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ANGLING

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

With Barry Mallett

Angling news July 2006

Round-up for week ending July 30, 2006

Junior match trophy goes to Alistair

There was little in the way of changes to the weather last week as the hot and steamy conditions continued unabated, just the occasional overnight shower on Saturday night to briefly freshen things up. Excessive weed has really been the biggest problem in recent times but a cut along the Bargate and Sibsey Trader Drains in the last few days should go some way towards alleviating the situation and making angling conditions a good deal better. Many a good fish have been hooked and then lost or broken on sub-surface weed in these waters, much to the annoyance and frustration of both match and pleasure anglers alike.

The July 26 junior night match was fished on Horncastle Road for the Unicorn Inn Trophy. The year eight category saw a comfortable win for Alistair Wood who amassed 1lb 9ozs of small roach and skimmers, with a three-way tie for second place between Thomas Vamplew, Danielle Tooley and Joe Patton each with 14ozs. Year 9 and over was a different story as a nice tench of 3lbs 12ozs in a 4lbs 10 ozs total gave Tom Tooley an easy win, second place going to Reece Dillamore on 2lbs 15ozs and third Tyrell Dawson with 2lbs 11ozs. On Wednesday August 2, anglers should meet at Windsor Bank 6pm.

Big skimmers have also been in evidence in recent weeks, not only on the Bargate Drain but now also the Sibsey Trader Drain where Fishtoft AC tackled the golf course section on Sunday. Odd big bream helped to boost weights as both the top two anglers boasted one each of 4lbs or more. A specimen of 4lbs 4ozs, added to a number of smaller versions to chopped worm, brought victory to Rod Asher who has been knocking on the door in recent weeks. He beat Jerry Clifton into second spot with a nigh 2lbs advantage.

Round-up for week ending July 23, 2006

4lb bream tips scales in favour of Barry

The Boston and District Angling Association’s annual match was fished on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain. And at a time when bream and their smaller cousins are now becoming more active as water temperatures rise around the local Boston drains, Barry Pogson took one such fish of around 4lbs, together with three big skimmers to take the trophy by a whisker. Second-placed Steve Winter came very close and with just under 9lbs, falling short by perhaps three small fish as this net constisted mainly of small roach and skimmers to pole and squatt. Likewise, Barry Wigginton used similar tactics to take third place from a swim between the bridges, as did Kevin Addison and Mark Griggs in the next two places. Results: 1 Barry Pogson, Spilsby 9lbs 2½oz; 2 Steve Winter, Boston 8lbs 15oz; 3 Barry Wigginton, Mayfair Newark 7lbs 10½oz; 4 Kevin Addison, Downham Market 7lbs 2oz; 5 Mark Griggs, Boston 6lbs 15oz.

After one or two false dawns Billy Coope finally triumphed in the latest Coach and Horses AC match on the Nunn’s Bridge section of the Hobhole Drain. Billy took a nice net of small roach and skimmers over the near shelf, beating Lee Feary, who put his faith in sweetcorn, by just 3oz and Danny Pettigrew, who used tip and worm, by a full 1½lbs. Result: 1 Billy Coope 7lbs 5oz; 2 Lee Feary 7lbs 2oz; 3 Danny Pettigrew junior 5lbs 13oz. Sunday July 30, meet at Windsor Bank.

Fishtoft AC made the short trip to the Coronation Channel at Spalding and in a rod and line only match at Matmore Bridge the more elderly among them came out on top, having had much more experience of long range waggler tactics. Topping this particular list was none other than Gordon Manning, who, by his own admission, was a trifle lucky to take the honours. Adding a huge tench, going all of 7lbs 11ozs, to a net of mainly small skimmers gave him a 3lbs edge on second placed Nick Mummery and Rex Harrison in third another 2lbs plus further back. Results: 1 Gordon Manning 13lbs 7ozs; 2 Nick Mummery 10lbs 6ozs; 3 Rex Harrison 7lbs 12ozs; 4 Mick Whitham 4lbs. Sunday July 30, meet at Stonebridge 7 am.

Frank Scrupps followed up last week’s overwhelming victory with another convincing win in Stickney AC’s latest match on the Hobhole Drain at Freiston Doors Bridge. His usual tactics of feeder and either red maggot or sweetcorn brought four magnificent bream to the net, including one of 5lbs 12oz. Others chose different tactics and the pole, squatt and pinky combination gave Steve Evans second spot with more than 6lbs of roach and skimmers, as was the case for Andy Dillamore in third. Results: 1 Frank Scrupps 20lbs 10oz; 2 Steve Evans 6lbs 7oz; 3 Andy Dillamore 5lbs 12oz. Sunday July 30, meet at the cemetery length, Bargate Drain.

By comparison to other waters small fish proved to be a little scarce on the Stonebridge section of the Sibsey Trader Drain where Richard and two sons Kevin and Duncan made it a real family affair in Sibsey AC’s latest sweep. At the end of the day, though, dad Richard had to give best to come home third, as Kevin took the honours and in doing so more than doubled the weight of brother Duncan in second. Results: 1 Kevin Smith 3lbs 6½ oz; 2 Duncan Smith 1lb 10oz; 3 Richard Smith 1lb 3oz.

Wednesday August 2 sees the NFA Veterans National Championship take place on local waters, namely the Bargate, Maud Foster and Sibsey Trader Drains and therefore very few pegs within the Boston town area will be available for pleasure fishing. Those who do want to venture out should check all noticeboards and NFA posters before fishing, as I’m sure that you would like the same courtesy extended to you on any other waters if involved in such a similar event.

A total of 17 anglers fished a match on Windsor Bank, our best turnout so far with some of the older anglers taking part and showing the youngsters the way to catch fish. Leading the field was Don Green with a good net of mainly small perch and skimmers to 3m whip and worm. Alec Rawlings took second spot, this time taking quality roach and a few skimmers to pole and squatt, as did Gavin Butler just three ounces behind Alec, and just out of the prizes and pegged next to the winner was Danny West in fourth. Results: 1 Don Green 6lbs 4oz; 2 Alec Rawlings 5lbs 5oz; 3 Gavin Butler 5lbs 2oz; 4 Danny West 4lbs 7oz. This week same place 5.30 draw, fish 6pm until 9pm.

Round-up for week ending July 16, 2006

Bronze delight for Boston team

Competition and the weather were both quite hot for the men’s Division Three National Championship on the Basingstoke Canal on July 15 as rivals went in pursuit of a place in Division Two next year.

The Boston and District Angling Association outfit were among the competitors. And after last year’s disappointment on home waters there is great news to report. Knowing full well that they were up against some excellent teams (including ex-Division One outfits such as Dorking), they devised team tactics to try to achieve promotion by finishing in the top dozen places.

The plan worked perfectly — so much so that they not only gained their hard-earned promotion, finishing a mere three points adrift of that same team, but also clinched third place overall and came away with a bronze medal. All 10 members played their part but a special mention must be made of Steve Winter and Dave Simpson as both won their respective sections with weights of 3.630kg and 3.060kg.

Teams: 1 Farnborough and District 359pts. 20.790kg; 2 Team Daiwa Dorking 346pts, 25.980kg; 3 Boston and District AA 343pts, 16.900kg; 4 Garbolino Apollo 337pts, 16.520kg; 5 Cinque Ports AS 322pts, 15.140kg.

Individuals: 1 Stephen Wall (King’s Arms and Cheshunt MG) 21.190kg; 2 Mike Halstead (Bracknell Herons AC) 18.980kg; 3 Charles Hoyle (South Reading AC) 11.500kg; 4 Nigel Thorn (Stoke on Trent AS) 10.240kg; 5 Shaun Barnett (Milo Bordon) 9.350kg.

Wednesday July 12 saw 25 junior anglers return to the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain for the Oldrids and Co Trophy match. The Year 8-and-under match was dominated by the cadet anglers celebrating their success at gaining silver medals in recent National Championships, most youngsters catching fish in the 1lb to 2lbs category.

Results: Year 8-and-under, Jonathon Taylor, 2lbs 7ozs; 2 Joe Elliker, 2lbs 5ozs; 3 Alistair Wood, 2lbs 2ozs; Year 9-and-over: 1 Nicholas Wright, 3lbs 1oz; 2 Reece Dillamore, 2lbs 12ozs; 3 Casey Bloom, 2lbs 6ozs. Next week meet at the Ball House car park for Kelsey Drain, 6pm.

The Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain provided most of the action on Sunday. First of all, Croft and Wainfleet tackled those pegs running up to and in front of the cemetery. Here a few decent sized fish, at a guess those prolific tench, were hooked and promptly lost by many of the participants, leaving John Simonite to pick up the top prize with a single bream and a few bits.

Greg McLaughlin was next up having taken two or three nice skimmers and a mere half an ounce adrift was Don Green who included three good eels to a pound in his third place net. Result: 1 John Simonite, 5lbs 12ozs; 2 Greg McLaughlin, 4lbs 8ozs; 3 Don Green 4lbs 8ozs.

Next came the Coach and Horses AC competed beyond the cemetery footbridge and from here a similar story of lost fish emerged. However weights of good skimmers were a little better as Danny Pettigrew junior carried the day, 8ozs ahead of Mick Corkrum and over a pound in front of dad Danny senior. Result: 1 Danny Pettigrew junior, 8lbs 4ozs; 2 Mick Corkrum, 7lbs 12ozs; 3 Danny Pettigrew senior, 7lbs 2ozs.

Even better weights of mainly skimmers came from the Cook’s Lock area of the South Forty Foot Drain where Mark Naylor headed a good attendance of Fishtoft AC members. Jerry Clifton ran him close just 5ozs adrift after which weights fell away but still in the 6lbs category, led by Mick Whitham. Result: 1 Mark Naylor 11lbs 11ozs; 2 Jerry Clifton 11lbs 6ozs; 3 Mick Whitham 6lbs 8ozs; 4 Danny West 6lbs 7ozs.

Sunday July 23, meet McDonalds, Spalding, 7am for the Coronation Channel.

The Stickney AC match took place on the Swandyke Lane pegs of the Hobhole Drain. Here Frank Scrupps saved his usual party piece for this occasion in order to annihilate the opposition.Feeder combined with either red maggot or sweetcorn brought a succession of bream to the net to end the day with well over 40lbs. Mark Thornton employed similar tactics but only just crept into double figures with Alan Fear in third a further 3lbs or so behind. Result: 1 Frank Scrupps 43lbs 3ozs; 2 Mark Thornton 10lbs 13ozs; 3 Alan Fear 7lbs 7ozs.

Ten anglers took part in the latest Monday evening sweep at Windsor Bank where Nicholas Wright continued his good form by winning with well more than 5lbs of quality roach to short pole and hemp.

Father-and-son duo Andy and Reece Dillamore made the minor placings, with dad coming out on top by a single ounce, Steve Lammiman beating both for second place. Result: 1 Nicholas Wright, 5lbs 10ozs; 2 Steve Lammiman, 4lbs 4ozs; 3 Andy Dillamore, 3lbs 8ozs; 4 Reece Dillamore, 3lbs 7ozs.

Match anglers are reminded that the 111th Boston and District AA annual match will take place this Sunday (July 23) on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain. Tickets cost £3 each and draw details are available from Barry Mallett. Early booking is advised to avoid disappointment.

Round-up for week ending July 9, 2006

Roach and skimmers keep anglers happy

Cooler conditions have prevailed of late but there has been no real change as regards catches. Bigger fish are generally still on the shy side, but there’s plenty of roach and skimmers to keep most anglers happy.

The lack of any real amount of rain has seen the colour drop out of most waters which will soon give anglers an added problem, especially during bright days when fish will be reluctant to move into open water to feed.

A move from the Bargate Drain to the Sibsey Trader Drain meant that some younger anglers were fishing on strange water but most of them managed a few fish. Nets were mainly small roach and perch with the odd small eel thrown in. Unfortunately, weed close to the nearside bank presented a major problem as most pegs had to be cleared before fishing could start.

Result of Mason Brothers Transport Trophy: Year eight and under, 1 Thomas Vamplew 1lb 9oz; equal 2 Jack Tooley and Jonathon Taylor 1lb 1oz each. Year nine and over — and continuing his winning ways: 1 Nicholas Wright 3lbs 1oz; 2 Luke Morley 1lb 12oz; 3 Reece Dillamore 1lb 10oz. This week’s match is at Windsor Bank meet footbridge for 6pm draw.

Avoiding any World Cup matches, this year’s senior schools match was held on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain last Thursday evening with 39 youngsters from just three schools — namely Giles, Haven High and William Lovell. Of those, 30 actually caught fish with weights ranging from a few grams to just over 2kg in a two-hour event. Nicholas Wright who just kept his nose in front of Liam Shinn and Luke Morley in the under-17 years category in fact took the top individual weight. The under-14s produced much lower weights but, of course, much less experience than their senior counterparts who went on to participate in the National Championship that weekend. Nicholas played a big part in securing the team trophy for his Haven High team which also included Liam Greenfield and Relly Dawson, beating a couple of good Giles outfits along the way.

Results: 1 Haven High 1 2.950kg, 2 Giles 5 2.410kg (Luke Morley, Andrew Wood and Reece Dillamore), 3 Giles 4 1.720kg (Daniel Austin, Liam Shinn and Chris Forbes). Individuals, under-14: 1 Josh French (Haven High 5) 350gms; 2 Thomas Gross (Haven High 2) 330gms; 3 George Crew (Giles 3) 300gms. Individual under-17: 1 Nicholas Wright (Haven High 1) 2.1kg; 2 Liam Shinn (Giles 4) 980gms; 3 Luke Morley (Giles 5) 960gms.

Thanks were extended to parents, teachers and volunteers who helped to make this another successful event, as well as well as those who were able to donate prizes, being namely the Environment Agency REEL Project, Boston Angling Centre, Pilgrim Tackle and Boston and District Angling Association.

This year’s outing to the NFA Junior Championships on the Bridgewater Canal at Warrington on Saturday was not without its usual little dramas, including a blown car engine, last minute team changes, and problems in keeping the bait in good condition in the heat.

A number of youngsters were also fishing their first national event. But despite all this, they came away with a good overall result. Top honours went to the Boston and District cadet team of Sophie Williams, Jordan Shinn, Jonathon Taylor, and with Alistair Wood, Joe Elliker and Oliver Sumner who, in their first national, managed to finish in a creditable second place — winning silver medals for their efforts.

The junior team of Liam Shinn, Reece Dillamore, Dan Austin, Luke Morley, Tom Cockle and Kayleigh Williams suffered from a poor draw and finished well down the field of 24 teams, despite some good weights in practice sessions a week earlier.

The two intermediate teams put up a good show and in spite of having two anglers short, the green team of Nicholas Wright, James Taylor, Relly Dawson and Andy Wood gave a good account of themselves.

The Red team were unlucky not to win a medal, having finished in fourth place just two points adrift of the bronze. Jonathon Taylor was runner-up for the individual intermediate title gaining a silver medal with 3.85kg. Ross Ingamells came home ninth on 2.62kg, others anglers being Gavin Butler, Shane Green, Shaun Higginbottom and Adam Tree.

Thanks went to all the parents who attended on the day, together with cadet coach Rod Asher. Thanks also went to Enterprise Car Rental, Boston for supplying the transport and Pilgrim Tackle for help with the bait.

Around the clubs

The United Anglers AC tackled the Railway Bridge and Rawsons Bridge area of the Bargate Drain on Sunday. And although Dave Johnson showed a clean pair of heels to the others, all the rest enjoyed a good day catching roach, perch and skimmers. Dave finished well over 8lbs clear having tempted a tench, two bream of more than 4lbs and the odd eel to tip and worm for his clear-cut victory. All baits tempted fish and second placed Graham Batchelor put his faith in breadpunch to edge ahead of John Clark who included a 3lbs tench, and Shaun Bell with an all roach catch to pole and hemp. Results: 1 Dave Johnson 14lbs 3ozs; 2 Graham Batchelor 5lbs 14ozs; 3 John Clark 5lbs 1oz; 4 Shaun Bell 4lbs 10ozs; Jamie Cole 4lbs 2½ozs.

Not much to shout about after Sibsey AC’s match on the midway section of the Sibsey Trader Drain where a couple of eels and small bream were enough to bring Colin Peltell another victory. Small roach and skimmers made up the other weights, such as they were, as Maurice Sharp took second ahead of Derek Smith with a mere 8ozs. Results: 1 Colin Peltell 1lb 4ozs; 2 Maurice Sharp 8ozs; 3 Derek Smith 7ozs.

Fishtoft AC were on an away day at Collingham on the River Trent where small barbel to 4ozs were in abundance.

Feeder maggot and caster was the main tactic as Rex Harrison conjured up nearly 13lbs to beat Trent regular Terry Gooding, with a similar catch, into second spot. A couple of small chub helped Phil Jackson to a clear third place, after which weights fell away to half that level at best. Results: 1 Rex Harrison 12lbs 14ozs; 2 Terry Gooding 10lbs 8ozs; 3 Phil Jackson 8lbs; 4 Nick Mummery 4lbs. Sunday July 16 meet opposite Cooks Lock, South Forty Foot Drain.

The Coach and Horses AC tackled Westgate Lake and here Paul Cater came up trumps again with an emphatic win this week. He latched on to two carp and a tench to keep Billy Coope, with three small carp, in second place, a position he has occupied for the last three weeks and Graham Upsall in third. Results: 1 Paul Cater 14lbs 7ozs; 2 Billy Coope 7lbs 11ozs; 3 Graham Upsall 5lbs 13ozs. Sunday July 16, Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain.

Finally, Monday evening’s sweep attracted just ten anglers, seven of whom recorded over 3½lbs in the 2½ hours or so available. Best of the bunch was Gary Shinn, recovering from a hard weekend away with the junior squad fishing, took over 5lbs of small fish to squatt and pinky to win a close fought contest. Danny West in second spot employed much the same tactics to finish within 5ozs, then a gap of a full pound to Steve Lammiman in third. Results: 1 Gary Shinn 5lbs 3ozs; 2 Danny West 4lbs 14ozs; 3 Steve Lammiman 3lbs 14ozs; 4 Dave Rance 3lbs 11ozs. Meet this coming week, 5.30pm draw at the swimming pool footbridge.

Round-up for week ending July 2, 2006

Juniors contest Bargate action

The Boston juniors section continued with a match that saw a total of 28 youngsters putting their skills to the test on the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain. With the Junior Nationals rapidly approaching, the Cadets and Juniors fished together between pegs 24 to 36, and Fishtoft’s in-form angler Rod Asher was on hand to help fine tune their methods.

All again caught a few small fish with a few 2lbs plus nets being taken in the available two hours. Chris Weedon, in his first ever competition, managed third place in the year eight category and in year nine a real dogfight developed between Reece Dillamore, Luke Morley and Daniel Austin, just 2ozs separating the three at the end of the evening. Results of Parkinson Harness Trophy match: Year eight and under, 1 Joe Paton 2lbs 6oz ; 2 Thomas Vamplew 1lbs 15oz; 3 Chris Weedon 1lbs 6oz. Year nine, 1 Reece Dillamore 2lbs 8oz; 2 Luke Morley 2lbs 7oz; 3 Daniel Austin 2lbs 6oz. This week meet at Trader Bridge 6pm.

Big fish were the exception but a single tench of more than 4lbs was sufficient to turn an average catch into a winning one for Bob Smith in the Croft and Wainfleet match on the Stonebridge section of the Sibsey Trader Drain. Otherwise smaller fish, and plenty of roach, were on offer as the minor places all produced decent weights of these as Don Green took a comfortable second place ahead of Pete Harker. Results: 1 Bob Smith 7lbs 4ozs; 2 Don Green 5lbs 14ozs; 3 Pete Harker 5lbs; 4 Ian Brodie 4lbs 8ozs.

Small fish were also still in evidence on Windsor Bank where the Coach and Horses AC, on their ‘home ground’ on Sunday took good weights throughout the match. Paul Cater just squeaked it ahead of Billy Coope, despite the latter including a jack pike in his weight, Steve Hooper taking close order in third. Results: 1 Paul Cater 7lbs 12ozs; 2 Billy Coope 7lbs 9ozs; 3 Steve Hooper 7lbs 6ozs.

Further confirmation of the abundance of small fish at present came from Fishtoft AC who staged their latest club match on the downstream side of Nunn’s Bridge on Sunday. Nick Mummery followed up last week’s win with another emphatic victory this time taking a level 7lbs of roach and skimmers to leave the likes of Mark Naylor and Rod Asher some distance back. Results: 1 Nick Mummery 7lbs; 2 Mark Naylor 5lbs 7ozs; 3 Rod Asher 5lbs 2ozs; 4 Rex Harrison 3lbs 3ozs. On Sunday July 9 the club go on their travels once more and with a trip to the River Trent they will meet McDonald’s, Sleaford roundabout 7 am.

Stickney AC members did even better on the upstream side as a few decent sized skimmers boosted weights, and especially for Chris Chapman. Chris chose pole and big maggot over the near shelf to end the day with the only double figure net, beating second placed Andy Dillamore by nearly 3lbs. On Sunday July 9 the club will also be making a trip to the River Trent.

A disappointing attendance as only seven anglers fished the Monday evening sweep on Windsor Bank, the rest unable to attend due mainly to work commitments. Top rod on the night was Boston junior Nicholas Wright who took a nice net of roach and small skimmers at 9m from peg 38. Steve Lammyman finished in the same street from peg 37 just 8ozs back, while organiser Dave Rance came home a further pound behind. Results: 1 Nicholas Wright 4lbs 15ozs; 2 Steve Lammyman 4lbs 7ozs; 3 Dave Rance 3lbs 7ozs. Meet this week for a 5.30pm draw.

Tribute to Pauline

Anglers in the locality are mourning the untimely death of Pauline Yarwood who, after a prolonged battle, finally succumbed to a serious illness on June 30. She was well known and much liked in Boston angling circles. Pauline was a member of the ladies’ teams over many years and also spent some time working in the capacity of Boston and District Angling Association match booking secretary. Determined to overcome her lifelong disability, Pauline took part in most of the Ladies’ National Championships over the past 15 years. Regrettably, she never achieved her aim of winning the event but featured many times in an elevated position achieving a best of 10th individual place a few years ago on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. The turn of the century saw her claim a silver medal as along with her Boston team-mates they achieved second place on the River Soar at Loughborough in the 2000 match. Locally she regularly supported the Boston and District Angling Association matches and often beat many of her male counterparts — only last year she took third individual place in the club championship against all comers. Pauline will be greatly missed by all who knew her. All local anglers extend sympathies to her husband Paul at this time.