We switched the match from the Cherwell to the Slough Arm as the river was still in the fields somwhere.

We thought it would fish pretty well after the cold snap, how wrong we were. It proved to be a right struggle with the fish not wanting to feed for most of the day, and it was blowing a gale right down the canal, to say it was brass monkeys would be an understatement. Brian caught a lot of small fish mainly on the punch with a few on squatt.

Bob was close to packing up when he decided to put down a groundbait mix and had a skimmer late on to go with a single roach and single perch he had sat for 5 hours for. Myself Derek and Martin all had the same wieght, Martin had more fish but they were small,mainly on the squatt, I had some better roach but not enough of them on the punch, and lost one of the biggest roach I have hooked in the canal.

Derek also had a couple of small skimmers and a perch on the maggot over groundbait, he also lost a couple of skimmer bream that would have won him the match, you cant beat bad luck. Lets hope it fishes a bit better for the charity match.

Don

Well we had the usual conditions on the main river with it going through a bit fast, so we put as much of the backstream in as we could, this proved just as bad with the usual swims not producing a bite.

Martin drew peg 61 next to the bridge and was thinking of moving after the hour as he had to win to pip Derek for the title, and thought he will need a decent Chub to do it. He then went and had a few Roach on the stick and along popped a Chub of around the 4 pound mark to give him the win.

This peg has not won on the Colne for a good number of years, I had to sit on the next swim without a bite all day, 2 matches on the trot thats happened, might put all my gear in the Auction if it carries on

Derek drew peg 47 and had just the one Chub for his wieght on pole tight over. Bob moved form peg 54 and went on 56 to trot under the bridge, it seemed to pay off as he had some nice Dace and Roach on the wagg and maggot. The rest of the boys struggled with only 2 others catching. Martin and Derek drew on points with the one match being dropped, But Martin nicked it on wieght total.

Don

Well, we hoped that the fish had spread out a bit so we would have a fair match, it was not to be, with the fish sitting in just a few swims on the day. Alan drew right on them, with Steve in the next peg, they both caught on mixed baits but mostly had Roach on the punch.

Martin had a couple of skimmers and a few Roach over groundbait on the squatt and pinkie. Derek had the 1 skimmer for his wieght from a peg he had fished on the Wednesday prior and caught around 10 pound. It was a real struggle on other bits with only Kev Burroughs, Dickie Penn and Dave Abbott the other people to catch a fish.

My section was decided by drawing names as we all never had a bite let alone a fish, Micky the panel thought he had it in the bag when he hooked a good fish, only to land a Pike of around the 10 pound mark, pity they dont count in matches. You can beat bad luck.

Still it was a good laugh with so many walking the bank trying to keep warm and giving there expert knowledge to those that were catching, was we jealous, nooooooo.

Well the thing it was all about was the Charity, as keeps on happening when you get a good bunch of blokes and lady doing there bit for the cause we had a tremendous result, with the Shooting Stars Childrens Hospice being presented with a Cheque for the sum of £3,279-00 This included the £1,000 from the Specimen Group match in May. I am to do a full write up with thanks etc, and put up some pics in the next few days, so look out for them on the news page.

Don

We switched the match from the Cherwell to the Slough Arm as the river was still in the fields somwhere.

We thought it would fish pretty well after the cold snap, how wrong we were. It proved to be a right struggle with the fish not wanting to feed for most of the day, and it was blowing a gale right down the canal, to say it was brass monkeys would be an understatement. Brian caught a lot of small fish mainly on the punch with a few on squatt.

Bob was close to packing up when he decided to put down a groundbait mix and had a skimmer late on to go with a single roach and single perch he had sat for 5 hours for. Myself Derek and Martin all had the same wieght, Martin had more fish but they were small,mainly on the squatt, I had some better roach but not enough of them on the punch, and lost one of the biggest roach I have hooked in the canal.

Derek also had a couple of small skimmers and a perch on the maggot over groundbait, he also lost a couple of skimmer bream that would have won him the match, you cant beat bad luck. Lets hope it fishes a bit better for the charity match.

Don

Well we wanted some more water in the river, but not this much, the main river was still going through really hard and high, so most of the pegs for us 8 hardy or stupid people who attended were put on the backwater.

Martin drew peg 54 on the lawn and had some nice Roach and Dace on the punch early on in the match, but then had a period of a couple of hours without a bite, he then picked up a few more fish late on. He was on the waggler for most of the match.

Lyle (one chub) Charlton as he is now known, as it is the 3rd time he had framed with the one fish, or he may of had 2 once but the name is better. He drew peg 47 again and had just the ( 1 Chub ) for his wieght on the waggler to maggot.

Derek was on the bridge in Riverside way and had a lot of small Roach and Dace on the waggler, he had to go right down the peg to get his fish as they would not move up,if they had it could have been a lot closer in the wieghts.

Just my luck on the day to get peg 11 when you dont want it, it was coming back to hard to put a float up properly and I was forced to sit on the feeder, I did not see any sign of a fish until 5 minutes from the end of the match when a sigle fish decided to rise in the sluice bit, probably looking to see if the nutty angler was still sitting there. All who drew on the main river had the same result, except ( 1 chub ) Lyle, I must look in his box to see if it is a blow up one.

Don

This was another case of drawing on the fish on the day, Derek done that alright, as they were being chased by pike most of the day in front of him. He had most of his fish on the waggler to pinkie and big maggot, mostly roach and rudd with a few perch.

Brian fished very much the same with pole to hand and various baits,he had a smaller stamp of fish, he also lost a couple of good Roach trying to swing them in from pike chasing them. Kevin was on the bloodworm and joker and had to fish joker on the hook to get mainly perch tight across to the boats.

The rest of it was very patchy, if the fish were in your swim it was ok, if not it was a real struggle. Ross was 2 swims down from Derek and did not have a bite all day, I drew close to where I won the last match with 7 pound but did not see a fish until 12 -15, then when the float went under I nearly died of shock, I then had 8 fish for 6 ounces.

But it still fished better than some places with the weather we are having at the moment..

Don

Smithy actually stayed in his peg all day, I dont blame him, he drew peg 11, but he did not have a fish until around 12 on the feeder, a Chub , he then went all the rest of the match without another bite until he was packing up one rod with around 2 minutes to go when Bob Batchelor who was standing behind him, told him that his rod was going in, he picked it up and landed a Chub of 6-8-0, now if that is not jammy I dont know what is.

I was on peg 47 and did not have a bite until 2-45 when I had a Chub of smack on 5 pound on the the stick with maggot.

Lyle moved from his original peg as he lost so much gear in snags, I am going down with the boat to get some back and put it in the Auction, he moved onto peg 42 which was left out at the start, he lost a big Chub first trot down, then had to wait a fair while for his only fish for his wieght. It was a really hard day with the water a funny colour due to the run off of salt which had been put down on the roads over the cold snap, there were 8 dry nets and the rest of the boys who wieghed in only had 1 or 2 fish each, or a few small fish on the backwater.

Terry Burgess was on peg 13 and had a Bullhead of 0-1-8 which Martin informs me is nigh on a British Record. I told him that a cant let a P/B Bullhead beat me this year for my Barbel P/B so I had better get cracking to try harder to get it. It was nice to see some new faces on the match with Carl and Tony Hickey popping along for the first time, and Pete White down from Lincoln trying to get a few fish.

It was, as usual a good spread in the Dolphin to dish out the prizes, I would like to thank Derek for arranging the munchies,and Tony Carter for getting a few of the prizes. Did I mention that Derek and Keith Arthur were 2 of the dry nets,oops i nearly forgot, but Derek says he will be back with vengeance with a better draw on the next match, watch this space.

Don

This was a bit hard with 8 guys fishing along the road bank, Dan had his only run of the day, and had a P/B in the process, he said he was trying to get the scales to swing around to the 20 pound mark but it was not to be.

1 other small fish of around 9 pound was caught but was not weighed for the match as he went home.

Nigel said he did not blame him as the wind was in there faces all day, which if you know the lake can whip across at a good old pace.

Dans pic is attached. Well done on the P/B Dan

Don

This was another one of them days when it all seemed to be against us with a lot of water going through, which we hoped for, but it was a bit to much.

Wally drew peg 11 on the point and was a bit reluctant to go up that far with the bank a bit dodgy, but he was glad he did as he had 4 Chub on the feeder with maggot, he lost one early on the float bit it was coming back at him to fast so he stuck with the feeder for the rest of the match.

Lyle was on peg 47, he did not have a bite until the last hour when he put the pole tight over to the bushes and went about a foot over depth and held it back hard, he then had 2 Chub on the maggot.

Martin was on the peg near the bridge 55, he had all small fish, he estimted 100 of them, mainly small Roach and Dace, on the waggler with maggot or caster. The rest of us had between 4 to 6 pounds, the back water produced quite a lot of small fish which is a good sign, as they have been a bit hard to come by on there.

Don

It was the same as last week with the frost putting in a show and the water very clear and low.

We decided that you could change pegs after 1 hour to enable more swims to be available, Derek stayed where he drew on the backwater and had mainly Roach and Perch on the waggler with maggot and caster.

Martin drew Dolphin Bridge for the first time in 18 years and was expected to clean up from there, but the fish were not having it with the water coming through the tunnel at a rate of knots, he had Roach with some better Perch on the worm mainly on the stick float.

Barry drew 47 and had small fish for most of the day on waggler and maggot. For the rest of us it was a bit grim, with 5 swims Smithy not having a bite in any of them, I think only 4 of the others who fished had any fish, even then it was after we moved.

It should improve with a bit of water and colour going in over the next few weeks, here's hoping.

Don

It was lucky I told John and the boys from Twyford not to come on this match as it was freezing in the morning and to bright when the sun came up.

Only 4 of us braved it, and as you can see from the result I was the only one who never bothered the scales.

We all went to the right to start with and never had a bite between us after an hour and a half, so after all moving onto the faster water we began to catch a few bits, with Bob fishing the stick with maggot for a couple of nice Dace and Roach and Perch.

Derek fished the same with more fish but a bit smaller, Martin had a few tiny Roach and the rest was minnows, I just had around 20 minnows, but I was sitting trying to catch my PB Barbel for quite a while. Well thats my excuse anyway.

Don

Ian was fishing this match for Twyford and had his fish on mainly bread punch with a few on the worm.

Brian was drawn in the next peg and had a similar catch of Roach on the punch.

Graham was drawn a bit further back to the gates and had his fish on the bloodworm. It was very patchy on the day with the fish again shoaled up in small pockets, it was very much the luck of the draw on the day and it was a bit soul destroying waiting for the fish to show if you could see all the way across the canal it was that clear.

Also it was pouring for the lads right from the off, so it was no suprise that a few did the off before the end. Brian is the new senior citizen title holder. he keeps trying to tell me he is only 64 so he dont have to look after the trophy.

The pairs is still to be noted as I am waiting for the results sheet with the draw to come back to me

Don

We had the usual scenario on the boats with fish shoaled up in a few swims at the start, then they seem to disappear when we start fishing.

I had this in the first hour with only 2 fish,and I could see Kevin catching well, then when they went past again I put in 3 or 4 big balls of liquiised bread and that semed to hold them. I could see the fish taking my bait it was that clear, I had an all roach and rudd catch on the punch.

Kev fished the same and also had a few Perch on the worm, Graham had all Perch on the bloodworm. Some of the stretch fished really hard with ounces being weighed in.

It will be more consistent once we get a bit of cold weather,as the fish seem to spread out a bit when this happens, he says hopefully.

Don

We turned up thinking it cant be as bad as last week, well guess what, it was not far off.

We had been down the previous day and cleared a few more of the swims and it looked great, but the fish did not want to know. Derek caught Dace ,Roach and Perch on the waggler with maggot, Tony got a bit of ribbing about forgetting how to set up, as its been so long since he fished a match, he then went and shut us all up by catching a load of tiny Roach in one of the swims we created.

Richard went on to the free stretch and had Roach and Dace also. The rest of us struggled with a few small fish here and there, the river was a little bit to pacey on the day and fish were hard to locate. I am trying to get my PB Barbel to mention in the newsletter, I told the boys I had caught a Barbel and they thought they would not hear the last of it, but they were lucky it was only 8 inches long, I was going to try and pass it off as a PB Gudgeon,the only other fish I had was a Perch for a total of 10 ounces.

We are putting some platforms in on the stretch at present, and putting in place a management plan for the future, so bear with us and we will make this as good a fishery as the island.

Don

We moved this match to Goring due to a booking error, but I dont think it would have mattered where we fished it on the river it would have been the same.

It was going through like a train, and the colour of my wifes gravy when she is being a bit generous with the spoonfuls. Brian walked to near the end of the stretch and found a little slack on the inside and had all small fish on the pinkie, Alan did like wise close to a little bush and had is fish on the maggot.

Belinda caught a few small fish on the feeder close in. It was a pity the rain came in this week as a couple of the boys had been down the week previous and caught good bags of roach on the hemp and tares, it seems we get this luck a lot on the thames.

Don

We decided to put this in as a late match on the lake hoping the bream may show, it was overcast with a ripple on the water but they did not want to know.

I was last away and decided to go for my usual peg on the island as the other swims I wanted to try were taken. I had 1 Carp of 12-8-0 and another of 9-4-0 both on red maggot on the method at about 50 yards out into the deeper water.

Stuart was on the road bank and had 3 Carp for his weight with red maggot tipped with worm catching his fish.

John was in the willows and had a Tench only 20 minutes into the match, he also hooked and lost 2 other fish which done him in the weed. The weed seems to still be quite dense on the shallow side and you may be better off at present fishing the deeper water on the road bank.

The big pike was hanging around the culverts after pushing a big shoal of roach into there, if you pike boys want to have a go that's where I would suggest you try as he is a bit of a lump.

It was nice to meet a couple of new members who popped down to see how some of us fish the lake, this a good way of picking up some tips which may help you catch in the future, so feel free to pop along for a chat, just ask anyone where the little bald bloke is fishing and they will point you in the right direction, straight to Derek, not really I am the bald one he is the old one (who wrote that ).

Don

Well we fished our first match on this venue and it was a bit of a struggle, not for me I was in sunny Turkey on my hols.

It was not helped by 2 or 3 morons who either cant read or just ignored the signs and were fishing when the boys got there, they wont be doing that again I hope.

Keith was in what we now call the motor bike swim as we done a work party on there and we found it but it was to heavy to get out so is tight to the bank, he had a Chub of around 3 pound and the rest was made up of bits on the waggler with maggot.

Derek fish is usual small wagg with maggot and caster for mainly small roach and dace. Martin fished likewise. It got to be bit hard as it was a very sunny day and the fish just seemed to switch off once the sun hit the water, this will be a better venue with a bit of colour in the water and a bit of cloud cover, there are some lovely looking barbel swims, and we are to clear a few more, see the news page for details.

Don

Yet another return visit to this venue, it was a bit peggy to say the least with all the ones in the frame and S.Hardy in fourth place within 5 pegs.

Richard had Carp of 7 and 4 pound and a couple of proper bream, and the rest was made up of skimmers, he was fishing small banded pellet on the small method feeder, after getting the info from a regular on the venue, it certainly worked.

Garry had skimmers early then switched to the pole to hand for a good bag of Roach in his weight, he also had the skimmers on the method. Graham had skimmers on the same tactics with a bonus Perch of around 2 pound thrown in.

The rest of us had a head scratching day trying to get past the smaller fish in some areas and waiting a long time for a bite in others, there was a few weights in the 8-0-0 then it went down to 4 and 5 pounds.

Mark tipped his fish back, but on his first cast he hooked and landed after a titanic struggle a rod and reel all set up, it was a bit old, but if you read the report from Riverside what a coincidence for him to hook it.

Don

We went back to this nice little lake with hopes of knowing what we were doing this time, if only things were so simple. The fish were in a funny mood in most swims with a couple of fish here and there then waiting ages for another bite.

Kevin was the exception with a lot of small skimmers sitting in front of him, he caught these on soft pellet and caster, Bob drew the same swims as last time and had a few bigger skimmers on the waggler with maggot.

Graham had a mixed bag of fish, including a better skimmer which took his bait after he had lost a Carp and put is rod down to swear, with me standing behind him, not that I would have said anything, still they all count even if a bit jammy.

Mark hooked into a Carp of around 8 pound that took him into some lillies and smashed his rod, you cant beat bad luck. I would like to thank Richard Smith for getting permission for us to fish this lake it is a mashing little venue.

Don

It was a bit of a let down on the day with only 7 of us fishing. Derek went down to the ray mouth and after doing a one man work party managed to get a line in the water. He had 4 Chub the best going 4-14-0 and the rest made up of Roach, dace and Perch, on the waggler and maggot.

Brian went down past him about 60yards and had mostly bits with a few better Roach on the hemp. Alan went above the bridge and after trying to find the water had just a few bits. We were unable to do a work party on this venue this year due to high water levels, boy did it show.

The trees are very low to the water as the level was high for long periods, Bob went to his usual swim and could not get a rod under the trees so he had to drop downstream, when we went he tipped back around 4-0-0.

I went down through the gate and opened up a swim on the straight bit after the first bend, I started really well with a fish a chuck on the waggler, then at about 11-30 it was like a light had been switched off and never had another bite up until we decided to call it a day at 2-30, I threw back about 6-0-0 because the lure of a pint back at my local got the better of me.

If you go down for a visit it would best to take some sort of slasher to get access to certain areas. also to be careful when cutting close to the waters edge as the rain as made the bank very soft and there could be areas where it may breakaway and fall in.

Don

Well talk about luck, Kevin went and drew in the peg next to where he won from on this venue last season, he had Lee for company in the that swim. They were both fishing right across against the far bank, which is what is needed on this water as the fish are about 3 inches from the bank and even suck off the pellets that stick in the mud.

They were on pellet waggler and most of them are still in the bushes, They caught steady all day with Carp in the 5 to 6 pound mark, Lee was a bit peed off with coming so close to Kev as he dropped one Carp of about 6 pound back in to water after missing the net, but as we told him YOU CANT BEAT BAD LUCK, and after seeing the hat he was wearing all day it was a wonder Kevin managed to fish as he was laughing at it so much, in the car park we expected the farmer and little weed to pop out of a flower pot as Lee looked like he had escaped from one.

Richard was at the near end by the Cafe and he had 5 Carp for his weight on the pellet waggler. This is a nice little venue now that Colin as sorted out the pegs, with a nice bonus of a good cafe for munchies before you start. You have to fish pretty strong gear, because as I said they go straight in to the far bank which is undercut, and a lot of the boys including me getting smashed up, it was 4 all with me and the Carp with my 4 going 21-13-0 these were on the bomb and pallet wag.

Derek and Graham were also in the twenty pound plus area with the same tactics.

Don

This was one of those frustrating Wrasbury days with the fish rolling and showing in a lot of areas but not putting there heads down. Bob was over in the willows and lost his first fish hooked, which I gave him a bit of stick for, but then he hooked and landed a couple of Carp and a Bream for his weight on pellet and dummy maggots.

Martin went back to the old Wraysbury way with the pole close in, he had a couple of small Perch early on then went back on the method to no avail, he switched back close in and had a couple of eels late on to make up his weight.

Derek went on the waggler to catch a few fish and had a few Perch for his weight again over in the willows. Dave Hughes came along to fish the match for the first time in a few years but he only had a few Perch also,but he said he enjoyed it. I sat it out on the swim I won from the other week and the fish were there all day but would not play the game with me not getting a bite, well I tell a lie, some little bug of some sort bit me on the stomach and it has now swelled up so much that my misses is telling people she has got her own little Buddha.

It was a bit frustrating as a couple of the new boys came along and did not catch, but when the weather settles down and the fish want a munch, this is still a very good venue to get a few Carp and Bream on the bank.

Don

This was a new venue for the matches and it proved to be a hard one to sort out. It is a very shallow lake but holds some big Carp and a decent head of skimmers and proper Bream. Richard was in a deeper section and fished at 11 metres with pellet, corn and meat put in to target the bigger fish, this seemed to pay off as he waited for a bit longer but had a better stamp of mainly big skimmers on the pellet.

Bob had his fish on the waggler tight over to an island on the maggot, he had to be really close to the far bank as the fish were in the cover of the trees,he also had mainly skimmers with a few roach.

Mark had a Carp of 12-0-0 in his weight, he was fishing light for the bream when as usual you hit the big fish. He did really well to get the fish in on 4 elastic and 2 pound bottom, I wont say his elastic was a bit stretched but the last time I saw that much elastic it was the mother in laws draws on the clothes line.

This is a nice little lake with some good looking fish holding areas, the fish seem to spook when the pole is over them, but when you go tight to the reeds or trees in the water you take the chance of hooking bigger fish and getting your gear smashed, as happened to Graham Fox who done the second section of his pole..

Looking forward to the next one on there in a few weeks.

Don

The lake had been fishing well leading up to this match so we thought it would need some big weights to win it but the fish do not seem to want know.

I went onto the island and lost one fish around 10-00 then never had another bite until 2-00, I had 2 Bream the biggest going 8-2-0 and one Carp of about 7-8-0. I was on the method with dummy maggots as hook bait.

John was in the willows and had one Tench for his weight, Derek was also on that bank and had just the single Carp. A lot of us were troubled by the weed, I was having to chuck about 50 yards to get a clear spot, and others were hooking fish but they were diving straight in to the weed so they were losing them.

We are hoping to get a work party done soon with a bit of the weed being dragged out, but dont let it put you off as there are still a lot of clear areas and you can have a good day if they have a munch.

Don

Well, we are off for the season with the matches, and it was the same thing when Gerrards Cross turn up the fish seem to do a runner.

There was a good turnout of 24 Members. We had conflicting weights around the lake, with some people not having a bite and others just catching fish every now and again through the day.

Robbie was drawn down the left side and had skimmers and Carp at distance on pellet and mini boilies.

Dave was on the right side and had not had a bite at 12 o,clock, then some Bream moved in and he also caught on the feeder. Martin was pegged next to Robbie and fished the same with various baits.

It was nice to see a few new members coming along to the match with Graham Fox picking up a section win. Also Ashley Hammond who was telling me he was new to fishing matches, he had 10-8-0 of skimmers and lost a couple of better fish, I told him he only had to ask for advise, and then he goes and stuffs me as I only had 9-14-0, he can pack that lark up.

The bad section was from pegs 4 to 9 with only Dan Richardson getting 8-4-0 the rest were on just 3 to 4 pound or no fish at all, that included Richard Long who was also on his first match with us, still I bet Graham told him how to do it on the journey home. We try to help anyone who pops along, so dont be put off by the fact its down as a match, as its generally just a few blokes and ladies having a good day out with a bit of banter and a few p.takes.

If you wish to fish please contact me as I have got full bookings for some matches, the 2 at Northwood are both fully booked as we can only have 15 fishing and I have a reserve list for them ones. So heres hoping we can carry on with the good turnouts, and Ashley dont keep on giving me a whooping.

Don