Bit late with this posting of the results - been a bit ‘strapped for time’ to put pen to paper as DaveC will probably appreciate………
If I’d have posted earlier I’d have probably kicked off in grumpy old man mode
having a moan about the CBA clan. 
This was a venue that I knew a few ‘fancied’
and I had several guest requests, but believing the 25 paid for pegs accounted for I actually turned one guest away…………….. :(Only to find on the morning that we had a disappointing turnout of 16 members and just the 4 guests I thought I could accommodate
See Gill (one of our forum ‘visitors’) - sorry to disappoint you - just goes to show I don’t have a pop all the time in my write ups
Anyway back to the venue. I’d tried to book Cuttle Mill for the club a few years ago, only to learn that at that time it was pleasure only, no matches.
However a year or so ago I put my name down for a forum match there which ultimately didn’t get off the ground. The fishery was now available for clubs………. 
Goldenballs had whet mine, and other’s appetite I dare say, with tales over the last few months of ‘You’ll love it. Forget the carp, go for the silvers. You’ll do 50 to 60lb. They are all stampers. ::) Can you stick me down for it if there’s a spare peg?’
This was also reinforced by other reports I’d had of dog roach running up to the occasional 2 to 3lber.
So it was a caster and chop approach for me, rightly or wrongly, with a kilo of corn and some ‘get out of jail’ mags as back up………………….just in case
With it just being a 25 min ride to the venue I’d managed to talk Heinzer into letting me have a lie in
and not pick me up to 8am.Arriving at the venue, nets dipped I had a sneak look at the pool as KOD and MrV had already ‘sorted’ the pegging.
Looked nice, very nice.
A few fish were showing too………so decent lackie stretchers plus silvers topping.’ Lets get that draw done’ I thought to myself.I found myself on permanent peg 9. Nice looking peg, with feature brambles to my left, a bush to my right and an island at about 30 yards.
I was expecting 4-5 foot, but on plumbing found about 2 ft 6 ins all over the peg - it was flat as a pancake.
5 rigs were set up to cover a variety of eventualities, plus an insert wag on the rod which I hoped wouldn’t be called in to action, but set up just in case my pole lines ‘died’ on me.
‘Don’t take any mag - there’s thousands of gudgeon in there - you’ll get bit out’ I’d been reliably informed.
Well first put in, whilst feeding caster on a couple of lines, I slipped a mag on and guess what…………yep, a gobie within 5 seconds. :D ‘Pucka info’ I thought to myself.
On with the caster nowt.
On with the caster on the longer line. Nowt!!! MrV to my right snaffled a couple of early netter roach on the chop. A quick swap I picked a couple up too
……….but mine were ouncers. 
To be honest there’s not a lot left to report…………..the 5 hours slipped by as we all appeared to struggled for bites.
In fact Sprucey two pegs away was walking half way through - think he was dry till the last hour
when he blew me and MrV away and had some roach up in the water.And just where were those thousands of gobies?
I only saw the one - couldnt even get out of jail on them
A couple of half hour looks on the wag produced quite a few bites which I couldn’t hit…………..till I found out they were micro 1.5 inch silvers - and often, using barbless, they came off half way across their 30 yard journey from the sanctuary of the island to my waiting paws.
Forgot just how quick that Diaflash rod of mine is at picking up the line on the strike
……….roll on The Trent in a fortnight Whilst a few bits and pieces came off the hook,
to make matters worse, MrV snared a bonus breme on the feeder tight to the island with half hour to go.Oh and just a thought. The conditions - grey and cloudy for most of the day - with a few spots of threatening rain on a few occasions. Well it was on our side of the pool, but KOD must have thought he was in Barcelona or elsewhere
as he sat on the opposite bank shirtless, obviously keen to top up his tan.The all out - what an anti climax it had been. Reckoned I’d got about 2lb - a poor weight off our cut!!!
Then to make matters worse, MrV, who’d blown me away with that breme, reminded me that it was the semi final of the knock out.
Over the last couple of seasons I’d fallen at the semi stage each year missing the match due to hols. This was my ‘big chance’ this year - actually fishing the semi ……….but I must surely have bombed out big style today, with MrV being a semi finalist and Juan Chub also in attendance. ‘Ah well……there’s always next year’ I thought to myself.As we packed away, tales filtered of some that had struggled,
but a few had found a few……….Here’s the tale of the scales
PEG
1 GEOFF E DNW
2 HARRY THE HITMAN 0.7.0
3
4 JUAN CHUB 1.0.0
5 ZORRO 7.0.0
6 GOLDEN BALLS 10.0.0
7 SPRUCEY 4.10.0
8 MR V 4.2.0
9 TK 2.12.0
10 HEINZER 1.8.0
11
12 HAHA 8.8.0
13 RICH C 12.3.0
14 MILLIE 7.8.0
15
16
17
18
19 GEOFF C 9.4.0
20 MGB 2.13.0
21 PHIL B 0.12.0
22 KOD 16.0.0
23 TINCA TED DNW
24 THE WEDGE DNW
25 BRAMBLES 1.2.0
26 TOMMY COOPER DNW
So that’s KOD the winner committed to coming to the presentation night next year
- mind he always does As we loaded up the cars I was surprised
considering how we had got on, that 5 members came up to me and asked me to book it again ………..when I ‘challenged’ their requests, they turned out to be ‘sincere’ with a genuine desire to return.Well you can make that 6……………..cuss I’ve certainly got a ghost to exorcise there too after Saturday - and as you know, I’m always up for a grueller
So you never know, Cuttle Mill could be on the cards again next year
Now over to Sprucey babe for some pictures cuss Joffies probably having withdrawal symptoms waiting this long for em
