Halesworth had been substitute for the Barford match and it was a 8.15am rendezvous in the lay-by at Pakefield, following his previous successful effort at leading the party to the venue Banjo was appointed leader and we all set off following the re-planked trailer and Golf to the venue. Another successful lead by Banjo and we all arrived in good time, the venue was surveyed by team leader Wall and his assistant Trevor, they return with the useful information that the “grass was wet” the two pleasure anglers where allowed to stay as we were going to peg round them.
Flexi pegs where not allowed this time (even if Paul Chilvers tells you to move) you drew your peg and fished from it, although we had a bit of the old Pot Black draw 12 fish from 23 etc just to add a bit of confusion, we also had the draw for the “knock out” it was to be Wally v Nigel and Banjo v Dingit, the Golden Peg was also drawn (before the match for once) and it was young Kieran with the £50.00 to fish for, everyone seemed to settle down at their drawn pegs with good time to spare and await the whistle.
Banjo and Dingit fished side by side, the Wall was opposite on a peg he wished he had left out and Nigel was down the “windy end” of the lake, the rest of us where spread out quite evenly on the rest of the pegs. From the whistle Mr Wall was straight into fish and had three before anyone else got a look in, Banjo went on the pole while Dingit used the feeder to the middle of the lake, Nigel discovered that the information that “the grass was wet” would of been useful to heed as his Desert Wellies are not good in wet grass, but this did not stop him beginning his assault on the Carp in the lake.
Kieran was fishing well and Uncle Bruce on the corner peg developed a new “sprint to your rod and strike” style of fishing which he has to work on to perfect, the short walk end with father and son Moyse was a bit quiet , Aaron was getting fish but small was an understatement although he hoped quantity would outdo quality. Chief organiser Chilvers was next to Wally but do to flexi peg being cancelled was unable to encourage him to move but was rewarded with a particularly happy and chirpy Wally to sit next to for 6 hours.
Bear was in the corner and displayed more gear than anyone else, he now just needs to by a van to get it all in and he is about sorted, Daddy Bulti, Trevor and myself where in the opposite corner straight into the wind which was not very pleasant to say the least but it did not rain. I removed a few reeds with my new toy to enable the margin to be fished, but as most fish came from the middle of the lake it was not very productive. Boyce was next to the eventual winner but is happy to just get through the day without losing / breaking any tackle at the moment and is going to sort out catching fish later on, young Louis was next to Dingit and myself and caught all his fish in the last hour and a half, had he caught at that rate all day he would of had the winning bag.
Come the final whistle Nigel was talking down his catch so we knew he was quietly confident, Dingit had no idea what he had caught and all the usual excuses where coming out, in the end Banjo topped the scales and removed Dingit from the knockout, Nigel was 2nd and therefore removed Team Leader Wall from the knockout ! Dingit was 3rd so he beat team leader and therefore draws level on points for the Championship.
So with two matches to go Dingit is taking out extra life insurance policies and is avoiding eating at the Pot Black to ensure he is not “knobbled” in the run up to the end of the season, Mr Chilvers is looking good for 3rd and Wally will be putting in two to three days practice at both venues and hoping he will get a favourable draw as the rest of us sort out the middle positions.
The next match is at New Lake Hinderclay so if you thought today was windy and inhospitable just you wait till 29th August when we arrive at “Windyclay”, till the next time (do not forget your waterproofs).
The Other Bank.
