20th Dec - WL4 - Lloyds - Kingfisher / Badger

With 17 booked on Rick had sorted a section on Kingfisher and a section on Badger from peg 18 back towards the car park on the right hand bank.

The fishing was very hard for most and if you were not on the top island on Kingfisher in the main you struggled. Kenny Stuart fished to the island in the top right hand corner and struggled for bites before finding carp in the open water on bread and despite losing a fair few he managed to secure a second win on the run with 26.0lb.

Mike Richardson again on the top island but this side by the house went off like a train with 3 carp in 3 drops before they spooked and then it was a case of trying to work out what and how they wanted it. Mike managed a few more but fell just short of the win with 25.1lb. Billy Gore was also on the top island but the farside by the aerator and after a few early mug fish it got tough for Billy too but he wrinkled out a creditable 22.3lb on a tough day for 3rd place.

Top weight on Badger was Ian Lloyd with 20.1lb. Considering the space we had only two other double figure weights were taken and Lloyds was not in a forgiving mood with nearly a third of the field weighing less than 5lb.....certainly not the winter fishing we have been used to in previous years here.

Result

1st - Kenny Stuart - 26.0lb
2nd - Mike Richardson - 25.1lb
3rd - Billy Gore - 22.3lb

13th Dec - Hampton - Long & Willow

After heavy overnight frosts the WBAC Fur and Feather turnout was faced with cat ice on both lakes and with Willow having fished well the previous weekend the pegging resulted in more on Willow and less on Long....which proved to be a mistake for all bar the winner.

Kenny Stuart fished 5-7m next to the ice with maggot and caught carp to weigh in 38.5lb which was probably more than the rest of the anglers on Willow put together.......a star performance and good enough to win the John Heald KO trophy for 2014 having beaten the other 8 qualifiers at this match, well done Kenny.

Long Island was a different story with much better weights that saw Billy Gore catching carp on maggot on the tip and then on the pole at 11m feeding heavily despite the ice he ended up with 34.8lb for second overall. Ian Simpson managed to rotate a few lines and caught 3 carp from the deep margin at various times through the match but backed it up with skimmers, ide, roach and perch to just do enough for 3rd with 27.0lb from a fast finishing Paul Robinson and Steve Brew who both found carp willing to feed late on but fell short with 24.8lb and 22lb respectively.

Result

1st - Kenny Stuart - 38.5lb
2nd - Billy Gore - 34.8lb
3rd - Ian Simpson 27.0lb

22nd Nov - WL3 - Lloyds Badger

Result

1st - Billy Gore - 57.8lb
2nd - Phil Henry - 57.7lb
3rd - Jason Connah 30.8lb

8th Nov - WL2 - Conway

Result

1st - Phil Henry - 58.3lb
2nd - Ian Lloyd 50.9lb
3rd - Billy Gore 43.8lb

I wasn't there but a case of deja vu for Phil who drew the  same sunken island and matched his winning weight from WL1 to make it two in a row.

25th Oct - Border

Result

1st - Steve Brew - 37.3lb
2nd - Phil Henry - 35.7lb
3rd - Rick Keeley - 35.3lb

11th Oct - WL1 - Conway

Our first trip back to Conway this year and we were greeted with unseasonally fine weather, not too much wind and still loads of colour in the water and vegetation on the bankside. Phil Henry fished his first match at Conway, drew the sunken island and made no mistakes fishing long pole and pellet to record 58.3lb of carp and some silvers when he rested the long line for what turned into an easy victory.

Ian Simpson drew past the boulder towards the bottom corner and after two early carp in the margins of all places had a brilliant last few hours on the roach at 5m to end with 43.5lb and the runners up spot. Paul Robinson drew the area that is sometimes nomansland between the sunken island and the bowl but kept snaring a few F1's monging it ending with a respectable 38.6lb and the third spot.

Result

1st - Phil Henry - 58.3lb
2nd - Ian Simpson - 43.5lb
3rd - Paul Robinson - 38.6lb