Match Reports 2015/16
Match Report – Round 1, 8th November 2015
Well here we are again with the new series of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16. Making up the 21 fishing this year are 17 anglers who participated in last year’s league, returning anglers Paul Brown and Anthony “The Kosovan” Rogerson and a big welcome to two newcomers, Dave Turner and Kevin Hey.
For the first match Kos was unable to attend so we welcomed Steve Howard as our guest. There was something else that was not in attendance; 3TT’s moustache. We wonder how he’ll perform without it minus his porn star looks !!
Everyone had arrived by 8.20, all monies paid and so we were able to draw at 8.30 prompt. Before the draw there was a brief reiteration of the major rules like don’t cast into other peoples’ pegs (unless your Ryan), use two nets, no surface baits etc., but The Knacker Tapper had earlier requested clarification of the rules regarding insulting Byron. Although not included in the existing rules it is a requirement of the league that Byron is to be insulted constantly during any match, also in the pub afterwards and in fact at every possible opportunity wherever you may be. Hope that clears it up Dave!
And now to the draw; as is our practise my peg was drawn first and my nubile assistant Elvis’s peg was next from the bag. This put us both in B section, me on 18 and Eric on 23. I drew 18 in round 2 two years since and took second in section with nearly 29lbs so I was happy with the choice. Elvis was happy with 23. Joining us in B was Craig on 1, 3TT on 5, G2E 13, Superstar 14 and The Knacker Tapper on 15.
A section had Alan on 2, a happy Geoff on 3, Danny (one T, no relation) 4, Steve on 15A, Bilbo 16, Radical Ryan 17 and a very happy Paul with 22.
C section saw Scotty on 6, new boy Kev on 7, Squirrel 10, MMA 11, Cas on 12, Dave Turner 21 and Peggy on 28.
Battle commenced at 10.00 but today we finish at 3.05 as we call a halt at 11.00 to observe 2 minutes silence for Remembrance Day (several of the protagonists do find it hard to keep quiet but they did manage to maintain the appropriate silence).
Bombs rained in from all directions with high expectations of tips wrapping round very quickly with large angry carp attached……….but nothing happened even on peg 22. Whereas in previous years rods were bending from the off the only things getting bent were ears (pity poor Steve Howard fishing as a guest between Bilbo – aka Victor Meldrew One – and The Knacker Tapper, who took a vow of loudness years ago). Bucking the trend was Bilbo, fishing short on the whip, and Mr Turner, both targeting the ponds roach from the off.
Then the rain rained in from all directions with low expectations that we were all about to get soaked. It p…..d down and brollies mushroomed about the piece except those hardy souls who faced it out in the open. Heroes every last one of ‘em.
Then Elvis hooked a carp and played it very carefully to the net only for it to shed the hook before he could scoop it out. The air around Elvis turned a very bright shade of blue and the clouds descended. This was going to be a day when losing just one fish would be costly.
After about an hour of not much happening anywhere (even Bilbo was still waiting for his first bite) the rain stopped and brollies were no longer needed. Surprising that as the weather forecast for the day was absolute tits. Still, who’s complaining? It then stayed off for the rest of the match.
Bilbo was now catching and Radical Ryan was also catching well but Bilbo was only admitting to about 2 lbs (as usual). We laughed. He then claimed his fish were much, much smaller than anyone else’s so he must be heading for last in section (again). He should have had some of the roach I had! At one point I considered re-hooking them and using them for bait for the better roach to see if I could up the average stamp to around 4 oz!!!
Then I got a text from Superstar that simply asked “catching?”. I thought he must be struggling to have the time to send messages to me but I was wrong. He could text me as he already had a rake of silvers and 4 carp in the sprout sack so was probably sat waiting for his tip to go round again! But generally the carp were not playing ball and only a handful were being caught. Even Geoff was struggling to set the world alight from his favourite peg 3. But one or two had their heads down and were putting decent nets of silvers together; Craig, Bilbo, Radical Ryan, MMA and new member Mr Dave Turner. Now gents Dave is 73 years young and was putting in a solid catching display from 21.
Now time was approaching 3.05 and close to the end of the match. I was studying my watch and we approached 30 seconds to go. I recalled the second round two years when also sat on peg 18, also with 30 seconds to go I was on the 12m line with corn when my float dipped and I struck into something solid. I just held my pole as a few yards of white hydro streamed from the top and did nothing till I could call “time” and “fish on” in almost the same breath. I then spent 5 minutes playing a beastie to the net that weighed in the region of 7lbs and gave me a second in section. As this thought ran through my mind my float went under and again I lifted into something solid but this time it was on single red maggot, a 20 hook and no.4 elastic!! Again I just held till I could call “time” and “fish on”, just as I had done two years previously, but the carp (for it was a beastie) must have heard me and the elastic just streamed and streamed from my pole till we parted company. It took all of 30 seconds for that. That fish acquired the same title that Elvis afforded his lost carp just after the match started! Oh well!!
Thence to the weigh in and section A was led by Ryan with and all silver catch of 21lbs. Next came Bilbo (surprise, surprise) with another net just over 20lbs but he did include a very sickly pound and a half carp in that. B section, and overall match winner, was Superstar with 28lbs 7oz including 16 ½ lbs of carp and a very creditable double figure net of silvers. Craig took second with just over 21lbs of silvers that took him to second place overall as well. C section was taken by MMA, aka the Silver Machine, with another 21lbs plus of silvers with young Squirrel occupying 2nd in section from peg 10. Our oldest member returned 18lbs of silvers from peg 21 for the best net of silver fish while Paul took best carp net from peg 22. These “best nets” are by default and do not include main prize-winners.
Although on such a mild day the carp did not play ball and the overall winning weight was modest there were three all-silver nets in excess of 20lbs and another nine in double figures, and that’s good fishing by anyone’s standards.
See you all on 22nd November for round 2
Des
Match Report – Round 2, 22nd November 2015
Round 2 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16: Everyone in harness and a welcome back after two years in foreign climes to Anthony “The Kosovan” Rogerson. We have experienced the first real frost of the winter, there is some ice in the weedy margins, a north wind is blowing and the aerator has been running. This will spread the cold water around so we expect it to be a hard day. I was going to say we expect it to be hard all day but I think the cold air will hamper that as well!!
Everybody aboard and we draw at 8.30 prompt. For this round we drew in sections so started with section A. Mick Pegg pulled 2, MMA 3, Scotty 4, Squirrel 15A, Dave Turner 16, Cas 17 and finally Kev pulled out favoured peg 22.
B section put Alan on 1, Bilbo on 5, Kos 13, Ryan – aka Mustapha Flya – 14, Paul 15, Geoff 18 and Danny (one T no relation, aka White Bennet) on 23.
With me and the nubile Elvis in C section our pegs were drawn by Bilbo (for me), landing 6 (happy with that), while 3TT pulled 7 for Eric and 21 for himself. The remaining pegs went to G2E with 10, The High Knacker Tapper on 11, Superstar (or as he may well be renamed Timmy Mallet) on 12 and finally Craig all on his own in 28.
There then followed a reasonably quiet period (?) as we all tackled up and readied for a 10 am start. A little light banter sallied back and forth across the pond like “Byron’s changed jobs recently, he’s no longer a bouncer in Mothercare but a lumberjack in a Bonsai forest” – all good, harmless fun!
Time is called and the usual flurry of bombs hit the surface whilst one or two started on the pole for the silvers. But I had a cunning plan; no bomb, no pole to start the match but a look at about 25m with a small ground-bait feeder and dead reds! While waiting for the tip to plunge round I fed a line at 9 metres with caster, hemp and a few maggots to start a roach line. Herewith I made my first mistake; I used Timmy on peg 12 as my far bank marker and as a consequence wasn’t sure which side of him I’d chosen so my feed was spread a little wide!! May not have concentrated the fish enough!!
Back to the tip however; it didn’t hurtle round but showed a bite as the tiniest of pulls. Managed four small skimmers and a 4 oz roach before I had to shorten my tail just to see a better indication. It didn’t really work; apart from one good pull that I pulled out of the bites were still just small pulls. After 40 minutes went out on the pole line but, like everyone else around I was struggling for bites. It may come as no surprise that Bilbo (aka Pinnochio) had not had a bite. Mind he did say he was fishing for carp (yeah, and G2E’s got a fine head of hair!!). Talking of hair Elvis remarked that Scotty visited the barbers on Saturday and asked for a little off the top, a little off the sides and a lot off the floor!!
Then there was a disturbance between 2E and Knacker Tapper, not between them personally but in the pond. A big black mink put in an appearance and could be seen swimming up and down between 10 and 11. Knacker got excited at first as seeing something black and hairy he thought his dream of a session with Serena Williams had come true but he was soon disappointed. The darn thing kept putting in an appearance between sulking under 2E’s platform and generally putting the fish off. They were almost impossible to catch on a short line and 2E had to go long to get bites!! Not so hard for Bilbo as he is short and bites all the time!!!!!
I can’t see a lot from where I’m pegged but can see Mustapha and Paul getting a few and Scotty has bent into the odd carp, albeit small fish. What’s happening elsewhere is a mystery but I’m constantly being reminded that Bilbo is being battered from either side, as per normal, and he’s yet to put a pound of fish in his net!
All too soon time is called (a relief for some as some light but cold rain is falling and my little fingers are freezing!). First to weigh is Craig and he puts a section C winning weight of 13lbs 4oz on the scales, all silver fish. This sets the tone for C as no carp show at all in the section – just as expected. G2E takes second with 8lbs 4oz despite the presence of the mink.
A section is taken by Cas with nearly 35 ½ lbs including 29 ½ lbs of carp. This is also best weight in the match and just over double the next best. MMA takes second from peg 3 with 15lbs 5oz, just putting Scotty into third by 2oz! Scotty did have the consolation, though, of having the best default net of carp.
Alan takes B section from peg 1 with over 17 ½ lbs, which included nearly 12lbs of carp with Danny (one T, no relation) took second off 23 with nearly 15lbs in a very evenly split net.
The best default net of silvers went to Paul with 11 ½ lbs.
I have warmed up now and look forward to our next meeting on 6th December. Remember for at least the next four matches we will be fishing quarter to ten till quarter to three as the darkness will descend a little quicker!
Tight lines and happy Knacker Tapping
Des
PS: It’s worth noting that for once the pegs behaved almost as expected within the sections with only the odd anomaly – looks like peg 1 may be heading for A section in the next round of three matches as the weather gets colder.
PPS: Surprise of the day: Bilbo’s claim that he had been battered from both sides turned out to be amazingly true; he normally makes such a claim and then whacks 20lbs on the scales!!
PPPS: Event of the day: Dick giving the rushes near peg 10 a blast with both barrels of his trusted 12-bore. This made several of us jump more than just a little. Not sure if it had a detrimental effect on 3TT but he did stand cross-eyed and straining for a couple of seconds after the first blast. If Dick didn’t get the mink it will surely have died of a heart attack!
Match Report – Round 3, 6th December 2015
Round 3 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16: Everyone again ready for the 8.30 draw with the exception of MMA, who advised he might be late following a potential skin-full at his firms Christmas do the night before. He arrived just after the draw and looking quite chipper, so we suspect the ale may not have flown so heartily!
Started the draw again with section A and Paul Brown did the honours for me, lifting out peg 22. I would have kissed him but that would have started tongues wagging so I thought better of it. Scotty then pulled out peg 2 for Elvis, CK took 3, G2E 4, The Knacker Tapper 15A, Craig took 16 leaving 3TT on 17.
Scotty’s drawing arm kept up the good work for himself when he pulled out peg1 in B section (he had asked me for peg 1 through Facebook!), Squirrel took 5, MMA had 13, Kev 14, Dave “Silver” Turner had 15, Cas pulled 18 and Peggy had 23.
Finally to C section; Danny (one T, no relation) pulled 6, Paul took 7, Bilbo 10, Ryan 11, Alan 12, Kos 21 and Geoff 28.
As we tackled up the wind was blowing almost from the South West and some rain was threatened around ten o’clock but should be short lived. As the wind was across me I just set up two pole lines; one for roach on a top 4 and one on 7 sections to try corn and pellet. Three rods come out of the bag; the usual bomb, a pellet waggler just in case and a small method.
Today we kicked off at quarter to ten as the nights are drawing in and we don’t fancy weighing in the dark. I fired out some 8mm pellets and slung the bomb somewhere over the top. Most others did the same with just a few opting to go straight on the pole for the silvers. In the first 15 minutes I had three searching chucks with the bomb and on the third the tip tears round and I had a hard-fighting common of about 6lbs; good start.
Then the wind turned round and we had a northerly blasting in our faces, buggering up the feeding and bringing with it the promised rain. The day had started well at nearly 14 degrees but now the temperature was dropping and the weather hds taken a very unpleasant turn. However, as forecast, it only lasted a short while and did clear away but the northerly, cold wind remained. An awful lot of not much at all was happening on the tip. Then, as I was twitching the bomb back, I caught a snag (where did this come from Cas?) and broke my hook-length. I hastily took another off the winder and chucked back out with a lump of rough torn meat. What carp could resist that? All of ‘em it seemed! So I went back on pellet only to have a good pull round about an hour in, which I duly missed! I stuck it for another hour and then went on the silver line to at least put something in one of my nets!
We all knew Ryan was doing well by the number of 1lb plus roach he was catching (according to Bilbo) but a 4oz roach can look like a 1lb fish to Bilbo!! Bilbo was yet to have a bite – surprise, surprise!
It seemed to be a struggle on most pegs, especially those facing the wind, but Scotty was hammering the roach on 1, Superstar was catching well on the long pole in 3 and obviously Ryan had at least 40lbs in the net! Now Peggy started a new trend with a “catch a carp, win a float” ploy. He lifted into what appeared to be a big liner only to find himself connected to a carp. As he played it closer he realised the fish had swum past his bomb towing a float, which had caught up with his hook. Landing it was fun as he couldn’t retrieve line with his bomb lodged against his top ring (nearly said ring piece there!!) and a float and about twelve feet of line trailing after! He did finally net the carp. The float, which we had thought to be a waggler, turned out to be a 3SSG Chubber that would have looked more in place on the River Wye!! As Superstar would have summed it up, a Jedward’s gear!
Best estimate was that Ryan now had about 60lbs!!
Then Kos was playing a carp on his silver rig with number four elastic inserted. This was stretching quite a ways but he was the very epitome of care and patience and finally landed a beastie that pushed the scales to 5 1/2lbs! And it was foul-hooked!! Well fished Kos.
No-one seemed to be catching carp but I opted to fish the last 45 minutes on the bomb. Again not a lot of anything was happening but, with 10 minutes to go, my tip pulled forward a bit, dropped back and generally wobbled about so I struck and found my second carp attached. With this netted I threw long again and had to wait all of three minutes before my tip rammed around and I had another. Unfortunately this was to be the last as there were only 5 minutes of the match remaining. Cas thought there was 20 minutes to go and was readying to chuck out his bomb when I called time; sorry Cas!!
Me and Craig were thinking Ryan would need at least two weighs as he must finish with about 80lbs!!
So we weighed in; Superstar won A section from peg 3 with nearly 24lbs, masterfully caught on the long pole in relatively shallow water. I took second from 22 with just under 20lbs. MMA starred in B section with just over 21lbs from 13 while Scotty took second with and all-silver net for 18lbs. Then we came to pegs 7, 10 and 11! Paul put nearly 25lbs of silvers on the scales to take second in section; Bilbo had over 22lbs but Ryan, much to everyone’s disappointment, “only” had just over 28lbs of silvers. We did examine his net but couldn’t find where all those other 1lb roach had gone!! But Ryan’s weight was also best in the match.
With the section places sorted the best default carp net went to G2E with Bilbo taking the best silver net – not bad as he struggled for bites all the way through and sat aghast as Ryan put 1lb roach after 1lb roach into his net!!
See you all on the next match on 20th December, which reverts back to an open draw. The results have gone such that I don’t think a change of sections is needed at this time and these will remain unchanged for the next three matches.
Cheers
Des
PS: The Knacker Tapper has taken a move away from the world of Knacker Tapping and turned his hand to writing. He has penned two tales; one more a nature story, “Swimming with Gudgeon”, a story of the exploits of Bilbo Dell at White Acres (Swimming with Dolphins might be more the thing to do but if one took a breath with Bilbo anywhere near he might have been sucked in and swallowed). The other is a mates’ tale, a story of two silver fish anglers sat peg-for-peg and putting all cultural differences aside for five hours, called “Petite and Patel”, starring Bilbo an Car Wash! Good luck with the books Dave!
PPS: What has happened to the carp and peg 22?
Peg 22 is still regarded as the flyer and the one to draw but here are some interesting facts:
This year peg 22 has not produced a winning weight but so far the best carp weight has come from peg 17 with 29lbs 8ozs. There have only been ten other double figure carp weights but not one of these has been over 20lbs! In the matches so far carp have been caught from 13, 10 and 11 of the 21 pegs in the mix.
Last year the first match was won from peg 3 with over 55lbs. The next two came from peg 2 with a 70 plus and 60 plus. Peg 22 only produced the winning weight on two occasions during the series in the 5th and 8th rounds. In the first three matches last year carp were caught from 18, 16 and 16 of the 21 pegs.
In 2013/14 peg 22 threw up the winning weight in 5 of the 9 league matches, including a 60 plus from none other than “I hate carp” Bilbo Dell!! In the first three matches carp were caught from 17, 16 and 15 of the 21 pegs.
The weather has been good so where are the carp?
Match Report – Round 4, 20th December 2015 and Christmas Jolly
Round 4 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16: All ready for an 8.30 dip in the bag for an open draw. No Elvis today as he’s on his way back from his jollies so Craig made a grand stand-in.
Pegs for me and Craig are pulled first and I get 28 in C section while Craig ends up with 14 in B. Then the free-for-all and we end with Kev on 1, Ben (taking Eric’s place) with 2, G2E on 3, Superstar 4, MMA 5, Scotty 6, Mr Turner 7, Cas 10, Kos takes 11, Knacker Tapper 12, Danny (one T, no relation) has 13, Bilbo 15, Alan 15A, Squirrel 16, Ryan (I can draw for England) pulls 17, 3TT 18, Peggy 21, Geoff 22 leaving Paul with 23.
We have a typical Birkwood breeze blowing down towards pegs 10 to 14, which is making feeding and fishing more than a tad tricky, particularly where Craig is sat. And following a mild Saturday the weather has turned noticeably cooler.
We’re ready for the off at quarter to ten and I start on a small ground-bait feeder with dead reds while feeding two short pole lines, one with caster and some hemp, and loose feeding over the top, and one just potting maggots and dead reds. 28 is not normally known for carp (although I did famously get two about three years ago on the feeder/dead red combination, one of about 3 lbs and one 11 lbs) so I figured I wouldn’t spend too long on the tip just long enough to get some fish over the short lines.
It’s difficult to see who is doing what from 28 but I imagined the usual bomb and pellet/bread/meat attack from most pegs with one or two sticking to the silver lines. I do know first carp blood went to Paul as he took a small one on the bomb in the first fifteen minutes. That must have got a few excited but in reality the carp refused to play properly, just as they have in previous rounds this year. Having said that, and saying 28 is not renowned for carp, I latch into one on my caster line. Feels a decent fish but also feels foul-hooked as it just steams off in the direction of Kev and stretches my number three Preston elastic like a pair of loose knickers until it breaks me. My 0.7 bottom never stood a chance with that one so I step up to a 0.8!
From where I’m sat I can see Paul battering the silvers and 3TT nicking the odd carp on his caster line. Craig is sitting it out for carp as fishing for roach in the wind is proving nigh on impossible where he’s sat. Kev on peg one has dropped a big pot of meat at about 12 meters and is going for broke. Broke works as he drops over the top with meat on the hook and his float buries and he’s into a carp. Five minutes later and he’s playing another! But that’s it for carp on that line.
Meanwhile I’m changing between the caster and maggot lines and getting a few roach when, bang, another carp on maggot! Another foul-hooked beastie that decided it wanted to visit Paul in 23. It never stopped till another bottom went twang!! Kev switched to method and blagged another carp.
But all too soon (and all too quiet!!) it’s a quarter to three and I call time. I say all too quiet as the Knacker Tapper has been unusually silent today. I think the absence of carp in peg 12 has not gone down too well. But carp have been mostly absent all around the pond, not feeding and turning up in odd places, e.g. peg 28 !!!
And so to the weigh in; Ryan takes A section from 17 (well drawn Ryan!) with just over 21lbs, which included 12lbs of silvers, and Squirrel is second from 16. Paul takes B section, and the match, with nearly 23lbs from peg 23, which included over 20lbs of silvers. 3TT comes second with 22lbs 2ozs that is made up of 15lbs of carp and 7lbs of silvers all from his caster line. Cas wins C section from peg 10 with just shy of 17lbs with Scotty second with just under 15lbs. The silver prize is taken by MMA with just over 21lbs while Kev’s “going for broke” meat option took the carp trophy with nearly 14lbs.
The next match is the Christmas Jolly on 27th December, which will also be a small fund-raiser to support the league
Cheers
Des
The Christmas Jolly, 27th December 2015
Fourteen of us managed to blow off the Christmas cobwebs to fish The Jolly. I decided to make two seven peg sections and pay 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each section. Also Andrew, landlord of The Robin Hood, who looks after us very well after each match, had put in some bottles of beer, six for the winners of each section. How many pubs do that for what is really a small gathering after each match? Many thanks to Andrew.
The sections were divided as follows; A was 1, 2, 15A, 16, 17, 22 and 23 while B was 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15 and 18. We drew as follows; Marjorie took 1, 2E lifted 2, Bilbo 3, Kev 5, Elvis 6, Superstar 7, Paul 13, 3TT 15, I had 15A, Craig 16, MMA 17, Cas (I wouldn’t want to draw 18) drew…er…. 18, Scotty had 22 (he didn’t want 22) leaving Kos with 23. 2E said he’d never ever drawn peg 2 and Cas was suicidal. MMA provided counselling from the next peg while I offered the number for the Samaritans!
The weather was quiet, too quiet. A winter sun hung in the sky (how poetic) and Paul had to face it all day. I don’t think he got a decent sighting of his float once!! The clear weather and lack of ripple was going to lead to some hard fishing!
3TT did his perfect Porn Star impersonation, donning dark glasses and looking every bit like John Holmes (except he was lacking the curly hair, the moustache, he is a lot shorter, a lot rounder and doesn’t have a ten-inch willy! Apart from that he was the spitting image!!).
I just took my pole and a bomb rod to my peg expecting to mainly be among the silvers. Set up three rigs, two for fishing close and one for the 12m line to fish corn and pellet. Craig had similar ideas and also set up one rod for the bomb.
We kicked off at quarter to ten and many started on the bomb. After 20 minutes Craig was on his pole line, I had had one brief liner and 3TT had had nothing. We both followed Craig and shipped out on our short lines. I was happily catching roach close in when my peace was interrupted by a beastie that took a trip across the pond to see Bilbo with my number 3 elastic in tow. I winced and held on. Well I’m buggered (not too wise a phrase to use when sitting next to a Porn Star!!) but the beastie slowed and I managed to gain some purchase on before it set off again. It was nipping time but I managed to get back to my top kit and get some laccy back on the puller. Off it went again and all the elastic was paid out again followed by a few sections of pole. This went on for over 10 minutes till I finally got to see my connector, then my float and eventually the beastie! There was enough elastic lying at my feet that some may have thought I was fly fishing!! After nearly 15 minutes I slid my net under a common, that went around 7lbs. That was a relief!
The Thomson twins were struggling with silvers as were most others. The roach had backed off in the clear and calm conditions. MMA was having success on the pellet waggler. 2E took a carp on the same method and I went back to my car to get my rod out of the boot. After a few chucks with the wag and no bites I went back on my pole lines.
Scotty was sneaking the odd brown thing from 22 while Elvis was copying me and getting one or two from his caster line!
I went on the long line and immediately had a decent skimmer on corn. Things then went iffy until I connected with another beastie. This came in a lot quicker on 6-8 hollow core elastic. Could I get more from this line? Kept the feed going in and was lowering in my rig when the elastic was suddenly stripped out while I still had the bait three feet off the deck. A foul-hooker I thought as it took off in horizontal fashion and didn’t go down at all till I got it within netting range. It was not foul-hooked but taken firmly in the gob. Just went to show the carp were not taking on the deck (the other one was fouled under the chin) and were sitting up in the water. Craig did have one on bomb and pellet when he employed the tactic of setting up another rod and not being sat on his box!
MMA had had one or two on waggler and I could see the depth he was getting bites so, as the 12m line was not throwing up any more fish, decided to have another go shallow. Third chuck out and I had a bite. Next chuck and I struck into another carp but, after landing that, I missed one more bite and had no more beasties.
With about half an hour to go G2E went on the tip while packing his pole away. Bilbo asked him if he was employing the same tactic Craig had adopted to blag a carp. 2E said it was a tactic he regularly employed at Tollerton Ponds with the addition that it was also necessary to hide behind a tree for it to properly work. Something for us all to bear in mind in future. 2E is a guru, a god (a spod god) and we could learn some very interesting methods from him!!
All too soon the fun was over and we came to the weigh in. But I’ll start with section B; Elvis did the goods here putting just over 18lbs on the scales that included just over 11lbs of carp. Next came Superstar with an all silver 14lbs bag but we had joint 3rd in Bilbo from peg 3 and Cas (I do not want to draw peg 18),………..from peg 18, both weighing 10lbs 3ozs
Now we’ll start with third in A section; Kos putting in a sterling performance from 23 with over 18lbs of silvers, a great net on the day, bolstered by a carp of nearly 7 ½ lbs, all taken from his pole line. Second was MMA with nearly 32lbs that included over 21lbs of carp and 10lbs of silvers. Section A winner, and leader on the day was, I-don’t-want-to-draw-peg 22-and-I-want-to-catch-roach-not-carp Andrew Scott with 10 carp and a couple of skimmers for just shy of 35lbs. There’s just no pleasing some people!!!!! A song springs to mind, sung to the tune of “It’s Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Christmas” – “He’s Beginning to Sound a Lot Like Byron” !!!!!!!
Ah well. We had some good banter in The Robin Hood afterwards and Andrew presented Andrew with his beer (see pictures below). I took the prize for Elvis but there is a danger that he could get six empties come Sunday!!! Also Mr Scott received another all-important Quid from 3TT after delivering him another battering (his words, not mine). He also commented that if he lined up all the Quids he had taken from 3TT this year they would be off the end of the bar. Revenge in 2016 Dave???
See you then for round 5 and just over half-way through the league on Sunday. That’s January 3rd and, blimey, that’s next year !!
Cheers
Des
Match Report – Round 5, 3rd January 2016
Round 5 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16: All ready for an 8.30 draw although we are two anglers down today; Messrs Parker and Turner have not turned in but we have Ash Smith standing in as a guest in section A. Unfortunately our early leader Ryan cannot make it as he has pulled his back out. We shall write to his bosses to get a handle fixed to his brush. We are sure all the bending down to clean hub caps is no good for him in the long term!!
A section is drawn first and 3TT pulls out 17 for me (happy with that). The rest of the section goes as follows; Ash on peg 2, Scotty on 3, Kos 15A, Peggy 16 and Cas on 22 (not good news for 17!!). Peg 1 stays in the bag. Next B section and 14 is pulled for Elvis with Squirrel on 5, Kev 13, Alan 15, 2E with 18 and Geoff happy with 23. Peg 4 is not drawn. Finally section C lines up with Paul on 6, MMA on 7, Danny (one T, no relation) on 10, Superstar 11, Bilbo 12, 3TT 21 and Craig on 28.
As I drive round to my peg I am a little concerned as the breeze seems to be blowing quite briskly into the north bank and with Bilbo on peg 12 I’m worried he might get blown away but Superstar assures me he’ll keep a close eye on him!
I park someone at the back of peg 14 and then proceed to ferry my gear to 17. Ferry is the operative word as the ground is like a jungle floor during the monsoon season. Mind these last few weeks has been OUR monsoon season. I manage to find some clean spots to put my rod bags and other bits then try and stand straight and not fall over in the mud. I set up a bomb rod, pellet waggler and two pole rigs; one for fishing caster short, the other for going long (if you can call 12 meters long!) with either corn, meat or pellet. By keeping things simple I am actually ready to start just before I call time at quarter to ten.
All-in and the usual plethora of bombs rattles on the water and the usual poles ship out; no change there then. First into carp as far as I can see is Geoff on 23 but Cas is not far behind when he snares one on 22. Cas soon adds to his tally and also snares a couple on pellet waggler. My searches on the bomb have proved fruitless and I even tried pellet waggler but did not get a single guzunder or even an “I thought of going under but didn’t bother” almost guzunder. Then Craig’s playing one off his caster line but my tip/float remain static. Scotty has two off a long line with corn but has managed to lose three. Ash is nicking one or two as well. 3TT now gets in on the act with one on his caster line.
About 12 noon and it has now started to rain and it has set in for the day. Still nothing is happening with my tip (even the Viagra hasn’t kicked in!!!). Finally just as I’m thinking of going to my short silver line my tip pulls round and I finally land a carp on bomb with two pieces of hair-rigged 8mm meat. I now feel confident that I can beat peg 1 (peg 1 has not been drawn!!). It would seem that carp are coming out on most pegs.
THE MICK PEGG BIRKWOOD BOLT RIG (PATENT APPLIED FOR)
Mick on 16 is a little disgruntled at catching a carp on the bomb and not collecting his free float so he tries a different method. All I hear is a strange whooshing sound followed by a splash. I see Mick lunge for, but miss, the end of his rod. It’s a novel idea to use the whole rod as a bolt rig but it seems to have worked. Unfortunately he couldn’t play the carp without his rod but Kos came to the rescue and, after a few attempts with his bomb, he managed to hook Micks line and then took his time playing the rod till it tired! With rod retrieved Mick wound down only to find the carp still attached. If Mick fell into a barrel of tits he would be the one to emerge NOT sucking his thumb!!!!
15 minutes to go. Cas has been catching regularly as have Geoff, Ash and Scotty. Kos has taken 6. Nothing left but to sit it out for a couple of 15-pounders!! Tip goes round twice before I call time so I end up with three carp. Peggy’s still not happy not having landed a bonus float!!
Now to the weigh in and Cas takes section A with just over 41lbs with Kos second with 30lbs 8ozs. Geoff sweeps B section with and all carp net of 29lbs 12ozs including a belter that went 14lbs 12ozs! Second in B is young Squirrel with just over 23lbs. C section falls to 3TT with nearly 19lbs, proving he’s and angling star as well as a porn star!!!! Bilbo takes second just 3ozs behind. His net includes two carp that in his words “won’t go a pound”. They don’t; they go just over 6lbs !!!!
Ash takes the carp prize with 28lbs 10ozs while Superstar takes the silver purse with 16lbs. He also claims the almost non-existent carp trophy with a specimen that pushed the scales round to an almost unbelievable 6ozs!!
For the record carp were caught from 18 of the 19 pegs in today’s mix and they even came from pegs 7, 21, 28 and “carpless” 12!!!! One carp net pushed forty pounds with three more very close to 30 pounds. There were a further three double figure carp nets. Will we see better carp catches on the next match??
See you all next time on 17th January.
Cheers
Des
Match Report – Round 6, 17th January 2016
Round 6 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16 and we had a proper winter league contest; temperature below zero, three inches of snow on the ground but ice only in the margins as the aerator has been belting it out all night!
We welcomed Ash Smith again and Joel Whiteley, filling in for absent friends but were missing Geoff as he couldn’t get off his estate. We were also very concerned for Bilbo as the snow can be much deeper where he lives in Drighlington than at Birkwood. They could possibly have as much as six inches up there and we were fearful he wouldn’t make it, struggling through with the snow almost up to his waist, but he did arrive and on time.
A section is drawn first as usual, which puts Bilbo on 1, 3TT on 2, Danny 3, Paul 15A, our Superstar on 16, MMA 17 and Craig with the plum draw of 22. Then to B section and 5 is drawn for me. The rest go Peggy on 4, Kos 13, Joel 14, Cas 15, Ash 18 leaving Scotty with 23. C section sees G2E on 6, Kev 7, Alan 10, Squirrel 11, Ryan with 12 (welcome back by the way buddy) and Elvis on 28. As we are one man down in C, 21 is the peg that remains in the draw bag.
The match now is fished 10 till 3 as the nights are drawing out a bit. The extra 15 minutes meant Bilbo had time to reach his peg but the snow at Birkwood only came up to his knees!! I was in good company, being next to Peggy for the third occasion and 2E to my left. I wondered what Mick would come up with this match; so far we have had “hook a carp get a free float” and using his entire rod as a bite indicator. It’s always an education sat next to him.
2E started to plumb up and reported a fair tow pulling. I went out to 12 metres with a light plummet and found the plummet moving on the bottom! 2E went to his rod bag, pulled out a light float rod and proceeded to set up with a 5 no. 4 stick, shotted shirt button style from half depth. “That should do it” he said! I set up a very light picker rod to fish a small ground bait feeder with dead reds for better skimmers, a light waggler for fishing maggot around half depth at 20 metres, a roach rig and then a deeper rig at 12 metres to try corn and pellet just in case any brown bully boys put in an appearance.
Off we go at 10 and most start to look and see if there are any carp around with bomb and various hook baits but is soon apparent, especially on one side of the rope (pegs 4 to 15) that an awful lot of nothing was happening in that respect. G2E is very quickly on the long pole line but struggling for bites. I have had two tiny tugs on my tip (careful!!) but no end product and Ryan has not had a bite! Absolutely nothing is happening on caster and 2E has blagged an embryo on his long line. It was so small I suggested he should have left it out there as bait for a bigger fish, like a 2oz roach!
It’s not long before I follow suit. Over the caster line and nothing happens. I have fed maggot to the left so have a look there. I got taken by surprise as my float disappeared but I missed whatever it was however five minutes later I actually hooked a roach. Meanwhile 2E is working like a paedophile in a primary school and filling his net with juveniles!!! After that first flush of success even the maggot line is fishing hard so now for something completely different. I had been loose feeding maggots about 20 metres out so chucked the waggler over the top very loosely set at around four foot deep. It worked; five minutes in and five small roach in the net so I decided to stick with this till the end of the match, maybe trying something different if there were any signs of carp (it was pretty productive but I did have spells where I could not hit the bites but unlike other methods it did give me a lot of indications).
An hour or so in and whispers around the pond said Craig had carp on 22, 3TT had found a couple on 2 and I had seen Paul, Superstar and MMA land at least one apiece, but it was hard. The breeze stiffened but not too much to make it difficult unless you were sat facing it! For those from 10 to 14 it was probably not a pleasant experience!
One hour and ten minutes into the match and Ryan caught his first fish! If he is struggling then it must be fishing hard. I could, however, see Cas landing a regular procession of roach with a few net fish mixed in but it’s hard to see what’s happening at the other end of the pond. Still I am in good company but Peggy is rating zero for entertainment value so far !!!!
And so it goes and all too soon three o’clock comes round and I call the all-out. Fortunately the snow has been melting away meaning Bilbo will not have a struggle back up the slope to his car!
And now the weigh-in; although he’s last-but-one to weigh Craig must get first mention taking a dozen carp off 22 on popped –up bread to win the match and A section with nearly 56 ½ lbs including about 5 ½ lbs of quality skimmers. I asked:
“How far did you pop it up Craig?”
“About the length……..about ….er…..” he tried to reply.
“The length of your willy?” I quickly enquired, but Scotty interjected “he couldn’t do that Des, surface baits aren’t allowed!!”. LOL
Next in A was Superstar with just shy of 25lbs including 21lbs of carp. B section was taken by Cas with nearly 13lbs of silvers with Ash coming second with just over 7lbs, a net that included one carp of 4 ½ lbs. Ryan “blitzed” C with nearly 9lbs while G2E took second spot with almost 7lbs.
Best carp net went to 3TT and best silver net to Bilbo.
After the match Craig did comment that as he caught more fish his peg resembled the effects of a creeping barrage with others bombs getting ever closer to where he was catching but they couldn’t hold him off.
Not one carp was hooked or seen to move from around peg 3 to 15.
SHOCK OF THE DAY
Only handing MMA the second in section pay-out for G2E. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have to give Martin some winnings of his own!
See you all next time on 31st January. Remember round 7 is back to an open draw and the sections are unchanged.
Cheers
Des
Match Report – Round 7, 31st January 2016
Round 7 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League for 2015/16 and we have lost another competitor so we are down to 18. As we shall keep this configuration till the end of the series I decided to remove one peg from each section. I took 3 from A section as it can fish badly if there is a cold spell and the aerator has been running. I took 18 from B and 21 from C on the premise that it would be better to take out two pegs in one area so not to leave one with a bigger advantage. This may not be a decision that appeases everyone but a decision had to be made. I did not want to leave all the pegs in the mix as there would have been a possibility of having two sections with seven anglers and one with four. And that would remain through the last two matches as well and could potentially skewing the outcome!
So the 18 of us were ready for the last open draw of the series. It was cold but would possibly warm up later with a breeze blowing towards the Kop end!
3TT drew the first peg for me and came up with 13 in B section. He dipped for Elvis and came out with 7 in C section. Back into the bag went his little mitt and for himself he pulled out 22 !!!!!! The rest of the draw saw a gaggle of the big boys in A with 2E on 1, Superstar 2, Jeff 15A, MMA with 16 and Cas on 17. B section has Scotty on 4, Squirrel 5, Alan 14, Kev 15 leaving Kos with 23. C section had Bilbo on 6, Paul on 12, Peggy 28 leaving an interesting battle at the Kop end between Craig on 10 and Ryan on 11. So all the top runners are in A and C with Scotty pushing for a top 5 finish in B.
Kick off 10 o’clock and a lot of research is made with the bomb from a lot of pegs with a lot of bait variation. I start on meat. 13 can throw up carp from time to time in winter but none have really put in much of an appearance at the Kop end in recent matches so I didn’t want to waste too much time on that line. I set up a light waggler but the wind made firing maggots any distance a little tricky so after a few minutes feeding and almost getting my own back that idea got canned. I also had a light feeder for ground bait and dead reds and then one rig to fish short lines left and right with maggot and caster, and a line at 12m to fish corn and pellet.
After 20 minutes on the tip, which did not move, I moved onto the caster line and managed a few small roach. To the left I put a pot of maggots and dead reds. Trying this got me a better stamp of roach and some hard fighting gudgeon. I could see Three Turds catching odd carp and MMA netting a couple. Then Kev landed one from 15, Scotty had also had one from 4 so I thought I’d better have another look on the bomb. After another 20 fruitless minutes I re-fed short and also fed the corn and pellet line ready for a switch back to the pole. Just as I put my cupping kit back down my tip flew round only to see nothing on the end. Whatever it was had managed to suck two small cubes of meat off the hair! So, two fresh cubes were mounted and the bomb lobbed back into the same position. Now I concentrated but even with the full force of my will straining to make the tip fly round again – nothing happened!! So, waiting for the odd carp bite had now cost me another hour!
Now I looked on the long line with corn and pellet but still a lot of not much kept happening. There was nothing for it but to go back to the short lines. I was loose feeding casters right but big potting maggots left. On the caster line I managed roach to almost an ounce but over the maggot feed at dead depth I was getting odd roach to 12ozs so, apart from another 20 minute look on the bomb (Scotty had three carp now), I stuck on the maggot rig but I’d wasted so much time looking for the brown things I hadn’t caught enough silvers to do any damage. Must remember to focus on one line in future!
So three o’clock came and time was called. At the weigh in peg 22 had come good again with 3TT taking the section and match with 11 carp for over 47lbs taken on bread and meat. Second place in A went to Cas who had just shy of 29lbs. B section was won by Kos again with a good net of carp that pushed 24lbs but he also had a big hybrid that was just 2ozs shy of 2lbs! Scotty took second spot in B with 3 carp and a few silvers for just over 16lbs. Ryan took C section with 16lbs 10ozs with Craig taking second from next door with 14lbs 4ozs. Both nets were all silvers but Ryan put in a spurt in the last hour getting one a bung that took him past Craig.
And, oh!, what a surprise; the best default carp net was won by MMA with G2E doing the honours on the silvers. Bilbo’s claimed 5lbs was more than double his estimate but it nearly always is!
Now the league is beginning to take shape and after 7 matches and taking out one worst result sees Ryan in pole position with 8 points followed by Cas with 10 and MMA 13 but a lot can happen in the last two matches. Next match it’s C section for me but I shall be running a book before the next draw and will give short odds on Ryan drawing 22 and 3TT getting 23!!
See you all on Valentine’s Day. If anyone wants to bring me flowers I won’t be offended!!!
Cheers
Des
Match Report – Round 8, 14th February 2016
Round 8 of the Birkwood Farm Knacker Tappers Winter League, the penultimate round and it is still too close to call; there are two in contention for the top spot and eight anglers who could finish in the top five. This year I will be paying the top five plus, by default, the two anglers with the best cumulative carp and silver weights over all nine league matches.
We were without Alan for this match who had to travel to Glasgow for his work. Normally he is travelling in the week from one good fishing venue to another. Still, I suppose if he fishes in the week it is reasonable to do something for work on a Sunday!!! We welcomed Mark Kelly who was substituting for Alan.
So we draw at 8.30, A section first, which is hosting two of the potential top five. Elvis’ peg was pulled first and he had 16. Bets had been placed on either Ryan or Craig pulling 22 but this privilege went to Paul. Bilbo took 1, Peggy of the Flying Rod drew 2, Ryan had 15A – not the best in the section – leaving Craig with 17. Next we drew B section where another four of the contenders are placed. Peg 4 went to G2E, Cas pulled 5, Superstar had 13, MMA 14, Three Turds 15 leaving Geoff with an in form 23 (23 did not really fish till this last round but the carp seem to have turned up there). Finally we drew C section and peg 12 was pulled out for me, Kos pulled 6, Scotty 7, Mr Kelly 10, Squirrel 11 leaving Kev on 28.
I was happy with 12 as I had the wind from behind (funny, that’s where I usually have the wind!!) but it left me with some dilemma. Normally in C I would have just set up a light feeder and waggler (for maggot shallow, both “just-in-case” choices) then stick mainly to a couple of pole lines for silvers but I also set up a bomb rod as carp could just show around the area of 12, 13 or 14. I then set up two light rigs for depth and shallow and one for fishing corn and pellet at 12m. I had a cunning plan, however!
Time called at 10 and I lobbed out the bomb with spicy meet just to see if the tip would pull round. Young Squirrel started with a small feeder and maggot. I sat on the bomb for 15 minutes with nary a twitch while YS had netted half a dozen small roach and skimmers. With little happening I had fed two pole lines; one with caster and hemp with loose-fed caster over the top while the other received a liberal-ish dose of live and dead red maggot. This line would be fished out and the re-potted to keep the fish near the deck. Although bites were not easy to come by I was getting a fairly steady run of half decent roach. Things were looking up!
From where I was sat I could see and hear much of what was going on. 2E was complaining about something being 105 (I assumed pounds) and he mentioned his displeasure with 105 several times. But we did need to check :-
“Was that 105 Graham” enquired Mark
“I think so” replied Kos
“Yeah, he definitely said it was 105” someone else chimed in
Several more 105’s followed
“Fuck off” said Graham!
Then there came a conversation about MMA’s interest in twitching. That lasted till G2E disappeared. Well I thought his camouflage gear was really doing its job as none of us actually clocked him getting off his box. That really is some class camouflage gear. Suddenly we noticed he’d reappeared by his van (we could see him against the red background. If he’d had a brown van we wouldn’t have known where he’d gone). He’s on the phone
“Hello my darling………” he began
“Love you” echoed across the pond
“……..can you record the rugby for me?”
“That a euphemism Graham?”
“Fuck off” he said for the second time
“Love you……” echoed again, followed by
“No, you put the phone down…….”
“Take her twitching for Valentine’s Day”
This prompted a third “Fuck off” from Graham
I must admit this was far more interesting than the fishing, until, that is I hooked a lump on my maggot line. It was a time for twitching but a twitching April not bird watching. Scotty had lost a carp about 10 minutes earlier so I knew I had to hang on to this one. Fortunately it didn’t run hard or take too much elastic although my number 3 Preston solid and 0.8 bottom were given some test. After about 5 minutes I slid the net under a fish just shy of 4lbs. Not long after I connected with another lump. This took off like a carp, fought like a carp until I got some purchase on it, got it to the top where it immediately quietened down. Now in the net I was looking down on a near 2lb hybrid. Not bad; in about 20 mins, along with a few roach, I had added about 8lbs to my net. My cunning plan was working. I had fed through the match about 3 ½ pints of red maggot with nearly 2 pints of dead reds on the same line. I caught better roach on this line and, when I tried the caster line could only catch sprats from half the number of bites!
So soon though 3 o’clock came round and time for the weigh in. Peg 22 had done the business again for A section, Paul leading with just over 30lbs of carp. Craig took second spot about 4lbs behind with just over 23lbs of carp and 3 ½ lbs silvers. Geoff took B section, and the match, with almost 33lbs, while our Superstar took second with nearly 18 ½ lbs, but just 1oz ahead of 3TT. My cunning plan had worked as I took C section with over 17 ½ lbs with Squirrel taking second putting a level 11lbs on the scales. Cas took the best silver weight while Elvis took the carp prize. For the record Paul caught his carp on a variety of baits but couldn’t get ‘em on corn. Geoff caught on corn!
Now for the last round and hopefully some good weather to finish with. The league could be won by either Cas or Ryan and this will be interesting with them in different sections!
See you all on 28th Feb.
Cheers
Des
Shock of the day: MMA did not pick up any money, not even a default package contributed by 2E
Disappointment of the day: Peggy weighing 16lbs carp on traditional bite indicating techniques. Not once did he use his “rod off rest” method!!!
Stop Press: 3TT has taken another quid back from Scotty
