Well, welcome back to Birkwood for the Winter League - now the Knacker Tappers Winter League - the only league in the UK (as far as I am aware) with both a hobbit and Gollum among the participants (you know who you are!!). Welcome to all the new boys and to those returning after one or two years absence - good to have you with us.
It was great to see everyone again and get off to a good start with good weather, bright sunshine and just a stiff breeze (unless you happened to be on pegs 10 to 13 when you probably couldn't see a thing all day!). My peg was drawn first; out came 15 so off to a good start. The team draw was made by G2E before the main draw and this put me with Big Martin on 21 (the worst peg on the lake) and Ryan on peg 1. Also a good start for me - maybe not so much for Martin and Ryan!
Decided to start the match at 10.10 to allow for two minutes silence at 11.00 (it was rememberance Sunday) and finish at 3.00. In spite of needing to do the admin (?) before the match started I was still ready for the off - unusually for me. I had Mick Webb on 15A and he told me 15 had thrown up some decent carp (Byron - horrible brown things!) on the pole line so started off on bomb and pellet but fed pellet and corn at 11m and chop, caster and hemp at 6m just to have a look for roach if all else failed. Most started on the bomb and in a very short time Paul B on 4, Mark C on 13 and Alan on 3 were playing carp. Not long after my tip also flew round and carp no.1 - about 4lbs - was glaring at me from the bottom of my landing net. Over the next 45 minutes I could see more carp caught and I managed no.2 just before 11. Nothing much happened after that so I tried corn at full depth on the longer pole line (in deference to G2E I will not call this the long pole line as for Graham this is normally around 17m not the measly 11m I was fishing at). Float buried, bumped a small fish. In again, float buried, small skimmer. Next put in, float buried 10oz skimmer. That'll do nicely. Third put in float buried, laccy came pouring out of pole tip only to come flying back a minute later. Must have been a foul hooker! 10 minutes later finally latched into a decent carp on the "longer" pole line. This was followed not long after by no.4. Then it all went quiet again. Paul, Mark and Alan were still catching on bomb so went back on bomb and re-fed the pole line.
In the meantime Byron on peg 12 (my roach heaven he said when he drew it!!) was complaining at the size of fish he was catching and owning up to about 4lbs. He was worried that if nothing bigger showed up he could end up on a sex offenders register!!! (he also complained that he couldn't see his float, someone should switch the sun off etc. etc). Mr 2E was unusually very quiet on peg 28 - normally a bad sign for everyone as it means his heads down and he's catching (thank the lord his head was down, and in the shade, as the effects of sun on the water, in the eyes and reflecting off his bonce could have finished Byron for good!!)
Into the afternoon and the carp seem to have moved a shade. Mark C had stopped catching on 13. I managed another 2 on bomb (do these b.......s all swim round in pairs?) but Paul and Alan were still catching. Dave Thomson was getting among a few on peg 6 and even Andy Scott on 7 had found a couple, stretching his knicker elastic some fair distance! Obviously these were fish on vacation in this area as it never normally throws up that many horrible brown things in winter. Pegs 22 and 23 were struggling for carp (Gary foul hooked one on his pole line that soon beggared off and Craig snared a couple but they never really showed on these pegs - just wait till winter gets going and they should!). Into the last hour and suddenly the carp seemed to have moved further up as Dave "Knacker Tapper" Parker's swim (16) suddenly exploded into life and his rod almost assumed a permanent bend as he landed a succession of carp. I managed another three from the pole line. Big Martin (peg 21 - the worst peg on the lake) - snared three on bomb in the last hour as well.
Time called at 3.15. Carp had been caught from all but 5 pegs. Winner on the day, and taking section A, was newcomer Paul Brown with about 18 carp for 68-11 (well done Paul but make a habit of it and you could be barred!!). Second from peg 3 next door, and also second in section A, was Alan Weare with 50-2, mostly carp (8oz of silvers) and I took third, again from section A with 35-14 (which included 1-8 of silvers). Section B was won by Mark Carpenter with 29-6 and second was Ryan Bennett with 28-12 from peg 2. Among the top weights Ryan's was unusual as it contained only 8-0 of carp but 20-12 of silvers - a great weight. Dave Thommo took section C with a carp dominated 26-15 from peg 6 while Big Martin was second (from the worst peg on the lake) with 24-6, roughly equal weights of carp and silvers. There were three notable weights of silvers from peg 28 (G2E) with 22-4, peg 5 (another new boy, Ben Lindley) with 19-12 and a good 19-10 from a much sun and small fish affected peg 12 (Mr Dell). Byron was owning up to about 7lbs when time was called, Marjorie did agree that he couldn't even lie straight in bed!!!!!
A great first round. Thanks to everyone who came. But a query that must be answered. Before the draw a question was raised whether or not bait boats could be used. I have checked NFA rules and these are permitted providing they are manned by at least a crew of 3 (I did say one at the draw but Health & Safety rules state there must be one to steer, one to make the tea and one to hold on to lifebelts in case it capsizes. Also note that lifejackets must also be worn).
See you all next time - Des
