Glebe 2013 Weekend

The Glebe details are on the Glebe 2013 tab please read and book on with deposit as specified to secure your place and allow us to determine the numbers.

8th December - Hampton Alice/Poplar

Well it was the last match of the normal season for WBAC and we found Hampton half iced over so it was going to be tough after Eggy Ferry had been on the previosu Sunday and less than 3lb won it!!

Jeff Grantham drew Poplars nearest the entrance and had a lovely net with mainly silvers on caster at 6m backed up with a few big 1lb+ perch and one stray carp for 27.2lb. John Heald also drew Poplars and managed a mainly carp net for second with 22.9lb after a late run that had Jeff worried. Steve Brew was the top  rod on Alice with 19.7lb made up of just two carp on bunches of maggots and 4 silvers from opposite the roadside by the aerator. Sections went to Dougie Walsh on Poplars with 12.8lb, Steve Gilmour on Alice roadside with 9.0lb and Ian Simpson on the electric box side with 8.5lb.

All told it fished okay given the conditions and compared to the previous week only 2 weighed less than 3lb

Result

1st - Jeff Grantahm - 27.2lb
2nd - John Heald - 22.9lb
3rd - Steve Brew - 19.7lb
Sec - Dougie Walsh - 12.2lb
Sec - Steve Gilmour - 9.0lb
Sec - Ian Simspon - 8.5lb

1st December - Conway WL3

Result

Conway was in a strange mood and the carp generally never came out to play as a cold wind went down the lake away from the car park. With a lower than normal turnout the bowl area was pegged given it had been the place to draw recently for carp but with the cool wind it was the pegs nearer the carp park that threw up the few carp caught led by Barry Davis who snared a carp or two before concentrating on the roach close in to take top spot with 31.6lb from the white buoy peg. Jeff Grantham pelleted it as usual and from the car park side of the point and had F1's and skimmers for second and 28.9lb.

Dougie Walsh continued his good start to the winter league with 3rd and 26.1lb comprising mainly carp from opposite the point then all the rest of the weights were all but carp free zones. Ian Simpson was best of the rest after two hours trying for carp binned it and went shallow for roach to take 4th with 25.1lb........the Conway curse striking again....."should I do carp should I do roach" and doing neither very well!!!

1st - Barry Davis (Guest) - 31.6lb
2nd - Jeff Grantham - 28.9lb
3rd - Dougie Walsh - 26.1lb
4th - Ian Simpson - 25.1lb

17th November - Conway WL2

All looked well for another battle of the roach versus the carp heads but after an hour the roach were not playing and it was left to those who had a few carp in front of them to run away with it.

We tried a new peg in the bottom corner and it turned out to be good for Dougie Walsh who as always at Conway on the Winter Leagues starts well. He ran away with the match with a well deserved 49.2lb mainly carp net. Barry Davis our recedent guest at the moment seems to have got to grips with Conway and managed a similar net for second with 43.8lb again from dont the bottom end.

Jeff Grantham took third with 35.4lb from the last peg on the left hand side again mainly carp and the final framer was Billy Gore drawn in the middle of the far end and weighed 31.5lb

Story of the match was Steve Brew deciding to fish Ian S's peg at 17.5m.....they managed 38lb between them sharing a few carp and skimmers but even partners shouldn't have been that close....at times there was 6ft between pole tips............Steve also took the pee fishing 10mm JPZ's and 3x 6mm JPZ's and was still catching carp and F1's whilst Ian had to go down to maggot and 4mm pellet over micros less than 3 yards away!!

Roll on the first frosts for WL3 then its off to Saughall and Blundell for 4 matches before we are back at Conway to round off the series.

Result
1st - Dougie Walsh - 49.2lb
2nd - Barry Davis (G) - 43.8lb
3rd - Jeff Grantham - 35.2lb
4th - Billy Gore - 31.5lb

10th November - Mouldsworth

Can't comment having not been at this one but lets just say it was peggy according to those a spoke to as the backing weights tumbled after the top 4 but that said you still have to get them out having drawn the better pegs.

Result

1st - Jeff Grantham - 79.1lb
2nd - Mick Flanagan - 40.4lb
3rd - Dougie Walsh - 31.8lb
4th - Kenny Stuart - 26.4lb

27th October - Saughall

Saughall was rather full of water for this visit and lots of pegs under water still after recent flooding and a frost overnight it was never going to be easy.

Billy started slowly struggling to get the ide going from the field side but eventually found the smaller brown goldfish, carp and F1's willing to have a go and sneaked a few more in than most realised to take the win. Jeff Grantham took second with 21.8lb off the road side with a mixed bag of ide and carp just ahead of Ian Simpson who was next to Billy but had all ide net for 19.5lb and third.

The story of the match though was our very own chairman Henry Mellor who fished a blinder on the feeder to take his section with 18.3lb of mainly ide. Now to say Henry has a rather unconventional rod handling technique would be fair and despite Ian Lloyd and Rick trying to 'teach an old dog new tricks' Henry ignored them and gammy handed or not doubled the coach's weight. Rick who said you were good on the feeder!!!! Kenny Stuart fished his normal solid match and took the other section from the other side of Billy with 13.5lb.

Despite the weather, frost and cold wind it fished okay although the top end was distinctly tougher.

Result

1st - Billy Gore - 28.5lb
2nd - Jeff Gratham - 21.8lb
3rd - Ian Simpson - 19.5lb
Sec A - Henry Mellor - 18.3lb
Sec B - Kenny Stuart - 13.5lb

13th October - Partridge

After a last minute change to Pine only ten fished Ian Lloyd and Billy ran away with the honours with guest Steve Simpson keeping them looking over their shoulder. I understand it was a tale of both ends fishing okay and middle being tough despite all having plenty of space.

Result

1st - Ian Lloyd - 34.07lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 33.08lb
3rd - Steve Simpson - 26.02lb (guest)
4th - Alec Raich - 21.01lb

29th Sept - Lloyds Meadow - Badger

After a hasty change from Chester Lakes Rick sorted us out on Badger after some recent good results. Before the all in we had an 'incident' when amongst sunny spells a rain cloud passed over. A few girls including Jeff Grantham put their brolly's up and when Jeff moved 3ft off his box to get a top kit a freak gust took his brolly, box, bait side tray, two keepnets etc etc 6m into the lake and the wind proceeded to try to sail it across the lake!!

After much laughter, then abuse as we had to delay the start to rescue the Daiwa Box Iceberg the match kicked off with Jeff Grantham's inside line well and truly fed before the all in!!!

Ian Simpson kicked off with no feed short of the brambles in 4ft on pellet after several sessions on Lloyds when they back off straight away when fed but 9 carp in 9 drops suggested it was black!! Eventually needing to feed to keep them coming out of the brambles he went on to amass a winning 132.5lb.

Rob Dickinson managed to keep eeking a few from two far bank swims for 72.5lb enough to win many matches on Lloyds and Ian Lloyd did the same from left hand side for 3rd and 63.1lb. Sections went to Jeff Grantham who managed 35.8lb and admitted to catching nothing on the inside for some reason. Steve Gilmore started very well next to the winner but slowed in the second half but still managed 45.5lb.

Result
1st - Ian Simpson - 132.5lb
2nd - Rob Dickinson - 72.5lb
3rd - Ian Lloyd - 63.1lb
Sec A - Jeff Grantham - 35.8lb
Sec B - Steve Gilmore - 45.5lb

Glebe Weekender

Overall 5379lb caught over three days at an average of 75lb per angler each day.

Results - Thurs (Lakes 4,5,6,7)
1st - Paul Robinson - 140.6lb
2nd - Ian Simpson - 140.2lb (Peg83)
3rd - Mick Flanagan - 128lb (Peg109)
Section 4 - Jeff Grantham - 114.4lb (Peg 68)
Section 5 - John Heald - 89.9lb (Peg 76)
Section 6 - Billy Gore - 104.2lb (Peg
Section 7 - Tyrone Davies - 95.8lb (Peg

Results - Fri (Lake 1)
1st - Tyrone Davies - 159.0lb (Peg27)
2nd - Paul Robinson - 154.0lb (Peg 21)
3rd - Ian Lloyd - 140.2lb (Peg 7)
Section A - Ian Simpson - 107.9lb (Peg 11)
Section B - Dougie Walsh - 90.4lb (Peg 15)
Section C - John Heald - 125.8lb (Peg22)
Section D - Rick Keeley - 64.0lb (Peg30)

Results - Sat (Lake 1)
1st - Paul Robinson - 158.9lb (Peg 1)
2nd - Tyrone Davies - 134.4lb (Peg 14)
3rd - Rob Dickinson - 118.8lb (Peg 19)
Section A - Andy Thompson - 112.0lb (Peg 8)
Section B - Dave Gentile - 81.4lb (Peg
Section C - Billy Gore - 88.9lb (Peg22)
Section D - Dougie Walsh - 99.9lb (Peg27)

Ronnie Ashbrooke Pairs Winners 2012: -

 - John Heald & Billy Gore

Glebe Weekender Details

I have updated the Glebe tab with this years details.

Pairs will be draw at tonights meeting, Monday 10th, 8pm start.

Its also the pre AGm so all are welcome.

25th August - Hampton Springs

Fourteen turned out to Hampton and with the whole of Long Island to chose from the pegging was always going to be good. After a slight mix up at the draw Rick ended up with the most noted peg on the place, peg49 and proceeded to have a 'cock up' day start to finish......after launching his method into the trees first cast, he also managed to break two pole rollers and his feeder rod before weighing in second in section 40lb from that flyer!!!!

Ian Simpson drew peg10 and started long on pellet at 17.5m taking a five early carp tight over before the skimmers moved in and the wind picked up making presentation difficult. A switch to 13m pellet shallow produced five more carp. The final two hours were spent kerb crawling in both margins and five munters were propositoned by worm over maggot one side and corn the other that must have been over 40lb towards a total weight of 78.5lb.

Billy Gore took default second from Barry Davies (guest). Billy I believe caught on method to the island and down the margins late but was out of site but not out of earshot as he and Dougie, next peg traded insults for 5 hours. Kenny Stuart tempted a mixed bag on pellet from Peg 40 including carp, tench, crucians and skimmers for 51.4lb and default third.

Barry Davies who was guesting, again managed a big weight (same as Weston) and fished shallow with pellet for mainly small carp before adding a few better samples,late on from the margins for an impressive 76.8lb. Steve Gilmore drew peg 13 and avoided the sunken island concentrating instead on the pipe and margins and amassed a carp and crucian bag weighing 22.3lb for his section.

Result
1st - Ian Smpson - 78.5lb
Sec B - Barry Davies - 76.8lb (Guest so section pool only)
2nd - Billy Gore - 70.2lb
3rd - Kenny Stuart - 51.4lb
Sec A - Steve Gilmore - 22.3lb

11th Aug - Weston Pools - Canal

Well back on the Canal at Weston and with 19 attendees pegging was going to be up for debate again. With very low oxygen levels in the previous two days the levels had been increased and aerators had to be left on so it made for some splashing around at the start and the fishing was certainly slower for those not on caster or worm which beat the meat and pellet brigade hands down.

Jason Jones drew peg 20 and started shallow with caster but struggled for fish until he went to the bottom and then had a steady stream of barbel for 5 hours weighing 65.9lb for a comfortable victory. Ian Lloyd (peg 7) also fished caster and worm at 3-5m and eventually the barbel turned up and Ian was bagging for a few hours, noticably he never caught on pellet of meat in the margins as the carp were difficult to tempt.

Dave Grimes (peg 13) had to wade to his peg but it proved worthwhile with 49.5lb coming to his 5m approach. Dave Gentile took the section place with 48.2lb (which he said was 30lb!!) of barbel from peg 37.
Special mention to guest Barry Davies who can't go in the pools but took his section with 59.8lb from peg 26 all taken from the margins.

Results

1st - Jason Jones - 65.9lb (Peg 20)
2nd - Ian Lloyd - 56.5lb (Peg 7)
3rd - Dave Grimes - 49.5lb (Peg 13)
Sec A - Barry Davies (guest) - 59.8lb (Peg 26)
Sec B - Dave Gentile - 48.2lb (Peg 37)

27th July - Lloyds Meadow - Badger

After poor recent fishing and falling turnouts Rick cancelled Brookside and booked us onto Lloyds Meadow on Badger and the turnout jumped back to sixteen and the good news is the fishing improved as well.

Steve Brew ran out the winner, bucking the long pole trend and catching on the method to the far bank with 62.3lb. Ian Simpson was only a fish or two behind having caught long to the far bank on pellet and then had a run of better 4-8lb fish in the last hour from the margin made for a close finish but Steve had done enough. Billy Gore continued his awesome form with third and 45.5lb.

Result

1st - Steve Brew - 62.3lb
2nd - Ian Simpson - 57.7lb
3rd - Billy Gore - 45.5lb
Sec A - Trevor Allpress - 35.4lb
Sec B - Jeff Grantham - 44.1lb

14th July - Partridge - Spey

Not such to say here only five turned out plus a guest, but that man Billy Gore walked it again with a happy van with Dougie Walsh second.

Result

1st - Billy Gore - 49.1lb
2nd - Dougie Walsh - 40.6lb
3rd - Rick Keeley - 31.0lb

Three Club Charity Event

I have attached an email from Claire-house in response to the tremendous success of the three way charity event and a photo of the presentation on the night with a guaranteed minimum of £2001 raised.

From: Pat Faragher [mailto:patf@claire-house.org.uk]
Sent: 10 July 2012 14:51
To: colincook1878@googlemail.com; Keeley Rick
Cc: kirsty@claire-house.org.uk; jill@claire-house.org.uk
Subject: FW: Pictures as requested - Thank you

 Hi Colin and Rick,

It was great to meet you both and the rest of the angling group last night. I enjoyed the meeting and was both thrilled and amazed at the amount of money you have raised. What struck me though was the fabulous spirit of community with you all coming together to support Colin and his family when they have been through the most horrific of experiences. Colin you must feel very proud to have such wonderful friends and support in your community. I am touched by this on both a personal and professional level. Claire House exists because of wonderful people like you who have empathy for others and do something to make a difference.

If you could let me know what you decide to call your newly formed angling group we can ensure you get a copy certificate for all three locations more if required and thank you letters to those people we also discussed namely Dougie Walsh c/o Asda Ellesmere Port and Martin at Firtrees Wigan.

It really was my pleasure to meet you all and if dancing on tables is ever required you know where to find me!

Regards,

Pat Faragher

Director of Fundraising

Meeting rule amendments

At the recent meeting two, what I can only describe as 'best practices' were discussed that have bugged me personally for a while and a committee decision was taken with immediate effect to implement the details below albeit will require formal confirmation at the AGM if these are indeed permanent rule changes.

Interestingly these appear more hearsay than documented rules as looking at club records back to 2002 I can't find the specific rule number to change!!

Anyway to clarify the practices of : -

 - 'A competitors cannot fish past the corner of the next peg' will be replaced with 'a competitors peg will be deemed half way between themselves and the next angler irrespective of permanent pegs with no angler present'.

- 'Competitors are not allowed to exchange bait after the all in' will simply be dropped.

Both will take immediate effect and I will raise at the pre - AGM in September.

23rd June - Chester Lakes

Well only ten turned out at Chester Lakes on Saturday on the middle lake, Jason Connah drew on the peg near to the car park on the road side on the way in down on the slope and fished at 6m and against the reeds and caught steadily throughout, lost a few too for a winning 25.2lb. Kenny Stuart did well with the severe wind in his face all day, he caught 20.8lb at 9m and on the inside. Ian Lloyd drw the Golden Peg and was comfortable at 8m with the wind behind and I'm told should have done a little better than 3rd with 20.4lb according to our resident coach!!

Damages on the day Jason Connah broke 5th section, Rick Keeley broke 5th and 4th section as the blew his pole out of the rollers 7 times (once is an accident 7 times is Rick being a ballon!!) oh nad his top 4 blew away 5 times down the field.

Rick's thought for the day " that place has cost me more money in sections than any other fishery, including Conway" and you need a top 5 to fish to hand

Result

1st - Jason Connah - 25.2lb

2nd - Kenny Stuart - 20.8lb

3rd - Ian Lloyd - 20.4lb

17th June - Fir Tree - Three Way Charity Match

Well 24 turned out and after fishing 8 sections of 3 Rivacre ran out the winners with five section wins, two seconds and a third.

 

Ian Lloyd ran out the individual winner of the first Three Club Charity event at Fir Tree with his catch of 35.6lb of mainly Carp + silvers caught at 17m on corn. Ian fed a pot of corn and pellet on this line, but started on the inside and had a couple of bits, but after an hour or so decided to try the far line on corn where he caught steady for the rest of the match.

Second was Billy Gore with 33.0lb caught on meat and pellet at 16m mainly down the inside and over. Billy was as doubled over at the end holding the pole for that length of time, and didn’t feel too good either suffering from food poisoning (could it be Dougie poisioning his butties to give us all a chance) third was Dave Cargill from Eggy Ferry with 20.7lb again caught over on pellet but managed a few from the track as well.

The total money looks like being over £2.000 and Rick has asked everyone to collect all their sponsors’ money by the 2nd July for the WBAC meeting on the 9^th so Clair House representatives can come to collect the cheque. Keith is organising a Big cheque from the bank for the photos.

Result

1st - Ian Lloyd - 35.7lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 33.0lb
3rd - Dave Cargill - 20.7lb

9th June - Weston Pools - Canal

Weston produced the goods again with more than 580lb of fish brough to the scales from the 19 fishing so an average of over 32lb per man. After much heated debate about pegging, which I have to say is always going to be the case at Weston Canal as its such a bizarre shape, we managed to all seem to disagree but drew and got on with it!!

Rob Dickinson had a great last hour at 5m on pellet to pull away from the field with 60.7lb of carp, F1's and barbel from peg 13. Rick 'the coach' Keeley followed advice and fished 16m over early on and then 5m and margins to record 2nd from peg20 with a similar mix. Ian Lloyd declared he had about 28lb from peg 33 but weighed 45.2lb for third and to win his knockout from Ian S (he had declared 30lb but weighed 40.7lb as well, we are rubbish at guessing weights at Weston).

Sections went to Tony Byers with 42.4lb from peg 8 (well done Tony beating Billy Gore off the next peg is going some at the moment!!) and Jeff Gratham (who had a little moan about his peg) on peg 23 with 41.9lb including a lot of smaller fish on pellet.

With 32.5lb not even making the top ten, Weston again proved to be one of the better venues despite the now standard pegging debate there!!!! Oh and fishing past the next pallet there is a bit of a farce on some pegs that we really need to review in my opinion.

Result
1st - Rob Dickinson - 60.7lb
2nd - Rick Keeley - 47.6lb
3rd - Ian Lloyd - 45.2lb
Section A - Tony Byers - 42.4lb
Section B - Jeff Grantham - 41.9lb

26th May - Brookside (Kingfisher)

Billy Gore our Club Angler of the year finalist continued his great form and obliterated the small field who returned to Brookside. Billy had the wind off his back which others struggled with and weighed 72.6lb for an easy win and took the golden peg as well. Colin Cook was the nearest challenger with a good weight of 33.4lb with Rick Keeley third with 15.6lb

With three of the twelve anglers not weighing and low backing weights it appears to have been hard for most. I believe the weather didn't help, but you cannot take it away fom the runaway framers, Billy and Colin weighed over 100lb between them with the entire rest of the field only weighing 70lb (a touch peggy methinks!)

Result
1st - Billy Gore - 72.6lb
2nd - Colin Cook - 33.4lb
3rd - Rick Keeley - 15.6lb

12th May - Partridge - Ribbon / Tweed

Results

Tweed
1st - Jeff Gratham - 42.0lb
2nd - Jason Connah - 28.8lb

Ribbon
1st - Mick Flanagan - 42.9lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 33.4lb

Glebefest 2012 Deposits

Guys, just a reminder you should by now have paid £60 deposit to Keith with the remainder, dependant on how many nights your staying due mid August.

Can I ask the 6-8 who have not paid the full £60 to sort out with Keith asap as we still have at least one member looking to book on. I'll ask Keith to let us have an update at the next meeting.

If you have not paid your £60 by the next meeting 14th May I'm going to recommend at the meeting its only fair to move to a first come first served with the £60 from that point so someone could miss out.

14th April - Weston Pools - Canal

Well in Rick and Keith's absence I thought this was superbly run and pegged to perfection resulting in rapturous applause from all who fished both before, during and after the match!!!!...........no seriously thanks to Ian L for help at the draw, Billy for help weighing as always and Rob and moaning hole (Jeff) for pegging it out to give us a decent and very close match in the end.
 
It was probaly no surprise that two of the current Weston Pools Winter League winning team ie Mick and Jeff took the top two spots but it was a close call with Mick alternating feeder and pole down the margins for 36.8lb with Jeff second on 35.1lb having so many margins to go at on his peg it was ridiculous. Steve Brew broke the winning teams gallop taking third with 34.3lb but only after kidding us all he had 50lb+

The sections were also close with Billy Gore on 33.2lb just ahead of Colin Cook with 29.1lb in section A. Ian Simpson caught late on to pip Rob Dickinson 28.2lb to 26.1lb in section B. In section C it was a case of double default win for Kenny Pickup after a hard fought peg to peg battle with his partner Kenny Stuart. The Pickup variety managed 13.9lb with the Stuart variety falling a fish shy with 13.6lb.

340lb of fish caunght at an average of 18lb per angler despite lots of cold rain and a bitter wind on the day.......roll on summer!!!!

Result
1st - Mick Flanagan - 36.8lb
2nd - Jeff Grantham - 35.1lb
3rd - Steve Brew - 34.3lb
Sec A - Billy Gore - 33.2lb
Sec B - Ian Simpson - 28.2lb
Sec C - Kenny Pickup - 13.9lb

7th April - Chester Lakes

Just ten turned out for Chester Lakes and it fished okay with an average of 10lb per angler so at least everyone had some bites. Not much I can say as I wasn't on this one but Billy Gore ran out the winner with 22.2lb with Keith Williamson just smeaking second spot with 16.2lb with Rick Keeley one fish away with 15.9lb

Result
1st - Billy Gore - 22.2lb
2nd - Keith Williamson - 16.2lb
3rd - Rick Keeley - 15.9lb

15th March - Conway WL10

All calm at Conway and the whole lake was ours after John the owner took heed of our moans having let all the day ticketers on last time.....and god can we moan......we have Captain Moanamaximus in our ranks (alias JG/Bagpuss)!! On the league front there were still 3 possible winners and lots of the places still up for grabs with only the best 5 to count and lots to drop (nightmare working it out afterwards on the day though!!!).

Having not fished well all winter we left the first two pegs past the tree out and you guessed it the winner came from the next peg with Steve Brew fishing 17.5m long back towards the white buoy for a real mixed bag that included no less that 17lb of goldfish in his 44.6lb net all taken on pellet either shallow or on the sunken island at 4ft. Jeff Granthan drew 1 passed the rock and caught shallow a couple of carp, a few F1's and some big roach for 42.4lb and enough to take the winter league title with 8pts. Ian Simpson needed to beat Jeff but fell just short with 35.3lb with a few bigger carp up in the water but no F1's and only a smattering of roach making all the difference. Ian's third spot though crucially gained him one point to tie with Rob Dickenson for second in the league and on count back it went 3lb in Ian's favour.

After the match John the owner laid on a buffet and some beers whilst we presented the payouts for the leagues top 14, as always paying out everyone who supported at least 5 matches and there were lots of close battles from Sonny pipping H and John Heald for 12th to Rick pipping Keith by a point and Dave Grimes doing the same to Dougie for 5th having only fished 5 as well.

Conway was not at its best this winter but we managed 2096lb at an average of 16lb per angler slightly down on last years 19lb per angler.......the challenge now is to find a local venue that will still produce those averages next winter, thats not going to be easy.......Rick over to you, my votes to alternate Conway and a.n.other more local venue for 10 matches with best 5 to count as we still fish it in the bad weather!!

Result
1st - Steve Brew - 44.6lb
2nd - Jeff Grantham - 42.4lb
3rd - Ian Simpson - 35.3lb

Winter League Champion = Jeff Grantham with 8pts (3 wins, 1 second, 1 third)

10th March - Brookside (Kingfisher)

A great turnout with 21 despite three or four regulars being away on Spring League duty but the fishing did not match the turnout. Kenny Stuart showed his class on his first outing for a while and took the win with 22.5lb. Rob Dickinson secured some late fish to snatch 2nd with 15.2lb from Kenny Pickup in third with 14.8lb.......two Kenny's both picking up, now there's a first (privately Kenny told me he was fed up carrying his partner!!!)

Result
1st - Kenny Stuart - 22.5lb
2nd - Rob Dickinson - 15.2lb
3rd - Kenny Pickup - 14.8lb
Sec A - Keith Williamson - 10.6lb
Sec B - John Heald - 11.7lb
Sec C -Colin Cook - 7.9lb

3rd March - WL9 Conway

Before I start a big thank you from Rick and Steve Brew to Trevor who arrived after the match, suited up and managed to sink this time (and we thought he was a floater not a diver!!).He returned to the surface excaliber like 3 times in different pegs with sections in hand!! - Well Done Trev!!

Last but one match and the top 3 in the league drew in a line on the bottom end so it was going to be interesting. With the water surface having what can only be described as that 'nervous' look of fish just under the surface Ian S started shallow with meat and pellet and snared 3 big carp and a decent F1 to take an early lead but then it rained and with Rob and Billy also going shallow the carp were gone......

Jeff Grantham did his usual 'moan for England' and went round begging and borrowing maggots saying there's no carp we he had drawn and he was gonna roach it!! Anyway to cut a long story short, we want our maggots back, Jeff found the carp and F1's shallow late on and won with 56.9lb and was absolutely flying at the end.

Steve Brew drawn opposite the point had picked up carp after they clearly had backed off the bottom 3 pegs and by fishing long and with space around him, he kept a few coming to weigh 54.2lb for second. Ian Simpson's early carp gave him enough of a lead to hold on to 3rd with 42.1lb with Billy and Rob Dickinson about 10-12lb adrift.

With one match to go Jeff has jumped to top spot on weight only from Rob with Ian S and Billy a further 1 and 2 points back but its virtually all come down to the last match. If Jeff, Rob or Ian win, they win the league, if Billy wins it depends what the places are. Even 5th and 6th is close with Dougie, Steve B, Dave Grimes, Rick, Keith, Ian L all still in the mix given the points you can drop.

After the final match, John the owner at Conway will be sorting a buffet and beer and we will payout everyone who has fished/supported 5 matches as per previous years!

Result
1st - Jeff Grantham - 56.9lb
2nd - Steve Brew - 54.2lb
3rd - Ian Simpson - 42.1lb

25th February - Mouldsworth Mere

Not much of an update on this one as I wasn't there but I hear Jeff spawned a few right lumps late on, two fish for 25lb that sort of moved him out of sight rather than just ahead. Dobbing bread and resting it from time to time using pellet on another line seems to have been the tactic.

Rob Dickinson continued his good form with second and 24.4lb which included a fair few silvers and skimmers. Billy Gore took third with 21.5lb after another island draw and no doubt hauling them over the top of the lilies.

Result
1st - Jeff Grantham - 58.8lb
2nd - Rob Dickinson - 24.4lb
3rd - Billy Gore - 21.5lb

18th Feb - WL8 - Conway

No ice, as that had melted into the lake but it was back to wild winds and very heavy rain as we arrived and rigged up. The wind was swirling wildly and no-one seemed to be safe and only a brave few got the brollies up.

Dave Grimes pegged by the bush on the left as you go on just got his head down and roached it at 3 and 6m and ended up sneaking it with 25.0lb. Rob Dickinson drew the bottom end and fished long with pellet for carp. Sonny initially showed him the way with two big early carp but Rob managed to snare a few of his own to end up 2nd with 24.8lb. Sonny just missed out on the places weighing 16lb as Billy Gore sneaked a few late fish from one past the boulder including some better skimmers and even a tench in his 17.1lb total and third.

In the Winter League standings Rob D maintains no1 spot with 9pts from Ian S who moved up to no2 with 11pts and Billy Gore 3rd with 12pts. Jeff Grantham and Dave Grimes are both hovering in the wings with 15pts & 14pts so its going to be close with just two matches to go and everyone able to drop results bar Dave Grimes..

Result
1st - Dave Grimes - 25.0lb
2nd - Rob Dickinson - 24.8lb
3rd - Billy Gore - 17.1lb

4th February - WL7 - Conway

First ice breaking duties of the year at Conway with only one peg free of ice at the far end and Jeff Grantham drew it......probably just as well as he would moan and want everyone to clear his peg 'a la saughall' if he hadn't!! It was certainly thicker on the right and towards the carp park end but by 10.15am we had 11 fishable pegs with some clear to 13m.......oh and Jeff's were he could have fished the bomb if he had needed to!!

Needless to say with the lack of disturbance Mr Grantham went on to what turned out to be an easy win with a 45.9lb mixed bag of carp, F1's and skimmers on pellet and JPZ's. He did have an early scare as it was slower in the first half and Ian Lloyd, first passed the staging on the right, was admitting to 10 carp and some silvers at the half way stage on 4mm pellet with Keith Williamson, on the staging, also into carp on the 6m line. Ian Lloyd's fish had dried up and only a few in the last hour meant he had to settle for 2nd with 35.9lb. Keith took a well earned 3rd with a 26.6lb mixed bag just holding off Rob Dickenson who weighed 23.8lb but lost a real hippocrocopig just short of the net under the ice that could have got him 2nd it was that big!!!

Overall it fished okay considering we had to break upto an inch of ice from most pegs but the roach were all but absent and it was strange seeing skimmers and F1's again at Conway.......its been a strange year there with no real pattern other than its inconsistent!!!!

three rounds to go and its getting tight with Rob moving into the league lead and Jeff joining the top 4 with just 4 points seperating them.

Result
1st - Jeff Grantham - 45.9lb
2nd - Ian Lloyd - 35.9lb
3rd Keith Williamson - 26.6lb

Glebe Update

Such is the quality of the place, 22 names and deposits hit the book in the first week alone to effectively sell out the Glebe so we have agreed to extend the numbers to 24 to allow two more anglers who fished last year to book in.

So John H and Pete W let us know asap if you are going and get Keith a deposit as we need to limit the numbers to 24. Anyone else interested will be booked down as a reserve should anyone drop out or John and Pete decide not to go.

WL6 - Conway - 21st Jan

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your pole in" seems to be the theme at Conway as the gales returned and more pole sections went for a swim along with a floater, sorry diver......but more on that later.

Ian Simpson drew one past the point and couldn't get the roach to settle but stuck with carp and pellet to snare 9 mainly F1's and some skimmers to add to his roach to weigh 27.9lb to just pip Billy Gore who drew first past the staging and stuck to 6m for his now customary dog roach net along with some carp for 26.2lb and second. Dave Gentile was 2 past the tree on the left and snared a few late carp to add to his silvers for a respectable 21.4lb net and third place.

It really was a grueller with heavy rain and wild conditions which resulted in Steve Brew having 6 sections of pole go in.......4 were rescued before that glug glug glug feeling ensued and Conway swallowed his Tourney Pro 4&5 section. It happened as we were packing up and Steve knew we had Trevor already in the water as our club diver with all the gear, air tank, flippers and the works already in the opposite side looking for Ricks 12m section from a fortnight ago........Trevor was walking up and down feeling for the section for a good while before trying to dive down for a closer look.......problem was he didn't have enough weights on and simply splashed around on the surface........after a bit of barracking he gave up and tried to no avail for Steve's section as well. Conway really is proving to be the pole graveyard with at least 4 x no4's, a no5 and a no9 that WBAC have lost this year.

Result
1st - Ian Simpson - 27.9lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 26.2lb
3rd - Dave Gentile - 21.4lb

14th Jan - Mouldsworth Mere

Greeted by the first few real white out this year it was always likely to be a hard day and for most thats exactly how it turned out. The venue looks super fishy and there are some great fish but they take some catching.
Jeff Grantham mastered the conditions at the top end on the left bank fishing long pole and pellet for an odd carp and mainly skimmers and roach net for an easy win with 20.5lb. Billy Gore drew the island with the sunken lillies and went 'banzai' again fishing in amongst the lillies but managed to extract 12.4lb for 2nd. Rob Dickenson took third with a mixed bag again on pellet for 5.7lb from the deep water on the left bank.
Sections were a little low with Rick Keeley taking the island section with 4.5lb having trashed rig after rig in the lillies. Ian Lloyd took the right bank section with a hard earned 2.8lb having never seen the sun all day behind the hill.....he was blue at the end of the day. Ian Simpson took the left hand section with 9 carp including 1 lump of a 1lb for 1.8lb.....mainly small stuff!!!!

Result
1st - Jeff Grantham - 20.5lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 12.4lb
3rd - Rob Dickenson - 5.7lb
Sec A - Rick Keeley - 4.5lb
Sec B - Ian Lloyd - 2.8lb
Sec C - Ian Simpson - 1.8lb

Reminders

Just a few: -

1. The first meeting of the year and confirmation of current members and new member nominations is next Monday 16th 8pm at the Wallasey conservative Club.

2. Sat 14th there will be the first club match of the year at Mouldsworth Mere. Meeting is 8am Morrison's at Ellesmere Port.

3. If anyone is after TJ PTFE nose cones www.protectapole.com to protect your pole let me have your order by 16/1 and I will send in 1 order and save the combined postage.

4. The same with Hillbilly Handmade Floats www.hillbillyfloats.co.uk I am ordering some next week so if you want some let me have the details and the again we can save on the combined postage.

5. Anyone with a spare 13m ProX section going cheap I may have a buyer for you!!!!! haha!!!

Glebe 2012

Just a quick note to confirm Keith has opened a book on the Glebe to allow members to pay in installments for the option they want. See the Glebe tab at the top of the blog for further details.

Deposits are required asap to book your place as we have restricted places to 24 maximum, members only. Full payment will be required by 25th August, the final match before the Glebe.

WL5 - Conway - 7th January

Another windswept day in the valleys and 11 brave souls (stupid fools, you pick!) were at the draw for Conway. With recent form being so varied and not knowing whether to go for roach or carp it seemed to be everyone simply wanted a draw out of the wind for a comfortable days fishing but that was not to be the case for many.

Ian Simpson was left with the final peg in the hat and it was on the bottom bank out of the wind with Graham Aveyard who eventually drew somewhere other than Peg 1!! Ian started with his customery roach up and down in the water approach at c11m but they were not playing and the stamp was very small on maggot with very few better samples. After Billy Gore and Rob Dickinson had caught some mid match carp on pellet Ian decided to sit it out at 14.5m for the last two hours on pellet taking odd better roach and skimmers along with four vital carp to record 24.0lb and a second win of the series.

Rob Dickinson drew well, as is becoming the norm, next to the point where the concrete tower is and managed to secure second with a hard fought 22.7lb of pellet caught roach and skimmers and four or five carp. The point has just not woken up this year at all yet. Jeff Gratham was in the brunt of the wind one down from the old staging on the right hand bank and struggled for a few roach at 6-8m until the wind eased enough for Jeff to go 16m+ to the island where we had five carp in the last hour to take 19.6lb and third spot.

Only two other double figure weights suggests Conway is not as prolific in 2011/2 as previous winters with no F1's caught and very few skimmers again. The weather clearly didn't help and Rick Keeley had a match to forget and then some. He had his 13m ProX section blown straight in and nearly lost the 4/5/6/7 when that also went in.......he managed to save that but only just and in doing so snapped the no7.......an expensive day in the swirling wind when you also add a broken landing net pole to the list of "Keeley Katastrophies"........lets hope 2012 improves mate!

Result

1st - Ian Simpson - 24.0lb
2nd - Rob Dickinson - 22.7lb
3rd - Jeff Grantham - 19.6lb