Match results/Events info

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

N/A

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)

N/A

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

N/A

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.

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Bordeaux Pit (Saffron Walden water) - venue change

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 48 points to Saffron Walden's 56 1st Rob Calderon 5lbs 5oz 2nd Fred Hunt 2lbs 12oz 3rd Steve Foster 1lbs 9oz 4th John Todd 1lbs 8oz Silvers Clive Bradford 2lbs 8oz

Rob's day Hi All At Bordeaux today for the final match in the series of four against Saffron Walden. Seven a side today and Fred decided to return all carp over 2lb back immediately and count as 5lb. All carp under 2lb and F1s silvers etc to count in the silvers net – there was a separate pool for silvers. Drew peg 33 which apparently can throw up a few F1s but we didn’t know how hard the fishing would be today – apparently a north east wind didn’t bode well. Decided mainly on a silvers approach today with a couple of light rigs for out long – and a couple for closer in including a margin carp rig in case they came in later. First hour passed biteless – little action around the lake although Fred had landed some type of crucian hybrid around a couple of pounds and one or two roach caught on the opposite bank. Then the float dipped slightly and an instinctive strike was met with something solid. Took my time and trusting the 20 hook and 0.11 bottom would hold and eventually slid the net under a common around 10lbs. After that very little action for the next 5 hours – 4 micro perch and a small chublet was all I could muster – although it seemed hard for everyone so the carp could be the difference. Funnily enough on the last match Phil caught the only carp on that day from the same peg! A couple of hard luck stories from our team at the end – Tony had lost a 4lb+ tench at the net when his hook length snapped, and Toddy had lost a carp that made it into the marginal weeds. At the weigh in Clive Bradford weighed in 2lb 8oz to claim the silvers pool from peg 25 opposite the island but overall a good performance from all our team on a hard day. Luckily I just needed the carp to come first, Fred second with 2lbs 12oz from peg 1. Steve Foster and John Todd completing the frame with 1lbs 9oz and 1lbs 8oz. Team result was a win for Bishop's Stortford 48 points to 56 – completing a 4-0 win in the series. Well done to our team and a thank you to Saffron Walden for hosting us today – especially Fred for his hard work in organising the match.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 45lbs 2oz 2nd Gary Pickard 20lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 18lbs 14oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to Home Farm's small lake which was still very low at around half it's normal already shallow depth. Out of the bag was peg 6 for me today with the rest of us spread around the lake. On plumbing up I had at best 2 foot of depth anywhere with inches along the edges. I started at about 10m on the pole with hard pellets. Rob on peg 5 also started long and was getting bites from the off. Half an hour in I had had one tentative bite I missed and Rob had good carp in the net. It was fishing hard. By the midway point I was down to trying a small method feeder as I could not buy a bite anywhere. By now Phil over on peg 1 had a carp in the net after bumping one as had Darren. Tony seems to be the only person getting regular bites and was slowly putting a few carp together. A nice roach after 4 hours was followed by nothing more long. It was going to be the margins or nothing it seemed. At this point I was well and truly lying in last. With just over an hour to go I saw a bit of mud kicked up to the left margin and a quick go found me a bite which I missed and a fish bow waved out of the margin. By feeding some corn and groundbait and being careful with rig placement I started to get a few signs and after bumping a carp finally had one in the net. Tony was still catching and Rob and Phil also had a couple more each. In a busy finish I ended up with 5 carp in the net and a couple bumped so it looked like it was going to be close for runner up spot. Tony was today's run away winner with 45lbs but then it was only a small carp separating the next 3 of us with my 20lbs just beating Rob's 18lbs and Phil missing out with 17lbs. Photo today is Tony before the all in with Phil in the background.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall - venue change

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 88lbs 5oz 2nd Bill Beeston 88lbs 2oz 3rd Fed Hunt 78lbs 11oz

Rob's day Hi All At a wet and windy Beggar's Hall today although the promise of early downpours did not materialize and we had a mostly dry but blustery day. Only 5 on today due to a lot of members attending Don Copping’s funeral. Due to the numbers decided on a walk off today – a choice of pegs 16-22. Into the bag and out came my name first, so it had to be peg 18! Graham opting for 17, Dennis 16, Fred 19 and Bill 20. As on Sunday, with the water down decided to set up at water level, fine when your down there but not so easy getting out (thanks to Bill for helping me with my nets and box at the end). Set up a method feeder a few rigs for the margins – along the margin to my right and by the reeds to the left. A quiet start with no bites for an hour on the feeder then a couple in quick succession – one about 1lb then a proper one around 8lbs. Fed the margins early and the carp came in both sides and looked to be big fish. Had a couple on paste by the reeds straight away – both doubles. Took some getting in a they charged out in the middle and had to hold 12 meters of pole out in the wind hoping everything holds! A lot of fish in the right hand margin but couldn’t get it right – either the feeding or where exactly to fish – 1 foot tight in then slopes down to about 3 foot a meter or so out – I’ll have to ask Gary how it's done! Foul hooked more than properly hooked. Apart from one down the edge on the feeder, alternated the sides for a couple of more carp but ended up thinking I should have caught a lot more seeing the amount of fish in the swim. No idea what else had been caught so started the weigh in at peg 16 – Dennis 21lbs 4oz and Graham 50lbs 11oz. I had clicked 40lbs on the first net but it seems the fish were bigger than I thought so this went 51lbs – knocked back to 50lbs for a total of 88lbs 5oz. By the sounds of it was going to be close – Fred on 19 weighing 78lbs 11oz – caught on the feeder. Bill next and was having trouble lifting the first net out – reason being this went over 57lbs and proved a bit costly as he weighed in a total of 88lbs 2oz! So a win but by default – well done to Bill for actually catching more than peg 18 – as has been mentioned before at the moment the middle pegs on the high bank fishing best.

River Stort Canoe Club event

River Stort (main river)

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Ralph Jarvis Rose Bowl 2 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 125lbs 3oz 2nd Kevin Turner 99lbs 11oz 3rd Fred Hunt 58lb 14oz

Gary's day Today was a trip to Beggars Hall with autumn well and truly with us: a colder start and very wet finish to the day. Out of the bag came peg 18 which I was very happy with as it has been doing well in the last few matches. The plan was to fish further out on the pole with hard pellets, a feeder for if the wind picked up too much and then down the edges. As the water was well down I ended up putting the box down below the platform so I was not going to see anyone else today down there. It was a steady start with the odd bite on hard pellet and an hour so in I had 3 carp in the net. Despite a bit of fizzing over my feed getting a bite took lots of tweaking of how I laid my rig in or changing the size / colour pellet on the band. A couple of quick tries on the feeder whilst I rested the pole line had indications but only 1 bite. I could hear the odd splash to my left so either a few carp were being caught or the ducks were going nuts. To my right it seemed pretty quiet. With a couple of hours to go it was time to try the margins. The left hand side near the reeds was a bit of a bust with 1 bite and a huge lump of a carp lost at the net when the hook pulled. The right though seemed to have fish there but I needed to fish long to get past some weed along the edges. By the end the bites were coming thick and fast - just as the rain rolled in. Kevin to my left also sounded like he was catching well too. Elsewhere Darren on peg 17 was having a nightmare with fish coming off. The middle pegs seems to fish better on the day with lots of tales of carp lost. 1st Gary Pickard 125lbs, 2nd Kevin Turner 99lbs and 3rd Fred Hunt 58lbs. Picture today is my peg before the off - sorry nothing from the end as it was lashing down.

Summer league results

Various

Wednesday Club Summer League

1st Rob Calderon 57 points Jt 2nd Peter Green and Bill Beeston 55 points Jt 3rd Fred Hunt and Jeff Pearson 52 points

It all came down to the last couple of matches with Rob just doing enough to keep ahead of Peter and Bill but with only 6 points splitting the top 5 1st Rob Calderon 57 points Jt 2nd Peter Green and Bill Beeston 55 points Jt 3rd Fred Hunt and Jeff Pearson 52 points

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League 6 of 6

Low bank 1st John Carter 83lbs 6oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 52lbs 14oz 3rd Peter Green 37lbs 8oz High bank 1st Fred Hunt 48lbs 6oz 2nd Graham Carter 44lbs 13oz 3rd Bill Beeston 39lbs 10oz

Rob's day Hi All At Hall Farm today for the final round of the Summer league – forecast to be rain and wind today. Had a bit of a lead in the league so just hoping for a reasonable draw today – anywhere in the 20s would be good. No peg 13 today – put in 14 instead – couldn’t draw that could I ??? Anyway setting my box up in peg 14, put up a feeder rod and a few pole rigs – for 10m out and the margins. Started on the feeder and after an hour had one carp around 3lb and a F1 about 1 ½ lb. No more so onto the pole for no bites. Fed the margins and after a few minutes noticed 2 carp on the feed – seemed to be the larger ones in Hall Farm. Tried all baits, corn, maggots, paste etc but nothing would take the bait – carp really spooky. Happy to come in close but as soon as they saw the line/hook bolted out. After around 3 hours all quiet my end of the lake – Terry opposite on 12 just a few roach (although ended up with a couple around 10 – 12 oz) Barry, Phil and Ray just a couple of carp between them. Eventually put a grain of corn on a carp’s nose and it took it – after a good fight landed a 12lb common. This turned out the last bite and ended up with 17lb 7oz At the weigh in, as expected the deep end struggled but some good weights elsewhere, notably John Carter's 83lbs 6oz from peg 4 to top the low bank. Jeff second from peg 1 with 52lbs 14oz and Peter third with 37lbs 8oz from peg 2. On the high bank Fred came top with 48lbs 6oz from 24, Graham 44lbs 13oz second from peg 20 and Bill third from 26 with 39lbs 10oz. Today's picture is Peter - next time Rob will get the rest of him.

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth / Abbey Cross)

Sawbridgeworth club lake

Triple Cup (Sawbridgeworth / Abbey Cross)

Bishop's Stortford did it again with 43 points to Abbey Cross on 59 and Sawbridgeworth on 63 Section A 1st Kevin Turner 81lbs 15oz 2nd R Brace 41lbs 9oz 3rd Bob Fox 41lbs Section B [TBC] 1st 2nd 3rd Section C 1st Jeff Pearson 120lbs 70z 2nd M Bailey 114lbs 1oz 3rd Mark Halverson 111lbs 10oz

Gary's day Today was the Triple Cup versus Sawbridgeworth and Abbey Cross with Sawbo hosting this year at their club lake. It was going to be an interesting day. The lake is full of fish but carp were going to dominate the weigh sheets. As each carp counts as 10lbs that gives you an idea of how big they are in the lake. Out of the bag came peg 14 for me. On arriving at the swim the first impression was not good. I was in a small channel off the main lake with pegs either side and only 11m wide. I had an inviting lilly bed stretching across most of the channel to my right but it screamed lost fish. My plan was to fish to the left and hope the fish ignored dashing into the lillies. With only limited water in front of me set up was simple: a couple of pole rigs and a small method feeder. At the all in I fed a few micros and dropped in with an expander on the hook looking for a few skimmers to get team points on the board. The float dipped and the strike was meant with non-bream like resistance as a carp charged into the lillies and was gone taking a bit of my rig with it. About 20 mins later the float went under again and another carp was on running left this time towards the main lake. My left hand neighbour also struck into a carp at the same time. After a few minutes things felt a bit odd and we found ourselves tangled as our carp had crossed. In fact it was a perfect hook to hook connection. Thankfully the carp started to stay on the hook and a few were getting to the landing net. To my left the anglers in the main lake were also starting to hook and sometimes land carp. A couple of tench and decent skimmers were a nice break from turbocharged carp for me. By the midway point I had 5 carp but bites were slowing and it was only carp now with no signs of silvers. And far too many were now deciding to charge round the point of the channel straight into a sunken tree. I could hear that others on the lake were having similar issues with an expense crunching noise at one point echoing over the lake My battle with my left hand neighbour was tight with us seeming to take turns in getting a carp. In the end it was a 9 carp each draw but with my silvers edging me in front. It was a case of far too many lost today for me trying to keep them out of the snags. An enjoyable but frustrating day. With a lot of carp being caught and plenty lost we did not have a clue as to who had won. We knew we had done pretty well with some decent results but you can only ever see a few pegs on this lake with its twists and turns. In the end our consistency meant we ended up with a comfortable looking win on paper but a few carp either way could have swung it. Bishop's Stortford did it again with 43 points to Abbey Cross on 59 and Sawbridgeworth on 63. And well done to Rob Calderon who ended up with 22 carp

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Beggar's Hall

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 40 points to Abbey Cross' 38 points - another tight result High Bank 1st Peter Green 52lbs 5oz 2n Rob Calderon 47lbs 11oz Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 48lbs 5oz 2nd Martin Adams 28lbs 13oz

Rob's day Hi All At a very wet and windy Beggars Hall today for another Interclub match with Abbey Cross. 13 on today so 7 v 6 in favour of Bishop's Stortford so we would discount the lowest weight. I drew peg 19 – not my favourite on the High Bank but has been producing a few fish recently. The level is still down so it seemed a long way to the water – set up a feeder and a bomb rod and a couple of pole rigs: one for the left margin at 3 feet; and another for next to the tree on my right, again in around 3 feet. Paying the top two on each bank today – it wasn’t going to be easy trying to match pegs 16, 17 and especially 18 (Peter Green on this peg). Started on the hybrid feeder and waited around 45 minutes before the first bite – a good fish around 10lbs. Another one followed 30 minutes later around 8lbs – then went quiet. Could hear some splashing from my right so knew Peter was having some action – also Alan netting a couple on 20. Fred seemed to be having some fun with the lily pads on peg 21 – apparently losing a few – not so much fun when he came up to borrow a landing net head – a 15lbs carp going through a tear in his net after unhooking and disappearing into the depths! On the other bank, after a few small fish, Phil and Martin looked to be catching a couple of carp each from their margins. Into the last 2 hours and a try on the pole to the left produced nothing so onto the right by the tree produced a jumping bream around 2 ½ lbs then a carp well into double figures. After a strategic trip to Hall Farm to investigate their facilities, back to the tree and another carp which was the last one on the pole. Phil looked to be catching a few over on peg 3 – some big fish by the look of it. I had one more on the tip down the edge while packing up the pole. Lake fished ok today given the weather forecast (which was not as bad as we feared) – Pete topping the High Bank from peg 18 with 52lbs 5oz, my net of 5 carp and a bream 47lbs 11oz second – closer than I thought. On the Low Bank Phil weighed a good 48lbs 5oz to win his bank, Martin second with 28lbs 13oz. Team Result Bishop's Stortford 40 Abbey Cross 38 – thanks to Martin for weighing in the Low Bank today – much appreciated.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Small Lake - venue change

N/A

1st Peter Green 38lbs 12oz 2nd Darren Cope 34lbs 3rd Mark Halverson 15lbs 8oz

Gary's day With MBL still being weedy today's match moved to Hall Farm's small lake. With 8 of us here it was going to be cosy. Out of the peg came the one peg I did but want - peg 5, the only peg in the bag without any reed bed for cover. It was going to be a hard day. Set up was pretty easy: one pole rig for out long on pellets to avoid the small fish; one rig for the edge; and a small method feeder if I got desperate. It was a slow start for me but Darren got off to a flyer with a run of small carp from down the side of the reeds near him. Peter opposite me was also starting to get a few fish. Finally my float wobbled and I had a small mirror carp of half a pound or so. A lovely little fish but I was falling behind quickly. John over in the far corner also then had a decent carp and I was even further behind. After that first bite the float was wobbling all over the place as the pellets were being attacked by very small fish. A try with the feeder did not help so it was back to the pole and hoping something bigger would push out the small fish. Peter and Darren were still catching although with the odd quiet spells and Rob was also now starting to get a few fish. For me it was not going well, the occasional couple of small fish and then nothing but roach wobbles. A late decent carp on corn down the edge helped but it was the one and only margin fish. Peter looked to be a runaway winner today but it was a lot closer than we will all expected. Peter putting 38lbs on the scales and Darren's 2 late lost carp leaving him 2nd with 34lbs and then it was down into the teens with Mark picking up third with 15lbs. Picture today is Peter with a net of lovely looking carp putting on weight quickly.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Tony Cruci 6lbs 11oz 2nd Rob Calderon 5lbs 11oz 3rd John Todd 2lbs 9oz

Rob's day Hi All At Wickham Hall today for a change of venue from Malcolm Barkers. Only 6 today due to other commitments so could spread ourselves around the pathed area of the lake. Question is would peg 12 win again after this peg has won the last few matches. Tony drew this peg today – myself next to him on 14. Peter drew peg 5 up the other end with Tony Parker, John Todd and Barry in between. Decided on just 2 tactics today – 4m whip for the small fish and a feeder for the carp (maybe a long pole for the bream might have been a good idea?) but last visit saw a lot of small rudd in the margins so fancied going for them. As it happened didn’t see one rudd all day! Started with a quick cast on the tip for a lucky carp, but no bites so onto the whip with white maggots at 3 meters in 4 foot of water. (Stansted Angling had sold out of reds!) after 15 minutes first bite and a 3oz chublet. Bites few and far between but when they came were chublets or some nice roach – a couple around 5oz or so. Then a carp around 4oz but a couple of hours in the wind started to cause problems. This only effected Tony and myself on the far bank – the wind blowing in left to right – the rest of the lake not effected as much. Looking over the car park bank John Todd looked to be getting a few small fish including a couple of 4oz carp and Peter on peg 5 seemed to be having problems keeping the carp out of the weedbeds – apparently losing several fish. Tony was a bit quiet but was getting some action with the bream – also losing a carp near the end. Tony also struggling to get good presentation with the wind. Into the last 10 minutes and decided to chuck a feeder into the middle while I looked to tidy up. The tactic worked again and at 15:28 the tip went round for a 3lb carp on the whistle – which coincided with the second downpour of the day. At the weigh in Tony did well with the 3 bream and a few bits going 6lbs 11oz for first place, my carp boosting the weight to 5lbs 11oz for second and John Todd third with 2lbs 9oz. Barry completed the weights today with 5oz – the carp coming out on top on Peter's peg.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 21lbs 6oz 2nd Darren Cope 13lbs 11oz 3rd Fred Hunt 7lbs 3oz

Gary's day After the excitement of yesterday's match at Hall Farm we were expecting today to be a lot harder and slower over at Wickham Hall. With the bright sunshine and warm temperatures I was not expecting any of the bream to put in an appearance. At the draw I pulled out 1st pick and decided to fish over in the far corner on peg 12 (or Rob's peg as it is now known ;-) ). Fred decided to join me over on the other side of the corner and the rest chose to stay over at the entrance end. Tactics today were to just catch fish of any sort so it was maggots on a shorter pole line which I was fishing with a whip and then a longer line in deep water to sit and wait for a bonus fish on maggots or corn. At the all-in I fed 6 large balls of groundbait long and then settled in to catch some small fish closer whilst that settled. The warm weather has certainly stirred up the small rudd and roach and I was struggling to get the float to even cock before the maggot was being hammered by small fish. It was busy fishing but trying to get the better stamp of fish was hard - corn occasionally worked but was slow. When the rudd started to get even smaller I decided to give it a rest and dropped on the long line. Putting a piece of corn on let the bait get to the bottom in the 12ft of water. I was just about to go back to the rudd when the float dipped under and I struck into not a rudd. A couple of minutes later a skimmer of about 1lb was in the net but that was it for that visit. I dropped in some more groundbait and went back to the rudd. Around the rest of the lake only small fish seemed to be coming out although Darren in the corner ahead of me had a run in with a carp early on. Around 12 Fred dropped a method feeder in the edge toward the weed bed and the tip went round mid-sandwich. And then it went round again a few minutes later. My hard mornings work was quickly being caught up. After a try on the feeder whilst I ate a bit of lunch (no bites for me) it was time to try the long line again. After a nice little chub the float wobbled and went under again and something a bit bigger was on the line. After charging around the place I also had a small carp in the net and then a bream of about 2lbs. Swapping around a couple more times found me 2 more bream and a nice hybrid with the last bream coming just before the all out. Perhaps bream do like sunshine after all. I could see Darren had been catching small fish at a quick rate the last couple of hours or so of the match whilst I had been sitting it out for another arrival. At the weigh in my bonus fish made the difference although it could have been a lot closer if Darren had started after the silvers earlier and Fred's carp had stayed. Picture today is me with a very fit roach/bream hybrid of about 2lbs.

Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

N/A

Charity match (BreatheEasy)

Hall Farm Large Lake

Charity match (BreatheEasy)

1st Kevin Turner 71lbs 14oz 2nd Martain Adams 59lbs 13oz 3rd Davie Sellick 34lbs 2oz 4th Gary Pickard 31lbs 10oz And just under £300 was raised for BreatheEasy

Phil's day Morning to all, I fished our charity match at Hall farm on Saturday, I drew peg 5 in itself it's a good peg but I struggled all day with a few roach and rudd the match finished at 3.30 and I hooked and landed a 6lb carp in the last 4 minutes, at least the charity had a good result with over £300 so in the long run it was a good match. Gary's day It fished pretty hard today with so many on the lake. There were lots of carp and F1s cruising around from the off but they really did not want to feed and any shadow from your pole had them heading off at high speed away from it. I ended up fishing down pretty much the same spot all day out at 13 metres. Feeding a few 4mm and 6mm pellets and either trying to get a fish shallow (not very successfully) or on the bottom - a little better but with far too many fish being lost. Dave over on peg 1 was having fun and games with the carp charging off at high speed for the lilies every time he hooked one but fish were few and far between on the low bank it seemed. Over to my right I could hear plenty of splashing and assumed it was Martin bagging up on favoured peg 26 in the corner. It turned out there were 2 of them doing well that way down the lake with Kevin getting a fair few. 1st Kevin Turner, 2nd Martin Adams, 3rd Dave Sellick , 4th Gary Pickard with 3 section wins Jeff Pearson, sec Bob Fox and Willy Ramthorn. The pic is the Lord Mayor and the Diane from BreatheEasy Bishop's Stortford.

Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

N/A

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 73 points to Saffron Walden's 63 points High Bank 1st Fred Hunt 64lbs 3oz 2md John Carter 24lbs 5oz 3rd John Todd 23lbs 10oz Low Bank 1st Brian Mizon 39lbs 7oz 2nd Graham Carter 32lbs 12oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 26lbs 9oz

Rob's day Hi All We were at Hall Farm today for the 3rd leg of the Bishop Stortford/Saffron Walden interclub matches. Weather a bit different than has been recently – temperatures lower and a wind blowing into the car park bank. Definitely needed a draw in the shallower end today so no surprise when I pulled out my favourite peg again – 13. A bit despondent but you never know in fishing. Started out on the feeder for half an hour then onto the pole 10m out on hard pellets. Had my one and only bite after an hour and landed a carp around 3lbs. No signs of any fish today either on the top of crashing out only fish I saw was during the weigh in – seemed to be a few coming in close on the lower numbered pegs near the car park. Opposite me on peg 12 Peter Mottram had a few roach and rudd but no carp, Ray on 10 had landed 2 or 3 carp and saw Terry on 7 catch a couple, not sure how the rest of the lake had fished, but no doubt a few fish caught further up the lake. Luckily as we had 10 anglers to Saffron Walden's 8, I could discount my 3lb. As it turned out Saffron Walden had the top 3 weights with Fred (apparently escaping from Hospital the previous day) topping the day with 64lbs from peg 26. After the week he has had we will let him have that. Second Brian Mizon – 39lbs from peg 4 and third Graham Carter peg 2 with 32lb. Despite that Bishop's Stortford had the better back up weights to take the match 73 points to 63. Lower weights today overall – no doubt due to the weather and having 18 anglers descending on the venue. Well done to the team and also thanks to Saffron Walden and Mark Evans for weighing in the high bank. BS take a 3 – 0 lead into the last match on SW waters in September.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Big Lake

Stone Cup 1 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 105lbs 12oz 2nd Kevin Turner 86lbs 15oz 3rd Rob Calderon 72lbs 10oz

Gary's day With the current hot weather today's match at Home Farm was going to be a bit different with a mid match weigh in. Out of the bag came peg 5 for me. One away from the top corner where I had been last time. There were lots of fish cruising around as we set up so I did a long line shallow rig for some mugging, 1 for the deck out long on pellets and then a rig for the edge on paste. There might have been lots of fish cruising but they were not that interested in feeding and 45 mins later I was getting tired but not many fish with 3 small carp for all the effort. Around me everyone else was struggling but Kevin on peg 6 seemed to be getting a few by being patient out long so a change was needed. That seemed to work. It was steady rather than hectic but the bites and fish kept coming and by the midway point I had 48lbs with Kevin having about 18lbs. I had been trickling some feed down the edges from early on and the mud plumes showed a few fish were coming into the margins. There were plenty of indications but not many bites and I wasted far too long for 1 carp. Whilst I was wasting my time Kevin seemed to have it cracked fishing long and shallow on the pole and my lead was getting pulled back. Rob on peg 3 had also gone rather quiet and a stream of splashes sounded like he was also doing well. He had managed to get the margins working whilst the rest of us were struggling. It was time to go back to Plan A. The carp were smaller than down the edge but at least I could catch them fishing a 6mm pellet on the bottom. It was then a pretty busy last couple of hours but had I changed back quick enough? It was definitely a match of 2 halves today with myself, Kevin and Rob all getting a few bites in the end but the others really struggled. At the final weigh in I had 105lbs, Kevin had a really strong second half for 86lbs and Rob's margins got him out of jail with 72lbs. Picture today is Kevin.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Summer League 5 of 6

Low bank 1st Bill Beeston 66lbs 4oz 2nd John Carter 26lbs 9oz 3rd Ray Gibson 25lbs 2oz High bank 1st Rob Calderon 103lbs 5oz 2nd Dennis Gowlett 74lbs 9oz 3rd Peter Green 58lbs 14oz

Rob's day Hi All At Beggar's Hall today – also the 5th round of the summer league. Going through a bit of a heatwave at the moment and today was forecast to be another hot day. Most lakes are low at the moment, Beggar's being no exception, so some issues with placing the keepnets today, and drawing most swims on the low bank meant setting up below the platforms near the water. I drew peg 18 – so looked promising for a few fish seeing the weights on Sunday, although these pegs have been hammered a bit lately so who knows. Plenty of fish up in the water to start – many crashing around and a few cruising so started on the pellet waggler. Also set up a feeder rod and pole rigs for the right margin and left close in by the reeds. Hooked first carp on the waggler after 10 minutes but for some reason snapped the hooklink. Next cast in landed the first fish – a carp around 7lbs then no more bites. Onto the feeder expecting an early pull round but nothing so back out on the waggler. After a few casts then had two on the trot before the wind picked up a little making it more tricky. Didn’t get any more bites on the waggler. Back on the feeder but no signs so after about 3 hours went on the pole next to the reeds. Instant bite on paste and a good carp – then foul hooked and lost a couple. Onto maggots and another carp around 10lbs which put up a good scrap on the pole despite using 18 elastic – 9lb line and a 7lb bottom with a 12 hook. Had been feeding the right margin and several fish had moved in although difficult getting clean bites. Had one on corn then another on maggots – all good sized fish, but lost a couple not hooked in the mouth. Into the last half hour now – not sure how my bank had been fishing – Peter had caught a few but I could only see Ray on peg 4 who had two or three near the end, Steve on 5 who was struggling with one fish, and John on 12 who looked to have a few. Terry on 13 also struggling. Chucked out a feeder down the edge so I could start packing up the pole in readiness for the weigh in (always good for a bite) – and had a couple of wrap rounds and two carp to end the day. Not too many fish today, but all a good size and weighed in 103lbs 5oz. Second on the high bank Dennis Gowlett from peg 17 with 74lbs 9oz and third Peter Green from peg 19 with 58lbs 14oz. Bill had a good catch of 66lbs 4oz to head the Low Bank with John Carter second with 26lbs 9oz and Ray third with 25lbs 2oz. Picture is the lake from peg 23 showing the water levels – no fishy pictures today as some lightning and rain during the weighing!

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

1st Darren Cope 92lbs 13oz 2nd Kevin Turner 74lbs 3rd Gary Pickard 63lbs 1oz

Gary's day Today we were at a bright and hot Beggars Hall. With little wind and high pressure I was expecting the fish to be high in the water and a good day on the pellet waggler. Out came peg 5 for me which I was pleased with as you have plenty of water to go at. First rod out of the bag was the waggler rod with a feeder and then the pole. The day almost got off to a flying start with a bite on the pole out long with hard pellets on the bottom in the first few minutes. A couple of minutes later back came a scale: fish 1 Gary 0. The next couple of hours saw me wasting my time on the waggler with the carp always just out of reach and not wanting to come into the feed. Darren on the opposite bank on peg 18 was not having the same issues and had a steady stream of carp going in his net. Our low bank was not doing well. Finally I had a couple of small carp fishing a feeder under the pellet waggler line. But then it went quiet. Another small carp out on the long pole had hopes up but that was the second and last bite on this. Darren was still catching and so was Kevin on peg 19 and Tony on peg 17 also seemed to be tangling with a few. A few more carp followed on the feeder: lots of liners when I fed some pellets and then the tip would occasionally fly round. It was time to try the margins with 90 mins to go but it had been strangely quiet. I should have stayed on the feeder as 1 lost carp was my lot for the margin and the lake was really slowing down in the last hour with even Darren now struggling. Having seen Darren catching most of the day he looked to be the runaway winner although Kevin next to him had also been sneaking a few in the net. In the end it was closer than expected with Darren having 92lbs, Kevin 74lbs and myself 63lbs. Photo today is Darren with a nice little tench in the weigh bag you might just spot.

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

It was a close finish with Abbey Cross winning with 90 points to Bishop Stortford's 80 1st Rob Calderon 17lbs 13oz 2nd Steve Foster 13lbs 12oz 3rd Steve May 13lbs 5oz 4th A Barker 7lbs 5oz

Rob's day Hi All At Taylor's Lake today for an Inter club match with Abbey Cross. 18 on today – originally was going to be over both lakes, however, as work was done on the weeds during the week, Martin decided we all fish the Top Lake. I drew 51 which was on the narrow arm coming out of the Top Lake. Never fished here, but plenty of room and a lot of lilies either side meant that main attack would be over the far side. Abbey had done a good job clearing the weeds although still plenty for the fish to bury in if we hooked any. Set up pole rigs for across and close in, although the depth, just over 4 foot, was the same all the way across. Fed a couple of ball of groundbait across and started on just a top kit on maggots to try and get some fish in the net to avoid a DNW. Started catching a few small roach and perch, then an hour in hooked a better fish and landed a 2lb F1. Noticed some bubbling over on the 13m line so went out with maggots. After a few small roach intercepted the bait, had a better bite and hooked something a lot bigger. Unfortunately, half way back, the fish tangled up in a weed bed and came off. Next cast another bite and again went straight into weed. Luckily the weed was loose and a great clump came back and I notice a head in the middle. Netted it all and detangled a 3lb tench. No more bites except micro roach on maggot – tried expanders and corn for no bites so alternated my short and long lines on maggot for a couple of more small fish. More bubbles so back out at 13m and another bite resulted in an angry F1 which managed to shed the hook. Was getting a bit frustrated but next cast hooked another large fish. Wasn’t sure what this was as it felt a bit strange then, as it got close, a pike around 10lb or more leapt out the water and dived at some pace into the lilies. Broke off and came back with a broken float. Middle of the match very slow with little signs but into the last ½ hour and more bubbles coming on the feed over the far side. Had one good bite and managed to net another F1 around 2 ½ pound. Last 5 minutes and another bite resulted in the best fish of the day – F1 over 5lb. Finished with 17lbs 13oz – wasn’t sure how the lake had fished as could only see Jeff on the other bank, but the weigh in showed it had fished hard with my weight being top with Steve Foster coming second with 13lbs 12oz. Abbey Cross members filling the next 3 places and only 3 weights were in double figures today. Abbey won the match today 90 points to 80 – thanks to Martin and all at Abbey Cross for hosting the match today. Picture is my fishy, but snaggy peg.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Malcolm Barker Rose Bowl 2 of 2

1st Rob Calderon 72lbs 12oz 2nd Gary Pickard 72lbs 4oz 3rd Fred Hunt 62lbs 13oz

Gary's day It was back to Hall Farm's large lake today. With a possible thunderstorm later, getting a few fish in the net early on could be crucial. Today I was back down in the deeps on peg 10 although this end of the lake has been fishing quite well lately. I decided to start with a short line on hard pellets (still in 7ft of water) and feed a longer line to try and get them shallow later. Within a couple of minutes the float slid under and a small skimmer was heading into the net. A very odd start followed shortly after by a nice crucian and then a gudgeon. A bumped carp put paid to the short swim. A try out long found me one fish but they were hanging back and cruising along the far side. The rest of the lake also seemed very quiet although you cannot see your own bank for the bushes hemming in this peg. By half way desperation was setting in and I was trying maggots on the shallow line. This found me a few roach and rudd but they were much too small. Mark then came along to see how we were all doing and the most anyone was admitting to was a couple of carp. It was fishing hard A try back shallow after a bit of rain passed through found me a few more carp but far too many were coming off. With a couple of hours to go it was time to try the margins as Rob on peg 8 looked to be catching a few close now. I had a couple on paste but then the bites went funny and I spent the next 30 mins getting more frustrated. A change to hard pellets instead brought instant results with clean bites and fish heading to the net rather than coming off. It was a busy finish to the match but would it be enough to beat Fred on peg 2? With Fred not admitting to more than 60lbs and both me and Rob guessing similar weights it was going to be a close one today. At the scales it ended 1st Rob Calderon 72lbs 12oz, 2nd Gary Pickard 72lbs 4oz and 3rd Fred Hunt 62lbs 13oz. Photo today is Phil.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

High Bank 1st John Carter 93lbs 7oz 2nd Bill Beeson 56lbs 5oz 3rd Fred Hunt 54lbs 4oz Low Bank 1st Phil Whitmill 61lbs 14oz 2nd Peter Green 49lbs 1oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 30lbs 8oz

Rob's day Hi All Back at Hall Farm today after some good weights at the weekend. 14 on today. Hoping for a draw in the shallower water at the car park end but first name out of the hat and drew peg 13. Thought I was in for a struggle today and was not disappointed. Set up a feeder and some pole rigs for out long, shallow and for the margins. Started with a quick go on the feeder for no bites, then onto the pole at 11m with around 9 feet of water. In the meantime, Ray opposite had already had one carp and lost another (which he blamed me for!). No bites on this so out shallow at 13m on 4m pellets. After 30 mins had one take and landed the first carp at around 3lb. No more bites on this so trying the shallower water to my left by the reeds. One or two carp topping up to now, but very few signs of any fish this end. With the wind blowing down the lake, these end pegs were always going to struggle. Could see Peter and Jeff on 8 and 10 now get a few fish but, apart from Ray who had one more carp, wasn’t sure how the lake was fishing, although looking to the right could see several carp topping and cruising around. No signs where i was though. With around 2 hours left concentrated on the margins where I had been feeding, although no signs of life down either side. Eventually caught a couple on corn/meat although nothing on paste. Foul hooked a couple including one around 8lb which after a long scrap managed to land – (amazing how far 17 elastic can stretch). Ended with one down the margin on the feeder while packing the pole away. Ended with 32lbs 14oz but knew that would be a poor weight for today. On the High Bank John Carter had his second win of the week at Hall Farm with a good 93lbs 7oz from peg 20, Bill second with 56lbs 5oz from 22 and Fred coming third from peg 26 54lbs 4oz. On the Low Bank Phil on peg 2 topped with 61lbs 14oz, Peter second from peg 8 49lbs 1oz and Jeff third from peg 10 (where John won from on Sunday) with 30lbs. This Sunday’s match is back at Hall Farm – peg 26 would be nice!!

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st John Carter 99lbs 13oz 2nd Darren Cope 92lbs 2oz 3rd Fred Hunt 73lbs 13oz Silvers - Peter Green 8lbs

Gary's day Today was a cooler and cloudier day at Hall Farm's large lake with the water levels still well down. Peg 21 was my home for the day; half way along the high bank. The plan was: long pole shallow with 4mm pellets; a shorter line with 6mm pellets; and then down the edges on paste or corn. It was a slow start all around the lake with just the odd silver fish being caught early on. Eventually I had a bite on the short line and a small carp was in the net. And this is how it went for pretty much the first half of the match with a steady flow of bites - not quick but steady. More of a breeze than expected put paid to the long line. By the midway point I was doing well with about 40lb on the clicker and the rest of the lake still fishing harder than expected. With a few fish now showing in the edge on some pellets I had been throwing in it was time to try them. And at that point the wheels fell off my day. I spent the next couple of hours trying to persuade the carp from looking away from the reeds and at my bait as they buried into the reedy edge hunting for food. The rest of the lake had now come alive and I could see my lead disappearing with Darren opposite me having a good run of edge fish. I could also hear a few big splashes coming from my right where Tony and Fred were drawn. The poor second half of the match was going to be costly for me with my fish going 63lbs with 2/3rds of that coming in the first half of the day. Time for a rethink if I draw along the reeds again. Well done to John who just missed out on 100lb by a few ounces, closely followed by Darren Cope on 92lbs and Fred coming in 3rd with 73lbs. Peter (today's picture) was a convincing winner of the silvers pool with just over 8lbs.

Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Bordeaux Pit (Saffron Walden water)

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 59 points to Saffron Walden's 47 points 1st Brian Newman 17lbs 8oz 2nd Phil Whitmill 8lbs 9oz 3rd Steve Foster 7lbs 11oz (all silvers and taking the silvers pool) 4th Clive Bradford 5lbs 11oz 5th Rob Calderon 5lbs 1oz

Rob's day Hi all At Bordeaux Pits today for an interclub match with Saffron Walden – weather looked good for a few fish – warm and overcast. We had 7 a side today so spread around the lake in pairs (carp today would need to be weighed in immediately) there was a payout for the top silvers bag so plenty to go for today. I drew peg 28 – didn’t mean much to me but looked ok with a bit of space. Set up a feeder rod, a couple of rigs out long for maggot and pellet and some margin rigs for the carp although the margins were very deep here – over 4 foot. Had a quick look on the feeder for no signs so ditched that and went onto the long pellet line – hard 4 mils. Heard a shout for scales to be brought to Phil’s peg, so a good start for us - turned out to be this 6lb plus carp Phil caught was the only one of the day! No bites on the pellet so swapped to maggot and after a while had a few bites from small roach and perch. No carp showing so decided to stay on the pole and maggot picking up a few fish but really small. Not a lot happening around the lake as far as I could see – Bill struggling from peg 25 to my left (narrow section opposite the island) but saw Tony land a 2lb F1 opposite on peg 10. Graham Carter next to him was having fun with the carp, losing a couple in the lilies. A few fish lost today including Barry also breaking his top kit! I was now getting a few small chub around 4-6 oz each which were more than welcome although coming in small bursts of 2 or 3 fish then disappearing. Did feed the margins and tried a couple of times for the carp – but didn’t see any signs. Back to the pole to finish and a couple of more chublets to weigh in a hard earned 5lbs 1oz. Elsewhere Brian Newman had top weight for SW from fancied peg 36 with 17lbs 8oz including 4 F1s and a tench. Bishops Stortford looked to have done ok with Phil weighing in 8lbs 9oz for second, Steve Foster having a good net of silvers, mostly small roach for 7lbs 11oz for third and my net coming fifth (default to 4th place as Steve took the silvers pool). Clive Bradford completed the frame with 5lb 11oz which including some good sized crucians. So, a good result for Bishop's Stortford, taking the match 59 points to 47 – well done to all in our team on a pretty hard day, and thanks to Fred for his hard work in organizing a good match. Today's photo is Tony in the distance - not the most flattering angle.

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 71lbs 14oz 2nd Gary Pickard 36lbs 11oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 32lbs 2oz

Gary's day Sunday saw us at Home Farm's small lake with a forecast of possible thunderstorms and rain for much of the day. Before the off we had sunny skies and carp cruising around but come the all in whistle the clouds had gathered and fish disappeared. I was in the middle of the lake today on peg 3 so with plenty of room but not one of the favoured end pegs. It was a very slow start for most of us with only Rob in peg 5 catching (or at least hooking) a few fish. The water was well down after our long dry spell. It was proving very frustrating. I could see fish were near my pellet feed from the bubbles and plumes of mud but I could not get a bite. Trying shallow got me one bite but it quickly fell off after charging across the lake. After a couple of hours I finally started getting the odd bite on paste but was missing too many bites and was having issues with foulhooked fish in the very shallow water. At least I was off the mark. Phil and Tony were also still struggling and Rob was still catching. A try down the edge early when I saw some signs of fish did not work so it was back long on paste. Another try in the margins finally got me a carp on corn but the bites were not coming. I decided to try paste shorter near the tree to my right on hopefully a less silty bottom and that seemed to work. I had a good run of decent sized carp with 90 mins to go but then I went back to bubbles and no bites with most fish coming off. A very frustrating finish for me. Rob was also slowing down but Phil was starting to catch a few. It was pretty obvious who was going to win today's match but not so clear on second and Phil had had a good finish. Given that Rob seemed to have a fish on every time I looked his way we all thought he had a lot more but still comfortably won with 71lbs with me just edging out Phil by a fish with 36lbs to Phil's 32 lbs. Today is my peg just before the off with the clouds rolling in.

Club match / Outing

N/A

His 'n' Hers Cup

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Summer League 4 of 6

Low bank 1st Rob Calderon 81lbs 2nd Phil Whitmill 49lbs 5oz 3rd Tony Cruci 47lbs 6oz High bank 1st Richard Beeston 77lbs 11oz 2nd Graham Carter 70lbs 6oz 3rd Peter Green 56lbs

Rob's day Hi all Back to Beggars today for the 4th round of the summer league – 7 on each bank. I drew peg 13 – never caught much from this area – had Terry next to me on 12 and I had a good view to pegs 16 and 17 so thought at least I would see some fish although fisheries never seem to fish the same one day to the next. The levels are way down at the moment so had to set up in the water (and mud) in order to get the keep nets out. Margins here are full of roots and only a few inches deep. Set up a feeder rod and pole rigs for near the lilies in 5 feet of water and down the side – around 3 feet from the bank in 1 ½ foot of water. Wasn’t sure the carp would come in that close on this peg. Started on the feeder about 20 meters out and had a small carp half an hour in followed by a larger one around 7lbs. Had fed the lilies to my right heavily from the start with particles and notice a lot of bubbles coming from this area. Tried the pole here for one fish (F1/crucian?) and then hooked another that went straight into the lilies and came off. Decided to fish the feeder close in by the lilies and started to get several liners and one or two strange bites which resulted in a couple of more F1s (I think). Seemed that these smaller fish around 3lbs each were causing the bubbling. Amongst these also had a few good pull rounds for decent carp but also a few foul hookers and a couple that came off. Had to put a lot of pressure on when hooking to persuade them not to visit the pads. Into the last couple of hours – Terry to my right was struggling with one carp – Steve and Peter on pegs 16 and 17 were getting a few but not one a chuck. Not many fish showing today but did notice one tail in the margin so went down the edge. First on paste for a missed bite, then dead maggots for an instant bite and before I knew it the elastic was coming out of the lilies – another lost fish (around 10 today) managed to land one more from the edge before the next one trashed my rig so finished up on the feeder. Had another 3 fish including a couple of bigger doubles, before I blew the whistle. Finished with 81lbs – more than I thought I would get from peg 13. The lake fished well today all round with Phil coming second on the low bank with 49lbs 5oz from peg 6 and Tony Cruci third with 47lbs 6oz – peg 5. Tony Parker had previously weighed in a 15lbs carp in his 30lbs (2 fish). The high bank also produced good weights – Richard topping with 77lbs from peg 20, Graham Carter second with 70lbs 6oz from peg 18 and Peter third 56lbs peg 17.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 119lbs 11oz 2nd Peter Green 53lbs 8oz 3rd Jeff Pearson 47lbs 4oz

Gary's day Today we were over at Hall Farm's large lake with a cooler start forecast. A welcome relief after the recent hot spell. Out of the draw bag came peg 1 for me, a flyer so the pressure was on. On plumbing up I was surprised to find so little depth with 1-2 foot at most but it did not seem to be putting off the carp that were cruising around the area. It helped cut down the prep though as my shallow rig could fish on the deck. I spent the first hour or so fishing shallow trying to mug the odd carp cruising past. It was a steady start with every carp going nuts when it was hooked and charging over towards either the lillies to my left or the weed bed in front. After an hour I had half a dozen small carp - slow but steady. To my right on peg 2 Tony was busy catching roach and rudd with the top end of the lake seeming fairly quiet. The middle of the match was much the same but feeding a few 6mms seemed to help. A quick try on the method feeder midday allowed me time for a bite to eat. I had a couple of carp on this but getting them past the reed bed on the left was tricky with a shorter rod. By now the pegs up the lake were starting to wake up with the occasional net going out for a fish. It was time to give paste a go again and this time they seemed interested. And that was pretty much it to the end of the match alternating pellets or corn as feed. There was the inevitable spells of missed bites and lost fish but, thankfull, more stayed on than came off. The middle pegs of Mark, Jeff and Peter also looked to be having a good finish too. With the sun coming out and the temperature rising the final whistle was welcome. I had had a busy day and I finished with just under 120lbs for 1st. The rest of the lake had also fished pretty well and it was all down to who had managed to land the carp they had hooked. Peter managed to nudge Jeff into third place with 53lbs to Jeff's 47lbs with Mark and Fred nipping at their heels. Today's picture is Tony with a tidy net of silvers.

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

1st John Carter 9lbs 9oz 2nd Bill Beston 9lbs 3oz 3rd Dennis Gowlett 4lbs 4oz 4th Peter Green 3lbs 15oz

Rob's day Hi At Barker's today – a good turnout of 14 although that meant a few “dodgy” pegs needed to be put in – although the weed had been professionally treated and Gary had done a good job getting weed out of some pegs a couple of weeks ago, this was going to be an issue for some. Drew peg 16 in a reasonable area although no lily pads here apart from the ones in the middle opposite peg 17. Set up a waggler rod and a couple of pole rigs for short and long. Fed a couple of balls of groundbait on the long swim and started on the waggler. No bites after 45 mins so went on the long pole line with maggots. Apart from a couple of tiny rudd, no bites – weed being a problem getting hooked up nearly every put in. Nothing close in so tried the waggler shallow for a few small rudd. Meanwhile Dennis on my left had a few better rudd and perch then a tench around 2 ½ pounds. On the other bank Bill on fancied tench peg 3 had a couple of tench and looked to be leading – adding one more before the end. Decided to fish the long pole line for the rest of the match and a couple of hours to go had a good bite that turned into a small tench around 2lb. No more bites though. John Carter then landed 3 fish (2 bream and a tench) in quick succession on the feeder in peg5 and Peter next door had landed one bream. At the weigh in it was close between John and Bill – John’s 3 fish going 9lbs 9oz to Bill's 9lb s3oz. Dennis was third with 4lbs 4oz and Peter's fish going 3lbs 15 oz for fourth. Although the weed is still causing problems to some, better catches today with some nice bream and tench.

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Ralph Jarvis Rose Bowl 1 of 2

1st Rob Calderon 170lbs 7oz 2nd Peter Green 97lbs 8oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 38lbs 14oz

Sorry not a lot of detail for this one at the moment as I was away on holiday. It looks like the carp decided to feed at Beggar's Hall with Peter just falling short of 100lb with 97lbs 8oz but still a long way behind Rob who weighed in 170lbs 7oz to up the lake record again. Amongst those were 2 rather large carp with one coming in at 23lbs 11oz. Most frustrating match went to Tony who had a hard time landing the carp he kept hooking in peg 18. 1st Rob Calderon 170lbs 7oz, 2nd Peter Green 97lbs 8oz and 3rd Phil Whitmill 38lbs 14oz. Sorry no photos either.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Over 65s Cup

1st John Carter 129lbs 10oz 2nd Graham Carter 87lbs 4oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 70lbs 2oz

Rob's day Hi All Back at Hall Farm today for the over 65s match – a warm day expected with apparently light winds. We had 9 at the draw today so decided to put in all 12 low bank numbers and see what comes out. Peg 10 for me not where I wanted to be in the first few pegs. In fact after we drew the three numbers left in the bag were 1, 2 and 3. Maybe though this would be a fairer match although John Carter on peg 4 would seem to have the best draw with all the lake to his left free. Set up some pole rigs for close in at 6 foot, further out at 9 foot, margin and shallow, although the margins are not great here – a few inches at 1 ½ foot then slopes sharply down into the depths. No bites on the pole short or long so decided it had to be shallow although not many fish showing. Took a while on the jigger to get the first fish, but started picking up a few. The wind was proving an issue now though, difficult to hold the pole out at 13m – a couple of times almost blowing into Tony’s peg to the right. Still getting a few though – mainly small carp and F1s. Jeff to the left had a few carp short on the pole – Tony struggling on peg 11 – couldn’t see anyone else although Peter Green appeared half way through to say the early pegs were doing well (no surprise). Into the last hour and tried the margins – had one carp on pellet to my left before trying the paste. Not easy as the float wanted to disappear down the slope but had 3 better carp in the last 15 minutes to weigh in just over 60lb. This was never likely to compete with pegs 4, 5 and 6 though and this is how it turned out to be. John topped the weights with a great 129lb from peg 4, Graham Carter second with a creditable 87lb 4oz peg 5 and third Phil with 70lb 2 oz for third from peg 6. Thanks for everyone who turned up and congratulations to John Carter.

Inter Club (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Bishop's Stortford won with 44 points to Abbey Cross' 34 points. Low bank 1st Peter Green 72lbs 14oz. 2nd Martin Adams 65lbs 11oz 3rd Phil Whitmill 47lbs 4oz High bank 1st Bill Beeston 71lbs 7oz 2nd Rob Calderon 45lbs 15oz 3rd Fred Hunt 40lbs 5oz

Rob's day Hi All At Hall Farm today for another Interclub match with Abbey Cross. We had 8 on today to Abbey's 6 so would discard 2 weights – Abbey discarding 2 pegs. After the heat of the last few days, a completely different day weatherwise with rain forecast for most of the day and temperatures 10 degrees lower. I drew peg 19 – not the best and up against the better pegs in the 20’s but who knows. Started on the short pole with pellets and had a good start with 3 F1s in the first 20 minutes. Had a couple more after an hour or so, but fish were very small at all under 2lbs. Bites faded so tried shallow on the jigger for a couple more but thing were getting harder. Into the afternoon and a couple more small carp – struggling to land fish trying to thread the pole and landing net through the brolly and railings! Luckily the rain subsided and the brolly could come down. Onto the margins but these were a disappointment, a couple of foul hookers on paste before hooking and landing a couple of better carp, but no more bites on paste. Tried hard pellets down the edge but nothing. Couldn’t see anyone on my bank but a few fish coming out opposite. I could see Tony Parker and Phil on pegs 1 and 2 getting a few – also Martin on peg 4 after catching silvers in the morning was now getting into the carp. Ray also getting a few on the feeder, but best of all Peter on peg 6, who looked to have a slow start but was now catching one a chuck on the feeder. Had one more on the feeder down the margin and ended the match with 45lbs 15oz. Not bad for peg 19 but thought I would be beaten by all to my right. As it turned out the high bank did not fish great – although Bill made no mistake from peg 26 with top weight on the bank 71lbs 7oz. My weight second and Fred third with 40lbs 5oz Some good weights on the low bank, notably Peter's winning weight of 72lbs 14oz. Martin did well to finish second on 65lbs 11oz from peg 4 and Phil third with 47lbs 4oz. It ended with Bishop's Stortford winning with 44 points to Abbey Cross' 34 points. Good to see weight coming from most areas today although as expected the shallower end fishing better than the deeps – thanks to Martin for weighing in the low bank.

River Stort Canoe Club event

River Stort (main river)

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Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake - venue change

N/A

1st Gary Pickard 9lbs 6oz 2nd Mark Halverson 3lbs 9oz 3rd Tony Cruci 1lb 10oz

Gary's day Today was a very hot day at MBL with the temperature climbing to around 30C by the end. We were going to be pretty well spread around the lake and I ended up on peg 3. A good peg but with a horrible high bank behind which makes shipping a pole hard work. The main plan was to fish to the lilies in front for tench on the pole and to the left of the lilies with a waggler for small fish. I also set up a pellet waggler rod in case the carp decided to feed. I had a good view of Mark over on peg 18 and he was going to be my gauge as to how well the lake was fishing. Rob was to my right on peg 2 - a hit and miss peg. The start was encouraging with a few roach and rudd on the waggler with maggots but they were quite small. After about 45 mins I tried the lillies but could not get the bait to bottom for small fish. Back to the waggler for a few small fish but the bites were tailing off and the fish were hanging out closer and closer to the cover of the lillies as the sun got higher. On the rest of the lake Mark was getting a few small fish but Rob was struggling and so was Tony on 28. With some bubbling coming from near the pads it was time to try for a bonus fish again. Whole worms still caught roach so I gave an expander a go and the float slid under and I was into a better fish and a 4lb tench was soon in the net. It was a frustrating day with lots of bubbling near the pads each time I dropped in some groundbait but bites were hard to come by. It was still just the odd roach until I had a brief encounter with a carp about 12.30. I managed 1 more tench at about 2 just after Mark lost a good fish over on 18. After that it was a slow finish - even the bubbling stopped in the last hour with just the odd roach going in the net. Rob also lost a decent fish towards the end, however, it had been a tough day on peg 2. It proved to be a hard day with bonus fish making all the difference. 1st Gary Pickard 9lbs 6oz, 2nd Mark Halverson 3lbs 9oz and 3rd Tony Cruci 1lb 10oz. Picture today is me with my best tench and a curious neighbour in the background.

Water booking (until 12 noon)

Hall Farm Small Lake

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Water booking

Hall Farm Small Lake

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Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Beggar's Hall

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Bishop Stortford won with 58 points to Saffron Walden's 47 points 1st Rob Calderon 80lbs 5oz 2nd John Carter 64lbs 8oz 3rd Steve Foster 51lbs 10oz

Rob's day Hi all At Beggar's today for the first Interclub match of the season with Saffron Walden. We had 9 on the match today to Saffron Walden’s 7 so would discount 2 of our weights. With 16 there were a few not so great pegs in today – Fred drew the odd numbers so maybe we would have the best of the draw. Luck has it I drew 18 so knew I would be on a few fish. With the weather to be hot today, and a few fish showing on top I started on the pellet waggler – also setting up a bomb rod, method rod and a couple of edge rigs for the pole. A bite on the second cast brought a 6lb carp – a few minutes later foul hooked one in the tail – which turned out to be the really fat carp with a bent tail – now over 10lbs – bit of a struggle but somehow managed to get it in the net. No more bites on the waggler so tried the bomb over the same line – but nothing. Onto the banker line – to the right on the feeder. Another fish after about 20 mins so stayed on that having a good run a couple of hours in so at halfway had around 50lbs. Started feeding the margins, thinking a big weight was on if they turned up there, but in the end the margins were a disappointment, a couple of fish seen on the feed, but only managed a carp of around 7lbs on the pole. Back to the feeder for a couple of more fish, but the second half of the match was not as good as the first – the temperature had dropped a bit in the afternoon – sun really hot around midday, wishing I had kept my long trousers on and not exposed my knees! At the weigh in I had 80lbs with the rest of the bank fishing ok – Steve Foster doing well from in form peg 22 with 51lbs for third in match and Fred 48lbs for Fourth from 17. I had decided for this match to not split the banks and just pay out the top 5 so it was good to see some decent weights coming from the low bank, notably John Carter’s 64lbs from peg 12 for second in the match – maybe the best weight I’ve seen from that peg, also a 36lbs and a 27lbs from pegs 3 and 5. Bishop Stortford won the match 58 points to 47 – thanks to Fred and his team for the help in weighing in today. Picture is Ray with a shy carp.

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Malcolm Barker Rose Bowl 1 of 2

1st Gary Pickard 100lbs 11oz 2nd Mark Haleverson 89lbs 2oz 3rd Fred Hunt 65lbs 15oz

Gary's day Today saw us at a hot Hall Farm with 27c+ predicted but cooler than the day before. It was peg 4 for me, at the right end of the lake so I was looking forward to a few fish. It was going to be hard pellets on the deck long, a go at shallow and then down the margins later with paste or corn. I had a good start with 2 early small carp in the first 15 mins but then started getting bites I could not hit. I finally hooked what was causing the problems - a small gudgeon taking a liking to 6mm hard pellets. With the bottom being solid with small fish it was time to try shallow. Just as the wind picked up. I ended up fishing closer and closer as the wind strengthened with it changing directions every few minutes. A couple of hours in I was struggling. Above me Mark on peg 8 had 7 or 8 carp and Tony a few but Fred on 2 had a slow start A change to loose feeding 4mms got a bit more activity shallow but it was hard work with the arms feeling it by the mid point. At this point I had maybe 40lb in the net so was having a steady day. With the wind not dropping it was time to try the edges which were a little calmer. A few indications led to a couple of carp on paste but that swim went quiet. A try on pellets and corn to the other side got an instant response. I ended up swapping left and right to the end with a couple of fish before it went a bit funny each time. Fred on 2 was having a good finish fishing a method feeder and Tony was still catching. Mark was out of sight behind a couple of trees. At the weigh in I just snuck over 100lbs but it ended up being a lot closer than expected as Mark's 65lbs went 89lbs including losing a few pounds when he went over on one net and Fred in third not that far behind with 65lbs. With the lowest weight coming in at very respectable 44lbs the lake fished really well despite it being its third match since Weds. Photo today is Mark with his smaller net of carp.

Charity match (BHF)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

Water booking (until 12 noon)

Hall Farm Small Lake

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

Summer League 3 of 6

Low bank 1st Jeff Pearson 69lbs 2oz 2nd Tony Cruci 55lbs 13oz 3rd Ray Gibson 33lbs 11oz High bank 1st Graham Carter 49lbs 2oz 2nd Rob Calderon 46lbs 12oz 3rd Fred Hunt 43lbs 13oz

Rob's day Hi all It was Hall Farm today for the third round of the Summer League, with a hot day forecast and with little wind blowing towards the car park bank, it was clear the draw was going to be crucial today – no one wanting the pegs down in the deep water. I drew 22, apart from 26 and 24 maybe the best peg on the high bank. Set up shallow, margin rigs and for the bottom, short and long. Started short on the pellet for an early carp but no more so went on the jigger at 13m. A few fish showing on top but not as many as I thought there would be, most fish swimming around in groups. Managed 2 F1s and a carp but no more on top so went onto the deep rigs. Meanwhile a few splashes from my right, Graham on 24 and Fred on golden peg 26. One splash unfortunately was Fred's top 3 disappearing into the lake attached to a carp. At halfway now and a lot of fish now showing in the margins, but seemed spooky, coming in on the feed but swimming out quickly. Had a couple on pellet but was having trouble getting clean bites (wished I had brought paste, that might have worked!). On the other bank Jeff looked to be getting a few carp now after spending the first half of the match catching silvers and Tony was having a great run on peg 4. Into the last few minutes and it proved to be a frustrating day with fish there but couldn’t hook them, although at least we were at the end of the lake with a few fish, people struggling at the other end to locate fish. Ended with one down the edge on the feeder to weigh in 46lbs 12oz enough for second on the high bank pipping Fred but not enough to beat Graham (fishing his first match with us) who had 49lbs 2oz for a good win. Well done Graham showing us how its done! For a nice change, top weight on the day came from the low bank, Jeff's 18lbs of roach topping his weight to 69lbs 2oz – Tony’s run of carp getting him second on 55lbs 13oz and Ray from peg 2 making third with 33lbs 11oz. All 6 places today coming from the early pegs, 26, 24, 22 and 2, 4, 6 those on the higher pegs struggling especially on 12 and 13. Today's photo is new boy to the Weds Club Graham Carter.

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

1st Rob Calderon 13lbs 9oz 2nd Jeff Pearson 4lbs 9oz 3rd Gary Pickard 3lbs 9oz

Gary's day It was going to be a hot but windy day as we headed to Wickham Hall. At the draw I ended up with last choice in the walk off and decided to fish the far right corner with the wind blowing in. Having left most of my feeders at home that narrowed down the choices for the day: a pole rig for on the deck in 10ft; a whip in case it was difficult and I needed a bite from anything; and a feeder rod. Rob was into a carp on the feeder pretty much before I finished feeding my swims. A first drop in on the deep pole rig with a couple of dead maggots had the float dancing all over the place as they were attacked by small rudd. Time to try a piece of corn instead - not a sign. About this time Phil had a bream of about 2 1/2lbs on the pole and I was falling behind fast. A quick try on a cage feeder had no signs and I seemed to be hitting a weed bed on the retrieve. It was time to get something in the net. A go on the whip to my right in more open water on maggot was worryingly quiet with just the odd micro rudd. I had been trying to avoid feeding maggots to my left nearer the weed because of this but when Rob landed another carp and Mark over in the other corner lost one it was Plan B time. As the day went on the fish got closer and closer to the weed and I ended up needing to set up another pole rig to drop in right on the edge of the weed later on. Apart from a dozen or so fingerling chub that maybe made an ounce each it was a day of catching small fish for me. Rob was today's runaway winner with 4 carp for 13lbs 9oz, 2nd Jeff Pearson and 4lbs 9oz and then I just Phil to 3rd by 1oz with 3lbs 9oz to Phil's 3lb 8oz. Picture today is Rob's winning ner.e

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

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

N/A

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)

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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 Halverson 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

N/A

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

N/A

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)

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

Club match/outing

Beggars Hall

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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

N/A

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.