3 placing would be enough to win this trophy, he then goes and draws peg 20 the shooting tower which he has dipped 3 times this season, so I think he had a rough idea how to fish it.

He had 5 Chub up to 5-0-0 and still managed to win with loosing 2 aswell, he was on the waggler with maggot.
I sat behind him for a while and was making a note of his gear spread over 3 swims, which included one of the old Pegley Davis bait boxes, I thought they went out with the Ark, Myself and Carl Hickey were trying to convince him to put it in the tackle auction as a collectors item, the funny thing was it did not have Bob Hawes name on it has Richard seems to somehow manage to snaffle a bait box from someone else, its funny how most of mine have got BH on them, they must fall into my tackle bag when Bob gives me a lift.

Alan was on the grill in the mill pool, not having fished it before I told him the fish can come on late in that swim, and it proved to be as he stuck it out for a couple of Chub in the last hour on the stick float and caster.

Bob was on dolphin bridge and had some nice roach and a skimmer with big perch making up his weight.
He also had a pike for company most of the day, I sat behind him for a while as I drew the backwater and did not have a bite after 3 hours as the water was very low.

The rest of the river proved very hard with a good example being Derek who drew his favourite 47 and only had 1 ounce, then it was just 1 chub here and there or a couple of small fish in each swim.

We are aware of the low levels and are pressing the E/A to try and sort it out for us, heres hoping it is crack on for the start of next season.

Don

We were on the Boats with Vic and the boys from Twyford and it fished really well in most areas.
One of the Twyford lads won with 13-5-0 of mainly Roach and Perch and Kev was next with Bloodworm accounting for his fish.

I had an all Roach catch on the punch with some fish going over a pound, Alan had his on various baits.
The fish were shoaled up pretty tight on the day and did not move about as much as normal, Kev and Alan were catching from the off with pegs on both sides also catching, I never had a bite for the first hour but kept the bread going in and few better fish stopped for a munch.

There were a couple of good weights of 8-0-0 made up of Skimmers on the caster which was good to see, also other weights in the 9 and 10 pound bracket, also Ian Randall of Twyford never had a fish after 3 hours and still ended up with 10-0-0 so it shows how they suddenly have a feed.

This venue is fishing really well at the moment with a previous London League match being won with 17-2-0 and 4 weights over 15 pound and 14 weights in double figures, you tell me where you can get that on a canal, so get down there and have a few fish.

Don

This was our Annual match for the Shooting Stars Hospice, we had 27 fishing this year and had to put in a few swims not normally fished, the only trouble on the day was that hardly any of the river fished well.
John was a late replacement and helped me out, he then went and helped himself to peg 11 on the point again, having won the last match from there.

He had 3 Chub and also managed to drop a Barbel of about 5 pounds on the wrong side of the keepnet, he did not need it in the end has Brian managed all bits from Dolphin Bridge mainly Perch and Roach and never saw any of the bigger fish. Marks weight was just one Chub from peg 39, and he also lost one that he said was bigger so he would of walked it if he got that one in.

To show how hard it was on the day I was the only one to catch in my section with one Chub for 3-12-0 and the rest of the section did not even have a bite. There was the single fish needed to win most of the sections, with Alan Parsons bucking the trend and catching 2 Chub for 6-0-0.

Keith Arthur was left the usual dodgy peg by his fellow allstars and except for Brian they all blanked again,
Still, you cant beat bad luck. The winning team on the Day was Wallys Wonders which consisited of Dan Richardson, Kevin Burroughs, Lee White and there top rod skipper Wally Thomas, one of the team did not catch but they still managed to win as the only other team with 3 weighing in got lower section points, I wont tell you which one blanked as he might hit me, wont you Dan OOOOOOOppps, sorry mate.

Now for the good bit of the day, we were able to raise the grand sum of £3,714-00 for the Childrens Hospice.
Which considering the current climate is a tremendous amount, I think it only fair that I list all the participants and others who helped raise such a good sum.

Our thanks go to Keith who was getting a bit of ribbing from me after the match with a new name for his show, for presenting the cheque to Terry and Rita from the Shooting Stars, he highlights the clubs Charity events on his show at every opportunity.

We have now raised approx £21,000 for various Charities over the past 8 Years and I hope we can carry on getting such good backing from the members and others who contribute to the event. Thanks go to Judds and Fishermans Cabin for supplying prizes for the winner and runner up. Also to Noel for the nice spread after the match which was very welcome, has I have said it was most peoples only bite of the day. And to Martin Harper for doing the pegs which was no mean task on the day.

The people who participated and helped are as follows.
Derek Turton
Brian Dart
Keith Arthur
Martin Harper
Wally Thomas
Lee White
Kevin Burroughs
Bob Hawes
Terry Burgess
Richard Smith
Stuart Turk
John Barnes
Bob Horwood
John Taylor
Steve Pratt
Mark Harrington
Alan Harrington
Alan Parsons
Belinda Parsons
Roy Perry
Steve Hardy
Dave Dorsett
John Taylor
Willy Noble
Ross Dawson
Dickie Penn
Cliff Fox
Neil Payne
Brian Eggleton

Thanks a lot Gents and Lady for making it such a good day for the Charity, and for the club as a whole.
Heres looking forward to next years match.

Don Wilkinson.

We fished this one with the Twyford boys, it was lovely all week then we had a heavy frost on the Saturday night. A few of us were not even going to bother to set up but Brian informed us that ice was not to thick, I always thought he told porkies, as it was pretty thick in most places.

After breaking the ice and sitting there for 2 hours without a bite myself and Bob were ready for the off, the fish were in front of 4 pegs at the top of the venue with them all catching early, then about 12 a boat went through and broke the ice a bit.

When we left with about 4 other anglers on the lower section were still fishless, then for some reason the fish decided to move, Willy who was at the top struggled for a bite for the rest of the match has did all the others who started well, then all the ones who stuck it out at the bottom end started catching, one of the Twyford boys won with 8-5-0 he had not had a bite when we left.

Wally Thomas had 5-13-0 on the punch and pinkie, again he had 3 small fish when we went, Brian Dart was next with 5-1-0 on the bloodworm, then Willy with 3-5-0. I still think I made the right choice as it was a lot warmer around the local watching the footie.

Don

John drew the point and opted to stay on the feeder rather than going on the waggler, he had 2 chub and a Barbel of 8-5-0 on cheese, must throw some of that mousetrap in my box.

Bob was on the sluice at peg 5 and had a few bits on the wagg, then cast a link ledger down to the bush and had 2 Chub to boost his weight on the maggot.

Barry drew peg 40 which had been producing well, he had 3 Chub, 2 on the waggler and 1 on the feeder alos on maggot.

It proved very hard on the day with low water levels and very clear, odd people had 1 Chub and nothing else, and others just had a couple of smaller fish. Richard managed to get 2 Chub out of the swim above the weir, this was a good catch has that swim has failed to produce more than 1 fish for sometime now.

Wally had 2 Chub off of 33 which again is another of the swims not usually put in that is starting to produce.
I drew peg 47 and was really struggling with 2 fish when an unexpected appearance of an eel of about 1-8-0 on the feeder helped me share the mystery with Derek.

Don

We had 14 turn out for this one, which was a good result seeing as the canal was frozen over for some time in the last few weeks.

Brian pegged the match and we were going to knock off the last 5 pegs as we were expecting the top of the section to fish better, how wrong we were, it fished very well on the lower end just past the gate with Steve having an all Roach catch on the punch.

Bob was just down from him and also had all his fish on the punch, Dave was 2 up from Steve and caught on the same method. Martin was also on this bit and had just over 4-0-0.

The water was starting to ice over as we were setting up, and a few of us had to wait for small ice flows to be pushed through by the wind to enable us to fish.

The top section did not produce as good as we hoped, with myself having 3-10-0 and Dave Aubrey the only other one to break 3-0-0, the rest of the weights went down from 2-0-0 to just ounces but if you consider what the weather has been like they were still good weights..

Don

Wally drew peg 40 and was not to impressed as he had drawn it twice before and only managed a small Roach and a Perch on both visits, but his luck changed as we have not put this peg in lately and the Chub appeared for him, he had 3 fish around the 5-0-0 mark and one a bit smaller on the waggler and maggot.

I was on the shooting tower and had 2 Chub, the biggest going around 5-0-0 also on the wagg with maggot, Cliff was also on a peg rarely used, no 33 below the wier and had 2 chub for his weight.

It was very cold on the day and the water was pretty clear, we only had 7 weigh in out of 19 so it shows how hard it was in places.

The back stream fished bad with even Keith Arthur coming off of his peg for a stroll around the river, he sat beside me and gave me some stick, at one point I had 3 of the boys sitting behind me, that's when you dont want to hook a big fish, has I had already lost 2 and the stick I would have got if I lost one with them watching is not worth thinking about.

Only Ross and Tony Carter caught on the backwater, in Dolphin Bridge and the new peg near the foot bridge.
Still it was enjoyable after in the Dolphin with a few sarnies and couple of beers to finish the day, with the usual good spread layed on.

Don

To say that some fisherman are daft was proved right on this match.

It was minus 6 when Bob picked me up, then we had a heat wave as it was only minus 1 when we left the cafe.
The water was very low and clear and was a real struggle to catch a fish with the rod rings icing up, Roy was on peg 24 and had 3 Chub on the pole, Derek was on 36 and had 3 Chub also, on the waggler but they were a bit smaller than Roys.

Bob dipped the point peg 11 again, and had 2 Chub, one on the feeder and one on the waggler.

The only people to catch on the backwater was Tony carter on Dolphin Bridge who had all bits for 4-6-0 and Kev Burroughs who fished all day for a 2 ounce Roach.

Most of the others drawn on there were on the way home after about an hour, I drew the mill pool and had 3 bites all day with the final result being Chub 2 Don 1, which went 4-1-0.

Richard Smith hooked a chub, then got the line caught up a tree, then when trying to free it his reel dropped in, so he had to handline it in, I bet that was cold, still he managed to do it and it went 4-7-0, so that's the answer, just bring along a handline for the next match.

Lets hope it shapes up a bit better for the fur and feather.

Don

This was our match with the Twyford Valley boys, Ian was drawn right near the top of the section towards the Marina and had mostly small Perch on the bloodworm.

Brian was also on the top section and caught steadily through the day on a variety of baits with most fish coming to the squatt.

Bob was on peg one at that end which was a fair hike, and caught on the waggler and maggot most of the day.
Some of the early pegs were a struggle on the day with 1-2-0 all that was needed to win one section.
It just shows how the fish move around as that was where Kevin won the previous match from.

I was lucky a boat went through mid match as I could see the fish swimming over my liquidised bread on the bottom, the water was that clear, I had 6 small roach on the punch up until then but went on to have 3-15-0 and get my section on count back.

The venue is fishing very well to most baits and big fish are showing, with some big Perch being lost in the last couple of matches, Bob had one of around the 2 pound mark in the previous match.

The top sections are holding more fish at present and are a bit deeper so the water has a bit of colour to it, so if you fancy a few bites with the float dipping for most of the day head on down to the Boats.

Don

This was our return match with Twyford A.S. , the venue was very low and clear so it made for a real struggle with some of the boys having just one or two small fish.

Bob drew peg 11 on the point and had 3 Chub, 2 on the waggler and 1 on the feeder with a few bits.
B.Lewis from Twyford had a good bag of small fish on the backwater at peg 52, again on the small waggler with caster.

Ken was on peg 47 and had just the one Chub.

I hope the conditions are better for this match next year, as it did not show how good the venue can be to John and the boys from Twyford.

Don

Kev was drawn near the kissing gate and had quality roach on bloodworm over joker.
Derek was on the usual small waggler with pinkies and maggot, and picked off fish most of the day over near the boats.

Stuart was on the top section and had most of his fish on hemp and tares.
Derek won the senior citizens trophy, he tried to say he did not want it as he was only 64,( the little liar).
He also won the pairs with yours truly, I had 7-2-0 on the punch.

The venue fished really well in most places with just a few areas struggling for fish, out of 15 fishing 2-7-0 was the lowest weight, with most weights in the 5 to 6 pound area.

Don

It was a bit of the same on the lake as Richard drew down the left side as did Steve.
The fish just seemed to be shoaled up on a few swims, Steve was on the winning peg from the previous match and Richard was next to him

Steve started like a train and had 3 fish before I had even cast out, the rest of the lake was a bit of a struggle, with a few fish here and there, Steve stuck it out on the small method and corn, Richard switched between the pellet waggler and method. with the wind being a bit of a factor it was hard to fish right in some areas.

Dickie was on the right side of the lake and had he gone on the pole early it would have been a bit tighter as he caught really well late on.

Cliff Fox had the right idea, he was opposite Richard and late on realised how much line he had on his reel and so cast to the other side of the lake, well nearly it was maybe just on halfway.

I will try to get the venue a bit earlier next year and see if the fish are more spread out.

Don

Well we went and done it again, the Thames as been fishing its head off with good bags of Roach to the seed and tares for the 3 weeks prior to our match and what happens, we turn up with the first frost of the year with thermals and gloves needed.

Needless to say it was a bit hard all round, Alan came along as a guest and had 4 small chub and a few bits on the feeder with maggot.

Kevin had 1 proper Chub and a few smaller ones, I had 3 small Chub and a lot of small gudgeon, nearly all the boys went on the feeder for the bigger fish, Martin happened to loose a big Chub at the net as 2 young ladies walked past, he spent the next 10 minutes saying sorry for his colourful language.

I lost 2 good fish on 5-12 line and they were trying to climb the trees on the other bank, Alan also lost a lump so he may well of won by a bigger margin.

I will try to get this venue a bit earlier for next year, knowing our luck it will freeze early.

Don

We were hoping that a bit of the colour we had on the work party the previous week would still be in the river as we had trouble seeing the weed, but it had all gone and it was like tap water so the fish were a bit shy to say the least.

Richard drew the shooting tower and after loosing a good Chub early on, he switched to the animal gear and managed to get 4 in, the best was around the 5 pound mark with a few Perch and Dace.

Wally had a bit of fun as he drew the mill pool which was still quite weeded up, so he fished a pole along the reeds, he had 3 Chub the best was just touching 5 also, he had them on Pinkies with number 10 elastic which was stretched a bit.

I drew the point, but had a very small section to trot along with the weed, I was feeding, then fishing for the Chub that came into the swim, but it was very hard due to the clarity of the water.
I managed to get 3 out with a couple of Dace and Roach on the maggot.

Don

We were going to have this match on part of the new stretch but due to not knowing numbers could not take a chance with the parking so went to the arm.

We got soaked again, as we seem to always fish this venue when it pours down.
Bob was up just before the gate, he had 6 skimmers on punch and pinkie, he fed micro pellet to get them feeding and also had a few roach.

Derek was just past the factory fence and had all his fish on the waggler with maggot and caster.
I was halfway up to the gate and had all my fish on the punch.

We all struggled after it really rained at about 12-00 with just a few fish coming to most of the boys, which was a pity as the weights would have been much better if we caught at the same rate as the first few hours.

The venue is fishing very well and dont be put off by the weed, just fish in the holes or up to the weed and the fish will find your bait.

Don

We had to do 2 weigh ins on this match with the first after 3 hours, Wally would have won the match with just his first one has he had 77-0-0, he was on peg 15 and the fish just seemed to stay in front of him all day.
He caught on banded pellet with a small method feeder, Kevin Burroughs was next to him and we have informed him that Wally has reported the catch to age concern as Wally is 82 and was showing the youngsters how its done.
Dickie was on peg 32 the way we pegged it, and caught mainly on the pellet on the pole and feeder, he had Smithy to put up with all day bending his ear back, so he deserved to get something .

Josh was on peg 8 and had all his fish on the feeder with pellet, stuck in the corner like Billy no mates.
Wally fished very well, with the minimum of effort and it was nice to pay him out at the end of the day, the wind was a bit of a factor has it was blowing a gale with the boys on the right of the lake getting it in the face and sitting there really cold, and the ones on the left bank having a T.Shirt day.

This is a good venue to go for a days fishing as it responds to most methods, also one of our members Neil is running the little set up there with bait and accessories, so pop along and give his bait a try, you wont be disappointed

Don

Well we went and done it again, all week before the match it was lovely weather, come the Sunday it was blowing a gale and chucking it down, and with the venue being wide open you knew all about it sitting there getting soaked.

Tony fished the feeder with tea bag and pellet for his weight, the only tea bag I got was in Stuarts flask.
He caught a lot early, and then had a bit of a lean spell but it picked up again in the last hour.

Willy was on the method feeder, again with pellet on the hook and caught most of the day.
Ross had most of his fish in the last 1 and a half hours with some of them being of a bigger stamp.
A lot of the boys had a few fish on and off through the day, but the conditions made it very hard to keep the feed in the same spot and the fish seemed to move off.

It shows how hard it was to draw fish off the feed, we let a guest use the end peg and he had 140-0-0 but was not in the match, Dave Anstiss was next to him fishing virtually the same way and did not have a bite all day.
Roy Perry had the biggest weighed fish of the day at 14-0-0 again that was an only fish late on.
I am going to get the venue earlier next year to see if we can fish it without the wind..

Don

We hoped that the lake would fish a bit better as we had gone down on the Saturday and dragged a lot of the usually fished pegs, but the fish had other ideas.

The conditions seemed great early on with it being overcast and with a ripple on the water, but the ripple turned into white water with the wind getting up and it became difficult to spot the bites.

Martin went to the willows side and had 1 Bream and 1 Carp which was one of the stockies on the feeder with worm tipped with red maggot.

Bob was along from him and had 1 Bream also on red maggot.

Josh, who had never fished the lake before, went to the road side and had 1 Bream also on a bunch of red maggots,and got smashed up, YOU CANT BEAT BAD LUCK..

Don

As you can see from the weights it did not exactly fish its head off on the day. It was a bit frustrating as it seemed the fish were active on the lake in a lot of swims but just never put there heads down.

I went to the far side on peg 1 and had 1 Bream for my weight on pellet, fishing cage feeder. Bob was on the road side and had a few small perch on the pinkie, Wally done likewise with jut the 1 fish. There was a lot of Perch going for the fry in a lot of swims, but they would not take other baits put in front of them.

We will give it another go next season, and I will try to give it a go for the Bream before the end of this season, as I am sure if you got into them you could have a great weight out.

Don

AMartin went a few swims back from the Thame mouth and had some nice Roach on the Tares, he balled it in with 6 big balls laced with casters and hemp at 11 metres with a 2 gram float to get past the Bleak, that ploy only worked for a while as there were so many of them he took a while to get the Roach going, he most of them on Tares and caster.

Derek fished a bulked shot balsa with 9 BB to again get past the Bleak and had a nearly all Roach catch on the Caster. Stuart went in one of the early swims and more Perch than anything, again on the caster.

The venue fished very well with most of the boys having a few fish, it was a pity there were so many bleak as it seemed to put the Roach off of putting there heads down to feed as they were competing with the pesky little buggers.

A nice lady pulled up in front of me on a Barge with all her family and tried to moor up, for as she said, a bit of lunch, I nearly informed her I think she had eaten a few to many already and that i thought the Barge was listing to her side, but being a gentleman I bit my tongue. I informed her she could pull in on the other side of the tree next to me,obviously not telling her Brian Dart was fishing there, its all fair in love and fishing i told Brian after, as the woman took me at my word and went right through his swim, you cant beat bad luck.

The mystery weight went to John Mystery weight Barnes, as it was his second on the trot, I am sure he went round Smithies house when he done the board, its just good luck on Johns part that the winner seems to pick his weight out.

On a more serious note, make sure your tackles is put away safely as I had the misfortune of some lovely person or persons breaking into my shed and having most of my gear away, Just brought a new box as well, I would like to thank the boys who offered to help me out for the time being with bits of gear, I managed to get by on Sunday and waiting for the insurance to be sorted out, but I had a lot of items going back a lot of years which will be hard to replace.

So just make sure you have got your gear covered on your house insurance as I can assure you its expensive to start up again. And the old club motto really rings true in my case YOU CANT BEAT BAD LUCK..

Don

Wally went to the swim Brian had in the first match on the island and fished a small method feeder with red maggot and had 2 Bream of 8-0-0 and 3-12-0, he also lost 3 other fish.

Martin was in trees and had a Bream and a couple of the new Carp we put in which was nice to see.
John had a few small perch, but he did at least win the mystery weight, which as you read on in the reports he is becoming good at.

A few of us fished the method for most of the day without success, I was in the same swim as I had my Bream off of, did I mention that before, I cant remember, and never had a bite all day.

Bob Hawes moved into a swim on the shallows late and had a couple perch, but he also saw and fished for a few of the small Carp so they are starting to show

I am hoping to do a bit of weed clearing with the boat at the tail end of August so if you can spare a few hours on a Saturday morning give me ring for details, signs will go up on the gate when this is to take place.

Don

We went to this venue after it being recommended to us by a few members, it seems that it is one of those fisheries that fishes much better on a pleasure day than it will on matches.

Most of the boys just had a few fish here and there, Willy had a few smaller Carp early on, on the pellet close to a little island, and also a carp of about 6-0-0 to make up his weight.

Cliff was in more open water and could have walked the match but for loosing 4 fish early in the match, he also had a few smaller fish and a couple of bonus fish.

Ross had a couple of Carp close to an island of which a few are dotted around the venue.

This is a lovely little fishery for a pleasure day, with tea being made in a little clubhouse as well, it is well stocked with Roach, Rudd, Carp and small Tench, but like I said it does not seem to like the pressure of a match.
For further details go to www.redbournbury-fishery.co.uk or phone John Dunkley on 07774-197411 for up to date details.

If you do go come in from the Harpenden side for access as there is a ford which can be quite deep from the Redbourn side, also the venue is about a mile from the road down a single track so take it steady, but you should have a good day on a lovely little lake.

Don

The Cherwell looked in good nick with a little bit of colour and running just right, but the fish did not seem to be on the feed.

Derek told us that the shallows where he prefers to fish was low and full of weed, after a 1 man work party with his slasher which was disguised as a rod in his holdall he got in the swim as some had walked by it.
He then fished is favorite little waggler and had 4 Chub and bits for his weight, it was a struggle until after 12-00 when the chub showed up.

Bob was in the tunnel and had mainly bits with 1 chub on the feeder.

Richard went downstream just past the ray mouth and had bits with a Roach of 1-3-0 thrown in for good measure.

Don

Well this match also turned out to be a bit of a struggle with some people only having 1 small fish all day.
I was on the island and had 1 Bream of 8-0-0, and then went and had my PB Bream of 11-8-0.

I was fishing with dummy casters with a live maggot on the hair rig, Roy asked me if I am going to mention my Bream in the next newsletter, of course not was my reply.

I did not mention my big Carp in the last one did I, cant remember.

Martin had 4 eels and a few perch on the chopped worm,after catching the one he actually started fishing for them and it paid off.

Derek was in the trees and also had eels for his weight, as I said it was real struggle and we think it may be down to late spawning.

Brian Recknell fished next to me, and after a bit of tinkering for him from myself and Wally Thomas he went and had a Bream of about 6 pound, he then decided to spray some stuff on to some spawning sores on the fish, the fish then took its chance and was last seen swimming back into the lake, with I am sure a grin on its face, as we keep telling people Brian, YOU CANT BEAT BAD LUCK.

I had my PB Bream, did I mention that, see pic.

Don

As you can see from the weights this was a right struggle,we had to switch the match to the section before the boats, as that section was full of weed and virtually unfishable.

Brian just had bits through the day mainly on the squatt and pinkie,as did most of the others to weigh in.
I was clever and stayed at home and off to the pub.

The water was full of fish, with a few Tench showing but they were just not feeding, and it was so hot that peoples bait was dying off, it was nice and cool in the pub.

The weed as now been cut and some good bags of fish are coming to the hemp and caster..

Don