07/06/25, Junior Points Match, Main Lake, Revels.

The sopping wet pile of something that once used to be fishing tackle and the lake sized ‘puddles’ on the road on the way home, were testimony to a more than moderately wet day. It was so wet that a couple could be seen building a massive boat in a field just south of Charminster, with a line of animals waiting to board. Two of them were pantomime horses…

The ’Great Oracle’ from the Met Office told of impending doom and Armageddon from the skies. Thor would beat his hammer on his anvil (cheeky!) and cast great sparks from the clouds to us mere mortals upon the Earth.

In reality, nothing happened. But I felt it wise to warn those present that there may be need to call an abrupt halt to proceedings if necessary. Participants were told that if they saw my car wheel spinning from the car park at the first clap of thunder, then they follow me with great haste. My usual method of communication, interpretive dance, would not cut the mustard in an emergency situation.

Jerry was almost fully recovered from a nasty bout of tasting hotel door handles (Khoomei’s Tonsil) but had attached the wrong pair of ankles this morning instead. His usual walking ankles were left at home in favour of his old wooden ones that he used extensively last year. His top speed was down to just over two-miles and hour, with the stance of someone who had endured a severe trouser accident.

Nice bloke Tim spent a lot of the morning sorting out the holdall that I had grabbed from the store. One of the reels had puked line everywhere and was in dire need of help. So, it was Tim to the rescue to make them usable again! Well done and thank you mate!

Our resident Guru, Sir Jon Bass, struck a stoic silhouette as he glided around the lake in a mystical fashion. Some say that he moves using the force without touching the ground… I, for one, am a believer because he was always in a different place each time I saw him. But I never witnessed him walking once…

I caught up with John Evans trying to convince Thomas that one rod in the tiny peg 22 was enough. I moved in for a supporting roll but was met with three different conversations all happening at the same time. Living on a tight budget as I do, I could only afford a brain that can process one conversation at a time. I instantly reached the upper end of my band width and started buffering. My eyes went black and the default ‘get the hell out of there’ walk away safety system kicked in. It took 2 full minutes for the full network recovery to restore itself…

A tight chested Martin didn’t move far today, and I don’t blame him. Like Mrs H, having lungs with the air capacity of a Tetley’s teabag isn’t the best on a rather moist day like this. He must have the same safety system as me because there were two strips of flame leading from the car park at the end. I think he wanted to get home…

I think at this point of proceedings we need to pay tribute the brave parents who stuck it out in some filthy conditions today. Having an idiot offspring who wants to go spend a day drowning maggots in a storm is one thing. But being forced to sit out in it with them whilst they feed their passion is another! Kudos to those that endured the rain today. Your dedication to your junior angler’s pastime is noted…

Seeing as no juniors were blown up with Thors anger today, your list of damp shrimps are:

Three no shows. Freddie, Arlo, and Jayce, get well soon…

Peg 1: Alfie ‘The Tall One’ Ellis

Peg 2: Mia ‘The Yeovil Princess’ Evans

Peg 3: Josh ‘Callum or Jamie, Callum or Jamie?’ Roe

Peg 4: Kenzie ‘There’s a child in there somewhere’ Toulson

Peg 5: Austin ‘Super Prep’ Scott-Kennedy

Peg 6: Alec ‘Aren’t the ducks cute, now *** off!’ Campbell

Peg 7: Alexander ‘I drew the flier today’ Adey

We’ve already spoken about them but let’s keep tradition. Your Sodden swim bag of coaches (Not a collective noun this time, it’s just that our skin was soaked through to the skin!) today were:

Danger Mouse – Graham Howard

Ernest Penfold – Martin Roe

Coronel K – Jon Bass

Baron Silas Greenback – Jerry Bracey

Stiletto Mafiosa – Tim Broughton

Count Duckula – John Evans (Yes, he was in Danger Mouse! Duckula, not Evans…)

Before we go on, I want to point out that the weather conditions were awful, and the Carp were yet to spawn making Revels a challenge for the adults, let alone junior anglers.

Peg One:

Alexander Adey:

2lbs 10ozs:

Despite being the ripe old age of six now, Alexander is still small enough to shelter amongst the Cow Parsley when it rains. I’m not convinced of how effective that is but, it is definitely cheaper than a branded fishing umbrella!

After casting lessons with a feeder last time out at Todber, Alexander was keen to show off his new skills. They must have worked because he was the first one to catch anything! Sadly, the little Carp would be the only one he would catch today. But busied himself with silvers on the whip and I’m impressed that he stayed to the end regardless of the weather. Well done!

Peg Two:

Alec Campbell:

1lbs 3ozs:

Both the Alec’s were fishing today…

One that draws incredible artwork and thinks the newborn Ducklings are cute enough to feed them regularly. The other who draws incredible artwork and spits fire and venom at little ducklings when they try to eat his float! Some of the fire and venom was directed at me simply because I kept telling him that he’d missed a bite because he was feeding the ducklings. Ian managed to stay dry today and did not feel compelled to reduce Alec’s top kits to shards of carbon. Which is a good thing…

Tough day for the artist today, but hey…Ducklings…

Peg Three:

Austin Scott-Kennedy:

11lbs 14ozs, 2nd place:

Austin started well catching silvers on the net line. But I was surprised at the end that there were only 15ozs of them. The rest was a small collection of pre spawn Mud Pigs, which helped with the weight.

Austin didn’t need the pole section that caused so much early morning panic at the Kennedy Estate. The lost section had caused confusion about its replacement, and now it was bitey knuckle time and too late to do anything about it. Phoning the lead coach at 6:50am asking for a spare when he is in his office on the white porcelain chair, does not fill him with early summer joy. He didn’t need it anyway, so it was all for nought.

A decent and consistent second place for Mr Tackle Prep. Well done…

Peg Four:

Kenzie Toulson:

8lbs, 3rd place:

Kenzie had brought with him a sneezing, coughing, snotty, spluttering mess in the shape of his dad, Alex. I painted a red cross on his back and warned him to stay away from me, which he duly did (Thank you!).

Somewhere under the flowing blonde locks was a small boy. I only knew it was Kenzie because of the massive skiing goggles that would shade his eyes from the sun that was hidden behind several thousand feet of storm cloud. But it is better to come prepared.

Permanent peg 11 can be a snag pit, so Kenze did well to drag some Carps out of their safe place, along with a decent amount of silvers too. Good job….

Peg Five:

Josh Roe:

14lbs 12ozs, 1st place:

Josh put his recent coaching session with Callum Dicks and all his late F1 match fishing experience to good use today by not catching a single one!!!

To be fair, there aren’t many in the Main Lake, but now he is a ‘Fwone’ master, I thought he might have found at lease one… Perm peg 12 is a winner on it’s day despite how narrow it is, and so it proved.

I confess to watching him and thinking that the constant change of methods every 2-minutes would cost him at the end. But I’m happy to be wrong (sometimes)… There’s no doubt that the investment in Josh’s fishing is paying off. But, I’m going ask Matrix to develop a little carbon support to stop Josh’s chin from dropping when the bites are hard to find… Well done nipper!

Peg Six:

Mia Evans:

2lbs 3ozs:

The Princess of Yeovil was a little under the weather and yet determined to fish due to her personal sponsor, Paracetamol…

She sat in a peg that was formerly peg 14. I say formerly because Revels were hoping that it would grow over so they could use perm peg 15 instead. No one told me or the Wookie as we trimmed it all back nice and neatly. I did wonder why it was so overgrown… Oops, sorry Jason!

Ruined swim plans aside, Mia struggled on to temp some Perchy silvers into her keepnet by the final whistle.

Well done kiddo, I appreciate your efforts today…

Peg Seven:

Alfie Ellis:

14ozs:

Poor Alfie. It was a toss up between perm p2 or p16, and I chose the wrong one. But, of course, you never really know before you start, and I honestly fancied 16 over 2. But what do I know?

Young Alf stuck it out until the last minute when HIS safety system kicked in and enough was enough. I did get a chance to chip some rough edges off with some ‘how to hold and handle a pole’ coaching, which threw up a couple of fish. But it was never going to be enough. The sour cherry on the rotting cake was the fact that a couple of Carps had ‘done’ Alfie during the match. But if ‘if’s and buts were pots and pans, we’d all be scrap metal merchants’ as a wise man once said…

Brave effort mate…

Special mention of the day goes to Neil Haine who dropped in for a visit. The lovely Sue is very unwell, and I feel for them both. Such nice people shouldn’t go through what they are facing. I’m send them love on behalf of us all…

So, there we are then. Another junior match consigned to the history books. Not a single complaint about the fishing (to my face at least) which was just as well because a strong retort was loaded into both barrels if there had been.

On a normal day, I’m thankful enough to our coaches. But, on days like these, we need to be especially grateful for their time and efforts. I hope the moss treatment kicks in soon. Thanks Jerry, Tim, Jon, John, and Martin.

Thank you to Jason and Dean for looking after us and allowing us to play at the fishery at the last minute.

The next main event is a fish frenzy at Todber Manor on the 21st, all being well. So, break out the 20 elastics, 12lb line, big hooks, and pellets, leave your brain in a jar, and let’s have at it!!!

274lbs to beat! (Junior record) Will we get to 300lbs?

In the meantime, there is a knockout round at Revels on the 13th with two places still open…

The juniors circus moves on and I will see you all again soon…

Juniors Sec…