Larry Howard done well in the recent club match fished at the bungalows. With the river still up and coloured, a dozen regulars braved the conditions to contest for the A.C.A cup. Larry managed to hook two Carp during the match, one which he could do nothing with and the other was this lovely 10lb 4oz Common. With a small Bream and some bits added to this, Larry took first spot winning by a margin of 5lb 2oz.

1st    Larry Howard                12lb  4oz
2nd   Peter Hole                        7lb   2oz
3rd    Stuart Cottingham       5lb   1oz

The NEW LAGOON continues to fish well, even with the drop in water and air temperature. Venue bailiff Bill, had a busy day last week, catching several Tench between 4lb and 6lb.

Other members have also enjoyed the brilliant Tench fishing on offer. Roach to over 1lb continue to show and plenty of small Carp to around 6lb have been caught. We recently netted the New Lagoon so that we could remove some Pike and monitor the young Carp that were growing on in there. We removed several Pike into double figures which were moved to the Ballast Pit and chipped, weighed, recorded and moved 40 Carp between 4lb 8oz and 12lb which were also moved to the Pit. We are looking into surveying both of these waters in the near future, to give us a long term plan of action for the well being of both, habitat and stocks.

The current venue record Tench caught by Jason Craven weighed 8lb 8oz.

Our junior members have also caught some lovely big Tench.

Some of the netted fish samples

A cracking Roach caught by one of our members

Austin Battell endured a tough day on Weirwood Resevoir recently with boat companions Jason Craven and Neal Rogers. Using the dropshot method and testing some new lures, fish were hard to come by but from the seven fish caught, this lovely Perch of 3lb 5oz was the pick of the bunch.

Barden Lake regulars Warren and club bailiff Phil Hollens spent plenty of hours over a couple of days, raking dead weed from their swims to make it easier for landing fish. It well and truly paid off for both of them with Phil bagging the first fish which was a stocked fish less than two years ago which weighed 19lb 8oz and now weighs 29lb 12oz. A fantastic growth rate. To top the session off, Warren then caught the fish known as ‘The Brown’ at its heaviest weight to date at 50lb 9oz. Well done fellas.

Phil Hollens 29lb 12oz                                                 Warren 50lb 9oz

We will be holding a work party on Longfield Lake on Sunday 1st December, meeting at 8.00am at the Café in the Park, Haysden Country Park. It will be mainly swim clearing and access improvement. We have some exciting new plans for this wonderful piece of water.

The bailiffs on Barden Lake have created another fine swim in the Willow Bay area. The old ‘Secret’ swim has been closed during the summer months and this new safer ‘Secret’ swim will be open all year round. This will carry the halfway casting rule, as do the other swims in Willow Bay. The old ‘Secret’ swim will be reopened in the autumn for day fishing.

Society bailiff Phil Hollens continued his run of fine fish with this latest capture at 40lb 13oz.

Phil Hollens and Michael Mcmahon have been amongst the fish recently with these fine captures. Phil with the Brute at 38lb 4oz and Michael with a 37lb 5oz and  a 24lb 4oz.

Well done fellas.

Young Alex Stokes enjoyed a red letter day with his dad Gareth on the New Lagoon recently, catching 30 Tench to 4lb 10oz and eight Carp to around 5lb. Alex caught all his fish on the float and using sweetcorn as bait. Well done Alex.

In one of our recent Society matches, Match Secretary Martyn Hill,  hooked and landed a stunning 9lb Barbel using legered flavoured luncheon meat. Martyn caught the fish fairly early in the match and hoped to follow it up with another. The fishing was a little tough due to the running coloured water and unfortunately Martyn was unable to entice another Medway torpedo. Although Martyn did not go on to win the Match, this was a very memorable catch as we do not have on record any other Barbel being caught in a Society match. This capture puts Martyn in a very strong position for the new ‘Bill Mitchell Match Specimen Trophy’. Well done Martyn.