Top rod on the day or should I say pole. Was match secretary (a thankless task) Alan bland. Alan who fished peg 14, had 4 lines going throughout the match. Both margins, to the aerator and straight across to the far bank at 13 meters. His baits was paste and meat. He had 10 Carp and no silvers for a very creditable of 43 lb 12oz.
Mr Bob Pascoe on peg 9 had a good day. His total come the end was 35 lb 11 oz. His silvers bag included a nice eel of 2 lb 9 oz. Bob managed 2nd top silvers to boot. Now Bob likes to keep things simple so it was just pole and maggot for the angling veteran.
Right now would I lie to you lot, no kidding, honestly yours truly came 3rd. Yes that’s right THIRD. I pulled out peg 15 which is the far end swim on Hawthorns. I had one Carp across to the far bank at 13 meters. The rest was to my right margin, I had 7 Carp in all as well as a eel a Chub and a Tench. My total weight was an unbelievable 33 lb 08 0z. The bait was corn. (I didn’t come last brilliant!)
In 4th spot we find Dave Nash who fished peg 11. Like Bob Pascoe he keeps things nice and simple. Pole and red maggot helped him to bag a weight of 33 lb 01 oz. Dave was top silvers angler on the day with an admirable weight of 9 lb 6 oz. It should be noted that Dave and Bob silvers weight should be given some credit as the silvers where hard to tempt.
On fancied peg 1 was none other than Eric Searle. Eric who was 5th had a weight of 31lb 01oz. This haul was achieved by fishing paste in the margins to his left. Trust me if this peg was on form and with Eric’s skill in Carp bashing he would have caned it.
Young Ian Grabham caught a reasonable all Carp weight of 22 lb 08 oz from peg 6. Now when I asked him what bait was used his reply was “a bit of everything”. So there you have it. Not a bad weight concidering it was his first visit to the venue and the conditions.
Rob Dodd who was a last time out winner seemed to had lost his sparkle this time and could only muster a 7th place with a weight of 17 lb 11 oz from peg 4. Robs tactics on the day was pole and maggot. No doubt this result is just a blip. He will be back.
Paul Smith had a poor day by his standards from peg 10, Paul like Rob normally occupy the top end of the table. But owing to the fish not co operating Paul had to settle for 8th spot. He managed to put on the scales 17 lb 4 oz, but let it be made clear that his silvers tally of 6 lb was a point to note on day when silver fish were at a premium.
When we approached Steve Warren in his peg at the weigh in his face and his posture said it all. “Ain’t no winning weight here” Alas Steve didn’t have the best of days from peg 5. Pole and pellet earned Steve 9th place. His net of fish came to 16 lb 2oz.
10th was Dave Colley. Mr Colley gave me the impression when he turned up of, lets give it a go and see what we get. Well he managed 10 lb 12 oz in total from peg 7. No matter what the outcome Dave whether he’s first or last this guy always wear a smile and takes it on the chin.
Alan Jenkins from peg 12 and who came 11th with 5 lb 15 oz had 2 fish a 1oz rudd and a Carp of (work out it yourself) 5lb 14 oz. Now it is this Carp that in some respects that made a bit of commotion. Alan hooks it, the Carp puts up a hefty fight and eventually snaps his pole. Carp with rig and pole top in tow makes a B line for Dave Nash’s peg, Dave manages to lasso the pole top with his rig. But that didn’t deter the Carp which was still full of gusto, for it moved on to the next peg that of Paul smith. Well it appeared that Dave and Alan gave poor Paul an eviction order and promptly done a coup d’etat of his swim. Alan played the Carp and Dave had the net. TEN minutes later and after much splashing and of course ruining of Paul swim the fish was landed. If only Mr Jenkins could do things less complicated.
Tony Richards came 12th but this guy is a example to us all, although in poor health he battles on with a fighting spirit and makes a gigantic effort in turning up. Tony from peg 8 had one fish, a Carp of 4lb 7oz. Good on yer mate.
Messrs Searle and Colley 
Mr Richards 
Mr Warren 
Mr Dodd 
Mr Grabham 
Mr Smith
On the day we were lucky with the weather it only rain for about 5 minutes. But there was hell of a lot of thunder and lightning.
Fishing at Stathe.
Thursday June 24th I had a rather odd text from one Mr Dave Nash which went “I have info re virgin type lake at Stathe, you interested in something different”
My reply was “where abouts in Stathe”
Reply cames back “it’s a local secret apparently”
Well come Saturday Dave (who had some idea of where he was going) and yours truly went to Stathe for something different. And boy it was different. We had come across a gem of a water. Far from your muddy Carp puddle not scarred by wooden pallets. This oozed rustic charisma, a place where angling and nature are melded in to one. If one was ever a schoolboy angler this place is the trigger for reminiscing. This is a place to get lost in one’s dreams. This is a place of Izaak Walton and Arthur Crabtree. Think of a pond where one would like to spent a early summer’s morning. A morning of a day before it get hot, blue sky above, bird song peppers the air, punctuated by the buzzing of insects and the drone of bees. This is as far as my powers of descriptive writing goes. I have the same problem it seems as one John Clare.
This is where oh angling brethren I will try to educate you (if it is possible, I am sure it is). John Clare (1793-1864) was an English poet and has sound acclaim by scholars and academia alike. He is a poet known for his works of literature about rural life. One of his poems is titled A Scene. This poem describes the poet standing on a hill side looking at a countryside landscape. A landscape of a stream and a river, a village and a farm, People ploughing and making hay. But at the end piece of the poem he shows a slight frustration in that he has trouble expressing in to words at what he his seeing. The last line is ” That language fails the pleasure to express” So I have the same problem as John Clare in trying to put into words of what I was seeing and experiencing,
But I do have an advantage I suppose that I live in the age of mobile phone cameras and as they say a picture is worth a 1000 words.
We enjoyed the weather we enjoyed the atmosphere and without doubt we enjoyed the fishing. The biggest fish was caught by Dave a bream between 4 and 5 pound. We both had good bags of silvers. There is Carp in the lake but I would say it is predominantly a silvers lake. Your are required to use the owners landing nets and no keep nets are allowed. Day tickets are £7 and believe me well worth it. All in all a pleasant days fishing indeed.
The next match for the Watchet club is on Saturday 17th July on the King Sedgemoor Drain at Parchey. See see you then.
Tight lines
Pete C.