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ANGLING

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

With Barry Mallett

Angling news for week ending Sunday June 26, 2005

Hot stuff as fish take cover

Simply sizzling! That’s really was the only phrase to describe last weekend’s weather. It was certainly the hottest of the year so far and probably also for the start of a new angling season in many a long year.

But that’s where the good news ends I’m afraid. Although pleasure anglers found many a bream and tench willing to take their early offerings in numerous areas before the weekend, club and match anglers found the going much harder in most cases.

Come Saturday even, those same bigger fish had already decided to shut up shop as temperatures soared into the middle 80s. And during Sunday most struggled to tempt much more than the odd few small fish.

To kick things off, Fishtoft AC began their extensive match programme with the opening fixture taking place over the early pegs on the Horncastle Road section of the Bargate Drain.

Confounding everyone, Jerry Clifton changed from his normal small fish methods to go for the larger stuff and three tench and a bream later to pole, worm and maggot saw him wrap up an emphatic victory.

Graham Neal was the only other member in contention as he too found bream from two pegs away, with Dave Morley a distant third taking an all small fish catch of roach and skimmers. Notably those that did not tempt, or go for any larger fish, had at least 3lbs of “bits” to show for their efforts in just a three hour contest.

Results: 1 Jerry Clifton 17lbs 9ozs; 2 Graham Neal 13lbs 7ozs; 3 Dave Morley 5lbs 3ozs.

On to Sunday and the club progressed to the Windsor Bank section of the Bargate Drain where sport was equally as good for most but with less big fish in the offing.

Nick Mummery stuck to the feeder and worm approach for a number of skimmers to score a comfortable win and on this occasion Dave Morley went one better to finish second with an all roach catch, in the process beating son Luke into that third spot.

Results: 1 Nick Mummery 8lbs 7ozs; 2 Dave Morley 5lbs 8ozs; 3 Luke Morley 5lbs 2ozs.

Colin in the clear for victory

Apart from the runaway winner, Sibsey AC members found the golf course stretch of the Sibsey Trader Drain in a dour mood on Sunday after a bright start last week. A pound of small fish and less was the order of the day for all but match secretary Colin Peltell, who took bream to 4lbs in a clear winning total.

Results: 1 Colin Peltell 14lbs; 2 Daniel Martin 1lb; 3 Maurice Sharp 14ozs.

The Hobhole Drain appears to be in good form as firstly at Swandyke Lane the Coach and Horses AC totalled over 70lbs among the 15 club members. Here again though, no doubts about the winner as Billy Coope landed a succession of big bream, the best at 6lbs 5ozs, to take the top prize by the proverbial street. Runner-up Danny Pettigrew did manage double figures, albeit with a totally different sort of catch as perch, including one specimen of 2lbs 1oz, constituted most of his weight

Result: 1 Billy Coope 38lbs 7ozs; 2 Danny Pettigrew Jnr 11lbs 5ozs; 3 Alan Mitchell 5lbs 12ozs.

The Nunn’s Bridge part of the drain at Fishtoft proved to be less than hot as, like Sibsey AC on the Trader, only two anglers managed more than the pound. Clear winner on this occasion, and sticking to his usual method of worm and feeder was Frank Scrupps , whose two bream plus a perch easily beat the single bream and a few skimmers taken by Ray Taylor.

Results: 1 Frank Scrupps 13lbs 8ozs; 2 Ray Taylor 5lbs 11ozs; 3 Chris Chapman 15ozs.

Angling news for week ending Sunday June 19, 2005

Girls rule the roost

THE angling match for junior schools on the Windsor Bank section of Bargate Drain turned out to be very much to be a triumph for the ‘ladies’ over their male counterparts.

Only Christopher Wood of the Sibsey B team managed to prevent a clean sweep of the main prizes by the girls in lifting the Association Cup, awarded to the top under-10s angler.

Amie Smith showed everyone the way home as she not only won the President’s Trophy as the top female angler, but also scooped the Morley Cup for the best weight in the individual under-12s category.

Shannon Smith, at eight years old lifted the Stanwell Cup for the youngest competitor. And last, but certainly not least, the team trophy was handsomely won by the all-girl trio of Alex Harness, Sarah Andrews and Lucy Meyer as the Sibsey C team.

They, in fact, beat their male counterparts, namely Christopher Wood, Jacob

Rawlinson and Thomas Peall of the Sibsey B team by 20gms, with the St Thomas C team of Amie Smith, Kay Brackner and Liam Stainton a further 60gms adrift. Teams: 1 Sibsey C 1.410kgs; 2 Sibsey B 1.390kgs; 3 St Thomas C 1.330kgs.

Individual under 10s: 1 Christopher Wood, Sibsey B, 1.040kgs; 2 Shannon Smith, Hawthorn Tree, 0.500kgs; 3 Thomas Peall, Sibsey B, 0.350kgs.

Individual under 12s: 1 Amie Smith, St Thomas C, 1.150kgs; 2 Sarah Andrews, Sibsey C, 0.850kgs; 3 Alex Harness, Sibsey C, 0.560kgs.

Youngest angler: Shannon Smith, Hawthorn Tree, 0.500kgs.

Female angler: Amie Smith, St Thomas, 1.150kgs.

The plentiful supply of prizes were donated by the Environment Agency, Boston Angling Centre, Pilgrim Tackle and Boston and DAA and many thanks go to them.

Action is ‘steady’

The best word to describe the action for both Sibsey AC, on the Hobhole Drain, and Stickney AC on the Sibsey Trader Drain is ‘steady’, as neither club could tempt anything resembling a good sized fish of any species.

Instead, in the case of Sibsey AC first of all, small perch and roach made up the better weights, such as they were. Dan Martin topped the list this time around, pushing last week’s winner Colin Peltell into second place, Dan being the sole angler to break the 1lb mark.

Results: 1 Dan Martin 1lb 1oz; 2 Colin Peltell 12ozs; 3 Jeff West 10ozs.

Stickney AC came home a little better as three anglers made more than that magic pound. Here on the Trader at least, a few skimmers came to the rescue, adding to small roach to make Chris Chapman’s winning weight look more respectable.

Results: 1 Chris Chapman 2lbs 8ozs; 2 Eric Brown 1lb 13ozs; 3 Mark Thornton 1lb 3ozs.

Mick hooks victory haul

The Coach and Horses AC were sandwiched between Stickney AC and Stonebridge and discovered the odd decent bream feeding, at least for those in the first three places.

Mick Corkrum landed one good fish of around 5lbs and added a couple of skimmers to score the first of this season’s victories. Ralph Philips and Danny Pettigrew were always in the hunt with one bream each but at the end of the day they failed to find those vital extra fish.

Results: 1 Mick Corkrum 7lbs 4ozs; 2 Ralph Philips 5lbs 9ozs; 3 Danny Pettigrew senior 4lbs 7ozs.

The Fishtoft AC match at Tydd Gote appeared to go somewhat better, but in reality similar odd big bream or tench accounted for the top nets.

Mark Naylor also added a few big skimmers to one proper bream of nearly 5lbs to score a clear cut win using the usual feeder tactics. Mick Whitham did just the opposite and took second spot with over 6lbs of quality roach to pole and maggot, Gary Shinn pinching third, one ounce ahead of Ben Jackson by virtue of a superb tench of 5lbs 5ozs.

Results: 1 Mark Naylor 12lbs 7½ ozs; 2 Mick Whitham 6lbs 2ozs; 3 Gary Shinn 5lbs 12ozs; 4 Ben Jackson 5lbs 11ozs; 5 Rod Asher 5lbs 3ozs.

Angling news for week ending Sunday June 12, 2005

Here we are once more, ready for another angling season.

Basically it has been a cold and damp spring, which only recently changed into something more like the weather we expect for this time of year.

As the season gets under way on Thursday June 16 only the next few days will really tell us whether that extended period has had any great detrimental effect on fish and their feeding habits at this particular juncture.

Key aspect reminders

As the new season gets under way, I must mention the serious aspect of angling, which primarily is the ownership of a current rod licence, as I’m sure that Environment Agency bailiffs will be particularly active at this time of year.

Secondly anglers should ensure that all items of tackle are in tip-top condition before venturing onto the riverbank, something which is perhaps less of a requirement nowadays with the continuous all year round fishing being offered by, and taken advantage of, the numerous private lakes around the country.

As for open waters, the amount of riverbank and drainside on offer is only just short of phenomenal when one considers that around the Boston area alone the Boston and District Angling Association together with the Witham and District Angling Federation, can boast more than 100 miles of bank
under its administration.

If the River Witham, plus other small rivers and drains such as the Bain and Sincil Drain (to name just two) are also accessible by this membership, then the yearly book at £14  (plus £1 Bain ticket) or £10 concessionary for juniors, disabled and senior citizens, represents fantastic value.

Considering that a temporary member’s ticket is priced now at £3, it follows that more than four visits to local waters bring an immediate saving by the purchase of a membership book instead. Local bailiffs will also be patrolling the banks to ensure compliance with the association’s requirements.

Already in action

Boston and District AA members have already been in action, albeit on totally different types of water, which, by their very nature of being well stocked, have already begun to throw up some good and consistent weights.

First, our junior teams made the trip to the Dents Farm complex at the end of last month to fish the British youth pole championship and were also there as defenders of the title. A total of 10 teams fished the match in difficult conditions due to high gusting winds, a factor which meant that on No.2 island lake, some anglers were unable to maintain the maximum distance of 14.5m.

Those pegged on the leeward side of the lake were naturally able to take advantage of the wind behind them to get bait out and maintain that distance, floating pole the method with the carp rising to the bait.

On the farm shop lake, a great performance by Nathan Underwood in targeting crucian carp in mid-water, saw him beat under-16 England star Lee Dance to win the A section. Another sterling performance, this time from  Daniel Skerritt, found him only just wanting as he pushed Farnborough's Steve Lee all the way to finish second in B section on 33lbs 12oz to Steve’s 35lbs.

This gave Boston just the points advantage they needed to win as other team members Luke Morley, fourth in section, and Ross Ingamells, fifth in section from two Island Lake, made up the 12 point winning total to claim the trophy.

Results: 1  Boston Raiders 12 points; 2  SAS Broad Oak  15 points; 3 Mozella Farnborough Blue 17 points; 4  Mozella Farnborough Yellow  18points; 5  Dents Farm A  21 points.

The Boston All Stars did not fare so well and limped home in eighth place after top man Gavin Butler finished last in section. Other team members were 10-year-old Liam Wilson with a brilliant fourth in section, Matthew Hassall an equally good fourth in section and Nicholas Wright eighth.  

Individuals: 1 Bob Songer, Dorking, 71lbs 6oz; 2  Daniel Rust, Dents Farm, 69lbs 14oz.

Section winners: Nathan Underwood, Boston, 25lbs 7oz: Steve Lee, Farnborough, 35lbs; Bob Songer, Dorking, 71lbs 6oz; Daniel Rust, Dents, 69lbs 14oz.

Forthcoming events:

The Boston Juniors are looking to recruit more members and following on from last Saturday are in Boston Market Place again on Saturday. Members and qualified coaches will be on hand to give advice and information of where to fish and club membership.

There is ground bait mixing demonstrations and a display of fishing tackle available on loan to first time anglers who join up. Come along and have a chat. Further details are available from tackle shops, or club manager Dave Rance on Sleaford 461415. A full match programme is in place with Open matches starting on Monday nights from June 20 at Bargate Drain. Draw is 5.30pm, fish 6pm to 9pm.

Junior coaching is, as usual, every Wednesday from June 22 at Bargate Drain and is open to all anglers aged 8 to 17 years draw 6pm, Windsor Bank, fish 6.30pm to 8.30pm. New anglers are welcome with   tackle and bait provided free to first time anglers.

“Give a angling a go” is this season’s theme. See local tackle shops for details or call Dave on Sleaford 461415.

Annual match

The annual committee and delegates match took place on Moon Lake last week and given the type of water and species on offer, the event threw up a surprisingly close result.

So much so, that one single ounce gave Bob Bierton victory, and hence retention of the trophy for another year. Bob concentrated on those larger carp with feeder and red maggot, but nearly came unstuck as Danny Pettigrew junior also got in on the act with pellet.

And after a tremendous struggle he landed a super carp of 17lbs 4ozs to run him down to the wire.

After those two, weights fell away a little, but the battle for third spot was also hotly contested as a mere 1½ lbs separated the next four anglers — Jonathon Taylor winning that particular contest.

Results: 1 Bob Bierton (Riverside Tackle)  35lbs 1oz; 2 Danny Pettigrew Junior (Coach & Horses)  35lbs; 3 Jonathon Taylor  (Committee)  25lbs 12ozs; 4 Paul Cater  (Fenland Pike AC)  25lbs; 5 Billy Coope  (Coach & Horses AC) 24lbs 12ozs; 6 Gordon Manning  (Fishtoft AC)  24lbs 4ozs.

Fishtoft AC

Fishtoft AC will begin their match programme on the Bargate Drain on Thursday June 16 and will meet at the cemetery, Horncastle Road 5.30pm. This will be followed by the first of their Sunday fixtures on the Windsor Bank section, meet swimming pool footbridge 7am.

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