Garbo Qualifier

15th and 16th June 2017

Tunnel Barn Farm

Garbolino Club Angler of the Year

Midlands Qualifier

This year the club was represented by Dave Edwards and Chris Roe after finishing as the top two in the league in 2016. Tony Wilson and Richie Williams also went along to try their luck.

 Travelling down the day before and staying over, a couple of practice sessions were gained on the Thursday. 

On arrival there were quite a few pools being used so we settled on some fliers on New Pool. Everyone tried a few different things to see what could be learned. The best method appeared to be caster shallow with Tony catching Ide and F1's for the 3 hours to amass 88lb. Chris and Dave started with meat down the track and despite getting a few fish, it never really took off. Chris switched to pellet shallow and had a good run of F1's for the last hour. This was producing a weight much faster than caster but due to the slow start Chris managed 57lb. 

After checking into the log cabin on site and swigging a couple of quick beers, it was on to House pool for a 3hr evening match. With Chris and Tony next peg they decided on a shallow pellet match. Richie tried on the deck, a top kit out and Dave on peg 22, the form peg on the whole complex, decided to fish the far bank.

Chris and Dave both started to catch within seconds of the clown horn sounding. Tony had a slower start but after what seemed like an eternity (about 3 minutes) managed an F1 shallow. Already 4 fish behind Chris he was feeling the pressure and started moaning about a sore arm. The surface was covered in scum which at times was difficult to fish through. It gave the fish the necessary confidence though in place of a ripple and they kept hanging themselves.

Dave switched to groundbait in the edge and had another good run of fish.

At the end of the match Chris had managed a very impressive 96lb in just 3 hours, Tony never quite made up for the slow 3 minutes at the start and weighed 82lb, Richie had struggled and managed 17lb. 

Dave, claiming 60lb, weighed 40lb in one net and then 21lb in the other. For a minute everyone though he'd told the truth for a change. He then claimed his net had fallen in and some fish had escaped and he'd caught more like 80lb. 

Did anyone believe him? The boy who cried wolf springs to mind.

After a few more beers, Tony decided his arm was too sore to cook the tea, so delegated responsibilty to Dave. His miserable day was compounded by a shit cooker, which set the smoke alarm off constantly, despite nothing being burnt. He spent the next half an hour waving a towel and swearing, while the rest complained about not being able to hear what was happening on Love Island.

The following morning and it was off to breakfast and the draw. After the practice sessions it was decided that pellet was the way to approach it. Dave, on the other hand, inexplicably decided to buy 3 pints of maggot. We had our brekkie and awaited the draw. Chris was hoping to avoid Club pool after blowing out on there for the last 2 years. You guessed it, he drew it again. This time on the better, wider side but still the middle of the lake, on peg 20. He went at it with a positive attitude though this time and despite a slow start, he sussed it with an hour to go and caught some proper F1's shallow at 6m. He managed a total of 65lb, half of it in the last hour. Enough to win the lake and qualify for the final.

Dave had drawn peg 1 on House pool, a flier in terms of the complex but, with only 2 going through from the lake, he would have to beat plenty of other fliers too. He got off to a great start with 25lb in the first hour before the sun came out and the peg switched off. He weighed 60lb for 7th on the lake but, just 10lb away from qualifying.

Richie drew peg 18 on Jenny's pool and struggled to 18lb with the pegs around him not even weighing in. It was clear that the pegs where the wind was blowing were the best.

Tony drew peg 21 on New pool. With 20 anglers spread over 45 pegs, there were 3 qualifying places up for grabs. Catching on a top kit in front, with expanders over 4mm's, there were some big fish in the area. He kept trying a shallow line but could only get odd fish. The edges never produced anything either. He decided he was beating everyone in sight so just perservered with the top kit line. This really kicked off in the last 40 mins and he managed to weigh 86lb. With two 100lb+ weights further round the lake and one of 83lb, he hung on to sneak 3rd place on the lake and take the last qualiying spot.

The final is Wednesday 19th July. Let's have it for the SAS.