2016 Review

Another year draws to a close

The year started at Weston Pools in March and over the course of the year the league was really tight with Dave Edwards, Tony Wilson and Chris Roe winning 3 matches each and Chris Williams winning the other.

In the end Chris Roe managed to do enough to take the league and become the new club champion.

2016 also saw the club introduce a section winners league which was won with a perfect score of 8 points by Chris Roe.

During 2016 we also had the club captain Neil Howard leave due to work commitments but he may be making a comeback in 2017.

Club captain for 2017 will be Tony Wilson and vice-captain will be Chris Roe.

Most of the new venues fished turned out to be quite popular with the lads and 2017 will see a few more venues introduced, including, Heronbrook, Hall Lane, Old Hough and Meadow View.

After discussions with some of the members its been decided that there will be 12 matches next year with the best 8 results counting in the league. The section winners league will now be scrapped in favour of a winter and summer knockout cup. 

The winter cup will start in January at The Cunneries and there will be a random draw before the match. For those who progress there will then be a round each month until the final on Meadow View in April.

The summer cup will be held between July at Hampton Springs and October at Weston Pools.

This may clash with some people booking holidays but it's going to be impossible to accommodate everybody so if you miss a round you will be out. 

2016 also saw the clubs first weekend away. Fished over 2 days at Barston Lake and House Pool on Tunnel Barn Farm. The weekend was a great success and provided some great memories. Richie Williams' enormous 21lb carp on the feeder at Barston, Chris Roe winning both days with an incredible combined weight of almost 200lb including a PB of 140lb 13oz, Dennis Clayton smashing his PB with 89lb, Richie Williams doing the same with 75lb. Tony Wilson with a new PB of 133lb and who could forget Churchy spelling PB wrong!
The winning team was Chris Roe, Lez Smith and Richie Williams.

Chris's 144lb Haul

Richie's 21lb 30z Common

The club was represented in the Garbolino Club Angler Of The Year competition by Tony Wilson and Dave Edwards. Held on Tunnel Barn Farm, both got decent draws, Dave on Canal and Tony on Extension Pool. Both managed to finish 2nd on their respective lakes which would have seen them qualify in past years. A change to the rules however, meant that the top weights from across the complex qualified instead and it was a story of what might have been. This is a great competition and one that all members should strive to qualify for, as the experience is priceless. In 2017 the club will be represented by Chris Roe and Dave Edwards. Best of luck guys, I'm sure you'll do us proud.

The match in July at Blundell's also saw some PB's getting smashed with Bob O'Neill weighing 49-03, closely followed by Carl Harrison  with his best of 46-05. I'm sure you'll both break that magical 50 soon.

August's match, at Willow pool on Hampton, saw the first 100lb+ weight in a league match with Tony Wilson weighing 104-13 of pellet waggler and margin caught carp.

Also in August, the club entered a team of 5 into an event at Weston Pools. Represented by Chris Roe, Tony Wilson, Dave Edwards, Norman Smith and Dennis Clayton. Fishing against 13 clubs, the team managed a very impressive 3rd overall, a moment we were all very proud of. Tony Wilson also won the day individually with 127lb from Weir pool.

Finely tuned athletes

A final mention must go to the Claire House charity match, we entered a team of 10 anglers and the whole event raised over £13,000 so well done to everyone. As a team we finished in last place so there's plenty of room for improvement next year. 2017 will see more clubs invited but numbers reduced from 10 to 8 anglers per club.

Bob on Peg 35 at Lingmere

A big thanks to everyone who has helped with booking venues, pegging, weighing in, organizing the trophies etc. It's great to be part of such a friendly club.

Apologies if I've missed anything.

Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.