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A good day had by all I think most would agree.
2 no shows unfortunately, meaning that a couple of pegs went begging that we would probably been able to fill had we known. :(
As it was, I think we just missed out on breaking the clubs total weight record for the 3rd year in succession, but I'm sure Dave will confirm/refute that when he posts the results.
Yes unfortunately we failed to break the record and had either of the absentees shown up I'm sure we would have done.
The favoured pegs 1,2 and 3 didnt figure as well as we all expected, or was it the anglers that drew them werent up to the job.
I must say a big thank you to everyone for mucking in with the weigh in. Especially to Judy for recording the weights, the adding up was spot on.
There were some personal bests notably Colins and my PB match weights for both 3 and 6 hours and our first time over 300lb. Colin also had a carp which must have been over 15lb.
a good day fishing, but still frustating, i got 177lb 12oz and didn't do as well as i should have done should have been 200 plus, they were just not taking the pellet in the afternoon, just kept pushing it around, so i had to change to bread in the end. well done colin dave keith mugger & martin.
Warning to kev the catch for next week, Martin with harry (mini me martin) fishing with you good luck
Although I was quite happy with peg 3 I would have gladly swapped for any of the house pegs. 17 18 or 19.
I was happy with both matches, although I had a lot of small carp in the morning but by changing methods picked off better small fish. I think I had one fish that went around 4lb and the rest were between 1lb and 2lb.
Word around the lake after the match was that Mugger had a big 200lb in the afternoon. He must have got carried away with his clicker.
Another great day at Rockells, well done to Colin for his win and to all those who achieved personal bests.
Was delighted to draw peg 1 and for company Clive was on 2 and Keith on 3 - no pressure then ::) but certainly the morning session proved very frustrating as had over 50 fish which only weighed 66lb , it seemed pretty obvious that having followed Clive around the lake the small fish had obviously escaped into my swim as well . The afternoon proved better with another 50 fish but this time they were of a better size which weighed 128lb just pipping Clive's 123lb bag of "Roach" he told me he was catching , Keith was also having a good afternoon and had over 200lb in the afternoon - well done that man
All in all a superb days fishing and looking forward to next year already
Its a beautifull looking lake with Willow trees and features in almost every peg. A nice place to fish even without the prolific stocks. http://www.rockellsfarm.co.uk/
That was the difference. I had probably the same if not more fish than you but weighed in considerably less. The average stamp of fish on the point was probably around 12oz in the morning and around 1 1/2lb in the afternoon. With a 4lb a proper bonus fish.
We would have been happy with your morning sized fish all day and would have given you a run for your money.
Keith. Thats the advantage of surface baits they ALWAYS give a better size of fish. Not only at Rockells, I first noticed it at Newlands Hall when we fished there. The surface fish were 50 to 100% bigger than the bottom fish. Also as you noted the afternoon average is usually bigger than the morning.
My average sizes were 2 3/4 lb in the morning and 3lb 6 oz in the afternoon and Colins were similar. I just wish I was more physically able as im sure I spent a lot more time playing fish than I did trying to catch them.
You did extremely well considering you were not well before the match started.A new PB and as you said at half time "I just want to break 300lb." target achieved.
You will have to give me a lesson in floater fishing, baits, feed rates rigs etc. It is not something I do as I was taught that carp are bottom feeders.
Hmmm is that why a lot now fish the pellet wag? and the favoured method in the early days of commercial carp was Wag and Mag.
Its not always as easy as some people think and feeding can be the key, similar to other methods, once the set up is right.
Colin came along earlier and said that like me at times he was taking the bait away from the small mouthed fish and dropping it in front of the lumps when they appeared. He said he had one in the swim that was a fair bit bigger than the 15lber, but couldnt get it to take the bait properly as it kept turning away or spitting the bait out.
My average sizes were 2 3/4 lb in the morning and 3lb 6 oz in the afternoon and Colins were similar.
Thats interesting - my averages were 1.1lb in the morning fishing the margins, and 1.4lb in the afternoon fishing up in the water 6" deep. Give or take half a dozen fish, I had the same number of fish as Colin off the next peg and got well and truly battered for choosing not to fish on the top this year.
Still enjoyed it tho.
It's off to Rockells Farm today for what is probably the most eagerly anticipated club match of the year. Last year Martin Hucker set a new club match record at 383lbs 4ozs and a new club record total of 2911lbs 14ozs was put on the scales by the 19 anglers that fished the match. A lot can depend on the draw, but an awsome weight is on the cards if the draw bag is kind to you .
As usual when visiting this venue in the depths of Essex I'd arranged to meet Dave at his place just after 6·30am and follow him and Colin down to the fishery . The weather looked good and a smooth run down saw us pulling up at the lake at around 8am to find Keith and his guest Troy along with Jean and Kev, Martin and John already in attendance . A quick look confirmed that the lake looked in good nick although the water level was a little down.
Keith, Terry and I set off to peg out while the others arrived and I have to say that every peg looked like it was good for a few fish . Keith expressed a preference for a late peg in the high teens and the general consensus was that either the first 3 or the last 3 would be decent draws . So at 8·30am Dave called the draw, people seemed a little reluctant so I dived in early and found peg 19 to be my home for the day . Keith drew peg 3 and with Clive drawing peg 2 with Terry for company on peg 1 they would definitely be contesting the honours , I had Graham for company on 18 while peg 17 was Dave's for the day and was the one I felt we all had to beat. I had the peg last year and the willow that had been cut back then had re-grown and now offered some cover and would be tailor made for Dave's floater approach today .
So off to the pegs, and I have to say that I couldn't have any complaints with my own peg, with the boards to fish to on my left and some cover to my right, both of which had a depth of no more than 18 inches......
My approach is pretty single minded in that I tend to ignore any long lines when I fish Rockells as shipping back and forth wastes to much time and look to catch on a top 2 from the off if at all possible. Rigs are simply Middy in-line paste floats made up on 0·20 power match with a size 12 owner barbless relying on the bait to cock the float. Bait is simply GOT Atomic paste with 4mm pellets (and plenty of them) for feed.
So with such a simple set up I had a bit of time before the All-in and had a stroll down to see Dave who was looking as happy as Larry despite not feeling quite 100%......
Dave had never recorded 300lbs in a match, but today he was definitely sitting on a peg that was more than capable of doing it if he could get off to a good start in the first 3 hour session . We fish two three hour sessions here with a mid point weigh-in as with the prospect of big weights it means that fish aren't retained in nets for to long and it gives the anglers a chance to have a breather as well .
So 10am and Dave blew the whistle for the All-in, a handful of pellet down both margins and in with my first piece of paste next to the boards, a couple of dinks and the float slid away resulting in a perfect little Common of around 8 ozs to get me off the mark and from then on in the bites kept coming regularly , unfortunately not all were connected with, I'd get 4 or 5 on the trot then miss a few or foul hook a couple, but I had 20 fish in the first hour. Peg 19 is pretty tucked away in a corner and you cant really see anyone else to judge how you're doing against them, though I could hear plenty of splashing coming from Graham and Dave's pegs so it was just a question off concentrating on my own peg. By the end of the second hour I had 39 fish, but they were mostly small. In the 3rd hour I upped the size of paste that I was fishing and although the bites slowed a bit I started to pick up a better stamp of fish. Judy popped round to see how I was doing, but it coincided with one of those frustrating periods of lots of missed bites and by the time that Dave blew the whistle to signal the end of the morning session I had 55 fish on the clicker and was hoping for somewhere around the ton.
The weigh-in started from my peg and I recorded exactly 100lbs . Graham had 84½lbs while Dave had a much better stamp of fish for 150½lbs and top weigh of the morning . Martin on peg 13 had also fished floaters for 101½lbs. Colin had also had a good morning on peg 8, making the most of the cover afforded from the overhanging willow on his peg and again fishing floaters for a fine 144¼lbs . The point pegs hadn't really produced as expected, lots of small fish, but not enough of the better stamp, with Keith's 89¾lbs being the best weight of the group . I'd fished Keith's peg 2 years ago though and expected it to fish much better in the second session. However 1095½lbs had been weighed in by the 18 anglers including four 'Tons', an average of just over 60lbs per angler so not too shabby .
By the time we all returned to our pegs and sorted ourselves out it was 2·15pm before Dave signalled the All-in for the second session. I'd fed a couple of pints of pellet into both of the margins prior to the end of the first session and was hopeful that it was enough to hold the fish during the break, and it seemed that it had been a success as I had a fish first put in .
Well the second session pretty much followed the pattern of the first, though I did manage to pick up a few more better fish, but nothing over 4lbs. Dave however was definitely getting a better stamp of fish and was looking good I felt for an overall win . Anyway after a further 3 hours Dave called the All-out for the second and final time today. I had 78 fish on the clicker this time and hoped they would be enough to take me to around 200lbs for the session if I had enough better sized fish, but I would have to wait and see as the weigh in would run in the opposite direction this time, starting from peg 1.
So with the gear back at the car park it was time to start the weigh in. Terry and Clive had both improved on their morning sessions with 128¼lbs and 123¼lbs respectively . Keith had had a standout session though, his 2 nets finally registering 219¼lbs for an overall weight of 309lbs which would prove to be good enough for 3rd on the day .
John on peg five managed 101½lbs in the afternoon . Colin however had gone from strength to strength with 225lbs and a total of 369¼lbs to take the win on the day . Martin had another busy session putting 158¼lbs onto the scales . Dave had 3 nets in which gave him 193¾lbs, comfortably taking him past his own 300lb target for a total weight of 344¼lbs , a new PB match weigh giving him 2nd on the day . My own weight of 169¼ proved as I feared that I had to many small fish, but the total of 269¼lbs still gave me 4th on the day .
So back to the car park for the results. A total of 2878¾lbs had been weighed in on the day, just short of our record, still an incredible average of 159lbs per angler !!!!!!! with 3 'Triple Tons', 2 'Double Tons' and a further 6 'Tons' overall a phenomenal days fishing by any standards . Roll on next years match, looks like I may have to brush up on my floater fishing .
, it seemed pretty obvious that having followed Clive around the lake the small fish had obviously escaped into my swim as well 
. The afternoon proved better with another 50 fish but this time they were of a better size which weighed 128lb just pipping Clive's 123lb bag of "Roach" he told me he was catching 
. A quick look confirmed that the lake looked in good nick although the water level was a little down.
.
.
. Martin had another busy session putting 158¼lbs onto the scales 
. My own weight of 169¼ proved as I feared that I had to many small fish, but the total of 269¼lbs still gave me 4th on the day 