Match Blog 2008/2009
Hansard Trophy 1
An exceptional turnout for a Rochdale Walton match saw 22 anglers go through the draw for the first match of the season on new pool 6 at Browning Cudmore. Although the venue hadn't shown great form in recent months, most anglers weren't expecting the going to be as tough as it was. Chris Oliver, fishing as a guest, drew one of the pegs which had dominated the matches over winter and he didn't fail to make the most of the advantage by winning with 36lb 8oz of carp mainly caught shallow on expander pellets. Next door to Chris on another fancied peg was 2006 club champion, John McFarland. John also took advantage of his draw with a runner-up weight of 19lb 14oz of carp caught on the deck on expanders over sparsely fed nuggets of dampened micro pellets. Third place went to Chris Woodrup with a very nice 18lb 14oz net of silvers caught down the edge on caster. Unfortunately 13 out of the 22 anglers had such a poor day that they didn't even bother to weigh-in.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (1st May 2008)
Eight anglers went through the draw for the first of the evening sweepstakes at Healey Dell. The venue showed cracking form in this three hour contest with a total weight of over 180 lbs and all anglers recording double figures. The top two anglers, Stuart Butterworth and sweepstake organiser Chris Lett, both proved that the ide may not dominate results this season. The matches are run as rovers and Stuart opted for peg 23. His weight of 37lb 2oz was caught down the edge on meat and consisted of a solitary carp along with bream, skimmers and tench. Not far behind on 34lb 2oz and cursing a lost bream, Chris caught Ide shallow on maggot at eight metres before fishing down the edge on pellet for bream, skimmers and tench. Third placed Pete Mottram fished shallow on bronze maggot at about eight metres for
22lb 15oz of ide and good quality roach from peg 2.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (8th May 2008)
A brilliant 3 hour match weight of 39lb 15oz gave Pete Mottram the win from peg 2 in tonight's rover. Pete caught a few ide up in the water but couldn't keep them coming so diverted his attentions to his inside pellet line and he never looked back as the skimmers came steadily for the rest of the match. Simon Newsham weighed in 24lb 11oz which included 5 good quality tench along with some smaller tench, skimmers and ide for second spot on pellet and paste from the margins and straight out at 6 metres from peg 29. Martin Kenrick's 19lb 9oz of shallow caught ide on caster was enough to give him 3rd place from peg 6.
Full Result
Hansard Trophy 2
Competitors in the last leg for the Hansard Trophy at Blundells Fishery were greeted by spawning fish crashing about in the bulrushes. With other things on their minds, the fish were not in the mood for feeding. In the early part of the match which was fished in glorious sunshine, anglers suffered line bites and the occasional foul hooker. Late on in the 6 hour contest a few fish did decide to have a munch and some anglers benefited from it. Pete Mottram caught a few small commons on cat meat which together with his earlier foulhooked lump resulted in a winning weight of 26lb 12oz. Pete Fitton and Simon Newsham both fished tight to the far bank on pellet and paste to fill the frame with 24lb 12oz and 18lb 7oz respectively. Five out of the thirteen anglers failed to weigh-in and the overall trophy was taken by Chris Woodrup.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (15th May 2008)
Pellet fished in the margins of peg 2 for skimmers and tench was the method in this latest evening sweep that gave Pete Mottram his third win on the bounce. Although his weight of 27lb 6oz wasn't as good as last Thursday it probably could have been if he hadn't lost some good fish in snags. Having last choice in the rover and choosing peg 23, Simon Newsham's 24lb 6oz was once again only good enough for second place. His catch consisted of one bream of about 3lb, a tench of about 2lb, both on meat and the rest was made up of ide and roach caught up in the water on white maggot using a 3 metre whip. Martin Kenrick once again chose peg 6 and fished most of the match for ide on shallow caster. His 17lb 13 oz gave him third spot and three superleague points.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (22nd May 2008)
A long awaited and well overdue win was had by sweepstake organiser, Chris Lett in this week's rover. Ten anglers went through the draw and Chris took advantage of first choice and opted for in-form peg 2. His winning weight of 27lb 4oz was a mixed bag of around 10lb of shallow caught ide and the rest, mainly skimmers from the margins on pellet. Runner up and in the top three for the third week running was Martin Kenrick with another mixed net. Once again ide caught early on made up a big part of his 24lb 12oz before he switched his attentions to the left hand margin of peg 27 where he alternated between corn, meat and pellet for a couple of big tench and skimmers. Pete Mottram made up the frame with 24lb of pellet caught skimmers from the margins of peg 4.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (29th May 2008)
With his 3rd win of the series so far, Pete Mottram once again showed the rest of the field how it should be done with another cracking 3 hour match weight of 37lb 9oz. Fishing peg 4 on the road side, Pete caught a few ide in the first half hour before going on his inside lines where he picked up the occasional skimmer and tench. It was only in the last hour that the skimmers really turned on and were literally queueing up for his pellet hookbait. Always the bridesmaid, Martin Kenrick put in another good performance from peg 27 with 18lb 3oz and although he lost four good tench, they probably wouldn't have changed the result. Chris Lett made up the top three with 16lb 13oz from peg 3.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (5th June 2008)
Newcomer to the match scene, Daz Armstrong smashed the forty pound mark and in the process the 3 hour sweepstake match record with a fantastic weight of 43lb 9oz. Daz caught ide up in the water before changing tactics and ending up with a cracking net of pellet caught skimmers, bream and tench from the margins of peg 5 for his first match win. Next door on peg 4 with another excellent weight of 31lb 14oz was Pete Mottram who fished similar tactics but couldn't match Daz's superior skills on the night. Taking third spot was Martin Kenrick on peg 27 with 25lb 14oz which included a lot of smaller tench.
Full Result
Liberty Cup 1
Yet another dire away match was had by the 12 members who fished the club canal at Whitmore Fisheries. Weather conditions were perfect for sunbathing but not for catching fish as other anglers proved by not faring much better on the favoured pools on the complex. Jon Kershaw(right)came out on top with 10lb 4oz which included a huge perch of exactly 4lb caught on worm along with a few skimmers and other silvers. Runner up was Pete Fitton with a few small carp on worm over paste for 9lb 10oz. Third spot was taken by John McFarland with 8lb 10oz of paste caught carp. Let's hope the last away match in September can put an end to the disastrous run we have had at so called prolific commercial venues this season.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (12th June 2008)
Top spot and a further five superleague points was once again taken by the ever improving Daz Armstrong in tonight's rover. Daz chose peg 25 on the opposite bank to last week and caught the majority of his 28lb 9oz winning weight of skimmers and tench on pellet from the margin to his right. In second place with 17lb 10oz and still knocking on the door for his first win was Martin Kenrick who picked his favoured peg 27. Simon Newsham who hasn't made any impact on these matches yet was third with 15lb of ide and roach caught shallow on bronze maggot from peg 6 at around 10 metres.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (19th June 2008)
Daz Armstrong has definitely got a method sorted on the Dell and is in danger of becoming the venue expert by taking his third win on the bounce in the club's evening rovers. The winning method, once again was pellet over a "secret" groundbait for a mix of skimmers and tench for a weight of 27lb 15oz from the margins of peg 5. Second and third were also the same as last week with Martin Kenrick on peg 27 with 21lb 8oz and Simon Newsham weighing 17lb 4oz from peg 14. Hanging on to his lead at the top of the superleague table was fourth placed Pete Mottram with 15lb 12oz on peg 4.
Full Result
John Kirkland Memorial Trophy
An influx of cold water due to torrential rain the previous night combined with high winds throughout the match made the fishing difficult and not as most of the eighteen anglers had anticipated for the first home match of the season. Jon Kershaw was the only angler to break the twenty pound mark. Jon fished maggot at full depth over groundbait at around 11 metres from peg 13 to take skimmers, small silvers and a couple of small tench for a winning weight of 23lb 5oz. Runner up spot was taken at peg 20 by Pete Fitton who caught silvers on chopped worm and five decent skimmers on pellet. Making up the frame was Johnny Mac with a net of maggot caught silvers weighing 14lb 6oz.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (26th June 2008)
Seven anglers braved the torrential rain to contest the latest sweepstake, Pete Mottram with first choice of peg opted for peg 5 which proved to be the right choice, fishing pellet in the margins he netted 21lb 14oz of skimmers and bream, second was the very consistent Martin Kenrick with 18lb 15oz, keeping the pressure on Pete at the top of the superleague.
Full Result
Evening Sweepstake (3rd July 2008)
With his second win of the series and a further five points added to his superleague tally, Chris Lett took the honours in the latest rover contested by only six anglers, unbelievable considering the fantastic weights Healey Dell has produced in these three hour sprints. Chris chose one of the favoured pegs, 25 on the far bank and went against the grain by fishing sweetcorn in both margins for a good net of skimmers, bream and tench weighing 29lb 11oz. A level 6lb behind Chris and taking his sixth runner up spot was Martin Kenrick with plenty of ide and six pellet caught skimmers from peg 3. Regular framer Pete Mottram was third from peg 4 with a weight of 19lb 14oz which consisted of a good net of ide and a solitary skimmer.
Full Result