Match results/Events info

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Taylor's Lake (Abbey Cross water)

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Wickham Hall

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

Winter League 2 of 6

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

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

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

Interclub (Abbey Cross)

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

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

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

River Stort Canoe Club event

River Stort (main river)

N/A

Interclub (Sawbridgeworth)

River Stort Backwater

Lea and Stort Cup (Sawbridgeworth)

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

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

Club Match / Outing

River Stort Backwater

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Hall Farm Large Lake

N/A

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

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

Water booking

River Stort Backwater

N/A

N/A

Club Match / Outing

Malcolm Barker Lake

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Home Farm Small Lake

Stone Cup 2 of 2

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

N/A

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

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

Club Match / Outing

Beggar's Hall

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

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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

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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

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Interclub (Saffron Walden)

Hall Farm Large Lake

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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!