Match results/Events info

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

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Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 16lbs 4oz 2nd Bill Beeston 8lbs 60z 3rd Barry Cornell 1lbs 7oz High bank 1st John Carter 50lbs 5oz 2nd Rob Calderon 41lbs 5oz 3rd Richard Beeston 28lbs 5oz

Rob's day Hi all Back at Beggar's Hall today - 13 of us hopefully all catching a few fish although most places still seem to be fishing hard at present. Last out of the draw bag I drew peg 18 so a good chance of a few fish. Had set up a pellet waggler but a strong breeze blowing into my bank would have made it difficult and impossible to see any fish on top, so started on the feeder. No bites after an hour made it clear it was going to be a hard day. Rich on my left had one carp – I think on the waggler, and Bill over on peg 5 one carp also on the waggler. Apart from Bill, I could only see Tony Heath on 3 Fred on 4, and Barry on his own on 13 and they all seemed quiet. Managed another Carp on the feeder before hooking another and losing it when the hooklength snapped on the marginal weeds. Had been feeding the right margin and to the left alongside the reeds, but only saw one carp come in so stayed on the feeder as the wind continued to blow in. Managed one more carp before trying the margin again. After missing a couple of bites hooked and landed a carp around 8lb. Trying the reeds to the left caught one roach about 3oz then a 2lb jumping bream. Kept feeding the margin to the right but little activity apart from one carp that had been cruising around the keepnets all day. Hooked one more carp a long way down the right but I think foul hooked and came off. Down to the last minute, I had packed away most of the tackle just leaving the feeder rod. Noticed the carp still down by my feet so dropped in the feeder down a foot out, not expecting anything and looked for the whistle. Looked up and the rod had bent over! – while blowing the all-out, played and landed the carp – around 10lbs. At the weigh-in the lake had fished difficult, especially the low bank and also pegs 16 and 17 – Tony and Jeff weighing 1 carp between them. Phil topped the low bank with 16lb, Bill second with 8lb and Barry third with 1lb 7oz – a few DNWs today. John Carter had done well from peg 22 to top weight with 50lb – my 41lb good enough for second on the bank and Rich 3rd from page 19. Seems that the fish are favoring the car park end at present? Photo today is Rich Beeston.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

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1st Gary Pickard 43lbs 6oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 41lbs 3oz 3rd Fred Hunt 18lbs 2oz

Gary's day Today was back to Home Farm and it's small lake. It was a little cooler than of late with a breezy but dry day forecast. It was peg 1 for me today so a bit of long pole work to start and hopefully the margins full of carp later on. The start was slow but steady with a few bites coming on 6mm pellets and after an hour I had 4 smaller carp in the net. Fred at the other end of the lake sounded like he had had a good start but the middle pegs were fishing hard. After that first hour my peg just seemed to switch off and the odd cruising carp and patch of bubbles I had seen disappeared. Long, short, middle, on the deck and shallow were all tried and the only bites were from roach. With 90 minutes to go the odd carp showed on the top. They were very spooky but a couple took the pellet I dropped in front of them. Then they disappeared as fast as they surfaced. A try in the middle on corn found a couple of roach but nothing bigger. Phil in the middle sounded like he was now getting a few bites but the trees blocked me seeing him. With 20 mins to go another try down the margin finally produced a bite on paste which I missed. Next put in though I hit that bite. I snuck 1 more carp before the end. The carp here really seem to know typical match times as they were all down the edge as we were packing up! It was a very close finish and the few silvers I popped in the net may have made the difference. 1st Gary Pickard 43lbs 6oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 41lbs 3oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 18lbs 2oz. Picture today is Fred with a very scaly mirror.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hunters Hall (Abbey Cross water)

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Abbey Cross won the day with 53 points to Bishop's Stortford's 25 1st Martin Adams 15lbs 10oz 2nd Barry Cornell 14lbs 10oz 3rd Alan Fox third 8lbs 2oz

Rob's day Hi All Today we fished an Interclub match with Abbey Cross at their Hunters Hall Fishery near Epping Green. We had 8 fishing for us – Abbey only 6 so two of our weights would be discarded. Weather not bad but a coldish wind was blowing away from the car park end. I drew peg 15 – the first stage on the right hand bank – has been a reasonable area for bream lately so hopeful of a couple of fish. At the whistle fed a few small balls of groundbait at 13m and a couple at 9 m – then went out on the feeder with maggots. No bites after an hour so went on the 13m line. Wind was causing a problem holding the pole as was gusting across the lake on our bank. Still no bites so tried the 9 m line for nothing. On the other bank, Alan Fox had netted a bream, also Ray and Tony on peg 4 looked to have landed bream. News also that Barry had landed a large carp of around 20lb on peg 22 (weighed in at 12lb 11oz). Alan Fox to the right then caught a couple of tench under his feet, so things were not going too good for me, still with no bites. It seemed the bream were not feeding properly today with several seen cruising around at the top – maybe post spawning? Tried close in on maggots near the lilies both sides but ended the match biteless. Martin won the match with a creditable 15lb 10oz, Barry second with 14lb 10oz thanks mostly to his carp, and Alan Fox third with 8lb 2oz. Abbey Cross easily won the match 53 points to 25 with most of their side catching bonus fish. Thanks to Abbey Cross - Martin and Alan for hosting the mach.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

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1st Gary Pickard 160lbs 14oz 2nd Mark Halverson 92lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 46lbs 6oz

Gary's day After a hot couple of days it was a cooler visit to Beggars Hall today with it being forecast to be a bit breezy. It was another trip to peg 16 for me today. With quite a few carp thrashing around in the reeds on the walk to the peg thoughts were on it being a hard day if they were spawning. With the hot weather I was hoping the carp would be feeding in the upper layers so a day on the pellet waggler with a finish down the margins. Whilst getting set up I saw the odd cruising carp but they were a long way out at the island. At the all in I had a few chucks towards the island and was surprised to bump a fish after a couple of casts. Maybe they would be feeding today. Rob over on 17 was soon into a carp fishing a feeder down the side so I was one down. But only briefly as the float went under a carp was heading to my net, I was off the mark. As the wind picked up I tried a feeder to the island whilst feeding shorter. I had no signs on the feeder but Rob was getting bites and I was behind again. Slowly a few more carp started showing near the surface and the bites picked up. As the day went along the carp started focusing on the feed area. Although not the biggest fish in the lake the bites were coming quickly and the weight ticking up. By the midway point I was well into my second net and it was going to be a special day if the waggler line held up. Rob was now struggling to get bites but a lack of any rumour from the other end of the lake suggested they were having a good day. With the wind picking up a bit the bites slowed but were still coming quickly enough that I never bothered with the margins. At the all out I was glad for the rest after a very busy day. Despite our fears at the beginning of the day about the carp being too busy spawning to feed they seemed to have changed their minds as there were some pretty good weights. 1st Gary Pickard 160lbs 14oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 92lbs 15oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 46lbs 6oz. And an honourable mention to Tony who had a 6lb+ bream.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake - venue change

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Low Bank 1st Ray Gibson 46lbs 10oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 25lbs 4oz 3rd Peter Green 23lbs 1oz High Bank 1st Rob Calderon 75lbs 5oz 2nd John Carter 3rd Gary Pickard 36lbs 5oz

Rob's day Hi all At Hall Farm today with a good turnout of 15. Warm day with the prospect of showers and a moderate wind blowing towards the car park. Luckily, I drew peg 26 – always some fish there and helped with the wind coming into the corner. Started on the feeder towards the reeds and had a couple of early small carp. Not quick but the tip went round a couple more times before I went onto the pole at 10 meters where I had been feeding hard pellets. Had one carp then no more bites so alternated between the feeder and pole for next couple of hours picking up a few fish. Halfway through had a good run on the pole including a couple of good carp for Halls at around 7-8lb each. The promised showers then came and didn’t seem to help things – tried down the margins where I expected to catch on paste, but apart from one fish on the drop no bites. Could only see the other bank, but Ray on peg 1 seemed to be having a good finish, looked to be quiet elsewhere. Wasn’t sure what was caught on my bank but apparently John Carter on golden peg 22 had a good run in the margins after the rain – Gary also catching a few from 20. The pegs up the far end struggling today on both banks – the majority of the fish up the shallower end. Finished by catching a couple on the tip in the left margin – nothing today from my right. At the weigh in the low bank was won by Birthday Boy Ray on peg 1 with 46lbs 10oz, Phil second from peg 6 and third Peter Green from 4 which again included a good bag of silvers. On the high bank my 75lbs 5oz was just enough to beat Johns 62lb 13oz and Garys 36lbs 5oz. Many thanks to Gary today for doing all the hard work at the weigh in. Today's picture is Jeff with just under 12lbs of silvers for his weight.

Friendly

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Peter Green 73lbs 5oz 2nd Fred Hunt 42lbs 2oz 3rd Mark Halverson 41lbs 9oz

Gary's day Today was the last of the friendly knock up matches before we head into the new season and, after a reasonably warm week, I was looking forward to getting a few fish at Hall Farm. Drawing peg 10 in the deeps was not the start I wanted with a warm wind blowing in to the shallower car park end. After seeing a few bubbles whilst setting up I decided to try the feeder to start with. 30 mins later that plan went out the window as I had not had a sign. Worryingly not many others seemed to be getting any bites either. I finally had a bite at about the 1 hour mark on hard pellet into 7+ft of water (at 3 sections) and a 2lb f1 promptly fell off at the net. It was going to be one of those days. Just before 12 I finally had another bite this time on paste down my margin and this stayed on into the net - blank saved. Down our end of the lake it was fishing badly and Mark, Tony and Phil were now fishing for silvers. I had been feeding a shallow line from the off with 4mm pellets and kept giving it the odd go when the wind dropped enough so I could hold the pole out there. Apart from a few rudd bites it was empty until I finally hooked something about 1pm. Straight away I knew something was wrong - the line had tangled round the pole tip with the wind. It was soon carp 2 Gary 1. The cold rain shower did not help lift my spirits at this point. In desperation I dug out a very old pot of worms I had with me and popped a worm head on the hook just to get some bites. At last the float was moving and the odd roach and rudd heading to the net. And then the float shot under and a very angry carp was on and heading across the lake - carp 3 Gary 1. The roach bites slowed and the float shot under again - this time the carp made it to the net - carp 3 Gary 2. With time slipping away and the odd carp now getting caught it was time to gamble and so it would be paste until the end for the last hour. With about 15 mins to go the fish suddenly switched on but they would not stay on the hook and it was a very frustrating finish to the match for me - time to rethink my tactics for Weds when I will be sneaking onto the mid week match with it being half term week. Peter was today's clear winner with 73lbs 5oz of peg 2 but then it was ounces between Fred Hunt on 42lbs 2oz who had had a few fish all day and Mark Halverson with 41lbs 9oz who had a frantic finish with most fish in the last 30 mins. Pic today is the lake from peg 10 just before the all in.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

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High Bank 1st Tony Cruci 40lbs 2nd Fred Hunt 37lbs 3oz 3rd Bill Beeston 27lbs 5oz Low Bank 1st Peter Green 42lbs 6oz 2nd Rob Calderon 30lbs 11oz

Rob's day Back to Beggars today with the forecast of thundery showers that never materialized. Eleven on the match today – six on the high bank and the rest on the low. I drew peg 10 – good in the winter but not so sure this time of year. It was also golden peg along with Tony Cruci on 18. I set up a pellet waggler rod (only a couple of casts due to the conditions), a feeder rod and a couple of pole rigs – one for up to the lilies and one for paste down the left hand margin under the willow. Started on the feeder a had a small carp around 3lb after 45 mins followed by a small crucian. Things went a bit wrong after that – when hooking a larger carp by the island trees, I had left the line clip on and the carp decided to bolt of round the island. Before I had a chance to take the clip off the hook link snapped (took the clip off after that). A bit later another carp hooked and for some reason pulled out of that one. Then another that stayed on around 6lb The wind had picked up now blowing right to left and also bringing a load of leaves/pads etc down causing issues even when sinking the tip underwater. Also a bit cold – any sun obscured by the willow. Carried on with the feeder – hooking one more when sinking the line – but this also came off (probably foul hooked). With an hour to go only had about 13lb and a bit behind Peter who I saw had at least 3 fish on the pole on peg 6. Only other person I could see was Tony Parker on 16 who looked to have a couple of carp. Into the last 30 mins and after trying the pole – no presentation due to the wind, decided to finish on the feeder down the edge. Lifting out to recast – somehow was attached to a carp – thought it was foul hooked but in fact was hooked perfectly in the mouth? With 5 mins to go the tip flew around and landed the best fish of the day – around 10lb - on the whistle. Ended with 30lb 11oz for second on the bank behind Peter who had 42lb 6oz. these were the only weighs on the bank with pegs 3, 4 and 5 blanking. A bit better overall on the high bank – with Tony making no mistake from peg 18 with just 4 fish for 40lb. Fred second from peg 22 with 37lb 3oz and third Bill with 27lb 5 oz from 20. Fancied pegs 16 and 17 not fishing well lately with more fish from 18 upwards it would seem.

Friendly

Home Farm Big Lake

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1st Gary Pickard 68lbs 7oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 56lbs 6oz 3rd Fred Hunt 47lbs 1oz

Gary's day Today was a rare visit to Home Farm's Big Lake as the Small Lake was already booked. This lake has a lot of smaller carp and F1s so can turn into a bit of a fish race if they are feeding well For my third trip to the venue I drew peg 7 up in one of the top corners. With pretty generous pegging on the lake it was going to be hard pellets long on the pole and the margins later on paste or corn. Rob on peg 6 got off to a flyer with a small carp before I had a rig in the water. I soon had a bite and a small carp on pellets and then a chunky roach but that was it for the long swim for the rest of the day. Apart from Rob, who was still getting bites, everyone else seemed to be struggling although Fred and Phil on 3 and 4 were tucked around the corner so I could not see them. I had some luncheon from the bottom of the freezer so gave this a go a bit shorter on the pole and finally had a few bites. A lot were from off small roach but the odd carp and F1 was also feeding. By the midway point though it was not going well. Rob was still catching the odd fish and Fred and Phil were strangely quiet suggesting they were doing well. A change to paste near a tree to my left had the float wobbling all over as it was mobbed by small fish but then it flew under and I was into. .... a bulrush root. This was not the only bite of the day to end in a stick or lump of reed. A quick try on the right margin with meat got me one small carp but too many small fish were an issue. Back to the left margin I finally found a couple of carp before a foulhooked carp killed the swim for a bit. A try elsewhere to rest the left swim produced nothing but a bumped fish. The last hour to the left was like fishing in a new lake with the paste not hitting the bottom a couple of times before a fish was on. A hectic finish but Rob was also catching a few fish too despite getting impaled in the finger by a pole float.w With Phil admitting to 30lb and Fred having "had a few" it was going to be down to the scales as I could not see what they had been catching. The last 45 mins made all the difference and got me over the winning line with 68lbs 7oz to Phil's 56lbs 6oz and Fred's 47lbs 1oz. Today's photo is Fred with a pretty little Koi - it was a lot more orange in real life.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League 2 of 6

1st Bill Beeston 49lbs 2nd Barry Cornel 40lbs 3oz 3rd Peter Green 32lbs 4th Fred Hunt 31lbs 15oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds Club fished its second round of our summer league at Hall Farm. I needed to draw well due to a very bad leg on the last one but no joy as I pulled peg 13. If the carp are not down that end you're in trouble and they weren't and I was. I baited 3 swims and a feeder line with pellet and corn and red maggots but I could only get bites on silvers on reds and they were few and far between. I did manage late on to catch 2 small carp to weigh in with 8lbs 10oz and came 2nd from last never mind another day their I would have had 60lb but not today. Results are 1st Bill Beeston with 49lbs , 2nd Barry Cornel with 40lbs 3oz , 3rd Peter Green with 32lb with only one small carp in that weight , 4th Fred Hunt with 31lb 15oz , pic is my peg 13

Friendly

Beggars Hall

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1st Gary Pickard 88lbs 6oz 2nd Mark Halverson 43lbs 15oz 3rd John Todd 18lbs 9oz 4th Phil Whitmill 18lbs 1oz

Gary's day The good weather is back with us. A little chilly at times still overnight but today was going to be hot and sunny at Beggars Hall. It was just a few of us today which was a good thing as the lake filled up as the day progressed. It was peg 16 for me - one of the more open water pegs with it being a good 30m+ to the island. With lots of carp cruising around on the top as we set up, the pellet waggler rod was the first out of the bag along with a feeder/bomb rod and pole for the edges. I got off to a great start with a carp in the net within 5 mins after it took a liking to an 8mm pellet. And then it was steady for the next hour or so with the odd carp going for the pellet I cast towards them. Mark on 17 was having a slow start and there was no news from the other end of the lake. The wind then picked up and it became difficult to see the fish and present the bait well. A try on bomb and pellet under my feed and a method over by the island were a waste of time with no bites. The next few hours saw me swap between feeder and waggler when the wind dropped enough - I never did get a bite on the bottom. Mark was slowly getting a few bites on the feeder but I was now struggling. A try down the edges with a couple of hours to go saw no signs. Back on the waggler grabbed me a couple more fish and big ones at that. The last hour was hard work with just one more fish from the edge and one lost. Putting in the third net was fatal. It is amazing how often that seems to happen. Despite the lack of many fish in the second half I had done enough and some of the fish were real lumps with the biggest going 19lbs 10oz. 1st Gary Pickard 88lbs 6oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 43lbs 15oz, 3rd John Todd 18lbs 9oz and 4th Phil Whitmill 18lbs 1oz. Picture today is my lump of a mirror carp.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Beggars Hall

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Abbey Cross won with 65 points to Bishop's Stortford's 52 points High Bank 1st Bill Beeston 47lbs 3oz 2nd Peter Green 39lbs 5oz 3rd Barry Cornel 6lbs 1oz Low Bank 1st Tony Parker 14lbs 10oz 2nd Bob Fox 13lbs 13oz 3rd Tony Cruci 11lbs 13oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its monthly match against Abbey Cross on our lake at Beggars Hall and the extreme cold nights in the last few days had taken its toll on the fishing. I drew peg 4, not a bad peg and I have had some good catches in the winter from this peg but that was then and it all changes by the month. I made 3 lines and a feeder for a bit further out to open water ..Fed red maggots and pellets for some silvers just for the points and the feeder for the carp well that didn't work and I had no bites on the feeder all day and by 1.30 pm I decided I need to catch something so onto reds to catch a few perch and you never know I might hit a carp. I did manage a few rudd and a very small carp of 6oz for a total weight of a pound. There were 2 sections of low and high bank. High Bank 1st Bill Beeston with 47lbs 3oz, 2nd Peter Green with 39lbs 5oz and 3rd Barry Cornel with 6lbs 1oz. Low Bank 1st Tony Parker with 14lbs 10oz, 2nd Bob Fox with 13lbs 13oz and 3rd Tony Cruci with 11lbs 13oz. Abbey Cross wins with 65 points to Bishop's Stortford's 52 points. Pic is my peg with a lone duck she had 10 chicks but they scarpered when it was time to take a pic.

Friendly

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Phil Whitmill 64lbs 2nd Rob Calderon 44lbs 9oz 3rd Fred Hunt 43lbs 4oz

Gary's day It has been a funny old week weatherwise from 25C+ down to a chilly 12C or so over the bank holiday weekend. A cooler start saw us on Hall Farm this week with 8 of us squeezed along the low bank. Out the bag came peg 8 for me - one I seem to draw a lot and not a favourite peg as things get warmer. It was going to be out at 5 sections in 9ft of water with hard pellets and then down the edges (in nearly 5ft - it is rather deep down this end) later on cubed luncheon meat. Well that plan did not work and an hour in saw me with no signs of a bite on pellets and it was slow going for most of the rest although Jeff on peg 10 snuck an early carp and Peter on 9 was busy catching plenty of roach and rudd as he was keen to snare a few more big roach after getting one over a pound in the Weds match. Thankfully I had some maggots and decided to join Peter catching silver fish and hoping some carp or F1s would rock up - and promptly missed the keepnet with the first roach I caught (spoiler alert - that and some other misses were going to be costly). An hour in the roach bites were slowing and then the float went under and something more solid was hooked - and promptly came off after charging cross the lake. I did get 1 small mirror that took pity on me on the shallow line but it was going nowhere. A few tries down the edges was also producing nothing. By the midway point Phil on peg 2 had been catching steadily and Fred on peg 5 was admitting to 6 carp. A F1 finally felt sorry for me on the long hard pellet line but that was the one and only bite on this so it was margins or bust. Nothing to the left which looked the better side. A bite to the right which I missed. With just over an hour to go things were not looking good but then the lake finally seemed to switch on for us in the deeps. It was then a case of swapping left and right and the peg was getting better although the carp and F1s were small at about 2lbs a piece but each one was very very angry. A 2lb+ koi was a nice surprise (sorry no picture) and the bites were finally flowing just in time for the whistle to blow. Apart from Phil who had a clear lead on us all the results were very close: 1st Phil Whitmill 64lbs; 2nd Rob Calderon 44lbs 9oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 43lbs 4oz just beating me by 3oz. Pic today is Fred not yet knowing he had ounced me.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

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Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 39lbs 11oz 2nd Peter Green 28lbs 15oz 3rd Terry Moranda 20lbs 5oz High Bank 1st Fred Hunt 49lbs 12oz 2nd Bill Beeston 38lbs 14oz 3rd Rob Calderón 21lbs 4oz

Rob's day Hi all Today we were at Hall Farm's Large Lake in the middle of a mini heat wave with temperatures heading into the 20s. Hoping for a good day with maybe the fish feeding in the warmer water prior to spawning. Twelve on the match today, I drew peg 13 – not one I have fished before but with some form. Arriving at the swim several carp could be seen cruising around – mostly in pairs or groups and, as it turns out, mostly not interested in feeding. I started on the pole at 10 meters on hard pellets and a few minutes in had my first carp around a pound and a half. This was the last fish on this line so concentrated on the reedy corner to my left. Eventually had a bite and landed a 3lb carp – hooked in the chin. This was a clue what was to happen later! Half way through the match I was on 3 fish – losing a couple. Phil opposite on peg 12 had a slow start but was starting to catch a few. Couldn’t see too much as to what was happening around the lake, but also seemed slow for Peter and Tony on pegs 10 and 8. With plenty of fish swimming around the margins, decided to get the paste out for the first time this year and after an hour realized why I don’t like using it!!! Plenty of bites, but not clean ones and after an hour using it landed one fish and lost 8. Obviously not hooking them properly. Thing got worse with the hook length snapping on the next one hooked, then completely tangling the rig when pulling out of another. In frustration decided to pack the pole away and just chuck the feeder down the margin for the last hour. Didn’t help with the line somehow tangling around the inside of the reel and had to cut off and re-set up. Had one more carp at the death on the feeder and ended with 5 fish for 21lbs 4oz. Elsewhere on my bank, Fred had a good day weighing 49lbs 12oz for top weight, Bill with 38lbs second from his favourite peg 20, and my 21lbs somehow good enough for third. Pegs 26 and 24 did not fish well for some reason. On the Low Bank Phil had a good last hour with some nice carp to top the low bank with 39lbs 11oz, Peter came second with 28lbs 15oz which included 15lbs of roach and one fish just over a pound. Terry finished third with 20lbs 5oz from peg 2. Maybe have to rethink the paste tactics, rigs etc for coming summer. Pic today is a very happy Bill.

Friendly

Beggar's Hall

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1st Gary Pickard 115lbs 3oz 2nd Mark Haleverson 23lbs 4oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 19lbs 5oz

Gary's day Summer seems to be arriving slowly with a hot and sunny day for us at Beggar's Hall. With carp cruising and little wind it looked to be a day on the pellet waggler. Out of the draw bag came peg 18 for me which gave me plenty of water to try and chase down some fish. As usual, come the whistle for all in the carp had decided not to swim too close to the bank so that was the mugging on the pole sidelined. Feeding one area with pellets and then casting at fish I could see got me an early bite but it quickly fell off. Peter on peg 20 was having a good start with a decent carp in the net after 15 mins or so. Another 15 mins later I had another chance and this one made it to the net as did another for Peter. Phil on peg 21 was having a frustrating start with plenty of fish cruising amongst the lillies but not wanting to come out to be catchable. Mark on peg 17 and Tony on 16 seemed to be having a slow start. My day turned out to be very simple in the end: casting at showing fish with a pellet waggler; and a couple of fish on a method feeder where I had been feeding pellets when I saw fizzing there. Peter was struggling after a great start with Phil now admitting to a couple of fish and Mark now looking to be catching. Tony was not having a great day. The last hour was trickier with a bit of a breeze and the sun behind me making spotting fish harder. A couple down the margin to finish after bumping a couple of carp had me ending with 13 chunky carp. The carp were a bit bigger than I expected bringing me over the 100lb mark with 115lbs with Mark's 4 carp coming in at 23lbs and Phil just edging out Peter with his 2 carp. Picture today is the island from my peg before the all in. I think you can just about make out a couple of carp cruising on the edge of the reflections.

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

1st John Todd 13lbs 1oz 2nd Peter Green 7lbs 3rd Terry Moranda 6lbs 9oz 4th Phil Whitmill 2lbs 5oz

Rob's day Hi All Today we were back at Malcolm Barker Lake hoping for a few more bites and a few less blanks than last time. Forecast was heavy rain for most of the morning but thankfully stopped before we started and although a bit chilly with a cross wind coming from the carpark end, the rain didn’t return. Eleven of us today, I drew peg 6 and knew it wasn’t going to be a good day when, as setting up my box, one of the front seat box legs disappeared into the deep margins never to reappear despite use of the rakes at the end. That was about the most exciting part of the day with the next 5 hours watching a motionless float – mainly maggots at 11 meters – also a go on the waggler without any signs. Steve to my left had an early tench on the feeder and elsewhere Peter had a couple of tench on 28 and also Terry on 8 a couple on the pole. On the other bank John Todd looked to be having a good day with a bream and at least 2 tench, Barry one small tench and Phil with a solitary bream. Resigned to another blank on Barkers, Ray came down for a chat and my waggler shot under and I was briefly connected to what must have been a carp. After being dragged through the weeds the line parted above the float and I was left watching the float drift down the lake. Luckily Terry retrieved the float as it passed him, minus the carp. So now 18 hours on Barkers without a fish, but at least a few more fish showed today with John Todd an easy winner with Peter second, Terry third and Phil Fourth. Picture today is Peter with one of the lake's very green tench.

Friendly

Hall Farm large lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 4oz 2nd Rob Calderon 77lbs 15oz 3rd Fred Hunt 36lbs

Gary's day With a few of the regulars otherwise engaged with Easter egg hunts we decided to head to Hall Farm. It was a chilly start but slowly warmed up through the day. With a couple of people on the lake already we decided to go for a walk off and I decided to have a go on peg 24 as 26 (Rob) and 12 (Phil) had already been taken. The plan was the pole long with either hard pellets or expanders and then closer in with luncheon meat. The margins were only a couple of feet deep so seemed a bit shallow for this time of year. I had a steady start on pellets on the long pole in about 7ft of water. Not many bites but each a carp of a couple of pounds or so and the weight was slowly ticking up. Rob was also having a good start on the feeder chucking to the reeds and seemed to be inching ahead. By the mid point I had about 12 carp but the long line was fading. A quick try shallow for the odd cruising carp did not work so time to give the short lines another go. This time the float wobbled and then shot under and another carp was heading to the net. Jeff on 22 was also starting to catch but Phil on 12 was very quiet and I could not see Fred on 13. The second half of the match was steady with carp heading to the net regularly. Rob was also still catching but losing a few in the reeds. The last 30 mins was a nightmare as everything I hooked came off and it looked like I was falling behind Rob. It looked like it was going to be between me and Rob, although the other end of the lake does seem to have some pretty big resident fish. Despite the horrible last 30 mins I had done enough edging out Rob's late flurry of fish. 1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 4oz, 2nd Rob Calderon 77lbs 15 oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 36lbs. And no blanks or DNWs today after a long winter and cold spring. It was not as sunny as the photo of Rob makes it look like.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

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High bank 1st Rob Calderon 33lbs 15oz 2nd Peter Green 22lbs 5oz 3rd Gary Pickard 19lbs 12oz Low bank 1st Ray Gibson 27lbs 10oz

Rob's day Hi All Beggars Hall this week – and the promise of a moderate breeze turned into a forecast of 40 mph blustery winds on the day. Hopefully after some good weights last Sunday, notably Gary’s 100lb plus, the fish would be in a feeding mood. Conditions were completely different though, and although the pegs up in the bowl and peg 16 were somewhat sheltered, the rest of us had to put up with waves heading down the lake towards the car park bank. Fishing a pellet waggler was out of the question for most. I didn’t really want peg 22 then, on the narrowest part of the lake facing peg 2. Anyway, started on the feeder, also setting up a pole rig for the right hand side around the sunken tree just in case the wind eased off later. After 45 minutes, casting just off the tree, had a pull round and a small for Beggars 3lb carp landed – next hour or so saw two more carp landed, one of around 6lb and one about 8lb. Rumour had it that Ray was on three carp and Peter two, everyone else was struggling. Couple of tries on the pole, when the wind dropped for a few minutes produced nothing so ditched that and concentrated on method feeder. Down to the last 30 minutes and started packing the pole away (always a good tactic for a bite) and had two more carp, the last landed on the whistle, so ended with five carp. Gary had a couple in the last hour, but not sure what was happening on pegs 16 and 17. Youngster Rupert who joined us for the first time drew peg 18 but unfortunately did not catch. Hopefully that didn’t put him off too much and we’ll see him again soon –he caught the lake on an off day and wasn’t alone in blanking. At the weigh in – on the high bank Peter weighed 22lb 5oz for second, Gary’s went 19lb 12oz for third and mine went 33lb 15oz top weight on the bank – and luckily (for me) 22 was also a Golden Peg. On the low bank – only one out of the seven anglers weighed in – Ray had a great result with his carp going 27lb 10oz from peg 5. So Ray, today's photo, took all the pools money with a couple regretting throwing back a few silvers.

Friendly

Beggars Hall

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1st Gary Pickard 116lbs 2nd Phil Whitmill 64lbs 13oz 3rd Mark Halverson 35lbs 11oz

Gary's day It was a trip to a warm and sunny Beggars Hall for us today. Thankfully peg 19 was left out of the draw bag . After drawing it 3 out of the last 4 matches here I wanted somewhere different. Pulling out peg 17 it was going to be a feast or famine day as it has not fished well this winter and has had its fair share of blanks including one for me. Walking to the pegs we could see plenty of carp cruising around and the odd one gobbing at bits on the water which was encouraging. I set up a bit of everything: a feeder/bomb rod; pole rigs for shallow, on the deck and margins; and a pellet waggler. At the whistle I fed the long pole line and pinged a few pellets waiting to see if a carp would swim within pole range. One swam by and promptly grabbed the pellet but it came out the winner after charging off on an unstoppable run - time for a stronger hook length. With the carp looking to be feeding it was time to try the pellet waggler. An hour in and I had 4 carp in the net and was off to a flying start. Mark on 16 was getting liners on the feeder but had just the one carp, although a big fish. It was hard to see what was happening up the other end of the lake but I could see Tony net 1 off peg 18. The middle of the match was slow with just a couple more falling to pellet waggler after casting at passing fish. Mark was also having a slow time but I could see Phil on peg 21 get up for another keepnet. Finally the margins came to life and it turned into a bit of race between a couple of ducks that took a liking to the sweetcorn I was using and the carp. After losing the first couple of fish I got my eye in on picking out the proper bites and I had a great last hour ending up with about 17 carp. Sorry no pictures of the weigh in as the heavens opened right at the end and it was a scramble to get everything packed away. The strong finish really helped add to my weight and I ticked up my first 100lb of the year with 116lbs. Phil also had a busy day weighing in 64lbs 13oz including a couple of good tench with Mark's net of carp coming in at 35lbs 11oz.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League 1 of 6

Low Bank 1st Peter Green 24lbs 4oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 17lbs 11oz 3rd Tony Parker 13lbs 10oz High Bank 1st Rob Calderon 71lbs 7oz 2nd Fred Hunt 42lbs 1oz 3rd Bill Beeston 32lbs 9oz

Rob's day Hi all First round of the summer league today at Hall Farm, although it didn’t feel summery being overcast with a cold wind blowing down the lake. We had 14 on the lake today so 7 each bank with the corner pegs having the best form of late with the middle pegs struggling. Decided to split the 2 banks up for the Summer league points – so winner of both banks getting the full 12 points – seems to be fairer that way as possibly the high bank pegs around 22-26 may dominate this summer – we will do the same at Beggars. I drew 24 not far off the corner but with Fred on 26 next door and on a Golden Peg. Started the match on the feeder and got 2 quick pull rounds for a couple of small F1s then nothing for the next 45 minutes. Fred also seemed to get off to a good start casting to the reeds across. Fed the 10m line from the start with hard 4m pellets so went on this after an hour. Had a couple of missed bites before connecting with a 2lb F1 but bites were far apart and only slight dips on the float. Stayed on this for the next 3 hours and with 2 hours to go had around 25-30lbs. Elsewhere Fred put in a second net (kiss of death) – and had a poor last 1 ½ hours. Wasn’t sure what was being caught to my left – although John Todd on 22 had a couple – on the other bank it seemed to be fishing hard with just a few carp being caught – did see Tony Parker land 3 though on the feeder and Terry one carp and a few roach from pegs 2 and 1. By about 1:30 the sun tried to make an appearance so with it warming up a bit I fed the margins (around 3 foot deep) with groundbait and dead red maggots. Went on this at around 2 and after a couple of roach caught a 3lb carp. Could see the carp coming in and out of the peg but they were cautious and bites were just small dips again but eventually they seemed to move in and I had a good last 45 mins landing around 8 more carp – some a good size. Ended up with 71lbs Fred weighed in 42lbs for second on the High Bank with Bill third with 32lbs 9oz from his favoured peg 20. (Shortly before drawing Bill did say if he drew peg 20 he’s going home!) On the Low Bank Peter was top weight with 24lbs 4oz from peg 6, Jeff second with 17lbs 11oz and Tony Parker 13lbs 10oz with his 3 carp. Hopefully as the weather warms the carp will start feeding all round the lake.

Friendly

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 42lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 9oz High bank 1st John Carter 55lbs 13oz 2nd Gary Pickard 15lbs 6oz

Gary's day It was a busy Sunday at Hall Farm's large lake with the good weather encouraging 10 of us to try and catch a few fish. With us split over the 2 banks I found myself on peg 22 in the middle of the high bank. With lots of carp and F1s cruising around on the surface as we were setting up it looked like we should have a good day. Starting long on the pole on hard pellets gave me a great start with a bite and a carp in the net in the first 10 minutes. An hour later and it was still the one bite. Mark opposite on peg 2, which is one the best pegs on the lake, was also fishless. The only peaon who seemed to be catching was Phil in the far corner on peg 12. A try on the feeder did not get me any signs. A go on a pellet waggler casting towards the odd cruising fish that came into range was also biteless. Halfway through Rob and Fred to my left were carpless and only had a few silvers. Mark had finally had a carp but was now reduced to trying for silvers. Thankfully I caved at the tackle shop on Saturday and bought a pint of maggots. I was finally getting bites but only from small rudd. A change to a shorter line I had been feeding a few maggots on was slow but the float then shot under and I was into my best fish of the day with a carp of about 5lbs. After that the peg filled with small rudd and roach and just 1 more F1 followed amongst the silvers. Phil was still catching and by the end everyone seemed to have at least 1 carp with Mark catching another 5 with a couple of lumps. John Carter on peg 26 had been very quiet all day and, given the number of carp cruising around in the shallower water there, must have been busy. It was a frustrating day with lots of fish showing at last but just not feeding as they seem to be gearing up for spawning. Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 42lbs 11oz and 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 9oz. High bank 1st John Carter 55lbs 13oz and 2nd Gary Pickard 15lbs 6oz. Picture today is John C.

BSDAS AGM

Great Hadham Golf Club

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Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hunter's Hall (Abbey Cross water)

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Abbey Cross won with 63 points to Bishop's Stortford's 32 1st Martin Adams 29lbs 5oz 2nd Rob Calderon 10lbs 5oz 3rd John Todd 3lbs 12oz 4th Tony Parker 3lbs 8oz

Rob's day Hi to all Today we had an interclub match with Abbey Cross at their Hunter's Hall lake near Epping Green. It promised to be a warm sunny day with a fresh breeze blowing towards the car park end. We had a turnout of 7 today with Abbey Cross fielding 8 so one of their weights were discarded. At the draw I was left with peg 17 – apparently 15 and 16 doing the damage on the last match with, I was told, the angler on 17 going home early. You can never believe anything a fisherman says though and at least I was in the right area. Pegs 15-17 are set out a way in the lake on pontoons, so the water is fairly deep close in – about 8 foot at 11 meters. I started the match at this length on expanders feeding micros and groundbait. After about 30 minutes got the first bite, a bream around 3lb – then a couple more. After an hour I was on 3 fish, John on peg 15 also landing one bream but nothing from Martin next to me on 16. That’s when it all changed – another bite resulted in a bumped fish and they seemed to disappear. Martin then caught a couple on the feeder – then switched to the pole and caught steadily till the end. Tried the pole at 13m – also short on a variety of baits, also the tip in the middle, but couldn’t get any more bites. Definitely fished better on my bank, with Tony also getting one bream, couldn’t see much being caught on the other bank, just the odd fish, or one or two small roach. So the match ended with Martin a runaway winner with 29lbs 5oz, myself second with 10lbs 5oz, John Todd third with 3lbs 12oz and Tony Parker 4th 3lbs 8oz Abbey Cross ran out easy winners 63 points to 32 – thanks to them for hosting us and running the match. Photo today is Tony, Steve and Ray preparing for the match – thought I would show something different for the picture today, nothing to do with forgetting to take any fishy photos.

Friendly

Wickham Hall

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1st Rob Calderon 8lbs 5oz 2nd Mark Halverson 7lbs 9oz

Gary's day Today's match saw us back at Wickham Hall hoping the fish had decided to start feeding after a long winter. Again we did a rover and I decided to sit on peg 6 as it was sheltered from the surprisingly cold wind. It made a huge difference as I spent the day in just a sweatshirt whilst Rob, facing the wind on peg 11, was tucked up in coat and hat. The plan was 2 swims: a longer line with cage or method feeder in a count of about 10 (pretty deep); and a pole line at around 9m which was a top 3 deep (about 10 feet). An hour in and none of us had had a sign when Rob finally had a carp over on peg 11. In my swim a try on the pole produced no signs even from the hordes of small rudd in the lake. About 11.30 Mark's swim over on peg 1 suddenly kicked into life and he had 2 bream and a hybrid of about 2lbs in a 30 mins spell. Over on our bank neither Phil, Tony nor I had still not seen any signs of a bite. About halfway through I spotted a couple of small carp sunning themselves in the corner to my right. 20 metres upwind of course. The feeder was out of the question as it was full of weed on the bottom. A shallow waggler would just about work so I set up a rod and had a go for them. Casting was hard work needing me to wait for the wind to calm before I could get near the fish. Sadly my one chance ended carp 1 Gary 0. Despite getting it out of the weed a couple of times my luck did not hold. And that was it for my day. Our bank ended fishless with neither Phil nor Tony getting a bite. We all thought Mark had this one but we had not spotted Rob sneak in another carp. It would be close. Well it was a quick weigh in today with just Rob and Mark catching. Rob's second sneaky carp was enough to push Mark into second. 1st Rob Calderon 8lbs 5oz and 2nd Mark Halverson 7lbs 9oz. Today's picture is Mark with his couple of bream and a good sized hybrid.

Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

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Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

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1st Peter Green 21lbs 15oz 2nd Steve Foster 3lbs 4oz 3rd John Carter 3lbs 3oz 4th Phil Whitmill 8oz

Rob's day Hi All It was Malcom Barker Lake today coming into some spring weather so hopefully the fishing around the Club's lakes will steadily improve. Eleven on the match today looking to see a few bream and tench come out. I wasn’t 100% today having spent the best part of the last two days in bed with a nasty cold so, with that in mind, decided just to fish rods today wherever I drew. That was peg 2 (not sure that will go in again as some steep steps) so set up a waggler rod, cage feeder and method feeder rods. Started on the waggler , feeding a couple of balls of groundbait with maggot on the hook. After 45 minutes the float dipped and I missed the bite. Unfortunately for me that was the only bite of the day – tried maggot, corn, pellet and wafters on all lines for nothing. There were several carp cruising around the lily pads but seemed disinterested in feeding – did try for these on a shallow waggler but no response. Even quickly set up a whip to try close in for small roach/perch as it seemed that any weight might do ok today but not a sniff. It was not the same for Peter opposite me though on peg 20 who fished well to catch a steady procession of 6 bream and a tench to win the lake easily with 21lbs 15oz. John Carter managed one tench for 3lbs 3oz from peg 8, Steve Foster, making a welcome return, pipped John for second with a single bream of 3lbs 4oz from peg 15 and Phil completed the frame with 8oz of roach from peg 28. The rest of us blanked. Seems the same pattern at the moment at most places, a few finding the fish and others really struggling. Hopefully, as the water warms, the fish will start to spread out so we can all catch some! Picture is Peter with his well earned catch.

Friendly

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 2oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 64lbs 2oz 3rd Mark Halverson 49lbs 1oz

Gary's day Today we decided to try and catch a few fish so headed off to Hall Farm's large lake which seemed our best chance. With Tony's car playing up I was guest match runner today and opted for a roving match so no one could complain about the pegs I put in the bag. We ended pretty well spread around the lake as everyone took a guess at where the fish would be. With second pick I opted for peg 26 which is normally pretty reliable. I set up a few options: a pole rig for on the deck at 10 metres; a shallow pole rig as a few fish were cruising around before the all in; a feeder rod; and a waggler just in case. After way too much feeder fishing this winter I was keen to catch on the pole so started with micros and expanders whilst pinging a few 4mm hard pellets for a swallow swim. I was soon 2 fish down as Phil on peg 1 got off to a flying start. Finally I had a bite after about 40 mins and a small mirror carp was in the net. 1 more carp and then a bumped fish killed this swim so time to try a feeder. There were worryingly few signs despite fish topping over near the reeds and it was a few casts before I had a bite. One more carp on the next cast followed then it went quiet. John Carter to my left was also now getting bites on the pole and Phil was still getting the odd fish. All this time the temperature was slowly dropping and the the first of a number of rain showers arrived and the cruising fish disappeared. I changed the shallow rig to another deck rig for hard pellets which was the change I needed. After that the peg started getting stronger as the day went along. Phil was still catching well but I was catching up and the fish size was getting better with them now being more 3lbs than 2lbs. John was still getting the odd fish (including a couple of skimmers) and I could see Peter on peg 8 had a couple but it looked like it was between me and Phil unless Mark in the far corner on peg 13 and well out of sight was catching. Despite the rain I had a great day with plenty of bites which helped after over 10 hours for 6 bites before today. The rain stopped just as the whilst blew so it was a thankfully less wet weigh in. Now to see how well Phil had been catching. 1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 2oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 64lbs 2oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 49lbs 1oz with everyone catching a few. Picture today is John Carter near side and Phil over on the other side at the sunny start of the day.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

Low bank 1st Ray Gibson 8lbs 10oz 2nd John Carter 1lb 11oz High bank 1st Tony Heath 9lbs 9oz 2nd Gary Pickard 3oz 3rd Fred Hunt 2oz

Rob's day Hi All It was Beggars Hall this morning on what promised to be a warm and sunny day with little wind, so maybe the fish would have a feed today – or maybe not. A good turnout of 13 today so 6 on the low bank and 7 on the high bank. I drew peg 17, normally one of the best pegs but how everywhere seems to fishing at present who knows. Set up a couple of feeder rods and two pole rigs for just off the margins in 4 foot of water. In the five hours I had one line bite – the only action was the geese which seemed to be getting a bit excited. Plenty of fishing cruising around in groups of 4 or 5 but not interested in feeding. Peter next to me on 16 also blanked – losing one fish possible foul hooked or lassoed. On the low bank only 2 weighed in – John Carter with maybe one of the smallest carp in the lake – 1lb 11oz and Ray with one carp of 8lbs 10oz to win the bank – he also lost a larger fish. Same story on the high bank with the exception of Tony Heath on peg 18 with 2 carp for 9lbs 9oz and the top weight on the day – well done Tony on his first BS match of the year. Second and Third on the bank went to ounces with Gary's 3 oz roach beating Fred's sole perch although Fred had the consolation of winning the Golden Peg with a double default with a very generous 2oz. I said fishing would get better soon!! – maybe next Wednesday at Malcolm Barkers! Picture is Tony with his winning catch.

Winter League results

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2024/2025 Winter League results 1st Phil Whitmill 48 points 2nd John Carter 47 points 3rd Jeff Pearson 42 points 4th Rob Calderon 32 points

Going into the last round there were 3 in contention after a grueller of a day at Malcolm Barker in the penultimate round killed the hopes of others. Sneaking it with 1 point after a win on the last round on the Backwater Phil takes home the honours this winter with John Carter taking second, Jeff Pearson third and Rob Calderon fourth. Well done to all for toughing it out in a harsh and not very fish filled winter season. Picture is Phil with the catch that secured his win.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Winter League - 6 of 6

1st Phil Whitmill 5lbs 8oz 2nd John Todd 3lbs 6oz 3rd John Carter 10oz

Rob's day Hi all So Wednesday we fished the Final Round of the Winter League on the Stort Backwater. Eight on the match today so a bit spread out – the river had some flow but was clear as we have not had too much rain lately. Weather overcast with the promise of some showers and also sunny spells. Had to talk about the weather as struggling to mention anything of note regarding the fishing! I drew peg 10 – about 8 foot deep in the middle shallowing off towards the boat. Started off on bread punch for the first 30 minutes without a bite before trying pinkies then maggots. Back to punch for my only bite and a one ounce roach. To my left Jeff, John and Fred were having pike trouble – as was Tony apparently. No signs of fish at my swim – looked completely dead, not even a pike. Starting the weigh in with Phil at peg 18 it looked a different river with fish topping in peg 17 - Phil and John Todd having bites all day. Phil weighed in a good 5lbs 8oz including some nice perch for an easy win. John had as many fish but smaller for 3lbs 6oz and second. John Carter came 3rd with a hard earned 10oz. Picture is Phil with his catch.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 54lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Halverson 42lbs 7oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 8lbs 3oz

Gary's day Today was the last match of the season which saw us at a sunny and warm Hall Farm. With a few warmer nights beforehand hopefully the fish would be feeding. Out of the bag came peg 2 for me, a great draw with the weather warming up. The plan was going to be starting on micros and expander on the pole and building up a couple of maggot swims for later. As well as a couple of pole rigs I also dusted off a waggler rod in case the carp and F1s wanted to come shallow out of pole range. A few fishing topping before the all in suggested they might come shallow. It was a steady start with a small F1 in the net in the first 15 mins getting me off the mark. I had a couple more F1s then the expander swim went a bit funny as I lost a couple of fish on the trot. At this stage not a lot was happening elsewhere in the lake with only Phil on peg 6 seeming to have caught. A try on the waggler got me bite straight away but only a small rudd and then a couple more rudd before they disappeared. A try back on the expander line did not work and my other pole line that I had fed with maggots was also full of rudd. Before I knew it we were a couple of hours in and I was stuck catching rudd. A try back on the expander line produced a couple more F1s but it was slow going. Fred to my right was having a nightmare having just lost a big carp whilst trying to get a bite from anything. At the far end on peg 12 Mark was on 4 carp and I suspected they were bigger than my F1s. A quick try on the method feeder whilst I had something to eat produced a decent carp but it was just the one bite. There were now quite a few carp cruising on the top - on the other side of the lake of course and showing no interest in the odd maggot I catapulted towards them. Upping the feed on the pole maggot swim only produced more rudd so it was the expander swim or nothing. When that produced a rudd on the next try and then nothing things were not looking good. I then added a pole section to go to about 10m and that did the trick. Not quick but the bites were carp or F1. I reckoned I had about 50lbs so it would be close if Mark had kept catching. The late flurry of fish was going to be vital as Mark had been catching a few more. 1st Gary Pickard 54lbs 11oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 42lbs 7oz with 10 carp and 3rd Phil Whitmill 8lbs 3oz with a couple of carp just beating Tony by 3oz. Picture today is me with a few of the obliging F1s.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

Interclub match

Bishop's Stortford won the match with 75 points to Abbey Cross’s 52 Low bank 1st Peter Green 22lbs 3oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 16lbs 4oz 3rd John Carter 6lbs 7oz High bank 1st Tony Cruci 15lbs 7oz 2nd Rob Calderon 10lbs 15oz 3rd Bob Fox 6lbs 2oz

Rob's day Hi all – today was an Interclub match with Abbey Cross at our Hall Farm venue. Bit chilly to start but a promise of temperatures into double figures and no rain with little wind. But who knows how it was going to fish as it seems that all venues are struggling at present. We had 8 a side so nice and symmetrical with equal number of anglers both banks. With all the low numbers taken, I drew peg 23 – usually pretty good but was expecting a slow start. One bite of the hybrid feeder with maggots brought a 3 lb carp but no more. Tony on 26 already had one and Peter over on peg 1 after a quiet start looked to have caught 3 early carp on the pole. Tried as I could on the pole long and short on different baits I could not get a touch. Everyone else around me was also struggling although Bob Fox on 25 landed a decent carp on the pole from the margins. So that looked to be it – I packed away the pole and all the bits and bobs in readiness for the weigh in – clock on 14:29 picked up the whistle and the rod went round!! – carp around 6-7lb. So weighed in 10lbs 15oz for second on the high bank to Tony's 15lbs 7oz with Bob's one carp weighing 6lbs 2oz for third. On the low bank the end pegs were best with Peter’s 4 carp going 22lbs 3oz – Phil doing well from peg 12 with 16lbs 4oz (and today's picture) for second and John Carter third with 6lbs 7oz. Bishops Stortford won the match with 75 points to Abbey Cross’s 52 – having just one DNW. Many thanks to Martin for weighing in the high bank today. The fishing must get better soon!!!

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 41lbs 6oz 2nd Fred Hunt 25lbs 5oz 3rd Rob Calderon 9lbs 5oz

Gary's day Another chilly start with the car reading -4C at the draw but with a warm and dry day forecast. After seeing the Wednesday results a good draw was needed, and that was not peg 19. It was going to be a tough day. It was a very simple plan: feeders of various types towards the middle; and a waggler line with maggots in case the lake had woken up. The water was a lot more coloured than expected but this was likely down to the many Canadian geese on the lake rather than fish movement. It was the expected very slow start at our end of the lake but Mark on 16 and Fred on 10 had much better starts with a carp each almost straightaway. An hour and a half in and there were still no signs at our end of the lake with all 5 of us biteless. Fred had had another carp which he was thinking put him at 20lbs and John on 17 also had a bream. With nothing happening it was time for trying to get a fish of any size and in went a small cage feeder with groundbait and maggot. Finally I had a small bite and a 2oz roach was in the net - blank saved. On the next cast the tip twitch turned into a full wrap around and a carp was on. The little 9ft feeder rod I was using was pushed to its limits but a carp of around 7lb was also in the keepnet. Sadly the brief flurry of excitement was a false dawn and the next 3 hours produced 3 more small roach for me with no signs of any bigger fish. The rest of our end of the lake was having a worse day with only Rob on peg 21 getting any signs with 1 bite and 1 carp. Down the other end it was strangely quiet after their good start until peg 16 came to life in the last 30 mins. It was clear that the winner was going to be coming from the other end of the lake today but would it be Fred or Mark? 1st Mark Halverson 41lbs 6oz with 6 carp with 5 coming in the last half hour, 2nd Fred Hunt 25lbs 5oz with 3 carp and 3rd Rob Calderon 9lbs 5oz with 1 carp beating John's bream and tench.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

High bank 1st Tony Cruci 15lbs 13oz 2nd Fred Hunt 8lbs 13oz Low Bank 1st Peter Green 31lbs 3oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 9lbs 5oz

Rob's day The Wednesday club were back at Beggar's Hall today with the promise of heavy rain throughout the day. With 10 anglers we had 5 on each bank. I drew peg 20, end peg of the 5 but that’s where the good news ended. With at least the rain holding off until we started, I went out on bomb and bread. John Carter next door lost an early fish, but sadly that was the last action he had. I tried all combinations, bread, corn on the bomb, method feeder with wafter, maggots etc for not an indication. Fred on 18 then had a carp after getting a few pulls which was also to be his last bite. The day was getting colder with the rain continuing and a nasty wind coming down the lake – the only entertainment was seeing Bill over on peg 5 grapple with his brolly which turned inside out with one large gust. With around 45 minutes to go the rain mostly stopped and the wind dropped – all of a sudden a different day! I had set the pole up and seeing Jeff on peg 3 land one carp from the margins, went out by the reeds with maggot on the hook. Immediately the float dipped and a few seconds later a 5lb carp landed. One more bite missed and that was it. Very few fish caught today – on my bank Fred's one fish, Phil had a carp and a bream and Tony on 16 one good carp of 15lb 13oz enough to win the bank. It was equally hard on the low bank although Peter did well from peg 10 with 3 carp for 31lbs 3oz for top weight on the day. Bill had one carp, John Todd one roach, and Jeff the one fish. Picture is Tony with his carp.

Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

N/A

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Stort Cup - 2 of 2

1st Mark Halverson 5lbs 5oz 2nd John Todd 3lbs 13oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 1oz Winner of the Stort Cup was Mark on weight with Mark and John both having 4 points.

Gary's day Today was a trip back to the Stort's Backwater and another stormy but mild day was forecast. Out of the bag came peg 16 for me. With everyone having a bit of room and only the better pegs in the bag we all had a chance today. With not a lot of colour but some flow it was the usual approach for me of breadpunch to get some bites and then hopefully a couple of perch near any cover. With most of the depth in my swim being my side I tried a short line down the bank and one over by the boats with worm for the perch. It was a slow start with a few roach on breadpunch but not very big ones before it faded. A try by the boats on worm gave me a few odd bites I could not hit. The mangled worms revealed the culprits - crayfish. A try on the inside was marginally better with a small perch followed by a 6oz pike. Then nothing more. Back to the punch line and a sail away bite on the drop led to solid resistance on the strike before it moved. A couple of minutes later pike 2 of about 2lbs was in the net and another walk to peg 18 to release it well away from my peg. And so it continued. A try on worm on the inside found another pike of about 3lbs and then a struggle for a bite. Another pike on maggot down the middle and then more hunting for a bite. Mark on peg 14 was also having some pike issues but also getting some decent roach and the odd perch. With Phil on peg 12 (again) also getting a few good roach. The last couple of hours was a real struggle with micro roach plaguing the punch line and only the odd fish worth catching coming to pinkies fished hard along the edge of the boats where the fish must have felt a bit safer. With us spread out down the river it was going to be tricky working out how everyone had done. 1st Mark Halverson 5lbs 5oz with a couple of good perch boosting his weight, 2nd John Todd 3lbs 13oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 1oz. Winner of the Stort Cup was Mark on weight with Mark and John both having 4 points.

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

Winter League - 5 of 6

1st Jeff Pearson 9lbs 1oz 2nf Phil Whitmill 8lbs 13oz 3rd John Carter 3lbs 1oz

Rob's day The Wednesday Club had our 5th round of the Winter League at Malcolm Barker Lake today. Not much wind and no rain but still pretty cold with temperatures around 2 or 3 Centigrade at best. The lake looked like any other gravel pit in winter – pretty dead – but who knows. I drew 27 on the car park bank next to Gary on 29. Try as I could on the pole long and short with various maggots/pinkies etc could not get a bite – seemed that the all the small fish were refusing to feed. Over on the right hand bank on 17 Phil had some action landing two good bream in quick succession and apparently losing a bigger one. As the day went on it looked like Phil would be the only one to catch and take all the pools money, but then Jeff came good landing three similar sized tench on the waggler. Then John Carter on peg 3 caught a 3lb bream on the feeder – and that was it with 8 blanks around the lake. At the weigh in Phil recorded 8lb 13oz just pipped by Jeff on 9lb 1oz (also on the golden peg) John only other to weigh in with 3lb 1oz Looking forward to going somewhere with a few bites, but that’s winter fishing – roll on spring. Picture today is Jeff's winning bag of 3 peas in a pod tench.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 43lbs 2oz 2nd Mark Halverson 29lbs 3oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 9lbs 9oz

Gary's day Today was Beggars Hall. After a cooler week and some cold rain the day before expectations of a bite filled day were low. At least we were going to be dry if a little cold. At the draw out came peg 16 and I had a chance as the peg was still fishing well although other usually good pegs are not at the moment. Before the all in we had an unexpected catch. There was a long length of line trailing in the water near peg 18 and, on giving it a pull to remove it, up popped Phil's rod and reel that took a trip into the deeps a couple of weeks back. Back to the fishing and it was a slow start for me although Rob on peg 17 was getting liners from the off. Unknown to us Mark on peg 20 had gotten off to a flyer with a carp on the first cast and another shortly after. About 45 mins in I started to get some liners and then the feeder rod tip went round and a very carefully played carp was in the net. Blank saved. Rob then had a carp and we were suddenly expecting a good days fishing. Another hour later the good days fishing was fizzling out with even the odd liner disappearing. A change to a bomb and meat brought another bite and a carp; a feisty mirror that thought it was a lot bigger than its 5lbs or so. And then nothing. A change to a cage feeder and maggot snuck another biite and carp after I spotted a couple of small bubbles break surface in the open water. Then another hour of waiting for a bite but this one came off right at the net. At this point there was a flurry of activity on the lake with Mark and Phil also getting a carp. The last 2 hours produced 2 more bites and 2 more carp. Rob had had a very quiet 4 hours since the early carp and it looked like it was between me and Mark. With Mark looking like he had also had 5 carp it was all going to be down to average size. 1st Gary Pickard 43lbs 2oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 29lbs 3oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 9lbs 9oz. Photo today is Mark, Phil and Fred rescuing Phil's rod.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large lake

Winter League 4 of 6

Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 14lbs 9oz 2nd Ray Gibson 11lbs 13oz High bank 1st Rob Calderon 62lbs 5oz 2nd John Carter 22lbs 14oz

Rob's day The rearranged fourth round of the Winter League today was at Hall Farm's large lake. A bit chilly but with no rain forecast and little wind should be a comfortable day, although the lake looked very clear, so maybe a swim with some cover would be good. With 6 on the Low Bank and 5 on the High, I was last to draw with 26 left in the bag! Plenty of features with the reeds across. I set up a couple of pole rigs but didn’t expect the carp to come close, so started on the method feeder with wafters. No indications in the first half hour although John Todd on peg 2 looked to have hooked a good carp on the pole early on. A change to maggots on the hook made a difference and I started to get bites, some pull rounds but also small knocks which turned into well hooked carp although on the small size. Not complaining though as, apart from John Carter next door on 24 netting a couple (including one around 10lb), the rest of the lake seemed to be fishing hard. After 2 hours I was on 10 carp but things then slowed down with the odd carp for the next couple of hours. Nothing on the pole lines, so ditched these and concentrated on the feeder. The last hour brought a few more casting tight to the reeds and ending on about 17-18 carp for 62lbs 5oz and top weight. John Carter ended second on 25lbs 14oz and the rest of the high bank had 2 carp each. It fished difficult on the low bank with Phil doing well to weigh 14lbs 9oz from peg 12 with Ray and John Todd getting into double figures. Photo is John Carter with his catch from peg 24.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm small lake

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 51lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 19lbs 14oz 3rd Gary Pickard 8lbs 10oz

Gary's day Sunday's trip to Home Farm's small lake was a lot warmer than last weekend but a day of heavy rain beforehand could make things tricky as this is a shallow lake which can cool down quickly. Out of the bag came peg 6 for me, the same as last time so set up was quick. With us well spread around the lake we all had a good chance as long as the carp were near you and feeding. It was the usual slow start but after not getting any signs even from roach after 30 mins fishing maggots the doubts started. Fred then across from me on peg 5 started to get the odd bite and then struck into a decent carp on his roach rig. And then Rob on peg 8 caught a carp. In fact he had it landed before Fred had his landed. Finally, my float went under but it was a brief battle as it was foul hooked and quickly shed the hook. There was another flurry on the lake about 30 mins later when we all seemed to get a carp about the same time and I was off the mark. At this stage Rob and Phil (on peg 1) were neck and neck. And it stayed this way until midday as the rest of us could only watch them catching fish. By the half way mark they were each admitting to about 5 carp. All this time my float was staying motionless. A quick try on a method feeder whilst I had a hot drink had a liner but no bites. Around 12 I started to get a few bites from roach up to 6oz or so. Some action at last but I needed carp. As the afternoon wore on Tiinu had a couple of carp and lost one when it went through a branch that had fallen in the lake. Rob was having a steady day but Phil's swim looked to be fading. For me the roach never turned into carp and I was 1 carp down on Tony and Fred's carp was much bigger. Although Rob looked to have things sown up Phil had also been catching steadily - the rest of us were battling for 3rd. 1st Rob Calderon 51lbs 5oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 19lbs 14oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 8lbs 10oz. Photo today is Tony on a very damp peg 3.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Bishop Stortford won the match 23 points to Abbey Cross' 7 Top Lake 1st Ray Gibson 57lbs 15oz 2nd Richard Beeston 15lbs 5oz 3rd Rob Calderon 13lbs 13oz Car Park Lake 1st John Todd 3lbs and that was it on this lake

Rob's day Hi all The Wednesday club fished an interclub match with Abbey Cross today at their Taylor's Lake. They decided as there were around 15 of us to use both lakes so as to pick the better swims in both (that was the thinking!. With a light frost it was always going to be difficult for most. 8 were on the Top Lake and 7 on the Car Park Lake. I drew peg 35 on the Top Lake in a good area with Bill (fishing for Abbey Cross) to the right and Ray further along in peg 37. A predictable slow start on the pole with maggots at 13 meters, it soon became obvious a lot of fish were holed up in the corner near Ray (despite a sheet of ice covering that area). After a couple of skimmers, Ray landed F1 after F1 – we lost count after 13. A couple of hours in, I had my first bite and netted a 2lb F1 followed half an hour later by another over 4lb. Meanwhile Richard across in peg 43 (despite throwing his pole in the lake while plumbing up and had to get his Dad’s help to retrieve it!), started to get a few F1s and Bill also landing one. In desperation I had a quick go on the method feeder and got a surprise pull round for another F1 and a drop back for a skimmer and that was it for me. Richard had a couple more to end in second place on the Top Lake with 15lb. I weighed 13lbs 13oz for third on the lake pipping Bill by 3oz despite Bill having 2 or 3 more on the waggler. Ray had a well-deserved win with a fine winter weight of 57lbs 15oz. On the Car Park Lake thing were even harder – only John Todd catching anything to win the lake and all the pools with 3lbs Bishop Stortford won the match 23 points to 7 – thanks to Alan Sims and Abbey Cross for hosting the match. Top Lake 1st Ray Gibson 57lbs 15oz, 2nd Richard Beeston 15lbs 5oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 13lbs 13oz. Car Park Lake 1st John Todd 3lbs Picture is the aerator in Phil's peg which was not as fishy as it looked.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Stort Cup - 1 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 5lbs 4oz 2nd John Todd 1lbs 15oz Jt 3rd Mark Halverson 1lbs 13oz Jt 3rd Phil Whitmill 1lbs 13oz

Gary's day It was the Stort Backwater for us today. With colour and flow and being 5c warmer than our visit a couple of weeks back (it was still -3c at the draw) signs looked good for some fish. Out of the draw bag was peg 6 for me. A very short walk and a gap between 2 barges which looked very fishy. It was a lot deeper than I expected so a couple of bits of line needed to be added to the pole rigs: 1 for down the middle and over near the barges; and 1 for perch between the barges. It was a fair gap to Rob on peg 10 so I was not going to know much of what was happening up the river. At the all in a ball of breadcrumb and a couple of groundbait with some rather old pinkies went in. It was a flying start with 4 reasonable roach in the first half dozen runs through. It was never going to last but gave me hopes of a good day out. The very low sun meant it was going to be a good hour before I could try between the barges as I could not see the float for all the glare. A few more roach saw me to the hour mark and time for a first try for perch whilst I rested the breadpunch line. No signs. Back on the punch for a few roach and then time to try for perch again. This time the plan worked and 3 chunky 6oz perch were in the net. Above me Rob was having a nightmare and could not get a bite. The rest of the pegs above were also proving hard work with mostly very small roach and dace being caught. Another go over by the boats found 1 more perch but the increased activity on the boat killed that line off. As the sun swung round and the river was in its full glare the bites slowed down and the last hour was a real struggle with only a handful of bites even on a single pinkie on a size 20 to 0.8. I was guessing I had a bit over 3lbs so it would all be down to whether perch had shown on the upstream pegs. 1st Gary Pickard 5lbs 4oz, 2nd John Todd 1lbs 15oz and joint 3rd Mark Halverson and Phil Whitmill with 1lbs 13oz. Photo today as my view down river at the cold start of the day.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st John Todd 3lbs 4oz 2nd Bill Beeston 1lbs 13oz 3rd John Carter 1lbs 10oz

Rob's day Hi All On the Stort Backwater today – touch and go as the weekend rain had put colour and flow into the river. Definitely fishable but was going to be difficult. Pegs up to 14 put in as the water was rushing through 18 the day before. I drew peg 7 which was mainly a trot through on the far bank as shallow and snaggy anywhere else. Really needed a slack but the only calm water was on the left between the boats and close to Terry on peg 8 and also full of branches/twigs so left that. Started on bread punch for nothing so changed to trotting a stick float through with maggots which after about an hour produced one bite – a 4oz roach then nothing. Spent the rest of the match scratching around for bites and ended up with 4 roach for 8oz. Elsewhere the low number pegs struggled but Phil sneaked in a good perch near the end on peg 5 to frame. Upstream to river seemed to fish better with John Todd weighing in a good 3lbs 4oz for an easy win. Bill on 9 and John Carter on 13 also catching a few for 2nd and 3rd with 1lbs 13oz and 1lbs 10oz respectively. Picture is the winning peg 10 – sadly minus John as I only remembered to take photos after everyone had gone home.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large lake

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 41lbs 8oz 2nd Fred Hunt 39lbs 14oz 3rd Gary Pickard 30lbs 14oz

Gary's day It was a frosty morning start at Hall Farm but the lake being more than half frozen over was a surprise. Thankfully the high bank was clear to about 10 metres all the way along so we decided to fish. Out of the bag came peg 24 for me, an OK peg but 1 away from peg 26 I really wanted. With high winds and rain forecast for midday onwards I decided to try the long pole near the edge of the ice sheet in front of me whilst I could. 45 mins later and no sign of a bite it was time to try a small maggot feeder. A couple of casts in, the tip went round and a carp of about 4lbs was in the net. A couple more casts later it went round again with another carp. At this point Tony on 26 started to get bites. 1 more carp followed but, as the ice sheet melted, the fish backed off. Tony though was still catching near the reeds. Half way through Peter Green popped by and I found out that a few fish were being caught all along the bank with Phil and Rob admitting to 4 carp each. Tony was still catching and I could not get a bite. With the pole packed away before the rain hit it was going to be rod and line only for the second half. Finally, at about 1, I found some fish again and had 4 in quick succession and then they were gone. The last hour was a cold and windy grind with the lake shutting down. A big liner in the last couple of minutes was it for me. I was pretty sure Tony had me beat but the other end of the lake was a mystery. After a very wet end to the match the whistle was welcome and it had fished a lot better than expected with everyone having at least 3 carp/F1s. 1st Tony Cruci with 41lbs 8oz, 2nd Fred Hunt 39lbs 14oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 30lbs 14oz. Today's picture is a very wet but happy looking Tony.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

High Bank 1st Tony Cruci 30lbs 15oz 2nd Bill Beeston 15lbs 14oz Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 45lbs 14oz 2nd Rob Calderon 44lbs 6oz

Rob's day Hi All Back on Beggars Hall for the Wednesday club with some trepidation due to the results on Sunday where half of us blanked. Bit warmer today so maybe better. Eight fishing today so 4 on each bank – I drew peg 10 which has fished ok in the winter before so hopeful for a couple of bites. First hour had a liner every cast including some pulling the rod right round until an hour and a bit in had a carp around 8lb on popped up bread. Next 3 hours or so still getting liners but some proper bites on the method feeder casting close to the island branches. Elsewhere John Todd and Fred were struggling on Pegs 16 and 17 – John Carter and Terry had one each and apparently Phil was catching a few. Couldn’t see Tony and Bill on 18 and 21. Finished with 6 carp for 44lbs 2oz just behind Phil who did well from peg 4 with 45lbs 14oz. There must have been a few fish at that end of the lake as Tony won the high bank with 30lbs 15oz from peg 21 beating pegs 16, 17 and 18. Photo is from peg 10 looking down the lake to pegs 6 and 5 with Terry hiding behind his brolly. High Bank 1st Tony Cruci 30lbs 15oz and 2nd Bill Beeston 15lbs 14oz. Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 45lbs 14oz and 2nd Rob Calderon 44lbs 6oz

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 30lbs 7oz 2nd Fred Hunt 14lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 7lbs 11oz

Gary's day After a bit of reshuffling we ended up at Beggars Hall today. Thankfully the weather had warmed up since last weekend; 2c rather than -7c. With the ice having finally melted on Thursday the water was going to be cold Out of the bag came peg 17 for me and I was pretty happy with this as it is a consistent peg and usually good for a few carp. The day would be simple - just a feeder rod and a bomb rod to set up. A start out on a feeder saw the first hour passing without any signs which was getting worrying. Mark over on peg 16 at the other end of the island was getting plenty of liners but no bites. About 11 Rob on peg 19 and Mark finally had a fish each and it looked like the lake was waking up. About 12 John Todd popped along to say hello to us all and the tip started pulling round. But there was nothing there. A classic liner. But nothing more when I dropyped the feeder back in the same place. Mark was still getting liners and now the occasional proper bite and heading into the last 30 mins had 4 carp in the net, Rob had 1 and the rest of us not a sausage. A bit after 2 I had another massive liner followed by a drop back but nothing was there again. Fred then on peg 18 had a good carp. But that was it for me, my first blank for a long time After a tough day's fishing getting more than 1 bite made all the difference. 1st Mark Halverson 30lbs 7oz, 2nd Fred Hunt 14lbs 15oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 7lbs 11oz. Photo today is Fred with his last gasp carp that took him to 2nd.

Water Booking

River Stort Backwater

Water booking

Hall Farm Large Lake - pegs 1-9 booked

N/A

Club match / outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 5lbs 12oz 2nd Rob Calderon 3lbs 7oz 3rd Bill Beeston 2lbs 3oz

Rob's Day Second match in and again cancelled due to 2 inches of ice covering Hall Farm! A few members of the Wednesday club decided to fish the Backwater. As this is my first write up I just want to thank Phil for all his work over the last few years and helping me take over the duties. Apt then that I drew next to Phil so we could have a chat and I could watch him catch all day! I was on peg 13 – river looked ok with a bit of colour but little flow. Breadpunch caught a few roach but very small, a change to maggots still produced small fish but least getting bites. As the day went on a few better dace and at the end a couple of 4oz roach took me to 3lbs 7 oz but I thought a way off Phil’s catch which included a few decent perch. Elsewhere most had a few bites but with small fish and also some pike trouble. Tony on peg 18 not helped by the fact he decided just to take his feeder gear! 1st Phil Whitmill 5lbs 12oz, 2nd Rob Calderon 3lbs 7oz 3rd Bill Beeston 2lbs 3oz. Photo is Phil with his good catch.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 2lbs 12oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 8oz 3rd Gary Pickard 1lb 7oz

Gary's day After a very cold week all the local lakes were frozen so it was a trip to the Backwater. Even that had a few sheets of ice in slower sections. With a -7c at the draw pulling out peg 14 was welcome as it can be good for a few perch. It was the usual start on bread punch to get a few fish in the net but the bites were very delicate and the fish small. At least though I was getting a few bites and the odd fish. Mark a couple of pegs up was also getting bites and having the same issue with hitting them. After 90 mins or so the bites disappeared and then a big flash near the float revealed why as the first of many pike strikes occurred. 30 seconds later the float went under l and the strike was met with firmer than expected resistance which then started moving. After an exciting minute or so the line went slack as the poor roach that must have been grabbed by a hungry pike came off. After that I struggled to get a few fish together with them being very unhappy about the pike in the area. A couple of fish further down the peg on maggot proved a false start and the float never wobbled whilst trying for perch. Above me Tony was struggling with only a couple of fish but below, on 14, Phil was getting some better quality roach. Fred on 18 was also having pike problems but managed to get a small jack of about 2lb in the net. Mark was having a strong finish with a few better roach on pinkies. With a steady dripping of melting ice from the trees and not being able to see the float in the failing light the final whistle was welcome today. After a very cold but thankfully dry day it was going to be close and all down to whether you managed to catch a better quality of fish. 1st Mark Halverson 2lbs 12oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 8oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 1lb 7oz. Photo today is Mark and Tony at the very cold and misty start of the day.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

River Stort Backwater

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 25lbs 2nd Phil Whitmill 22lbs 7oz 3rd Steve Foster 10lbs 10oz

Gary's day It was a cold and snowy start to the year at Beggars Hall with a day of rain forecast. At least though it was going to be a feeder dominated match so hiding under an umbrella would be easier. Out of the draw bag came peg 20 for me and a long way from the island pegs I wanted to draw. Set up was quick and it was time to settle in for the day with a flask of hot coffee. Steve in peg 18 got off to a flying start with a decent carp within the first 10 minutes or so. Rob next to me on peg 19 then had a liner and the day was looking better than expected. When my tip went round after 30 mins and a carp of 10lb was in the net the day was looking hopeful for a few fish. We were not the only crazy people out and about today as, about this time, the first of what must have been a hundred ramblers started walking / running past in little groups. With no more fish on the feeder it was time to try casting a single hookbait around with a bit of luncheon meat to start. No luck on this. Time for a try on the feeder again with micros and a small wafter and round the tip went again at about 11. This time a smaller but angrier common. With 2 fish in the net it was looking promising. By 1 there had been no more signs for me and word came down the bank that Phil had a couple of good carp and Tony had 1. Then Rob had a good carp and it was getting very close. The clock was ticking down and I could not get another bite. With 20 mins to go it was decision time for the last couple of casts. I flicked the feeder about 2 metres further and started packing up some bits now the rain had stopped. A big liner soon into the cast was a good sign but had it moved the feeder? If it had the carp did not mind and a minute later another smaller common was in the net. A quick recast on the same spot brought another quick bite and another carp. It was all going to depend on how many more Tony and Phil had caught. Thankfully the rain stopped for the weigh in and it was close with that last fish making all the difference. 1st Gary Pickard 25lbs, 2nd Phil Whitmill 22lbs 7oz and 3rd Steve Foster 10lbs 10oz. Today's photo is a very soggy line of anglers huddled under their brollies.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 3lbs 1oz Jt 2nd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 13oz Jt 2nd Gary Pickard 2lbs 13oz

Gary's day It was a very foggy start at Wickham Hall with the far side of the lake just about visible. With just a few of us out today we did a walk off / rover and I decided on a short walk and chose peg 20 as this seems to get a few people fishing it and I hoped that the fish are associating it with some food now. With a few more bream having just been stocked we were all looking for a few silvers in the net today. As the pole does not seem to be working very well, despite plenty of water over their heads, I decided on 3 rods: a traditional cage feeder rod for out long; a method feeder; and, my secret weapon, an old Sigma Wand feeder/bomb rod with a very fine tip for trying to get a bite closer in. The first 3 hours were uneventful with only Phil admitting to possibly having had something nudge his bait. This was whilst the odd fish could be seen cruising on the top and Mark and Phil having seen a couple of carp swim by off their rod tips. Finally, after 3 hours, my rod tip went round as one of the small but slightly crazy carp took a liking to my maggot hookbait. After carefully playing it in as I was fishing quite a light hooklength by this time I had something in the net. I quickly cast back out ready for the next fish but nothing. An hour later Phil had a bite and small carp and we were neck and neck. By this time I had pretty much exhausted my options with trying different hookbait combinations of maggot, worm and pinkie but could not get a bite. Tony then had a carp with 10 mins or so to go and it was going to be down to size of fish as they are all a pretty similar size in Wickham at the moment. Tony was first to weigh with 3lbs 1oz and then it was me - the scales flickered up to 3lbs 1oz but then settled back to 2lbs 13oz with Phil also weighing in 2lbs 13oz with his one carp. 20 man hours of fishing today for 3 bites - roll on Spring. 1st Tony Cruci 3lbs 1oz, Jt 2nd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 13oz and Jt 2nd Gary Pickard 2lbs 13oz. Picture is my peg 20 in a less foggy moment with Mark in the distance.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Ralph Jarvis Rose Bowl - 2 of 2

1st Tony Cruci 3lbs 14oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 12oz 3rd Mark Halverson 3lbs 10oz And Tony also won the Ralph Jarvis Cup with 6 points over the 2 legs

Gary's day It was back to the Stort for round 2 of the Jarvis Cup this weekend with the river low but with some colour and flow. Again it was going to be a stormy day with 40+mph winds. Out of the draw bag came peg 13 for me and I had hopes of a few fish as it always looks good in this corner. A start on breadpunch went well with a few small roach going in the net but, as is usual, the bites slowed and the fish got smaller and smaller. At this point Phil below me on 12 was struggling to get bites on punch but with some perch talking a liking to it. Above on 14 Steve was having a good run of perch over by the boats and looked to be heading for a good weight. Time for a refeed on the punch line and a try for perch whilst this settled - no bites. After a few more ever smaller roach and dace on punch it was time to try for perch again and this time a 6oz fish obliged. That was it though so back to the main swim. As the afternoon went on the fishing became harder and harder with the river's flow being all over the place as the wind pushed it back and forth. The last 90 mins was almost biteless with Phil and Steve also struggling. At the all out 5 hours of effort translated to just over 2lbs and nowhere in the match for me. Time for a rethink on the Backwater as we have a couple more matches on this before the season's end. 1st Tony Cruci 3lbs 14oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 12oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 3lbs 10oz. Picture today is me desperately trying to find a perch in the gap between the boats.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Xmas match

High Bank 1st Tony Cruci 53lbs 1oz 2nd Stephen Foster 35lbs 2oz 3rd Bill Beeston 19lb 3oz Low Bank 1st Gary Pickard 11lbs 10oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 10lbs 11oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 10lbs 3oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, today was my last day as the Weds club captain and Rob takes over from the first match in the new year and I wish him well for the future, now back to the match. I drew peg 8 again and based on the last time I didn't have a lot to beat. Made up two lines on pole and, of course, a feeder rod for distance. Started off on feeder at 20 meters hoping for an early catch but not so lucky but at quarter past 10 the tip went round and I landed my first carp of about 5lbs. I spent the next 2 hours waiting for my next bite but nothing so onto the pole close in as it was blowing quite hard and made it very difficult to get any presentation. I did manage a couple of small perch and a very decent roach of 10oz then it just died so back onto the feeder for my last carp with half an hour to go. I weighed in 10lbs 3oz Results are: High Bank 1st Tony Cruci with 53lbs 1oz 2nd Stephen Foster with 35lbs 2oz and 3rd Bill Beeston with 19lb 3oz; and Low Bank 1st Gary Pickard with 11lbs 10oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 10lbs 11oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill with 10lbs 3oz. I would like to thank all our team members for my gift it was truly appreciated thanks mates. Pic is John Carter (not Santa) getting set up on the opposite bank.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm [Small Lake]

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 23lbs 9oz 2nd Tony Cruci 14lbs 1oz 3rd Steve Foster 10lbs 15oz

Gary's day The mild weather continued this weekend for our trip to Home Farm's small lake; a little breezy at times but thankfully dry. We were all looked forward to getting a few bites after a tough few weeks of fishing. It was peg 6 for me today at the other end of the lake from where I seem to keep drawing. Rob and Tony were in pegs 1 and 3 again with Steve opposite me on 5 and Fred and Phil completing my bank. A quick try with with bread punch out in the middle in case any carp were cruising around with the high pressure proved fruitless. Steve then had a carp and it was time to feed some bait and be patient. The next hour disappeared as I tried micros and expanders. A couple of lightning quick bites gave me just enough to keep trying. Steve was also suffering from unhittable bites. The rest of the lake was very quiet with only Rob having a fish and even the silvers not feeding. We could also hear the big lake behind was fishing hard. A swap to maggot finally got a couple of hittable bites with a small roach and then a carp that started like roach and ended like a steam train whilst playing it in. One more small carp then led to a long quiet spell. Tony was starting to hook but not land fish and Steve was also having a run of foulhookers. A bit after the midpoint I had another small carp on bomb and bread and then my last carp and pretty much last bite of the day at 1pm. With Tony getting a couple of carp to the net and Steve another it was going to be close. It was tight again with the quality of fish and keeping them on the hook making all the difference. 1st Gary Pickard 23lbs 9oz, 2nd Tony Cruci 14lbs 1oz and 3rd Steve Foster 10lbs 15oz and Phil had a couple of good quality roach including one at 11oz. Picture today is me with by efforts of 5 hours.

Water Booking

River Stort Backwater

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

Winter League - 3 of 6

1st Rob Calderón 4lbs 5oz 2nd Bill Beeston 9oz and that's it folks

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club fished its club lake the Malcolm Barker. It's not a bag up water with only a few pounds to be expected per angler but the Club has not been able fish it most of the year because of the weed problems. The weed has almost gone now so most pegs are fishable. I drew peg 7 which used to be a good peg. I made up two pole lines at 10 meters right and left and a feeder for further out. Well that's where the blog ends - didn't get a bite. Tried 4mm pellet, maggots, corn and even bread punch but not a jot. Come 2.30 match over and glad it's over. I can't say I learned anything from that session except not to go back there again There were only 2 payouts 1st Rob Calderón with 4lbs 5oz and 2nd Bill Beeston with 9oz, the rest of the field blanked. Pic is from my peg

Water Booking

River Stort Backwater

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Xmas match

1st Rob Calderon 51lbs 9oz 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 110z 3rd Tony Cruci 23lbs 11oz

Gary's day Another Sunday and another storm, this time it was storm Darragh. The weather was awful with a strong and cold wind and rain for much of the day. Despite the high banks at Hall Farm the wind was coming straight down the lake so there was no shelter apart from for Steve tucked into the corner on peg 12. It was peg 10 for me, with 10ft of water on 4 sections the pole was just about manageable but the hope was a few fish on the feeder. The first 90 minutes went by without a sign on a small maggot feeder which was not a good start. Finally I had a bite and a mirror of about 7lb was in the net and the blank was saved. But that was it for the feeder - maggot or method. A try on the pole found another carp at about 12 and things were looking better. Phil then dropped by and mentioned that Rob, Mark and Tony down on the lower numbers had 2 or 3 fish each and one of Mark's was a real lump (it went over 16lbs). Another carp on the pole after 30 mins had me hoping for a few more but that was it with just 1 small perch on the pole and nothing on a feeder. One more bite than last weekend but not what I had hoped for and my 15lbs was well off the pace. At the weigh in it was clear the fish were happier in shallower water today with the weights getting better as you went down the lake. 1st Rob Calderon 51lbs 9oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 11oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 23lbs 11oz. Picture today is Rob looking very wet but happy with his winning net full.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake - Abbey Cross Water

N/A

Abbey Cross won the match with 43 points to Bishop's Stortford's 32 points 1st Peter Green 17lbs 12oz 2nd Terry Moranda 10lbs 0oz 3rd Rob Calderón 9lbs 4oz 4th Alan Fox 4lbs 2oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished its monthly interclub against Abbey Cross on their Taylor's Lake. We had a reduced team of 6 a side for one reason or another but the benefit was we should all get goodish pegs or so I thought. I drew peg 38 - a bit disappointed as it wasn't the peg I thought it was but it is what it is so I got on with it. The weed was a problem but I could find an odd clear spot. I made up 1 line to the lily pads off to my right - no point in putting up the feeder as everywhere I cast to was buried in pond weed. Sat there for 4 and a half hours with not a sight of a bite then, with half an hour to go, had a roach about a 1oz but enough to give me points. I caught 4 more rudd for a total weight of 5 oz Abbey Cross won the match with 43 points to Bishop's Stortford's 32 points , 1st Peter Green with 17lbs 12oz, 2nd Terry Moranda with 10lbs 0oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 9lbs 4oz and 4th Alan Fox with 4lbs 2oz. Pic is my peg

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 55lbs 10oz 2nd Mark Halverson 54lbs 14oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 39lbs 12oz

Gary's day Today was officially the first day of winter and it was a trip to Beggars Hall. After a cooler week it was back to a mild but wet weekend. Today's peg for me was the new peg 19 between the old 18 and 19 - a great looking summer peg! With the wind picking up a bit and the day set to be wet the pole stayed in the bag with just the feeder/bomb rods being set up. With no features apart from at my feet in the edges it was going to be the case of trying to find a fish in front of me. The first hour passed without a sign for me or Tony on 20. Mark though on 18 was killing it with 1 carp within seconds of his first cast and 5 fish, including a bream of just under 5lbs, after the hour mark. Time to try a maggot feeder just to get something in the net. Not a sign after 30 mins and things were not looking good. Time for being more patient on a hybrid feeder. Finally I had a bite 2 1/2 hours in and a nice looking common carp of about 9lbs was in the net. The blank was saved. The bites had also slowed for Mark and the rumour mill had Rob on 17 with at least 2 carp and Phil on 16 a big carp of 16-18lbs. The rest of the match was slow and very wet but I managed 2 more bites and 2 more carp and I had 24lbs on the clicker - I was a bit off. But it was 3 more bites than Tony who had a shocker and I only needed a couple more fish given the size of those feeding. It was a close finish with it all down to making sure fish hooked were landed with the carp averaging around 10lb today. 1st Rob Calderon 55lbs 10oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 54lbs 14oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 39lbs 12oz. Today's picture is Rob with a crowd behind wondering why he was bothering setting up a pole.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

High Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 51lbs 13oz 2nd John Carter 44lbs 8oz Low Bank 1st Terry Moranda 24lbs 15oz 2nd Richard Beeston 21lbs 7oz

Phil's day Hi all another freezing cold day but the rain held off so that was a big plus. I drew peg 19 on the high bank - it can be a moody peg but you never know in fishing. I baited up 3 pole swims but I am putting my hopes into the feeder at 15 meters. I decided to keep it simple red maggots on the hook and small cage feeder with a small amount of groundbait. First cast and waited patient for 20 mins and low and behold my first carp about 8lbs. Did this a second time and 25 mins later another carp kept this going for 3 out of the 5 hours then a dead spot as the wind and cold got slightly worse. About just after 2pm the feeder went round for my last carp which gave me a good weight of 51lbs 13oz. Many thanks to Rob who is getting very good at running the matches he did the weigh in on his own today which gives me a break. Pic is my peg. High Bank 1st Phil Whitmill with 51lbs 13oz and 2nd John Carter with 44lbs 8oz. Low Bank 1st Terry Moranda with 24lbs 15oz and 2nd Richard Beeston with 21lbs 7oz

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Ralph Jarvis Rose Bowl - 1 of 2

1st Fred Hunt 4lbs 7oz 2nd Steve Foster 3lbs 11oz 3rd Gary Pickard 3lbs 3oz

Gary's day Today was day 2 of Storm Bert. Thankfully we had a bit of shelter along the Backwater from the trees and the high bank but it was still pretty windy. The downside was that any relatively calm areas were where the leaves were gathering. With a bit of colour and some flow we hoped the River would fish OK. Out of the draw bag came peg 12 for me which seems to be one I keep drawing. It is quite narrow so handy on a windy day and with a bit of shelter – but lots of leaves. A start on bread punch was not overly successful. The light rig was struggling to get through the leaves and when I did get a bite the fish were small. After half an hour of leaf dodging I decided to try between the boats which was a bit clearer and had a small perch quite quickly followed by a few more and after an hour was flying with a good 1lb in the net. Tony down on peg 10 was struggling for any bites and having to battle the wind. The perch had started to slow and get smaller so I gave it a quick rest and tried the middle with maggots. This got me a couple of small fish but nothing much. About this time Phil came past with his trolley – an emergency call home as his fence had blown down. The rest of my perch line had done it no good – they had gone never to return. The rest of the day was spent scratching for bites from anything with the fish getting smaller and smaller until I was glad of a ½ oz dace. The boat downstream from me was bobbing all over the place in the wind and a few times I thought it was going to be pushed into the boat in front of it – the fish were not keen being anywhere near it. The flow was also all over the place during the day as the wind must have been strong enough it was forcing the river to back up. How the upstream pegs had fished was a mystery as they were round the corner from me but down at our end it was hard work. After 5 hours of being battered by the wind 1st Fred Hunt 4lbs 7oz of mostly perch up to 1lb, 2nd Steve Foster 3lbs 11oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 3lbs 3oz. Picture today is my peg with a healthy scattering of leaves on top.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High bank 1st Gary Pickard 55lbs 6oz 2nd Steve Foster 23lbs 0oz Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 31lbs 10oz 2nd Rob Calderon 17lbs 15oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club fished its club lake at Hall Farm, as it turned out it was the coldest day of the winter so far made worse by the windchill. We had a few people off with chills but still managed 10 anglers so plenty of room between pegs. I drew peg 4 on the low bank, what a relief didn't fancy the steps on the high bank at all. I made up three lines one at 6 meters, the margins ad a feeder. I was so cold I started off on the feeder so I could put my hands in my pockets as my gloves seemed to have gone missing since last year - probably put them somewhere safe. Started off on red maggots in a open ended cage feeder and stayed with this for the whole day. It was half an hour before my first bite for a carp of about 4lb very happy with that then it was a carp every 45 minutes with no lost carp. I weighed in 31lbs 10oz so not such a bad day as I original thought it might be. High bank 1st Gary Pickard with 55lbs 6oz and 2nd Steve Foster with 23lbs 0oz. Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill with 31lbs 10oz and 2nd Rob Calderón with 17lbs 15oz. Pic is my peg for the day.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm [Small Lake]

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 10lbs 5oz 2nd Steve Foster 9lbs 11oz 3rd Gary Pickard 8lbs 10oz

Gary's day It was Hall Farm's small lake for us this week with the weather finally getting colder but still not frosty - would the carp have a last feed up before winter? It was peg 8 again for me today with the rest of us spread around the lake. Peg 8 has been good to me but often does not come good until later where the deep margins tend to hold some F1s. As expected it was a slow start out on the long pole lines with no signs on micros and expanders and just some small roach and rudd on maggots. Everyone else was in the same boat with just the odd silver coming out despite carp topping regularly. An hour in Tony opposite hooked a carp which promptly fell off and then Rob on peg 1 managed to land one foulhooked in the fin. But that was the end of that flurry of activity. As the fish out long were still small and with the wind and low winter light making seeing the dotted down float hard I came shorter. The bites were horrible to see with some of the bigger roach only moving the float sideways rather than pulling it under. But at least a few fish were coming to the net. Then Steve on peg 6 had a quick flurry around 1pm with 2 carp in the net and 3 lost. With Phil also getting a couple of good perch on peg 5. It was going to be a very close low weight match if the carp did not feed later with me needing a carp or F1 to get back in the mix. 2 hours later it was all over with not a carp in my net nor none hooked and nor did anyone else catch another. It sounded like the Big Lake also struggled. At the weigh in I had more than expected but needed that bonus fish. It was a close result with so few carp showing. 1st Rob Calderon 10lbs 5oz, 2nd Steve Foster 9lbs 11oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 8lbs 10oz. Picture is the lake before the all in - flat calm and a lot colder than the photo makes it look.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Winter League - 2 of 6

1st Steve Foster 4lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 9oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 3lbs 1oz 4th John Carter 1lbs 10oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club held their 2nd of 6 winter league matches on the Backwater next to our club lake Malcolm Barker. It was a good turnout as some don't like river fishing but a good effort was made by all. The river had a very little flow and was gin clear so it was going to be hard. I put in all the pegs that I thought might fish but there was always going to be some not get a bite. I drew peg 7 not a bad peg and my target was 1 to 2 lbs for the day. 3 main baits today it was bread punch and crumb, chopped worm and red maggots. I made two lines down the middle track with punch and over to the barge with chopped worms. Started off cupping out chopped worms and leaving it to draw in the perch while I trotting through on bread punch down the middle track. It took me awhile to find a good run but this produced 4 roach for 10oz then it dropped back to very small roach and dace but still keeping putting fish in the net. After 1 hour it dried up so onto my perch line. Had a run through 3 or 4 times and made some adjustments then got my first perch 10 mins later got another one a bit bigger then two more before it died a death so cupped in more worm and back on the punch. Did this on and on for the whole day and I finished off with a good weight of 3lbs 9oz - a lot of fish but busy all day. 1st Steve Foster with 4lbs 5oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 3lbs 9oz, 3rd Jeff Pearson with 3lbs 1oz and 4th John Carter with 1lbs 10oz. Well done to all with no quitters. Pic today from right to left is Jeff, Barry and Rob (soon to be our next Weds captain / organizer when he takes over in January)

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

River Stort Backwater

Lea & Stort Cup vs Sawbridgeworth

Bishop's Stortford won the day with 12lbs 4oz to Sawbridgeworth's 9lbs 14oz 1st Mark Halverson 4lbs 2nd Mark Muncey 3lbs 4oz 3rd John Carter 3lbs 2oz 4th Kevin Brace 2lbs 7oz Section 1 - Gary Pickard 2lbs 6oz Section 2 - Nick Winson 1lbs 15oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to the Backwater on the Stort for the annual Lea and Stort cup against Sawbridgeworth. With a low and clear river with almost no flow it was going to be tough. Out of the bag came peg 3 for me and a very short walk from the car park. The plan was simple. Down the middle in the deep water (7ft) for anything swimming and over to the boat for quality perch. It was a slow but steady start on bread punch down the middle. Not a lot of bites but fish worth catching rather than tiny roach. After an hour I had about 10 fish and it was clear it was going to be a tough day with not a lot being caught in the half dozen pegs near me. Upstream just in view Peter had an epic battle with something but hopes of a carp were short lived to be replaced by a tail hooked pike of about 5lbs which he landed after a hell of a battle. Sadly pike did not count. Down at our end the fishing was getting worse with almost no signs even tight by the boat. Nick above me then had a half pound perch and an hour of my effort was wiped out. The middle of the match was a real grueler with hardly anything being caught near us. I had a final flurry of a few fish in the last hour but when these started turning into bleak rather than roach it was a lot of effort for little return. At the weigh in I had more than I thought so it had been worthwhile trying to avoid the small fish which I know weigh almost nothing from past visits. Bishop's Stortford won the day with 12lbs 4oz to Sawbridgeworth's 9lbs 14oz. For the individuals: 1st Mark Halverson 4lbs, 2nd Mark Muncey 3lbs 4oz, 3rd John Carter 3lbs 2oz and 4th Kevin Brace 2lbs 7oz. Photo today is Mark H with his winning net of fish helped by some chunky perch.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Beggars Hall

N/A

Abbey Cross won the day with 40 points to Bishop's Stortford's 38 points. Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 11lbs 3oz 2nd Martin Adams 10lbs 8oz 3rd Peter Green 9lbs 7oz High bank 1st Tony Cruci 48lbs 13 oz 2nd Rob Calderón 45lbs 11oz 3rd Bill Beeston 31lbs 5oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club fished its interclub match against Abbey Cross on Beggar's Hall club lake this week. I drew peg 12 not an area where I would have chosen but that's the luck of the draw. I got to my peg and decided, as I was in a poor low weight section, I would fish for the roach and perch but with heavy rigs just in case. It was going to be 1 line by the lily pads and a feeder as far out as I could cast to get near the island. I fed reds and micro pellets by the pads and 6mm pellet on the feeder. Well the feeder after an hour was a total loss so moved to my pole line and got as close to the lily pads as I dare and started to pick up the odd good roach. The plan was working 'tll I hooked a carp and straight into the pads with not a chance and I came back hookless. Nevermind, back on the roach and got to 1 ish and the float went under and struck to the pads direction and the carp pulled in the opposite direction and landed him for 8 or 9 lbs. I hooked two more carp unfortunately they were wised up and went in the pads for a loss. I weighed in 11lb 3oz The lake was split into 2 secs high and low banks to make it a fair match. Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill with 11lbs 3oz, 2nd Martin Adams with 10lbs 8oz and 3rd Peter Green with 9lbs 7oz. High Bank 1st Tony Cruci with 48lbs 13 oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 45lbs 11oz and 3rd Bill Beeston with 31lbs 5oz. The pic is looking down the lake from my peg 12. It was very close with Abbey Cross winning the day with 40 points to BS's 38 points.

Canoe club event

River Stort - main river between Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth (11:00 to 14:00)

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 10lbs 3oz 2nd Steve Forster 8lbs 6oz 3rd Tony Cruci 7lbs 6oz

Gary's day It was back to Wickham Hall this week with the hope the bream and carp were feeding up for winter. We had another walk off with the pegs being unknown still and, pulling first choice out of the bag, I went for the near side weedy corner (peg 15??}. The rest of us were spread around the lake. After being plagued by small rudd on previous visits the plan was to be careful feeding any groundbait today. Having left it at home that was not going to be an issue! Micros it was then. A few with corn as near the weed bed to my left as I dared and then with maggots to the right and a feeder line out front in about 20 feet of water. After quickly feeding the pole swims it was out on a small cage feeder whilst the pole lines settled. A bite and a skimmer of about 1lb after 20 mins was a good sign. Tony midway along the bank to my left was also making a good start with a small carp. With no more bites on the feeder it was time to try the pole lines after an hour by which time Tony had 3 carp. Nothing. Not a wobble on the float. Back to the feeder it was then. And nothing, not even a small fish rattle. Over in the corner near the gate Steve then had a run of bream and Mark around the right hand side a carp. Trying pole and feeder just made no difference with Mark and Rob still getting the odd bite and small carp. Finally, I had a carp with 45 mins to go by dropping a method feeder as close to the weed as I dared. But that was it, 3 bites and 3 fish. It was going to be common pattern today with the size of your 3 or 4 fish making all the difference. Time to go back to the drawing board as it looks like the rudd have shut up shop. 1st Mark Halverson 10lbs 3oz, 2nd Steve Forster 8lbs 6oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 7lbs 6oz. Picture today is my swim and me hoping the tip would go round with Tony and Phil in the distance.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High bank 1st Bill Beeston 54lbs 8oz 2nd Fred Hunt 25lbs 5oz 3rd John Carter 23lbs 12oz Low bank 1st Colin Brister 11lbs 2nd Barry Cornel 9lbs 7oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 4lbs 1oz

Phil's day Good Morning to all, the Weds club fished its club match at Hall Ffarm big lake it was going to be a tough day for most as the fish at the moment don't want to play. The turnout was 13 anglers so managed every other peg to try and make it more room to coax a few fish. I drew peg 16 not a favourite peg of mine but lately I have drawn a lot of not so good pegs. Made up two margin lines and a 7 meter line. I fed corn and pellet on my 7 meter line and maggot and micros to my margins - well that's the exciting bit done with. Managed 4 very small perch and 2 x 3oz roach and nothing else till 15 mins to go and hooked into a decent carp of 11lb 6oz and saved my day. The lake was split into 2 secs high and low banks. 1st high bank Bill Beeston with 54lbs 8oz, 2nd Fred Hunt with 25lbs 5oz and 3rd John Carter with 23lbs 12oz. Low bank 1st Colin Brister with 11lbs, 2nd Barry Cornel with 9lbs 7oz and 3rd Jeff Pearson with 4lbs 1oz. Pic is my peg - with a fish jumping just before the all in.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

High Bank: 1st Rob Calderon 83lbs 7oz 2nd Mark Halverson 71lbs 1oz. Low Bank: 1st Gary Pickard 35lbs 4oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 7lbs

Gary's day After an extra hour in bed with the clocks going back it was Beggars Hall today. Following a miserable Wednesday match struggling to 13oz of bits from a seriously out of sorts Beggars I was hoping for a much better day. Pegs 16-18 were still the ones everyone wanted but it was to be peg 5 for me. Only 2 pegs away from Weds but a better peg. Today I had come prepared with a couple of pints of maggots in case it was tough. The first hour was a waste of time for me with not a sign on a method feeder or bomb and pellet. Not so on the other side where Fred on 16 and Rob on 17 were into carp from the off. Mark in 18 was having a slower time with just the 1 about an hour in. With nothing out longer it was time to try and get some bites on the pole. Thankfully there were some roach and perch on the pole lines to keep me busy. It was active fishing with getting a bite needing lots laying in of the rig as the bites only seemed to come as the float settled. And then it happened and I hooked something very much not a roach. After some careful playing and seeing the elastic stretched more than I thought it could a 9lb carp was in the net. Then it was back to the roach and perch. Fred was slowing down but Rob was still getting bites as was Mark now. A couple of quick tries during the day on a method feeder got me another couple of carp whilst I rested the pole swims but the bites came out of the blue. A bonus bream of about 3lb on the pole boosted the silvers but no more carp. At the weight net the 10lb of silvers boosted me to 35lbs with the rest of our bank fishing poor. As expected 17 and 18 dominated with it coming down to a couple of fish either way with Fred's lost fish costing him. With the lake being very peggy at the moment we did 2 sections: high and low bank. Low Bank: 1st Gary Pickard 35lbs 4oz and 2nd Jeff Pearson 7lbs. High Bank: 1st Rob Calderon 83lbs 7oz and 2nd Mark Halverson 71lbs 1oz. Picture today is my peg 5 before the off with a grebe out in the middle of the lake and pegs 16 and 17 in view.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

Section 1: 1st Rob Calderón 50lbs 2oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 24lbs 7oz Section 2: 1st Peter Green 7lbs 11oz 2nd Fred Hunt 4lbs 14oz Section 3: 1st Steve Foster 28lbs 7oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 4lbs 11oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished Beggar's Hall lake it seemed to be a good start no rain and the forecast fog was none existence. We had a good turnout of 17 anglers so split the match up into 3 sections two of 6 and one of 5 being the least likely to catch a carp. I drew peg 2 not a good peg by any means but it had to go in. I had a couple of places to fish to although it was very awkward fishing to the lily pads under a willow tree and a feeder for distance. I couldn't go too far as it's the narrowest part of the lake and with someone opposite me not a lot of room. Started off on feeder at 16 meters tried various baits but not a touch stayed with this for 2 hours. By this time I knew it wasn't going to happen so onto the pole at 12 meters - as I suspected the willow tree was a major problem. Still no bites and Colin next to me was in the same position. Once I had tried all my baits I lightened up my rig and decided to go for silvers. I then started to pick up odd perch of no size or value so cupped in a large pot of micros and maggots over the top and had some lunch. As soon as I went over the feed got my first roach about 4oz carried on with this until the end of the match and weighed in 4lb 11oz Section 1: 1st Rob Calderón 50lbs 2oz and 2nd Jeff Pearson with 24lbs 7oz. Section 2: 1st Peter Green with 7lbs 11oz and 2nd Fred Hunt with 4lbs 14oz. Section 3: 1st Steve Foster 28lbs 7oz and 2nd Phil Whitmill with 4lbs 11oz. Pic is my peg 1.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm [Small Lake]

N/A

1st Peter Green 34lbs 4oz 2nd Gary Pickard 23lbs 12oz 3rd Fred Hunt 21lbs 12oz

Gary's day It was Home Farm's small lake for us today with Storm Ashley meaning it was going to be rather breezy with 40mph winds.  We decided to fish the far side which hopefully offered a bit of shelter from the trees behind.  Out of the bag came peg 9 for me, one of the end pegs and with a large, overhanging tree.  Not a peg we usually use but it looked very fishy. I started as long as I dared on 6 sections with hard pellets.  2 bites and 2 carp of around 3lb each in the first half hour or so was a solid start as only Peter on the other end peg seemed to be catching.  After that, the bites dried up or I just could not see them as the wind picked up.  A try long on expanders and then maggots only caught a very small roach. Time to try closer in the margins which was pretty much the same depth as out long and a bit sheltered by the bank.  The right edge held some decent roach at 6-8oz but they were not coming fast enough and no sign of carp.  Peter was still catching and was admitting to 8 carp 2 hours in.  The rest of us were struggling. A try under the tree was a waste of time with no signs even on maggot.  I swapped long and to the right edge and even tried a small feeder under the tree but the middle of the match was very slow with just some silvers from the right edge.  Fred to my right then had a couple of carp on a feeder dropped on a long pole line and I was quickly dropping down the order.  Time for kill or cure time.  I upped the feed with some micros and groundbait and decided to try the last hour under the tree as I needed carp. I was just about to head back to the right margin to get some bites when the float went under and a carp was on.  Only for the hook to pull when it got in some reeds under my feet.  Then it was 2 carp in 2 put ins and I thought the come back was on.  It fizzled out though with 3 foulhooked and lost carp and a few silvers seeing me to the end of the match. 1st Peter Green 34lbs 4oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 23lbs 12oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 21lbs 12oz. Picture today is my swim with the disappointing margin.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1stJohn Carter 3lbs 13oz 2nd Colin Brister 3lbs 6oz 3rd Steve Foster 2lbs 7oz 4th Jeff Pearson 2lbs 6oz

Phil's day Morning to all and what a great day for mid-October. The Weds club fished its match on the Stort Backwater private stretch. We had a good turn out considering some are not so keen catching silvers but I do think all enjoyed it mainly because I didn't get any moans about the river. I drew peg 7 not a bad peg it has been noted for reasonable catches. There were only two lines - one across to the barge and middle of the track. I made up two rigs - one with an 18 match hook and the other a 16 match hook for the perch if they showed. Started off on bread punch and crumb this got me some small rudd and roach and I fished it for a hour then went looking for perch over by the barge. Tried this for a hour with nothing to show for it so back on punch and carried on with the small fish. I ended up weighing 2lb 3oz for 5th and thanks for coming. First John Carter with 3lbs 13oz, 2nd Colin Brister with 3lbs 6oz, 3rd Steve Foster with 2lbs 7oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 2lbs 6oz. Pc is Terry Moranda on peg 12 from last year.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake [Venue change]

N/A

1st Jeff Pearson 41lbs 9oz 2nd Gary Pickard 28lbs 3oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 22lbs 10oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to Hall Farm's large lake as MBL is still very weedy. The weights had really tailed off in Wednesday's match and, after a few more cold and wet days, it was going to be tricky. A few fish topping before the draw was a good sign though that some fish would feed. Out of the bag came peg 5 and not where I wanted to be; very much in the middle and flat as a snooker table after the margin shelf drop off. After 3 goes to find a second rig for the 7 1/2 foot I had I was finally ready a little after the all in. The plan was fishing long on pole or feeder and maybe trying a 2+2 line. The margins though seemed unlikely to be worth it but I set a rig up anyway along with a shallow rig - neither of which got used. Fishing long was to be with maggots and expanders with the 2+2 for hard pellets. Rob was soon into a fish on peg 2 and it looked like it was all over for the rest of us. And then Peter had a fish on a feeder on peg 7. Then the float dipped on the short line and I was into a good fish but not for long. It was clearly foul hooked and we soon parted ways. And that was it for the short line. Out long with expanders was a waste of time but a change to maggots on the hook found a few roach, a small skimmer and a small F1. Peter was still catching on the feeder and now had about 6 in the net after a couple of hours and was well in the lead. Then the lake shut down and I could not get a bite - even trying a small maggot feeder did not help. Phil though on peg 4 was starting to catch on a small feeder and all I could do was watch. With 90 mins to go I decided to spend the rest of the day watching a float rather than rod tip and slowly a few bites started. A good carp of 7-8lbs kicked things off and then I had a steady run of smaller F1s potting a few maggots and sitting on them for a bite. Jeff on peg 8 was also having a strong finish and his fish looked bigger. Rob too was catching again. It was going to be a tight finish. 1st Jeff Pearson 41lbs 9oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 28lbs 3oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 22lbs 10oz. Pic today is jeff with his winning bag of fish.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Winter League - 1 of 6

Low bank 1st Jeff Pearson 24lbs 3oz 2nd Peter Green 23lbs 1oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 22lbs 6oz High bank 1st Steve Foster 46lbs 14oz 2nd John Carter 37lbs 7oz 3rd Bill Beeston 14lbs 6oz

Phil's day Morning to all and what a murky day that the Weds club fished it first round one of our winter league. I drew peg 8, last in the bag, and happy with that as it's been fishing quite well lately. I made up two pole lines - one at 7 meters and 1 down the margin. I fed the longer line with corn and pellets and the one and only margin line with pellets and maggots. I had the feeder ready to go for longer distances. I tried the feeder to start with but not a touch so onto the 7 meter line. Stayed with this catching odd rudd and roach but nothing else so by now it's midday and I thought it's time to go down the margins. Tried there a couple of times earlier but just small fish this time but I thought go for the bits as it was better than nothing. I caught at least 2 or 3lbs of these but by now its 2.30 with only a hour to go. The float went under but this time the fish fought back at last a carp of about 4lb and I thought it's now come to life but no just that carp. With 20mins to go got myself another carp this time it's a lump. I played it carefully as it's got to be a double of 16 odd lbs or more this gave me a weighed in weight of 22lbs 6oz. The lake was split between high and low banks. Low bank 1st Jeff Pearson with 24lbs3oz, 2nd Peter Green with 23lbs 1oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill with 22lbs 6oz. High bank 1st Steve Foster with 46lbs 14oz, 2nd John Carter with 37lbs 7oz and 3rd Bill Beeston with 14lbs 6oz. Today's photo is Bill B.

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

Sawbridgeworth Club lake

Brandon Shield vs Sawbridgeworth

Bishop's Stortford won with 473lbs to Sawbridgeworth's 257lbs 1st Peter Green 91lbs 6oz (18 carp) 2nd Mark Halverson 72lbs 3oz (13 carp) 3rd Colin Hawkins 71lbs 1oz (13 carp) 4th Gary Pickard 62lbs 9oz (12 carp) 5th Jeff Pearson 51lbs 5oz

Gary's day Today was going to be a bit of a mystery as we headed to Sawbridgeworth's lake for an interclub match. Pretty much all we knew was it was 7 foot max and full of big carp along with plenty of silvers. Each carp "only" counted as 5lb and it was catch and release on these. At the draw I ended up with peg 23 and all that meant to me was it was on the far side of the lake facing into the main lake from an arm/spit. Thankfully I had a spare peg to the left as the pegging was tight on the arm. The plan was: feeder or bomb out long; 2 pole lines at 11m - one for carp on hard pellets and one for anything swimming with expanders or dead maggot; and the margin for near the end. With 4 feet in the edge foulhooking was going to be a risk. A try out long was pretty quiet until the tip went round after 45 mins and a lump was on. When it came off at the net I was not best pleased especially as a few fish were coming out on the far bank. Seeing my hook broken soon explained the loss so it was time for a heavier hooklength. With no more signs it was time for the long pole. There was bubbling on the anything swimming line so a few skimmers seemed on the cards. 2 hook pulls to decent fish before a carp went in the net suggested they were not skimmers. That was it though for the long line. I tried a few times through the day - lots of bubbles but no bites. I never tried the pellet line as the sun made it impossible to see the float. I also later found I had been feeding the bomb line on an aerator when it turned on. The far bank was still catching and now Colin on the end of the spit started landing some big carp dropping a feeder short. It was time to try the margins very early as long was not working. A few liners were encouraging and then the tip flew round and a very angry tench of just over 2lb was in the net. By this time Colin was 4 carp ahead of me. After more liners on the feeder it was time to try the pole down the edge. The float flew under and I was in with a double figure carp in the net. Every carp hooked went shooting off trying to go round the point and way too many came off. By the end I was only fishing the feeder as it gave me the best chance of landing the carp which were averaging over 10lbs. A last gasp carp that was around 20lbs saw me finish on 12 carp to Colin's 13 - almost caught him up. Bishop's Stortford won with 473lbs 15oz to Sawbridgeworth's 257lbs 8oz. A big thank you to Sawbo for hosting us today. Individual places TBC when I get the full weigh sheet. 1st Peter Green 91lbs 6oz (18 carp), 2nd Mark Halverson 72lbs 3oz (13 carp), 3rd Colin Hawkins 71lbs 1oz (13 carp), 4th Gary Pickard 62lbs 9oz (12 carp) and 5th Jeff Pearson 51lbs 5oz. Picture is my peg looking back down the arm to the main bank.

Club Match / Outing

Hunters Hall (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Abbey Cross won the day with 59 points to Bishop's Stortford's 52 points 1st John Carter 38lb 11oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 16lbs 10oz 3rd Ray Gibson 14lbs 9oz 4th Martin Adams 12lbs 11oz

Phil's day Good morning to all. The Weds club fished its monthly interclub match against Abbey Cross at their lake at Hunters Hall. I drew peg 5 not a peg I know but you never know. I started off on feeder with corn for the first 20 minutes then tried worm as it's known as a bream venue but still nothing so onto my pole line. I had previously baited up two swims 1 to my extreme right and another to my left at 10 meters. I used a silvers rig 4.5 lb main line with a 2.5 lb hooklengh and 18 match hook and 6 to 8 elastic and the smallest bits of sweetcorn I could find in my box for hook bait. Got a couple bites and 4 or 5 rudd and roach as this was my plan for this rig then the float went under and struck the bite and away the float went half way across the lake. I thought I had hooked a tench but no, a carp, this was going to take a while to land it would be down to a bit of luck. I let the elastic do most of the work I got it into landing net distance then I saw it for the first time and wondered how was I going to land it. I got it in the net twice and both times it swam out so by this time it was tired and so was I and third time lucky it went in and stayed in the net. It was about 14lb common wow how lucky was I, went on to catch a couple pound of roach and rudd nothing of any size but been busy all day until the heavens opened up and killed it dead. The rain stopped just in time for weighing in and I weighed in 16lbs 10oz 1st John Carter with 38lb 11oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 16lbs 10oz, 3rd Ray Gibson with 14lbs 9oz (1 carp, again a common) and 4th Martin Adams with 12lbs 11oz all rudd and roach. Abbey won the day with 59 points to Stortford's 52 points well done to the team good effort. The pic is Ray Gibson who paid a quick visit to my peg before the off.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 121lbs 10oz 2nd Rob Calderon 67lbs 10oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 50lbs

Gary's day It was Hall Farm's large lake today after a very wet week and a couple of cold nights. Not expecting a great day I had brought maggots just to get some bites. At the draw a few fish were topping so I might have been a little pessimistic. Out of the draw bag came peg 2; a consistently good peg so the pressure was on. With seeing a cloud of small rudd and roach near the weed bed in the middle the maggots stayed in the bag. It was going to be: 4mms long in case they came shallow (although in 3 1/2 feet of water a long shot); hard pellets on a top 6 to the left in case they wanted to feed; and micros and expanders at 6 sections to the right if it was tricky. The margins were for a lot later. I had a steady start with a couple of smaller carp in the first 30 mins on hard pellet before trying the expander swim. A try then on the expander swim got me a couple of roach / rudd and then a carp. Bouncing between the 2 swims kept the fish coming and I had 30+lb coming up to 2 hours in. The rest of the lake was slower with Rob on peg 10 getting a few smaller carp and Phil the odd bigger fish on peg 4. A try shallow had me hook one fish that fell off at the net so it was back to the 2 pellet swims. With a couple of hours to go it was time for the margins as Phil was getting a few bites down there. This is where the wheels fell off a bit. There were fish to the left but I just could not get a clean bite. Even 2 big grains of corn were being wafted all over the place. Dropping a method feeder in the margins got a couple of fish but way too many were coming off even on the feeder. Phil was still hooking fish but also having a nightmare with keeping them on but looked to be having a very strong finish. Rob was also an unknown after his good start. I thought I had done enough but you can never tell with carp fishing as weights can add up very quickly in the last hour. 1st Gary Pickard 121lbs 10oz, 2nd Rob Calderon 67lbs 10oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 50lbs. Picture today is Phil with a net of chunky carp - apparently the ones that came off were even bigger.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

Low bank 1st John Carter 50lbs 1oz 2nd Tony Cruci 31lbs 13oz 3rd Rob Calderón 31lbs 7oz High bank 1st Rick Beeston 48lbs 1oz 2nd Steve Foster 47lbs 8oz 3rd John Todd 47lbs 7oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club fished its match on Beggar's Hall club lake this week. It was a very wet start to our day but it promised to clear up by midday and it did so not too bad. I drew peg 23 on the lake not so good - very tight for room and a not very productive but hoped I would make a day of it and catch 2 or 3 carp but that wasn't going to happen. Got a 3lb carp and a few bits but otherwise a very bad day. I haven't gone into detail but to say I tried everything and nothing was working. Total weight for my day 3lbs 6oz. The lake was split into two halves for payout. On the low bank 1st John Carter with 50lbs 1oz, 2nd Tony Cruci with 31lbs 13oz and 3rd Rob Calderón with 31lbs 7oz. High bank 1st Rick Beeston with 48lbs 1oz, 2nd Steve Foster with 47lbs 8oz and 3rd John Todd with 47lbs 7oz. Toddy also won a golden peg by default mind you he doesn't know that until he reads this. Thanks to Rob for his help running the match. The pic is my peg for the day.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 15lbs 3oz 2nd Steve Foster 14lbs 7oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 6lbs 12oz

Gary's day Today was going to be very wet with rain and thunderstorms forecast for most of the day. Thankfully we missed the most of this but it was a very wet morning. It was another roving match and, with second pick, I decided to try the far corner peg 15ish. I went for 3 main lines: pole in front in about 9ft before it headed into the deeps; a feeder line a little further out; and an emergency maggot line shorter to the right. A quick try to the left on a method feeder found more weed than I was expecting so that quickly ruled out the left. Tony got off to a quick start with a carp on pretty much his first cast. The rest of us had much longer to wait. A try on the long pole found a couple of reasonable rudd and baby carp on sweetcorn but it was way too slow. A go on a cage feeder had me bitted out with small rudd with the bait being attacked on the drop. Mark over in the opposite corner then started to get a few bites but the carp knew exactly where to go and were bolting into the weeds. With the lake fishing hard it was time to get something in the net so out came a 6m whip and I spent the next hour or so catching anything I could on maggot. It was hard work with way too many very small fish. A quick try on the long pole netted me a carp of about 3lb which more than doubled my efforts. I kept swapping between whip, pole and feeder trying to find bonus fish. With an hour to go Steve to the corner on my right and Phil down the right hand bank started getting bites from carp. A last gasp small carp which I managed to get out of the weeds was going to be vital. It was a close finish with lost fish making all the difference. 1st Gary Pickard 15lbs 3oz, 2nd Steve Foster 14lbs 7oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 6lbs 12oz. Sorry no photo today as my phone seems to be paying up.

Summer League results

Various

N/A

It was a close finish with 4 people in the running up to the last match 1st Phil Whitmill 47 points 2nd Rob Calderon 46 points 3rd Jeff Pearson 44 points

It was a close finish with 4 people in the running up to the last match 1st Phil Whitmill 47 points 2nd Rob Calderon 46 points 3rd Jeff Pearson 44 points

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League - 6 of 6

High Bank 1st Rob Calderón 78lbs 3oz 2nd Bill Beeston 29lbs 9oz 3rd Steve Foster 26lbs 1oz Low Bank 1st Fred Hunt 47lbs 6oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 33lbs 8oz 3rd Peter Green 28lbs 15oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Wednesday club fished its final Summer League match at Hall Farm. I personally have done well in this league and leading most of the matches but it was all down to the last match with 4 people able to take first. I drew peg 24 and could not believe my luck a real pucker of a peg. That's where it fell flat I fed 3 pole lines margins and 12 meters to the weed bed and a feeder to the middle. Started off on feeder nothing not even a liner so on to my long line. This produced small rudd and roach but not much else so tried my margins and this was no different so back to the feeder. After an hour or so had a carp take and played it almost to the net and lost the lot feeder and all must have been a weak spot just above my quick change bead nevermind not my words exactly but they will do. Made up the feeder once more but no joy. I noticed some movement out by my long line so back to the pole this got me my first carp about 4lbs then I hooked into a very large carp which ran me into the weed bed. Managed to pull him out only for him to throw the hook hence my rig ended up on the ropes 8 meters out so: all stop; walked round to the other side; let the rope slack; back round to my peg; pulled in my pole and rig intact; back round the other side to retie the rope; and then back to fishing again. Went on to catch a couple more carp in the margins but all too late to do any good and weighed in 18lbs 5oz. This helped me maintain my win in the League High Bank 1st Rob Calderón with 78lbs 3oz ,2nd Bill Beeston with 29lbs 9oz and 3rd Steve Foster with 26lbs 1oz. Low Bank 1st Fred Hunt with 47lbs 6oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 33lbs 8oz and 3rd Peter Green with 28lbs 15oz. Thanks to Rob for his assistance weighing in.

Canoe club event

River Stort - main river between Southmill and Twyford Locks (10:00 to 15:00)

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

Stone Cup - 2 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 75lbs 7oz 2nd Rob Calderon 61lbs 13oz 3rd Tony Cruci 40lbs 5oz

Gary's day It was Home Farm's small lake for us today after a chilly and wet week. Out of the bag came peg 5 which put me near one corner of the lake with a great view of carp swimming under a large tree out of range. A try out short on hard pellets got me an early carp so I was off the mark. That was it though, just the one bite. The rest of the lake was also taking a while to liven up with just the odd silver being caught. It was time to try longer towards the tree where I had been pinging 4mms. No signs on pellets but a swap to paste found me one more carp. Again that was it. With the day warming up the carp had started cruising about so it was time to try shallow. I had a couple of enjoyable hours mugging carp. It was hard work spotting the fish but exciting when I saw them turn for the bait and the float shoot under. Slowly the margins started to come to life and I could hear Rob on peg 3 starting to get a few along with the pegs opposite me. Time for my go. I wasted a lot of time to the left where the fish really did not want to come away from the tree. They were swirling there all day in. After deciding to stick to the right for the last 40 mins I finally started to get a few bites feeding micros and groundbait and fishing with worm on the hook. I could still hear Rob catching well although everyone else was still struggling with a lot of fish being lost. 1st Gary Pickard 75lbs 7oz, 2nd Rob Calderon 61lbs 13oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 40lbs 5oz. Pic today is Rob with part of his catch. As to who won the Stone Cup I suspect Tony is keeping this one under wraps until the presentation evening in May.

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Bordeaux Pits (Saffron Walden water)

N/A

Saffron Walden won the day on points 42 to Bishop's Stortford's 38 1st Fred Hunt 24lbs 8oz 2nd Rob Calderón 17lbs 11oz 3rd Peter Mottram 14lbs 0oz 4th Barry Cornel 10lbs 3oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished the last of its 4 matches against Saffron Walden at their lake Bordeaux Pits. I drew peg 29 nothing known about this peg it was open water with no features so made up 3 lines on pole and, of course, the feeder. The facts are there are some big carp and good bream so set my sights on the silvers as there was a payout for best weight on these alone. I had two rigs 1 with a 16 hook and the other a 14 fine wire both match hooks. 3rd rig was an outright carp rig able to handle the big carp if they appeared. Started off baiting up with pellet and corn and groundbait at 10 meters and maggots and pellets for my margin. I fished feeder for the first half an hour with no signs so onto my long line getting bites from small stuff but not much else - this was going to be a hard day. Eventually hooked a big skimmer and a half decent perch then back to the small bits again. A change of bait was called for but no difference so maggots were the only bait I could get a bite on. Ended my day with 3lbs 15oz and a thanks for coming. 1st Fred Hunt with 24lbs 8oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 17lbs 11oz, 3rd Peter Mottram with 14lbs 0oz and 4th Barry Cornel with 10lbs 3oz. Silvers won by Clive Bradford and Brian Newman with same weights 4lbs 10oz. Saffron Walden won the day on points 42 to Bishop's Stortford's 38 close but no coconut. Pic is Fred Hunt with his winning bag

Interclub (Abbey Cross / Sawbridgeworth)

Taylor's Lake - Abbey Cross Water

Triple Cup vs Abbey Cross and Sawbridgeworth

Bishop's Stortford came out convincing winners with 60 points to Sawbridgeworth's 85 points and Abbey Cross's 94 points Top Lake 1st Mark Halverson (BS) 39lbs 8oz 2nd Mark Harris (Saw) 20lbs 9oz 3rd Steve Foster (BS) 19lbs 11oz Car Park Lake 1st Rich Beeston (BS) 6lbs 6oz 2nd Phil Whitmill (BS) 6lbs 3oz 3rd Dave Higgins (Saw) 4lbs

Gary's day Sunday was Triple Cup time again this time at Abbey Cross' Taylor's Lake where no 2 pegs seem to be the same. It was going to be a wet day with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. They arrived early and it was a very wet draw. It was peg 29 for me on the Top Lake; tucked away at one end with a view up the favoured riverbank pegs. With a big lilly bed in front of me my options were simple: 7 sections of pole left, middle or right. I also had pretty much the same depth of 3 1/2 foot everywhere so set up was quick. Bonus fish would be the key today so I set aside the left for a possible bream or F1 with some groundbait, micros and sweetcorn and the rest for anything else swimming with loose fed maggots. A quick couple of rudd / roach on the maggot rig saved the blank but it was very hard going. Even with the float dotted right down the bites were horrible to see. Ray over on the riverbank side had a great start with a couple of skimmers and the point peg (52) kicked in with bream coming on the long pole. Time to try for a skimmer. In went the float with an expander on the hook and few micros in the feed; a few bubbles came up from the bottom; and then a skimmer was in the net. This happened twice more with the waits getting a bit longer each time. Had I at last sorted out Taylor's? Sadly the clouds then cleared and the sun came out and the lake started shutting down. I managed 2 more small skimmers but only after giving the left swim a long rest and even the rudd had disappeared. The odd small fish jumping out of the water suggested I had a pike in the area. At the weigh in I managed just under 10lbs which would be good team points as the Top Lake had fished hard. Every ounce would count today especially on the Car Park Lake which can be very tricky. A big thank you to Abbey Cross for hosting us all on Taylor's Lake. Bishop's Stortford came out convincing winners with 60 points to Sawbridgeworth's 85 points and Abbey Cross's 94 points. That is 2 in a row now for Bishop's Stortford - can we make it 3 next year?

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Martin Adams 39lbs 9oz 2nd Rob Calderón 37lbs 14oz 3rd John Carter 34lbs 2oz 4th Steve Foster 34lbs 0oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club fished its monthly match against Abbey Cross on Hall Farm big lake. There was a lower turnout then usual due to holidays etc with the weather a bit on the chilly side but dry - it was the stiff breeze that made it so. I drew peg 2, not unhappy with that, and set up a feeder and two margin lines for the pole. I fed reds and pellet to my right and corn and pellets to my left and that was the high point of my day. The feeder produced nothing and the right hand margin pretty much the same. To my left margin all I could get was some very good rudd and this continued until 3.15 when I got a carp. At least it was something to end my day and I weighed in 9lbs 2oz and a thanks for coming. 1st Martin Adams with 39lbs 9oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 37lbs 14oz, 3rd John Carter with 34lbs 2oz and 4th Steve Foster with 34lbs 0oz. Well done to all. Abbey Cross won the match with 41 points to Bishop's Stortford's 37 points - close but no cigar. Pic is Martin Adams (Abbey Cross's Captain) paying out the winners.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 2oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 88lbs 10oz 3rd Mark Halverson 70lbs 7oz

Gary's day Today was the official start of autumn although it was going to be a hot start with 26C+ forecast. Whilst we were waiting for the draw there were plenty of fish surfacing on the lake so it looked like it could be a good day. Out of the draw bag came peg 7 for me, not the one I wanted as I fancied the shallower car park end today. It was going to be: long and shallow on the pole; down the edges later; and, hopefully, something at around 4 sections in 7ft before the peg got way too deep. A start on the short swim whilst trying to persuade the cruising fish from coming into pole range got me a couple of smaller carp but then the bites stopped. But it was a good start. The shallower pegs were slow to kick off and only Jeff to my right seemed to have anything early. A quick try on the long shallow swim did not get me anything. There was some bubbling though and a quick try on the feeder found me 1 more carp but after that just liners. There were still lots of fish cruising but they were very spooky and not feeding. Out came some emergency maggots and feeding them got the carp curious. Finally I had a fish shallow but then the rudd joined in and I could not get the bait near the odd carp coming into the feed. Swapping back to 4mms started to work and I had a great little run of F1s shallow. To my right Jeff started catching a few more down the edges and to the left the shallow swims started to kick in and there looked to be someone with a fish on every time I glanced that way. It was now 2pm and time to try my margins. They were going to be tricky as they were deep with a huge slope. Thankfully they had a few fish in them and I had a steady run of good sized carp on paste. The fishing got trickier as the fish wanted to come into shallower water where the slope was worse and the bites to landed fish ratio went off a cliff. It was going to be a tight finish as everyone had caught well. 1st Gary Pickard 89lbs 2oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 88lbs 10oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 70lbs 7oz. Today's picture is Jeff tipping back part of his catch.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League - 5 of 6

Low bank 1st Jeff Pearson 91lbs 4oz 2nd Peter Green 87lbs 13oz High bank 1st Fred Hunt 80lbs 9oz 2nd Bill Beeston 70lbs 13oz

Phil's day A very good morning to all. The Weds club fished its 5th leg of our summer league on Hall Farm club lake. I drew peg 2 a good peg so hopes of a pick-up. The plan wasn't rocket science two margins and a feeder. I fed the margins with pellet and corn with a few reds in the hopes this wouldn't attract to many rudd - nice to catch but won't win you the match. Cast the feeder out to the weed beds with not much action so put that up the bank and fished the margins. I got my first carp at 10 ish and fished steady for most of the day - I lost too many big fish to do any good but still ended up with a good weight. I caught mostly on sweetcorn and bread but couldn't get a bite on pellet at all. I ended my day with a respectable 73lbs 14 oz no pickup but happy with my weight. The match was split into two banks high and low banks with 1st and second from each bank. 1st low bank Jeff Pearson with 91lbs 4oz and golden peg, 2nd low bank was Peter Green with 87lbs 13oz, 1st high bank was Fred Hunt with 80lbs 9oz and 2nd high bank was Bill Beeston with 70lbs 13oz. The pic is Jeff Pearson with part of his highest weight of the lake, thanks go to Rob for his help running the match.

Water Booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 19lbs 9oz 2nd Mark Halverson 16lbs 11oz 3rd Gary Pickard 7lbs 4oz

Gary's day Today we were back at Wickham Hall and getting the better quality fish was going to be key. This time around we opted for trying the swims along another bank to see how they fished. I was pretty happy pulling out a corner peg but a quick cast around showed it to be weedier than hoped. It was going to be a very simple day: one feeder line into a count of 9 or so / 20 ft; and a pole line into around 9 feet. This place is rather deep! After feeding both lines I started on a cage feeder. I was getting signs straightway but only small fish. Mark over on the other corner had a quick carp which reinforced you would need the better quality fish today. After getting nothing but small rudd on the feeder it was time for a go on the pole. I soon swapped to using corn as anything else was getting mobbed by small fish. This helped find a few better rudd but still only 2-3 oz and then a small skimmer. Had the bream arrived? Sadly no and it was back to the small rudd. Mark was still getting a few fish including some smaller bream and now Phil to my right started catching. It was a frustrating match, all I could find was small rudd with lots of them whilst the feeder was falling through 20 feet of water. A small carp near the end after sitting it out on a rudd proof method feeder helped but I was well and truly battered by Phil who caught carp and bream steadily. 1st Phil Whitmill 19lbs 9oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 16lbs 11oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 7lbs 4oz. Today's picture is Mark's nice mixed net of bream and small carp.

Water Booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

Charity Match - Breathe Easy

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Peter Green 59lbs 14oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 51lbs 3oz 3rd Gary Pickard 40lbs 12oz 4th Dennis Gellett 39lbs 12oz More importantly we raised £275 for Breath Easy

Gary's day Today was Tony's annual charity match - this year for Breath Easy again. The forecast was for rain and it was spot on with it raining pretty much all day. With giving Tony a hand with the draw I was last out of the bag - peg 10 was not the one I wanted being at the deep end of the lake - great in winter but not so good in summer. With it being 12ft+ on a long pole line it was going to be shallow out long, a couple of margin rigs and one in around 6ft (only about 3 metres from the bank). I started on the short line whilst feeding the long shallow swim with 4mms and was very surprised for a bite and a fish on pretty much my first put in - the blank was saved. I had a few more bites and 1 more fish on the short line before it went quiet. A quick try on the feeder got me another fish and 1 hour in I had 10lb in the net for a steady start. I could see pretty much everyone on the far bank and it was looking very quiet over there with only a few fish coming out. The first try long on pellets was a waste of time and nor was there anything under the pellets when I tried a feeder there. A quick look in the margins and then short also proved fruitless. Despite the rain there still seemed to be quite a few fish topping so it was time for trying something different. I had a pint of maggots with me so started feeding these on the long pole line to at least get a few silvers going in the next. After a few minutes feeding I gave it a go and - nothing. I was expecting to be plagued by small silvers. About 10 mins in, just when I was thinking of the next plan, the elastic shot out of the pole and an F1 was heading my way. I spent the next 2 hours plodding along getting the odd F1 and eking out the maggots. At 2 it was time for the margins as the long line started to fill with small silvers indicating the F1s had gone. On the far bank the odd fish was coming out along the edges but not many so the lake was fishing hard. After an hour of trying both margins with paste, corn, hard pellets and dead maggots all I had to show was a few small perch, a good roach on paste and 1 carp lost on paste. It was not happening. With 30 mins to go it was time to gamble - 15 mins long and 15 mins on the feeder. Nothing to show long so feeder it was. With a couple of minutes to go I spotted a tail pattern to the left edge and quickly dropped the feeder in with pretty much the last of my micros on it - the tip went sailing round and a fish was on and being played very carefully as it was my best of the day at around 7lbs. I could see I had done pretty well versus the far bank but had no idea how my own bank had fished. 1st Peter Green 59lbs 14oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson 51lbs 3oz, 3rd Gary Pickard 40lbs 12oz and 4th Dennis Gellett 39lbs 12oz. Sorry the low bank weigh sheet is a bit wet today More importantly we raised £275 for Breath Easy

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Beggar's Hall

N/A

Saffron Walden won with 75 points to Bishop's Stortford's 61 points. Section 1 Peter Green 52lbs 1oz Fred Hunt 33lb 14oz Section 2 Graham Carter 41lbs 14oz Rob Calderón 38lbs 7oz Section 3 Mark Evans 86lbs 8oz Bill Beeston 72lbs 4oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club had its 3rd match against Saffron Walden at Beggar's Hall club lake this week. It was a reasonable day weather wise. I decided to make 3 sections out of the lake to make it a bit more fair. I drew last peg out - peg 17 normally a very good peg. I made up two pole lines and a feeder to the island. The feeder proved to be a total non-starter and I stayed far too long on this for no results. Tried my longer pole lines about 1 ish in the afternoon but, apart from a few rudd and an odd roach, nothing so time to check out the margin. Fished there for a hour then hooked a carp for 12lb unfortunately I had brought the wrong landing net - ok for most places but here you need the next size up but I managed to get it in. I went on to catch 2 more carp and lose 3 for 35lbs 8oz. The secs winners were Sec 1 Peter Green with 52lbs 1oz, sec two Graham Carter with 41lbs 14oz and sec three Mark Evans with 86lbs 8oz ,2nd in sec one Fred Hunt with 33lb 14oz, 2nd in sec two Rob Calderón with 38lbs 7oz and 2nd in sec three Bill Beeston with 72lbs 4oz. Saffron Walden won with 75 points to Bishop's Stortford's 61 points. The lake fished quite well for the amount of anglers on it. The pic is Fred Hunt as a treat to Denise on her birthday.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm [Small Lake]

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 88lbs 13oz 2nd Gary Pickard 59lbs 13oz 3rd Tony Cruci 41lbs

Gary's day Today we were over at Home Farm's small lake which looked like it had had a busy week as a caravan club rally was packing up. We went for a rover this week and peg 1 was my choice for the day. The first thing I needed to do was find some shorter rigs as the water level had dropped. I had just over 2 feet at most. The first couple of hours were slow for all. Lots of fish cruising around but nothing seemed to be stopping to feed apart for the roach. Fishing shallow with hard pellets and mugging a few meant I was doing well at the halfway point but then it became a bit more cloudy and the fish much harder to see. The only person I could see was Rob, who was struggling on peg 8, but there were enough splashing noises to let me know I needed to start catching a few. The middle of my match was a nightmare with very few bites and most I hooked coming off and little went in the net. There were indications on paste but not turning into bites. Phil though was not having these issues and I was falling behind fast and Tony was also getting a few carp now. With an hour to go I came much shorter and upped the feed and finally started to get some more fish in the net. It was a case of being very patient and only striking at genuine bites as the carp wafted the float all over the place in 12 inches of water. Exciting but frustrating fishing and a lesson learned for next time. 1st Phil Whitmill 88lbs 13oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 59lbs 13oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 41lbs. Today's picture is just before the all in - Tony at the front and on the opposite bank Fred left and Rob right.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High bank 1st John Carter 92lbs 7oz 2nd Tony Cruci 76lb 9oz Low bank 1st Peter Green 86lbs 1oz 2nd Ray Gibson 51lbs 12oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its club match at Hall Farm big lake. I drew peg 20 - this peg can blow hot and cold so not too sure what to expect. I made up 2 pole lines: 7 meters in front of me; and a margin line and this is where I pinned my hopes on; and a feeder for further out. I cupped out pellet and corn on both lines, while the feed was working on my pole lines I picked a mark for the feeder, hook bait was a banded pellet and tipped with 1 red maggot. After half an hour the tip went round for my first carp of about 3lb I never got another bite on the feeder so onto my pole lines. No bites on the long line so down the margin by 12.30pm and got a carp on which took some playing in as it was about 10lb. I carried on for the rest of the match in the margin searching up and down finding the odd spots where they were and this was quite productive and I ended up weighing in 72lbs 13oz 1st on high bank was John Carter with 92lbs 7oz, 2nd high bank was Tony Cruci with 76lb 9oz, 1st low bank Peter Green 86lbs 1oz and 2nd low bank was Ray Gibson with 51lbs 12oz. Thanks to Rob for his help during the weighing in. Pic is my peg 20.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Small Lake

Malcolm Barker Rose Bowl - 2 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 37lbs 10oz 2nd Tony Cruci 20lbs 14oz 3rd Mark Halverson 20lbs 12oz Gary won the MB Rose Bowl this year with 3 points with Mark on 4 points.

Gary's day After a week off on holiday it was a trip to Hall Farm's small lake today which was acting as a stand in for MBL which is very weedy at the moment.  Out of the bag came peg 17 which gave me plenty of reed cover on the inside for later. Today's goal was all about catching the right fish.  Avoiding the silvers to find the carp was the plan.  At the off I started on the long pole with 4mm pellets.  The plan worked for about 10 minutes and a small half pound carp and then the roach found me.  Time for a change.  A quick try in the margins with paste and sweetcorn had lots of indications from the bait being mobbed by small fish but no proper bites.  So time to try something different and out went a small feeder on the long pole line.  This seems to do the trick and I had a good 90 mins catching small carp. Phil and Fred to my left were struggling but Mark and Tony on the far side were doing well too with Tony's fish being worth 4 or 5 of mine. And they also had a nice bit of shade which I was jealous of as the day heated up At the midway it was time to try the margins again which I had been feeding from the off.  This time the small fish seemed to have moved on and when the float went under it tended to be a decent fish on the end of the line.  As the day got hotter and the sun brighter the lake started switching off and the last hour was a real struggle with just the small fish feeding still.  The all out whistle was a welcome relief as it was getting much too hot.   1st Gary Pickard 37lbs 10oz, 2nd Tony Cruci 20lbs 14oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 20lbs 12oz. Photo today is my peg 17.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake - Abbey Cross Water

N/A

Abbey Cross won with 71 points to Bishop's Stortford's 66 1st Phil Whitmill 23lbs 11oz 2nd Rob Calderón 21lbs 11oz 3rd Peter Green 21lbs 7oz 4th Barry Cornel 11lbs 13oz 5th Jeff Pearson 9lbs 15oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its monthly interclub match against Abbey Cross at Taylor's Lake. I drew peg 43 a good peg so not unhappy with that it - it was a bit closed in with lily pads but it's what you draw. I made up only 1 pole line no room for 2 lines at 6 secs I fed to the middle of the pads that gave me 2 to 3 foot in either side of my float. It took an hour to get my first proper bite and lost that fish in the pads so not a good start. Half an hour later got another take this time I managed to get him out of the pads. It was a F1 for 3lb. It went on like this for a bit and, at one stage, it was 3 F1s in the net 4 lost. By 1 ish it went very quiet so went on dead reds and, not long after, started picking up the odd bream. This didn't last long before a bait change was needed so on to soft 4mm pellets. This worked for a while but by 3 pm it died a death but I had done enough to frame. 1st Phil Whitmill with 23lbs 11oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 21lbs 11oz, 3rd Peter Green with 21lbs 7oz, 4th Barry Cornel with 11lbs 13oz and 5th Jeff Pearson with 9lbs 15oz. Points total Abbey Cross 71 to win Bishop's Stortford's 66. Pic is of Peter Green on the next peg to me

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Jt 1st Mark Halverson 113lbs 6oz Jt 1st Phil Whitmill 113lbs 6oz 3rd Tony Cruci 55lbs 8oz

Sorry just the results on this one Jt 1st Mark Halverson 113lbs 6oz Jt 1st Phil Whitmill 113lbs 6oz 3rd Tony Cruci 55lbs 8oz

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High bank 1st Phil Whitmill 48lbs 14oz 2nd Tony Cruci 39lbs 15oz Low bank 1st Ray Gibson 39lbs 4oz 2nd Bill Beeston 38lbs 0oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its match at Hall Farm large lake, on such a hot day we had a good turn out. I drew peg 26 and, if I had to choose a peg with long steps to the peg, this would be the one I wanted. I made up a feeder and only one pole line with 3 different power kits for different baits. I made one line down the margin and fished in and around that area in the first 2 hours. I lost 4 big carp and wondered what to change to stop it happening but by 12 ish landed my first carp on soft 6mm pellet then went on to catch 3 more before they got tired of that bait so onto bread. Had some success with that but long waits between bites so back on 6mm pellets and they finally come back on it for another 5 carp. Ended up with 48lbs 14oz for a bank 1st and highest weight over all on the lake. High bank 1st Phil Whitmill with 48lbs 14oz and 2nd Tony Cruci with 39lbs 15oz and on the Low bank Ray Gibson with 39lbs 4oz and 2nd Bill Beeston with 38lbs 0oz. My thanks to Gary Pickard for help in getting all weighed in, pic is my peg 26 looking up the lake.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 145lbs 8oz 2nd Fred Hunt 68lbs 10oz 3rd Mark Halverson 66lbs 2oz

Gary's day It was going to be hot with little wind at Beggar's Hall so ideal conditions for a pellet waggler - one of my favourite methods. Out of the draw bag came peg 5 which I was pretty happy with as it has a bit of room. The only drawback is that you also get an excellent view of flyer pegs 17 and 18 - Jeff and Phil respectively today. Not what you want if your day is a bit slow. Today's match for me was going to be simple: a longish line as far as 8mm pellets grouped nicely to fish with PW, bomb and pellet and a hybrid feeder; and then down the edge with either paste or corn on the pole. Jeff got off to a flying start with a carp in the first few minutes - the rest of us had to wait a while. The first 30 mins was frustrating - lots of carp cruising around but moving quickly and showing no interest in the loose fed pellets. A quick go on the bomb finally found me a carp and I was off the mark. Swapping around between PW, bomb and feeder kept the odd bite coming and the weight was ticking up quite quickly. At about the half way point I heard Jeff and Mark say they had about 3 carp and I could see Phil getting the odd fish although losing a few too. At this stage I was a bit ahead but with the long line slowing down and Phil getting more bites/fish that lead could quickly disappear. There was also a lot of splashing coming from Fred's swim (peg 4) so he sounded like he was getting a few too. It was time to try the margin - a bit of a wait and then losing the first fish was not the start I was looking for. So it was back out long to give the fish a little more time to get comfortable down the edge. With 2 hours to go it was time to try the edge again and, once I had worked out the carp wanted a few micros with the feed, I had a steady run of decent carp all the way to the end. With Phil just having the 2 nets in I knew I had him beat but had no idea what Mark had out of view on peg 16. At the weigh in it was a new Beggar's Hall PB match weight for me. It was not just carp feeding though today as a few bream and tench also put in an appearance around the lake. 1st Gary Pickard 145lbs 8oz, 2nd Fred Hunt 68lbs 10oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 66lbs 2oz. Today's picture is me with some of the great carp that kept me busy.

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Bordeaux Pits (Saffron Walden water)

N/A

Saffron Walden winning with 67 points to Bishop's Stortford's 38 1st Craig Henderson 40lbs 1oz 2nd Graham Carter 32lbs 5oz 3rd Brian Newman 26lbs 2oz 4th Bill Beeston 18lbs

Phil's day Morning all, the Wed club fished its second of 4 matches against Saffron Walden on their Bordeaux Pits lake. We only fish it twice a year and didn't it show. I drew peg 16 - it's a channel between the bank and island. I picked a middle track and a feeder to the island. I baited up the pole line with 6mm pellets and a golf ball size of SwimStim Green groundbait and a handful of red maggots. Started off on the feeder and 3 casts later it produced a small tench of half a pound or so then nothing. So onto my pole line - tried red mags this just got me more little perch so I tried 4mm soft pellet and got a couple of small roach so tried 6 mm hard pellet and nothing. So back to the feeder for another hour - still nothing. So back to the pole on a small piece of corn on a 16 match hook. Sat there for a few mins and it slid off and I hooked a carp for 7lbs. This was a bolt from the blue but welcomed. I went on half hour later to catch a small F1 then back to nothing so back to catching small perch then suddenly there was a big splashing from my carp net and the big carp leapt out of the net onto the bank. In my haste to recapture the carp I got a boot full of water as I slipped in the lake and to boot the carp slipped back in and was gone. At this point I really felt like going home but thought I had better suck it up and get on with it. I went on to catch another carp later on to weigh in 10lbs 11oz beating the angler next door. First Craig Henderson with 40lbs 1oz, 2nd Graham Carter with 32lbs 5oz, 3rd Brian Newman with 26lbs 2oz and 4th Bill Beeston with 18lbs. Better luck next time Bishop's Stortford - Saffron Walden winning with 67 points to our 38.

Water Booking

Hall Farm Large Lake

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

Stone Cup - 1 of 2

1st Rob Calderon 87lbs 15oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 83lbs 6oz 3rd Gary Pickard 67lbs 6oz

Gary's day Sunday found us at Home Farm with reduced numbers due to match clashes and illness. Out came peg 8 for me, sadly not an end peg today as peg 9 was also in so we were all along the same bank. With it being warm and sunny there were plenty of carp moving on the top but fast and not showing interest in the 4mm pellets I was feeding. The roach and rudd though were very interested and were grabbing the pellet every time a carp came in range. Over to the far right Phil was off to a good start with steady splashing noises coming from his swim. In the middle it was harder work. About 2 hours in Rob to my left on the other end peg started catching so it was time to abandon the long line and try and catch down the edges. A bit early but long was full of silvers. It was a slow start with lots of signs of small fish attacking the paste but finally a small carp was in the net. Mark next to me was also having silvers issues and resorted to trying a method feeder which netted him a couple of carp. By swapping left and right margins a few carp kept coming but it was slow going with the silvers getting in the way even on big blobs of paste. At the weigh in I had more than I thought but it was not going to be enough as Phil and Rob had been catching steadily all day. 1st Rob Calderon 87lbs 15oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 83lbs 6oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 67lbs 6oz. Today's picture is my peg 8 shortly before the all in.

Club Match/Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

His 'n' Hers Cup

Ladies cup 1st Jane Pickard 49lbs 2oz Sally-Anne 27lbs 7oz Hilary Todd 20lbs 7oz His 'n' Hers 1st Jane and Gary Pickard 137lbs 1oz 2nd Jeff Pearson and Sally-Anne 70lbs 12oz

It was a hot and bright day and the fish at Hall Farm were very obliging with everyone catching a few. Ladies cup 1st Jane Pickard 49lbs 2oz Sally-Anne 27lbs 7oz Hilary Todd 20lbs 7oz His 'n' Hers 1st Jane and Gary Pickard 137lbs 1oz 2nd Jeff Pearson and Sally-Anne 70lbs 12oz

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Low bank 1st Terry Moranda 58lbs 15oz 2nd Peter Green 52lbs 8oz High bank 1st Rob Calderón 93lbs 5oz 2nd John Carter 74lbs 4oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its match on Hall Farm big lake. The weather was lovely and warm with it getting hot by late afternoon. I drew peg 12 at the draw bag not a brilliant peg but it has its moments and can turn up a goodish weight. I made only two lines up both long down the margins that's the pole sorted and a feeder for further along the margins. On the pole line I fed two areas with pellet and corn with a mix of green Swim Stim groundbait with micro pellets mixed in. First the feeder and I stayed in range of the catapult so as to feed 6mm pellets over the top. Sat on this and off for half my match with nothing to show for it so decided to wait it out on pole line. Within an hour got my first carp of a good size for there at 6lb or so. As my afternoon went on more carp showed up and I put a half decent weight in the net by the end of the match I weighed in 44lbs 14oz. The match is split into two half's high bank and low bank as the high bank constantly catches bigger weights so the money is paid out more fairly, 1st place and golden peg winner Rob Calderón with 93lbs 5oz H/B , 2nd John Carter with 74lbs 4oz H/B , 1st Terry Moranda with 58lbs 15oz L/B , 2nd Peter Green with 52lbs 8oz L/B. The pic is a few of the lads after the match. My thanks goes to Rob in helping do the grunt work weighing in.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Low bank 1st John Carter 48lbs 7oz 2nd Fred Hunt 48lbs 2oz High bank 1st Gary Pickard 83lbs 14oz 2nd Rob Calderon 79lbs 5oz.

Gary's day This week we were back to Hall Farm but on the large lake this time.  With a good turnout both banks were in the draw bag and we had split sections as the high bank had been fishing better lately. Out of the bag came peg 22; in the middle of the high bank and as good as any along there apart from peg 26. There were a few fish moving before the all in so I set up a couple of rigs for out long, shallow and on the bottom, and a couple of margin rigs.  Within seconds of the all in Fred over on peg 2 shouted that Rob on peg 26 was into a fish.  Not what I wanted to hear as peg 26 was the one I needed to beat. The first couple of hours were steady, the odd carp or F1 long on the pole fishing a 4mm pellet on the bottom.  The carp and F1s were still cruising through but fast and not showing much interest in the pellets I was feeding.  Over on the low bank a few fish were being caught but not as many as usual and I could hear the odd splashing to my right. Just after midway the carp started cruising more slowly and showing signs of wanting to feed.  I had a steady run catching shallow; not hectic but the weight was ticking up.  A few more fish then started coming out on the far side from the margins so it was time to try mine.  I should have stayed out long as they never really got going in the edge with just a few fish on paste or corn.  At the weigh in it looked like it was between me and Rob for the high bank and John and Fred had both had a good finish on the low bank. Low bank 1st John Carter 48lbs 7oz and 2nd Fred Hunt 48lbs 2oz. High bank 1st Gary Pickard 83lbs 14oz and 2nd Rob Calderon 79lbs 5oz. Picture today has Jeff to the left and Fred to the right getting ready for the all in.

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

Summer League - 4 of 6

High bank 1st Terry Moranda 87lbs 9oz 2nd Peter Green 80lbs 13oz Low bank 1st Tony Cruci 54lbs 3oz 2nd Bill Beeston 34lbs 12oz

Phils' day Morning to you all, the Weds club held it 4th leg in the Summer League. The day weather wise was dry and a bit chilly so a fleece was needed. We were at our club lake at Beggers Hall and I drew peg 17 a very good peg so thought I would be in with a chance. I baited up just 2 lines on my pole: 1 at 10 meters; and 1 margin swim then the feeder to the island. The feeder turned out to be non-productive so concentrated on my two pole lines. I had just the odd rudd and roach on my 10 meter line so went down the margin and started picking up the odd perch and roach but little else. By this time it's nearly 2 pm and only a pound or so in the net but I need not have worried as the big carp turned up and put 70 lbs in the net by knocking off time. I weighed in 71lbs 11oz and 3rd over all. The match was split into 2 secs to make it a lot more fair for the low bank anglers. High bank was 1st Terry Moranda with 87lbs 9oz and 2nd Peter Green with 80lbs 13oz. Low bank 1st Tony Cruci with 54lbs 3oz and 2nd Bill Beeston with 34lbs 12oz. Pic is my peg 17

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Small Lake

Malcolm Barker Rose Bowl - 1 of 2

1st Mark Halverson 22lbs 7oz 2nd Gary Pickard 18lbs 7oz 3rd Tony Cruci 12lbs 5oz

Gary's day Today saw us on the small lake at Hall Farm.  Not one we usually fish but the weed at MBL meant a change of venue.  It was a lovely clear day to start but it did not last. Out came peg 7 for me; I was not happy as it has none of the reed beds that almost all the other pegs have - just a couple of small tufts along the edges. At the start I went out long on the pole with hard pellets as the trick today would be avoiding the masses of small silvers in the lake.  Well, I avoided the small silvers but so too did I the bigger fish.  I did manage one small carp but some unhittable bites signalled the silvers had found me. A try closer in at 2+2 with paste and corn when the wind picked up and I could not see my float further out did not work.  Lots of float movement from small fish but nothing more.  The odd fish was cruising so I flicked a feeder out whilst I set up a shallow rig and the tip went round.  It was only a 6oz carp but it was something and the rest of the lake was not fishing well.  Steve opposite had one reasonable size carp and Rob had a couple of smaller ones and I could hear Mark to my left seeming to be getting a few. With the rain starting up and the cruisers disappearing the shallow rig stayed largely unused as the tip kept going round.  The feeder swim needed a rest now and again but kept coming back to life and saved a poor day as my margins never kicked into life. At the weigh in I had a little more that I thought but not quite enough but it was lot more than I feared at the start. 1st Mark Halverson 22lbs 7oz with a mixed bag of mostly small carp with a couple of crucial bigger ones, 2nd Gary Pickard 18lbs 7oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 12lbs 5oz. Photo today is Mark, Tony and Phil having a chinwag before the all in.

Club Match/Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Over 65s Cup

1st Peter Green 71lbs 1oz 2nd John Carter 58lbs 11oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 54lbs 5oz 4th Peter Mottram 51lbs 8oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Bishop's Stortford Over 65 match was held this Friday. I drew peg 6 and I did terrible. I was glad to see the end of the match, however, there were some good weights considering all the low bank pegs were in. First place was Peter Green with 71lbs 1oz and Over 65 champion, 2nd John Carter with 58lbs 11oz, 3rd was Jeff Pearson with 54lbs 5oz and 4th Peter Mottram with 51lbs 8oz. Well done to all who took part

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 59 points to Abbey Cross' 47 points. High bank 1st Fred Hunt 65lbs 15oz 2nd Martin Adams 65lbs Low bank 1st Rob Calderón 40lbs 1oz 2nd Terry Moranda 34lbs 6oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds club had its monthly interclub match with Abbey Cross. It was held on our water at Hall Farm and the weather was at best damp with a drizzle on and off. I drew peg 12 on the low bank - not too sure what to make of this peg it blows hot and cold so wasn't expecting too much today. I made up two margin rigs and a feeder for a bit further out. To say the least I was dismayed at the peg as it was little or no action for the best part of the day. I did manage a carp in the last hour and weighed in 8lbs 1oz. The money was split between the high bank and the low bank with 7 anglers each side. First on the high bank was Fred Hunt with 65lbs 15oz and 2nd Martin Adams with 65lbs and on the low bank 1st was Rob Calderón with 40lbs 1oz and 2nd Terry Moranda with 34lbs 6oz. Bishop's Stortford won with 59 points to Abbey Cross 47 points. Thanks to Rob and Gary for there assistance in weighing in the high bank its much appreciated, pic is my peg 12

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 111lbs 12oz 2nd Gary Pickard 95lbs 7oz 3rd Rob Calderon 71lbs 1oz

Gary's day At Sunday's draw it felt like Summer had disappeared as we were met with drizzly rain.  With a few of us there the draw was going to be important and out came peg 16 for me.  Third time on the bounce and with a bit of a chance. Up went feeder, bomb and pellet waggler rods plus the pole for the margins.  Being at the far end of the dam bank I would have no idea how the rest of the lake was fishing as the only people I could see were 3 people pleasure fishing in the far end of the lake.  Fred was nextdoor on 17 but the bankside vegetation meant I could not see him. At the off it was a feeder towards the island and feeding a bomb/waggler line with pellets.  An hour in I had 2 small, for Beggars, carp for about 7lb and had just lost a much bigger fish near the net.  A go on the pellet waggler got me a quick carp but then nothing more.  A try on bomb and pellet underneath gave me some liners but no bites. Back to the island found another couple of carp but the gaps were getting much longer.   Coming into the last 2 hours it was time to try the margins with some paste.  It took a worryingly long time to get an indication before the float shot under and I was into a carp; which fell off.  Thankfully they came back and most stayed on after that.  It was a busy last hour. Mark was doing the weigh in today and as he walked past to start on the other bank he mentioned Peter on peg 20 had been doing well on pellet waggler and was cagey on his day.  Rob over on peg 6 had also had a good finish with all his fish coming in the last hour.  Well done to Mark from peg 19 with 111lbs on the feeder. 1st Mark Halverson 111lbs 12oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 95lbs 7oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 71lbs 1oz. Picture today is peg 16 and if you look to the top left you can just see one of the many kites flying around today.

Water Booking

Hall Farm Small Lake (pegs 14-18)

Water Booking

Hall Farm Large Lake

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 75 points to Saffron Walden's 61 points Section 1: Peter Green 24lbs 5oz Section 2: Brian Newman 34lbs 2oz Section 3: Rob Calderón 70lbs 2oz Section 4: Yorkie 34lbs 3oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished one of its four matches against Saffron Walden today and it was a good turnout in spite of the hot conditions. The pegs were evenly spaced all around the lake with good and bad pegs in so on this match we paid out four sections and a lowest weight prize which was kept quiet until the results. I drew peg 13 - not a good peg - it looks as if it could do well but never does. Made up 3 lines for pole and a feeder for further out. The feeder was not playing ball after 90 minutes so put that down and fished my margins this wasn't any better but could see shed loads of fish moving [Ed - yes I count 6 in your photo!] but they were not interested. Stuck with it in hopes of a stray and, by 1 pm, I was rewarded with a 3lb carp. Oddly enough there were no rudd or roach not even a micro perch so carried on with maggots and got a second carp a bit bigger and, by knocking off time, I had seven in total for 33lbs 3oz. Section wins were sec 1 Peter Green 24lbs 5oz, sec 2 Brian Newman with 34lbs 2oz, sec 3 Rob Calderón with 70lbs 2oz and sec 4 Yorkie with 34lbs 3oz. Bishop's Stortford 1st with 75 points to Saffron Walden's 61 points. A big thanks to Rob for weighing in the high bank, pic is my peg 13.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 9lbs 3oz 2nd Gary Pickard 6lbs 3rd Steve Lucas 4oz

Gary's day Summer is here at last with not a cloud in the sky for Sunday's draw. Today was Wickham Hall with none of us quite sure what we were fishing for. The bright sun was making me think carp and silvers rather than bream. Out of the bag came peg 19 for me. With seeing the hordes of fry down the margins I set up feeder and waggler rods and left the pole in the bag. I was going to try a slider float but the repair on the old rod I brought along to try this came unglued. Plain waggler it was then. At the start out went a few feeder fulls to try and tempt the carp and bream whilst I tried to get a few silvers in the net on waggler. Well I had plenty of bites on maggot with the float dancing all over the place as it was mobbed by the fry even out towards the middle. It was slow going for everyone else with most using bigger baits like corn to avoid the micro silvers. A stint on the feeder turned up nothing but a few rattles from small fish and lots of those were as it was falling through the water. Another go on the waggler found some more small rudd and roach but the size was getting worse. Tony then had a carp over on the other side and my small fish were wiped out. When Tony landed another carp a bit after the half way point it was clear the small silvers were not going to cut it especially as even they were slowing down. The last hour was all about finding bigger fish. With about 25 mins to go I finally hooked somethjng bigger and a 2lb bream was in the net. The next couple of casts were uneventful but then I had a liner with 5 mins to go. A quick reel in and recast and the tip went round again just before the whistle and a smaller skimmer was in the net. The bream had finally shown up but too late. At the weigh in it was all down to how big were Tony's carp. 1st Tony Cruci 9lbs 3oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 6lbs and 3rd Steve Lucas 4oz. Picture today my peg 19 and some of the small fry that made things difficult.

Water Booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

Club Match / Outing

Beggars Hall

Summer League - 3 of 6

1st Bill Beeston 151lbs 5oz 2nd John Carter 73lbs 9oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 68lbs 14oz 4th Terry Moranda 43lbs 7oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished its match on Beggar's Hall. It's a carp venue with some very good silvers. I drew peg 18 - last in the bag and to boot the golden peg so no pressure. I made 3 pole lines and, of course, a feeder for a bit further out. I baited up the pole lines with pellet and corn and banded hard pellet on feeder. I waited all morning for a bite on the feeder but nothing; changed baits a couple times but they were not having it. So onto my 10 meter line - got a bite on pellet but couldn't hook anything so down the margins. Got the odd rudd and perch but little else, tried corn and this got better rudd and roach and then I hooked a carp which was on for a few seconds and then gone. Tried the other margin and this got me my first carp at 1 pm. It went from can't get it in quick enough to full stop. I kept changing margins but only 1 side would fish so rested it a bit then and then went back down there until the end. Ended up with 68lbs 14oz. First Bill Beeston with an exceptional weight of 151lbs 5oz, 2nd John Carter with 73lbs 9oz, 3rd Phil Whitmill with 68lbs 14oz and 4th Terry Moranda with 43lbs 7oz. Pic is my peg 18. A big thanks to Rob for helping with the weigh in.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Fred Hunt 48lbs 1oz 2nd Gary Pickard 45lbs 1oz 3rd Mark Halverson 40lbs 8oz

Gary's day For the first match of the season it was a trip to Home Farm at Little Walden. At the draw there were plenty of fish showing so everyone was hoping for a busy day. Out of the draw bag came peg 1 for me; a solid end peg so I had high hopes for a good day. With lots of silvers in the lake it was a day on hard pellets and paste planned. A try on hard pellets had a few signs but which turned out to be roach. With the fish still cruising through it was time to try and mug a couple. Well the fish kept showing - hugging the far bank and showing little sign of feeding. A repair on my no 8 section failing put paid to getting near the far bank though. After 2 hours I had 1 small carp in the net and the rest of the lake seemed to be equally slow going. Another hour trying all over the peg found me another small carp shallow and a couple bumped. At the half way point it was still anyone's match although Fred seemed to be having a few fish. The last half of the match was all about the margins. I was getting quite a few signs on paste but any bites were impossible to hit. It looked like I was being plagued by small fish. With less than 90 mins to go I had another carp at long last. But Fred, Phil and now Mark were catching too. A flurry of activity with an hour to go saved a near empty net but things really slowed in the last 20 mins or so and a couple of bumped fish did not help. It was going to be close at the weigh in. 1st Fred Hunt 48lbs 1oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 45lbs 1oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 40lbs 8oz. Picture today is my peg from the far bank with some feathered company in view.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st John Carter 102lbs 15oz 2nd Yorkie 56lbs 6oz 3rd Bill Beeston 51lbs 15oz 4th Phil Whitmill 36lbs 14oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its match at Hall Farm. The weather looked promising and with very little or no wind it looked like a good day. I drew peg 3 not normally in but I had to reorganise the lower bank pegs as peg 1 was under water. I made up three lines for the pole and my feeder for a bit further out. I started with cupping out at 10 meters with corn and pellets and my two margin lines with pellets, micros and maggots. I started off on the feeder and got a small carp in the first 10 minutes; another cast and another carp and then nothing. Stayed on this thinking they would come back but no. So onto the pole. I could see Fred next door was catching. I tried the 10 meter line but, apart from a few bites from rudd, little else so onto the margins. I fished both margins for an hour but nothing and was about to go back on feeder when I got my first margin fish of the day so stayed in the margin for the rest of the day getting the odd carp but a better size. It was neck and neck with Fred next door but managed to beat him it was close I weighed in 36lbs 14oz. 1st John Carter with 102lbs 15oz, 2nd Yorkie with 56lbs 6oz, 3rd Bill Beeston with 51lbs 15oz and 4th Phil Whitmill with 36lbs 14oz. Worth a mention was the 2lbs 2oz perch Terry caught the likes of which have not been seen for many a year at Hall Farm.

Charity match - BHF

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Gary Pickard 117lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Halverson 84lbs 4oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 67lbs 14oz

Gary's day And we're back - not the first match of the season but the first on the Club book. It was a bright but not overly warm start as we gathered for the draw. Having just picked out flyer peg 2 for Dave I thought my luck was done for the day but peg 18 was OK as it had a bit of room. Today's plan was to be quite simple: hard pellets at 5 sections; trying shallow further out; paste or corn in the margins; and a feeder if it went wrong. With Dave getting a carp on his first cast on peg 2 we all were thinking it was going to be a busy day. An hour in and just one bite and a small F1 on pellet - things were not going to plan. When I saw Phil S and Mark opposite start going for silvers it was clear it was a slow start for all. After 1 more F1 on the shallow line after a lot of work it was time for the feeder, a rethink and a sandwich. There were encouraging signs straight away under the shallow line and I had a good run of a dozen or so small carp and F1s on the feeder. Mark and Phil S suddenly then started catching carp in the margins so it was decision time - keep ticking over with the feeder or hit the edges. With 3 hours to go I held with the feeder for a bit longer but started feeding the edges. 30 mins later it was time for the edges. It was a slower than usual start on paste but the fish started to show. It was a few small carp like on the feeder to start with but then they got a bit bigger. All the while Mark and Phil S seems to have a fish on every time I looked up and Phil W was starting to catch now - their fish looked bigger too. It looked like it was going to be close. After that slow start there were some pretty good weights. 1st Gary Pickard 117lbs 11oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 84lbs 4oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 67lbs 14oz. More importantly the match raised £50 for the BHF.

Club Match / Outing

Hunters Hall (Abbey Cross water)

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Bishop's Stortford won with 56 points to Abbey Cross' 49 points 1st Phil Whitmill 22lbs 8oz 2nd Rob Calderón 17lbs 15oz 3rd Steve Foster 16lbs 1oz 4th Martin Adams 15lbs 15oz

Phil's day Good morning to all. The Weds team fished its monthly match against Abbey Cross on their lake at Hunter's Hall. It's been a while since we fished this lake due to flooded banks so we were at a bit at a loss as to how it would fish. We did a draw by arrival so first in first pick I drew 2nd from last peg 1. It's a bit of a fish trap as it's a half circle of lily pads but if you can get the tench feeding it can be very promising. Used 7 secs of pole that has taken me to 1 sec short of the pads. I fed 1 line with 6mm hard pellet and corn, couldn't use a feeder and there were no margins to speak of so it was all mapped out for me. Started off on corn and started to pick up some useful rudd and roach but with heavy elastics bumping most off so changed to a lighter elastic which did the trick. At 11:30 am I picked up my first tench and obviously it run me through the pads but with elastic pulling I got him in the net. Lesson noted I changed back to heavy elastics and managed 4 more tench and lost 5 so I was pleased with that. 1st place was Phil Whitmill with 22lbs 8oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 17lbs 15oz, 3rd Steve Foster with 16lbs 1oz and 4th Martin Adams with 15lbs 15oz. Bishop's Stortford won with 56 points to Abbey Cross 49 points . The pic is my catch for those that haven't seen a tench for a while.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

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1st Rob Calderón 85lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 36lbs 3oz 3rd Bill Beeston 32lbs 13oz 4th John Carter 29lbs 6oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished its club lake at Beggers Hall. Not too bad weather wise at least it wasn't raining. I drew peg 17 last out of the bag and one of the better pegs. I made 2 lines for the pole and a feeder for over to the island. I fed 6mm hard pellets and a ball of groundbait in my margin and at 10 meters for my pole line and worked the island with the feeder. The feeder only produced 1 carp with no line bites so I decided to go on my pole line with 4mm soft pellet. Caught steady with rudd and roach but it was not what I was after so on to 6mm hard pellet. This produced nothing so back to the soft pellet. By 1 pm I got a decent bream and a good tench and some odd rudd but not what I was after so out comes the maggots. I put a whole pot full in along with some more hard pellet and left this for half an hour and went on the feeder. Still nothing so into the margins again for some more silvers with 4 reds on and got a carp for 7lb then stayed with this and got 4 more carp, I weighed in 36lbs 3oz 1st Rob Calderón with a very good weight of 85lbs 5oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 36lbs 3oz, 3rd Bill Beeston with 32lbs 13oz and 4th John Carter with 29lbs 6oz. Thanks to Rob with his help weighing everybody in, pic is my peg 17

Summer League

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Rob Calderón 90lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 85lbs 9oz 3rd Bill Beeston 83lbs 14oz 4th John Carter 62lbs 3oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its club lake Hall Farm. It was a very wet day with 18 hours of rain behind us so didn't know how the fishing was going to be. I drew peg 24 a very good peg for no real reason its not much different from most pegs. I made up 3 rigs for margins and a 10 meter line then the feeder for good measure. I baited up both margins with a groundbait and 6mm hard pellet with a bit of corn for good measure. Started off on the feeder rod and within 15 minutes it's wrapped round for my first carp this went on for another 5 carp before it died but this was only 1 hour into the match so onto the pole tried out in front at 10 meters and not a bite. So in to the margins. I was getting bites but I think they were rudd this was on pellets so I upped the size of pellet but still got mucked about so I tried 10mm punch bread. This got me 4 very small rudd not what I am after so back to the feeder - nothing so after a short while back to the margins. I put a big bit of breadflake on and just waited. Within 10 minutes got my first margin carp about 6lb then nothing again so onto my other margin the same there I alternated between the two areas for the rest of the day for a weight of 85lbs 9oz. First was Rob Calderón with 90lbs 5oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 85lbs 9oz, 3rd Bill Beeston with 83lbs 14oz , 4th John Carter with 62lbs 3oz. Well done to all for putting up with such a wet day. A big thanks goes to Rob Calderón for doing all the hard stuff with the weighing in. Pic is my peg 24,

Presentation Evening

Hunters Meet at Hatfield Heath

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Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

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1st Richard Beeston 92lbs 9oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 37lbs 7oz 3rd Peter Green 33lbs 8oz 4th Steve Foster 25lbs 14oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its club lake at Beggar's Hall this week. The conditions were good with a threat of rain that never came. I drew peg 5 it's a moderately good peg on the day. I made up three pole lines both margins and a 10 meter line but placed most of my hope on the feeder but, as I found out, this wasn't the case. I spent too much time on the feeder with no inductions at all so, just after lunch and with nothing in the net, I decided to go for silvers. To my right nothing, out in front at 10 meters nothing but on my left caught rudd, roach and perch then a carp moved in as I hoped. I had done all the hard work getting it out the bushes and from under a tree then lost it in open water nevermind. Finally, I did catch a carp from there to weigh in 8lbs 15 oz First was Richard Beeston with 92lbs 9 oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 37lbs 7oz , 3rd Peter Green with 33lbs 8oz and 4th Steve Foster with 25lbs 14oz. Thanks go to John Carter and Rob Calderón for doing the weighing in for me.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Peter Green 67lbs 3oz 2nd Bill Beeston 66lbs 1oz 3rd Rob Calderón 60lbs 7oz 4th Jeff Pearson 58lbs 1oz

Phil's day Hi all on this sunny day the Weds club fished its match on Hall Farm. The weather was a bit misty but a promising day weatherwise lay ahead. I drew peg 26 last out the bag - it's not been on any kind of form since Christmas but it will come back to form soon and I got high hopes on the day. I made up two margins and a 10 meter line but to my right was where I was putting all my faith and, of course, the feeder for long cast. I baited up my various lines for the pole and left these to work while I spent the first hour on the feeder. This produced two carp with little else so onto my pole - tried my long line with no luck so on to my right margin. This got me a carp within 10 minutes then the rest of the day there were bouts of action that got me to 52lbs of carp and a broken pole section - it was one of those days 1st place was Peter Green with 67lbs 3oz, 2nd Bill Beeston with 66lbs 1oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 60lbs 7oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 58lbs 1oz. The lake in general fished quite well with a lot more anglers with very reasonable weights. No pics today just a score sheet.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Beggars Hall

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Bishop's Stortford won with 75 points to Abbey Cross' 60 points 1st Peter Green 135lbs 1oz 2nd Fred Hunt 55lbs 14oz 3rd Rob Calderón 40lbs 14oz 4th Martin Adams 37lbs 5oz 5th John Carter 34lbs 6oz

Phil's day Hi all what a smashing day it was yesterday - the peg I was in was in full view of the sun with no wind chill. The Weds club fished its monthly match against Abbey Cross at Beggars Hall. I drew peg 23 not one that is usually put in on matches but, with so many worse pegs recently, I thought I would give it a try out. I started out making up three lines for the pole and, of course, the feeder. Started off cupping red maggots at ten meters with a bit of micro pellets then to my left down the margin pretty much the same but more of it and 5 meters to my right a cup full of pellet and sweetcorn. I decided to go straight on the feeder as this was going to be my best hope. I gave it more time then I should have - itwas nearly midday so went onto the pole lines. Still nothing it's a venue that comes to life in late afternoon so not too worried yet. The pole line on my left was a bit of a disaster as there was weed and the bottom was all over the place so soon abandoned that line. So on to my 10 meter line and I had a small F1 about a pound or so and that was that. By now it's half 2 and with a hour and a half to go so decided to try what looked to be a nothing line on my left - I had been there about 10 minutes and got a couple roach so at least I am getting bite when the next roach bite turned out to be a mirror carp of around 18 lbs. This went on for the rest of the match catching two more carp and loosing 3 more from the same line. I weighed in with 33lbs 13oz a very good result from this peg. 1st Peter Green with 135lbs 1oz, 2nd Fred Hunt with 55lbs 14oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 40lbs 14oz, 4th Martin Adams with 37lbs 5oz and 5th John Carter with 34lbs 6oz. Bishop's Stortford wins with 75 points to Abbey Cross 60 points well done to our team. Pic is my peg 23

Summer League

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Steve Foster 36lbs 1oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 25lbs 15oz 3rd Tony Cruci 19lbs 13oz 4th Rob Calderón 19lbs 7oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its first summer league match this week - one of six over the coming months. I have drawn peg 1 not the side you want to be on but can't change that. Made up two margin rigs as it was too windy to go any distance on the pole and a feeder for over to my right hand side. I sounded the start whistle and Ray Gibson, who was in the next peg, he cast his feeder a short distance and hooked a carp instantly so I thought we would be in for a good day. Got that wrong. I had a small carp on the pole about 10am then not much else until an hour before the end - I had four pull rounds on the feeder and landed them and lost 3 more. I weighed in 16lbs 14oz for 5th and thanks for coming. 1st Steve Foster with 36lbs 1oz his biggest carp weighed in at 16lbs 8oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 25lbs 15oz, 3rd Tony Cruci with 19lbs 13oz and 4th Rob Calderón with 19lbs 7oz. Thank you to Peter Green for doing the low bank weigh in - much appreciated.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

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1st Phil Whitmill 62lbs 14oz 2nd Rob Calderón 62lbs 5oz 3rd John Todd 31lbs 11oz 4th Steve Foster 26lbs 13oz

Phil's day Morning to all. The Weds club fished its match on Beggar's Hall this week. It was a supposed to be a dry start and finish to our day with the promise of a downpour which never arrived. I drew peg 18 last out of the bag and a flyer to boot - at last a decent peg in with a chance here. Made up three pole lines and a feeder for midway. I fed mostly hard pellet and corn with a bit of red maggots with groundbait all Clarks products from Harlow Angling. Tried the feeder about 25 meters out and within 15 minutes got my first carp about 8lbs this went on to produce another carp by midday then onto my pole lines. By this time the wind had got up and made it difficult to hold it on 10 meters so on to my margins. This also produced nothing so rebated and went back to the feeder. After a short while on the feeder I had a slight bite so struck it anyway and got myself a tench of 2lbs 8oz so another net was called for - this was a red herring as no more bites so back to the margins on the pole. Got a few rudd and then the carp moved in and i caught steady for what was left of our day to weigh in 62lbs 14oz. 1st Phil Whitmill with 62lbs 14oz, 2nd Rob Calderón with 62lbs 5oz, 3rd John Todd with 31lbs 11oz and 4th Steve Foster with 26lbs 13oz. Pic is Terry Moranda , thanks to those anglers who helped with the weigh in much appreciated.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Bill Beeston 55lbs 2oz 2nd Steve Foster 24lbs 11oz 3rd Fred Hunt 21lbs 14oz 4th Jeff Pearson 13lbs 7oz

Phil's day Hi to all , the Weds club fished Hall Farm club lake. It was a flat calm at first but by the time the whistle went 15 to 20 mph winds got up. I drew peg 12 a good peg but patchy and baited up a couple of areas for the pole and feeder for along the rushes. Feeder was going to be my preferred method today because of the wind and it was forecast for it to increase. I only had a half bite but struck it anyway. By lunch time I decided to brave the winds and use the pole at 13 meters - got my first carp at 2 ish and my other carp at 3 pm and, apart from half a dozen roach and rudd, that was it for me. Weighed in 9lbs 15oz. First Bill Beeston with a winning weight of 55lbs 2oz, 2nd Steve Foster with 24lbs 11oz , 3rd Fred Hunt with 21lbs 14oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 13lbs 7oz. Well done to all on a very difficult day. Pic is peg 12.

AGM

Bishop's Stortford Social Club

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Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

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Bishop's Stortford won the match with 68 points to Abbey Cross 36 points 1st Rob Calderón 23lbs 5oz 2nd Fred Hunt 21lbs 5oz 3rd Martin Adams 13lbs 2oz 4th Bill Beeston 12lbs 15oz

Phil's day Good morning to all. The Weds club fished against Abbey Cross on their lake for our monthly interclub. The weather wasn't too bad apart from the odd downpour and high winds. I drew peg 44 it's a peg that can throw up the odd good weight - you might not win from there but you could easily frame from there. Made up two pole lines and a feeder spot just off some lily pads. I fed micro pellets and a small ball of groundbait with red maggots. Started off with absolutely no response from anything this lasted till 11.30 when I got a good F1 about 5lb. I thought they were ready to feed but no - went on for the whole of my lunch and still nothing tried the feeder but it was so windy by this time I couldn't cast to where I wanted so gave up on that idea. Back to the pole with a lot more effort to hold the pole still then had a bite - it was a skimmer of 14oz then 15 mins later got myself into my second and last F1 for another 5lb. First Rob Calderón with 23lbs 5oz, 2nd Fred Hunt with 21lbs 5oz, 3rd Martin Adams with 13lbs 2oz and 4th Bill Beeston 12lbs 15oz. Bishop's Stortford won the match with 68 points to Abbey Cross 36 points. Well done to all the team. Pic is my peg - it's good to see some colour on the trees.

Weds Club Winter League Results

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1st Steve Foster 55 points 2nd Rob Calderón 53 points 3rd Bill Beeston 52 points 4th Fred Hunt 47 points A big well done to all who had taken part.

Winter League

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Steve Foster 62lbs 2nd Rob Calderón 61lbs 2oz 3rd Peter Green 24lbs 3oz 4th Bill Beeston 23lbs 1oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its last round in their winter league at Hall Farm lake. The gap in the weather allowed us to fish most of the match in the dry and where I was was out of most of the heavy winds. I drew peg 24 - it's a good peg so not disappointed at all. I fed a 10 meter line and a margin line and a feeder for just in case. The 10 meter line was blowing all over the place with no presentation so stuck to my margins but not even a roach let alone a carp so onto the feeder with a 8mm wafter. Got my first carp at midday then two more through the afternoon - lost one at the net but that's how your luck runs sometimes. Ended up with 12lbs 10oz First was Steve Foster with 62lbs, 2nd Rob Calderón with 61lbs 2oz, 3rd Peter Green with 24lbs 3oz and 4th Bill Beeston with 23lbs 1oz.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

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1st Fred Hunt 7lbs 14oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 6lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderón 2lbs 15oz 4th Steve Foster 2lbs 12oz

Phil's day It's a good morning to all. The Weds club fished the Malcolm Barker Lake today. It was always going to be hard going for some even with hand picked pegs. I drew peg 8 but donated it to Fred who drew 2 - it's very awkward to get down with the steps almost vertical so that's not going in anymore. I fed red maggots and a golf ball of groundbait with micro pellets. It was 2 hours when I got my first bite, Steve next door on peg 3 was catching well and decent roach as well then his swim died and that's when I started to catch the odd few. Weighed in 1lbs 1oz First Fred Hunt with 7lbs 14oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 6lbs 15oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 2lbs 15oz and 4th Steve Foster with 2lbs 12oz. Pic is Steve Foster on the next door peg 3.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

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1st Terry Moranda 46lbs 2oz 2nd Bill Beeston 35lbs 9oz 3rd John Todd 35lbs 3oz 4th Rob Calderón 27lbs 15oz

Phil's day Good morning to all - the Weds club fished its match on Beggar's Hall this week. It promised to be a good day with no rain and mild temperatures. I drew peg 12 not a good peg but it has turned up a few weights in the summer months. I made up two lines on pole, one at 10 meters and the margin, and, of course, a feeder for long distance. I fed my pole lines with pellet and maggots and for the margins tried the same with a cup full of groundbait . Went out on the feeder to start with and within ten minutes had my first and only carp to weigh 6lb 10 oz. 1st Terry Moranda with 46lbs 2oz, 2nd Bill Beeston with 35lbs 9oz, 3rd John Todd with 35lbs 3oz and 4th Rob Calderón with 27lbs 15oz. Today's pic is Peter Green chatting with Darren Marder on peg 6.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st Phil Whitmill 40lbs 6oz 2nd Mark Halverson 22lbs 10oz 3rd Fred Hunt 20lbs 15oz

Gary's day Today was the last match of the 2023/4 season and had us at a very wet Hall Farm. The forecast was for rain all day and it was spot on. After seeing the low weights on Wednesday's match pretty much every peg was in with a chance and I was happy with Peg 6 which is normally pretty consistent in winter. A start on cage and maggot feeders did not get me any indications but plenty of fish were showing on the top. Well out of pole range of course. After 45 mins or so it was time to try the pole; this is one of the deep pegs with 9 feet at 5 sections and still dropping away. And not a sign even from a few silvers. This was not looking good. Phil on peg 2 was starting to get a few fish and then Fred on peg 4 got in on the action. 90 mins in I finally had a bite and a fish, a small carp of 3lbs or so on a maggot feeder. The deeps were fishing slow and it looked like the fish wanted the shallower, warmer water today. No more bites on the feeder or another go on the pole and then one on a hybrid feeder. Phil was still catching and Rob on peg 10 also seemed to be getting a few. A go at getting the attention of the topping fish on a waggler got me another carp a bit past the midway point and then it was just 1 more carp out of the blue on the feeder. I never had a bite on the pole line. It was 4 fish for 16lbs and a thanks for coming for my closing match. Phil had an easy win off peg 2 and then it was very close for second with 2lbs between 3 anglers. Today's very soggy results were 1st Phil Whitmill 40lbs 6oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 22lbs 10oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 20lbs 15oz - and pic is Phil with his winning net of fish.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

Pike cups

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

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Bishop's Stortford won with 60 points to Abbey Cross's 44 points 1st Martin Adams 31lbs 1oz 2nd Tony Cruci 16lbs 14oz 3rd Rob Calderón 16lbs 2oz 4th Jeff Pearson 13lbs 6oz 5th John Todd 11lbs 6oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds club fished its monthly inter club against Abbey Cross this week. It was a good turn out on what should have been a good day - the weather was good, the lake looked very good but that's where it stopped. I drew peg 17 but for weighing purposes I swapped with Tony on 7. I made two lines on 7 meters and both margins and a feeder at 25 meters and that's where it stopped until 15 mins before the end of the match. I was thinking "not another blank" when the feeder went round and got a 2lb 14 oz carp. 1st Martin Adams with 31lbs 1oz, 2nd Tony Cruci with 16lbs 14oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 16lbs 2oz, 4th Jeff Pearson with 13lbs 6oz and 5th John Todd with 11lbs 6oz. It was a very good win for Bishop's Stortford with 60 points to Abbey Cross 44 points. Well done to the team. Pic is peg 7 - my spot for the day.

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

Stort Cup 2 of 2

1st Phil Whitmill 4lbs 14oz 2nd Mark Halverson 2lbs 2oz 3rd John Todd 1lbs 8oz Phil wins the Stort Cup on weight with John and Mark also on 4 points

Gary's day It was the second leg of the Stort Cup today on the Backwater. Another rainy week meant it was heavily coloured and pushing through: fishable but were the fish catchable? It was peg 18 for me, a good peg but the big question was how quick the water was coming through from the weir. A bit too quick was the answer for fishing anywhere but the far side of the middle. The inside was boiling and also full of branches. The plan was to be positive, a couple of big balls of heavy groundbait and then maggots over the top. An hour in the plan was not working as I had not had a sign. A random 3oz roach then showed up but it forgot to tell it's mates. Down on peg 14 Phil seemed to be catching a few and seeing him swing a couple of 3oz roach confirmed this; these are usually netters on the Backwater. Time for a change. In went the rest of the groundbait and a short walk to chat to Phil and John whilst I ate my lunch. The fish were either going to be queueing up on my return or I would have killed the peg. A quick run of 3 small dace on my return got the hopes up but then they disappeared. A try at 14.5m to the boat a bit downstream proved hard work for 2 tiny fish and a lot of sticks. The River had started to slow a little so I changed to pinkies as loosefeed and this helped. Not many fish but the quality was pretty good. It was a surprise 1lbs 7oz on the scales; 1lbs 4oz more than I was expecting half way through but I had found them too late in the day. A few big pike strikes near the end cleared up why the fish kept disappearing. 1st Phil Whitmill 4lbs 14oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 2lbs 2oz and 3rd John Todd 1lbs 8oz. Phil wins the Stort Cup this year on weight with 4 more ounces than John and with Mark also on 4 points. Picture today is the view from my peg to the weir in full flow.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

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1st Tony Cruci 44lbs 3oz 2nd Fred Hunt 43lbs 7oz 3rd Peter Green 23lbs 9oz 4th Phil Whitmill 20lbs 1oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished its club lake at Beggars Hall this week. I drew peg 19 - it's a middle of the road peg but glad to say there was a lot worse draw. Made up two lines for the pole and a feeder line about a third of the way across the lake. I started by feeding my pole lines with red maggots and micro pellets then left this and fished the feeder on method mix and 6 mm pellet. I was just thinking to myself to try the pole as it had been a hour then the tip went round and I landed my first carp. So stayed with this method and 45 mins later got my second carp a bit bigger than the first. Went out there again and 30 mins later got a third one then nothing. I then moved onto my pole line at 10 meters but not a touch so onto my rushes line had a bite straight away - small roach - then second put in got a roach a good 8 oz third put in nothing so stayed with it hoping a carp had moved in and scared the small stuff away. The float goes under and a perch about the size of my little finger had taken the bait. So back on the feeder for the last hour - I had two liners one of which nearly pulled my rod off its rest but that was it. I weighed in 20lbs 1oz. First Tony Cruci with 44lbs 3oz, 2nd Fred Hunt with 43lbs 7oz, 3rd Peter Green with 23lbs 9oz and 4th Phil Whitmill with 20lbs 1oz.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

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1st Rob Calderon 8lbs 4oz 2nd Mark Halverson 4lbs 1oz 3rd Tony Cruci 3lbs 10oz

Gary's day After another very wet week we were on Malcolm Barker rather than the Backwater this weekend. We were greeted by a cold and foggy start but the lake had fished OK the weekend before so we should get a few bites. Out of the bag came peg 17 which I was pleased with; it is to one side of the large lily bed in the middle with a smaller lily bed to the left. The plan was: waggler or small feeder to the central lilies; a pole line with groundbait and maggot out front at about 11m; and a line just off the lillies to the left. At the all in I went out on the waggler after feeding my swims. Half an hour flew by without a bite. By this stage only Rob on 15 was catching anything with a steady stream of small roach. Time to try the long pole. No signs so out on a small cage feeder to give the pole lines a bit more time to fill with fish. With no signs on the feeder it was back to the pole. After 2 hours I completely missed the bite on the long pole line. There was no second chance. The short line was next. Finally a bite and a very small roach was in the net. Things were not going to plan. About this time Tony on peg 3 landed a good sized tench and John on peg 10 had a few roach. Rob was still catching well and I could not buy a bite. 3 hours in and it was time for a big fish gamble as a carp had just topped on the far side of the central lilies. The next 2 hours had me working through meat, bread, a couple of big chunks of worm and wafters. The fish had suddenly switched on for Mark on peg 28 but the rest of us were struggling. Well the gamble did not pay off, perhaps a liner in the last 5 mins but no bites. The blank was saved but only just. Rob had a great day weighing in 8lbs 4oz of silvers with a couple of perch, Mark had a mad final 1.5 hours for 4lbs 1oz and Tony's tench went 3lbs 10oz. Today's pic is Rob's winning net

Winter League

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Rob Calderón 49lbs 1oz 2nd Peter Green 40lbs 11oz 3rd Fred Hunt 29lbs 4oz 4th Tony Cruci 24lbs 11oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished the club lake at Hall Farm in very soggy conditions with a fairly windy day. Iit was our 5th leg of our winter league so I was hoping for a good draw sadly not to be. Peg 8 which has not done very well over the winter. Well it fished pretty much how I thought it would. When I hooked a carp it would slip the hook. Got to the last 10 minutes and just as I was thinking 3rd blank of my season my feeder pulled round and saved my day with a lone f1 carp. 1st Rob Calderón with 49lbs 1oz, 2nd Peter Green with 40lbs 11oz, 3rd Fred Hunt with 29lbs 4oz and 4th Tony Cruci with 24lbs 11oz. Pic today is Fred (Two Brollies) Hunt on peg 7.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

1st Steve Lucas 7lbs 12oz 2nd Mark Halverson 5lbs 8oz 3rd Gary Pickard 5lbs 3oz

Gary's day After a very wet week it was a very wet start to Sunday at Malcolm Barker Lake.  Today was going to be a bit of an unknown as last Summer's weed explosion meant it had been a while since most of us had fished MBL. Out of the bag came peg 27 for me, a very short walk to an OK peg. With no lilly pads to fish to it was going to be long pole and waggler.  With wind forecast for later, on top of the rain, I kept to 11m and groundbait and maggots.  A skimmer mix to the left and a traditional hemp/roach mix to the right. A try on waggler at the start (thanks Mark for the lone of a waggler, I had brought my rod but not any wagglers) got me a small roach and the blank was avoided.  That was it though on the waggler with a facing wind picking up meaning I could not fire maggots much beyond my pole lines anyway. Mark started picking up a steady run of roach on the pole so time for a switch.  I had a good start with half a dozen roach quite quickly but then the right hand swim died.  A try to the left got me a roach first drop in and then nothing more.  Mark was still catching regularly and then new boy Steve on peg 3 suddenly had 5m of elastic stretching out of his pole and a tench in his net.  I was falling behind. The top end of the lake was fishing hard and seeing Rob on 15 netting something that looked like a small roach spoke volumes. At our end the bites slowly came back for me:  feed the right swim; fish the left to rest the right and maybe get 1 roach; feed the left; then back to the right for 2 or 3 roach; and repeat.  Mark was still catching and then his elastic shot out and a decent fish was on.  This one though went straight into weeds and, on a 1.5lb hooklength, it was only ending one way.  10 mins later the same thing happened for Mark with the fish getting the upper hand.  I was still in the running. The middle of the match was tough for all with more heavy rain showers and gusty wind not helping as the bites dried up.  Into the final hour things were getting desperate.  The left swim slowly started coming more to life and Mark's had slowed after a pike took a roach on the way in.  I was slowly making an inroad on Steve and Mark ... and then Steve had another tench and it was game over for the match.  At the end it was going to be tight between me and Mark for second.  Had my late run of fish been enough? At the weigh in it was 1st Steve Lucas with 7lbs 12oz, second Mark Halverson with 5lbs 8oz and third Gary Pickard with 5lbs 3oz. Pic today is looking down the lake from my peg during one of the dry spells.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 25lbs 2oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 19lbs 7oz 3rd Rob Calderón 16lbs 6oz 4th Fred Hunt 15lbs 5oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its match at Hall Farm big lake this week. It was another dry day with a cold breeze so still got to wrap up well. I drew peg 12, it's a very moody peg with more off days than good ones so I didn't run to my peg. Before I could get started I had to lift the big rope out of the water - this is used as a bird scarer. I picked out two spots where I wanted to fish: one a pole swim and the other a feeder swim. I fed my pole swim with micro pellets and red maggots and then left this alone for an hour and started on my feeder swim. Within 40 minutes had a pull round but must have been a line bite. With no more indications I went on my pole line. By this time the wind had got a lot worse and, with no chance of decent presentation, I quit the pole after 45 minutes as it was to much of a battle. So back on the feeder and, by midday, got my first fish a carp about 3lbs then went on to catch the odd carp until the whistle went. I weighed in 25lb 2oz a good result for this time of the year. 1st Phil Whitmill with 25lbs 2oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 19lbs 7oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 16lbs 6oz and 4th Fred Hunt with 15lbs 5oz. With no blanks a good day was had. When we arrived, we were met by a young swan on the lake a rare sight for this time of year. As soon as I set up he plagued me for a couple of hours before he took off for the river. Pic is peg 12.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 41lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 6oz 3rd Gary Pickard 13lbs 4oz

Gary's day After a very wet week Sunday was a break in the weather with sunshine and little wind for most of the day over at Beggars Hall. The draw bag was not kind to me and peg 19 was not where I wanted to be with the island area fishing much better recently. With lots of water to go at but the only features being down the edge the pole stayed in the bag as I could not see any carp coming in close. So feeder and bomb it was. I fed a long swim with a bit of groundbait and dead maggots to start and then it was a few casts around with bomb and bread to try find a carp. An hour in I had had no signs despite seeing the odd bubble and fish topping - but not in my peg. Everyone else down our end was having a slow start too. Rob on 18 then had a carp on the feeder and another one not long after. At long last I had a sign on my long line fishing a bit of worm and a small roach was in the net. The blank was saved. A few minutes later the tip moved again and this was no roach but probably the angriest 4lb mirror in the lake. That was it though for the long line; a few more small signs likely from small fish but no more bites. I had been firing a few bits of corn to the right from the off so it was time to try this again as the match was half way through. A slow pull round on the tip had me lift into something slow and plodding. The culprit soon revealed itself when a 3lb bream went into the net. You guessed that was my only bite from here too. In the meantime, Rob on peg 18 was still catching including on the pole near a big reed bed. John on 20 was fishless as was Phil on 5 and Tony on 17 and Fred on 16 were looking quiet too. Another small carp obliged about 1.30 taking a wafter on a hybrid feeder in front of me where I had been casting on and off all day. No signs until the tip went round. And that was it apart from an outrageous liner with 30 seconds to go trying down the edge again. At the weigh in my fish went a little more than I thought. Rob looked like he had been emptying it but had fewer fish than I thought. Phil had also snuck in a carp in the dying minutes. Mark on peg 10 was the unknown. In a tight finish Rob's better quality fish just pipped Mark: 1st Rob Calderon 41lbs 11oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 6oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 13lbs 4oz. Pic today is Rob playing a good carp - they must have been confused thinking it was summer to come into pole range.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 66 points to Abbey Cross's 29 points 1st John Carter 32lbs 6oz 2nd John Todd 16lbs 1oz 3rd Bill Beeston 15lbs 4th Rob Calderón 9lbs 6oz

Phil's day Hi to all. The Weds club fished an inter-club match this week at Taylor's Lake against Abbey Cross. I drew peg 34 not particularly good but it's the luck of the draw. I started off on feeder while my pole line feed had a bit of time to work. Stayed with the feeder for a good hour then I decided it was time to try the pole as I didn't get any positive bites from the feeder. The pole line was pretty much the same story and that was my day on and off - pole and feeder and ended up blanking. Not to worry my team seems to have done the business. When the points were tallied up we won by a considerable amount Bishop's Stortford 66 points to Abbey Cross 29 points. 1st John Carter with 32lbs 6oz, 2nd John Todd with 16lbs 1oz, 3rd Bill Beeston with 15lbs and 4th Rob Calderón with 9lbs 6oz. A very big well done to the team. Pic is John and Rob by their pegs they came 1st and 4th.

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

Stort Cup 1 of 2

1st John Todd 5lbs 12oz 2nd Mark Halverson 2lbs 14oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 10oz

Gary's day Today was the first leg of the Stort Cup so it was a trip to the Backwater. We were met with a clear river but it had a little flow so hope was not all lost. It was peg 12 again for me but thankfully with us spread out a bit more today so peg 11 below was empty. After catching micro roach last time, today I was going to fish more positively to see if they could be fed off. A start on bread punch got me some quick bites but from 1/2 oz roach and, given the number of bites I was missing, I suspect the average size was much smaller in my peg. Tony and Rob above me and Steve below were having an equally slow start with just small fish. A try over by the boats had me getting some very odd signs and strikes met with half a worm coming back. It looked like I was sitting on some crayfish. A try on maggot got me the occasional bite but the fish were no bigger. The odd look over by the boats finally got me a perch but one only one of the 3oz babies. John walked past from peg 18 about halfway through to get something from his car and mentioned he had about 1 1/2lbs and was getting plenty of bites. I was way behind this. Rob and Steve had some fun and games with the pike with Steve managing to land a couple but they don't count in our matches. No pike for me but plenty of fry jumping out of the water now and again as something spooked them. A swap to pinkies when the bites tailed off as the cloud cover disappeared kept bites coming but the fish were getting smaller. A couple more small perch from near the boats helped but it was a lot of effort for 2lbs 4oz on the scales. John took out the match with 5lbs 12oz from peg 18 with the rest of us hovering around the 2-3lb mark. Next was Mark Halverson with 2lbs 14oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill with 2lbs 10oz. Pic today is Phil with his hard day's work.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Steve Foster 22lbs 10oz 2nd John Carter 16lbs 6oz 3rd Fred Hunt 15lbs 12oz 4th Tony Cruci 15lbs 3oz

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club fished its match at Hall Farm club lake. We picked a good dry day for a change although it was cold on the edge of the wind. I drew peg 8 - not too bad and has its moments. I made my mind up to fish two pole swims: one in the margin; and the other in front of me at 14ft deep - power top and 4th and half the 5th joint. Started off on feeder with double reds and maggot feeder and sat on this most of the morning with no bites not even a line bite. Then on to my pole lines - this was the same story so back to the feeder with a couple of alterations and got my first carp about 6lb. Happy now I had not blanked but didn't get another bite until2 ish. When Peter came for a walk round the tip slowly moved back - I slowly tightened up struck for another carp. Getting close to packing up time so started to put a few things away in readiness for weighing in when the tip flew round. It was a panic reaction and I hit it too hard and snapped my hooklength. I weighed in with 12lbs 7oz 1st Steve Foster with 22lbs 10oz, 2nd John Carter with 16lbs 6oz, 3rd Fred Hunt with 15lbs 12oz and 4th Tony Cruci with 15lbs 3oz. Only one blank today and he was still in hols mode.

Club match/outing

Home Farm small lake

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 39lbs 1oz 2nd Fred Hunt 20lbs 9oz 3rd Rob Calderon 19lbs 6oz

Gary's day Today found us at Home Farm's small lake after a reshuffle from last week as it was frozen over. A couple of surprise frosts before Sunday was not good news. Out of the bag came peg 7 for me; in the middle and with the 2 end pegs on either bank next to me. Not where I wanted to draw. It was going to be day of fishing maggots long on the pole for anything swimming and maybe something in the edge later where I had a bush either side. Mark got off to a flying start with a carp in the first 10 mins. It was then though a long wait for us all bar Fred who was getting a few roach on peg 3. An hour in things improved with a few roach coming out and Fred starting to get a few carp. For me it was roach only until I found a small carp half way through down the edge on bread punch. But it was on its own. Some of the roach were nudging 6oz and worth catching but too few and too slowly to match the carp. As the day warmed up Mark, Rob on 5 on the other bank's end peg and Fred kept ticking over with the odd carp. Just the 1 more carp for me and the rest of my bank was painfully slow with Phil and Tony having a tough day. At the weigh in it was all down to quality with the 3 having around 6 carp each with Mark having a couple more carp but of a much better stamp. 1st Halverson 39lbs 1oz, 2nd Fred Hunt 20lbs 9oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 19lbs 6oz. Picture today is the lake - nice and clam before the off - Fred's peg to the left and Rob's to the right.

Winter League

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Rob Calderón 5lbs 3oz 2nd Steve Foster 2lbs 11oz Jt 3rd Fred Hunt 2lbs 9oz Jt 3rd Bill Beeston 2lbs 9oz

Phil's day Hi all, Weds club fished its 4th round of our winter league on our Backwater. For a few hours there I thought I would have to cancel because of the high winds but, by 8 am, the winds had almost gone. I drew peg 7 not been used for quite a while so didn't know what to expect. The water was in good condition but way too much flow but can't do anything about that. I fished bread punch and maggots - very slow to start with and that's how it went all day. I did manage to put 1lb 14 oz in the net for a few points 1st Rob Calderón with a very good weight of 5lbs 3oz, 2nd Steve Foster with 2lbs 11oz , joint 3rd was Fred Hunt and Bill Beeston with 2lbs 9oz. Pic is Fred Hunt on the next peg to me.

Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

N/A

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 3lbs 13oz 2nd Fred Hunt 2lbs 5oz Jt 3rd Rob Calderon 1lbs 13oz Jt 3rd Gary Pickard 1lbs 13oz

Gary's day After a bitterly cold week that left all the lakes in the area frozen it was the Backwater for us this Sunday - the second time in a week for some.  It was a good choice as the trees kept the worst of Storm Isha at bay. Out of the bag came peg 12 for me, with the pegs in either side that does not leave you with a lot of river to play with but you do get a gap in boats across from you.  A pike swirling at fish as Rob on 13 was setting up made it clear there were going to be some pike problems today. A start on bread punch gave me a sail away bite on the first drop in which I completely missed.  A few runs through later I had my first fish; a very small dace.  Around me everyone else was having a slow start with just the odd small fish coming out.  A swap to maggot did not improve the quality but at least I got a few chances at hitting the small and quick indications I was getting on the float from the small fish.  As expected Fred, Rob and Mark all had run ins with pike and there were so long spells without bites as they were hunting in my peg.  About 12 I hit into something that was not the tiny fish I had been catching - was it pike or perch?  After extracting it from a weedbed I thought the job was done but a roll near the surface let it shed the hook before it was in netting range.  The flash I saw of it was looking a lot more perch than pike and a good one at that.   2 1/2 more hours of chasing bites saw about 70 fish in the net but they were mostly very small and did not even make 2lbs on the scales.  Over on peg 6 Phil took out the match with 3lbs 13oz of good perch and plenty of smaller back up fish.  A dozen or perch and small fish for Fred got him to 2lbs 5oz with Rob and I both with 1lbs 13oz of small stuff. Pic today is Tony doing the rounds with the scales and Rob looking like he is about to take a dive into the River.

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

Phil's day Hi to all on such a cold day. The Weds club cancelled their match on Beggers Hall Lake as it was frozen over, so a few of us had a match on the Backwater on the River Stort as this was clear of ice. I drew peg 6 not a bad peg but with this cold I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a nice flow and a bit of colour in the water. Started off on bread and crumb and gradually started to get a few bites and the odd fish so tried maggots for a while and picked up a few better but roach this didn't last long so back to bread. In the last hour the bites trailed off so it was down to a last resort of pinkies and I started picking up odd very small fish then, with half hour to go, I broke my hook length so on to my lighter rig which was set slightly deeper. On the first run through I had a small perch and, with 5 minutes , left had my last fish - a 5oz perch and a good way to end the match. Thanks to Terry for his help weighing everyone in, and a thank you to everyone in the team for my Christmas present. Pic is Terry and John (in the background) on pegs 12 and 11.

Water booking - Fishing in Mind

Hall Farm Large Lake

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 32lbs 3oz 2nd Rob Calderon 20lbs 1oz 3rd Gary Pickard 16lbs 9oz

It was a trip to Beggars Hall this week with the day being due to be cold but dry. Out of the bag came peg 10 for me; not a bad winter peg but the other side of the island has been better so far this winter. The plan today was simple - casting as close to the trees on the island as I dared and waiting for a bite. The target was 6 bites and, hopefully, 6 fish. Seeing the water being so clear had me thinking that was optimistic. It was going to be a day on the tip although I did set up a waggler just in case. The first hour had me searching around with a bomb with bread, corn and meat for no signs. It was not such a slow start for Mark, Rob and Steve who each had a carp about an hour in. John to my left then lost one. A swap to a hybrid feeder did not help and by 12.30 I had not seen a sign of life in my peg. By now Mark was on 3 fish. A swap back to bomb and bread finally got me a couple of liners and then a bite. You guessed it, it came off after the hard work of getting it away from the tree branches. The next hour was quiet for me but Mark added another couple of carp and was easily leading unless the other end of the lake was fishing well. About 1.30 the tip started moving a bit from liners and I had another bite. This time the fish made the net and a blank was avoided. Another quiet spell followed until getting lots of liners in the last half hour but no bites. It got so bad I was stood behind my box to make sure I did not strike at them. With a couple of minutes to go the tip went round and another carp of around 10lbs went in the net. That was it, the carp had shown up but too late for me. At the weigh in Mark had clearly won it with 5 fish but they were on the smaller side for Beggars. Rob was admitting to 15lb with one chunky mirror - it went 20lb on the scales! Mark's 5 fish went 32lbs 3oz for the win followed by Rob's monster at 20lbs 1oz with my 2 coming in at 16lbs 9oz . Photo today is Rob's 20lb - you don't need many bites for a decent weight at Beggars at the moment.

Water booking

River Stort Backwater

N/A

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Bill Beeston 21lbs 9oz Jt 2nd Barry Cornel 21lbs 4oz Jt 2nd John Todd 21lbs 4oz 4th Phil Whitmill 20lbs 15oz

Phil's day Good cold day to all. The Weds club fished its club match at Hall Farm large this week. This is my second day out since my illness must admit I wasn't looking forward to it especially the weighing in . I was lucky to draw a low bank peg so some of my battle was won. Ony 9 of us turned up so only 3 pegs on the step side high bank. Started off on feeder with pellet banded to a hair rig - this wasn't working so put a maggot rig on and a much lighter hooklength and, within 15 minutes, had my first carp. It's now 12.40 and I am down by 4 fish to my right and 2 fish to my left but plodded on to catch 4 more with a weight of 20lbs 15oz. First Bill Beeston with 21lbs 9oz , joint 2nd was Barry Cornel and John Todd with 21lbs 4oz and 4th place Phil Whitmill with 20lbs 15oz. Picture today is Bill.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st John Todd 15lbs 15oz Jt 2nd Phil Whitmill 11lbs 2oz Jt 2nd Rob Calderon 11lbs 2oz

Gary's day After a bit of a break for the Christmas/New Year period the first match of 2024 ended up on Hall Farm's large lake after some reshuffling due to conflicts and the River being in flood. Thankfully the day was due to be dry but it was a chilly start. The draw bag arm needs a bit of work as I pulled out peg 9 - not really where I wanted to be and with pegs 8 and 10 also in it was going to be a tough day. With the water still carrying quite a bit of colour the plan was the pole at 5 sections where it was 3 sections (10ft) deep and then a feeder out long plus pinging the odd bit of corn long for later. After an hour trying maggot, cage and hybrid feeders without a sign things were not looking good. Mark, on peg 8, then had a bite on the pole and foulhooked a carp on the strike which came off - at last some signs of life in the lake. Time to try the pole and .... not a sign. Back out on the feeder it was. Rob on peg 10 then had a carp on bomb and bread and Mark one on a method feeder. I was getting battered either side. Finally I had a bite on bomb and bread a couple of hours in and a small carp was safely in the net. Word came down the bank that Phil had 2 carp and John 1 so it was clearly fishing tough. Despite trying the pole a few more times there was nothing there - this seemed to be the case for everyone. Rob then picked up another couple of carp and it looked like a 2 horse race between him and Phil. I had 1 more bite before the all out but it came off pretty much on the final whistle and there ended my day - 2 bites and 1 carp for 3lbs 15oz. In the meantime John had snuck 3 more fish into his net to win with 15lbs 15oz with Phil and Rob sharing second spot with 11lbs 2oz. Picture today is Rob with his 3 carp on a very hard day.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

River Stort Backwater

N/A

Match cancelled due to flooding.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Xmas match

1st Steve Foster 33lbs 14oz 2nd Gary Pickard 23lbs 5oz 3rd Barry Cornel 17lbs 1oz 4th John Carter 11lbs 15oz

Gary's day Phil, along with a number of the other regulars, were out of action with various illnesses so we were a little down on numbers for the Xmas match but that just meant more mince pies and sausage rolls for the rest of us. Get well soon lads. I spread us about a bit so we all had a spare peg either side as the heavy rain the day before was likely to make it a tough day. I was left with peg 20 in the bag - an OK peg but not a flyer. With expecting a tough day I risked going out to 11 metres on the pole and hoped I had some shelter from the bank behind from the forecast wind. It was a very slow start with no signs at all on a maggot feeder. There were carp topping giving you a false sense of bites to come - I suspect that they were just looking for some warmth in the top layers. Steve though got off to a flying start with a couple of decent looking carp on the pole on peg 6. Finally, I had a small carp after an hour on a hybrid feeder but nothing more. Another hour in I finally had a couple of bites on the pole - the first one was foul hooked and came off but the next came in. Steve was also still catching the odd fish. I then had a quick run of 3 carp swapping left and right pole swims potting in maggots and a few micros but it did not last and the next hour was biteless. The lake switched on a little towards the end with Jeff on peg 24 getting a couple of carp and another showing up for me on the feeder. I could also see Tony on peg 8 had had a couple. Steve though had another quick flurry of fish on bomb and bread and it was game over. Today's results 1st Steve Foster 33lbs 14oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 23lbs 5oz, 3rd Barry Cornel 17lbs 1 oz and 4th John Carter 11lbs 15oz. Photo is Steve with his winning net of fish. A big thank you to Phil and Terry for running the Weds matches - have a great Christmas and New Year all.

Club match/outing

Home Farm Small Lake

Xmas match

1st Mark Halverson 27lbs 10oz 2nd Gary Pickard 27lbs 6oz 3rd Rob Calderon 27lbs 1oz

Gary' day Today was the Club's Christmas match at Home Farm's small lake. It was another mild day but with a brisk, cold wind. Out of the bag was peg 1 for me, a little out of the wind and with it sort of off my back for a change to being in my face. I started out as long as I thought I could hold if the wind picked up at 7 sections. There were some encouraging bites from the off but only small roach even on expanders. A try in a few places around the peg found more roach but no carp. After about an hour Rob on peg 3 hooked a carp so, hopefully, they were feeding now. It was time to risk the far bank with the pole at 14.5m, thankfully the wind was manageable. After a few roach I struck into something that was not a roach. After it finished tearing around the peg, a clear foul hooker, it finally came off way too close to the net. But I did get a free float that came back with my rig! I then had a quick flurry of 3 carp before they sulked off. The next 2 hours was a case of scraping together some more roach with Rob putting the odd carp in the net. The far end of the lake was also improving with Mark and Jeff tangling with a few carp . Finally, with 30 minutes to go, I found some more carp as close to the far bank tree as I dared to go. The first went charging under the tree and came off. The second was better behaved. I don't think it knew it was hooked and, after a few tense minutes on a 2.6lb bottom, a good double was in the net. That was it for the big fish. In a ridiculously close finish 1st Mark Halverson 27lbs 10oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 27lbs 6oz and 3rd Rob Calderon 27lbs 1oz. Picture today is John with a grass carp that decided to put in an appearance - you don't see many of them around here.

Winter League

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Bill Beeston 2lbs 6oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 4oz 3rd Steve Foster 1lbs 8oz 4th Rob Calderon 1lbs 4oz

Phil's day Morning to all. The Weds club fished it 3rd round of our winter league on the River Stort Backwater. Got to the river at 7.45 to find it was running hard after a night of heavy rain. It had plenty of colour so, although not the best conditions, I decided we would not cancel the match. I drew peg 14. It's a good peg but today was anybody guess. I picked out my heaviest rig, a 1 grammer, and looked for a slightly slower run and that was full over to the barge. Only made 1 rig as I couldn't see any point in setting up any more. Fed red maggots and chopped worm - it was difficult to judge where to feed should have used a bait dropper but didn't. I got my first perch after 40 minutes and went on to catch a few more throughout the day mixed in with the odd roach. I weighed in 2lb 4oz and had a good day being busy most of the day. 1st with 2lbs 6oz Bill Beeston, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 2lbs 4oz , 3rd Steve Foster with 1lbs 8oz and 4th Rob Calderon with 1lbs 4oz. No blanks today. Pic is from my peg looking down river.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 47lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 29lbs 1oz 3rd John Todd 19lbs 2oz

Gary's day It was another mild but wet week which saw us at Hall Farm's large lake this week. Thankfully it was a lot less windy than the day before but was going to be wet. Out of the bag came peg 12 for me with us spread down the low bank. Peg 12 has its days, was this one? After 2+ hours of trying the feeder and a couple of pole lines it was not going well. Not a bite or sign of fish bar one small liner on the feeder. I had no idea how the rest of lake was fishing as the trees down the bank meant I could not see anyone. Finally I had a bite on the pole and the strike was met with solid resistance. But it came off. At last some encouragement. A few minutes later I had another bite and after some very careful playing ..... it came off. The day was going very badly. Another 20 mins passed and then another bite and another fish hooked and this one escaped after straightening the fine wire hook. Time for a stronger hook. Finally I had one in the net and then another 10 mins later. But that was it for the pole line - 45 mins of activity and then it died. A consolation carp on a maggot feeder was it for the day and the last 90 mins was biteless for me. Down the other end of the lake things went a bit better with the feeder accounting for most fish. 1st Mark Halverson 47lbs 5oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill 29lbs 1oz and 3rd John Todd 19lbs 2oz. Picture today is my very wet swim whilst packing up - thankfully the rain stopped.

Water booking

River Stort Backwater

N/A

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 11 points to Abbey Cross's nil 1st Phil Whitmill 1/2 (0.5) oz

Phil's day Good morning to all, the Weds Club fished its inter club match against Abbey Cross on their Taylor's Lake. It was a very cold start to the day with frost and ice on the lake. We had a low turnout mainly due to a wave of bad colds. I drew peg 23. Not a bad peg but with the conditions I was hoping for a bite it was going to be a hard day. I fed just two lines on pole both at 10 meters but a left and a right. I fed a very small amount of groundbait with red maggots and micro pellets this got me a bite and a small perch so no blank for me today. I carried on trying both lines but that was it end result was half an ounce and that won me the match and Bishop's Stortford the win with 11 points to nil. 1st Phil Whitmill 0.5oz. Pic is my peg and next to me Martin Adams the A/C captain.

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 4lbs 1oz 2nd Mark Halverson 3lbs 1oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 2oz

Gary's day After a cold and wintery week we headed to the Stort Backwater today. Expectations were for a tough day scratching around for bites as the river was quite clear. Out of the bag came peg 10 for me, not a peg I have ever fished before. It is one of the deeper pegs with 7ft off the bank but only a top 5 wide. A start on breadpunch about 3/4 of the way over had bites coming but the fish were tiny with anything near 1oz being a bonus. A swap to maggot made no difference but at least I got a few goes at hitting the very shy bites from the small dace I was catching. About half way through Phil over on peg 12 shouted over that Tony on peg 14 had just had a big perch. I was now a long way behind. The 3/4 line completely died after an hour and a half and desperation had me trying the inside on a top kit given it was so deep. A small perch of 2oz on the first drop in had me excited but that soon faded and it was back to micro dace. And that was it for me for the rest of the day: occasional flurries of small dace and a couple more small perch on the inside; a couple of 1oz dace on the 3/4 line; and not a sign over by the boats. At the weigh in I had around 70 fish but of much too small a size for a bit under 2lbs . The winner today was Tony off peg 14 who stuck it out for about a dozen perch for 4lbs, then Mark had a mixed net if smaller fish for 3lbs and then Phil with just over 2lbs. Picture today is Tony with a couple of his perch.

Water booking - Fishing in Mind

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Peter Green 68lbs 2nd John Todd 36lbs 3oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 31lbs 5oz 4th Jeff Pearson 25lbs 6oz

Phil's day Good morning to all. The Weds club fished the club lake at Beggars Hall. It was a very cold and frosty day so we all were double wrapped up. I drew peg 16 not a bad peg but a long chuck to the island. Only fished the feeder with various baits on a method feeder. I got my first carp at 10 am, it was quite small for Beggars but grateful for the bite and I got my number six at 2 pm finished at 2.30pm I weighed in at 31lbs 5oz not too bad. First Peter Green with a very good winter weight of 68lbs, 2nd John Todd with 36lbs 3oz, 3rd Phil Whitmill with 31lbs 5oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 25lbs 6oz . Well done to all for sticking it out in the cold snap, pic is my peg 16.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 55lbs 12oz 2nd Gary Pickard 45lbs 8oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 45lbs

Gary's day It was a cold start today at Beggars Hall with 2 nights of frosts and it hovering at 0C until well into the morning. Thankfully though there was little wind and the rain held off. Out of the drawbag came peg 16 for me. A decent draw based on recent outings. We were all pegged around the island today as this has been the better end of the lake. With a raft of leaves out in front of me set up was simple: feeder and bomb with the pole staying in the bag. The plan for the day was also simple - a chuck to the island on a method feeder or bomb and a shorter line with a little cage feeder. With it being cold I started cautiously just trying bomb and bread. 30 mins in I had had no signs but Mark on peg 12 had 3 carp. Time for trying some feed and out went the method feeder. 90 mins in Tony on 17 had 1 carp, Mark on 13 had 6 carp and Phil on 10 had 2 carp. It was not going well. Finally, I had a carp which was played very carefully, and then another. The third fell off though at the net and so ended that run. The carp then came short for Mark and he started hooking them on the pole. The come back seemed to be off. After a very quiet middle of the match I started getting a few bites and Mark's swim was fading. Phil had a couple more but I was slowly catching up. At the weigh in it was a close day. Mark ended up with 55lbs, myself with 45lbs 8oz and Jeff on peg 18 with 45lbs. With the lowest weight being 14lbs+ it fished a lot better than feared. Today's pic is the view over the bowl - Mark over on the right, Phil to the left bank and the leaves in front.

Winter League

Hall Farm Large Lake - venue change

N/A

1st Steve Foster 48lbs 3oz 2ndTerry Moranda 30lbs 13oz 3rd Ray Gibson 26lbs 8oz 4th Dave Sellick 22lbs

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds club fished its second round of its winter league at Hall Farm. We were promised a good weather day with no wind or rain so even a hard day will be a pleasure. I drew peg 22 again so kinda knew what was in store for me but you never know that's what keeps us coming back. Alternated between pole and feeder for 3 carp and a bunch of roach and rudd with tiny perch for 12lbs 10 oz. First place Steve Foster with 48lbs 3oz, second was Terry Moranda with 30lbs 13oz, 3rd Ray Gibson with 26lbs 8oz and 4th Dave Sellick with 22lbs (Guest) , with no blanks it was a better day all round, a donation of £20 .00 was made by Barry Cornel and Ray Gibson.

Club match/outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 50lbs 11oz 2nd Gary Pickard 35lbs 4oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 13lbs 15oz

Gary's day It was Home Farm's small lake for us this weekend after yet another very wet but still pretty mild week. The water though was cold after all the rain. Out of the bag came peg 8 which I was happy with as it is usually a good winter peg with a long, deep margin. It was quite a slow start with the odd roach until I finally had a small carp on the long pole (well 6 sections as it was gusty) on expander. Mark opposite on peg 3 also had a carp about the same time and then a couple more before it then went even quieter with even the roach proving very tricky. The rest of the lake was fishing hard too with just the odd roach and, at one point, the far bank were all out on the feeder which shows how slow it was. Mark had a couple more decent carp and I was falling behind. Things started to improve about 1 but it was a case of wading through the small fish and rotating swims for the odd better fish including a couple of 1lb+ perch and occassional carp. The long edge failed me today with very few bites even from roach. Perhaps the wind blowing into it was a bit too cold. On the far side though Mark had a golden last hour when the carp rocked up in his quite shallow, but sheltered, margin and they were a better quality than the fish I had. At the weigh in Mark had 50lbs to my 35lbs with Phil snagging a couple of late carp for 13lbs and third. Today's pic is a very calm looking view towards the far bank, the wind started just after the whistle went - of course.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Terry Moranda 46lbs 15oz 2nd Steve Foster 22lbs 12oz 3rd Peter Green 22lbs 11oz 4th John Carter 19lbs 1oz

Phil's day Good morning to all. The Weds club fished Hall Farm lake today. It was going to be hard with the odd exception after a cold and wet few days. I drew peg 22 a good peg - I did manage to bag 1 carp and a few perch and lost a carp that slipped the hook and weighed in 5lbs 2oz. Word got through that peg 26 was catching well and I could see Peter on peg 3 was doing OK. End result was first Terry Moranda with a run away weight of 46lbs 15oz, 2nd Steve Foster with 22lbs 12oz, 3rd Peter Green with 22lbs 11oz and 4th John Carter with 19lbs 1oz. Thanks to Gary Pickard for his assistance in the weighing in. Picture today are the high bank pegs ready for the all-in - the wind started just after!

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

Sawbridgeworth club lake

Brandon Shield

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/aA

1st Mark Halverson 90lbs 2oz 2nd Rob Calderon 40lbs 6oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 37lbs 2oz

Gary's day It was back to Beggars Hall today after a drier but colder week. Out came peg 19 for me, not a peg I fancied as the fish seem to always be moving through it rather than stopping. Rob got off to a flying start on peg 5 with a carp on the first cast. And so did Mark on peg 16. Peg 19 was a lot slower. After an hour of trying the method feeder without any signs it was time for plan b. Finally I had a bite on a little cage feeder with groundbait and maggot. I was not best pleased though when it came off right at the net and a good looking double figure common headed back into the deeps. A hope that this was the first of a few fish did not materialize. I had a consolation 8oz roach a couple of casts later but even the perch and silvers were not playing ball. A few carp had slowly been coming out with Jeff on 18 and Rob on 5 having a few with John on 4 and Terry on 20 slowly catching up. Another roach on the pole was my lot for the day; not a blank but not far off. Mark over on 16 had a great day with 14 carp and a rogue bream for 90lbs 2oz. Rob then just pulled ahead of Jeff with 40lbs 6oz to Jeff's 37lbs 2oz. Picture today is Mark with part of his winning catch.

Club match/outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 3lbs 5oz 2nd Mark Halverson 3lbs 3oz 3rd Rob Calderon 2lbs 3oz

Phil's day Good evening to all, the Weds club fished its weekly match on the Club's Backwater part of the River Stort. It was a wet day but I am used to that now but at least it dried up before the weigh in. I drew peg 14 not a bad peg and I was in with a chance. Made up three lines: over to the barge;and down the middle; and a perch line on the inside. The flow was very good and the colour was dropping out all the while. I did chopped worm over to the barge, bread punch down the middle track and worm and mags on my inside line. It took 45 minutes to get a bite but they were there. Did all my catching down the middle track on red maggots - tried the punch but they were so small - 50 to the pound size. I weighed in 3lbs 5oz most were 2 or 1 oz fish but had a couple of 4 to 5 oz, 1 being a 4oz skimmer hybrid. 1st Phil Whitmill with 3lbs 5oz, 2nd Mark Halverson with 3lbs 3oz and 3rd Rob Calderon with 2lbs 3oz. Pic is Dave Fuller and John Todd on pegs 13 and 12.

Event - Canoe Club

River Stort

N/A

N/A

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 75lbs 10oz 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 5oz 3rd John Todd 31lbs 4oz

Gary's day It was back to Hall Farm today after another wet but still quite mild week. Today was going to be pretty windy and peg 12, which had some shelter, was looking very inviting. Out of the bag came peg 6 - no shelter today but it has been a good peg recently so I was pretty happy with this. I got off to a flying start with an F1 on the first cast with a little maggot feeder. The next 30 mins gave me 2 more small carp but then the silvers moved in. They were not a bad quality but it was too slow. It was hard to tell how the rest of the lake was fishing as the wind drowned out the give away noise of netting fish. A change to the pole, fishing just over 5 sections so I could hold it relatively still in the wind, saw the silvers coming regularly. With plenty of rudd around 6oz and some chunky perch pushing 1lb they were well worth fishing for. Phil in peg 4 was getting the odd fish on the feeder as was Tony on peg 8 but it was looking slow for Mark on peg 2. The odd quieter spell marked a carp or F1 being in the swim and, thankfully, a few decided to feed. A quick try shorter have me a couple more F1s but the wind made presentation difficult. Mark on peg 2 was now catching with Tony and Phil still putting fish in the net. The pegs further to the right were an unknown. At the weigh in my nets went 75lb with over 10lb of silvers and a really enjoyable day with plenty of bites for November. The match was pretty tight with a couple of good fish making all the difference for places. 1st Gary Pickard 75lbs 10oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 38lbs 5oz and 3rd John Todd with 31lbs 4oz. Picture today is Mark and me (behind camera) bothering Phil before the all in.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Beggars Hall

N/A

Abbey Cross won on the day with 95 points to Bishop's Stortford's 75 points 1st Peter Green 61lbs 8oz 2nd John Carter 39lbs 15oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 32lbs 12oz 4th Barry Cornel 31lbs 8oz 5th Tony Cruci 30lbs

Phil's day Hi to all, the Weds club held its monthly match against Abbey Cross on our club waters at Beggars Hall. It was well attended with 18 anglers so a few bad pegs went in but not a lot I can do about it as there is only 22 pegs on the lake. It was a damp start and the rain got steadily heaver as the day went on. I drew peg 9, a peg that is not usually used but that's how it goes. I decided, as it's about team points, I would fish for silvers but on carp tackle just in case. No carp today but weighed in 4lbs 14oz of good roach which kept me busy most of the day. 1st was Peter Green with 61lbs 8oz, 2nd John Carter with 39lbs 15oz, 3rd Jeff Pearson with 32lbs 12oz, 4th Barry Cornel with 31lbs 8oz and 5th Tony Cruci with 30lbs. Pic is my peg. Abbey Cross won on the day with 95 points to our 75 points

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st John Carter 92lbs 2oz 2nd Mark Halverson 77lbs 6oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 54lbs 2oz

Gary's day It was another bright start at Beggars Hall with the view at the draw being that there would be no rain; we were very wrong. Out of the bag came peg 4 for me. A good summer peg with the dubious pleasure of giving you a great view of fliers 17 and 18. A quick try on hard pellet on the pole had no signs so it was on to the feeder. An hour in things were not looking good - no bites or liners and John on peg 5 was reeling them in. Finally, I had a bite after just over an hour and one of the smallest carp in the lake was in the net. At least a blank was saved. With no more signs on the method feeder I had another bite fishing a small cage feeder. Sadly it came off. Time to try the pole again which seemed to be working for Mark over on peg 17 who was also now catching well. A couple of dead maggots on the hook was getting me bites but from small perch and not the carp I needed. And then the rain started about 12.30 and the next hour was not pleasant. At least I had a bite from a proper carp during the downpour but then it was back to the small perch. At this stage it looked a 2 horse race between Mark and John - they looked to be fish for fish. A consolation third carp with about an hour to go had the hopes up but then it was perch again. At the weigh in my 19lb came nowhere. John's steady day on the feeder took him to 92lbs 2oz, with Mark's 77lbs coming second with Phil sneaking his way into third with 54lbs off peg 10. Today's photo is John with part of his winning catch.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Peter Green 71lbs 3oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 47lbs 3oz 3rd Rob Calderón 43lbs 2oz 4th Gary Pickard 39lbs 13oz

Phils' day A good Morning to all, the Weds club fished its club match at Hall Farm. There was a good turn out so some not so good pegs were in the bag. I drew peg 26 a very good peg but very shallow water and this cold snap will have an effect. I made up two lines: one at 10 meters; one in the margins; and, of course, the feeder for next to the weed beds. I fed micro pellets and mags in my margin and mixed pellet and corn at 10 meters. Started off with the feeder for the first hour but, apart from the odd very small roach and perch, nothing so on to my 10meter line. Tried that for a while but nothing again so tried my margin - had some small roach and a couple half pound chub. Then, out the blue, had my first carp on red maggot. I stayed on this line for another hour or so and got another carp then nothing so back to the feeder and had two more carp then nothing so, with the margin rested, spent the last hour down there and had 3 more carp to weigh in 32lbs 9oz. 1st Peter Green with 71lbs 3oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson with 47lbs 3oz, 3rd Rob Calderón with 43lbs 2oz and 4th Gary Pickard with 39lbs 13oz. Pic is of my peg number 26. A big thanks goes to Gary Pickard for helping me at the draw and weighing the high bank in.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Dave Knapp 29lbs 15oz 2nd Mark Halverson 27lbs 2oz 3rd Gary Pickard 25lbs 14oz

Gary's day After a very wet week thanks to Storm Babet Sunday dawned clear and cold, not quite a frost but very close. With a good turnout we were on both banks today and it was a good job we each had the extra space Out of the bag came 22 for me which I was happy with; not a flyer but consistent especially as we move into the colder months. There were a few fish topping as we were setting up which is always encouraging - they disappeared as soon as the whistle blew of course. A start on the long pole on hard pellet gave me a few bites but nothing was there when I struck even on sail away bites. A move to one side and try with maggots found me the culprits - lots of roach. At 4oz each and noone really catching it was worth going for them though whilst I waited for the carp and F1s to rock up. Over on peg 2 Darren had a couple of carp on the feeder and Mark on 6 had another but it was slow going. A carp after about an hour along with the silvers was keeping me in the game. A foulhooked and then a bumped couple of fish finished off the right hand swim though. Time for a break and an early sandwich. A couple of small carp on a maggot feeder was a welcome boost but the waits were too long. There were plenty of carp cruising but annoyingly well out of pole range. They seemed to be coming in but my margins were lifeless. So out back long it was to the end. Slowly the small roach I was catching started to grow and another couple of carp kept the weight ticking over. It was going to be a close match as a few of us looked to be at around 20lbs. A couple of late big carp made the difference for Dave on peg 26, with Mark having a steady day fishing a patient short pole match. And my silvers, including a rare chub, helped me pip Jeff to third. 1st Dave Knapp 29lbs 15oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 27lbs 2oz and 3rd Gary Pickard 25lbs 14oz. Pic today is the lake just before the all in with bright, blue skies unlike the rest of the week.

Winter League

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Bill Beeston 2lbs 7oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 1lbs 9oz 3rd Steve Foster 1lbs 6oz 4th Rob Calderon 1lbs 3oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds Club fished the Backwater for its first round of our winter league. I drew peg 2 not a good peg but not too bad - it's very deep, a full match top deep. My plan was to be bread punch and worm with the odd maggot. Well bread was out as it was much too deep so maggots down the middle track and chopped worm over by the barge it was. Got a small perch on maggot within 20 minutes then a few roach a little bigger than the usual size. The it was over to my worm line - not a twitch on worm so tried maggot over there and got broken up on a very decent perch. Stayed there for a while but nothing so back down the middle and had a couple more roach then a pike take and another hook length gone. Carried on there until the end of the match and lost another good perch ending up with 1lbs 9oz 1st Bill Beeston with 2lbs 7oz, 2nd Phil Whitmill with 1lbs 9oz, 3rd Steve Foster with 1lbs 6oz and 4th Rob Calderon with 1lbs 3oz. The cold snap had had a bad effect on the catches today. Pic is the Backwater from my peg.

Club match/outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 78lbs 7oz 2nd Rob Caderon 47lbs 3rd Gary Pickard 30lbs 4oz

Gary's day Autumn is here and it was a cold start at Home Farm with a bit of a frost on the ground. It was bright and sunny though so was due to warm up. Out of the bag came peg 7. With the cold overnight and a good bit of cold rainwater going in the lake during the week it could be a hard day A small carp early on with micros and expander had my hopes up but it was a false dawn. An hour in I had the 1 carp and just a couple of roach, even they were not feeding. As the sun made its way over the trees the lake slowly came to life starting on peg 1 with Mark starting to catch. The sun took a long time to swing round until it hit our end of the lake and my feet were very cold by lunchtime. Mark was still catching and so was Rob now on peg 6 to my right. The middle pegs though were proving a lot trickier - Phil catching the odd roach over on Peg 3 and Tony losing a few carp on Peg 8. Finally, I had some sun about 2 and started warming up as did the fishing. A swap to a lighter rig helped as the bites were shy, winter bites with some just moving the float. Sadly it was much too late for me and a series of foulhooked fish that fell off did not help. Mark took out the field with 78lbs 7oz of paste fish followed by Rob with 47lbs and a thanks for coming of 30lbs 4oz for me (but with a big bonus perch of just under 2lbs thrown in). Pic today is Rob at the weigh in.

Club match/outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Bill Beeston 99lbs 10oz 2nd John Carter 84lbs 5oz 3rd Rob Calderon 82lbs 7oz 4th Jeff Pearson 55lbs 3oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds Club fished their match at Hall Farm club lake. It was a good turnout with 15 anglers so I had to make a few alterations but all had an empty peg on one side. I drew peg 19 again for the 5th time in a row of either 19 or 20 - had enough now. I decided to fish pellet and corn and stick to it got it wrong again but that's fishing. 1st Bill Beeston with 99lbs 10oz and golden peg winner to double his winnings, 2nd John Carter with 84lbs 5oz, 3rd Rob Calderon with 82lbs 7oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 55lbs 3oz. It was a close match with all framers within one or two fish, well done to all.

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

R Jarvis Rose Bowl (2 of 2)

1st Gary Pickard 144lbs 11oz 2nd Peter Green 54lbs 14oz 3rd Mark Halverson 44lbs 3oz Winner of the Ralph Jarvis cup was Mark Halverson - points TBC

Gary's day It was a sunny and hot day for us at Beggars Hall which meant that, by the end of the day, pretty much every peg was being fished. Out of the bag came 17 for me, not quite 18 but I was very happy with this. I was not so happy when the top section of my bomb rod broke whilst I was setting up. With the weather being warm it was a start on pellet waggler. Sadly there were no signs, although Peter had better luck on it. I had flicked a few pellets down the edges and, an hour in, the left edge started colouring up. A quick try had signs straight away and then a chunky mirror heading to the net. 2 lost fish later it was time for a rethink - they were coming in but not feeding confidently so causing foulhooking. A go on a small method feeder had 2 more in the net but it was slow going. A try to the right on pellet and corn had 2 more big mirrors in the net but that was it, it never came back to life. So it was the left edge or bust. Messing around with the feeding and where I was fishing kept the bites coming. Upping the elastic to the strongest I had, 15-17, helped control the fish but they were all not very happy about being hooked. I had a great day ending with plenty of doubles pushing my final weight to 144lbs. Given my day I was surprised the rest of the lake had not fished that well on paper although there were plenty of fish lost which is par for the course at Beggars. 1st Gary Pickard 144lbs 11oz, 2nd Peter Green 54lbs 14oz and 3rd Mark Halverson 44lbs 3oz. Winner of the Ralph Jarvis cup was Mark Halverson. Pic today is the left margin that kept me busy.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Abbey Cross won on the day with 100 points to Bishop's Stortford's 68. 1st Jeff Pearson 16lbs 7oz 2nd Peter Green 16lbs 2oz 3rd Alan Sims 9lbs 3oz 4th John Carter 8lbs 8oz 5th Alan Fox 8lbs 1 oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds team fished its monthly interclub against Abbey Cross at Taylors Lake. We had a selection from 2 bags of pegs we chose the not so good pegs but, to be fair, there was some bad pegs in on both sides. I drew peg 35 - one out of where I would like to have been. Started off with casters and pellet for the bream and roach but it was a hard day all over even on the flyers. I did manage to catch a large skimmer bream and a bream of 3lb or so along with some nice rudd but couldn't keep them interested and weighed in 5lb 9oz for 7th place. Just wish I felt a bit better than I did - very achy and delicate so much so that when I got out the bath I did a covid test that was negative glad to say. In first place was Jeff Pearson with 16lbs 7oz, 2nd was Peter Green with 16lbs 2oz, 3rd Alan Sims with 9lbs 3oz, 4th was John Carter with 8lbs 8oz and 5th was Alan Fox with 8lbs 1 oz. Abbey Cross won on the day with 100 points to Bishop's Stortford's 68. There was a riddle of a half £5 note that has been sorted and its rightful owner will get it on Sun or Weds. Pic is my peg that looked great.

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

River Stort Backwater

Lea and Stort Cup

Bishop's Stortford retained the Lea and Stort Cup with 15lbs 2oz to Sawbridgeworth's 8lbs 8oz 1st Steve Foster 5lbs 6oz 2nd Colin Hawkins 4lbs 7oz 3rd Mark Halverson 3lbs 1oz 4th Tony Cruci 2lbs 2oz

Gary's day Today we were on the Stort Backwater for the Lea and Stort match against Sawbridgeworth. A big thank you to the Thursday Work Party as their work over the last few months has transformed the river. With almost no flow or colour but the water still quite warm it was anyone's guess as to how it would fish. Out of the bag (well envelope today) came peg 8 for me. Not one I have fished before but it always looks good as I walk past. Deciding to keep it simple I had just brought maggots; the last 2 pints from Stansted so a close call. Plumbing up I was surprised to find it quite a bit shallower under the boat so needed to make up another rig. The shallow water was not a great sign for perch action. It was a slow, slow start. Not unexpected as maggots can take a while to work especially if the water has not been fished for a while. But when those fishing breadpunch had not gotten off to the usual quick start on this method things did not look good. 5 1/2 hours later I had scratched my way to 25 fish for 1lbs 3oz, the fish must have been hollow. Around me had faired no better with Mark and Fred upstream from me being plagued by crayfish when trying for perch. Well done to Steve and Colin at the top end who stuck to their guns going for perch with Colin having a huge 3lbs 7oz specimen - sorry no photo. Bishop's Stortford retained the Lea and Stort Cup with 15lbs 2oz to Sawbridgeworth's 8lbs 8oz And individually 1st Steve Foster 5lbs 6oz, 2nd Colin Hawkins 4lbs 7oz, 3rd Mark Halverson 3lbs 1oz and 4th Tony Cruci 2lbs 2oz. Picture is my peg at the end of the match

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

1st Terry Moranda 55lbs 12oz 2nd Peter Green 47lbs 4oz 3rd Bill Beeston 36lbs 2oz 4th Jeff Pearson 34lbs 10oz

Phil's day Hi all, the Weds Club fished just its club match on Beggars Hall club lake this week. I drew peg 3 not a happy bunny but you never know. Well I found out the hard way - ended up with a few oz of perch and roach so it's a D.N.W for me. Peter next to me was catching all day so it seemed In first place Terry Moranda with 55lbs 12oz, 2nd Peter Green with 47lbs 4oz, 3rd Bill Beeston with 36lbs 2oz and 4th Jeff Pearson with 34lbs 10oz. Pic is Peter Green at peg 4.

Club match/outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

Malcolm Barker Rose Bowl (1 of 2)

1st Gary Pickard 13lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Halverson 8lbs 5oz 3rd John Todd 3lbs Gary won the MBL Rose Bowl with 2 points, second was Mark with 4 points and third John with 8 points.

Gary's day It was Malcolm Barker Lake today for the second leg of the MBL Rose Bowl. A win in the first round meant I had everything to lose. With weights expected to be low it would be tight and easy to drop points quickly. Peg 3 was my home for the day; the same peg I had on the first match so set up would be quicker. After having a careful look at the swim I decided not to weed rake. The lilies looked reasonably clear and the left was so weedy I would be there still clearing it. Well it was a very slow start for all. Finally I had a couple of small fish on the waggler and maggot but it was hard work. When the wind got up I swapped to the pole. When a 2oz roach decided to go on a run to the middle of the lake the slow start was clearer - I had some pike in the peg. 2 more roach went the same way to pike and one even had a go at my pole tip when it splashed in the water when shipping back. Around noon it was looking like a very low weight affair with only a few small fish being caught. Then slowly the lake revved up. About this time I hooked a tench on my roach gear. I had hopes of landing it after getting it to the top but it soon dived back in the weed and we parted company. Out came the heavier pole rig from the box. A few small skimmers then started showing but never more than 2 at a time. A couple of the quiet spells were down to tench and 3 went into the net after a lot of playing through the weed. I had seen Mark and John netting a few fish including at least 1 tench for Mark. On the far side Tony and Phil had some run ins with bigger fish but none landed so far. And Fred was struggling with small roach in peg 2. At the weigh in I was surprised to have over 13lbs, I am useless at guessing tench weights. 1st Gary Pickard 13lbs 11oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 8lbs 5oz and 3rd John Todd 3lbs. Photo today is me for a change.

Club

Various

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Wednesday Club Summer League 2023 1st John Carter with 55 points 2nd Terry Moranda with 54 points 3rd Bill Beeston with 47 points 4th Fred Hunt with 44 points

It was another close finish with it all coming down to the last match and droppers. In the end John just pipped Terry for 1st after the final match at Hall Farm. 1st John Carter with 55 points 2nd Terry Moranda with 54 points 3rd Bill Beeston with 47 points 4th Fred Hunt with 44 points

Summer League

Hall Farm Large Lake

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1st John Carter 70lbs 7oz 2nd Bill Beeston 56lbs 12oz 3rd Tony Cruci 51lbs 1oz 4th Fred Hunt 42lbs 4oz

Phil's day Afternoon to all, the Weds club fished its final match of the summer league at Hall Farm club lake. I drew peg 20 what a stinker of a peg I fished as best as I could but could not get the carp going. I managed to get two small carp and 2lb of silvers and even they were hard to come by. As for the rest of the lake it fished quite well with plenty of weights in the 40lb mark 1st John Carter with 70lbs 7oz, 2nd Bill Beeston with 56lbs 12oz, 3rd Tony Cruci with 51lbs 1oz and 4th Fred Hunt with 42lbs 4oz

Club match/outing

Home Farm Small Lake

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1st Gary Pickard 152lbs 10oz 2nd Rob Calderon 65lbs 15oz 3rd Mark Halverson 53lbs 15oz

Gary's day Today saw us at Home Farm's small lake near Little Walden. With a Caravan Club meeting the last 2 weeks the lakes had seen plenty of pressure. Out of the drawbag came peg 8 for me which I was pretty happy with. On getting to the peg a little gardening was needed as the rushes had gone mad. With margins restored it was time to decide on tactics. With the water being low and foulhooking always an issue in this shallow lake it was time for big baits to pin the rig to the bottom and shallow rigs. A start out long on 6mm pellets was fruitless; a couple of small bites likely from roach. Likewise having a go at the odd cruising carp I could make out did not work. At this stage, Rob 2 pegs to my right, was starting to catch. It was time to try and get a few bites. I had been feeding the odd pellet to my margins which were pretty much the same depth as out long - 2 foot or so. 3 fish in 3 puts in on paste had my day sorted. I kept pinging the odd pellet long and giving it a go to rest the margins but I may as well have gone for some walks. Between runs of foulhooking fish and needing to make a few changes to convert to proper hookholds the bites kept coming. The far bank was struggling despite it looking perfect with a warm wind heading their way but the fish had other thoughts. Rob also seemed to still be catching with some regular splashing from the other end of the lake - apparently not as many as I thought as quite a bit was down to some very active carp trying to escape his nets. At the weigh in a busy day saw me with 152lbs 10oz with Rob Calderon on 65lbs 15oz and Mark Halverson on 53lbs 15oz. Pic today is Tony, Mark, Rob (hidden) and Phil (lurking in the background) at the weigh in.

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Bordeaux Pits (Saffron Walden water)

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Saffron Walden won with 82 points to Bishop's Stortford's 56 points 1st Clive Bradford 10lbs 8 oz 2nd Brian Newman 10lbs 3rd Brian Mizon 8lbs 8oz 4th Bill Beeston 7lbs 1oz 5th Phil Whitmill 6lbs 10 oz

Phil's day Hi everyone, the Weds Club fished it 4th and final match against Saffron Walden on their lake Bourdeux Pits. It's a pretty lake with lots of twists and turns. It's a silvers match where king carp count for nothing, I drew peg 9 - it's a good area but very carpy so tackled up a bit heavy for roach but no choice. Made 2 lines at 10 meters and 8 meters in open water hoping the carp would stay away. Fed small amounts of corn and pellet with groundbait. I started off at 8 meters on red maggot and caught very small roach and rudd - did this for a while till it got hard to catch then on to my 10 meter line. This produced much better silvers with the odd skimmer and then the carp moved in. With a 2.8 lb hooklength didn't fancy my chances but did manage a small f1 which counted. Then I got my first carp of about 10lbs and after a lot of playing the fish I managed to land him so put it back and half hour later started to pick up the roach again then got into another carp. This time it snapped my hooklength, soon got back to catching roach but the swim had taken a beating from these carp and it was getting slower and slower. Then, with half an hour to go, got another carp played this one real slow and got him in. It was a common of the about same size and went on to catch a couple more roach before the match finished. I weighed in 6lbs 10 oz. First Clive Bradford with 10lbs 8 oz, 2nd Brian Newman with 10lbs, 3rd Brian Mizon with 8lbs 8oz, 4th Bill Beeston with 7lbs 1oz and 5th Phil Whitmill with 6lbs 10 oz. Winning team on the day was Saffron Walden with 82 points to Bishop's Stortford's 56 points - well done to all. Pic today is Peter Green with Peter Mottram chatting before the match.

Interclub (Abbey Cross and Sawbridgeworth)

Hall Farm Large and Small Lakes

Triple Cup

Bishop's Stortford took home the Cup with 35 points to Abbey Cross 38 points and Sawbridgeworth 61 points Large Lake lower bank 1st Tony Parker 44lbs 10oz (AC) 2nd Ray Gibson 37lbs 10z (BS) 3rd Phil Whitmill 23lbs 13oz (BS) Large Lake high bank/steps 1st Gary Pickard 54lbs 6oz (BS) 2nd Mark Halverson 42lbs 13oz (BS) 3rd Dave Salick 32lbs 8oz (AC) Small Lake 1st T Smith 14lbs 10oz (AC) 2nd Tony Cruci 9lbs 13oz (BS) Jt 3rd Barry Fox (AC) / Dave Fuller (BS) 4lbs 8oz

Gary's day Today was the big match of the year, the Triple Cup between BS, Abbey Cross and Sawbridgeworth. 3 teams of 9 descended on Hall Farm with both lakes in use. The mid-week match had fished OK but we had had another 3 days of 30+C temps and today was going to be another scorcher. Out of the draw bag came the middle pegs for our team; not a great start meaning we had not one of the 6 end pegs. Tony, Barry and Dave opted to fish the Small Lake with the rest of the team on the Large Lake. Peg 21 and the high bank section was my draw. Whilst setting up there were plenty of rudd and roach with the odd carp swimming around in front of me so that pretty much had my day planned - shallow. Now would they feed? A few quick, decent quality silvers saw me off the mark and it was soon clear that the carp were swimming rather than feeding. A few carp and f1s did finally take a pellet but only when close to a couple of big weed clumps in front of me. It was a slow plod but I looked to be doing OK as the pegs I could see on the far bank were pretty quiet and so was Jeff to my left. About half way through it was time to try the margins as I needed a break from fishing shallow for little to show. A couple of quick fish on corn to the left had me excited but then the swim died a death and never really came back. The right margin was much better but with the weed only 5/6 metres away every fish went charging for it. At the all out I ended with 54lb and the all important max team points and we seemed to have done pretty well on the Large Lake. In a very close finish Bishop's Stortford took home the Cup with 35 points to Abbey Cross 38 points and Sawbridgeworth 61 points. Well done to all in toughing it out in pretty extreme conditions and roll on next year.