TK Grueller match 9 - 'Blue'd away'

#1

Well thats the title sorted, just gorra find 5 mins to knock summat up

joffmiester · #2

bloody coffee's gone cold

#3

Nothing to do with the old geezer on the next peg to me trying out the floating pole method before we even started then

#4

Nothing to do with the old geezer on the next peg to me trying out the floating pole method before we even started then

#5

Well you wouldn’t Adam and Eve it would you........

A few pleasant milder days preceded this one, but come the eve of the match an overnight was forecast......well ok it might chill the cut a bit, but that would be it, wouldn’t it?

Heinzer picked me up as planned and off we shot. For some unknown reason he took me on a magical mystery tour to the cut, instead of down the lanes we went via Bloxwich
And I couldn’t believe my eyes as we crossed the cut at Lower Farm – it was frozen

Ditto as we crossed it at Pelsall – the common was completely froze over.

Heinzer was contemplating dropping me off and heading back home at this stage.

We pulled up at the Extension with plenty of gruellerites already in attendance, but after an opening exchange of pleasantries, it appeared no one had actually noticed that the cut had a lid on it.

With the exception of a small section by the walk through where an inlet pipe that kept that area free. Only problem with that its that all sorts of crap, salt etc runs into the cut there.

As we donned on our winter gear, MrV and Tricast62 volunteered to peg this one out

and off they trotted to drop 18 pegs in. Didnt take long, and on their return they reported they’d dropped 15 in the pound between the new road bridge and the end of the marina,

with the last three pegs in the section past the ‘broken bridge’, with peg 5 near that inlet pipe

Nearing draw time, a head count and 15 were in tow for this latest battle, including The Hunter making his annual pilgrimage to relieve us all of a few bob.

Whoever drew peg 15 would collect the surplus pegs, with pegs 2 and 4 on scales as Phil B had been ‘allocated’ short walk peg 3

MrV adopted MGB mode and collected the bish bosh as the draw got under way. Nobody wanted peg 5 and it managed to stop in the bag as the flyers came and went. OBI was scratching his head at the drawing prowess of the Tavern Champ as he managed to pull out yet another end peg – peg 1 indeed which coincidentally he’d already drawn and won off on an earlier grueller.

I personally wanted 1 to 4, but when it came to me they already gone as I copped for unlucky peg 13 and Heinzer copped for the dreaded peg 5.

Having sorted out delivery of the scales, cuss The Milky Bar Kid had trotted off without them ::) I wandered off to find 13. As I neared it my first thoughts were ‘this is gunna be a bit tight’ fitting Big Col on 14 and end peg Tricast62 in.............

But not so.........

Billy No Mates, I mean Tricast62, you know, that guy who’d pegged out with MrV, wasn’t where he expected to be at the end of the marina, but was first – and only – peg in the next section.

I walked back to Cotti to pick up my squatt and caster which he picks up for me and so kindly liberally laces with ‘au de cormorant’ for me.

On route I witnessed man mountain Choppymaster breaking out to past half way with his superdooper long landing net - gorra get meself one of them.....

Returning with my bait, knowing that joffie loves a picture or two I got the camera out........

My peg for the next 4 hours

Big ‘I just cant get away from bridge holes’ Col to my left

And what was this

Instead of just breaking out to his top 3 as is normal for OBI on these frozen escapades, he was really going for it........I’ve never seen him with so much pole in his hands

In fact it was worth another snap

TBC........

joffmiester · #6

bloody hell TK I THOUGHT OUR CANAL WAS BAD

its not been frozen yet.your peg does look the part kiddo with that reed bed

the dread peg 5 looks like the peg i was on

you said then it was crap

i'd love to catch this part of the canal when its on song

olly · #7

That peg you were on looks a blinder!

MrV · #8

you said then it was crap

Its a flier in June Joffie, all the skimmers come and congregate around the inflow under your feet

Where did you fish it mate.....down the track

joffmiester · #9

no one told me that

mind-you that day you'd be lucky they weren't dead

#10

Instead of just breaking out to his top 3 as is normal for OBI on these frozen escapades, he was really going for it........I’ve never seen him with so much pole in his hands

didnt realise i had those sections in my hold all...just thought it were a whip

fat lot off good it did me anyway...going back to 2 metres out from now on..to much like bloody hard work

#11

Continued..............

Back to peg 13 and then the fun and games soon started.

It was only ‘cat ice’ in the lower numbers and with an absence of ice breakers as they were totally unexpected to be needed; anglers were breaking across using their poles with cups attached.

The old geezer on 13 followed suit. Only one problem, the ice appeared a tad thicker at that end of the marina and the cup didn’t make any impression. :( The old geezer had a brain wave........

fill the cup with cut water to add some weight and the job would be a gud un.......

Yep, first dab at 11 mtrs and the cup went through the ice.

Pulling the pole back to ‘nibble’ the ice and disaster.............

Top 6 drops off and lies flat on the ice, some 3 mtrs away from the bank with the cupping kit firmly wedged in the ice

But never fear – just as the old geezer was contemplating having to have a deliberate dip in the cut this time to recover the top 6 – Batman and Robin came to his aid.

Well actually it was Big Col primarily, who gave a smart impression of ‘hook a duck down the fairground’ who managed to fish the offending sections back using his pole and he was competently aided and abetted by OBI, who managed to finally grab hold of em off the ice.

Well after that escapade, was that old geezer feeling so indebted and full of gratitude to the Dynamic Duo for saving him having an early bath.......

TBC......

#12

Top 6 drops off and lies flat on the ice

And where's the bloody picture of that

#13

Top 6 drops off and lies flat on the ice And where's the bloody picture of that

He was scared he would drop his bloody camera in too!!!!!!!!!

Drynet · #14

Top 6 drops off and lies flat on the ice
And where's the bloody picture of that

.

#15

brill read as per boss

MrV · #16

brill read as per boss

Not as brill as the fairy story under your Bradford PA badge.....Carn't draw for toffee

Last Saturday was your first bad draw of the millenium

#17

Last Saturday was your first bad draw of the millenium

I thought it was a flyer - end peg - with fish topping all over the peg.....

wasn't gunna mention it, but who put the peg in

:P

MrV · #18

but who put the peg in

Can't answer that TK or he will kill me

#19

The concuding part of this exciting saga ::)

The off. Armed with a good handful of red worms given by Big Col out of his chicken sh!t compost heap, along with the white stuff and not forgetting that cormorant flavoured squatt and caster from Cotti, lines were fed

Big Col was still potting in his 43rd line

when OBI to the old geezers right struck early on

with a small sample snottie from the 12 mtr line, rather than that usual top 3.

The old geezer was getting a few indications on the white stuff, but the submerged float was only twitching and refused to sink to the depths with a snottie on.

Having said that, the old geezer avoided the dreaded dry net

after about 10 mins – not the snottie he hoped for,

but a micro silver which would struggle to move the beamies a dram..........

Not long had passed when OBI dug the knife in again with snottie no 2,

whilst old geezer and Big Col were struggling for a bite.

The ice gradually melted and drifted about as the sun in the sky generated quite balmy conditions of around the 5c. Things would only get better now it was warming up, wouldn’t they?

Still struggling a look further down the towpath and MrV a few pegs away was netting one too

After about the 1.5 hour mark a run of fish

saw the old geezer – still miles behind OBI the snottie captor supreme – match the Milky Bar Kids last bag off peg 13 with a total of 4 silvers.

Whats more old geezer had got his nose in front of Big Col who’d just snared the 2 silvers

Time for plan B

– Big Cols chicken sh!t reared red worms.

With the snotties and silvers not playing ball on the punch, surely it was a banker

that those kinver tigers would be just lining up ready to impale themselves on the old geezers hook.

But alas – they weren’t.

Despite best endeavours by the old geezer twitching, dragging and lifting the float all that materialised were two little dinks that Big Col reckoned the old geezer should have hit,

followed by a sail away on a later look that the old geezer couldn’t believe he had missed

– bet it was deffo off a two lb kinver

As time rolled on, OBI snared his 3rd snottie,

leaving old geezer, Big Col and Billy no mates Tricast well in his wake.

Strange thing about today, there was evidence of fish movement ‘up in the water’ about the canal – someone even mentioned the tale of a silver that had earlier on jumped up through a hole in the ice....... but even having a bash ‘up in the water’ in desperation failed to produce owt for old geezer.

The whistle went and it was time to pack away.

Surely the old geezer hadn’t been battered both sides this week had he

– aok OBI snottie catcher extraordinaire what wiped him away , but surely the old geezers 11 silvers must have done Big Cols total of 8 mustn’t they?

Up trotted blues4eva and The Milk Bar Kid with the beamies.

Tricast had had a 100% strike record to fish caught to bites but had tipped away. Next it was Big Cols turn..........as he tipped his 8 stamp roach in the basket, the old geezer pondered things and thought to himself it was gunna be close.

Then old geezers turn, but The Milky Bar Kid was in scrooge mood on the beamies,

ignoring old geezers attempts to secure an extra dram or two...........

And the tale of those scales........

PEG
15 TRICAST62 DNW
14 BIG COL 0.4.5
13 THE OLD GEEZER 0.2.9
12 SNOTTIE CATCHER EXTRAORDINAIRE 1.3.4
11 MRV 1.13.0
10 CHOPPYMASTER 1.4.10
9 HUMPY DNW
8 BULLAH DNW
7 COTTI 0.9.8
6 THE HUNTER DNW
5 HEINZER 0.8.8
4 BLUES4EVA 3.3.8
3 PHIL B 0.3.0
2 THE MILKY BAR KID 1.1.3
1 TAVERN CHAMP DNW

So Blues4eva romped home easily

(unlike his beloved team this season),

The Hunter unusually headed back home without cleaning up, ditto the Tavern Champ off his usual end peg

And what of Heinzer on that dreaded peg 5?

Well believe it or not,

he was so chuffed with his 23 fish for 8oz that he actually suggested that we slip in one more last grueller and all do it again a week on Sat.

But who knows, perhaps the old geezer might take a weather check and rally the troops for one more nightmare............

#20

Was this the last match of the series.