Toyota Tantrum - Whats the point or points?

You will all know that I feel I fall in to that struggling category of also ran club anglers.  You know the ones, pays your money every week and watch someone else walk away with it.  Leaving you wondering about , bad draws , lost fish and conspiracies imagined or not and sometimes saying whats the point.

Its always worse when you are not enjoying it.  We are after all supposed to enjoy it!!  You will gather from my last blog, that it was a toss up today.  Pewsey or the Toyota.  Toyota won. Was met in the car park by  the ever helpful Mark Blake.  He informed me I was bottom of league one , so no pressure don't scratch for little fish he said; go for bigguns and the match.

We went in for breakfast with his thoughts of tying your own hook lengths against shop bought ( the latter in his view better) .  I was sure he was confused there is no way I could be bottom.  After the last match, I had checked the results and worse case scenario I thought I would be 11th out of 15 in Div 1.

So when I saw the printed league sheet on the table, I was not happy , I was bottom?!? how could that be.  After a session of telling anyone who would listen I went outside to ponder my sanity - could I have been that wrong?

 I am sure it has happened up and down the country at many a match - where points have been scrutinised and argued over.  DM was smiling knowingly, and I knew he was having a quite laugh to himself.  But as I have said before there was a time in his and all the top guys angling history, when league position and points meant something to them as well.  So, I hope good anglers reading this; appreciate it means just as much to me now.

Luckily, I bumped into Maurice, and he confirmed that I had beaten him, Pat and one other in the last match so there was no way I could be bottom of the league.  Without prompting Maurice kindly pursued the issue and the mistake was found; apologies were forthcoming from Gary Naylor (Gary is impecablly honest and clearly a man for detail, he was not at fault here a third party was) the competition organizer who said he would put it right after the match. Cheers Gary AND Maurice.

The match itself was a non event, I had an awful draw (second from last out of the draw bag.  Barnmoor 15.  I wanted Cottage or Selwood or at least one of the fliers on Barnmoor pegs 2,3 or 4.  Stuck in the corner, I had no real choice but to fish for big fish, silvers just wouldn't do it today.

 In short I had one bite in the first 1.5 hours.  It took me over 25 mins to get it to my peg on red 11 hollo elastic. When it rolled on the surface I panicked.  It wasn't gonna go in the landing net!!!!!!  It was easily 20lb+ it was nearly 30 inches long and had shoulders like a Russian shot putter.  Struggling manfully to net it, the fish made a final lunge to get under my platform.  This it did, so I was now in the precarious position of fish under the platform, me prodding at the sides of the platform with my landing net; to try and get it out into the open water again.  Ultimately the fish was lost and all hope of making a mark on the match.

My mood was as cold and bleak as the day - yes it is summer believ it or not. Pat on peg 16 the point was catching skimmers and occasional small carp.  Clive Egerton was fishing from peg 2 down the edge to peg 1 and catching carp and Mick Hawkins had a big lump fishing his top two!

 Nothing was working for me.  So I knocked up a little Paste and started down the edge again.  Had seven 1 lb skimmers one after another.  So just the same as last week 7lb of silvers, only this time I managed a 9 lb carp to go with them in the last hour.  16 lb on the nose.  No idea where that leaves me in the final table.

Gary and Tappy the organizers give out the prizes

Along my bank it went as follows Geoff 16 lb 8oz (mixed bag), Brian 6lb silvers, Pat on peg 15 the point 4lb silvers + two foul hooked double figure carp for 25 lb and me 16lb.

The weights came from the expected pegs.  With Clive Egerton (6 carp for 76lb) having a total of 93lb from peg 2.  Micks 23lb carp and 4lb of silvers on peg 4, and Paul White 25lb+ silvers on peg 3.

Pete Newman the deserved Toyota League Champion,
Trophy and £150.00

Lets hope Army match 7 on the Viaduct this coming Wednesday gives me a pick me up.  I might just pack in Match fishing.  I am not sulking over points, but I need to see improvement or whats the point.