Round 8 upon us and still no spoiling by the weather. We were promised bright sunshine for most of the day so, as we had only 19 fishing, decided to leave out 10 (sorry Roger) and 12 so there would be some chance of actually see floats go under without being blinded!
Draw at 8.30 and 3TT picks out 5 for me and 18 for Eric. Then he dips in and pulls out 13 for himself (note to self for next year – get someone else to pull our pegs as Dave always manages to get us average to mediocre then pulls a good carp peg for himself!!). But, as it turned out, the carp were not in playful mood, which we attributed to cold rain and strong winds mixing up the water so they were unsettled. Big Martin did warn that the carp were not being cooperative as he and the Kitch lad fished 22 and 23 on Thursday and managed only one between them.
The other main title contenders (3TT is up there) then drew as follows; Craig pulled 17, Ryan 4, Paul B 22 and Chippie 23. Also entering the running is Andy Scott who took 15 but the Knacker Tapper’s absence now puts him on the fringes.
Kick off at 10 and a lot of bombs hit a lot of water (strangely their own!) and then a lot of nothing happened! Nobody really stayed long on those lines apart from Paul and Chippie who were in an area where carp can show even in the most demanding conditions. A few went straight on their silver lines and were soon catching. My efforts went quickly from bomb to small groundbait feeder with dead reds just to see if any odd skimmers might show. After 20 minutes and one small roach and an even smaller gudgeon (foul-hooked and would have made excellent bait for a minnow) I abandoned that and went on the pole to catch silvers. My first thirty odd fish would have seen me putting around 1lb in the net – great!
Then I had to suffer abuse from Roger and Ben, who were sat on 6 and 7 respectively. Just because I forgot to get all my bait out before we started, just because I couldn’t find a bottle of Pepsi that I swore I had put in my bag and for forgetting one or two other things they both started casting aspersions on my memory and fitting me up with various ailments normally associated with the aged and mentally challenged. These young whippersnappers showed me no respect whatsoever! Then I managed to launch the drawer that sits under my bait tray into the water, upside down, spilling all my method feeders, pole-pots, moulds and sundry other items into the pond – not once but TWICE. And then I had to firkle around with my landing net, which I broke in the process, to retrieve as much as I could. This confirmed Ben and Roger’s worst fears that I should not be let out without my carer!!
Back to the fishing; Ryan had snaffled a carp on his bomb line (at least I think it was HIS bomb line but could have been the margins between 14 and 15) and Mick Webb, in between complaining about the sun blinding him on peg 11, took a small one on his silver rig. Ryan then managed another on his pole line only to be trumped by Mick with a decent specimen that took him some time to land (Andy Scott must have lent some of his old knicker elastic) but land it successfully he did. Byron was walking, complaining he had less than 5lbs, had not had a bite for an hour, had to suffer watching Alan on 1 and Andy B on 2 sacking silvers (he could also see Craig and 2E doing the same over on 16 and 17). Depression set in. “Might as well pack up” he mumbled amid calls of, “liar”, “you know when he’s lying – his lips move” and “5lbs means he’s got at least 10!!!”. He shuffled back to his peg and disappeared behind his box (Marjie wasn’t there to give him a leg up) but eventually started fishing, and catching, again.
Silvers continued to be caught around the place but eventually, in the last hour, Chippie managed to blag a carp on maggot from 23, a decent beastie that boosted his weight by 6lbs. That was it, however, last carp of the day.
Time called at 3. Winner on the day was Mick Webb with 21lbs 13oz, a good weight from peg 11 although Roger did remind him he did have the luxury of 6 empty pegs! This won C section. Second on the day and winner of B section was Craig with an all silvers net of 19lbs 8oz. Third and winner of A section was 2E with 15lbs 12oz. Second in A was Andy Beech, Alan took section B while Gary finally found himself in the money with second in C section from peg 21. Winning team comprised G2E, Gary and Dave “Three Turds” Thomson who took the prize with 6 points.
The league is now nearly over and results now show that Craig has taken first place with one match to go. Ryan can end up on the same points if he wins his next section and Craig finishes last in his, but Craig would take it on section second placings. Ryan, Paul Brown, 3TT and Chippie have all earned podium finishes with Andy Scott in 6th. Andy can be caught by Knacker Tapper, 2E, Big Martin or Byron (see Byron – all is not lost!!) but to guarantee it he needs to finish in the top 3 of his section. The interesting one is between Andy and 3TT. If Andy wins a section and Dave comes last in his Andy would be in the top six but to finish above Dave weight would be the decider – but in this instance Andy would need to beat Dave by more than 70lbs!!!!! All the latest points calculations can be seen on the website, which will show the minimum and maximum points the main contenders can accrue. Have a look if you’re a knob-head like me who like’s buggering about with numbers!!
If not in the last 6 the Knacker Tapper should take the cash for best cumulative weight of carp. Byron and 2E are close for the silvers with Ben a little way behind.
See you Sunday
Des
PS: Dave “Three Turds” Thomson says he passed a comfortable match on Sunday – let’s just hope that’s all he passed. He was wearing the very latest Dyno-Rod Sphincter Suction Set, which means he doesn’t have to keep leaping off his box every time he gets the belly ache. Apparently if you do have to use it it’s a little like watching the Great Escape! If you see Dave walking around and shaking his legs you’ll know what he’s doing (or just done!!). I did note that Dave had just fitted the set before the draw; his eyes were still watering!!!
