Was the pressure of the first Cashmores Curse match getting to me?
Nah, it was the expectation of having to write this report, particularly considering that our Chief Scribe was no longer in the clan and also Chief Snapper, David Sprucey Bayley was giving it a miss too, so it was all down to me.
A few faces greeted us on the car park and KOD, Roberto and MrV had already pegged out, presumably with the assistance of Tony the BAA bailiff - a good guy and a credit to the BAA - who was along to give a few words of advice and encouragement.
Time for the draw, but Big Baz called to say he is lost………his Sat Nav has took him up a cul-de-sac in the middle of the town.
Draw slightly delayed but when it does there’s a clamber for the ‘bag’ and pegs soon come and go. I ‘knew’ the ‘top end’ was supposedly the better area to be in, but I’d have certainly settled for a short walk to some of the ‘feature’ pegs in that first 100 yards or so
Zorro had drawn flyer downstream ‘end peg’ 1, whilst I’d pulled what I thought was gunna be in the middle area, peg 12. What was worse, with the golden peg standing at £147 plus today’s ‘pot’, peg 1 came out of the bag………….the GP was in severe danger of going today. 
As I plodded off down the bank I passed MrV. ‘What you drawn TK?’ he asked. ‘On 12’ I replied. ‘You’ll be on the peg with the tree that’s come down across’
Encouraged with thoughts of a feature I suddenly had a spring in my step.
Sadly that spring in my step developed into a limp, because after passing a few ‘nice’ looking feature pegs I came to a sudden halt smack in the middle of cyanide straight
where peg 12 lay on the ground. No sign of any tree in the water, unless the old bins are playing me up Ah well……….lets get on with it. Supposedly loads of small roach, but the prospect of being plagued by pike. I can live with that if I’m catching and rigs were set up to cover 4 lines to be rotated.
My peg was 14.5 mtrs across, 6ft down the inside shelf at 3 mtrs, dropping off to 8/9 ft down the tracks………mind the bottom was ‘all over the shop’……….before it shelved back up to 7 ft at 12 mrs and 5 ft at 13. Flow was quite deceptive, inside it was going uphill, with a fair bit of pace across.
Spot the tree - still fancied it for a few though
Cyanide straight to my left
All set up, I wandered ‘upstream’ to take a few pictures of a couple of the favoured pegs.
Roberto - looks like he's on a decent peg
Cotti plumbing up on the end peg upstream - a flyer according to Bluezulu
Looking back downstream
And who pulls out pegs like these?
The off. Plan A went out of the window after 10 - 15 mins without a touch. A look on lines B,C and D also failed to produce owt.
After an hour the walkers started………
News filtered through that everyone was struggling, with the exception of Zorro who was ‘sacking’ on peg 1 with roach
with KOD with a few small roach.Half way through I noticed our new member with a bend in his rod. ‘Snagged?’ I wondered as Hotlips above me had snagged a couple of times down the track. Then I noticed the ‘snag’ putting a nodding motion into the top section of the rod………
As the new ‘MGB’ thinking about that golden peg pot, I gathered camera and with a few words of encouragement, ‘willed’ the member to land this decent looking fish………
And what a corker it turned out to be…………
Ooops - he is lively
That's better
Back to my box, and after about 3 hours, tripping through and holding back hard over, the float dipped out of sight. A lift of the pole, and summat was on - I’m in.
For the next 30 seconds or so I then skilfully played in the current the unseen ‘beast’ I’ve snared from across…………..
Which turns out to be the sole and sides of a rotted shoe
- but it was played it with such dexterity, shame the Sky cameras weren’t covering the match Mind, it wasn’t quite as heavy as the lump of metal that guesting Abuman had managed to land earlier.
With people packing up left right and centre, and no more bites from sandals, slippers, trainers or boots I decide to also call it a day after 4 hours or so…….
As I start packing up, fatty tells me Zorro has had about 12 small chub, half pound a piece on his last sally down there. Looks like the GP has gone, unless somebody can find a few more of those clonking chub.
Cotti walks past, all packed up from the other ‘cock’ peg………..he’s amazed I’ve decided to call it a day too.
I bump into Tony the bailiff on root to the car and we exchange a few departing pleasantries - he’s at a loss and can’t believe how difficult it’s been today
It’s not until I bump into Zorro later that evening that I learn that there’s been more than a few pork pies told on the bank side today……….
You’ve seen the tale of the scales elsewhere on this forum, but here they are again
PEG
1 ZORRO 0.4.14
2 PHIL B 0.4.2
3
4 HARRY911 DNW
5
6 R CASHMORE DNW
7 G CASHMORE DNW
8 YAMO 0.3.5
9 MRV DNW
10
11 M EVANS 5.5.9
12 TK DNW
13 HOTLIPS DNW
14
15 ABUMAN DNW
16 BIG BAZ DNW
17 ROBERTO 0.0.8
18 KOD 0.6.7
19 FATTY K DNW
20 COTTI DNW
Prior to penning this, I noted Endpeg’s comments elsewhere regarding his lack of roach in the AT semi due to high pressure sitting over the country - did we experience the same?
Ah well……..we’ve got Cheslynboys gonks to look forward to next
