This match was switched to the Island as Wraysbury was still to dodgy to fish with the high water levels.

The boys had a walk off, I was not in attandence due to dodgy shoulder, which was not helped this week when a young lady decided to pull out in front of me when I was doing 30 mph, and I went straight in to the side of her and wrote my car off, cant beat bad luck.

Martin decided to jump in the same swim on Dolphin Bridge as the last match. He had a Bream of about 5-0-0 and a Chub around the 3-0-0 mark with a few little Roach, all on big stick float with maggot.

Brian was on the Elliott Bridge and had all small Roach on the maggot and punch. Stuart caught likewise on Peg 61 on the sluice.

It was hard on the main river again, also the backwater struggled to find any fish with Derek only catching 1 Bleak all day from 52 which normally throws up a few fish. Lyle lost a Barbel off of 13, and John Barnes lost 3 chub in the new snag in front of peg 11, thats 5-0 to the chub on the past 2 matches.

Lets hope the water sorts it self out over the next few weeks and we can see how much work needs to be done on the work parties. Thanks to all the boys who attended, and helped at the matches over the season, and heres hoping we can have some good days next season.

Don

Well we come to the annual charity match and hoped that it will fish better than last year when there was quite a few blanks,no such luck. It was grim to say the least with just the same amount of blanks.

I was lucky enough to have the last peg out of the envelope after my team drew and it was on the fish. The top 3 were pegs 1,2,3, I was on peg 3 and never had a bite until 11-30 then caught steady for the rest of the match with Roach on the punch, I put in nearly 2 loaves to stop and keep them there.

John was catching from the off on peg 1and had most of his fish tight over to the boats on pinkies, again mainly Roach.

Roger was in between us and again had nearly all Roach on a mix of both the punch and maggot. It was hard for a lot of the boys with some only having a few fish in the last hour.

The team event was won by Myself, Bob Hawes, Kev Burroughs and Martin Harper with 3 section wins and a blank, I wont tell who blanked but he hails from up north and is the treasurer, and its not Bob or Kev, whoops what a give away.

Still the main reason for the day was the Charity and I am glad to say with the Specimen Group match money and ours on the day we managed to raise the sum of £2,600 which was very well received by Terry and Rita on behalf of the Shooting Stars Hospice.

I would like to thank all the boys who fished on the day, and also Tim and Mike Lomas who ran the specimen group match. Also thanks to Martin who done the sections and Brian Dart and Ian Randall who done the pegging for me.

Thanks as always to Derek for sorting out the usual spread in the Dolphin, because for some of the boys it was the only bite they had all day.

My final thanks go to all those who sponsored people to fish the match and hope we can be as successful next season, we may switch the match to a later date to see if the catches improve, heres hoping. I will list the full teams on the news section when the certificates are sorted out.

Don

These were the only 3 to weigh in out of 10 of us so you can see how hard it was. Derek drew on the backwater and had 1 chub and 6 Roach on the stick down the edge over hemp, he had them on bronze maggot.

Martin was on Dolphin bridge and fished a 10 gram lollipop float to hold back a bit, he had 1 Bream and 2 Roach on lob tail and maggot.

Brian was on the elliott bridge and had about 90 small Roach, or very small for his weight on the maggot and punch. With the water still pushing through it was really grim on the main river, the couple swims we used on there did not produce a bite, has did parts of the backwater. Malcolm was on the point and got done by 2 good Chub which would have probably won him the match, cant beat bad luck.

Martin won the KOC by 1 point from myself and Derek, I nicked second by 3 ounces on weight countback, well done Mart.

Charity Match next week, still time to sponsor me if you wish, lets hope I do a bit better than this week as I blanked and went home injured at 1-00, frozen shoulder and trotting stick floats dont go together.

Don

It was the same as usual with the fish in certain areas and not moving, Bob had them in front of him and had most of his fish on the punch and pinkies over to the boats, he had a few nice Rudd on the waggler to boost his weight.

Derek had a few small skimmers over groundbait and roach on the punch. He had to wait a long time for his fish.

I had all roach on the punch, but most of my fish came over to the boats fishing the punch over groundbait which is unusual on here.

As I said the fish were all in one section,a couple of the boys did not have a bite all day,yet before the off the fish were showing all through so we dont know what put them off.

Lets hope its a bit better when we fish the charity match as we had a few blanks on that last year.

Don

Well it was the same as usual on the Boats, if you were on the fish it was ok, if not, hard work time.

Steve drew the first peg and had all Roach on the punch down the middle.

Kevin was on the bloodworm tight to one of the boats and had all small fish but got smashed up by something a bit bigger late on.

Malcolm was in between the two of them and had some better quality Roach on pinkies.

As I said it was a bit grim otherwise, I drew in exactly the same spot I had won the previous match from and did not have a bite all day. Derek only had 2 fish all day, and Brian had 4ounces next to him. Bob was next to me and had 12 ounces tight to the boats, Martin was the other one fishing and he just made the pound mark.

Brian went down a few days later and had nearly 7 pound, so it just goes to show if you drop on them you can still have a good day out even with this weather. Heres hoping it improves for our match in a fortnight.

Malcolm turned up with 12 stitches in his head,on the Saturday, he had an argument with the clay trap machine at a shooting competition and it hit him on the head, he was known as Paul or pull all day Sunday, cant beat bad luck.

Don

Well what can I say about the weather we are having, it was minus 3 when Bob picked me up at 6, then by 10 I was putting on the old sun cream to protect my delicate little skin.

We wanted some water in the river but this was a bit much with some of the paltforms 2 to 3 inches under water.. I was lucky that the boys left peg 52 on the backwater in the bag for me, I had a real struggle with nothing in the main flow for the first hour, then the fish moved into a slack on the inside and I was picking them up for a couple of hours until a pike decided he wanted to join them. Later on I got some better Roach on the far bank slack along a little bush, it was only about 2 foot deep and they were just sitting there, Stuart did tell me they were there but I never tried it till late,lucky I did, I had all the fish on the stick to bronze maggot.

Martin was also on the backwater and had a Chub of about 3 pound in the first hour, he thought that was all he was going to get for the day but a few small fish put in an appearence to top his weight up, again mainly on the stick.

Derek drew peg 11 but was not able to put a float down the peg as it was belting along, he had 2 Chub on the feeder to maggot.

The rest of the river fished very hard with some boys not having a bite, the swims we expected fish to come from on the main river just did not produce, even the sluice swims proved hard work. Still it will fish well when the water starts to drop, if it does..

Don

Again the fish sat in front of me for most of the day and I had nearly all Roach on the punch with just a couple of Perch on the worm.

Stuart fished the same, and also nearly lost his fish to a greedy pike taking a liking to his keepnet.

Derek had a few on the waggler to maggot but most of his fish came to pinkie over groundbait. It was another day when some parts fished ok if the fish stopped over your bait, but other sections were a real struggle.

In the last hour and a bit the water went a funny brown colour and was going so fast left to right you could have trotted a stick float along it, Lyle did not have a fish until it done this and he put 1-7-0 on the scales, so he would have walked it if it started any earlier, glad it did not though.

Don

Well we knew the fish had moved back into residence on pag 11 and so it proved again in this match.

The water was towing a bit and Brian did not fancy it to much, but he stuck at it and had 6 Chub for his weight with waggler and feeder picking up fish to maggot.

Peter came down from Lincoln to fish the annual xmas match and drew pag 42 which has also thrown up the chub this year, he had 2 on the sick float with maggot.

Bob was on the backwater where most people wanted to be and had some decent roach and dace on both the stick and waggler to red maggot.

There were some good back up weights on the day with a lot of the boys going over the 4 pound mark. I would like to thank Derek for arranging the spread after in the Dolphin which as usual went down very well.

Don

Bob drew on the point of the sluice on 11, the same peg I had a few weeks back and the Chub were still sitting there. He had 4 in a period of about an hour mid way through the match then struggled for bits. He had 2 on the waggler and 2 on the feeder all to red maggot.

Derek was on Dophin bridge, it proved a bit hard with the water coming off of the canal at a fair rate and a bit dirty. He had mainly Roach and Perch on both the maggot waggler and worm on the feeder.

Martin was on the backwater and had a period of not being able to fish with the sun directly in his face, but once it dropped he picked up some decent fish on the waggler to maggot and caster.

The rest of the weights were a bit patchy with the main river being so clear and low.

John Barnes was the only other one fishing to hook a decent Chub on peg 42 but he lost it, you cant beat bad luck.

If we dont get some rain we may have to put some pegs on the lower colne for the fur and feather, if we do, look out for the signs to go up on the gate at the car park.

Don

We fished a bit further up the venue on this match as that was where the fish were seen moving around, it seemed to pay off as the first 4 were all in a line on the top section.

I had all my fish on the punch over liquidised bread, it was one of those days when it all goes right with the fish sitting in front of you from the off. The catch was all Roach except for a couple of skimmers which were a bit bigger.

Kevin had his fish on both the bloodworm and punch, again mainly Roach. Bob had a couple of skimmers and Roach mainly on the punch with a few to the squatt.

Derek was the other one at the top of the section and he had 3-9-0 on the waggler and flouro pinkie, he had a bit of pike trouble through the day and also lost a good proper Bream in the match, cant beat bad luck. The best wieght at the lower end of the section was 1-15-0 so it shows how the fish were shoaled up.

Malcolm had a good day for scrap metal, as he put his rod behind him a bloke on a bike tried to swerve around it and was going a bit to fast so come a cropper, he could not get his feet out of the cycling shoes so went down like a sack of spuds, the Lady behind him done likewise, so in Malcolms words, I looked over my shoulder and saw a pile of bikes on the floor, he thought funny, you dont see that very often on the canal.

Malcolm is now thinking of going to the tour de, France to se if he can make it happen there. The other thing we saw was a Hobbit running along the towpath, well thats what i said to Kevin, as a bloke went past jogging who looked like he had borrowed his shoes from a clown, and with a bright yellow tracksuit he did look the part, its amazing what you see on a day out on the canal..

Don

Bob had a couple of really nice Dace to boost his weight, with a few chublets late on to go with mainly minnows and small roach,mostly on the stick with a few on the feeder.

Martin had some nice roach and again loads of minnows on the stick float. Brian had the same with some small roach late on to the punch. It fished really hard with ounces on the scales after these 3, Derek had the same swim he won the last match on here and had 12 ounces so it goes to show how fickle it can be.

Lyle was going to hang himself, has he lost 3 big Chub on the feeder, I told him not to as we did not want strange people hanging around on our venues, so we just reminded him YOU CANT BEAT BAD LUCK.

Don

IIt was a bit grim to say the least with the canal like tap water, the fish came in little spurts with a couple of fish, then waiting 20 minutes sometimes for another bite.

I only had 5 fish after 12 , and a lot of the other boys had the same. Derek had a couple of bigger Perch on the worm, with most of the other fish to maggot and punch.

Myself and Brian had fish mainly on the punch with Brian getting a few on the waggler, John had mostly roach to the same method.

Don

It was very nice of the boys to leave peg 11 on the point in the bag for me, although it had fished bad in the last few matches and was like tap water I began to worry.

But the fish were shoaled up in a small deeper section and I had mainly Dace and Roach with 1 Chub of 4 pound. I lost 3 others who were trying to get up the wall on the far side they went that tight to it. All the fish were on waggler with bronze maggot.

If you fish this swim dont try to get right over under the ivy but feed the fish out in to the middle they will come to have a nose eventually, I never hooked a Chub until the last 2 hours.

Martin was on the back water and had a few Roach early on to waggler and maggot, then he fished the long tail on the feeder with worm and picked up some decent Perch.

Derek was on 47 and had all small fish on the waggler with maggot and caster. The main river proved hard as it was very clear but running, the wind coming across the fields did not help a lot throwing the float all over the place.

Ian Randall had 3 pound odd on the grill but had a lot of his fish in the main overflow from the canal which is unusual for this swim.

Don

It was a bit grim on the day to say the least, low and clear and the sun coming up all day did not help.

Derek fished one of the new swims we created on the work party, we must be doing something right as it fished well for most of the day. He had small Roach and a couple of decent dace early on, and a couple of Chub to the pound mark later in the match. He was on the waggler most of the time and fishing maggot right down the swim as the fish were laying just off a small snag in the water.

Martin had a load of small Roach and minnows for his weight, he fished the swim he did well off of last year but the decent Roach never showed. I had nearly all gudgeon for my little weight, as I said it was very hard and poor old Dave Hughes thought he was in with a shout with a Trout of a couple of pounds, but he did not realise you cant weigh them in. You cant beat bad luck Dave, still he enjoyed phoning me to let me know how Spurs done so he got his own back.

Heres hoping the Island fishes a bit better all round next week.

Don

Derek had most of his fish on stick float a couple of rods out in the deeper water on maggot and caster.

Most of the fish were Roach with a few skimmers putting in a show. Kev had his on both the pole line and the waggler, again mainly Roach. Lee and Ian did like wise further down the section.

It fished very well considering the changing weather with the 2 other anglers on the day also having good weights. It could still do with a bit of a flush through to get the fish really having a go, you watch now our matches have finished on the river it will fish its head off.

Don

All the fish caught on the day came from the island with Martin not having a bite until 12-30 then 3 fish in 3 chucks. 2 of those were Bream that went 15-5-0 together and 2 small Carp and a couple of skimmers.

He went so far out he was going to go home for his beachcaster, as there was a lot of weed about.

Stuart was on the last peg on the island and had the 1 small Carp, Dave was in the bay and had a Rudd late on, it is the first time Dave has framed on the matches so it was nice to see a new name popping up.

The rest of the boys never caught with just Ian Randall having a bite and getting smashed up..

Don

Martin drew on the car park side of the lake and had 10 Bream on the worm to long feeder method,

Garry was on the same bank and had 8 Bream to mini boilies, Brian was also drawn on the same section and had 4 decent Bream on the pellet.

It was a bit harder for the rest of the lads with only 4 others bothering to weigh in, the weed was a bit of a problem as it was floating about on the surface and stopped a lot of the boys from casting any distance.

I was not to bothered as I was sunning myself in Corfu so never missed a thing, they said it was quite cold, poor lambs.

Don

Kevin had mainly skimmers on the long pole to maggot and pellet.

Derek had all his fish on his favourite waggler and maggot over grounbait, Bob had a bit of a mixed bag also most fish coming to the waggler. It was a bit of a patchy day all around the lake with people catching in little spurts then waiting a while for another bite, hence Kev going further out than most on the pole.

A few of us, me included done the usual, fished light for the skimmers and got smashed up by the carp, then when you put out the heavy gear you dont get a bite.

Bob let me down coming third, he was on for his 4th second on the venue, what a plonker.

Don

Derek had mainly small Roach and Skimmers on the pole and feeder fished mainly about 3 rod lengths on maggot and caster.

Ian had the same return with more Roach, he had them on the pole and red maggot over groundbait. Lee had most of his fish on the feeder dropped around mid way across on red maggot and late on to tares.

Report.
It was a bit of a struggle to keep the fish coming, as there was very little flow and the water was about 2 foot down on how you would expect this time of the year.

Bleak were a problem with it very hard to get through them and they were to small to fish for all day, and even then they seemed to move off after a while.

We also had a few problems with wasp nests being right in the swims to fish. John Meale got greedy as he put his gear on top of one and got stung 3 times, he moved, and unbeknown to him plonked his box on another and got stung twice more.

Kev also moved because of this, so next time Bob said we should napalm the bank and set it alight, I am sure the people living in the cottages will love that. I think some wasp killer should do the trick.

Don

Dan drew on permanent peg 5 and had small skimmers on the red maggot with a maggot feeder through the day.

Bob Mr runner up Hawes, its the 3rd time on this lake, was on the peg next to the aerator and had Bream and Tench on the waggler and feeder again with red maggot.

Lee was on the far bank and had Tench and Bream on the feeder and pole, with pellet getting most of his fish.

Some of the better swims seemed to switch off on the day, mine included, my excuse was I was drawn next to Lee and when he stripped off to air his legs I had to put my sun glasses on because of the glare, and then he sat in his skiddies, well that was it I nearly fell off my box, purple with hoops, and he brought them himself so could not blame a dodgy xmas present, it was no wonder I was put off my fishing.

But what a laugh, I know he supports the hoops with QPR but that was a bit extreme. Kevin gave us a good competition on the day, we heard a crack when his Carp went off in to the middle of the lake, and we all had a guess the broken section game. I think Lee got it first with section 5, you cant beat bad luck Kev.

Don

We got some bad reports of weed problems on the lake but on the day we managed to drop most people in a bit of a gap, there were 1 or 2 that were more difficult than others but on the whole it fished very well.

Martin was drawn on the far bank and was like Billy no mates all by himself, he had a Tench of 7 pound and Bream and a Carp mainly on the worm and red maggot for his weight.

Bob was on the car park side and had all Bream on the feeder with red maggot on the hook.

Richard was a few swims along and had Bream on the method feeder to pellet. A lot of us were getting smashed up as the Carp shot straight into the weed when hooked, John Barnes got done 7 times as the fish went for a little swim around the island in front of him with his line in tow.

I had 1 Carp of over twenty beat at the net but could not net it due to the weed sliding down the line and spooking the fish, after about ten minutes it snapped me up,much to the delight of the boys on the other bank who shouted jolly hard luck, or words to that effect, children may read this so I wont put what they really said, that happened 4 time on 12 pound staight through so it shows the pressure on the line with all the weed on it.

It was nice to see Brian Eggleton up and about and fishing on the day. I think I will beef up for the next match.

Don

It was the same again on the day with a lot of fish moving around but not getting there heads down for a munch.

Richard was on the new platform on the willows bank and had 3 Tench and 3 carp on the small method feeder with pellet on the hook. Derek was in his usual peg in the willows and had 3 bream on red maggot, he also lost a few fish which would have helped him a bit.

Graham was fishing his first match for a long time and went on the island, he dropped shorter than most and had the one Carp and also lost one. Dave Hughes was in the little bay at the start of the fishery and had the only other fish on the day to win the mystery weight a Perch of 3 ounces.

There was 5 of us on the road side and we did not have a bite between us, except Stuart munching on his pies, there were a lot of fish about and it got realy frustrating them not feeding.

Don

With the weather being as hot as it was we done well to stick it out for the day.

Josh had mainly Carp late on in the match on the long pole to the island on corn and pellet, he also had a couple of Carp shoot off with his top 4 and top 3 at different times, so if you go there and hook them give me a bell.

Ian was on the paste and had mainly Bream with a couple of Carp. Richard had all Carp on the method with pellet. It was a bit of a funny day with the fish swimming around tight to the island but not really getting there heads down, I was up the trees more than tarzan for most of the day.

If you got on to the island you could open a tackle shop there must be that many floats on there. If you fancy a nice day out, pop along early for a good breakfast with Colin in the cafe, and a short walk to the pegs and some decent fishing.

Don

Again it was a bit of a let down on the day with the river looking a really brown colour which seemed to put the fish off. Brian had a few Dace and Roach with a couple of bigger perch on the punch and maggot.

Bob had mainly Dace on the wagg with maggot. We all had a few fish but did not bother to worry the scales, it was a pity as with this being our early river match expectations were high for a good day, but it was not to be.

Don

Well we had our usual great start to the matches, with only myself and Derek catching on the day. I went on the island as the wind was a bit iffy for some of the other pegs and had 5 Bream on the method with sweetcorn on the hook. I never had a bite until 1-0 then they moved in for the rest of the match.

Derek was in the willows and had a Carp and and a Bream for his wieght, the Bream going 8-7-0. Martin had a bite and John Barnes managed to catch his rod as it went off into the lake, they were the only other bits of action all day.

Don