Grueller series match 3 2012 -a win to warm you up

#21

And your next number out............

6 or 11

#22

And your next number out............
6 or 11

Gud un Tricast62

#23

no write up must be really busy

MrV · #24

Thought I saw him coming out of Gala Bingo at Hednesford as I drove past this lunchtime....I remember him saying something about Saga sessions on a Tuesday

me · #25

he goes to tuesday club to day at the bingo hall. Forget tomorrow aswell as he's at wednesday club at the bowling club o and thursday is thursaday knitting club down the wyrley center

#26

Well now that Olly has seen the results I was just about to pen a few words...........

But I've gorra shoot out for the 7pm snowball

#27

Just got back............

But the missus has just reminded me that I need to polish me bowls ready for the game in the morning

Geoff_E · #28

Bet its been a long time since ya last polished ya bowls Tony

olly · #29

Well now that Olly has seen the results I was just about to pen a few words...........

But I've gorra shoot out for the 7pm snowball

Haha

I managed to wait till 4:30 then I had to check the results!

#30

Well that was a waste of time polishing me bowls last night cuss we’ve been rained off,

so here goes with the latest thrilling instalment of the Grueller Series............

Well I say ‘thrilling’, just gorra think of summat that was thrilling to avoid this being a total anticlimax now

Despite a couple of bona fide sick notes being handed in along with KOD who on the last ball acher said ‘Sod this, I aint fishing any more gruellers’,

numbers expected for this one were ‘back up to normal’ thanks to the inclusion of the three amigos, or should I say, the ‘Railway Tavern Ringers’.

But let’s just roll back 10 hours to Friday night in the lounge at Harrisons.

It was absolutely hissing down. And the forecast was for it to persist during the night and we were gunna get soaked.

Heinzer was concerned about the amount of rain and what it would do to the section we intended fishing. For the uninitiated there’s a number of inlet pipes and when it chucks it down grey slurry coloured water drains into the cut and ‘knocks it on the head’

So an executive decision was made................the plan, Heinzer would drop me off at 8.10am at the normal place. He’d then zip up to Grove Bridge and peg that area, whilst i waited and redirected everone upto the new section

But the best laid plans sometimes do not go to plan ........................

Roll on 9 hours. It’s 7am and I’ve just jumped out of bed and am pulling on me kecks. I can hear the mobbie ringing downstairs.........

When i get there, it’s a missed call. From Heinzer. I bell him back to learn that he’s handing in an 11th hour sick note

‘That’s buggered it’ I think to myself.

The nippers got my one car – the one which I can get the gear in - whilst I’m left with the convertible on the drive.................and you’ve guessed it, the seats don’t drop back and you cor gerra lot in it, apart from a suitcase or two.

‘Ah well, I’ll peg out out, do the draw and pop back for some breakie,

tinker with me fantasy footie team and then go back for the weigh in’ I think to myself. No need to knock up the flask of soup or nuke me slices of bread.

So that’s what I did. Cuss I was on me jack jones we’d have to fish the original section, irrespective of the colour.............but in fairness it wasn’t too bad.

But about 8.40am Blues4eva got wind of my plans ‘not to fish’
‘You can’t do that, when I’ve emptied the car, I’ll run you back to fetch your gear’

I initially declined his kind offer as we’d be confronted with the same problem getting me gear home after the match, but HaHa volunteered to run me back on the afternoon, so off we dashed to get my tackle..............minus any hot soup, nuked bread (Cotti was bringing my bait) and just to upset Joffie

, no camera to record all the happy smiling faces sitting on those flyers they all seem to draw

We finally got the draw underway a ‘little later than usual’ and I found myself on peg 6...........a super short walk from the cars.

I’d also be able to keep my eyes on the Railway Tavern Ringers – fate had conspired to keep them all in the same area on pegs 1- 4.

But horror of horrors..............

I looked to my left and who was I doing battle today with? None other than the current cut form horse................

The man in black.............

Zorro !!!!!!

#31

Looked like I was in for a pasting today off the next peg if i wasn’t on tip top form

Whilst I was setting up, Cotti strolled down from end peg with my bait

and was followed by Tricast brandishing a packet of Roberts bread, from whom I cadged a couple of slices.

Time to let you in on a little secret...........

Why oh why did I whip two slices off him?????

History tells me that if I take more than one slice of bread I just can’t catch on the punch. But take just the one slice and I ‘bag up’ – well that’s a term relative to me – with one slice I keep the bites coming, dunno about ‘bagging up’............ until the slice starts going ‘iffy’ and then I wished I’d gorra second slice to move onto

Anyway, enough of this waffle.

Cuss I struggled on the punch all because of those two slices.

In fact, as the 4 hours progressed, it looked like I wasn’t the only one struggling

as Zorro must have left his whip at home and OBI had apparently resorted to live baiting with some mice.

With an hour to go, Snowie a few pegs away appeared to be playing a beastie

– but after a minute or two he did own up that he was trying to pull the plug out of the cut

And then that moment of excitement you’ve all been waiting for...............

I’d wheedled a few bits out – that’s all. With 15 mins to go I returned to a second punch line that had been totally unproductive.

First put in...........a small, and I mean small, roach.

Next put in, ditto.

‘There’s fish down there’ I thought to myself – just gorra find their big brothers. So I slipped on a double pinkie...........

The float settled and buried straight away. I lifted and doubled up no2 shot across the cut..........

The beastie rolled in the shallow water on the shelf.......well I say beastie - I reckon it was one of those lb plus hybrids in the cut that go like stink when you hook ‘em.............

And promptly and came off

All with about 30 seconds to go as the elected timekeeper for the day – PhilB – exercise his lungs on the next peg with a shrill whistle.

I packed up and trotted up to Tricast who was keeper of the beamies to start the weighing in

First up to weigh in was end peg Cotti who took an early lead

Next door was Big Baz on Dark Horses or should I say heinzers favourite bush peg.

Baz was cussing

as a raft of leaves had moved down the cut and carpeted his peg. Having said that he took over from Cotti as early leader.

He was followed by Yamo who tipped his couple of dozen silvers in the basket, but couldn’t trouble Big Baz. Nor could HaHa as his 4lb bream had escaped the keep net

Next up was Tricast, off a peg he didn’t fancy, although I’d assured him before the off that sometimes there were a few skimmers to be found. I hadn’t got the camera so I popped back the next morning just for Joffie to take a picture of the peg.

On we weighed, including near the end the renowned ‘Skimmer King’ who answers to the name of Obi. Now OBI always manages to snare a few snotties, he had again, but on this occasion they hadn’t been particularly partial to his live baited mouse hook bait

Blues4eva had surprisingly struggled on a peg that he knows oh so well,

supposedly putting all his weight together in the last hour

And last but not least, was The Tavern Champion’ on end peg who found some nice caster roach

So who did what and where from????????????

PEG
15 COTTI 0.14.1
14 BIG BAZ 2.7.0
13 YAMO 0.11.1
12 HAHA 0.7.3
11 TRICAST62 4.10.15
10 BIG COL 1.13.12
9 DARK HORSE 2.2.8
8 K LEWIS DNW
7 ZORRO 0.4.6
6 TK 0.14.0
5 PHIL B 0.4.0
4 SNOWIE 0.6.9
3 OBI 1.9.14
2 BLUES4EVA 1.6.5
1 TAVERN CHAMP 3.13.1

To summarise – a bostin dry morning on the towpath, contrary to the BBC forecast the evening before, ::) some good banter

and despite it being a grueller the 4 hours had fled by - well it had for me anyway

Oh..............

And that cryptic title??? Spare a thought for poor old Tricast. First his fire packed in the week before. Then the day previous, his boiler had gone kaput.

ps - ta for the lift Blues4eva

pps - ta for the lift back home HaHa

#32

absolute brill Boss well worth waiting for

MrV · #33

Nice read TK

......Well done bruvver, another top result for your efforts. looks like it wasn't too bad a day overall. Will deffo be on the next one lads

snowie · #34

nice read tk, hopefully see you on a few more. the tavern champ is uop for e few more aswell mate, he enjoyed himself and the banter

darkhorse · #35

grueller an understatement.

1st put in expecting float fly away.......nothing ::), waitied 10 mins for 1st bite which when it arrived was a skimmer about 8oz, nice start

, thought i was gonna get a few more but no, spent all match working me goolies of catching tiny roach hoping a another chunky skimmer wud come along, 15mins from end hooked one

, dragged it in within inches from net and the hooked pulled, aaarrgh

back in next fish....tiny roach :(

bring on the next grueller

darkhorse · #36

oh very impressed with quality of the fish tricast62 and tavernchamp caught, shan't be leaving my casters out of the equation again

joffmiester · #37

you must have 50 photos of that peg TK

i bet its coloured this week

#38

mouse hook bait

funniest bit was when they made a dash for freedom from my bait bag head first into the cut,got half way across then turned back,i was pi$$in myself laffin while blues was gobsmacked at 2 little well fed mice swimming across the cut,he also wanted me to net em incase the little buggers drowned

...no chance of that the fat little gits,

mice this year,squirrels last year (remember simps),best laff i have had on the bank for years,

oh...the fishing..caught 3..bumped a couple missed a few,but who gives a toss...fantastic day again as always with T.Ks mob