The venue was the Staffs Worcs at Awbridge - a place I hadn’t fished for probably a decade or more - and since then, things had supposedly changed big time. You needed rub a dub dubs supposedly to be in with a chance.
So that was me done for………with a dickie back,
my main plan of attack, plan A, was going to be fish the two meter whip………..and only now and then have a peak on the pole. 
Arriving at the venue with new travelling companion for the day, ta MGB
, it looked like quite a few, if not most, were already milling around the farm yard, whilst Cheslynboy did a sterling job as a parking attendant 
, making sure everyone was parked up ‘tidily’.Goughy and Dead Peg were pegging out - cheers guys - and returned to advise that they’d put 8 in above the lock and 9 - 25 below.
Walking wounded pegs were designated as 6-8 and 9-10. Having taken a bit of flack last match,
I thought I’d better give them a miss this time and chance my arm, secretly wanting 1 - 8, not that I knew owt about the cut/pegs, 
just that they would be the ‘shortest’ walks. KOD and Roberto conducted the draw. I’d clocked a few pegs in the 20s had gone, there were qquite a few low nos still in the bag, so chanced my arm and pulled out…………..
23
Off I trotted. Thankfully a few pegs down, Dead Peg on Golden Peg 11 obviously took pity on me as I passed him and loaned me his motorised trolley for the rest of the journey.
I was at peg 23 in double quick time…………..must remember to put my trainers on next time I borrow it. 
Now last year I’d mentioned that there were a couple of anglers that you didn’t want to draw next to on cut matches
………………. and what did I find on reaching 23? I was again flanked either side by Big Baz and MrV. 
What chance had I got of ‘pinching’ their fish off them today if they made a 'mistake' to help build a decent weight? 
No chance………. and this despite Big Baz appearing to be feign ignorance of the venue when he asked me ‘What canal is this?’ as we set up. Because of the ‘walk’ - or jog in my case thanks to Dead pegs trolley
- the off was delayed 15 mins to allow those around me time to set up. That could possibly have been avoided with a slightly earlier draw, if we’d known all non attendees for the day, rather than hanging around for them on the off chance they would turn up……….. 
Anyway, the off - a bit of gb on that short whip line, an egg cupped in at half way up the shelf and again on the shelf. Two other areas at 10 and 2 were going to be fertled with mag and caster but not touched until much later in the match.
Feeding done, first look on my feet. Nowt.
Not surprising really as I’d watched that gb on it’s way down……..the cut really needed a bit of colour. Well that wouldn’t be a problem soon as the first of an expected procession of boats came through…………. But only they didn’t - think we only had 3 all day.
Couldn’t say the same about the no of joggers, bikers and walkers there was though. Given that section of cut is a bit out in the sticks, I couldn’t believe how many people were on that towpath……….which only seemed to fuel the two moaning minnies I’d got either side of me. 
Gotta take that MP3 with me next time In fact, Big Baz only stopped moaning and chuntering when legendary ‘resident cut crack’ Paul T popped along for a chat or two with us and informed Baz he was on a flyer.
As for my match, well I was pleased that MrV was only picking up gobies and small roach on the punch as I hadn’t got any.
I started picking up predominantly gobies on my ‘roach rig’ - could have speeded things up if I’d have replaced it with a more ‘positive’ rig - but I constantly expected some roach to show after Abuman’s trip down there a few days earlier.
Plan A went well out of the window and I ended up having to ‘pole it’ for a bite.
2 hours and 5mins in I had fish no 100
…………………only problem was many were 50/60 to the lb, with just the odd better ounce sample fish. MrV had been seen off a couple of times on his lighter rig, but was generally having a bit of a grueller, whilst going into the last 20 mins I’d got my nose in front of Big Baz by some 20 odd fish, although he’d had a 10oz bonus chub, but things had slowed up a touch and it was necessary to kick start swims on more than one occasion throughout the day.
In search of a bonus fish I even chanced getting smashed on a 0.08 rig...........but it didnt happen
But it all seemed to ‘happen’ in that final 20 mins for others.
First MrV hit and netted a ‘proper un’ that looked like it was going 2lb. Had that wiped me out? Five minutes later, Big Baz to my left latched into one - again it looked like a couple of lb’er,
although after the scales he said it went about 1lb10oz. Irrespective really, whatever it was I knew he’d ‘done me’ with that bonus fish. To compound matters, with 10 mins to go, MrV latched into another…………….
there I was, surely blown out of the water in that last 15 mins. His two rub a dubs, with his bits and pieces must have battered me. I was owning up to 5lb odd with my final total of 197 fish………..all but one ‘long poled’ as plan A had only thrown up one gobie on another look on that line after about 4 hours of ‘nurturing’ it. 
Earlier tales of odd chub had drifted down the towpath,
so the tale of the scales (received this morning from KOD - ta ) makes interesting reading.............. with a bit of a pattern emerging on who did what from where. Well done all on making the most from your draws.Blues4eva and Dead Peg did the honours with dial scales, rather than the ‘beams’ (hence no drams you will note)
ABOVE LOCK
1 YAMO 11.10.0
2
3
4 KOD 10.12.0
5 M STANAWAY 5.1.0
6 HARRY THE HITMAN DNW 1.8.0
7 BRAMBLES 2.5.0
8 BLUES4EVA 4.2.0
BELOW LOCK
9 PHIL BROADSTOCK 5.2.0
10 TERRY TURNIP 1.9.0
11 DEAD PEG 2.2.0
12 ABUMAN 1.13.0
13 ROBERTO D 1.6.0
14 GRAND MASTER FRANCE 0.13.0
15 COTTI 3.0.0
16 GOUGHY DNW
17 SPRUCEY 2.12.0
18 THE ASSASSIN 5.12.0
19
20 CHESLYNBOY 4.4.0
21
22 MR V 4.11.0
23 TK 5.12.0
24 BIG BAZ 7.8.0
25 MGB 4.4.0
What else can I report
KOD had rub a dub and roach on the punch.
The Assassin, who coincidentally weighed the same as me, only had four fish compared to my 197.
Cheslynboy had (at least) a chub plus a roach reportedly going 1lb plus.
Phil B also found rub a dub below the lock, as did Blues4eva above it
And that’s about all I know………….so over to you for your takes on the day, plus Sprucey for a picture or two, although I know he chewed DeadPegs ear off a bit
cuss he missed the first few weighs down on those high numbers. 
