By Mark Jones - Competitions Secretary
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Without doubt the last season has been the most memorable in terms of match results, broken records and most importantly for the support that the matches have received. All that being said it was definitely a season of two halves as the cliché goes with the fish doing a very effective disappearing act from the Christmas match to the end of the season. Roll on the end of the close season on rivers so that we can rearrange the seasons so that we no longer have to fight the flooded rivers, frozen canals and crystal clear lakes, still that’s another issue! |
| Prior to the season starting the competitions committee introduced a modification to the rules governing points awarded during club matches limiting the weight bonus points to a maximum of sixty, i.e thirty pounds in weight. This was done to allow the use of prolific commercial venues alongside the more traditional ones. Six times the rule came into play the first time on the very first match of the season at Smallford where Peter Fell took over thirty-two pounds of skimmers to clinch the Rodney Lee trophy. |
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The other significant highlight of the summer was the hugely successful Thursday evening league which regularly attracted a turnout of over twenty, the lowest winning weight over the six match series was over eighteen pounds, not bad for three hours! The highlight was the new three-hour and venue match record set at Smallford by Mick Chappel weighing in over thirty-six pound of bream and skimmers in just three hours. |
| Ladies, juniors and senior citizens matches are run throughout the summer as a three match series with the best two counting for the trophies. It is always a little disappointing that we do not get a bigger turnout for these matches as they are an excellent way to learn about the sport and meet new people, they are run very informally with help not only allowed but positively encouraged, so if anyone is interested but is a little unsure please ring one of the committee members who will be able to assist. Sue Jones took the ladies title, Matthew Lakin the juniors and Terry Rumsey the veterans. |
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As we moved into September an outstanding match took place at Rolf’s Lake, with pegs limited to thirty the total weight weighed in was nine-hundred and eighty two pounds, an average of over thirty-two pound per person, and that is not including the silver fish that were not allowed to be weighed in. Top weight on the day with a new Club match record was Mark Jones with a total of one hundred and six pound of carp to eleven pounds. The largest carp taken on the day was eighteen pounds landed by Phil Rule, quite an achievement at this pole-only venue. |
| The next match saw yet another record smashed beyond all recognition, Dan Patrick fishing the pole and pellet took a carp of seventeen pounds first put in and then added a further thirty seven pounds of bream all from the canal at Croxley Green. |
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The next canal match took us all by surprise as we used the stretch of the canal at Marsworth, near Tring, for the first time. Only nineteen fished but they averaged over thirteen pound a man with Colin Winter taking three carp for twenty pound and then adding eight perch, biggest 2.13.8,for another nineteen pounds to secure first place ahead of Steve Burfoot who had carp and bream for one pound less. Paul Bangs took a chub of exactly four pounds in his third placed net of 19.3.0. |
| This brings us to one of the potential highlights of the season the annual Christmas match at Riverside Road. This year was the first year that the newly installed facilities were fully open. The day started with a traditional full English fry up and plenty of friendly banter over copious cups of tea. A total of forty anglers fished , it was however a good job that the café was open all day as the fish were not obliging at all with only six people weighing in at the end, Steve Burfoot taking a solitary carp for eleven pounds to secure the Bob Cooper Memorial Trophy. |
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As the last match of the season was due to start at Lake John there were no less than seven anglers who had a realistic chance of winning the Club Championship. Despite not adding to his tally on the day Kevin Marslin held on to take the title ahead of last years winner, Mark Jones, just fourteen points behind. Winner on the day was Neil Anderson with a single double figure carp plus a few bits. More often than not this was the way to win this season as the pictures illustrate. |
| I would just like to end by expressing my thanks not just to those that helped organise and run the matches but to all of you that attended and made the efforts all seem worthwhile, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. |
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