Welcome to our Match Reports page. There will not necessarily be a report on every match and nor will it be a blow by blow account, more of a general personal view of the day by the writer.

There will also occasionally be items on other matters such as waters that we have visited, tackle shops etc.

If you want to express yourself in print then please email any articles,  suggestions or info to HERE

22nd June 2008

Oast Farm, Buxted

This is always a popular venue due to the plentiful number of match sized carp with some much bigger ones thrown in for good measure.

Before proceedings got under way there was a presentation to John H of some beautiful pink arm bands in honour of his spectacular dive last time out.

The fishing lived up to it's reputation with the first 4 places all over 100 lb and Bob G in 5th place only just missing out by a few ounces.

There are not many venues that I like fishing more than once a year but this is one of them. Can't wait till next year.

Tight lines.

The Edge

8th June 2008

Hartleylands Reservoir Lake

Everybody was looking forward to this match. The lake has a great reputation for good catches of carp and silverfish and the weather forecast was good. Although I had never fished it before, I had done my homework, and was confident that I should be able to get a decent catch especially after I found that I had drawn a peg that has a reputation as a flyer.

We were all quietly setting up when John H decided to make a closer inspection of the bottom of the lake and dived in head first. I'm told he could have won a medal at the Olympics but I unfortunately missed the actual event and only caught the aftermath. 15 stone of sopping wet angler is quite a sight.

Anyway when we finally stopped laughing and got on with the fishing some of us actually had a good day, provided they were at the other end of the lake from where I was. At the other end of the lake, contrary to all the advice we had received, they started catching carp straight away and carried on all day. At our end the carp were mostly in hiding until about 2pm though there were some very nice roach coming out.

Our guest, John Barker, was actually top weight with 141-7-8 and fortunately my pairs partner, Bob G, who was also at the other end, went on to win the club competition with 107-11-8 so we managed to qualify for the next round of the pairs competition in spite of my worst efforts. I blame John H. He obviously scared all the fish to the nether regions of the lake with his acrobatics. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I must also give an honourable mention to John N who had 105-2-0. He is certainly going through a purple patch at the moment.

Tight lines.

The Edge

1st June 2008

Woodpecker Lake

I have a particular affection for Woodpecker Fishery. It has some very nice looking lakes and it was on Osprey that I won my first match with Lee Green A.C. a couple of years ago. BUT and it is a big BUT, the walk from the carpark to the lakes is much too far when you are carrying all the tackle that a typical matchman carries nowadays.

We usually manage to come to an arrangement with the owners so that some of our tackle gets transported to the lakes in a van and frankly if that didn't happen I certainly wouldn't bother with the fishery. We have too many members for whom the journey would be downright dangerous. I have no desire to have to give CPR to some of the ugly geezers we have as members and likewise I wouldn't fancy receiving it from any of them either.

Having said all that, we had a good day there. The weather for once was kind and although I didn't get to grips with my swim until too late on in the day, I still enjoyed myself (thanks to a tip or two from the guys from Crawley Post Office who were fishing a much quieter match om Osprey Lake). It was particularly good to see John H getting a decent catch at last. Further up the lake Biagio was setting about destroying our Club Venue Record with 111-4-0. Great catch Biagio.

We were then faced with the long walk back. Oh Joy!!!

I've come to the conclusion that this was my last visit, as much as I like the place, until they have sorted out the carparking facilities. It's just not worth the walk.

Tight lines.

The Edge

11th May 2008

Elphicks

I have always quite liked Elphicks and managed to set our club venue record here when I won the match last year with 73-8-0. Even so, it is not an easy water and can be a bit peggy. One of the main problems though is that it is very open with very little shelter. On my first visit it blew a gale and rained persistently in my face all day. On this visit it was a scorcher. It was also my first time fishing the car-park bank so I wasn't sure what to expect.

While everyone around me started off catching from the whistle I made a slow start and was scratching for a bite for the first half-hour while a mild panic set in. Then I started to get into a rhythm and started building a reasonable bag of mostly skimmers with a few carp and a tench thrown in for good measure.

One catch which deserves special mention was the 5-6-0 barbel that gave Mick the run around for quite a while. I'm not a great fan of barbel in stillwater lakes but it certainly brightened his day.

At the end I had 32-0-0, which was good enough for 5th place, and my record was still intact even though Dave B and Mark had a good go at breaking it.

Tight lines.

The Edge

21st April 2008

Bassetts Farm

This was a new water to us this year and we were not sure what to expect. Although a few people had fished a day there last year, they had fished the second lake of the two rather than the 'Match' lake. Unfortunately Day Tickets are not generally available here as the owner is very careful about taking care of his fishery. Full marks to him for that and the amount of stocking he is doing. Unfortunately, based on the evidence of this visit, the fishery and the fish, are still too immature.

The day started off overcast but a reasonable temperature and just a light breeze to put a ripple on the water. Most of us were catching silverfish but only spasmodically. As the day wore on it got warmer and eventually the sun came out about mid-day and the fish switched off. The afternoon consisted mainly of scratching about for the odd fish and I was lucky enough to catch a 3-14-0 bream. The owner later told us that he hadn't stocked anything that size so it must have grown on a lot since it was stocked.

All in all it was a disappointing day. Given a couple of years this may be a good fishery but not yet.

Tight lines.

The Edge

6th April 2008

Arrans

It was a no brainer for John H and myself when we discussed whether we were going to fish this match after seeing the weather forecast. NO WAY! After the conditions last time out we were not ready to be snowed on. Others however were not so sensible and had a generally good days fishing with Biagio taking the honours with over a ton. Well done to one and all.

Tight lines.

The Edge

16th March 2008

Ash Lake, Tylers Common

There are 2 things I hate when I am fishing, apart from not catching of course, wind and rain. The thing I hate even more is wind and rain together. So I was really fed up when the weather forecast, for once, proved correct and we had some of the worst weather we have ever had for one of our matches. Even worse than our match at Elphicks a few years ago. Because we didn't have the whole lake this time we had no option but to peg the bank that was facing directly into the wind and of course that was where I drew along with Bob G, Mick and Ross. Mick being a sensible bloke got his tackle as far as his swim and decided that there was no way he was going to fish in that weather, packed up and went home. After that the weather got worse still.

All around the lake people were putting up umbrellas, so that they could carry them home in bits at the end of the day. I've done that too many times in the past, in much better conditions than we had Sunday, so didn't even consider it as an option. I couldn't even wear my glasses because they are not fitted with wipers. The only option was to tough it out.

I gave up fishing the pole very early on because you couldn't get the presentation right and ended up fishing pellet on the method all day with a "Sidewinder" which actually worked out pretty well. For those that aren't familiar with it, the "Sidewinder" is like a small quiver tip clipped about half way down your rod. When you cast out you point the tip of your rod straight at your bait and adjust the tension on the line so that the Sidewinder is just curved a bit. Even with the rod tip bouncing around all over the place the Sidewinder didn't move until you had a bite. One of the best bite indicators I have ever seen.

I managed to pick up 54lbs of small carp, which was my best catch ever on pellet, and was good enough for third place behind Bob E and Mark. In fact there was just under 350lbs of fish caught which was very good considering the conditions. Will I go back there again? Maybe but probably not in the Winter months.

Tight lines.

The Edge

2nd March 2008

Horsmonden

After such a good season in 2007 I was looking forward to this match with a certain amount of trepidation especially as I have never really got to grips with this water. As an additional handicap I had introduced a new member, John Helling, and it seems almost traditional now that anybody I introduce beats me, at least on the first time out.

Well, not being one to break with tradition, I did let him beat me. In fact I let everyone else beat me as well! Just to lull them into a false sense of security you understand.

I started off by catching small carp on my first 2 casts. I'm not superstitious by nature but I have found that if I catch that early then it is a bad omen. Today was no exception. I didn't catch another carp all day and spent most of my time attempting to hit fiddly bites from gudgeon and the, very occassional, roach when I wasn't caught up in a tree that is.

John was in a bit of a rush to get away at the end and it wasn't until midweek that he found out he wasn't last on the day. Oh well. At least someone was happy.

Tight lines.

The Edge