Match results/Events info

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 42 points to Abbey Cross' 29 1st Jeff Pearson 13lbs 40z 2nd Fred Hunt 1lb 8oz 3rd Bob Fox 1lb 4th Graham Carter 11oz

Rob's day Another Interclub match with Abbey Cross today – on the Car Park Lake as the Top Lake had not been fishing too well as late. Apparently, a few fish, including some bream, had been showing lately so hopefully a few more fish than last time (weighed in one perch for a generous 1oz on the last match). Most of the fish caught then were at the entrance end so that’s where we wanted to draw. I drew peg 12 the furthest away from the car park end – as it happened didn’t really matter as the small fish seemed to have disappeared from pegs 28 and 29 where they showed last time. Lake looked completely dead, not a sign of a fish topping at the start so knew it was going to be tough. Set up a maggot feeder rod to cast to the island 20 meters away and a couple of pole rigs for out at 11/13 meters. Also, a 2 ½ meter whip for fishing down the edge if thing were getting desperate (which they did get). After 3 hours no bites anywhere so started thinking about catching anything for points. Over on peg 21 Jeff looked to have landed a good carp on the pole – turned out to be over 13lb – Fred also hooked but lost a carp on the feeder. News came that, apart from that, all were struggling – most not getting a bite. Into the last hour and now fishing tight to the bank on a piece of worm – surprised to get an indication on the float and a quick dip – sadly missed the bite (think the perch were smaller than the bait!) Luckily next drop in the float went again and a perch around 1 1/2oz was in the net. Added a couple more to end up weighing 2oz. At the weigh in our team did well in the circumstances, most managing a perch or two to get points for our team – Fred managed a bream of 1 ½ lbs to get second in the match – well behind Jeff’s 13lbs 4oz – Bob Fox weighed in 1lb for third and Graham did well catching a few perch and roach down the edge on worm for 11oz and fourth. The DNWs made the difference in the team match - Abbey registering three DNWs to our one (with one discarded due to us having seven anglers to Abbeys six). Final team result Abbey Cross 29 Bishop's Stortford 42. Sorry no photo today.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Stort Cup 1 of 2

1st Rob Calderon 6lbs 6oz 2nd Bob Fox 6lbs 5oz 3rd Steve Foster 5lbs 11oz

Gary's day Today was a trip back to the Stort Backwater with a good turn out for a river carrying a good bit of colour. A draw towards the top of the stretch was going to be needed to do well as the fish seem to be shoaled up at this end. Out of the bag came peg 7, the complete wrong end but at least it was an end peg. With the water being so coloured the breadcrumb was left in the freezer and it was to be maggots and some worms for a perch or 2. Perch were out of the question though as there was a floating platform opposite that kept moving back and forth blocking the gap between the boats. Down the middle it was then. Jeff above me on peg 8 got off to a good start with a couple of small fish whilst I was still feeding some groundbait down the swim. My own start was slow with not a sign running a rig through near the bottom. After 30 mins I got the mid water rig out and had a couple of decent bleak in quick succession. It looked like it was going to be a small fish day. A couple of hours in Jeff had a run of small perch over by his boats so maybe there were a few better fish about. Above us they were catching well and we needed a bonus fish or three. As usual the fishing got harder as the day progressed and the fish smaller. By the end I had about 70 fish in the net but the quality was not great and it would need a small miracle to get anywhere today. I had a little more than I feared with 1lb 13oz but nowhere near enough to do any good. As expected, the pegs towards the weir fished better with the fish being caught generally a better stamp too. There was a good showing of perch to just over a pound with Bob and Steve having a good net of them - along with a pike of just under 7lbs for Steve. On the scales Bob was just beaten by Rob with 6lbs 6oz to Bob's 6lbs 5oz and Steve with 5lbs 11oz was 3rd. Thankfully no DNWs this week after a tough few weeks. Photo today is Bob with what we thought was the winning net until we got to Rob.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

Low bank 1st Jeff Pearson 50lbs 2nd Steve Foster 13lbs 1oz High bank 1st John Carter 31lbs 9oz 2nd John Todd’s 21lbs 1oz

Rob's day At Beggar's Hall today – after rain and winds yesterday the forecast was dry and light winds, although there was a frost this morning and temperatures around zero as we drove in. Nine on the bank today so pegged 4, 5, 6 and 10 on the low bank and 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21 on the high. I drew peg 20 – not near the island where I wanted but the lake looked ok with a bit of colour so hopeful for a few fish. Started off on the feeder out to the middle – 10 minutes in John Carter to my left was in to a fish – then a few minutes later my tip went round for a carp around 5lbs. 20 minutes later the tip moved again and a better fish landed around 10lbs. It looked like it might be a good day, but sadly that was my last carp. Tried method feeder, bomb and bread/corn and the maggot feeder but only other bite came a couple of hours to go from a nice tench around 3lbs. Also tried the pole close in but no bites. John had caught a few more including a small carp on the pole and a bream around 5lbs on the feeder and ended up with 31lbs 9oz to win the bank. Close for second place with John Todd’s 2 carp coming in at 21lbs 1oz including one at over 14lbs (see pic). Graham on Golden peg 18 had 20lbs 3oz and my fish 19lbs 4oz (the tench needed to be a carp, but not complaining, first tench for a long time) On the low bank pegs 4, 5 and 6 fished hard with Steve and Bill catching a single carp and Fred not getting a bite. Steve’s 13lbs 1oz was good enough for second from peg 4 but no match for Jeff on peg 10 who weighed in 50lbs for an easy win. (Peg 10 has produced in the last few matches) So a disappointing day after such a good start, not sure why a couldn’t get any more bites after a good start but at least most caught something.

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 19lbs 2oz 2nd Gary Pickard 3lbs 3rd John Todd 3oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to Malcolm Barker Lake and we were expecting it to be tricky. It can be tricky in the summer nevermind in the depths of winter. Out of the bag came peg 20 in the middle of the riverside bank with no features in front. Not a peg I was hoping for. For company I had Rob on 19 and Darren on 21. The plan was: a couple of long pole swims, one with groundbait and one just loose fed with pinkies; a bomb/feeder rod; and an emergency perch edge rig. I started out on a bomb with a bit of bread or meat for the first hour seeing if a rogue carp was willing to feed whilst the pole lines settled after feeding them. An hour passed without a bite which was pretty much what I expected. What I was not expecting was that only 1 small roach had been caught an hour in. A try on the emergency perch line did not get a wobble. Being able to see the bottom 5 feet down probably did not help. Time for the long lines. I decided to start on the negative line and completely missed the first bite as I could not believe the float went under. A quick rebait and the float went under again and a very welcome 1-2oz Rudd was in the net. I had 3 small rudd in quick succession before the swim went quiet. Every now and again I had a couple of bites/fish after resting the swim. The rest of the lake was struggling and 2 hours in only Darren and me had caught anything. That was until Mark's feeder rod tip wrapped round and a good fish was on. Seeing the carp's tail sticking out of Mark's net as he landed it meant I was fishing for second unless I could find something better than 2oz rudd. The positive long pole line was a waste of time but the pinkie line kept giving me the odd small rudd and occasional roach. It was hard work as all the bites were pretty much as the float settled so there was a lot of relaying the rig in. The rest of lake was still fishing very badly. John managed a couple of small fish near the end and Darren added one more but that was it. For no reason a few small fish had ended up in front of me and I ended with 40+ small fish. A busy day and more bites than I have had on MBL for a long time. 5 of us though went biteless, MBL is a tough venue at times. It was pretty obvious who was today's winner but Mark was not expecting the carp to be quite that big - it topped the scales at 19lbs 2oz. My busy day got me second with 3lbs and then it was a close one for 3rd with John 's 3 fish going 3oz to Darren's 2 for 2oz - and that was it. Today's photo is Mark with his MBL lump of a carp.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Winter League 4 of 6

Low bank 1st Rob Calderon 36lbs 10oz 2nd Graham Carter 29lbs 8oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 14lbs 12oz High bank 1st Fred Hunt 32lbs 2nd Steve Foster 18lbs 7oz 3rd Bill Beeston 12lbs 2oz

Rob's day At Hall Farm today for the fourth round of the Winter League. Mixed results on the Sunday match here so not sure how this would fish today – the majority of fish showing at the shallow end especially on peg 1 on Sunday. Promised to be reasonable temperatures but very wet today and no doubt some wind as always here. Only 8 on the match today so 4 on each bank leaving out the deeper end. I drew peg 4 one away from my Sunday peg 3 so hopefully a couple of bites although peg 5 did not fish well on Sunday. Set up method and maggot feeder rods and a couple of pole rigs to fish at 11 meters and a top 2 and 2 – depth about the same at 4½ to 5 feet. Started on the short pole for nothing then onto the feeder rods. No bites on the tip so concentrated on the pole. By this time the wind had increased along with the rain so difficult to hold any length of pole out, so, decided just to fish short with a heavy float and bulk shot with maggots. Looked to be quiet around the lake – couldn’t really see Phil and Graham on pegs 6 and 8 but on the other bank a few carp being caught in the high 20’s. After an hour and a half had a couple of missed bites and a lost foul hooker before landing my first carp around 4lbs. There was a strong tow but holding on to the float and edging it through started to get a few bites although just small movements on the float. There was obviously a few fish there but the conditions were proving difficult. Into the last couple of hours and now on about 4 carp – still getting the odd bite. Barry was struggling from peg 2 but Fred on 26 catching a few, also Steve getting a couple more on the bomb. Bill then had 3 in quick succession after a slow start, and John looked to have had a couple. Finished the match with 9 carp for 36lbs 10oz. Graham did well from peg 8 catching on the bomb for 29lbs 8oz for second on the bank and Phil completed the weights on the low bank with 14lbs 12oz. On the high bank Fred made no mistake from peg 26 with 32lbs although admitting to losing a few. Steve came second with 18lbs 7oz from peg 24, Bill third with 12lbs 2oz from peg 20 and Toddy 8lbs 10oz from 22. So the lake fished quite well for the time of year – levels still coming up with the pumping of the water from the nearby stream and putting some colour into the lake. Next winter league match – round 5 on the Stort Backwater in February. Today's photo is Graham.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st John Todd 34lbs 11oz 2nd Rob Calderon 20lbs 12oz 3rd Gary Pickard 13lbs 5oz

Gary's day After the freeze of the last couple of weeks we were finally back in a lake and heading to Hall Farm's large lake. With a cold snap mid-week and plenty of rain we had no idea how it would fish. With a few fish topping before the draw it looked better than feared. Out of the bag came peg 10 for me. Not where I wanted to be with it being so deep. The plan was to be: a couple of long pole lines in about 12ft (a full top 3); a little maggot feeder to search around a bit; and a couple of shorter swims in only 8ft. A start on a maggot feeder did not get the quick response I thought I might get as a few silvers seemed to be active. After just under the hour mark the tip went round and 2lb F1 was in the net. Nothing more though so time to try the long pole lines. That proved a waste of time. Coming up to the 2 hour mark neither Tony nor Fred either side of me had had a bite and even the shallower low number pegs were struggling. There was still the odd fish topping but they were well over the other side and out of bounds. Just before the half way mark I had another F1 and then a nice rudd on the feeder but it then went quiet again. A few fish were now being caught in the shallower swims and Phil seemed to have 2 in quick succession on peg 7. Another F1 about 3 hours in kept the net ticking over but the long pole lines were completely dead. I had been feeding a few maggots on the shorter swims all day so, with an hour or so to go, I gave them a try. The float went under almost straight away on the right hand swim and another 2-3lb F1 was in the net. Nothing more though on either line so back to the feeder. With 5 mins to go I decided to sit the match out looking at a float rather than a rod tip. And the float went under again. Sadly though this one came off at the net. It looked like they had turned up at the whistle - typical. It had fished hard in the deeper swims but the rumour was the low numbers had fished much better. As seems to be the case in winter, the weights got better as the water shallowed up with the car park end fishing best. Fish wise though Rob and John only had a couple more but they were a much better average size. 1st today was John off peg 1 with 7 carp for 34lbs 11oz, Rob then picking up 2nd with 5 carp for 20lbs 12oz and then it was me just edging past Phil with 13lbs 5oz. Picture today is John Todd.

Water booking

Cancelled booking - River Stort Backwater

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

1st Bill Beeston 14lbs 8oz 2nd Steve Foster 12lbs 1oz And that's your lot

Rob's day At Beggar's Hall today – following a cold start to the year most still waters have been frozen over for a week or so. Checking Beggar's the last couple of days, due to the milder start to the week the ice had mostly disappeared – on Tuesday all pegs were fishable with the exception of pegs 12 and 13 behind the island. Unfortunately, Tuesday night/Wednesday morning saw the temperatures dip again to around -3c but it was still a surprise to see Beggar's iced over again come Wednesday morning. There were some pegs on the low bank that had a few meters of ice free water so a few of us decided to remain and fish that bank. So, five of us in total we decided on pegs 3-7 would give us the best chance, hoping the sun forecast today would help recede the iceline. I drew peg 6 next to Bill on peg 7, Graham next door on 5, Steve on 4 and Fred on 3. With only around 10 meters of ice free water to go out it was just the case of fishing a bomb or feeder as far out as I could, but I wasn’t feeling too confident expecting the majority of the carp to be balled up somewhere, probably in the middle of the lake or around the island. Bill had less water to go at with the ice creeping into our bank at first not melting at all it would seem. Half way through I had a walk down to see if anyone had anything and saw Steve halfway up the bank with a double figure carp in his landing net so we hadn’t all blanked. Into the last hour and the ice at last started to thin and move out – a look to my left saw Bill with his landing net in the water – a walk over saw a carp around 12-15lb safely netted (not easy with Bill sitting up high on the bank) Caught on the waggler around 8 or 9 meters out. Bill's fish went 14lbs 8oz to win the day with Steve the only other to catch with his carp going 12lbs 1oz. Good to see a couple of carp being caught even in these extreme conditions. Next couple of matches Sun and Wed at Hall Farm, hopefully ice free and a couple of bites!

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Darren Cope 4lbs 14oz 2nd Fred Hunt 4lbs 10oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 3lbs 14oz

Gary's day With all the lakes being frozen still it was the Backwater again this Sunday. Thankfully not as cold as last weekend but with a threatened drizzle all day. Thankfully it only started as we were leaving. In contrast to last weekend's very clear and barely moving river today it was heavily coloured and pushing through. Out of the bag came peg 7 for me which I was pretty happy with as it has a bit of a slack being in one of the corners. For company I had Tony below and Phil above. It was a slow start but by the end of the first hour I had about 10 small bleak in the net. They only ever seem to show up when the river is flooded. Below me Tony, John and Rob were struggling to get any bites. And above Phil and Fred were catching a few small roach. A try for perch by the boats was soon abandoned as a floating platform kept being pushed back and forth by the flow blocking off my line. So it was back to bleak. For the rest of the match it was a case of chopping and changing depths, maggot or pinkie on the hook and different areas of the peg. There seemed to be never more than 2 fish on any 1 combination and most wanted to be nowhere near the bottom. Below me they were still struggling and I ended up the last peg as you went downstream to catch anything. It was definitely a river of 2 halves today with the upstream half fishing much better. In the end my 40 or so small fish just nudged over 1lb for nowhere with the higher number pegs dominating the day. It was close between Darren and Fred with Darren just edging into the lead with 4lb 14oz to Fred's 4lbs 10oz. And then Phil picking up third with 3lbs 14o. Photo today is Phil and Fred's fishier bit of the River.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Cancelled due to ice - River Stort Backwater

N/A

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 3lbs 14oz 2nd Mark Halverson 2lbs 4oz 3rd Darren Cope 10oz

Gary's day After last week's match I was not looking forward to today, however, with everywhere else frozen, it was the River or nowhere. It was a very cold start to the day with the car registering -4C as I set off and it stayed pretty much below zero in the shade all day. Thankfully though it was dry and the Backwater was sheltered from the bitterly cold wind. On arriving I was surprised to see the Backwater had started freezing up and we just managed to find 5 pegs that were pretty much ice free for those crazy enough to be at the match today. Phil drew the short straw of peg 8 which was not as ice free as we had thought - sorry Phil. I was up on peg 16 today - some flow but not as much depth with about 4 1/2 feet down the middle. It was a standard Backwater start for me: some breadcrumb/liquidised bread for fishing punch; a bit of worm near the boats for perch; and a few maggots/pinkies drip fed in. After 30 mins on bread punch and quick try by the boat I was biteless. This was not a good sign as bread punch is normally pretty instant. Darren down on peg 14 had managed a couple of small roach so at least there were fish present. What we had both been seeing though were plenty of pike strikes. About 45 mins in I popped on a single white maggot and let the float run down the peg to try and find anything. Towards the bottom the float shot under and I struck into something that was not a small roach. After seeing all the pike strikes I was certain it was a pike. After a couple of minutes I had not been bitten off so thought I may as well try and get it in the net so I could move it out of my peg. I was very surprised to see a silvery flash that was not a pike as went to net it - chub! After the inevitable dive for snags near my feet it was in the landing net and looked a pretty solid 2 1/2 - 3lbs. That was going to be worth a lot of micro roach. After the commotion I refed my peg and had a quick wander to thaw my feet. Phil had had a 4lb pike and a tiny roach but Mark on Peg 10 was getting a few perch. He was looking the man to beat today. Tony on peg 18 was struggling for a bite and Darren was busy watching pike swirl around his float. The rest of the day was a lot less exciting and it turned into a real grueller with tiny bits of bread punch being the only thing I could get a bite on. And when I did get a fish they were tiny - they must have been 60 to the pound. I never did get a bite on maggot or even a single pinkie. I ended with a dozen small roach to add to the chub. It was a tough day with bites at a premium and the fish that were caught being on the small side (mostly). Mark managed 9 perch in the end for 2lbs 4oz but my rogue chub was bigger than I thought and went 3lbs 11oz - I suspect it might have eaten a few of the small roach as I am sure I had a few more than were in the net. After that it was down to ounces with Darren's 20 fish coming in at 10oz for third. Hopefully next weekend we will be ice free and get a few more fish.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Phil Whitmill 5lbs 12oz 2nd Darren Cope 4lbs 4oz 3rd Steve Foster 4lbs

Gary's day After a chilly day on Saturday the morning started off pretty mild although the wind that picked up later soon dropped the temperature. At the draw out came peg 2 for me which I was pretty happy with. It is quite narrow but pretty deep which I thought would help with the lack of flow and the River being crystal clear. An hour later I was not so sure as I was bite less and Tony on peg 4 was also struggling (apart from a small jack pike). Phil up on peg 6 was doing OK though with a few small roach and perch. At last, I had a tiny dace and a small perch but after these 2 the swim died again. Despite searching all over with worm, maggot and bread punch I just could not get a bite. Tony suddenly had a couple of decent perch around noon and I was a long way behind without even thinking about how the top half of the River was fishing. And then Phil had a decent perch of around 1lb and I was a very long way behind. Up at the top of the River and out of sight there were quite a few fish being caught. With half an hour to go and out of desperation I set the float to half depth (4ft - I said it was deep) and put on a tiny piece of bread punch and the float went under. It was only a small dace but a bite at last. And then the small fish were suddenly there and it was a bite as soon as I could get a float in - they were pretty small though and I needed the better roach to show. Sadly, there was no heroic come back as a canoe suddenly came round the corner and the fish disappeared for a bit until they turned around. My flurry of small fish did not save from a miserable 8oz and bottom of the weigh sheet - if only they had been there from the start. The River had fished much better as you went up towards the weir with quite a few reasonable sized roach and more perch coming out. Darren had a busy day on peg 15 for 4lbs 4oz of mostly small fish which pipped Steve on peg 10 with 4lbs who had a mix of roach and perch but Phil was the clear winner today with 5lbs 12oz including a couple of perch over a pound - the best was 1lb 3oz.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 32lbs 2nd Gary Pickard 10lbs 1oz 3rd Darren Cope 7lbs 2oz

Gary's day The last pre Xmas match had us at Home Farm's small lake today. It had not been fishing well recently and we feared the worst. I was surprised to see it was pretty much at its normal level and was very coloured. It was peg 7 for me today, pretty much in the middle of the far bank and a bit hemmed in by pegs 6 and 8. I really wanted peg 1 which Rob was in as the carp seem to be down that end at the moment. The match started better than our last visit with most people getting a few bites off roach early on. A try on expanders and corn for carp was a waste of time so I swapped to maggots to get something in the net. The first 90 mins flew by the odd roach coming out but they just did not seem to settle. You caught a couple and then they disappeared. After a quiet spell the float went under and it was not a roach. After a brief fight the rig came back with a large scale on the hook - foulhooker no. 1. Another 30 mins with a couple of roach and this time when the float went under with a carp it made it to the net. If the match ended then it would have been job done. Sadly not and Rob then started catching whilst we all looked on. Darren on peg 6 and Fred on peg 5 were having a good run of small roach with lots of splashing through most of the afternoon. A few nice roach and 1 more foulhooked carp towards the end was my day done. There was only going to be the one winner today with Rob wiping the rest of us out with 7 carp for 32lbs. My carp made all the difference giving me second place with Darren putting a good net of roach on the scales for just over 7lbs and 3rd. Photo today is Fred with his bag of roach.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Xmas match

Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 29lbs 5oz 2nd Barry Cornell 3lbs 5oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 2oz High Bank 1st Tony Cruci 29lbs 10oz 2nd Bill Beeston 24lbs 3rd Gary Pickard 14lb 4oz

Rob's day At Hall Farm for the last Wednesday match before Christmas. Thanks to everyone for putting up with me at the draws and weigh ins over the last year and for the good turnouts this year. We started on a good note on a pretty cold morning despite the ice on the car this morning and mist driving in. Thanks to everyone who brought sausage rolls and mince pies and to Peter for his pre-match Gin. Onto the fishing – I drew peg 20 in the middle of the high bank – thought there may be a few fish today with Gary’s 70lb coming off peg 18 on Sunday. Set up a feeder rod, bomb rod and a pole at 11m in about 9 foot of water. At the start went out on bomb and corn and second cast had a slow pull round and a 3lb F1 in the net. No more on the bomb so after an hour went onto the pole where I had been feeding maggots. After half an hour had 2 bites – a 4oz roach and a 6oz skimmer – then no more. Alternated between the bomb/feeder and pole and eventually had a couple of carp on a hybrid feeder/wafter. Looking over to the far bank, Phil looked to be having a good day on peg 2 catching the odd carp on the feeder from the off. Apart from that very quiet on that bank although Jeff seemed to drop a carp off at the net near the end – no one likes to see that! Whistle at my lips the tip flew around but to my surprise nothing on the end!! It was obvious that for some reason the fish wanted to be in the shallower water today with the top three weights coming from the car park end. Tony’s 29lbs 10oz from peg 24 beating Bill's 24lbs from 26 – Gary came third from peg 16 with 14lb 4oz beating my 12lb 6oz On the low bank Phil’s 29lbs 5oz from peg 2 easily won the bank with the next best weight a solitary carp from Barry at 3lbs 5oz – Jeff only needed 2oz for third place. Some DNWs on that bank today. Photo today is Tony. At the end a nice surprise with a collection handed to me from all the Wednesday club members – thanks a lot for that – much appreciated.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Xmas match

Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 37lbs 1oz 2nd John Todd 21lbs 6oz High Bank 1st Gary Pickard 76lbs 12oz 2nd Rob Calderon 20lbs 7oz

Gary's day It was Hall Farm today for the Club's Xmas match and, at long last, we were going to have a dry day. The last few weeks have been tough with me seeming to just need one more fish to get in the frame. Surely, I would get a decent peg today? Finally, the draw gods waved at me and I pulled out peg 18 - not a flyer but an end peg today and a reasonably warm wind was blowing my way. Again, it was box in the water time as the level is still very low. Then it was a gamble as to how long I dared fish the pole as the weather forecast was for it to be breezy. I settled on 13ms where I had a full top 3 (11ft) of water and then over to the left a bit shorter where I could hopefully still fish if the wind got up - it was still 7ft. After a quick feed of the pole lines I started off on a small maggot feeder hoping for a quick fish. The quick fish went to Darren on peg 4 and John on peg 2 but I finally had a small F1 after about 30 mins. After another 30 mins on the feeder I had no more bites only a couple of liners. Darren though was off to a flyer with another couple of carp in the net. It was time to try the long pole line as the wind was OK. After a few minutes the float dipped and I nice 6oz roach was in the net - no blank today. A quick re-feed with some groundbait and the float went under again this time with a nice little carp of about 3lbs. I was still behind Darren and John though as they had both had another carp each. About 90 mins in the peg changed and suddenly the fishing was good. It was not hectic but every now and again the float went under and a carp or F1 was on. A try over to my left also produced a couple of quick fish but then it went quiet. By swapping between the 2 lines a steady run of carp kept coming - a bit of a handful playing them on a top 3 when they came from the deep line. Phil over in the corner on 12 was also getting the odd fish and so was Peter who was pretty much opposite me on 8. Daniel to my right was also getting a few on the feeder. The lake was fishing a lot better than I had expected. At the all out I had 18 carp in the nets after one of the best days out on the bank I have had in ages - I can't remember the last time I caught a decent fish on the float. Phil ended up winning the Low Bank with a quick run of fish near the end for 37lbs and I had the High Bank sown up with 76lbs with Rob second with 20lbs 7oz. Second place on the Low Bank was ridiculously close with less than a pound separating 3 anglers with John just edging out Darren by 1oz with 21lbs 6oz for second on the Low Bank. Many thanks Tony for organizing the prize table. Today's photo is a very happy me with a few fish at last.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

Winter League 3 of 6

1st Bill Beeston 5lbs 4oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 4lbs 7oz 3rd Peter Green 3lbs 15oz 4th Tony Cruci 3lbs 11oz

Rob's day On the Stort Backwater today for the 3rd round of the Winter League. Twelve on today with the River looking pretty good after the recent rain – a good colour and a decent flow. I drew peg 7 which looked ok but no slack water except close in with the current flowing towards the far side barge. Set up a couple of whips and a pole rig for the Perch by the barge. Had limited bait today as my Willy Worms delivery was lost by Royal Mail (next time go to Stansted Angling!) Tony did give me some pinkies to go with my 2 worms dug up in the dark last night. Started on bread punch and after a couple of quick roach about 2-3 oz caught small fish steadily for the first hour. After that, bites tailed off – not sure why, maybe the pike that was swirling in the swim a couple of times or my feed was drifting into the downstream peg? Next door Tony on peg 6 was catching a few roach including a few better ones around 4-6 oz – also quite a few splashes from Bill on peg 8 – obviously a few fish being caught today. Tried close in on the 2 metre whip and had one roach then a better fish hooked – felt like a good perch but unfortunately slipped the hook. Apart from one or two small roach on maggot near the barge that was it from me – no sign of perch over and the roach never came back. At the weigh in it looked like everyone caught and a few good weights today. Phil took the lead with 4lbs 7oz including a nice perch (that was bigger than it looks in the photo) but was overtaken by Bill's catch that went 5lbs 4oz. Peter came third with 3lbs 15oz and Tony completed the frame with 3lbs 11oz. My fish weighed in 2lbs 14oz for seventh. Good to see the River fishing so well, hopefully still producing when we go back in the New Year.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 71lbs 14oz 2nd Fred Hunt 50lbs 7oz 3rd John Todd 47lbs 15oz

Gary's day It was back to Beggar's Hall today. With a forecast for a day of wind and rain I left the pole at home and brought a brolly instead. It was going to be mild though so we hoped for a few fish. With winter being here I was wanting a peg near the island but it was not to be. Peg 19 was my home for the day and where I seemed to spend most of last winter's matches. A first hour on cage or maggot feeder finally found me a couple of small perch so I was not going to blank. And they seemed to be the only couple of fish caught down our end of the lake. 90 mins in I popped my head from under the brolly to see if Phil on peg 18 had caught anything to find him playing a carp. After a couple of hours Rob on peg 21 also had a small carp and suddenly my rod bent round with a carp taking a liking to my wafter. A careful few minutes later a 10lb common was in the net. It then went very quiet with no more signs until about 1 when I had 2 good bream in quick succession on sweetcorn. But then it went quiet again all the way until 10 mins to go when Rob had a better carp and a small one followed for me a few minutes later as if they had been swimming through our 2 swims. It soon became clear that we had been at the wrong end of the lake although Darren had done well with 5 carp on peg 22 and Phil had managed 3 more carp in the last half hour. The pegs up by the island had the better day with quite a few carp being caught. In the end Mark made no mistake from peg 10 to win with 71lbs 14oz of mostly smaller carp, Fred coming second off peg 13 with 50lbs 7oz and John Todd taking 3rd with 47lbs 15oz. Picture today is my peg before the all in - it was raining by the time we started weighing in.

Water booking

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

N/A

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

Abbey Cross just taking the win with 71 points to Bishop's Stortford's 68 points 1st Steve Foster 8lbs 15oz 2nd A Barker 4lbs 8oz 3rd Martin Adams 1lb 3oz 4th Peter Green 1lb 4oz 5th Phil Whitmill 1lb 2oz

Rob's day At Taylor's today for another inter club match with Abbey Cross. Martin decided to have this match on the Car Park Lake as the Top Lake had produced poor results recently. Never fished this lake before so at least something different. To make the numbers even we lent Abbey Bill and Graham, so 8 a side. I drew peg 5 on the car park bank. No islands or features to be seen although apparent a bar running across the centre of the lake. Set up a couple of pole rigs – 11 meters at 5 foot and closer in at around 7-8 foot. Fed some groundbait on both lines and started on maggots. The sun and the tree line making it almost impossible to see the float in front so fished to the right in the whitewater feeding maggots. Three hours in not a sign on any line. Graham and Tony to my left also fishless, but over on the other bank opposite the island, Steve seemed to be getting a fish a cast - looked to be mainly small roach. A couple of hours left had my one and only bite – a one inch perch. At the weigh in – looked like the small fish were shoaled by the island around pegs 28 and 29. Steve weighed an impressive 8lbs 15oz to easily win the match – on the next peg A Barker came second with 4lbs 8oz. Martin 3rd with 1lb 3oz from peg 27. Further down the lake Peter Green’s 1lb 4oz gave him 4th and Phil had 1lb 2oz for fifth. After that only ounces caught with my micro perch not registering on the scales so given 1oz. Team wise it was close with Abbey just taking the win 71 points to 68 Thanks to Martin and Abbey Cross for hosting the match – next one on January on the Stort – hopefully more than one bite! Picture today is the view across to the flyers.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 29lbs 7oz 2nd Rob Calderon 20lbs 3rd Mark Halverson 18lbs 10oz

Gary's day After getting soaked the last few times we have been out it was nice to have a dry day at Hall Farm. A cold start and windy but the sun warmed things up. We were all down the low bank today with peg 4 for me. I really wanted to be either side. Today was going to be a long line on the pole, if I could hold it still enough, and then the feeder. I fed a shorter line but did not expect to get anything on it. The start was very slow for us all, the silvers had stopped feeding so it seemed it was to be carp or F1s. After about an hour I finally had a small roach on the pole - and that was the only bite I had on the pole. A try on bread and then maggot feeder was not going well either until the tip wrapped round and a nice carp of about 6lbs was in the net. Tony to my right on peg 6 was also now catching with a steady stream of carp heading to his net fishing bomb and a bunch of maggots. Mark on peg 2 was also now getting the odd fish on a method feeder and I was falling behind. Up the rest of the bank the other pegs seemed to be struggling too. A lost carp at the midway point when I could not get the line clip off in time looked like it was going to be my last chance of the day as the clock ticked on. Rob on peg 8 was also catching a few now; it was very easy to see the dayglow yellow elastic coming out of his pole. And Mark and Tony were also still getting the odd fish. With 20 mins to go a fish topped in my swim so I quickly reeled in and dropped the maggot feeder where it had showed. 30 seconds later the tip pulled round and carp 2 was in the net. A quick recast hoping it had brought some mates along also got a pretty quick response with my final fish coming in just after the whistle blew. Where had they been all day? It looked like it was going to be a close one between Tony and Mark. The late couple of carp helped me claw my way up the table with just under 16lbs but that lost fish was going to be costly. Tony's half dozen carp came in at 29lbs for 1st, with Rob coming in with 20lbs for his half dozen and Mark third with just under 19lbs for his 5 carp. Photo today is Tony and his winning net.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st John Todd 4lbs 7oz 2nd Terry Moranda 7oz 3rd Rob Calderon 2oz

Rob's day At Wickham Hall today for a Wednesday match transferred from Malcolm Barkers. We were not expecting too much as the temperatures had dropped over the last day or so - it was -2C as we drove in this morning. Also very bright and no wind at all so the lake was flat calm. The sun did warm us up a bit though (at least those not in the shade of the trees!). Seven of us on today so spread around the lake – I drew peg 1 just at the bottom of the sloped path. Set up a long pole in around 10 foot or so and a whip at 6m – around 7 foot. I had intended to also set up a feeder rod for the middle but as I had left my rod bag at home that was not an option! Fed a few balls of groundbait long and one short and started on the whip. After 5 hours on the whip and pole – maggots and pinkies, not a sign! Everyone seemed to be having the same results with the exception of John Todd to my left on peg 3. John seemed to be getting a few bites, after managing one chublet, John had a couple of bream in quick succession and one roach. Forty minutes left and out of the blue had my one and only bite – a 2oz chublet. At the weigh in John easily won the match with 4lbs 7oz (pic), Terry had sneaked out 7 small roach for 7oz for second and my chublet good enough for third. Unfortunately the rest of the field blanked. Hopefully with a further stocking of fish and some warmer weather come spring, this lake will fish better, it’s a nice place to sit and the work parties have done a great job with the paths.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

1st Mark Halverson 52lbs 2nd Kevin Turner 49lbs 10oz 3rd Darren Cope 46lbs 12oz

Gary's day After a cold and wet week we were heading to Beggar's Hall today. The recent Wednesday match had been patchy so we were expecting it to be tough. With 2 pegs left in the bag and all the ones I fancied having been drawn a trip to peg 22 was not what I was hoping for. With the water being so low I ended up putting my box below the platform which gave me a bit of help keeping fish from the right margin's bushes should I hook anything. What this meant though is I could not see another sole with only Phil's pole occasionally lifting above the bushes. It was a very slow start and with not even a nuisance small perch on maggots - it was not looking good. After a bit over an hour I finally had a bite on the method feeder and a good carp of around 10lbs was in the net. The pole proved a waste of time for me but a few of the others caught on it especially Mark on peg 10 and Darren on peg 19. By searching around the peg with a method feeder I slowly ticked up a few more bites and by 1.30 I had 5 carp in the net and was doing a lot better than I expected. I then made the fatal mistake of putting in another net and que a biteless 2 hours. A final smaller carp with about 20 mins to go was my sixth and final bite of the day. I felt that I had done OK from my peg but was expecting to have been thoroughly thrashed from the other end of the lake as that seems to fish better as we get into winter. On sticking my head above the bank and wandering along it became clear that the favoured pegs had done OK but not run away with it. It was a lot closer than I was expecting with less than 6lbs (one carp) separating the first 4. Mark's final carp on the whistle and Kevin's lost carp made the difference to 1st and 2nd with Mark on 52lbs and Kevin on just under 50lbs. And I needed 1 more fish as Darren pipped me to 3rd with 46lbs 12oz (including 3 bream) to my 46lbs 3oz. Picture today is peg 22 during a sunny spell.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Low bank 1st Phil Whitmill 65lbs 4oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 24lbs 3rd Tony Cruci 8lbs 4oz High bank 1st Rob Calderon 40lbs 10oz 2nd Steve Foster 31lbs 6oz 3rd Gary Pickard 26lbs 12oz

Rob's day Back to Hall Farm today after a lot of rain recently and into a cold snap – 2 degrees this morning driving in and was met at the lake with a cold wind blowing into the car park. A good turnout today again with 14 on the bank – I drew peg 18 in the deeper water but maybe that’s where the fish wanted to be today. Started on the feeder but no signs so went onto the pole at around 7 meters on maggots. After a few small perch I hooked and landed the first carp at around 4lbs. The wind at the start was not so bad (although pouring with rain and sleet) but an hour into the match it started to really blow and made the pole difficult at any length. Back to the feeder and had a few liners followed by a carp. Looked to be difficult over the low bank – especially the deeper pegs – Phil on peg 1 seemed to be getting a few though – even though this peg at the moment is very shallow – less than a foot off the reeds. A few early baths today as the wind was not getting any better and feeling really cold. Talking of early baths, bit of a disaster an hour or so in – a strong gust lifted my brolly up and deposited it in the lake. After a quick rush round to the margins I managed to grab hold of the brolly's pole before the brolly sunk into the depths. Not easy to drag out as it filled with water but wading up to my knees just managed to save it. Spent the rest of the day with a boot full of cold water – not ideal. Anyway, back to the fishing – back on the feeder and a run of 3 carp in about 15 minutes cheered me up a bit. Alternating with the pole when the wind dropped a bit bought a couple of more carp – including one good one around 8lbs – but getting presentation right was difficult. One more carp at the end on the feeder short put my weight to 40lbs 10oz – pleased with that with the conditions – but sure there were more carp on the pole line if the wind had dropped. On my bank a mixed bag with 4 DNWs but Gary doing well from dreaded peg 13 (least a bit sheltered) with 26lbs 12oz for third and Steve taking second place with 31lbs 6oz from peg 22. Same story on the low bank – but maybe the fish wanted the shallow water today – Phil weighing in a good 65lbs 4oz to easily win the bank and get top weight on the day. Next to him on peg 2 Jeff secured second spot with 24lbs and Tony’s solitary carp of 8lbs 4oz gave him third place from 12. Hopefully next time we come to Hall Farm the wind will be a bit kinder. Todays photo is Peter with one of the larger roach – weighed 1lb 2oz

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Darren Cope 9lbs 10oz 2nd Tony Cruci 2lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 2lbs 2oz

Gary's day Today was a trip back to Home Farm's small lake. Thankfully the predicated day of drizzle did not materialize but the wind was cold. Out of the bag came peg 3 for me in the middle of the lake. The carp had certainly followed the wind and Tony's peg 1 was lifting with them. We all thought we knew where the winner would come from today. The water was still painfully low and I had just over 18 inches at the deepest. More pole rigs were trimmed down! The first hour passed quickly with no signs on either expanders or maggots and I was not alone. Despite there being small roach topping at our end of the lake and carp going nuts near Tony only Rob had a couple of small roach. Another 30 mins in Darren finally had a carp on and a decent 8lber waddled into his net. After a couple of hours I finally had a roach - blank saved. Surely a carp would be next any moment? Tony was having a very frustrating day with the carp ignoring his bait but after losing one he finally had one in the net around the halfway point. Despite trying all over my peg I never seemed to manage more than 1 bite in a swim before I needed to move to get another bite. The rest of the lake was fishing very hard too and the last hour was pretty much biteless for us all with Phil losing a carp later on. My dozen or so roach were getting me nowhere today. And that is how we finished - Darren's early carp making him a run away winner today with 9lbs 10oz, with Tony's carp coming in at 2lbs 15oz for second and then Rob's net of bits 3rd with 2lbs 2oz. Photo today is Darren.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Winter League 2 of 6

High Bank 1st Bill Beeston 64lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 35lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 31lbs 12oz Low Bank 1st Graham Carter 15lbs 2oz 2nd Ray Gibson 11lbs 9oz 3rd Bob Fox 9lbs

Rob's day Back at Beggar's today – mild for the time of year but with the promise of showers throughout the day which never materialised. 14 on today for the second round of the Winter League, 7 on each bank. I drew 17 – so was hoping for a few bites today but this time of year who knows. Set up a few feet above the water level as too dodgy to put my box in the water. Two feeder rods and a couple of pole rigs – one at 6 foot deep at 11m out and one at 4 foot deep at around 6 feet away from the edge. A couple of hours in with the feeder casting along the island produced nothing – then a bite out of the blue and an 8lb carp in the net. Bill in the meantime had had a couple on the next peg (16). A try on the pole and maggots caught a few roach and perch but needed carp. No bites on corn so back to the feeder across and to my left – not a touch. Back to the pole produced one carp on corn then no more bites. Looked to be hard on the other bank – not a lot of activity and Peter on peg 13 had only silvers. Into the last 30 minutes and Bill next door was having a good day – on about 7 or 8 carp mainly caught on the waggler. Desperation now creeping in, only thing to do was to pack away the pole (always gets a bite) – in fact had 2 in the last 20 minutes to boost my weight to 31lbs 12oz but way behind Bill who weighed in 64lbs 5oz for an easy win – Phil second on the High Bank from peg 18 with 35lbs 15oz and me third. The rest of the High Bank fished hard with a couple of DNWs It was difficult on the Low Bank with Graham topping the weights with 15lbs 2oz from peg 3 – Ray second with 11lbs 9oz from peg 2 and Bob third from peg 6 with 9lbs. The rest struggled with just a solitary carp or silver – Peter included a 3lb bream in his catch. Not often that pegs 2 and 3 finish first and second on this bank. Hoping for a bit of rain soon as levels still painfully low – no doubt we’ll complain when it does rain though! Photo today is bagger Bill.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Darren Cope 45lbs 4oz 2nd Mark Halverson 40lbs 13oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 40lbs 6oz

Gary's day After another mild week it was back to Hall Farm's large lake with the water still very low but a bit of colour left. It was to be peg 20 for me today pretty much in the middle of the high bank. With some space near me it looked a pretty good draw, not a flyer but should be good for a few fish. I set up rigs for out long on the pole in 10ft of water, closer in 6ft and near the margins in 3 1/2 ft. I had forgotten how deep it gets in these pegs even with the low water. A try on expanders on the 6ft line was pretty useless with not a wobble of the float. Jeff over on peg 10 was off to a flyer though with a carp in the first few minutes. A try out long brought a few bites but shipping 13m of pole for a 1 ounce roach was not much fun. A try shorter was also full of small silvers. It looked like I was in the nursery peg today. Everyone else seems to be having similar issues with small fish. Phil though was having none of these issues with his maggot feeder catching a steady run of carp. Mark on 26 was also having a good run on the method feeder. Finally at around halfway the float went under on the long line and it was not a tiny roach. Not the biggest of F1s but worth a lot of the roach I was getting. Next drop in the float went under again and a nice crucian was also in the net. Had the carp rocked up? Sadly not, I had another couple of smaller carp but the swim then filled with mini roach. Darren on peg 8 was now starting to get a few carp on the pole and it looked like it was between him and Phil. Peter on fancied peg 2 also had a couple of carp later on but was having the same issue with silvers. A try towards the margins to avoid the mini roach was mostly a swap for micro perch although I did get 1 more carp and lost a couple more that were foulhooked. A very frustrating day with the wrong fish finding my maggots. My lost couple of fish did not make a huge difference but it was a tight finish with 3 on around 40lbs. Heading the 40lb pack was Darren Cope with 45lbs 4oz and then a battle of ounces with Mark coming in second with 40lbs 13oz just fending off Phil with 40lbs 6oz. Photo today is Phil who I thought had the match sown up.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 57 points to Abbey Cross' 70 Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 34lbs 12oz 2nd Peter Green 33lbs 11oz 3rd Steve Foster 28lbs 6oz High Bank 1st Bill Beeston 27lbs 10oz 2nd Martin Adams 20lbs 13oz 3rd Gary Pickard 20lbs 2oz

Rob's day At Hall Farm today for an Interclub match with Abbey Cross. 17 on the lake today so pegging a bit tight at places. Lake looked ok – a bit clear but temperatures around 14C promised and little wind to start, so hopeful for a few fish to come out today. Drew peg 9 on the Low Bank – not the best peg and not usually put in being at the start of the deeper water. Thought it would be difficult to match the end pegs – 1, 2 and 12 and that’s how it turned out to be. Set up a feeder but would concentrate on the pole at 9m where it is around 10 foot deep. Also a couple of rigs for closer in with 4 foot in case the carp came in. Started off getting instant bites, mostly from gudgeon and perch but with a few better roach. One hour in hooked the first carp and hoped this would be the start of a few, but sadly not. The wind then increased blowing left to right making things difficult. Had one more carp on this line but no more. Elsewhere all looked quiet on the far bank with most of the lower number pegs struggling, although Gary after losing a couple (looked to be on a relatively light elastic) landed the next 2 or 3. The odd carp also being landed although couldn’t see up to the car park end pegs. Tried the short line and after a quick carp and then losing one (foul hooked) no more bites. Ended the match with 13lbs 2oz. As expected, pegs 1 and 2 dominated with Phil’s 34lbs 12oz from peg 1 just beating Peter’s 33lbs 11oz from the next peg. Steve’s 28lbs 6oz from peg 12 getting him 3rd place on the Low Bank and included one carp of 12lbs 8oz (pic) caught near the end of the match. Unusually the 3 top weights on the Low Bank were the best on the lake with the High Bank (especially the higher number pegs) not producing as normal although Bill did well to top the High Bank with 27lbs 10oz from peg 25 – Martin 2nd with 20lbs 13oz from peg 22 and Gary 3rd from the usually unfancied peg 15 with 20lbs 2oz. Team wise Bishop's Stortford came out top 57 points to 70 (lowest points total wins) Well done to our team for a solid performance and a thank you to Abbey Cross for the match and Martin for helping with the weigh in – assisted by Gary I believe.

River Stort Canoe Club event

River Stort (main river)

N/A

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

River Stort Backwater

Lea and Stort Cup (Sawbridgeworth)

Bishop's Stortford retained the Lea & Stort Cup with 23lbs 15oz to Sawbridgeworth's 11lbs 6oz 1st Gary Pickard 4lbs 12oz Jt 2nd Tony Cruci 3lbs 8oz Jt 2nd Steve Morrells 3lbs 8oz Jt 2nd Rob Calderon 3lbs 8oz 5th Darren Cope 3lbs 3oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to the Backwater for the first Sunday match of the year with us hosting Sawbridgeworth for the Lea and Stort Cup. With all the pegs in use there were a few I did not want today, thankfully I drew peg 12 which normally throws up a few fish. It was going to be the usual for the Stort: bread punch for some roach and a line across by the barges for perch. A few fish topping before the start was encouraging as long as they were not being chased by pike. A start on bread punch was worryingly quiet with a couple of quick small fish and then nothing. An early try by the barges was much better with a short run of perch up to about 8oz before the line died and it was time to rest it. Steve on peg 10 was having a slow start but finally started catching a few nice roach. Above me it sounded like it was fishing pretty hard. I had a couple more decent runs of perch by the barges but then what little flow we had pretty much stopped and it got much tougher as we went into the afternoon. Some small roach, bleak and dace fishing shallow with pinkies kept fish going in the net but the last part of the match was a real grind for everyone. For being low and clear the river fished better than expected with a few perch showing today along with a 3lb+ chub. My run of decent perch paid off with one of the best weights I have had off the Backwater going 4lbs 12oz and picking up first place. We then had a 3 way tie for second with Tony Cruci, Steve Morrells (with the chub) and Rob Calderon all having 3lbs 8oz and then Darren Cope just beating Mark with 3lbs 3oz. Team wise a solid set of results gave us 23lbs 15oz to Sawbridgeworth's 11lbs 6oz so Bishop's Stortford retained the Lea & Stort Cup.

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 5lbs 1oz 2nd Graham Carter 3lbs 2oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 2lbs 3oz 4th Steve Foster 2lbs 1oz

Rob's day First match for some time at the Stort Backwater today – a little worried as a visit yesterday to check out the swims showed a very clear river, weedy and no flow. Reports also showed Dunmow AC struggled a bit on Sunday where only very small fish were caught. Definitely fancied the deeper water today so was not upset to draw peg 2 – probably the peg I would have chosen if on my own. Set up a couple of pole rigs – one at 4 feet for the shallower water over between the boats and a close in rig at 7 foot. Also a 4 meter whip for fishing just this side of the middle where the deeper water was – around 9 foot. Started on the whip and bread punch – a bit surprised to get bites from the off – not loads of fish but a good size – roach around 2-3 oz. Carried on with this for the first couple of hours – only pausing to free my line from that damned tree above me! Had to add a few foot of line to my rig when the line kept snagging on the branches. Then the rain started which seemed to slow everything down, also temperature seemed to drop a bit. Changed to pinkies (white ones as Willy Worms had run out of fluoros) and managed a few more roach including a couple around 6 oz and a decent perch. Nothing inside, so tried the far swim and instant bites from nice dace and a couple of roach until the locks must have opened and the current moved the boats together meaning my far bank swim disappeared. Next to me Steve on peg 1 was catching a smaller stamp of roach and a couple of perch – looked to be quiet to my left – Peter on 4 and Dennis on 5. A few more bites on the whip – trying to avoid the leaves, branches and at times trees floating down the river and then time for the weigh in. Starting at the top end Toddy on 18 weighed in 1lb 6oz – you could see the bottom right across on this swim. Jeff doing well with 2lbs 3oz from peg 14 then a couple of 2lb weights from Tony and Phil. Graham took the lead with 3lbs 2oz of perch including a 1lb plus fish (picture). My fish went 5lbs 1oz for top weight with Graham second, Jeff third and Steve’s weight of 2lb 1oz just making the frame. So, did fish better than I thought it would, all catching a few.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High Bank 1st Fred Hunt 24lbs 2oz 2nd Kevin Turner 17lbs 14oz Low Bank 1st Darren Cope 20lbs 8oz 2nd Gary Pickard 18lbs 5oz

Gary's day Today was Hall Farm's Large Lake after a cold night and a wet week. With the clocks going back we had an extra hour in bed though. Today was peg 4 for me in the middle of the low bank, a peg I would have preferred a month back. With plenty of people on the lake today the plan was to fish as long as possible into the quieter middle water. I gambled on 13m and hoped the wind would not get up too much more. One side I put in some maggot and groundbait and the other was for micros and expanders. It was a slow start with no signs at all on expanders. As Mark opposite was starting to catch a few silvers on maggots and with no carp or F1s showing it was time to get something in the net. A try on the maggot swim had a bite straight away: gudgeon. Then another gudgeon. Finally a few decent roach and rudd started to show. A quick try on the feeder to have a rest from battling the wind did not get anything. I could not see most of my bank but the far side looked tricky despite being sheltered from the worst of the wind. Bob on 26 and then Kevin on 24 started to get a few fish and then so did Fred. My silvers with a couple of rogue skimmers were quickly wiped out. With the wind not dropping I tried a shorter line. After a few silvers the float went under and carp was on the hook and then it was off. Back to the silvers and finally another decent fish was on and this time a carp was in the carp net. Not a huge fish but worth a lot of silvers. Kevin was still catching a few fish on the long pole and so was Fred pretty much fishing completely differently with dropping a feeder in short. Bob had another couple and so did I but I thought I was way behind. It turned out to be a lot closer than I was expecting with lost fish making all the difference today. High Bank 1st Fred Hunt 24lbs 2oz and 2nd Kevin Turner 17lbs 14oz. Low Bank 1st Darren Cope 20lbs 8oz and 2nd Gary Pickard 18lbs 5oz. Picture today is Mark left and Fred right over on the far bank at the start.

Water booking

River Stort Backwater

N/A

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

High Bank 1st Ray Gibson 2lbs 13 oz 2nd Bill Beeston 10oz Jt 3rd Jeff Pearson/Bob Fox 3oz Low Bank 1st Barry Cornel 1lb 12oz 2nd Terry Moranda 13oz

Phil's day Morning to all, the Weds Club fished its match at Malcolm Barker Lake not fished it for quite a while because it was extremely weedy and to get more then 5 pegs clear was impossible but most of that has cleared except towards the middle. I drew peg 5 it's been OK in past years but a lot of cold rain this week was going to make it hard going. Made two pole lines and a waggler for distance above the weed. Well needless to say we all had a bad day (with John T having some fun with the Lake's pike population) but only one blank so all in all had worse matches. I did manage to get a roach and a perch just two bites. Never mind always next week. Pic is my swim for the day. High Bank: 1st Ray Gibson 2lbs 13 oz, 2nd Bill Beeston 10oz and Jt 3rd Jeff Pearson/Bob Fox 3oz. Low Bank: 1st Barry Cornel 1lb 12oz, 2nd Terry Moranda 13oz.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

Stone Cup 2 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 19lbs 11oz 2nd Darren Cope 4lbs 1oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 2lbs 15oz Gary wins the Stone Cup with 2 wins and a combined weight of 125lbs.

Gary's day It was back to Home Farm this week and just a few of us today. Whilst the morning was mild and quite bright the weather was due to get very wet and a bit windy later on. Out of the bag came peg 6 again for me. After last time I thought I had a plan; out long to start with expanders, meat and maggots; and down the edge later. The water was still very low and must have dropped 6 inches since last month so I had under 2 feet everywhere with some of the deepest water closer in. Phil was opposite me today with Tony and Darren hidden off to my left. 30 mins on expanders out long proved a waste of time with no signs. Another 30 mins later I had had no signs on meat or maggots either and was not alone. It was fishing very hard. Finally Darren had a small carp on peg 1 and I had one not long after. After that though it was down to scratching around for any fish. I had a couple of runs of nice roach but then a small perch which usually signalled the end to that little run of fish. An early try in the margins could only produce micro perch and even they started to disappear. About 12.30 the rain started and the bites stopped. I could not get a sign anywhere. After trying all the lines again without any signs I decided to start a new swim off to the right out of the way with 30 mins to go as I had nothing to lose. Phil then had a carp it was now looking a 3 way battle with 1 carp a piece. My float then dipped under and a carp was on. By this stage I had dropped elastic size to stop bumping small fish . After a few minutes and much stretched elastic the hook pulled - not a happy man at this point after such a long wait. I flicked the rig back out thinking my chance had gone when the float dipped and I struck thinking at least some roach were feeding. The elastic shot out of the end of the pole and another carp was on. This happened twice more in a hectic last 30 mins. Where had they been all day? The last 30 mins made a huge difference with my 4 carp pulling ahead giving me 19lbs to Darren's 4lbs and Phil's 3lb. It turned out to be a much tougher day than expected but at least the rain held off for longer than forecast. Picture today is Phil opposite getting ready during the sunny morning.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

Low Bank 1st Graham Carter 19lbs 6oz 2nd Bill Beston 18lbs 7oz 3rd Rob Calderon 13lbs 12oz High Bank 1st Fred Hunt 53lbs 8oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 32lbs 13oz 3rd Peter Green 14lbs 3oz

Rob's day At Beggar's Hall today – levels still way down and a few pegs a bit tricky to manoeuvre in – left out peg 10 as didn’t want to lose anyone overboard. I drew peg 12 which did OK on Sunday so not disappointed – had Bill for company on peg 13. Started on the feeder to the island (plenty of room as no pegs 10 or 11) but first hour was fishless. Then had a small (3lb) carp followed by an 8oz roach and a nice 4lb bream. After that, things went a bit wrong. Lovely wrap around resulted in coming back with half a hooklength. A bit later another fish on – I was just guiding it between the lily pads and somehow managed to get the line in between the second and third rod ring stuck in some bankside weed. By the time I got off the box and freed it, the carp managed to swim into the pads and came off. Tried the pole a couple of times but no carp – only small roach and perch so packed that away and concentrated on the feeder. Bill next to me had one carp, then a couple more later on fishing the waggler with pellet. Jeff on 17 looked to have three or four and Tony one. Into the last 30 minutes and was now fishing the feeder short by the pads. Hooked one which found the pads and came off – then another wrap around bite but again came back with a broken hooklength. Not sure why – hooklengths 7lb and 9lb from different batches so not sure how the snapped a couple of inches from the hook? Any way this summed it up – I had my chances but it wasn’t my day. Finished with 13lbs 12oz. Bill next to me weighed 18lbs 7oz but I wasn’t sure how the rest of the bank had fished. As it turned out Graham did well from peg 4 winning the bank with 19lbs 6oz – the rest of the bank being carp less. A bit better on the High Bank but also tough for some – Fred back on peg 18 making no mistakes with 53lbs 8oz to take the honours, Jeff second from 17 with 32lbs 13oz – carp all caught on the pole – Peter taking the final place with 14lbs 3oz. So overall pretty hard with two or three good weights – I suppose we need to get used to that as winter approaches. Photo today is Jeff.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

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1st Kevin Turner 101lbs 5oz 2nd Mark Halverson 83lbs 13oz 3rd Fred Hunt 43lbs 30z 4th Jeff Pearson 38lbs 9oz

Gary's day It was Beggar's Hall today for us after another dry week and the water was still very low. With 11 on the match a good draw was needed and I was quite happy with peg 5 once all the flyers had been drawn. I set up a bomb / feeder rod, a couple of rigs for the pole long for pellets and meat and a rig for the margin. After putting a little bait on the long lines I tried the feeder whilst they settled. A big liner after a few minutes looked promising but no bites developed. A try then on the long pole was similarly quiet with just a couple of small indications from small fish. Fred on peg 18 and Darren on 4 were starting to get a few bites and so was Mark on peg 17. An hour in I was a carp down. At last I had a bite on the bomb and pellet and a very lively 2-3lb tench was in the net. I was slowly falling behind and needed carp. A huge liner on the feeder had the rod bent round double but nothing on the end when I picked up. That was my last sign on the bomb / feeder. Fred and Darren were slowing down but Mark and Kevin on peg 21 were still getting regular fish. Finally I had a bite over my meat line only for the hook to pull on a good fish at the net. And then it happened again 20 mins later this time on a couple of dead maggots. I was not very happy at this point. Finally I managed to get a decent carp in the net after about 3 hours and things were looking better. After that carp I could not get past the small perch with a maggot on the hook and even they disappeared in the last couple of hours. 2 foulhooked and lost carp were my lot in the last couple of hours with the margins not producing. After a very frustrating day for me it looked like it was going to be between Mark and Kevin. I had seen Mark catching steadily but had not seen how many Kevin had caught. At the scales Kevin took 1st place with 101lb with Mark having 83lbs for 2nd, and then it was Fred with 43lbs and Jeff 4th with 38lbs incouding a couple of bream. Photo today is Mark with a mirror that was just under 20lbs.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Winter League 1 of 6

Low Bank 1st Bob Fox 51lbs 5oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 30lbs 2oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 18lbs 4oz High Bank 1st Rob Calderon 59lbs 6oz 2nd Bill Beeston 46lbs 12oz 3rd Steve Foster 32lbs 7oz

Rob's day At Hall Farm today for the first round of the Winter League – looked to be a nice day weather wise – warm and dry with no wind at the start and only a breeze blowing into the carpark end through the match. With 12 on today I didn’t have to put in pegs 13 or 14 so out of the bag came peg 20 for me – in the middle of the lake. Still deep here, had about 5 feet on the top 2 and 2 line and about 8 feet at 11m. Plan today was just to fish with maggots on both pole lines and maybe maggots or corn near the margins later – in 3 feet. Started short and after a few missed bites hooked into the first carp. Had around 4 after an hour along with a few small roach and perch. Kept on this line getting the odd carp along with the silvers – including a roach around 10 oz and a 1lb skimmer. It seemed to be quiet on the other bank – Terry landing an early carp and Bob on peg 2 catching a few roach – just the odd carp coming out. No idea what was being caught on my bank. Carried on for most of the match on the short line – a couple of tries on the longer line bringing one small carp – still getting the odd carp but long waits between carp bites. Into the last 45 minutes a try down the edge on corn brough an instant bite but a foul hooker which came off. A couple of more bites resulted in a couple of better carp to finish. I had clicked 30lb something but had used 2 nets for carp and maybe missed a couple, so wasn’t sure what I had – maybe 40lb something? At the weigh in Bill did well from golden peg 16 with 46lbs 12oz – Fred next door 27lb 5oz. I had underestimated and weighed 59lbs 6oz but bigger weights usually come from the higher number pegs. As is happened my weight topped the High Bank with Steve 3rd with 32lbs from 22, Fred 27lbs 5oz and John Todd (today's photo) weighing 24lbs 11oz from 26. On the Low Bank some good weights, notably Bob Fox’s 51lbs 5oz from peg 2 (peg 1 not in today) which included 18lbs of silvers. Phil did well from peg 12 with 30lbs 2oz for second on the Low Bank and Jeff third with 18lbs 4oz from 6. Everyone caught a few today, Terry 14lbs 6oz – peg 4, Peter 14lbs 1oz from 8 and Barry 13lbs 12oz from 12 completing the weights.

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

Sawbridgeworth club lake

Brandon Shield (Sawbridgeworth)

Bishop's Stortford retained the Brandon Shield with 278lbs 13oz to Sawbridgeworth's 122lbs 5oz 1st Rob Calderon 71lbs 12oz (14 carp ) 2nd Kevin Turner 35lbs (7 carp ) 3rd Mark Vobe 30lbs (6 carp ) 4th Tony Cruci 25lbs 11oz (4 carp)

Gary's day Today we were guests at Sawbridgeworth's lake for the annual Brandon Shield match. The day before we had Storm Amy blowing through and it was due to be breezy today too. Out of the peg came peg 37 for me. About half way down the left side with some Norfolk reeds to one side and open water in front. The plan was: a couple of lines out long with hard and soft pellets; a short line on hard pellets; a feeder line; and a finish down the edges. I got off to a great start with a carp on pretty much my first try on the short pellet line. Opposite me on the spit they also looked to be getting off to a good start too After that first carp I never had another bite on the short line. It was time to try one of the long lines. Since the start the wind had been picking up and by the time I tried it there was a fair chop on the water. A bream and a carp was a good start but then that line died too. Kevin to my right in the corner was starting to get a few bites but opposite me was slowing down too. Phil over on another point to my right was also starting to catch down the edge. By now fishing long was a waste of time as the pole was being blown all over the place. One more bream was all I could get. Another carp on a bomb and pellet was my only bite on the bottom despite feeding it all day. Kevin was still hooking carp with about half of them getting to the net. Phil was having a nightmare with 2 top kits biting the dust. A final carp from the margin and one falling off was my day over. 4 carp for 20lbs (they counted 5lb today) and just under 5lbs of bits. The lake fished a lot harder than our last visit with a couple of standout catches but a lot of us ended on 4 carp and some bits. Team wise our consistency paid dividends with a total weight of 278lbs to Sawbridgeworth's 122lbs and individually 1st Rob Calderon 14 carp for 71lbs 12oz, 2nd Kevin Turner 7 carp for 35lbs, 3rd Mark Vobe 6 carp for 30lbs and 4th Tony Cruci 4 carp for 25lbs 11oz. Today's photo is my view across the lake (at the much calmer start of the day) with Fred just in shot to the left and Phil way over on the right.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hunter's Hall (Abbey Cross water)

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Abbey Cross won the day with 55 points to Bishop's Stortford's 47 1st Ray Gibson 32lbs 5oz 2nd Peter Green 11lbs 4oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 7lbs 15oz 4th Steve Foster 4lbs 10oz

Rob's day Hi All At Hunter's Hall today for another interclub match with Abbey Cross. No wind first thing so unusual to see the lake flat calm. Also zero percent chance of rain forecast for most of the day, so not surprised to have light rain most of the match. Drew peg 5 on the left hand bank – water levels as everywhere down so not easy to find much depth for the nets (not an issue as it turned out!). Set up a cage feeder and two pole rigs – one for 13m in 6½ foot and a closer one in 4 foot. Balled in 5 balls of groundbait at 13m (had left the cupping kits at home) – put out 4 feeder's full of bait in the middle and started on the short line. After 5 minutes or so had a few bites resulting in roach around 2 -3oz but after an hour the line died. Out at 13m produced no bites so a try on the feeder – also biteless. Back short for nothing so went out at 13m for most of the remainder of the match hoping a few bream would turn up. Elsewhere seemed quiet with a few roach turning up for most but few larger fish. This was with the exception of Ray on fancied peg 16 – middle platform. After feeding what looked like a couple of tins of corn, he started getting a bream a chuck for a while. Most of us just looking on although I was expecting a few bream or tench to show on one or two of the other pegs. A breeze now coming across the lake mad seeing bites difficult, but when I did get a bite it was small roach – no sign of anything bigger today. I weighed in my bank – Alan Sims registering 4lbs 6oz for best weight at our end of the lake – Phil 2lbs 8oz, my 2lbs 6oz and Barry 3oz. Some better weights nearer the car park – notably Jeff's 7lbs 15oz which included a bream and 2 tench for 3rd place overall. On the other bank Peter came second from the first platform swim with 11lbs 4oz of mainly bream but the runaway winner was Ray with 32lbs 5oz – well done Ray. Unfortunately we couldn’t provide enough backup weights despite discarding the lowest 2 weights (8 against 6) so Abbey Cross came out easy winners 55 to 47. Thanks to Abbey Cross and Martin for hosting the match. BTW Martin reported that his draw bag number 16 is missing – suspected that Ray wasn’t satisfied with his win but also took away the peg number!! – if anyone has it let me know, Martin would like it back!

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

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1st Mark Halverson 6lbs 13oz 2nd Gary Pickard 4lbs 1oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 11oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to Wickham Hall with a wet finish forecast but a sunny start. Out of the bag came peg 13 for me between Phil in the current flyer of peg 12 and Peter on 14. It was going to be 3 lines for me today: short on a whip for small fish; out at 13m in the deeps for some better fish; and a small cage feeder. At the start in went a good half dozen balls of groundbait on the long line and I started short for some small fish. Half an hour in I was biteless when a month back I would have barely got the float in the water without being mobbed by small fish. Autumn is well and truly here. The rest of the lake was also fishing hard with Peter owning up to one possible bite. So it was out long. An hour in I finally had a small roach and the blank was avoided. And then another couple but the swim then died. By giving the long line a rest a few bites kept coming even though I caught nothing on the other lines. Mark over on peg 5 seemed to be the only other person catching some small fish with nothing bigger showing. Phil had a couple of the small chub midway through but the flyer was not flying today. The rain that started half way through seemed to upset the fish as bites got fewer and fewer with the last 30 mins being biteless for me. It turned into a day of hard work for 60 or so small fish with the odd bonus chublets. Had we not been spread around the lake today's weigh in would have been very quick as not a lot was caught with none of the bream and only one small carp showing up. 1st Mark Halverson 6lbs 13oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 4lbs 1oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 11oz. Photo today is Phil in the flyer to my right during the dry half of the match.