ANGLING

All the up-to-date news from the 2006-2007 Boston and District angling scene

With Barry Mallett

Angling news August 2006

Round-up for week ending August 27, 2006

Cooler conditions and a spell of varied fortunes

There were hugely differing fortunes during the past week on the local angling scene — outcomes for competitors ranging from poor to excellent as the weather continued in a cooler and more changeable vein.

Things were certainly poor regarding the Sibsey Trader Drain where, even with the right amount of what one would term “fish colour,” all methods produced few bites and even fewer fish. And matches were even worse.

One such, of course, was the Trader Championship that nowadays fills only part of the drain instead of having match anglers queuing to get onto fully booked waters. There was still a relatively good attendance as 64 hopefuls tackled the golf course and Stonebridge sections. But any optimism was quickly overturned, as the match got under way.

Most of those that did eventually make the prize list could only boast a handful of bites and top dog on this occasion was Mark One’s Phil Chesterton who took four big bream plus the odd perch to tip and lobworm for a comfortable winning weight. Terry Gooding added a similar amount of fish from the first peg upstream of the bridge to clinch second spot, but these being of smaller size he ended the day over five pounds light. Third placed Ian Brodie was around the same amount adrift of Terry but here the similarity ends as he informs me that he thoroughly enjoyed the day in catching small skimmers and roach from start to finish. March angler Mick Pool came home next just a single ounce down, but a bream of some 3lbs or so helped him to that lofty fourth position, as did one of a similar size for Simon Godfrey in fifth.

Results: 1 Phil Chesterton, Sensas Mark One, 15lbs 14½ ozs; 2 Terry Gooding, Boston, 10lbs 7ozs; 3 Ian Brodie, Wainfleet, 4lbs 12ozs; 4 Mick Pool, March, 4lbs 11ozs; 5 Simon Godfrey, Sensas Mark One, 3lbs 14ozs; 6 Alistair Ogilvie, Sensas Mark One, 3lbs 13ozs.

Sections: 1 Phil Chesterton, Sensas Mark One, 15lbs 14½ ozs; 2 John Kadzionis, Boston, 2lbs 3½ ozs; 3 Terry Gooding, Boston, 10lbs 7ozs; 4 Gavin Butler, Mark One, 2lbs 12 ½ ozs; 5 Simon Godfrey, Mark One, 3lbs 14ozs; 6 Ian Brodie, Wainfleet, 4lbs 12ozs.

Things were equally dire for Sibsey AC on the Northlands stretch where, despite superb looking conditions, members could only tempt the odd eel or two and a few small fish at best. Only two anglers broke the 1lb mark as Pete Coulson topped this list with the said eels plus half a dozen bits. He beat Duncan Smith into second place by just 1½ozs, namesake Kevin in third and not quite making that magical pound. Results: 1 Pete Coulson 1lb 3ozs; 2 Duncan Smith 1lb 1½ozs; 3 Kevin Smith 15½ozs.

The other end of the scale revealed that 5lbs and 6lbs catches were commonplace on the South Forty Foot Drain as Fishtoft AC fished their latest fixture near Cook’s Lock. Pole and hemp was king here as Mark Naylor brought a double figure net of prime roach to scales. Likewise Jerry Clifton who took second place just 8ozs behind, as did joint third places Mark Cook and Gordon Manning, still in double figures. Results: 1 Mark Naylor 11lbs 14ozs; 2 Jerry Clifton 11lbs 6ozs; equal 3 Mark Cook and Gordon Manning 10lbs 8ozs. Sunday September 3, meet 7am for the upper Hobhole Drain at Aladdins Cave.

Somewhere in the middle was the Coach and Horses AC match, again on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain. Neither Paul Cater nor Danny Pettigrew had it all their own way this week as they had to settle for a tie for first place on this occasion, leaving Lee Feary some way off the pace in third. Small fish to pole and maggot was the order of the day here as most anglers brought 2-3lbs to scales, but next week will most likely employ totally different tactics as the club tackle the Swandyke Lane section of the Hobhole Drain. Results: Equal 1 Paul Cater and Danny Pettigrew junior 6lbs 13ozs; 3 Lee Feary 5lbs 3ozs.

An early reminder that the Boston and District Angling Association’s Benevolent Society match will take place on Sunday September 10 on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain. The Memorial match will follow this on Sunday September 17 on the Windsor Bank section. Anglers wishing to take part should contact Barry Mallett to book their places as soon as possible.

Round-up for week ending August 20, 2006

Superb perch catch wins it for newcomer Sam

The evenings are now starting to draw in and the last of the Wednesday evening junior fixtures took place on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain. And it was another good match as all anglers taking part caught good bags of mainly roach in the time allowed. Eight-year-old newcomer Sam Frestle took a superb perch of 1lbs 7oz to win the younger group, and with some of the older ones staying at home to watch the football, Tyrell Dawson took top spot in the older group by a decent margin ahead of Luke Morley and Nicholas Wright. Year eight and under: 1 Sam Frestle 2lbs 6ozs; 2 Jonathon Taylor 2lbs 1oz; 3 Joe Elliker 1lb 12ozs. Year nine and above: 1 Tyrell Dawson 2lbs 2ozs; 2 Luke Morley 1lb 8ozs; 3 Nicholas Wright 1lb 7ozs.

Mastin’s Bridge on the Cowbridge Drain was the venue for the latest of the Fishtoft AC summer series. There was no great story here, but most members — and especially those on the Kelsey Bridge side — had decent nets of small fish. Indeed that upstream side provided all the top weights and led home this week by Phil Jackson who relegated Danny West to the runner-up spot and Rex Harrison more than 1lb down in third place. Results: 1 Phil Jackson 4lbs 5ozs; 2 Danny West 4lbs; 3 Rex Harrison 3lbs 1½ ozs; 4 Ernie Heseltine 3lbs 1oz. On Sunday August 29, those not involved in the Trader Championship should meet at Cook’s Lock on the South Forty Foot drain at 7am.

The Coach and Horses Angling Club continued their campaign back on home water on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain where Paul Cater brought Danny Pettigrew’s winning streak to an end, but only just. Roach and skimmers made up the bulk of good weights and only the odd fish, a mere 2ozs, separated the top two with D Pettigrew senior well back in third place. Results: 1 Paul Cater 7lbs 2ozs; 2 Danny Pettigrew junior 7lbs; 3 Danny Pettigrew senior 5lbs 13ozs. Sunday August 29, they continue with another match on the Bargate Drain.

Stickney AC fared a little better than last week, this time on the Little Holland Drain but the leading weights disguise the fact that those pegged in the middle actually struggled for very few bites. Both end pegs produced the goods and certainly Andy Dillamore was virtually ‘pleasure fishing,’ having drawn one end peg and then finding no one else drawn near him. Consequently he made hay and romped to victory with nearly 18lbs of small carp, roach and bream. Likewise Steve Evans, to a lesser extent, included small bream and three carp to clinch second spot, after which a few roach made up the remainder of nets giving Mark Thornton third. Results: 1 Andy Dillamore 17lbs 10ozs; 2 Steve Evans 8lbs 4ozs; 3 Mark Thornton 4lbs 1oz.

Over in the Lincoln area and the Whisby Saturday League reached its half-way stage, the fifth match being fished at North Clifton on the Tidal Trent. Sport was fair all through but the shallows produced the top two weights.

Veteran Lincoln angler Maurice Thacker was drawn on peg 46 and after being broken by a big barbel he switched to heavier gear and took three smaller versions, plus one of five pounds. In the last hour another switch, this time to the waggler and maggot brought a succession of roach and dace to complete his winning catch.

Second placed John Hackney stuck to that latter method throughout and using hemp and caster was rewarded with a super net of mainly roach from under Clifton Bridge. Weights then dropped a little but the groundbait feeder and maggot tempted a few skimmers for Dave Small, topped off by a fine bream of 6lbs 12ozs to give him third place. The pairs competition went to the wire but John Hackney and John Small just shaded it ahead of Dave Padley and Maurice Thacker, 21lbs 11ozs against 21lbs 3ozs. Individuals: 1 Maurice Thacker Whisby AS 16lbs 11ozs; 2 John Hackney Whisby AS 15lbs 8ozs; 3 Dave Small Lincoln Whisby AS 11lbs 7ozs; 4 Dean Smith Whisby AS 7lbs 14ozs. League after five rounds: 1 Roly Moses Brigg Britannia 31pts; 2 Dave Padley Brigg Britannia 30pts; 3 Malc Firmstone Sensas Lincs County 29pts.

A disappointing entry for the Hughes Trophy the following day, again fished at North Clifton where Steve Edson took five bream to feeder, worm and caster to record an easy victory. After that weights fell away into single figures but Maurice Thacker completed quite a good weekend in taking second place this time with a net of mainly small bream. Small barbell and chub clinched third for Dennis Jones and Dave Powell completed the line up with the lowly weight of just 2lbs 14ozs. Results: 1 Steve Edson (Kerrs AC) 24lbs 10ozs; 2 Maurice Thacker (Whisby AS) 7lbs 4ozs; 3 Dennis Jones (Oldham) 4lbs 1oz; 4 Dave Powell (Worksop) 2lbs 14ozs.

A total of 10 anglers fished the last match of the Monday evening series on the Bargate Drain. The overcast conditions meant that the match had to finish 15 minutes earlier than usual, which could have brought a far different result for Danny West who hooked into a big fish five minutes from the whistle. After playing it for 15 minutes until 9pm he was unable to net what was estimated to be a tench of 5lbs or more. After a further 15 minutes playing the fish with a crowd looking on and offering words of encouragement (amongst other things) the fish was finally over the net but, as often happens in these circumstances, the hook pulled out and the fish was lost. The night actually produced a tight finish as just 10ozs covered the top three, and on this occasion Shaun Higginbottom took the honours with a very good net of roach and skimmers, ahead of Gary Shinn and Gavin Butler with similar catches. Results: 1 Shaun Higginbottom, peg 35, 6lbs 9ozs; 2 Gary Shinn, peg 42, 6lbs 3ozs; 3 Gavin Butler, peg 33, 5lbs 15ozs. Dave Rance expressed thanks to everyone that took part in the series.

A final reminder at this point that the Trader Championship will take place this coming Sunday. For match bookings, contact Barry Mallett on his normal number. Match entry £3 plus optional pools on the morning.

Round-up for week ending August 13, 2006

Juniors put match skills to the test

The junior club match on Wednesday August 9 saw nine new youngsters trying their hand at catching a few fish for the first time and the coaches were kept busy sorting out the tangles. The regulars had a good match and most managed a pound or more of bits. Results of the Pete Hancock Trophy match — Year eight and under: 1 Jonathon Taylor 2lbs 6ozs; 2 Joe Elliker 1lb 8ozs; 3 Sam Frestle 1lbs 5ozs (fishing his first match at eight years old); Year nine and above: 1 Nicholas Wright 3lbs 1oz; 2 Dan Austin 2lbs 6ozs; 3 Reece Dillamore 2lbs 4ozs. Next week’s match is the last one meet at Windsor Bank 6pm.

Certainly catches have not changed much as shown by Sibsey AC who tried the Cowbridge Drain at Bakers Bridge last Sunday. Odd better fish made weights look respectable and Duncan Smith included a small bream of around 1½lbs in his net of mainly roach and perch to clinch the top place ahead of Maurice Sharp and Colin Peltell. Results: 1 Duncan Smith 3lbs 11½ ozs; 2 Maurice Sharp 2lbs 6ozs; 3 Colin Peltell 2lbs 3½ ozs.

Fishtoft AC found more of the same on their visit to the Old Nene at Benwick where Danny West won a clear-cut victory with pole and squatt. All those involved had nets of mainly roach but a bonus tench of 3lbs 4ozs boosted Daniel Mooney to the second spot with Gary Shinn in third. Results: 1 Danny West 6lbs 5ozs; 2 Daniel Mooney 5lbs 1½ ozs; 3 Gary Shinn 4lbs 5ozs; 4 Jerry Clifton 4lbs 2ozs. On Sunday August 20, meet at Mastin’s Bridge 7am.

In complete contrast, Stickney AC had a disastrous day on the North Bank at Whittlesea. Not only did it pour with rain for the most part, but few fish were caught during a curtailed match. A single eel was good enough to give Alan Fear the win, a single roach for second placed Chris Chapman and six tiny roach to Mark Thornton.

Results: 1 Alan Fear 12ozs; 2 Chris Chapman 3ozs; 3 Mark Thornton 2ozs. Sunday August 20, meet Wyberton lay-by for a trip to the Little Holland.

Danny Pettigrew junior made it three in a row when the Coach and Horses AC fished Alan Coupland’s lake. His hat-trick came this week thanks to a good net of carp, Billy Coope the only other to score double figures and finish in the same street. Results: 1 Danny Pettigrew junior 37lbs 11ozs; 2 Billy Coope 22lbs 4ozs; 3 Ginty Elding 8lbs 10ozs. On Sunday August 20, meet at the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain.

A total of nine anglers fished this latest Monday evening match on Windsor Bank. And after the rain, weights were disappointing for most, with one exception. Local in-form angler Gary Shinn won with ease but fishing his first ever match youngster Daryl Sladen , coached by granddad Dave Rance, gave Danny West some real opposition from the next door peg and actually relegated him to third place. Results: 1 Gary Shinn, peg 35, 6lbs 6ozs; 2 Daryl Sladen, peg 37, 3lbs 5ozs; 3 Danny West, peg 36, 2lbs 14ozs. Last one is to be held next Monday August 21, meet same place 5.30pm.

Reminder to match anglers that the Trader Championship will take place on Sunday August 27. For tickets details, contact Barry Mallett.

There has been a good response for the second Ivan Marks River Memorial Trophy match that will be fished this year on the River Witham at Kirkstead on Sunday September 24. The big news is that Dynamite Baits have agreed to sponsor the match. Trophies and prizes will be on offer in addition to the pools monies. The Witham Joint AF has donated the pegs for this match and a prize draw will operate on the day with all the proceeds going to the Ivan Marks Memorial Fund. The Environment Agency has promised to try to get the weeds cut before the match and competitors will be able to drive to their pegs and park up behind them. The river has been fishing well with some big catches of bream being taken from the Schoolhouse bend, Reedy Bay, and the other usual bream haunts. Anglers fishing a waggler have been taking “a fish a throw” on maggots with roach, skimmers and perch showing, together with a few eels. Individual entries are £15 all-in, together with a competition for teams of four at £20 per team. Ivan’s widow Linda and son Chris will be in attendance to present the prizes after the match. The draw will take place at the Kings Arms, Kirkstead from 8am to 8.15am with fishing from 10am to 3pm. Refreshments will be available at the Kings Arms. For tickets, cheques should be sent (with an SAE) to Frank Butler, 14 St Andrews Gardens, Lincoln LN6 7UQ.

Round-up for week ending August 6, 2006

Veterans match signals start to hectic spell

It has been a hectic few days on the local angling scene. Things started with the NFA Veterans National match last Wednesday. It was a day when the obvious bet was for weather entirely different from what had gone on for seemingly weeks before. And from being immersed in hot and dry conditions, we suddenly switched to extremely wet weather and comparatively cold as rain and wind descended on us for most of the day.

Not that it particularly put anyone off as most reported enjoying the day, despite the soggy conditions.

To the match itself and while a good many set out to win on big fish catches, most of course were bound to fail and did not bother to weigh in a few small fish. These indeed were the mainstay of most anglers as the vast majority of the 19 sections were won with at least 4lbs of roach, perch and skimmers. These section winners included our own Don Green and Alec Rawlings who incidentally achieved 20th place with weights of 1.75kgs and 2.7kgs respectively and also well known regular visitors Fred Bispham (eighth) and Barry Wigginton (17th).

Topping that elite group was Gary Almond from Hull who, in his first national event and drawn on permanent peg 80 on Horncastle Road, set off with tip, feeder and worm to catch skimmers together with five big bream to win the title at a canter. No other on this stretch came near to his weight but Brian Cross gained fifth from a peg in front of the cemetery. A battle royal developed on the golf course section of the Sibsey Trader Drain for the next three places after Gary and winning this particular contest was Frank Jones of Sheffield who took over 6kgs of bream for the runner-up spot, as did Downham Market’s Maurice Addison in third and Tom Morris taking fourth. Result: 1 Gary Almond (Hull) 10.55kgs; 2 Frank Jones (Sheffield) 6.31kgs; 3 Maurice Addison (Downham Market) 5.52kgs; 4 Thomas Morris 5.16kgs; 5 Brian Cross 4.80kgs; 6 Roger Tebbutt 3.65kgs; 7 Anthony Ward 3.58kgs; 8 Fred Bispham 3.55kgs; 9 Trevor Jackson 3.54kgs; 10 Anthony Cheeseman 3.430kgs.

The Boston Youth Angling Club held their annual outing at Priory Lakes, Ruskington last week and with 18 anglers taking part and the lake in top form it proved to be a better match than previous years. Despite the windy conditions all the anglers caught fish, with most of the younger ones beating their previous best weights. With all entrants receiving a bacon roll delivered to their peg in the morning, and a burger and hot dog from the barbecue after the match all had a great day out (maybe all matches should be run this way). Year eight-and-under: 1 Jonathon Taylor 40lbs 4ozs; 2 Joe Paton 35lbs 14ozs; 3 Hannah Kitchen 26lbs 4ozs. Year nine-and-over: 1 Reece Dillamore 37lbs 8ozs; 2 Tom Tooley 33lbs 12ozs; 3 Tyrell Dawson 29lbs 2ozs.

At the weekend and the Coach and Horses AC, together with the Boston and District Angling Association Championship, took up all pegs on Horncastle Road. The latter, which boasted 10 teams of six, saw similar nets to those of midweek, average weights being around the 3lbs category. A similar winning weight as Grimsby’s Mick Balls gained an easy victory, choosing in this instance to use long pole and worm to take five big bream and a few skimmers.

Dave Bontoft took a similar catch, but less than half that weight from the next door peg, as did Dave Edgoose in third from the railway bridge end with one large bream and a small tench added to a net of small roach and skimmers. The race for the title, which, of course, is the main event went to the wire but a couple of section wins made the difference as both Mark Griggs and Chris Mawer brought home the bacon. This gave the Boston A team a five-point victory over a good Fox Match outfit and the much fancied Dynamite Mayfair another point behind in third.

Individuals: 1 Mick Balls (Fox Match) Grimsby 24lbs; 2 Dave Bontoft (March B) 11lbs 6ozs; 3 Dave Edgoose (Boston B) 9lbs 11ozs; 4 Danny West (Boston A) 7lbs 10ozs; 5 Jamie Wigginton (Dynamite Mayfair) 7lbs 3ozs; 6 Chris Jenkinson (Dynamite Mayfair) 6lbs 13ozs. Sections: 1 Mick Balls (Fox Match) 24lbs; 2 Chris Mawer (Boston A) 5lbs 3ozs; 3 Jamie Wigginton (Dynamite Mayfair) 7lbs 3ozs; 4 Mark Griggs (Boston A) 5lbs 4½ozs; 5 Mark Roger (Fox Match) 6lbs 3½ozs; 6 Dave Edgoose (Boston B) 9lbs 11ozs. Teams: 1 Boston A 49 pts; 2 Fox Match Grimsby 44pts; 3 Dynamite Mayfair 43pts; 4 Fishtoft AC A 35pts; 5 Lincs County 32pts. Fishtoft AC’s A-team win the Affiliated Clubs Trophy and club members are reminded that they should meet Algarkirk 7am on Sunday for a trip to the Old Nene at Benwick.

The Coach and Horses AC match, running from Norprint gates to the cemetery, actually achieved even better weights as most brought good bream to scales. The downside was that more were lost than landed due to subsurface weed. Danny Pettigrew junior recorded back-to-back wins as he followed up a last week’s victory on the Windsor Bank section with an even higher weight on this occasion, beating Danny senior into second place. Third placed Mick Corkrum’s story is sadly one of what might have been as he lost one huge bream of an estimated 7lbs close to the landing net, having played it for some considerable time. Results: 1 Danny Pettigrew Jnr 13lbs; 2 Danny Pettigrew Snr 11lbs 2ozs 3 Mick Corkrum 9lbs 11ozs; 4 Lee Feary 9lbs. Sunday August 13, meet Couplands lake.

Stickney AC members found no bream feeding on the Sibsey Trader Drain at Stonebridge but instead a variety of float methods produced good nets of small roach and skimmers. Andy Dillamore came out on top beating son Reece along the way with Alan Fear in second spot. Results: 1 Andy Dillamore 4lbs 6ozs; 2 Alan Fear 4lbs; 3 Reece Dillamore 3lbs 9ozs. Sunday August 13, meet Wyberton lay-by 6 am for a trip to the North Bank.

Just eight anglers fished the latest Monday evening match on Windsor bank, attendance no doubt low due to the holidays. Weights, however, were still up to scratch and Danny West had no trouble in winkling out over 5lbs of roach and skimmers, gaining revenge I may add, over Don Green from two weeks ago. Gary Shinn came closest just 5ozs behind with Don himself third on a level 5lbs. Results: 1 Danny West 5lbs 13ozs; 2 Gary Shinn 5lbs 8oz; 3 Don Green 5lbs; 4 Tyrell Dawson 4lbs 2oz. Next week same place for a 5.30pm draw, and fishing from 6pm to 9pm.