The remains of hurricane Bert blew down the street and round the corner to the paper shop. As I lay in bed I thought, that doesn’t sound good.
I picked up the Matrix wunderkind at 07:30 and we got blown down the road to the ridgeway where Bert gave the car a sideswipe slap in the face which awakens one quite abruptly as it turns out. I kept a keen eye out for any sideways moving cows, sheep or farmyard equipment, but all I saw were leaves, twigs and a paragliding Squirrel.
The gate of the fishery was a different matter. It was windier than the duvet of a vegan menu tester, and I was having doubts about my own sanity. Josh stepped out of the car at the lake, and immediately disappeared sideways. Fortunately, I had tied a rope around his left boot and flew him like a kite to the waters edge.
We got to the first peg and the wind dropped like a stone, and I caught Josh as he dropped from the sky like the price of Homebase shares.
Josh and I wandered along the lake and, between us, we decided that the risk was worth the risk (?)
I sent up the Bat signal (Similar to Batman, only in the shape of a giant Gudgeon) and 'uncharacteristically' wondered if I’d done the right thing.
Bizarrely, the wind seemed to be on the water rather than against us on the bank! The southerly wind was being broken by a line of trees and bushes, and by the large mound of dirt that used to be in the hole that was now filled with water where the fish live that we wanted to catch.
If the wind stayed put, we might just get away with it.
Being the last points match of the year, there was kind of all to play for. Well, there’s was a mathematical chance for things to change, but realistically that was unlikely to happen. But strange things happen in fishing, and I am a believer that you should fight until the end.
The pegs were drawn when everyone (except Jo) had arrived. They were as follows:
Peg 1: Vacant.
Peg 2: Jamie’s Nephew, Josh Roe.
Peg 3: The Occasional Angler, Josiah Wells-Parkes.
Peg 4: Vacant:
Peg 5: The Romanian Nation Team Captain, Austin Scott- Kennedy.
Peg 6: The Ferret, Jack Copp.
Peg 7: The Quiet One, Alec Campbell.
Peg 8; The Mud Monster 2, Alfie Ellis.
Your Tripod of coaches (The correct collective noun for a group of three angling coaches) today were:
Perrie Edwards – Graham Howard
Leigh-Anne Pinnock – Jon Bass
Jade Thirlwall – Chris Ward
Peg Two:
Josh Roe:
The diminutive figure cut a lonely silhouette sat at the upwind end of the lake. I’d popped some stones in Josh’s pocket just in case the wind did really pick up or change direction. I left the rope on his ankle as back up.
It is fair to say that Josh had the windiest end of the lake as Bert tried to get his claws into our match. I told Josh at the start to keep his focus today and he did it with gusto, sitting like a trooper in increasing wind and rain to weigh in a hard earned 17lbs 8ozs for fourth place. On the way home we talked about heavier and longer rigs for these kind of days. This was going to be Josh’s lesson to learn today. That and make sure your nets are dried properly, Dad!
Good job mate!
Peg Three:
Josiah Wells-Parkes:
With health issues and cars now under control, Jo was back to reacquaint himself with fishing again. He seems to have been away for a long time, only popping back to win the S/J pairs match earlier in the year the with partner Si.
Having time off, you can sometimes lose your edge. Believe me, I know this from experience. It’s why I go through so many post-it notes by writing ‘Hold the fat end!’ on them and sticking them to my pole.
No pole today for Jo, just a day on the feeder to temp more Carp than anyone else.
38lbs 15ozs was way more than I expected to see today, and way more than he needed to win. But, when you can have lots of time away, and rock up and decimate the field, you may as well do it in style!
Well done kiddo, great work…
Peg Five:
Austin Scott-Kennedy:
The Romanian Nation team kit was back out and for very good reason. The middle of the lake was only marginally better than the wind tunnel that Josh found himself in. But Austin only had one very simple mission today, and that was to catch a fish. With only six competitive anglers fishing, one fish would seal the deal for him. To everyone’s surprise, it happened very quickly. But, even so, it must have been a twitchy 10-minutes for Austin. Jack had two Carp in his net by the time Austin’s tip went round for his championship clinching fish. I can’t imagine the relief he felt inside. Maybe he didn’t realise what he’d done because he continued to fish his heart out for the next 2hrs and 50 minutes. A weight of 26lbs 14ozs was good enough for 3rd place and those 17 precious points.
It all became too much for dad Tom. rather than sacrificing a goat in the usual way, he instead dropped to his knees in the direction of Newcastle and gave thanks to the North East.
I’m very proud of Austin and, on behalf of the club, I offer him my congratulations…
Austin Scott-Kennedy. The 2024 Junior Points Champion…
Peg Six:
Jack Copp:
Pegged next to Austin for the third match on the trot, you would be a brave person to bet against Jack to claw the 19-point deficit back, especially in conditions like these.
Jack knew what it meant as Austin slipped the net under his first fish, and may be that was the reason for a change to a silverfish attack. But with only three hours to play with, even Jack was up against it. There is no doubt that Jack has had the fishing year of his life so far, but missing two points scoring matches was always going to be a steep hill to climb. But Jack is a dangerous competitor, and you can never write him off.
Second place was as good as it was going to get after a sterling performance by Josiah, and a championship second place was probably scant reward for arguably the best junior we have ever produced.
Well done…
Peg Seven:
Alec Campbell:
No one wanted Alec to get a reward for a very solid season of fishing more than me, and I am happy and proud to say Congratulations to our 2024 Silverfish Championship Winner, Alec Campbell.
Still he chases that elusive first win in a points match, although he did win a round of the Knockout this year. But he has achieved a string of very creditable second place finishes this year.
The thing that stands out for me is the fact that, just as everyone was thinking that Alec was a tidy Silverfish angler, he went and turned in a good result with a bag of Carp. He is turning into a very accomplished competitive angler full stop.
Alec smashes through many personal barriers to even get to the events. Sometimes they get the better of him, but most of the time he supresses them enough to enjoy his fishing. 3lbs 1oz of silverfish was enough from his 8lbs 14ozs catch to secure the title for 2024.
Congratulations Alec, Well done!
Peg Seven:
Alfie Ellis:
We don’t often get someone say ‘Nah!’ to a taster session or a practice session, but Alfie was the first. Even though I had told Alfie to enjoy his day and his fishing, on a day like today, one couldn’t help wondering just how it was going to go for him. He likes a bit of mud does Alfie. There was so much mud when he left his swim that I thought, being a builder, his dad had brought some with him from a site to get shot of!
One thing I have failed to mention so far is the massive undertow to the left all the juniors experienced. It could have been that the fish did not want to be in front of a fierce cold wind, and instead decided to follow the warmer undertow. If this was the case, being at the windward end of the lake was not the best place to be.
From what I observed, Alfie has a strong foundation on which to build his skills. Good, accurate casting and bait placement for our newest newbie.
4lbs 1ozs will forever be Alfie’s first ever match weight. Mine was 1lb 8ozs, so well done!
Always good to meet new faces, and the Ellis’s were no exception.
Welcome to the juniors…
Two other juniors to briefly talk about were having a coaching session today (Yes, they just came for fun!) and they were Alexander Adey and Freddie Campbell.
Alexander Adey:
Alexander turned up with a seven fish target which was achieved after just 10-minutes with the help of Captain Chris. I asked Charli if she was gathering the bags to leave after the tenth bite, but Alexander would hang on for a while longer before calling it a day.
Around 15 fish would be his (and mum’s) reward for braving the elements today, well done…
Freddie Campbell:
Freddie and Aaron turned up a little later to play in the wind and rain. It is tough to learn all that much in conditions like today, other than how uncomfortable fishing can get, how efficient are your waterproofs, and do you need psychiatric help…
Freddie did pick up his ‘new’ Re-Gen seat box today, despite having just bought an actually new plastic one earlier.
They both returned home after bagging a few Carps and needing a complete change of clothing because, boy did it rain at the end!
So that’s the points series finished for this season. Congratulations to our winners, but also to everyone else that turned up to fish throughout the year. We have had another memorable year, and I look forward to closing it out with our Christmas match at Todber Manor next weekend.
£20 entry (to help cover the cost of prezzies and peg fees).
Draw at 9am
Fish from 10am until 2pm (TBC).
Presentations and prizes after…
Thank you to Jon and Chris (who travelled all the way from Blandford let’s not forget!) for your coaching skills today.
Thanks to Jim Roper for allowing us ‘muddy up’ his fishery, and thanks also to your support throughout the year.
Please pray for better weather next week!
Juniors Sec…
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