Well a good start to the new season with a very closely fished mission at a cold and windy Packington Somers - there were several weights in contention to pick up the winners trophy, one of which being Andy B on the golden peg (peg 16), however a few lost fish at the start proved costly at the end of the day with Andy being beaten into 3rd place by a little over 2lb but still managing to pick up the species trophy with a massive count of 5 different fishy life forms!
The top two weights were separated by an even narrower margin (1lb 1oz) with Graham just nudging Jim off the victors podium with a bag also containing the biggest fish of the day (a 5lb beast snatched out of the margins on the pole).
The favoured hot peg (peg 31) failed to show form on the day and was only good enough for fourth place.
April's venue has still yet to be decided so keep an eye on your inboxes for details and dates as soon as the rest of the season is booked.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Monday 9 March 2009
Lions, Tigers and Bears .. OH MY!
After our successful AGM it was time to do the anual venue spotting list - I had done some homework for this and on top of the venues mentioned at the AGM I sat down with google Earth and came up with a list of over 100 venues within 25 miles that we had not visited before and another 30 plus of unknown venues (so whoever said at the AGM we will start doing repeat venues as we must have exhausted local venues is way way way off the mark).
Previous years had seen us do over 250 miles to cover 6 venues - this year (all planned into the sat nav) saw us do just over 70 miles and covering 19 venues!
There were a few criteria we wanted a lot of them to meet - namely some sort of food outlet (for the colder months) and a loo (for our female members).
First up Baxters Garden Farm
Just down the road from our start point the most difficult thing was actually finding the entrance to this venue - after accosting a few local passers by (including a very attractive young lady) we found it - it was being fished and upon questioning this turned out to be more of a carp venue than a general fishery.
Next up - Friezeland Pools
Still not got the hang of the Sat Nav yet so we missed the turning for this one (despite the warning fart.wav) but after a little negotiation and much 'get out and walk' commentary we found the entrance. There were two lakes here - a pleasure lake and a match lake - the pleasure lake was packed and everyone was catching - we picked on the nearest bloke to the car park and proceeded to interrogate him - he had been fishing it over the winter and even when iced over he had been catching reasonable bags - encouraging! However the match lake was not occupied (the one on the left) and appears to be a little harder - but it does have a Loo!
Maynes Lakes
Another missed entrance - another ignored Fart.wav - but I now had the Sat Nav sorted and it was the start of a beautiful relationship!
Maynes looked interesting - a few lakes on offer and a local matchman to chat to - that was catching fish!
Next up - Lychgate Lane Fishery - whilst the name might not be familiar - each and everyone of you will have rubber necked this one whilst going North on the M69. A decent sized water that seemed to be up for sale - with a nice (but rotting) Gazebo (and Loo!)
Moving on - Temple Farm Wolvey (just before you get to Makins) - this venue is only bookable in the winter so may not feature - a nice one lake venue with an island - popular on the day with plenty of people fishing.
The next venue was a drive through as Wayne refused to stop - I think it was because caravaners were allowed (posh pikeys!) - apologies for blurred pics - I was desperately trying to snag photos with the camera smashing me in the nose - it does have loos!
Weston Lawns - a false hope! - with Stomachs rumbling we spotted the cafe at this venue straight away - unfortunately it does not open until later in the year - a nice 3 lake venue (complete with resident terriers and dead animal bones everywhere - lake 3 is the likely candidate, the one on the left - but beware the telephone line snagger!)
There should have been another lake a few hundred yards down the lane from this one but the gates were padlocked and no signs were up for fishing.
Hollyhurst Lakes - if they ever find out that water runs down hill - they are f*cked - at the top of a the proverbial grassy knoll are two brand spanking new lakes, a match and specimen lake - clothing for the day appeared to be dayglo orange or red (it had a loo!)- it was also cold!
Parkers next - a single lake - oddly shaped, heavily matched out on the day with plenty of Daiwa Duffers on display - people were catching on mixed methods - including the pellet wag - no mean feat on a cold day (it had a loo!)
Hopsford Hall was next - It looked pretty but judging by the number of bivvy boys this turned out to be a carp water
We were now getting HUNGRY - fortunately 5 Ways lakes had an open cafe, so with lunches ordered we wandered down to the lakes - 2 nice long and not overly narrow lakes, the bigger of the two being the 60 peg match lake - it even had a set of spectator seats! (and a loo)
Mill Farm Fishery - another drive through venue when we realised we had visited this one a previous year
Kilworth Sticks Lakes - a venue recommended strongly by one of the Daiwa boys - a multi lake complex (with Loo!)
We were now on the return stretch!
Peatling Match lakes - another venue that was padlocked up for the winter, however we had been round it on a year or two before (a multi lake complex with quite large lakes) - we have also had a mission over the road at the Peatling Pools.
Whetstone Gorse Match lakes - apparently Graham knows where the hot pegs are in these lakes!
Fortways Farm - situated at the back of Stoney Cove and guarded by several Dobermans (that turned out to be friendly) - an unusual lake (with a loo)
Last but not least - Watery Gate Farm - landscaped by Capability Brown - two lakes with a stretch of river (and a loo!). The entrance to this was blocked by an open ford so we had to walk a little to get there. As we were leaving quite a large number of young carpers were turning up for a night session, however we did speak to a few match lads that been fishing it that day for mixed bags.
All in all a very productive day - dont worry if your suggested venue was not on the list we did this year - it does not mean it wont get picked, some of them either one of us had been to before or it was an outlier on the map.
Alco
Previous years had seen us do over 250 miles to cover 6 venues - this year (all planned into the sat nav) saw us do just over 70 miles and covering 19 venues!
There were a few criteria we wanted a lot of them to meet - namely some sort of food outlet (for the colder months) and a loo (for our female members).
First up Baxters Garden Farm
Just down the road from our start point the most difficult thing was actually finding the entrance to this venue - after accosting a few local passers by (including a very attractive young lady) we found it - it was being fished and upon questioning this turned out to be more of a carp venue than a general fishery.
Next up - Friezeland Pools
Still not got the hang of the Sat Nav yet so we missed the turning for this one (despite the warning fart.wav) but after a little negotiation and much 'get out and walk' commentary we found the entrance. There were two lakes here - a pleasure lake and a match lake - the pleasure lake was packed and everyone was catching - we picked on the nearest bloke to the car park and proceeded to interrogate him - he had been fishing it over the winter and even when iced over he had been catching reasonable bags - encouraging! However the match lake was not occupied (the one on the left) and appears to be a little harder - but it does have a Loo!
Maynes Lakes
Another missed entrance - another ignored Fart.wav - but I now had the Sat Nav sorted and it was the start of a beautiful relationship!
Maynes looked interesting - a few lakes on offer and a local matchman to chat to - that was catching fish!
Next up - Lychgate Lane Fishery - whilst the name might not be familiar - each and everyone of you will have rubber necked this one whilst going North on the M69. A decent sized water that seemed to be up for sale - with a nice (but rotting) Gazebo (and Loo!)
Moving on - Temple Farm Wolvey (just before you get to Makins) - this venue is only bookable in the winter so may not feature - a nice one lake venue with an island - popular on the day with plenty of people fishing.
The next venue was a drive through as Wayne refused to stop - I think it was because caravaners were allowed (posh pikeys!) - apologies for blurred pics - I was desperately trying to snag photos with the camera smashing me in the nose - it does have loos!
Weston Lawns - a false hope! - with Stomachs rumbling we spotted the cafe at this venue straight away - unfortunately it does not open until later in the year - a nice 3 lake venue (complete with resident terriers and dead animal bones everywhere - lake 3 is the likely candidate, the one on the left - but beware the telephone line snagger!)
There should have been another lake a few hundred yards down the lane from this one but the gates were padlocked and no signs were up for fishing.
Hollyhurst Lakes - if they ever find out that water runs down hill - they are f*cked - at the top of a the proverbial grassy knoll are two brand spanking new lakes, a match and specimen lake - clothing for the day appeared to be dayglo orange or red (it had a loo!)- it was also cold!
Parkers next - a single lake - oddly shaped, heavily matched out on the day with plenty of Daiwa Duffers on display - people were catching on mixed methods - including the pellet wag - no mean feat on a cold day (it had a loo!)
Hopsford Hall was next - It looked pretty but judging by the number of bivvy boys this turned out to be a carp water
We were now getting HUNGRY - fortunately 5 Ways lakes had an open cafe, so with lunches ordered we wandered down to the lakes - 2 nice long and not overly narrow lakes, the bigger of the two being the 60 peg match lake - it even had a set of spectator seats! (and a loo)
Mill Farm Fishery - another drive through venue when we realised we had visited this one a previous year
Kilworth Sticks Lakes - a venue recommended strongly by one of the Daiwa boys - a multi lake complex (with Loo!)
We were now on the return stretch!
Peatling Match lakes - another venue that was padlocked up for the winter, however we had been round it on a year or two before (a multi lake complex with quite large lakes) - we have also had a mission over the road at the Peatling Pools.
Whetstone Gorse Match lakes - apparently Graham knows where the hot pegs are in these lakes!
Fortways Farm - situated at the back of Stoney Cove and guarded by several Dobermans (that turned out to be friendly) - an unusual lake (with a loo)
Last but not least - Watery Gate Farm - landscaped by Capability Brown - two lakes with a stretch of river (and a loo!). The entrance to this was blocked by an open ford so we had to walk a little to get there. As we were leaving quite a large number of young carpers were turning up for a night session, however we did speak to a few match lads that been fishing it that day for mixed bags.
All in all a very productive day - dont worry if your suggested venue was not on the list we did this year - it does not mean it wont get picked, some of them either one of us had been to before or it was an outlier on the map.
Alco
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