Fished on the other side of the road bridge/roadworks following reports of (Ratbags ?) near hundred pegger being won around there with 12lb.
Just a few things not taken into account ....
1) We'em 'ad three frosts this wick (i'm picking up the accent well
)2) We 'em no cop on the cut ( except Cotti - and a couple of the other lads
)3) We'em got no worm an joker !
Anyway ... off we went and new man 'Drynet' ( aka dave) from MD's was probably thinking what a fibbin bar steward I was after tellin him there was no walk
Pegged opposite the boats, Chris shouted the all in... we couldnt even muster a whistle between us to emulate TK's toot toots.
It was a grueller in the no doubt , long traditon.
To cut a long story short... pegs 1 2 & 3 were only practising so didnt bother getting our nets wet in this cold weather ! Thats me, phil and chris, if i've got the names right !
Peg 4 was canal ace Mr Cotti who recorded his hat trick of three straight wins on the bounce weighing in around 11oz ish I think, my apologies as i dont have the exact weight. ( Does he get to keep his peg or do we have to buy him a ball ;) )
Drew a flyer of a peg opposite 4 barges moored alongside each other, stetching out from the far side into the middle of the cut. But as well all know, you still have to do it, and he did it, again. Mainly small roach but quite a few fish in that total. He even had time to brew a cuppa on his new stove and kettle. Cool calm and collected or what, and a great performance. Dont know how he does it. Sometimes its the small things that make all the difference ..and practice, but what do I know ? Very well done Mr Cotti.
Peg 5 , still opposite the four barges, but at the other end of the near barge Cotti was fishing against, was new man Dave ( aka Drynet form Md's) who caught very early on, two perch and a roach, for 3 oz, 14 or 15 drms. Fabulous result for this debutant ,who rumour has it nearly turned out in his Villa kit for his debut but the cold snap put the mockers on it , so he stuck with just his Villa Bronx hat. A proper fisherman, man enough to tackle a grueller !
Peg6 was another man newish to the gruellers like myself, Gerry.
What a performance this was. 19 roach up against the barge moored right over. From what I saw he was cupping in tiny amounts of slop and fishing punch to tempt his specimens.
It takes a fair bit of skill to get that slop right over without spilling it at full length on the pole, especially when the wind gets up, and oh so delicate presentation and canal skills. Those 19 roach, yes 19, wieghed in at 3oz dead ! A lesson in the art of delicate fishing.
So there you have it, all in all, three caught and three didnt.
For my match, I struggled but learned throughout and as ever when I dont catch am full of questions for myself. I struggled to get over to the boat opposite. My pole is 12.5 metres and at that length I couldn't reach the boat, I needed at least a metre and a half more I reckon.
At its full length it flops about all over the place at the tip, unless you are VERY carefull and I 'aint that good at it, but at least today provided me with some practice. As with what I hear about a lot of poles, it fishes ok with a section off and great with two off.
As a result of this difficulty ( I trashed three rigs in tangles shipping back from the full length too enthusiastically ) I elected to fish down the track mostly, in the deepest water I could find at a comfortable 6 sections length. The water was clear and now i'm not sure if that was too close and maybe I should have gone 3/4 over or up the slope a bit. Was my 22 B511 to .07 too heavy ? Maybe, but only a smidgeon. I tried punch on this line, drip fed quatts, tried squatts and pinkie on the hook and later popped in some chopped worm, hemp and a few casters and sat on them, when I thought I was too far behind, but it wasnt to be.
Lifted and dropped the bait on and just off the bottom, used a very thin bristled floats ( 4 X12 & 4 x 10), worked the last foot to 18 inches of water incessantly, waited at times too, but nothing, not a bite. As I say i'm always thinking how I could have done better but sometimes it just doesnt happen, for all i know I may have been fishing a fishless piece of track, who knows. Ecxuses, excuses excuses lol
Ti'll the next one !
I still have nightmares now 
Theres too many daft names on here I don't know 
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