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The prime platform for Boston and District sports news
All the
up-to-date news from the 2009-2010 Boston and District angling scene
with Barry Mallett
Index
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For the season 2009-2010 |
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Review for March 14 Little cheer in catches as season concludes Running up to the weekend, those last few days were much
the same as was forecast, being mainly cloudy with temperatures only a
smidgeon higher than the previous period. The weekend itself was much
brighter but hardly improved catches for most of those that ventured out for
a last fling. |
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Review for March 7 Pike club returns all down to duo A much-improved picture last week as predicted and was
the case for the weekend. Unfortunately being both dry and bright with
wall-to-wall sunshine, especially on Sunday, daytime temperatures stayed in
the low single figures after more severe night frosts. Prospects for the
remainder of the season seem to be for continuing cloud and temperatures on
the low side, and there is little sign of those temperatures achieving double
figures, which is the norm for this time of year. |
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Review for February 28 Weather woes hamper action schedule A topsy-turvy few days concluded with the worst of all worlds on Sunday as spells of heavy rain put even more flood water into already swollen rivers and local drainage systems. Saturday turned out to be almost spring like in comparison for the few that decided to give it a try and those involved in final rounds of competitions. Those very conditions forced Fishtoft AC off our local
waters and so members decided to try Royle’s As I describe in the next report, conditions on the Foss
Dyke Canal were such that only two of those involved in the fifth round of
the Co-op individual league had anything to show for their efforts on
Saturday. This turned out to be a tie for first place between SPRO/Lincoln
Whisby anglers Rob Thorley and Steve Gilbert who managed to conjure up just
one 8oz roach each using feeder and double pinky right under the near bank. Only 21 anglers turned out for the Hughes Trophy on
the same venue, and not surprising given the conditions. Torrential rain on the Friday brought the water level up
some three feet by the next day but had dropped to within six inches of its
normal level by the Sunday. Obviously carrying a lot of colour (again) but
unlike previous matches this time it fished really well, and those large
perch, that have eluded anglers for such a long time, had begun to feed in
earnest. Prospects for the next few days appear to be much better, with a drier, and for that matter, a little warmer spell of weather in the offing. These last ten weeks have been horrendous in terms of both travelling to venues as well as actual fishing but hopefully, at last, we may see vastly improved conditions for what remains of this current season. |
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Review for February 21 Don adopts winning tactics No real improvement since my last report with further spells of rain and then hard frosts leading into, and over the weekend. Add in another fall of snow on top of those icy conditions on Sunday and everything was back to square one in this miserable and prolonged winter, sadly little sign of improvement for the near future. Anglers subsequently struggled to get to their respective venues on both days and many gave up on the idea, even before starting out. Saturday, although not particularly warm, was a totally
different day with some sunshine, something we have been short of in recent
weeks. Catches at Wainfleet on the River Steeping held up well for the few
that turned out and this time Alec Rawlings went one better than last week to
take the match. Waggler and maggot was the winning tactics to beat Don Green,
who opted for a pole and breadpunch approach, with nearly a pound to spare,
Bob Smith taking close order in the same 8lbs plus range. Results: 1 Alec
Rawlings 9lbs 14ozs; 2 Don Green 8lbs 15ozs; 3 Bob Smith 8lbs 6ozs. Lincoln Imp AC members made it to the Northlands section
of the Sibsey Trader Drain on Sunday but conditions deteriorated rapidly and
only those pegged close to the upstream side of the bridge had anything to show
for their efforts. Many of the 18 hopefuls packed up early when the
snow was at its worst and so just two anglers troubled the scales, which
showed a runaway win for Paul Crampton who took a few nice roach to pole and
bronze pinky. He was also became involved with a good sized pike which took
one of those roach and after a prlonged battle he managed to land said fish,
at 9˝lbs when weighed, held on a size 22 hook and 1lb bottom, some going.
Only other weigher was Chris Crow who took one decent roach for second place. 1 Paul Crampton 3lbs 8ozs; 2 Chris Crow 4ozs. A few Fishtoft AC members braved the elements for a
sweep on the Medlam Drain and again weights came in on the low side but for
just four of those involved. John Smith took the honours for the second week
running with a few small roach to squatt and pinky. Jerry Clifton came home
second in the same street, these two being the only anglers to record pound
plus weights of small roach. Result: 1 John Smith 1lb 12ozs; 2 Jerry Clifton
1lb 5ozs; 3 Mark Cook 12ozs; 4 Terry Gooding 6ozs. Next week meet McDonald’s
7.30 am. The last round of the Rilmac League on the Foss Dyke
Canal also suffered that snowfall and this area received around 4ins in just
over an hour. Obviously those conditions had a serious effect on weights as
most fish decided to keep their mouths tightly shut. Nothing though put off
the awesome Garbolino Lincs County team whose members landed the first three
individual places. Top of this particular pile was Jamie Osgodby who made no
mistake with a winning catch of small roach to pole and bloodworm. This was
more than enough to see off team mate, and the in form Mark Griggs, who took
second spot from the end peg on the roadside using a combination of pole,
breadpunch and bloodworm. Just a few ounces adrift in third was the other in
form Lincs County man in the shape of Steve Wright, who used like tactics,
with Mark Rogers and Phil Chesterton filling the minor places in the 2lbs
range of weights. The team event saw the Garbolino Lincs County finish as
they started with another emphatic win, easily beating SPRO Lincoln Whisby
into second place by 10 points. And so, at the end of this series it was the
mighty Garbolino Lincs County who won the league with a near maximum 5 round
wins, and a second, to end with a winning margin of 4pts over their SPRO
Lincoln Whisby rivals. Results: 1 Jamie Osgodby Garbolino Lincs County 4lbs
6ozs; 2 Mark Griggs Garbolino Lincs County 3lbs 10ozs; 3 Steve Wright
Garbolino Lincs County 3lbs 3ozs; 4 Mark Rogers Pelham 2lbs 11˝ozs; 5 Phil
Chesterton Whisby B 2lbs 8ozs; 6 Graham Bunnage Whisby B 2lbs
5˝ozs. Teams On The Day: 1 Garbolino Lincs County 41 pts; 2 SPRO Lincoln
Whisby 31pts; 3 Pelham 23 pts; 4 Whisby A 21 pts; 5Whisby B 19 pts.
Final Result: 1st Garbolino Lincs County 7 pts; 2 SPRO Lincoln Whisby 11
pts; 3 Pelham 19 pts; 4 Whisby A 20 pts; 5 Whisby B 30 pts. |
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Review for February 14 Bob emerges top of the weights Further spells of prolonged, and sometimes heavy, rain have
left waters in a swollen state and running off hard between high tides. On
the plus side those conditions have made fish swim hard against the flow on a
regular basis and hence on the hungry side in most cases, as the weekend’s
results show – the minus side being that they are tightly shoaled up in a
very few pegs. Definitely the case for the Saturday sweep on the River Steeping at Wainfleet where a string of good weights was topped by Bob Smith with a superb net of roach and win with 5lbs to spare. Pole and pinky did all the damage for Bob and nothing Alec Rawlings could do to alter the outcome, he using his favoured waggler and maggot tactics towards the far bank. Andy Dillamore pursued the same method as Bob but fell well adrift, still managing a double figure catch to claim third place. Results: 1 Bob Smith 18lbs 11ozs; 2 Alec Rawlings 13lbs 7ozs; 3 Andy Dillamore 11lbs 6ozs. Another sweep will take place next Saturday meet same time, same place, for details ring Mark Cook on 07947 859747 by Friday evening please. For the second week running Fishtoft AC abandoned their
usual Sunday sweep, again due to lack of support. They will try again next
Sunday, meet as usual at McDonald’s 7.30am. Bingham AC found fish feeding at Round five of the Rilmac League brought higher average
weights this week, thanks mainly to a few of those large perch which had just
started to show their faces in the previous round. Four of those totalling
around 6lbs and added to 4lbs of roach gave John Turner a comfortable victory
from peg 47 on the R. Odder. This alone speaks volumes as four of the top six
weights were all pegged close to each other on this more sheltered stretch of
water. Perch were inevitably taken using worm or bloodworm, the roach falling
to either punch or bloodworm in all cases. Namesake Phil Turner finished
second best with a catch, which consisted more of roach, and with just one
bonus perch of 2lbs he could be considered to have landed the better catch,
but its weight that counts. Alistair Ogilvie seemed to go all out for those perch
and was rewarded with 15 smaller specimens and a tie for third with Jamie
Osgodby. After that it was Steve Wright who produced the best catch off the |
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Review for January 31 Sweeps on Steeping finally up and running January’s out at long,
long last. But not much improvement for this week or through February if
forecasts are to be believed. A bright and breezy weekend with severe frosts
over the Friday and Saturday nights to lower water and air temperatures once
again. The Saturday sweep on the
River Witham did get off the ground but with the river running cold, hard and
clear no one managed a bite let alone a fish. Despite a bitterly cold
northerly wind, catches were somewhat better the previous day which saw the
RAF match taking place on both the Frith Bank Drain at Gypsy Bridge and the
Sibsey Trader Drain at Northlands Bridge. The contest was between the RAF
team and the ‘Old Lags’, both giving a good account of themselves under the
circumstances. Individually the better weights came from Northlands where
Dusty Kiddel brought nearly 20lbs of 3-4oz roach to scales, all taken on pole
and breadpunch. This seemed the favoured option but the others could not
match his catch rate, next best being Andy Dixon with a little under 10lbs
and followed by Mick Halford and Gavin Atkinson with other close nets of
similar fish. The team match was won by the RAF who amassed some 68lbs to the
Old Lags level 60lbs. Results: 1 Dusty Kiddel, RAF, 19lbs 9ozs; 2 Andy Dixon,
Old Lags, 9lbs 3ozs; 3 Mick Halford, Old Lags, 8lbs 13ozs; 4 Gavin Atkinson,
RAF, 7lbs 11ozs. The Saturday sweeps on
the River Steeping at Wainfleet are finally up and running and good nets of
roach and skimmers were taken by all those involved. Gavin Butler led the way
with a double figure weight of those, all taken on the pole, squatt and pinky
combination. Alistair Ogilvie came in second, nearly two pounds down and a
further pound adrift was Don Green in third, last place going to organiser
Mark Cook with a little over 5lbs. Results: 1 Gavin Butler 11lbs 2˝ozs; 2
Alistair Ogilvie 9lbs 4ozs; 3 Don Green 8lbs 1˝ozs; 4 Bob Smith 6lbs 10ozs; 5
Barry Wigginton 6lbs 1ozs. Another sweep will be held next Saturday, ring
Mark Cook on 07947 859747 by Friday evening please. Sunday dawned very cold
and consequently all local drains showed a good covering of ice in most
areas. Subsequently the scheduled Fenland Pike Club match on the West Fen
Drain was called off and those that did continue on one or two open pegs at
Northlands had no luck, and returned home fishless. A few Fishtoft AC members
also tried the same drain and again all to no avail and so will try again
next Sunday, meet McDonalds 7.30am as usual. The Rilmac League was the
sole survivor with the third round again fished on the Foss Dyke Canal. Despite
most of the 50 anglers having to break the ice some good catches were
returned. Bloodworm and pinkie accounted for most of the better weights as
the top five took over 100 small roach and perch each in weights ranging from
4-6lbs. Boston’s Mark Griggs finished the day top dog by a comfortable margin
with team-mate Steve Winter holding on to second from both Mick Gorry and
Phil Turner by a mere 1˝ozs. Dale Whelan held on to fifth with much the same
sort of catch as John Small pushed him all the way with the aid of four perch
to lobworm, and totalling 3˝lbs to finish just an ounce down in sixth. Three team members in the
top five for Garbolino Lincs County meant a convincing win over their
Spro/Lincoln Whisby rivals, who were involved in a three way tie with Pelham
and Whisby A in this third round. With two more rounds remaining it now looks
to be a two horse race between those top two who have a comfortable lead with
a 4 & 5 point gap over the rest. Results: Individuals, 1 Mark Griggs, Garbolino Lincs County, 6lbs 7ozs;
2 Steve Winter, Garbolino Lincs County, 4lbs 15ozs; equal 3 Mick Gorry,
Pelham, and Phil Turner, Whisby A, 4lbs 13˝ozs; 5 Dale Whelan, Garbolino
Lincs County, 4lbs 4ozs; 6 John Small, Spro/Lincoln Whisby, 4lbs 3ozs. Teams
on the day, 1 Garbolino Lincs County 35pts; equal 2 Spro/Lincoln Whisby,
Pelham and Whisby A 32pts; 5 Whisby B 19pts. After three rounds: 1 Garbolino
Lincs County 4pts; 2 Spro/Lincoln Whisby 5pts; equal 3 Pelham and Whisby A
9pts; 5 Whisby B 15pts. A final reminder that the
Boston and District Angling Association annual general meeting will take
place next Tuesday February 9, 7.30pm at the Squash Club, Rosebery Avenue. A
current 2010 membership book is essential to gain access to the meeting and
can be obtained prior to the meeting if necessary. |
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Review for January 24 Bontoft holds sway in decisive fashion A drier week than was predicted but Friday certainly made up for it as rain fell from dawn until dusk, and then again overnight to put fresh floodwater back into the local drains. Consequently all waters were well up come Saturday morning, again causing the cancellation of sweeps on both the Rivers Steeping and Witham the latter, in particular, was carrying around 6ft of extra water. Sunday turned out to be much better weather wise, but
the Bourne Winter League scheduled for that day went ahead on a swollen, and
ultimately fast moving Bellwater Drain, after much agonising over its
possible postponement. As expected though, many of the 50 plus competitors
came away with just a few miserly ounces for their patience, but at least a
result was achieved. Not so those in the right pegs, which generally was to
be those closest to the corner behind the Duke of Wellington Inn. Feeder and
worm tactics was nigh on the only realistic method and the likes of Dave
Bontoft, Andrew Page and Andy Ellis need no instruction when faced with this
scenario. Dave in particular cornered the market, so to speak, as he took no
less than five superb bream to 5lbs plus a tench of similar size for a
runaway win. The other two mentioned also got amongst the fish as Andrew
landed 3 bream and one tench to Andy’s two and one to clinch second. After
that it was the also-rans came up with good nets of small fish which as mentioned,
soon petered out to mere ounces. Teamwise the Mark One Black team continued where they
left off in the first round and won this one by a good margin of 8pts over After two rounds: 1 Sensas Mark One Black 2pts; equal 2
Wades MG, Van Den Eynde and Garbolino Lincs Fish were very hard to come by in the flood conditions
the previous day but Sunday’s second round Rilmac League on the On seeing the state of all local waters, Fishtoft AC
diverted to Mark Cook will make another attempt to start a series of
Saturday matches on the River Steeping next week and so please ring him on
07947 859747 by Friday evening. Members and prize winners are reminded that
the Annual General Meeting and prize presentation takes place on Tuesday
February 9 at the Squash Club, |
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Review for January 17 Testing time as Rilmac contest gets under way A weekend of complete contrast as Saturday rounded off a
very dull, cold and miserable week with more rain through most of the day.
Further heavy bursts throughout the night proved to be the straw that broke
the camel’s back as Sunday morning dawned to show all watercourses at high
levels and running off hard. Apart from a lull into the start of this week it
is looking like a return to wintry conditions by the time this article
appears and may well give similar conditions as next weekend approaches. This was already the case for the River Steeping last Saturday and so the sweep at Wainfleet was again abandoned due to lack of support. Another attempt will be made next Saturday and those interested should ring Mark Cook on 07947 859747 by Friday evening. A swollen Bellwater Drain at Midville was the venue for
the Fenland Pike Club on Sunday. Nevertheless it yielded a few small
specimens, some nine in total for those taking part, but none went above
5lbs. The best fell to Barry Moore in third place but Kenny Sizer led the way
with three smaller models as previous winner Andrew Leverton took second this
time with two fish of similar size. Results: 1 Kenny Sizer 9lbs 8ozs; 2
Andrew Leverton 7lbs 10ozs; 3 Barry Moore 4lbs 14ozs. Similar conditions for Fishtoft AC on the West Fen Drain
at Frithville where it soon became obvious that fish had become very tightly
shoaled into no more than three or four pegs. Only those nearest the bridge
had anything useful to put on the scales and guest angler John Smith ran out
an easy winner from that closest peg. He took a double figure net of small
roach and skimmers and was followed by Nick Mummery who included a bonus
bream of some 4 ˝ lbs to pinch second ahead of Terry Gooding. Results: 1 John
Smith 10lbs 6ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 7lbs 6ozs; 3 Terry Gooding 5lbs; 4 Mark Cook
1oz. Members are asked to meet again next Sunday at McDonalds 7.30am. The Rilmac League finally got under way on the March again attracted a large turnout of around 90
matchmen but here the better and more productive pegs were at the top end of
the town’s bypass. All except that is for |
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Review for January 10 Wintry weather takes toll on weekend action A complete wipe-out in The The nearest event to get off the ground was in
Cambridgeshire and hastily arranged in place of the Bourne Winter League,
which was originally scheduled for Given more benign conditions another attempt will be made to get the Saturday sweeps on the R. Steeping up and running, and those who are interested in taking part should ring Mark Cook on 07947 859747. Similarly the Fishtoft AC outings will continue and members are asked to meet as usual at McDonald’s 7.30am Sunday. |
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Review for January 3 Reviewing 2009 highs and lows Ice and snow returned over Saturday night and only a few
hardy Fenland Pike Club men braved the atrocious road conditions. Almost a
completely wasted journey for the nine who turned out as the The extended period of icy weather, and hence little
activity on the bank-side, gives me an ideal opportunity to revue the highs
and lows of 2009. Strange as it may seem I start with the end of last
season when the Northlands area of the Sibsey Trader Drain was the place to
be for a few days. Bream in some numbers suddenly made a long overdue
appearance and culminated in an outstanding weight of them to win the Bingham
AC on the March 8. A net of near 75lbs, which included twelve specimens going
up to 5lbs, brought a runaway victory for Paul Gilbert. Even at that the
others in the minor places recorded other double figure weights and these
also included a few tench in the 4˝lbs region. Despite the obvious rush to
the area after word got around, those self same fish disappeared just as
quickly and have not really been seen until the early part of the new season.
Into the summer and most eyes were soon focussed on the
Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain where thousands of small skimmers
had obviously taken up residence after the previous season’s disaster. Early
competitions such as the regular Saturday afternoon matches pointed the way
as these were invariably won with a few pounds of these and at times, in the
case of Ben Brighton on more than one occasion, a similar net of quality
roach. In contrast the golf course stretch of the Sibsey Trader Drain
produced little for those local clubs who made use of these areas and were
usually confined to a pound or so of small roach and skimmers. Having mentioned those big bream in the Northlands area
it was a Stickney AC match at the end of June that again threw up a decent
weight. Unfortunately this was really just an isolated instance and a lone
peg where the lucky angler, being Paul Wood, won by a mile with a level 34lbs
to the next best of 3lbs plus. After that the drain stayed in the doldrums
and with a very long dry summer which never seemed to come to an end, the
weed soon took over and made most areas almost impossible to fish. This
situation also applied to the Maud Foster Drain, which hosted one or two
early matches, suggesting a decent head of fish in the The Hobhole Drain has also deteriorated for a different
reason, this being now lack of access down to the water on most of the
roadside stretch from Haltoft End to Back to the Bargate Drain and Windsor Bank was in full
swing come September when the Boston & D.A.A. matches were taking place over
most Sundays in this month. In addition this part of the drain was used on
most Saturdays for a variety of events including junior competitions and
these also came up with good weights approaching 10lbs. Extra experience in
the senior events saw weights range from that mark right up to a whopping
30lbs which included small skimmers, one or two larger bream and topped off
with quality roach. This catch gave Craig Butterfield an easy individual
victory and also combining with Mark Griggs to carry off the pairs trophy. In
complete contrast less than 4ozs was enough to clinch victory in the Fishtoft
AC match on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain that same day.
Now into early autumn and the first round of the After that, I’m afraid, we then experienced the low
point as by now fish had moved from the town section and it was only when we
came to the fourth round in mid-November that The final match of this year was, of course, the Boston
Benevolent match and took place back on the Weather permitting, a sweep will be held next Saturday
(January 9) on the Steeping River and anglers are asked to meet at the Clock
Tower, Wainfleet 8.30am. Also, Fishtoft AC members will meet Sunday 7.30am
McDonald’s. With the annual meeting scheduled for Tuesday February
9, Boston and District Angling Association members are reminded that any
resolutions to put before the meeting should be sent in writing, and duly
seconded, to the secretary Barbara Clifton by this coming Monday January
11. Well, that about wraps it up for last year and given a
fair wind and much better conditions than have been the case in recent times,
we should be able to enjoy a few more weeks of good fishing until the end of
the season. Tight lines and a happy and peaceful New Year to everyone. |
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Review for December 20 Weather takes toll on clutch of events Very little activity around the No sparkling weights for anyone, as you may have
realised by now, but Starlets angler Cameron Hughes drew end peg 6 and made
best use of this plum draw. He took mainly small roach to bloodworm over a
bed of joker but also had a bonus perch on lobworm of around 1˝lbs to finish
the day victorious. Runner-up was local Lincoln Whisby angler John Small who
also caught small fish on bloodworm over joker at peg 12 and at the end of
the match came home with just 2ozs to spare over Van Den Eynde angler Chris
Jenkinson. Chris secured his third place also using bloodworm and joker and
was helped a little help by another end peg draw at 91 and again had an all
small fish catch on bloodworm over joker. John Blades drew the fancied peg 83
which has produced the winner on this canal on several occasions this year
already, but this time around though the better fish did not show and he had
to settle for a few small roach on bloodworm to take fourth. Completing the
line up was match organiser Alan Henry, a mere ounce down in fifth, with Well that wraps things up for
this week and it only leaves me to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and
hopefully I will bring better news, and weather, for the rest of the holiday
period leading up to the New Year. |
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Review for December 13 300-plus haul yields victory for Don Wetter than was first predicted last week as anglers
over the weekend had to put up with the odd heavy shower over most of the
area around Nevertheless the drier period leading up to last weekend ensured waters would be at somewhat lower and steadier levels than the preceding one (in most cases that is) and fish responded accordingly. The Boston and District Angling Association match
calendar came to a successful conclusion with the Christmas Benevolent match
being held on the Sibsey Trader Drain, either side of A much better day all round for the RAF boys who chose
the Frith Bank Drain for the latest of their winter series on the previous Tuesday.
Roach and perch galore for most but Graham Welton led the way home with a
comfortable victory from the second peg in. He beat second placed Steve
Bright, at the first peg, by more than 4lbs – Steve in turn, holding on to
third by a few ounces from Dusty Kiddel. Results: 1 Graham Welton 16lbs 4ozs;
2 Steve Bright 11lbs 12ozs; 3 Dusty Kiddel 11lbs 1oz. Back to that Benevolent match and apart from there being
lots of prizes to be won the most important fact was that there were many,
many more fish to interest at least three quarters of the 37 anglers taking
part. Cracking weights of small skimmers with a sprinkling of roach and our
own Don Green could boast some 300 such fish to breadpunch to take the top
spot. Almost 3lbs separated him from second placed Stan Mee
who took a similar amount, tactics here being short pole and pinky. Denis
Houghton was always in the hunt from the next peg to Stan but a breadpunch
approach saw him finish well over 2lbs down, as was the case for John Holmes
in fourth. Completing the top six line up was Ben Brighton with another
double figure net to pinky, and Dave Edwards in sixth with a touch over 9lbs,
again to breadpunch. Pegs on the downstream side of the bridge were not as
good and the furthest away produced the biggest struggle. Even so here Nev
Soulby took this particular section with a respectable weight of 5lbs 11ozs. Results: 1 Don Green, Team Milldon, 17lbs 2ozs; 2 Stan
Mee, Mansfield, 14lbs 3ozs; 3 Denis Houghton, Wainfleet AC, 11lbs 8ozs; 4
John Holmes, Nottingham, 11lbs 1oz; 5 Ben Brighton, Browning Boston, 10lbs
14ozs; 6 Dave Edwards, Holly Farm, 9lbs 1oz. Other section prize winners were: S1 – Steve Hill 4lbs
14ozs; Chris Whitehall 2lbs 12ozs; Nick Mummery 2lbs; S2 – Alec Rawlings 3lbs
14ozs; Kevin Soulby 3lbs 14ozs; Ernie Heseltine 3lbs; S3 – Ian Asplen 8lbs;
Roger Wakenshaw 6lbs 15ozs; S4 – Trevor Ogilvie 8lbs 6ozs. |
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Review for December 6 Steve wins low-weights sweep event A bright and breezy weekend with most of the heavy
rainfall restricted to night-time hours, all except, that is, for a downpour
until mid morning on Sunday, but I’ll return to that later. Most waterways
and drains have been running off ay a vast rate of knots to keep levels down
at winter height, the River Witham being a good case in point. A colder and
drier interlude spreading over the whole country during this coming week,
bringing with it a more stable nature to water levels as a whole. Midweek found it up and coloured but in much better
condition come Saturday. This was reflected in low weights for the Wednesday
sweep but much improved catches for the match at As mentioned, a few more bream took some interest
in that Saturday sweep which was attended by 16 hopefuls and here A little out of our area but Fenland Pike Club members
enjoyed a fantastic day on the Twenty Foot Drain at Whittlesey on Sunday. Individual
winner was Kenny Sizer who took four good fish for just over the half-century
mark, but yet more as out of those eight who took part, six of them brought a
total of 142lbs to scales, including eight double figure fish. Amongst those
was the best fish of the day going 19lbs 14ozs which was landed by Barry
Moore who took second place ahead of Andrew Walker. Results: 1 Kenny Sizer
50lbs 2ozs; 2 Barry Moore 35lbs; 3 Andrew Walker 21lbs 12ozs. Bingham AC endured a soggy start on the Sibsey Trader Drain
at Fishtoft AC members chose the River Steeping this week
and were not disappointed as most brought a few pounds of fish to scales. Ben
Brighton however ran out an easy winner taking a good net of roach to mainly
maggot over hemp, over five pounds separated him from the second place. This
was taken by Janusz Kedzierski, himself a comfortable 14ounces ahead of Adie
Penson and then further back, Mark Cook in fourth. Results: 1 Ben Brighton
11lbs 1oz; 2 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 11ozs; 3 Adie Penson 4lbs 13ozs; 4 Mark
Cook 3lbs 9ozs. Those members intending to fish the Benevolent match
below are informed that a separate sweep will be held in conjunction with the
event itself. A final call to anglers for
the Christmas Benevolent match which takes place next Sunday December 13.
Those intending to take part should ring Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815 by
Friday evening please. Any prizes for the match and donations to the
Benevolent Society would be greatly appreciated, thank you. |
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Review for November 29 Tactics switch brings winning net for Foster Somewhat colder as predicted, with long spells of heavy
rain over the Friday and Saturday nights. A cold start to Sunday and after a
wintry spell during mid morning it turned into one of those gorgeous early
winter days which most enjoyed and proved a fitting finale to the Boston
Winter League. Before that, the River Witham at A little better come Saturday as Les Smith tempted three
good models to take an easy victory over Brian Harding and Steve Gilbert who
both turned in the odd bream to go with a few skimmers. Results: 1 Les Smith
13lbs 2ozs; 2 Brian Harding 7lbs 4ozs; 3 Steve Gilbert 6lbs; Rob Derrit 4lbs
10ozs. And so to that fifth and final round of the Boston
Winter League which took place on Sunday both on the Down to the nitty-gritty, however, and The team results went right down to the wire and with
three section winners out of a possible four the Browning Boston team not
only won the day by four points but also carried off the Division One league
by a three point margin over the Garbolino Lincs County White team. Similarly
in Division Two, the Horncastle team, although without a section win among
them, turned in a consistent performance and did just enough to win the day.
In doing so they also took the Div 2 league with two points to spare over a
disappointed BAC Red team who had led from the first round. No contest in the individual stakes as Ben Brighton
already held a good lead going into this last round and confirmed his
Division One title with that third place and a second in section. Fishtoft
AC’s Jerry Clifton had also moved into the hot seat in Division Two after the
previous round and needed that second place and a section win on this
occasion to hold off Wainfleet anglers Denis Houghton and Pete Harker to
clinch the top spot. On the day: Individuals: 1 Phil Foster Garbolino, Lincs County
White, 18lbs 5ozs; 2 Jerry Clifton, Fishtoft AC, 15lbs 15ozs; 3 Ben Brighton,
Browning Boston, 13lbs 5ozs; 4 Alistair Ogilvie, Browning Boston, 12lbs 1oz;
5 Graham Cripsey, DVA, 11lbs 14ozs; 6 Steve Lamyman, Garbolino Lincs County
Red, 11lbs 5˝ozs. Teams: Div 1, 1 Browning Final positions: Div 1: 1 Browning Individuals: Div 1: 1 Ben Brighton 31pts; equal 2 Craig Butterfield
& Andy Scott 25pts; equal 4 Mark Cook and Andy Dixon 24pts; Div 2: 1
Jerry Clifton 27pts; 2 Denis Houghton 25pts; 3 Pete Harker 24pts; 4 Kevin
Soulby 22pts. Fishtoft AC members are asked to meet for their normal
Sunday sweep (December 6) at McDonald’s 7.30am. The Boston and District Angling Association Christmas
Benevolent match will take place on Sunday December 13, venue as yet
undecided. Those intending to fish the match should ring Barry Mallett on
(01205) 871815 please. Any donations to the Benevolent Society and prizes for
the match are most welcome. Please also ring Barry. A reminder to anglers
that those stretches of drain in use at the weekend could be booked out for
this coming Sunday, please read notice boards before attempting to fish. |
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Review for November 22 Dave breadpunches his way to victory An unprecedented amount
of rainfall and hence extensive flooding for the North West and Cumbria in particular
just before the weekend. Thankfully no such problems for our area so far and
the only rainfall arrived at the end of the day and after dark on Saturday. A
bright enough start on Sunday but soon clouding over again to bring further
rain to the whole county by midday and strong enough winds but not achieving
the strength that was predicted, I’m pleased to say. Unfortunately there is
more of the same to come over this coming week and temperatures look to take
a tumble towards the weekend. After last week’s low
point for matches the only way was up as United Anglers tackled the platform
pegs at Northlands Bridge on the Sibsey Trader Drain on Sunday. The winds
really prevented any meaningful fishing beyond 6m but at that range a variety
of baits tempted a good number of roach and skimmers. Breadpunch was the
choice for Dave Johnson who took a nice net of said fish to win comfortably
from organiser Shaun Bell who took all his catch to pinkie over bread feed.
Weights then fell away slightly but only nine ounces covered the next four,
led home by Mike Deakins who chose white maggot as hookbait and finished with
a shade over 4lbs. Results: 1 Dave Johnson 7lbs 10ozs; 2 Shaun Bell 6lbs
8ozs; 3 Mike Deakins 4lbs 2ozs; 4 John Waterhouse 3lbs 11ozs; 5 Mick Toyne
3lbs 10ozs; 6 Chris Woolley 3lbs 9ozs. Not so good for those
involved in the Saturday sweep which took place in the middle of the golf
course section. Enough strength in the wind on that day to restrict most to
the 6 metre range of poles lengths and here Denis Houghton came out top with
a catch of roach and small skimmers to white maggot. After that it was punch
all the way with the next three catches being very similar and within 5
ounces of each other. Results: Andy Dillamore the runner up ahead of Danny
West and Janusz Kedzierski. 1 Denis Houghton 4lbs
2ozs; 2 Andy Dillamore 2lbs 11ozs; 3 Danny West 2lbs 8ozs; 4 Janusz
Kedzierski 2lbs 6ozs. Forward to Sunday again
and with a slightly better weight Janusz Kedzierski could still only manage
fourth as Fishtoft AC chose the River Bain at Coningsby for their latest
outing. All catches consisted entirely of roach and all fell to breadpunch,
Jerry Clifton the master on this occasion, albeit by a single ounce from Adie
Penson. Ben Brighton was always in the hunt but had to settle for third this
time around, finishing well clear of Janusz. Results: 1 Jerry Clifton 5lbs
12ozs; 2 Adie Penson 5lbs 11ozs; 3 Ben Brighton 5lbs 8ozs; 4 Janusz
Kedzierski 3lbs 3ozs. Next
Sunday most members will be taking part in the final round of the Boston and
DAA Winter League, the venue of which at this moment has not been chosen but
could most likely be parts of the Sibsey Trader Drain. Pleasure anglers are
therefore requested to consult notice boards before starting to fish. |
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Review for November 15 End peg proves a winner for Ben Another weekend of complete contrast and most anglers
decided that discretion was the better part of valour as gale force winds and
driving rain covered the area. Not as bad thankfully as some of the more
southerly counties which saw much more rain and hence flooding in such as
parts of the Devon, Dorset and And so to Sunday, which in terms of weather was more
akin to a summer’s day than one that hosts a winter league. This was the
fourth round of the Boston and DAA series and took place on the Maud Foster
Drain, The downstream end peg was always going to be one of the
favourites and in the hands of the right angler, in this case Ben Brighton,
it proved to be the match winner. Not that Ben had it easy as just eight
small roach to pole and breadpunch, weighing less than a pound, proved to be
too much for the others. On balance the 70’s and 80’s proved to be the better
area as four of the top six individuals were pegged along here. A single
perch gave Roger Wakenshaw second spot and two smaller models putting Andy
Dillamore in third ahead of Denis Houghton, Michael Bond and Alec Rawlings.
The main feature was in effect the number of small pike that took anything
that moved and gave many a few minutes of excitement until surfaced and
landed – these of course don’t count in this type of competition. With very few weighing in the league was nearly turned
on its head as any one team was lucky to have more than one member with
anything to show for their efforts. This was the case for Team Milldon in
division one as they won the day with those two in fifth and sixth places
taking the points. Ben Brighton’s points saved the Browning Boston team who managed
second and tied with Results: 1 Ben Brighton Browning, On the day: Division One: 1 Team Milldon 13pts; equal 2 After four rounds: Division One: 1 Individual League: Division One: 1 Ben Next match is on November 29 but a Saturday sweep will
be held next week, meet Golf Course, Sibsey Trader Drain 11am. Next Sunday
Fishtoft AC members should meet McDonald’s 7.30am. |
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Review for November 8 Len wins battle of ‘few fish’ match Not particularly warm, but it was a pleasant November weekend nonetheless with a fair amount of sunshine and much less wind than of late. Quiet is the word that best describes it as the long
expected downturn has finally come to pass, most fish seem to have suddenly
battened down the hatches, the Saturday sweep on the Anyway, back to that disastrous sweep and there’s very
little to report as only a handful of fish were caught in total by the 13
competitors and two of those fell to the winner, in the shape of Len
Shucksmith. The present leader of the Winter League division 2 stuck to
feeder and worm throughout and was finally rewarded with a couple of small
bream to take the top prize. At virtually the last gasp Denis Houghton
tempted a single tench to give him a clear second place, after which just one
small perch brought third to Don Green and a single tiny roach to fourth
placed Ben Brighton – and that was it. Results: 1 Len Shucksmith 4lbs 11ozs;
2 Denis Houghton 3lbs 9ozs; 3 Don Green 2ozs; 4 Ben Brighton 1oz. Even worse on Sunday for United Anglers pegged up at
Pilley’s Lane between the bridges as only five of their contingent landed any
fish and no bonus to boost their weights, despite many better fish seen
topping throughout. Ounces were the norm and John Clark took first place with
just three small roach to Archie Ayre’s roach and rudd for a mere half ounce
less, and second. After that the odd small perch or two brought a tie for
third between Chris Wooley and Dave Johnson followed by Mike Deakin fifth.
Results: 1 John Clark 8ozs; 2 Archie Ayre 7˝ozs; equal 3 Chris Woolley and
Dave Johnson 5ozs; Mike Deakin 2˝ozs. Fishtoft AC chose the River Bain at Coningsby and here
roach and perch were more ready feeders, giving a clear victory to Janusz
Kedzierski. Mick Morgan found a decent chub of 3lbs plus to stay in contention
but settled for second spot, well ahead of the likes of Stan Stankvich and
Ben Brighton fourth for the second day running. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski
6lbs; 2 Mick Morgan 5lbs 6ozs; 3 Stan Stankvich 2lbs 10ozs; 4 Ben Brighton
2lbs 6ozs. The third round of the East Coast Junior Angling League
was held at Teams on the day were led by locals Kings Lynn with
8pts, just snatching victory from Holbeach on 9pts and a new young Round four takes place on Bargate Drain on December 6.
Any anglers interested in fishing should contact Dave Rance on 01529 461415
for details. The fourth round of the Boston Winter League will take
place this coming Sunday November 15 and at this moment pegging and sections
are not defined and could involve both the Bargate and Sibsey Trader Drains.
Pleasure anglers should therefore consult notice boards before starting to
fish please. |
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Review for November 1 Pole and pinky tactics yield joy for Ian A taste of most things for anglers last weekend with gentle warm breezes one day and then gale force winds and driving rain the next. Surprising the better of the two for catches was the latter; that is if you were able to exert any control over rigs and bait and not suffer any breakages to said tackle, which was the case for some. No problem on Saturday for those who fished the usual
Saturday sweep, which took place on the early pegs on the Catches on those self-same pegs held up well in the
third round of the Boston Winter League but could not quite match the weights
from the Windsor Bank section. This area threw up bigger skimmers in the 8-12
oz range and brought better than expected nets from the Wheelers Close area
where all of the top three anglers were pegged. Both leading contestants in both divisions stretched
their lead over this third round and perhaps none more so than Garbolino
Lincs County White who took three sections wins out of the possible four,
leaving the Browning Boston team adrift in second by 8pts. Not as emphatic
but the Boston Angling Centre Red team took two sections wins in Div 2 and
extended the lead over their BAC Black team stable mates to 9pts but all is
not lost as yet with two more rounds to go. Teams on the day: Division One, 1
The race for the individual titles is much tighter. In
Division One Andy Scott leads the field with 20 pts with just three points
covering the next nine anglers, headed by Mark Griggs and Andy Dixon on
18each. Division Two is very similar and here Len Shucksmith holds the top
spot on 17pts followed by Paul Webster with a point less and three more in
the shape of Brian Clarke, Steve Hill and Jerry Clifton on the 15-point mark.
Next round will take place on Sunday November 15 on the same venue, all
things being equal. |
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Review for October 25 Don bounces back to winning form A damp and fairly miserable day last Saturday and one which saw no more than half a dozen turn out for the latest sweep on Windsor Bank. Sunday was much better in terms of weather but not much different as far as match weights were concerned. Outlook is for much the same through this coming week with higher than average temperatures and very little rain on the distant horizon. This is the time of year when all waters start to change
and the only plus point at present is the warmer than expected temperatures
which keep such as those small skimmers on the feed. The Saturday match saw
Don Green return to form with a mixed bag of those, plus a few roach and
perch for good measure from peg 35 for yet another victory after last week’s
dry net. He finished with some daylight between himself and second placed
Mark Cook who took an all skimmer catch to beat Ben Brighton into third.
Results: 1 Don Green 7lbs 15ozs; 2 Mark Cook 6lbs 7ozs; 3 Ben Brighton 4lbs
9ozs. Next Saturday (October 31) meet Sunday’s Boston annual match took place under drier
conditions on the Anglers should note that the Boston Winter League
resumes on Sunday November 1 and will take place on both the Windsor Bank and
Fishtoft AC settled on those pegs further upstream on
the cemetery length but found it a real struggle as a stiff upstream wind and
very little colour combined to produce little in the way of anything other
than a few small fish for most of the dozen that turned out. Ben Brighton
again showed his form and followed up the previous day with a victory this
time around with Stan Stankvich being the only other angler to break the
pound barrier. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 2lbs 13ozs; 2 Stan Stankvich 1lb 8ozs;
3 Mark Cook 14ozs. The latest Liam’s Elite match took place on a sunny and
gusty Royle’s |
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Review for October 18 Cook at a canter for follow-up win Yet another quiet autumn weekend and with a complete lack of rainfall all waters are now becoming stale and showing a distinct lack of colour. At least that prolific lily growth is starting now to die back on the Sibsey Trader, Maud Foster and Bargate Drains and the Hobhole Drain has been taken down towards winter levels in readiness for this coming week’s expected heavy rainfall. With a very still and bright day these conditions
combined to give many match anglers a difficult day on Sunday in the second
round of the Boston Winter League, but I start off with the Saturday sweep on
the Maud Foster Drain. This took place on the A similar scenario and even brighter conditions on
Sunday for the winter league competitors who used both the Windsor Bank and Individuals: 1 Trevor Ogilvie, K9, 15lbs 4ozs; 2 Ben
Brighton, Browning Boston, 14lbs 3˝ozs; 3 Andy Scott, Garbolino Lincs County
White, 10lbs 9ozs; 4 Roger Wakenshaw, Horncastle, 9lbs 10ozs; 5 Craig Crow,
DVA, 7lbs 2ozs; 6 Brian Clarke 6lbs 13ozs. Teams on the day: Division One, 1 After two rounds: Division One, equal 1 A final reminder to match anglers that the 114th
Boston Annual Match will take place this coming Sunday (October 25) on the
Bargate Drain. Please book in by ringing Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815
ASAP. Fishtoft AC will resume their winter programme this
coming Sunday and members are asked to meet at McDonald’s 7am. |
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Review for October 11 Alistair leaves rivals well behind Another superb autumnal weekend, spoiled only by a stiff
north easterly wind during the second half of Sunday. The weather looks set
to stay fair for the rest of this coming week but clear night-time skies
could bring the risk of ground frosts to exposed areas. The latest Saturday sweep took place on the On to Sunday and Fishtoft AC’s latest event on the
Twenty Foot Drain was also affected by weed on their booked pegs, and so much
so that they were diverted to more amenable and fishable pegs at the marina. Here
odd tench to 2lbs made the difference as one such specimen, added to a good
net of small skimmers, brought just rewards to organiser Mark Cook. Ben
Brighton was perhaps the unluckiest angler with another good net of skimmers
for second with Jerry Clifton also adding another small tench to pinch third
ahead of Janusz Kedzierski. Results: 1 Mark Cook 10lbs 6ozs; 2 Ben Brighton
8lbs 12ozs; 3 Jerry Clifton 8lbs 1oz; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 6lbs 4ozs. The second round of the Junior East Coast League took
place on Sunday at Tom went on to take top spot ahead of Kyle Woodhouse who
fished pole at 7metres for roach to pinkie over ground bait. Kyle finished
just ahead of team-mate Josh Read who used similar tactics to gain that third
place. A close finish on the team front saw King’s Lynn and
Lincoln separated by a single point with Holbeach coming home third ahead of The Foss Dyke Championship took place on the Pike House
stretch and was attended by around 50 anglers who were gathered mainly from A reminder to local anglers that the Boston Winter
League continues this coming Sunday October 18 and this second round will
most likely take place on both the Windsor Bank and |
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Review for October 4 Green sees off rivals with winning ‘mixed bag’ Another week with very little or no rainfall for most
of us on the eastern side of A decent set of figures for the Saturday sweep as Don
Green went one better this time around and headed a class field with over
12lbs of mainly skimmers plus perch to chopped worm at seven metres. Mark
Griggs followed that up with a good mixed bag of roach and skimmers to pinky,
as did Shaun Higginbottom who kept dry this week and hence doubled his
previous effort from nearly the same peg. Results: 1 Don Green 12lbs 14ozs; 2
Mark Griggs 11lbs 10ozs; 3 Shaun Higginbottom 11lbs. Next Saturday (October
10), there’s a change of venue and those interested are asked to meet at
Norprint gates, The Boston and District Angling Association Winter
League struck up on Sunday with round one taking place over those same pegs
on Results: Division One: An early reminder to match anglers that in place of the
cancelled Batemans Cup competition the 114th Boston and District
Angling Association annual match will take its place on that same date, which
is Sunday October 25. Book in for the match as soon as possible to Barry
Mallett on (01205) 871815, tickets Ł3.50. |
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Review for September 27 Butterfield’s haul eclipses rivals Last week’s autumn equinox seems to have thrown up some
bad results along side the odd better one or two. And a cold Sunday morning
did nothing to help things get off to a flying start, otherwise another
cracking early autumn weekend of weather for the whole country. The regular Saturday sweep on the Bargate Drain ran
true to form and again Steve Winter outpaced the rest with a slightly better
weight than his previous week’s winning haul. The rest provided good backing
nets of mainly skimmers and were led home by Don Green who makes a welcome
return to the match scene. Mark Griggs finished well over a pound down on him
and was followed by Ben Brighton, only a few ounces back in fourth. Results:
1 Steve Winter 16lbs 4ozs; 2 Don Green 10lbs 13ozs; 3 Mark Griggs 9lbs 2ozs;
4 Ben Brighton 8lbs 10ozs. Next Saturday (October 3) meet as usual A similar match the following day over the same pegs and
beyond as 44 anglers took part in the Boston Pairs competition. Slightly
lower backing weights on average but Craig Butterfield put everyone else in
the shade with a 30 lbs mixture of large bream, their smaller cousins, plus a
few roach thrown in for good measure from the Wheelers Close area. Barry
Wigginton and Ben Brighton fought it out for the runner up spot as both also
recorded double figures, the final verdict going to Barry. The minor places
were not too far behind as Lincoln’s Alan Henry grabbed fourth with a little
under 10lbs and Mark Griggs just loosing out on a top six finish by a mere
half ounce. I mention Mark in that he took second place in his own section
and combined with Craig to give them an easy victory in the pairs event,
beating the likes of Alan Henry/Roger Wakenshaw and the Nev Soulby/Dave
Bontoft pairings by a good margin. Individuals: 1 Craig Butterfield 30lbs
1oz; 2 Barry Wigginton Lincs County 10lbs 9ozs; 3 Ben Brighton Boston 10lbs
1oz; 4 Alan Henry Lincoln 9lbs 12˝ozs; 5 Greg Thorpe Boston 8lbs 5 ˝ ozs; 6
Mick Gorry Grimsby 7lbs 8˝ozs. Pairs: 1 Craig Butterfield/Mark Griggs 3pts; 2
Alan Henry/Roger Wakenshaw 8pts; 3 Nev Soulby/Dave Bontoft 12pts; 4 Ben
Brighton/Steve Lamyman 13pts. Next Sunday sees the start of the Boston Winter league
which will kick off on the same venue and cover most of the pegs from Mount
Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge, pleasure anglers should be aware. The first round of this season’s East Coast Junior Angling
League kicked off on the golf course stretch of A diabolical match for Fishtoft AC who chose the early
pegs on the golf course stretch of the Sibsey Trader Drain on Sunday. A
combination of that cold morning, gin clear water and a very recent weed cut
all combined to keep nets, such as they were, in the ounces category; bites
as you would imagine, very much at a premium. Stan Wilson won the day with
five tiny specimens and kept the next two, in the shape of Terry Gooding and
Janusz Kedzierski, hanging on with even less as only those three together
managed to bring anything to scales. Results: 1 Stan Wilson 3˝ozs; 2 Terry
Gooding 2ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski Ľoz. Those not involved in next Sunday’s Boston Winter league
should meet McDonalds 7am. In reality it was much the same for the Fenland Pike
club further upstream on the roadside stretch. Here just half a dozen fish
were shared amongst the eleven members that took part, one good fish being
enough to give Matt Bradbury the victory. Not to be completely outdone Matt
Snr also had something to bring to the party and weighed in another decent
specimen to take second spot, well ahead of Kenny Sizer with two small fish
for third. Results: 1 Matt Bradbury Jnr 14lbs 7ozs; 2 Matt Bradbury Snr 8lbs
6ozs; 3 Kenny Sizer 3lbs 10ozs. A little more action for United Anglers who were pegged
further upstream towards |
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Review for September 20 All-roach haul earns Steve winning weight The autumnal equinox seems all too suddenly upon us and of course this means that daylight hours are now exceeded by night-time ones for the next six months. A consequence is that the evening hours bring lower temperatures and hence colder starts to the morning, which in turn leads to fish in many instances being lethargic for some while longer than summertime conditions. All this will not happen overnight but will take an increasing effect in the coming weeks, without taking any other factors into account, such as excess rainfall or even early night frosts. After what appears to be a completely failed spraying
regime, long suffering Trader and Maud Foster Drain fans should be aware, and
pleased that weed cutting is now in progress, and should be completed down to
Here on Saturday the weekly sweep brought another set of
good weights both of roach and skimmers to all contenders. Ace matchman Steve
Winter finished head and shoulders above the others, bringing an all roach
catch to scales and taken entirely with maggot over hemp. A mixed bag of
those mentioned gave Mark Griggs second, to be followed by Ben Brighton with
an all skimmer weight for third. Results: 1 Steve Winter 16lbs; 2 Mark Griggs
11lbs 7ozs; 3 Ben Brighton 10lbs 9ozs; 4 Mark Cook 7lbs 7ozs. Next Saturday
(September 26) meet Windsor Bank for a 12.45pm draw. The Liam Wilson memorial fishing match took place at Year 8 and under: 1 Tristan Simpson 6lbs
13ozs; 2 Chris Weedon 6lbs 9ozs; 3 Thomas Vamplew 6lbs 2ozs Year 9 and above: 1 Rocky Murley 13lbs 8ozs; 2 Ben
Elding 9lbs 4ozs; 3 Harry Blackmuir 8lbs 11ozs. On The younger anglers also showed the way on The match raised more than Ł500 for Liam’s Charities and
special thanks to all who donated raffle prizes, Alan and his team from Youngsters again took centre stage on Sunday which saw
the Lincs Junior Championship take place on the same area of Windsor Bank as
the Saturday sweep. Twenty-eight young anglers between the ages of eight and
seventeen took part but fish were a little hard to come by under bright
conditions, clear water and very little flow. Teams from Holbeach, Following on from his win on Hawk Lake the day before,
the junior under 16 year age group was led home by Rocky Murley from
Holbeach, team mate Harry Blackmuir just edging out Boston’s Chris Weeden for
second place. The junior team event was decided by a single point, Holbeach
just taking it from Boston Green who was actually fielding one angler short.
Individual winner and Junior individual: 1 Rocky Murley Holbeach 6lbs 1oz; 2
Harry Blackmuir Holbeach 3lbs 2ozs; 3 Chris Weedon Boston Green
2lbs 11ozs. Teams: Holbeach 6pts, Intermediates: 1 Dan Austin Boston Smurfs
10lbs 2ozs; 2 Luke Morley Boston Smurfs 9lbs 4ozs, 3 Reece Dillamore Holbeach
6lbs 15ozs. Teams: 1 Holbeach 7pts; 2 Prizes were kindly donated by Boston and District AA and
Boston Angling Centre. The next junior match is Sunday September 27 in the East
Coast Junior Angling League, Weed certainly did not bother Fishtoft AC who paid a
visit to Lockies Pit at Those anglers intending to take part in next Sunday’s
Pairs match should ring Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815 as soon as possible
please. Same goes teams of four for the Boston Winter league which starts the
following Sunday, October 4. |
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Review for September 13 Sad news with death of
angling stalwart First
of all I must pay tribute and mark the passing of Frank Butler who died last
Thursday (September 10) after a short illness. As many of you will know,
Frank was the lynchpin of Lincoln and District Angling Association and also a
stalwart, and vice-president of the Witham and District Angling Federation.
He was also an accomplished angler in his own right and going right back, was
a vital part of the Lincoln national squad from the early 1960s onwards right
up to the present day, and was still a force to be reckoned with in recent
times. For many years he also organised the association’s annual round of
matches and in his time won most, if not all of them. He was a staunch friend
and as reporters we would regularly swap our angling stories, to be published
in the local press where appropriate. I have by no means covered all of his
achievements, which I will leave to his many other close friends to
enumerate. Suffice to say that they were more than most will manage in their
career and I count myself lucky to be considered one of his long standing
angling associates. Farewell my good friend. Now, to the weekend’s
round of events and first of all Saturday brought bright and still conditions
to greet the teams from Boston and Grantham to the Bargate Drain for this years
East Midland junior championship. Unfortunately this, coupled with very
little water colour, combined to make the local fish population somewhat
reluctant to feed. Very fine rigs together with pinky and groundbait was the
order of the day, being the exact method which Luke Morley chose from the
off. Fishing at 5m he took around 60 small fish in the first two hours and
then switched to 9 metres to continue taking small roach for what turned out
to be a winning weight. Fishing his first match with the Boston team, Davis
Gurton also caught well at 5m but stayed on an inside line to take roach and
perch to claim second place, Chloe Raynor coming home third but well behind
on weight. Results: 1 Luke Morley, Boston Smurfs, 8lbs 3ozs; 2 Davis Gurton,
Boston Green, 6lbs 12ozs; 3 Chloe Raynor, Boston Smurfs, 2lbs 3ozs; 4 Braden
Lamming, Boston Green, 1lb 14ozs. The Boston Smurfs Luke Morley, Chloe Raynor
and Chris Weedon had it all their own way, putting down a perfect score of
3pts to win the team event with Boston Green second on 7pts and Grantham B in
third on 8pts. The East Midland Angling Federation provided over 40 prizes
which were given out to all the anglers taking part. Next junior match is The
Lincolnshire Junior Championships on Sunday September 20 on Windsor Bank
contact Dave Rance (01529) 461415 for details. Sunday was a totally
different day as those involved in the Boston and DAA Memorial match can
readily vouch for. Cloud and strong wind enveloped the area and obviously
benefitted the anglers as can be seen from the catches. A string of double
figure weights emerged from the whole match length, which was topped off by a
winning weight of over 15lbs. As it turned out, almost a carbon copy of the
previous day’s method and in the hands of Andy Scott it comes as no surprise
as he also took around 150 small skimmers in the first two hours before
switching to hemp for a good top up of quality roach. In reality Fred Bispham
pushed him all the way and could have been looking at the top prize but for
the loss of one small bream as his catch fell mainly to either squatt or
worm. Very close behind was Craig Crow who showed his potential in the
previous match and came within ounces of pinching that second place from Fred
with an all roach catch to pole and seed. Worthy of mention are those that
followed, as a mere 8ozs covered the next four places which were taken by
veteran Brian Clarke in fourth, Alan Lemmon fifth followed by Mark Griggs and
Barry Wigginton. Results: 1 Andy Scott, Lincs County, 15lbs 1oz; 2 Fred
Bispham, Peg One AC, 14lbs 5ozs; 3 Craig Crow, Hogsthorpe, 13lbs 12ozs; 4
Brian Clarke, BAC, 12lbs 4˝ozs; 5 Alan Lemmon, Mark One, 12lbs 3ozs; 6 Mark
Griggs, Lincs County, 11lbs 14ozs. The Lincs Junior Champs
will take place next Sunday on this part of the drain and the following
Sunday the Boston and DAA pairs match will go ahead. Ring Barry Mallett to
book in ASAP, tickets Ł7 per pair; optional pools on the morning. A different tale from the
Hobhole Drain at Midville, where most of the Fishtoft AC contingent found the
water in a dour mood on Sunday. All except that is, for Gordon Manning who
seemed to have all the skimmers in the area cornered in his swim as he won
with nearly 7lbs to spare. With just the odd skimmer and a few small fish
Mick Morgan claimed a distant second, and Janusz Kedzierski third with the
only other weight above a pound. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 8lbs 10ozs; 2 Mick
Morgan 1lb 13ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb. Next Sunday (September 20) meet
8.30am Lockies Pit, North Kyme. Worse awaited Stickney AC
further downstream at Swandyke Lane where just a few small fish were thinly
distributed between those few that did venture out. The lion’s share fell to
Ray Taylor who doubled the next two best weights, after which only ounces
were recorded. Results: 1 Ray Taylor 2lbs 2ozs; 2 Rob Damms 1lb 1oz; 3 John
Briggs 1lb. |
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Review for September 6 Cook is tops as Drain retains form Strong winds for us all last week, reaching gale force
at times in exposed areas. Gradually subsiding over the course of the
weekend, but only dropping down to a stiff breeze late on Sunday afternoon
when most anglers had returned home after a very difficult day, in many
cases. The Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain remains
in top form for all types of anglers, pleasure and matchmen alike. Saturday
saw a little sweep take place on the No match next Saturday as the EMAF Junior Championship
match will be taking place along this same stretch, but these Saturday sweeps
should restart the following Saturday, meet Windsor Crescent 12.30pm. The Boston Benevolent match was unfortunately cancelled
due to lack of support as less than a dozen had booked in by the Saturday
morning. The Memorial match is scheduled for this Sunday coming (September
13) and those interested in taking part should ring Barry Mallett on (01205)
871815 as soon as possible in order to guarantee the event taking place. A further reminder also that the Boston Winter League is
fast approaching and those intending to take part should book in asap.
Entries for teams of four @ Ł50 to Barry Mallett on the same number please. A grim day on the R. Witham for Fishtoft AC as they
fished the Even worse for Stickney AC on the Hobhole Drain at Ings
Bridge where only two of the small contingent managed to bring anything to
scales. Newcomer Barry Gillick put a few small fish together to win the day,
as did Alan Fear who took second place. Results: 1 Barry Gillick 1lb 4ozs; 2
Alan Fear 1lb. A different story from Westwood Lakes where the latest Liam’s Elite match took place on Saturday afternoon, instead of its usual Sunday fixture. Here Gary Shinn won the day with a mixed bag of fish, taking them all either sweetcorn or maggot. Dave Wilson chose long pole and pellet for a net of mainly small carp for second, whilst Nigel Raynor grabbed third after electing to stick to the inside line with red maggot for tench and small silver fish. A close battle then for fourth, which went to Kev Hunt who only mastered Tony Vamplew by the very slim margin of just three ounces. Results: 1 Gary Shinn 42lbs 7ozs; 2 Dave Wilson 36lbs 10ozs; 3 Nigel Raynor 28lbs 2ozs; 4 Kev Hunt 25lbs 7ozs; 5 Tony Vamplew 25lbs 4ozs. |
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Review for August 30 Tamms tops match weight list Strong winds seem to be one of the main features this summer so far. And certainly for our area, last weekend was no different. Bright sunshine by mid-morning, followed by a windy afternoon seemed to be the kiss of death and any hopes of good bream catches from local drains were soon dashed. In particular the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate
Drain suffered from this as those involved in the B and DAA Championship here
on Sunday can readily vouch for. Midweek practice threw up some good nets of
those large bream from either end of the pegged length but no amount of
inducement could make them feed on Sunday. Instead it was left to those who
chose tactics to tempt their smaller cousins that were the most successful.
Topping this list was A different story from Sibsey AC who tried the Much bigger weights for Fishtoft AC from their trip to
Moon Lake, Tattershall where new boy Ian Kent made an immediate impact by
clinching an easy victory with around 20 plus carp, all falling to luncheon
meat bait. Having to give best on this occasion, Ben Brighton continued his
good form with a convincing second spot and in this instance sweetcorn and
pellet were the successful offerings. Results: 1 Ian Kent 72lbs; 2 Ben
Brighton 55lbs 12ozs; 3 Brian Blackamore 36lbs; 4 Gordon Manning 35lbs. Next
Sunday (September 6) meet Tattershall Bridge, River Witham 7am. Mark Cook will be organising a match on Saturday September
5 on the Bargate Drain. Those intending to take part should meet 12.45pm on
Windsor Bank for a 1pm draw. Boston & D.A.A. will also be running their
Benevolent match on Sunday September 6, which will be then followed on the
next Sunday by the memorial match. Those wanting to participate should book
in by ringing Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815. Looking even further ahead and those planning to enter a team of four into the Boston Winter League should soon start to make arrangements as the five match series will start on the first Sunday in October, team entry is Ł50. |
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Review for August 23 Credit for Reece in first senior ‘national’ What a scorcher last week as temperatures climbed into
the high 20s! But least the weekend was a little more comfortable with a
strong wind to take the edge off the sweltering heat. As I write on a warm
Sunday evening, rain and slightly cooler conditions are forecast for the
early part of this week, but at the moment is unclear as to whether this will
extend into the Bank Holiday weekend. The big event on Saturday was the Division Two National
Championships, which took place on both the middle and tidal reaches of the
River Trent where both Boston, in effect, had a mediocre day as only
four of the 10-man squad could manage enough points to finish in the top
third of their respective sections – a minor consolation is that they fell
only three places short of a strongly fancied Worthy of a special mention, though, is Teams: 1 Browning Hotrods 215pts, 33.19kgs; 2 Mirfield
AC 214pts, 30.49kgs; 3 Reading FC 211pts, 45.53kgs; 4 Not much to report from the local match scene but
pleasure anglers continue to enjoy good nets of roach, skimmers and some big
bream from the middle reaches of the Sibsey Trader Drain, that is when they
find a few clear pegs among the ever spreading weed growth. Things may look
up in a week or two as much of the system has now be sprayed in recent days,
but going on other years this will certainly not have a permanent effect on
those areas that are most affected. The Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain is an
entirely different kettle of fish, so to speak. Here most species are present
in large numbers with the added bonuses of decent sitting positions in the
shape of those platforms every 18metres plus very little weed to contend
with. I wish the same could be said of the A good case in point for Windsor Bank was the Fishtoft
AC match on the ‘swings’ area last Sunday as every one of those that took
part brought around 4lbs of various species to scales. Much a case of ‘déjŕ
vu’ as Ben Brighton once again ran out a reasonably comfortable winner using
his usual pinky and then hemp tactics to take an all roach catch. I say
reasonably because in effect Mark Cook pushed him most of the way, as whip
and pinky tactics brought him a good net of skimmers and second place to go
with it. Simon Penson conjured up third on one of his rare outings with the
club and to complete the round up Brian Blackamore found a few small bream to
chopped worm for fourth. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 13lbs 14ozs; 2 Mark Cook
11lbs 8ozs; 3 Simon Penson 9lbs 3ozs; 4 Brian Blackamore 7lbs 12ozs. Next
Sunday (August 30) meet Far from ideal for Stickney AC on the No club match this coming Sunday as some will be taking
part in the A reminder to those that intend fishing the BDAA
Championship next Sunday (August 30). The match will take place on the
Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain and tickets are Ł3.50 plus optional
pools on the morning. Anglers should book in for this event no later than
Thursday evening (August 27) by contacting Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815. |
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Review for August 16 Colin is tops with mixed bag haul Quite a windy weekend with gusts approaching gale force
at times, otherwise warm, dry and bright conditions for all to enjoy. The
only piece of good news so far is that the blue green algae menace seems to
have disappeared as soon as it started and the local drainage board informs
me that warning signs will be taken down this Monday morning (17th).
United anglers had a decent day’s fishing on pegs at Cook’s Lock on the South Forty Foot drain on Sunday. Here Colin Bachelor took top position with a mixed bag of roach, perch and skimmers to a variety of baits on the 11metre pole. Six ounces was the winning margin as Steve Hammond pushed him all the way with some good hybrids taken on worm over caster. Similarly Chris Willows gained third also using pole and worm, with John Clark and Mick Strathan tying for fourth with more mixed bags, after which 2-3lbs was commonplace. Results: 1 Colin Bachelor 7lbs 5ozs; 2 Steve Hammond 6lbs 15ozs; 3 Chris Willows 5lbs 14ozs; 4= John Clark & Mick Strathan 4lbs 14ozs. Not so good on the Sibsey Trader Drain where Fishtoft AC
followed the usual trend of one good fish to win and the rest having to put
up with a few bits. Rod Asher was the lucky man this time around as a large
bream of some 5lbs boosted him to the winner’s enclosure. Ben Brighton
finished the best of the rest with a little over half the winning weight, new
boy Ian Kent grabbing third ahead of Janusz Kedzierski, after which the
others amassed only ounces. Results: 1 Rod Asher 7lbs 1oz; 2 Ben Brighton
3lbs 12ozs; 3 Ian Kent 2lbs 2ozs; 4 Janusz Kedzierski 1lb 10ozs. Next Sunday
meet Windsor Bank 7am. Small carp up to 3lbs were the target for most members
as the Liam’s Elite club fished Despite its recent form, Stickney AC members found no
bream in their pegged area of the South Holland Drain on Sunday and so had to
be content with good nets of smaller fish. Another convincing winner, this
time in the shape of Roly Sharp who all but doubled the next best weight,
being that of Frank Scrupps. Frank came up with a few decent skimmers on his
favoured worm and quivertip method and held on to second with a pound to
spare over Chris Kerbel. Results: 1 Roly Sharp 10lbs; 2 Frank Scrupps 5lbs
2ozs; 3 Chris Kerbel 4lbs 2ozs. Another good Monday evening sweep on Windsor Bank as
weights again averaged out to over 4lbs per man in the 2˝ hours available.
Ben Brighton carried on where he left off last week and produced another
winning weight of roach and skimmers plus a better stamp of roach in the last
hour to hemp. Brian Clark held on to second by a single ounce from Andy
Dillamore and Stan Stankvich who also finished in the 5lbs category. Unfortunately the nights draw in and this will be the
last evening sweep for this year but a regular Saturday afternoon match could
yet be on the cards. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 9lbs 5ozs; 2 Brian Clark 6lbs; 3
Andy Dillamore 5lbs 15ozs; 4 Stan Stankvich 5lbs 6ozs. Sadly the 114th Boston and DAA annual match was cancelled at a late stage due to lack of support but an early reminder to matchmen that the BDAA Championship will take place on the Bargate Drain Sunday August 30. Those intending to take part should please book early and contact Barry Mallett on (01205) 871815. Tickets are priced at Ł3.50 plus optional pools on the morning. |
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Review for August 9 Victory feat achieved by wide margin A week to forget but after Thursday’s downpour the
weather improved to give us all a fine, warm and settled weekend for a
change. The main event on Saturday was, of course, the Division One
National Championship, which took place on the three canals in the Nowhere near those sorts of numbers of anglers involved
but on Sunday the Boston and District Angling Association clubs championship
could boast some equally impressive weights. Fished on the Windsor Bank
section of the Bargate Drain the vast majority of the 30 anglers involved
brought over 2lbs to scales with 6lbs and more winning all sections. The
match though belonged to Craig Butterfield who stuck to pole tactics to take
one good bream and a few large skimmers using worm, and then switching to
pinky to make up his winning catch with about the same weight of small fish.
Three bream plus a few skimmers made up all of Frank Scrupps weight, his
favoured quivertip and worm method clinching second ahead of Dave Simpson who
used similar to land four good bream for third place. A couple of good sized
bream brought fourth position for Grimsby’s Len Gollings and after that the
likes of Paul Webster and Jerry Clifton managed double figure nets of small
roach and skimmers to head the rest of the field. Nip and tuck in the team
battle but the Browning BAC Red team eventually triumphed on a points basis,
beating the Next Sunday will see the BDAA Annual match take place on
the same venue and those interested should ring Barry Mallett on 01205 871815
to book in. Tickets Ł3.50 plus pools on the morning. On to the Monday evening sweep and, taking bream out of
the equation, those pegs on |
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Review for August 2 Janusz holds sway on a dour day Nearly a dry weekend for our area, but those that were still on the bankside late on Sunday afternoon found themselves overtaken by a little light rain, which then set in, becoming heavier, and continuing right through and well into Monday morning. The forecast is for much of the same this week but with nothing too serious on the horizon to make any drastic changes to prevailing water conditions, I would suggest. A dour day on the Coronation Channel in Spalding as only
three of the Fishtoft AC contingent could bring more than a pound to scales.
The odd big tench was hooked and lost but only fish in the keepnet count and
so Janusz Kedzierski provided the winning weight of small roach, all taken on
6 metre whip and maggot. Same for Ben Brighton but 2lbs down on the top
weight with Mark Cook close behind in third. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski
3lbs 9ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 1lb 8ozs; 3 Mark Cook 1lb 6ozs. Next Sunday (August
9), meet 8am A different story from the Hobhole Drain where Stickney
AC decided to have another crack at those elusive bream shoals, and this time
settled on pegs at Not particularly brilliant on Horncastle Road on Monday
evening as only the top five weighed in more than a pound and half of those
fishing did not bother. Janusz Kedzierski made it a double by taking a net of
small perch to pole and either worm or red maggot to ease to victory. Paul
Bullimore was boosted to second spot by a good bream of 4lbs 12ozs to go with
an ounce roach, leaving Brian Clark in third with his usual small fish catch.
Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski 5lbs 10ozs; 2 Paul Bullimore 4lbs 13ozs; 3 Brian
Clark 2lbs 13ozs; 4 Andy Dillamore 2lbs 5ozs. A reminder to team captains that the Boston & DAA Club Championship match will take place on the Bargate Drain on Sunday August 9 for teams of six. For entries at Ł20 per team, please ring Barry Mallett on 01205 871815. |
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Review for July 19 Cook claims Cook’s Lock success A definite change in the weather as we moved into cooler conditions with further showers and the odd thunderstorm thrown in for good measure – and more to follow by all accounts. No detriment to catches as most anglers continue to enjoy good nets of small bream and skimmers with a few tench thrown in for good measure from most areas of our local drains. Marginal surface weed was the main obstacle on the South
Forty Foot Drain but recent rains and a good blow has helped disperse the
worst of this. A little bit of gardening ensured the Fishtoft AC match at
Cook’s Lock would go ahead as scheduled and so most pegs produced a good
amount of those nice hand sized skimmers. By far the most successful was Mark Cook who
concentrated on the 6m whip and fished big maggot to finish with over 3lbs
advantage over second place. This went to Nick Mummery who continued his
recent good form and who also finished with around 2˝ lbs advantage over
Janusz Kedzierski and Jerry Clifton who tied for third. Teams: 1 Mark Cook
11lbs 6ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 7lbs 14ozs; equal 3 Janusz Kedzierski and Jerry
Clifton 5lbs 7ozs. Next Sunday meet McDonalds Spalding 7am to try the
Coronation Channel. The United Anglers club chose the railway bridge area of
the Maud Foster Drain on Sunday and the only disappointed angler was perhaps
their club secretary Shaun Bell. Drawn right next to the bridge he did more fishing
for a landing net pole and his car keys
– which took some retrieving from the water – than he did for fish.
But most of all when actually fishing, he lost around five good sized tench
and the odd bream, enough to win him the match twice over, such is life! The
honours went to Graham Batchelor who concentrated on big fish and took two
bream around the 2 ˝ lbs mark each to go with around 5lbs of smaller
models for a comfortable win. Archie Hare achieved an equally easy second
with a net of skimmers whilst Colin Batchelor grabbed third by virtue of a
perch of around 1lb 6ozs to beat Jamie Cole for that position. Results: 1
Graham Batchelor 10lbs 6ozs; Archie Hare 7lbs 6ozs; 3 Colin Batchelor 4lbs
7ozs; 4 Jamie Cole 3lbs 1oz. Much the same sort of result from Stickney AC who
visited the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain. Chris Chapman also ran
out an easy winner, pole and pinky being the successful combination which put
him well ahead of John Briggs in second and Kev Hunt in third, 4lbs and more
the winning margin. Results: 1 Chris Chapman 11lbs 2ozs; 2 John Briggs 6lbs
14ozs; 3 Kevin Hunt 6lbs 8ozs. The same peg came up trumps in the Monday evening sweep
and even surpassed the catch recorded by Chris. Steve Winter was this time an
equally easy winner and netted around 160 small roach and skimmers to pole
and pinky in the first 1 ˝ hours. A switch to hemp however brought a much
better class of roach on to feed and give him a runaway victory in the last
hour, and a full 8lbs better weight than Andy Dillamore in second and a
little more over Dave Simpson in third spot. Results: 1 Steve Winter 13lbs
12ozs; 2 Andy Dillamore 5lbs 12ozs; 3 Dave Simpson 5lbs 9ozs. Next Monday
draw 5.15pm Cemetery Footbridge, |
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Review for July 12 Lovell anglers retain schools trophy It was a wet afternoon
last Tuesday, but at least the thunderstorms and heavy showers faded away in
time for the senior schools match. This was held along
Horncastle Road and involved 43 youngsters from the major secondary schools
in and around Boston. The drain was in much better form than the equivalent
fixture last year with much less weed to contend with. No spectacular weights
in the two hours allowed but we did see the odd small bream and tench and
plenty of small skimmers on those pegs between the cemetery and Rawsons
Bridge. William Lovell A retained the trophy, albeit with a totally different
line up, which was Thomas Lomas, Zak Lomas and Joe Paton. Of those, Thomas
contributed the lions share as a bonus bream also helped him to the under 17
years individual trophy, and brother Zak taking third place. The under 14
years category was again won by Ben Eldon who took a nice net of small fish
from a peg between the two bridges – Rawsons and the railway that is. Frazer Overton
also landed a bonus fish and in doing so pulled the Haven High II team up
into the runner-up position and completing the team result in a third place
was Grammer School A with an all small fish catch. Results — teams: William
Lovell A 4kgs 450gms; 2 Haven High II 2kgs 450gms; 3 Boston Grammar School A
1kg 800gms; under 14 yrs: 1 Ben Eldon, Giles II, 1kg 180gms; 2 David Gurton,
Boston Grammar School A, 1kg 150gms; 3 Leon Creasey, Boston Grammar School B,
750gms; under 17 yrs: 1 Thomas Lomas, William Lovell A, 2kgs 800gms; 2 Frazer
Overton, Haven High II, 1kg 700gms; 3 Zak Lomas, William Lovell A, 910gms. The many prizes given out
were donated by the Environment Agency, Boston Angling Centre and the Boston
and District Angling Association. Thanks were expressed to Norprint for the
use of their car park, parents, guardians and teachers plus those volunteers
who turned out to help make this its usual successful event. Fishtoft AC left the
rigours of open waterways for the relative comfort of private lakes on
Sunday. They paid a visit to Stirling Lake, which is part of the Bain Valley
fisheries complex near Kirkby on Bain. Being basically a silver fish lake
most opted for the feeder and maggot approach for the target species which is
large skimmers approaching the pound mark. This tactic was well displayed by
the top four at the very least as Jerry Clifton headed that list with over
30lbs, a couple of small carp to 2lbs to make up that weight. He was closely
followed by Ben Brighton and Nick Mummery who finished within ounces of each
other, Ben getting the better of the battle for second. Results: 1 Jerry
Clifton 31lbs 8ozs; 2 Ben Brighton 27lbs 10ozs; 3 Nick Mummery 27lbs 4ozs; 4
Stan Stankvich 23lbs 8ozs. This Sunday (July 19), South Forty Foot Drain meet
Cook’s Lock 7am. A few big skimmers kept
Stickney AC on their toes at Ings Bridge on Sunday. Four such fish to 1˝ lbs
gave Yappy Mountain the edge but to ensure victory a magnificent roach of
some 2lbs was the icing on the cake. Kevin Hunt returned a similar net of
bream but had to settle for second around a pound down on the winner, Paul
Wood taking third with the odd better specimen. Results: 1 Yappy Mountain
8lbs; 2 Kevin Hunt 6lbs 14ozs; 3 Paul Wood 3lbs 15ozs. A large bream was the
icing on the cake for Janusz Kedzierski in the Monday evening sweep on the
cemetery length. In effect this was not needed to achieve victory as an 8lbs
plus net of smaller fish was enough to beat Mark Cook into second spot. Andy
Dillamore and Brian Clark fought out a close contest on similar fish and at
the weigh in were only separated by a mere half ounce, the verdict going
Brian’s way. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski 13lbs; 2 Mark Cook 5lbs 3ozs; 3
Brian Clark 4lbs 6˝ozs; 4 Andy Dillamore 4lbs 6ozs. Next Monday, meet Windsor
Bank for a 5.15pm draw |
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Review for July 5 Fish survey suggests a bright future The Environment Agency conducted a further fish survey
early last week. And this time, the swimming pool footbridge area on the Windsor
Bank section of the Bargate Drain was the target. This turned out to be even
more successful than their previous operation in the A cracking few days since my last writing, with
temperatures rising into the 80’s throughout the week and then dropping back
slightly over the weekend and only the odd shower or two to interrupt
proceedings. This certainly seemed a recipe to bring the bigger fish on to
feed as club matches on the Hobhole Drain can confirm. The latest Stickney AC match took place at Continuing on that same theme and further upstream at Saturday found Chloe Raynor fishing the Browning Youth
Masters qualifier at Woodlands fishery in Spilsby where she actually won the
match and so goes on from there to Moorlands farm to contest the final on
July 31st. Well done Chloe. The Monday evening sweep really confirmed last week’s
survey results as all those involved brought decent nets of silver fish to
scales. The top two ended within a whisker of each other in the 2˝ hours
allowed but Andy Dillamore ruled the roost with well over 7lbs of skimmers to
whip and maggot. Likewise Mark Cook, just 2ozs adrift but well in front of
the previous day’s winner Ben Brighton. Results: 1 Andy Dillamore 7lbs 12ozs;
2 Mark Cook 7lbs 10ozs; 3 Ben Brighton 5lbs 6˝ ozs; Terry Gooding 4lbs 13˝
ozs. Next Monday meet Cemetery footbridge, |
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Review for June 28 Youngsters tackle schools competition action Much warmer of late, but that easterly wind kept our
part of the world a little cooler for the first part of the week. After that,
temperatures gradually increased and come the weekend was well up into the
70s and thankfully the threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms quickly
evaporated as we basked in the sunshine. Going back to the start of these last seven days and
last Tuesday June 23 found 35 youngsters tackling the Windsor Bank section of
the Bargate Drain in the annual Junior Schools competition. Lower weights
than was perhaps expected with around 10 dry nets but I suggest this can be
put down mainly to the tender age of many of the competitors and hence lack
of experience, combined with inappropriate tackle and bait in some cases.
Still, every one of those that took part tried their utmost and most enjoyed
the evening. The Hawthorn Tree A team emerged the convincing winners from the
Wheelers Close area with Fishtoft A taking second place just ahead of Sibsey
in third. Individually the prizewinners were divided into four categories.
And first up was the night’s youngest angler to catch, in the shape of
Harrison Bradley who, at the tender age of seven, landed a few small fish for
140gms. Our young ladies again gave a good account of themselves and were led
home by Courtney Smith who incidentally took the under 10 category with a
fine total of 510gms and was also the top weight on the night. Finally, the
under 12 section belonged almost exclusively to the boys and Tristan Simpson
led these home with another similar catch of fish for 470gms. Results:
Under-10s, 1 Courtney Smith 510gms; 2 Megan Knight 170gms; 3 Thomas Lowe
150gms; Under-12s, 1 Tristan Simpson 470gms; 2 Brady Coulson 450gms; 3 Isaac
Long 350gms. Finally thanks go to all the schools, teachers, parents, helpers
and children who continue to support this popular event and special thanks go
to John Briggs and Steve Evans who gave up their time to come along and help
get the match completed and result out quickly. A slight correction in the junior programme in that this
Wednesday’s session, July 1, will again be at Thorn House and next
week, July 8, they will move to the 10 double coaching pegs at
Sibsey Northlands. These pegs have been provided by the Environment
Agency specifically for the purpose of coaching, therefore, pleasure anglers
are requested to please leave them available after 5.30pm. Looking to the future and good news from an Environment
Agency survey which took place on a short stretch of the Maud Foster Drain
last Thursday. The first sweep brought a bumper catch of small roach and
skimmers to 5in long in excess of four thousand in number and for those big
fish aficionados around 40 bream to 6lbs over a total of two sweeps. That similar size of small fish was very much on the
menu, as Fishtoft AC discovered on their trip to Tydd Gote on Sunday. A good
bream of 5lbs 10ozs made the world of difference to the outcome as added to
around 8lbs of ‘bits’ it gave Sheila Manning a clear-cut victory. Even more
of satisfaction to Sheila was that this came about at the expense of husband
Gordon who had then to settle for second place, a few ounces ahead of Janusz
Kedzierski in third. Results: 1 Sheila Manning 13lbs 10ozs; 2 Gordon Manning
8lbs 7ozs; 3 Janusz Kedzierski 7lbs 8ozs; 4 Ben Brighton 7lbs 5ozs. Next
Sunday meet In complete contrast the golf course section of the
Sibsey Trader Drain produced very little in the way of anything for Sibsey AC
although a couple of decent fish were lost in the already extensive weed
growth. Kevin Smith needed just a few small fish to take the honours, closely
followed by Duncan Smith who was the only other to make a pound or more.
Results: 1 Kevin Smith 1lb 8˝ozs; 2 Duncan Smith 1lb 4˝ozs; 3 Ian Singlehurst
14ozs. Bream were found in a feeding mood as Stickney AC paid a
visit to the Northlands section of the Sibsey Trader Drain, but as usual were
concentrated in only one swim. The lucky angler on this occasion was Paul
Wood who took nine good specimens to 4 ˝ lbs on mainly squatt and maggot to
win at a canter. Yappy Mountain tempted just one decent tench of 2 ˝ lbs to
take second and John Briggs in third with a few small fish. Results: 1 Paul
Wood 34lbs; 2 Yappy Mountain 3lbs 4ozs; 3 John Briggs 1lb 10ozs. Sunday found the Liam’s Elite AC at Hawk Lake, Westwood
where Gavin Butler took the match with ease. Fishing the far bank he tempted
those small carp to corn fished up in the water and gain a 15lbs advantage
over organiser Dave Wilson in second. Dave chose the same tactics but took
his catch on pellet as did Chris Chapman, close behind in third. Results: 1
Gavin Butler 84lbs 15ozs; 2 Dave Wilson 69lbs; 3 Chris Chapman 64lbs; 4 Andy
Dillamore 40lbs 8ozs; 5 Reece Dillamore 37lbs 7ozs. The Monday evening sweep took place on the railway bridge section on Horncastle Road but again the catches came in below par. Odd better fish were lost in weed and so the match was again won with small fish, and this time Janusz Kedzierski came up trumps. An agonising half ounce light for Mark Cook who grabbed second with a chopped worm approach, taking one or two eels and the odd perch, Reece Dillamore gaining some revenge in beating dad Andy for third spot with 3ozs to spare. Results: 1 Janusz Kedzierski 2lbs 13ozs; 2 Mark Cook 2lbs 12˝ozs; 3 Reece Dillamore 2lbs; Andy Dillamore 1lb 13ozs. Next Monday meet usual time for 5.30pm draw on Windsor Bank. |
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Review for June 21 Mixed fortunes as new season casts off A mixed bag of weather since the start of the new season and mixed fortunes for both pleasure and matchmen alike as the new campaign gets into full swing. The first day started brightly enough as the Boston and District Angling Association committee and delegates match produced above average weights, especially considering the time scale as those taking part had no more than 2˝ hours to put a decent net of fish together. Ben Brighton scored an emphatic win with virtually an
all roach catch from the ‘swings’ area on Windsor Bank and put a full 4lbs of
daylight between himself and second placed Brian Clark. Brian’s swim also
produced a fair amount of roach but after that it was small skimmers that
made up the other catches, led by Rod Asher in third. Results: 1 Ben Brighton
Fishtoft AC 9lbs 3ozs; 2 Brian Clark On to Thursday evening and the Fishtoft AC match on the
footbridge of Horncastle Road saw weights plummet in comparison but this did
not stop Ben Brighton recording another win, albeit this time with less than
3lbs of small fish. Catches then took a further dive and Terry Gooding was
the only other member to break the pound mark. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 2lbs
9ozs; 2 Terry Gooding 1lb; 3 Mark Cook 14ozs. A hat trick in the first five days is pretty good going
and Ben Brighton duly completed said feat with another good weight, this time
of mainly skimmers, as Fishtoft AC visited the Nunn's Bridge area of the
Hobhole Drain on Sunday. He exactly doubled the weight of second placed
Janusz Kedzierski who, with a smaller net of skimmers, just managed to hold
onto that second place ahead of Rod Asher with Jerry Clifton a distant
fourth. Results: 1 Ben Brighton 9lbs 12ozs; 2 Janusz Kedzierski 4lbs 14ozs; 3
Rod Asher 4lbs 11ozs; 4 Jerry Clifton 2lbs 4ozs. Members are asked to meet
Little Chef, Algarkirk 7am on Sunday to travel to Tydd Gote. A little better on A poor start for Sibsey AC on the Trader where a single
bream of 4lbs made all the difference. This fell to Ian Singlehurst who would
have had very little to show for his efforts but for that, and boosted him
into the top spot, hence finishing well ahead of second placed Kevin Smith.
Results: 1 Ian Singlehurst 4lbs 2ozs; 2 Kevin Smith 2lbs 13ozs; 3 Declan
Peltell 1lb 3ozs. Right up to date now and the first of those regular
Monday evening matches took place on Windsor Bank with a similar result to
the one just mentioned. A bream of some 3lbs added to a few roach and
skimmers saw Reece Dillamore to victory and actually prevented Ben Brighton
from making it four wins out of four. Ben did his best with a net of small
skimmers and just held onto that place by a single ounce from Stan Stankvich.
These sweeps will again be run by Mark Cook and will alternate between
Windsor Bank and Horncastle Road, next Monday draw Cemetery footbridge
5.15pm. The junior section has been
very active in recent weeks and has just completed their first month of
weekly meetings of this year’s programme. So far, all of these sessions have
taken place at Thorn House Fishery and have been well attended. This year the emphasis has been directed
towards the novice and improver anglers and those aged 7 to 15, both boys and
girls, have attended, plus the more experienced have also been made welcome.
It has been a pleasure to find that slightly older anglers who have gone
through this system in recent years are now turning out to help coach the new
crop of anglers. More help may well be needed if we are to take on more
junior anglers. This week, June 24,
will see the juniors back at Thorn House and then perhaps the next session
after that will be held on the 10 double sized platforms on the Sibsey Trader
Drain at Northlands. These pegs have
been provided by the Environment Agency specifically for the purpose of
coaching and the less able bodied, Therefore pleasure anglers are requested
to please leave them available after 5.30pm on that day. Juniors who wish to
join the waiting list, or senior members who wish to assist the coaches, are
asked to get in touch with the lead coach Ernie Heseltine on 0781 6211795 or
register their interest at Boston Angling Centre, 01205 353436. |
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