Sunday 2 May 2010

The Steve Ramsay Memorial Weekend 2010

Well I can hardly believe it's been a year since the last Steve Ramsay Memorial but this weekend saw matchfishing-scenes finest gather in Salisbury for a weekend of drinking with a bit of fishing thrown in. After finally finishing work at 4.30pm on Friday I made the 25 minute journey to Withy where one or two of the lads were milling about. After catching up and having a walk around the lakes the rain started so most people headed off to town. A quick taxi to The Kings Head and after a shower and a change I was soon tucking into a delicious Thai meal with Pete Bailey,Graham Aveyard,Pebs and Fordy. It really was top notch and the Thai beer went down a treat. What happened over the next few hours is a bit of a blur but it involved a group of us drinking just about every drink in Bar 44 and after a nice friendly bouncer refused to let myself and Jamie Jones (dotteddown) into a club we somehow found our way back to the hotel at about 3am. I was sharing a room with Jamie and was woken at 7am by a pigeon on our roof. It sounded ginormous and I reckon it was really a badger as it was massive! After forcing down a quick breakfast we were soon on our way to Withy in a minibus that was swiftly turned into a gas chamber by what sounded like the philharmonic orchestra on their Southern leg of the UK tour.......

At 9.30 we were ready for the draw and with my day 1 section on Cottage lake the only pegs I really wouldn't have fancied were 5 & 6,and when I drew peg 7 I wasn't exactly delighted but when I found that peg 8 wasn't in meaning I could fish to the corner I was suddenly more optimistic. Dave 'Pikey' Pearson was opposite me on peg 14 (I think) and when I walked round and commented that he had drawn 'exactly the same peg as last year but on a different lake' I was soon getting some stick. What I meant was that he was in the left hand corner with his back to the tackle shop again but somehow it didn't come out right! I really wasn't in the best shape and almost fell in when putting my nets out....this was going to be a long day......

The obvious area to target was the edge down to my right. There was bare mud bank at 17.5m but after shipping out I soon sacked this as a bad idea as I was in no shape to fish at 17.5m all day. I settled on a line at around 12m where there was a good 3.5 foot tight to the reeds. For this line I set up a 4x12 Scone Jubleez on 0.18-3 Tubertini 175 and orange wilkie elastic. I had a good plumb around and earmarked a few areas in case I needed to search around,with a second edge line at 16m. My open water line was straight out at 12m where there was around 4ft. The peg was very flat from a few metres out which made things simple. I planned to fish corn on this line,feeding decent amounts as I was after proper fish. This rig was a 4x14 KC Carpa 2 on 0.18-Tubertini 175 3 and orange wilkie,set at dead depth. My third rig was for a pellet line at 5m and this was a 0.2g NG Decker on 0.18-0.16 and a size 1 Tubertini 175 matched to red vespe bi-core. Finally I set up a straight lead rod although I only had one chuck on this. For bait I had plenty of corn,some 4mm pellet and 4mm & 6mm expanders.

The all-in was called and I cupped in around fifty 4mm pellets at 5m,a full pot of corn at 12m and a pot of corn & pellet down the edge. Kicking off on a 6mm expander at 5m I lowered the float down and after 30 seconds the float buried and a 1lb skimmer was soon in the net. I started to cadpot in a few 4mms and after 20 minutes I'd had a couple of skimmers although the rig was a bit heavy as I was expecting carp. I was soon on the long line with a single grain of corn but 5 biteless minutes led me to re-feed with half a pot and drop back in on the short-line. The fishing was pretty tough and no-one was setting the world on fire. The long corn line wasn't really working but I maintained feeding half a pot of corn every 30 minutes or so as I felt sure they would turn up. I was picking up the odd skimmer on the long corn line but hadn't had a sign of a carp. I was soon off my box and set up a lighter pellet rig on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 B911 to yellow bungee and plumbed a new line at an angle to my right and picked up a few more skimmers.

After around 3 hours I was soon down the edge as I had been feeding half a pot of corn and a pinch of pellet every 45 minutes or so. I didn't get any immediate signs but after kindering in some more corn I soon had a bite and added a small carp to the net. It wasn't hectic so I refed and dropped back in at 5m. A quick bite saw a 2oz skimmer in the net and next drop the float buried and I lifted into heavy resistance. I thought the fish might be foul-hooked but 10 minutes later I slipped the net under a pristine mirror carp that was 10lb+ hooked square in the top lip....bonus! In the last few hours I added a few more carp from down the edge and one at 13m long and when the whistle went I was relieved as I was struggling bigtime....I knew I shouldn't have had that 13th Jaegerbomb on Friday night! I apologise for the shortness of the match details as I really can't remember how many carp I had as it's all a bit of a blur.....

I thought it might be close as Pikey had caught a few and I really didn't have a clue what weight I had. When the scales got to me Rick Baxter was winning with 39lb odd and when my mixed net (skimmers/tench/small carp and goldfish etc) went 30lb I knew I had 3 carp in the other net for 20lb+,and the scales bounced around to 23lb 8oz giving me a 53lb 8oz total. When Pikey pulled his nets out it was clear it was going to be very close. His final weight was called at 54lb 12oz meaning he had beat me by 1lb 4oz. I was absolutely gutted as I bumped a few fish and in hindsight fished too heavy. I should have fished a sensible pellet match out in front and a proper rig down the edge. I also lost a 6oz skimmer by trying to swing it in....I didn't realise how costly this would prove until day 2.

Jamie had fished an absolute blinder on Barnmoor,catching 52lb 13oz of all skimmers,a super weight without carp. Withybagger won Selwood with 86lb 8oz. I was still in with a chance going into day 2 but I felt sure that 1lb 4oz deficit would cost me big time overall.

After finally getting in the taxi at 7.30 I was absoultely knackered and was glad to get back to the hotel room. A quick half hour kip followed by a shower and we were soon on our way out again. We had booked a table at the local Mexican restaurant for 10 people but as there was a slight wait of 10 minutes when we got there 6 of them left to get fish and chips! That left myself,Jamie,Fordy and Pebs and the meal was superb,washed down by a few Mexican beers. Pebs and Fordy put the world to rights and we all had a good laugh. We couldn't face a heavy night of drinking for a second night so after a few beers back at the hotel we retired at around quarter to 1 and zonked out.

The dancing badger woke us again the next morning and after another breakfast we were soon on our way to Withy for day 2. We got there a bit early for a walk around the snake and with the wind being quite strong and forecast to get worse I knocked up a bag of swimstim green as I felt that the method could be useful if it became impossible to present a bait across on the pole line. At the draw I went into the bag and pulled out peg 42 which didn't mean alot to me but after speaking to Blakey he told me it was a pretty good peg and I had a good chance. I had a few spare pegs to my right which meant I would be able to fish the method to the point by the bridge. For this I used my usual set-up- 11ft Beastmaster,Daiwa TDR,6lb sensor,a small inline 30g feeder and a 4-inch hooklength of 0.18 to a 20 GURU MWG. I prefer to use mini boilies when fishing the method but as these were not allowed it was to be 2 dead red maggots as hookbait. The next line was at 14.5m to the far bank. For this line I set up a 4x12 Scone Jubleez on 0.18-0.16 and a size 2 Tubertini 175 matched to red vespe bi-core. I hoped to catch a few fish down the edge to my right at around 10m,right in front of the spare platform. It looked spot on and I knew I'd have a few fish there at some stage. For this line I set up a 4x12 Scone Jubleez on 0.18-size 3 Tubertini 175 and wilkie orange. As a bit of an insurance policy I set up a line for down the track where there was around 5ft of water. For this line I set up a 4x14 KC Chimp on 0.16-0.14 and a 16 B911 matched to yellow Drennan bungee. For bait I had some soaked micro's,soaked 4mms,a tin of 6mm meat,plenty of corn and some expanders for the hook along with my method groundbait.

The hooter went at 11am and I decided to kick off on the method without feeding the pole lines. I was clipped tight to the bank and first chuck the tip rattled round but I think it was a small skimmer as it fell off after a second or two. Next chuck and a carp was on,not big at around 2lb but a welcome start. I started well and after less than 30 minutes I had 6 carp in the net. They weren't proper lads but they were coming pretty quick although things started to slow up with only 2 more coming in the next 30 minutes. After an hour I fed a pot of corn & pellet with a small amount of meat down the edge and a small amount of corn and a pinch of micro's across. I spent another half an hour on the method and had 2 more carp,slightly better ones at around 4lb apiece,giving me 10 carp for around 30lb or so after 90 minutes which wasn't too bad. I decided to come off the feeder line as it had slowed right up and all signs had stopped. The wind had died down slightly but as I was the first peg on a bend it was whipping round the corner and making things very difficult for myself and Gary Haisman on peg 43 to my left. First drop on corn across and a quick bite saw a 2lb F1 in the net. I then added a few small skimmers and goldfish so started to cadpot some corn in but the wind was making things very difficult.

I had been feeding the edge with half a pot every 30 minutes or so and at the half-way stage I dropped in with a cube of meat and kindered in some corn. A bite wasn't long in coming and the satisfying sight of orange elastic was soon exiting the pole. A chunky 5lb mirror was in the net and with two and a half hours to go I thought I would find a few more. There was some floating grass down the side to my right so I started to loose feed meat here at the base of the shelf,feeding 3 or 4 cubes every few minutes. No more bites on my edge line saw me re-feed and have two fishless chucks on the method,throwing down the edge at around 20m.

There was now 2 hours to go and I could see Pikey catching a few as he had a few spare pegs either side of him. I couldn't see what he was netting as the island was partially obscuring the view but he was putting a few fish in the net. There was now two hours to go and back down the edge saw a couple of quick carp. I had now started to feed a full kinder pot of corn with a pinch of meat every put-in,fishing a 6mm expander over the top. It wasn't hectic but I was catching the odd carp but I couldn't seem to keep the fishing coming. I foulhooked a couple so refed with neat corn and dropped in at 3m on the meat and after a few minutes had a quick bite that was a 1lb skimmer. I dropped in down the edge and had a quick bite that was a right old herbert of around 12lb....very useful! The wind had now died a bit so I fed a bit more corn across before catching another carp down the edge. I then lost one down the edge that was possibly foulhooked before hooking a nice 4lb fish that had it's nose over the rim of my landing net before the hook pulled and I wasn't quite quick enough as it agonisingly disapeared into the depths. A quick re-feed down the edge and I was back across to the farbank and a quick bite saw a 4lber in the net before cadpotting in some corn and then losing a fish at the net that I suspect might have been foulhooked. I was starting to get frustrated at losing a couple of fish so re-fed across before catching another couple down the edge. Back across and I had a couple of skimmers and goldfish but no proper carp. Gary to my left had filled it in with caster down his edge and was now catching quickly and they were proper fish.

I had a carp down the edge with 15 minutes to go and hoped for one more before the all-out but it wasn't to be. In hindsight I should have fed more down the edge but due to the cold & wet conditions I had been a bit too negative at times. I knew I would be in with a shout but I could see Pikey had caught a few and Gary had caught a few lumps late on so it was likely to be close. After packing away I wandered round just as Pikey was weighing in and he put 79lb exactly on the scales. I thought I had around 80lb so this was likely to be very close.....

Scone plonked 61lb on the scales before a couple of 30's and 40's. After two weighs my weight was called at 80lb 4oz...beating Pikey by 1lb 4oz. Unbelievably we had both caught the exact same weight over the 2 days- 133lb 12oz. Gary Haisman then put 78lb 12oz on the scales which was a bit too close for comfort but with no big weights from the other end of the section I had won and Pikey was second. This meant we were both tied on 3 points with the exact same weight. I suggested a race around the Snake to decide the outcome but somehow Dave wasn't keen on this idea....

Everything now rested on the result on inner snake as if Jamie won his section or came 2nd with more than 80lb odd he would win. If not myself and Pikey would tie for the title. When I got round to the scales Jamie was indeed winning with 101lb 4oz but BNF had put an impressive 96lb 14oz on the scales- just one fish from knocking Jamie back a place. As usual Pete Bailey annihilated the section with 175lb odd- he's nigh on unbeatable on snake. This meant that Jamie was second in section and tied with us on 3 points but had a superior weight advantage of just under 20 pounds.

Back at the lodge and after a quick burger it was time for the raffle. Once again I didn't even come close to winning anything....I don't think there were any red tickets in the bucket! The results were soon read out and confirmed that I had tied in joint second place with Pikey on 3 points and 133lb 12oz. The odds of this are unbelievable and I was really ruing a couple of lost fish. To think that if I had caught an extra 1lb 5oz on day 1 I'd have won it with 2 section wins is a bit frustrating,but the same thing can be said for Pikey on day 2 as that's how close it was. Jamie was a very worthy winner as to catch 52lb of skimmers on day 1 while still p*ssed is worthy of the title on it's own! A big well done mate,a top quality performance over the two days- simply awesome.

There was just time for me to recieve a special award from Scone. I was presented with a nice little trophy,about 6 inches tall,red and it's battery operated. That's right....I won the award for 'Dildo of the Weekend' for claiming there was a badger on the roof and pointing out that Pikey had drawn the exact same peg on a different lake. Although I didn't manage to get a picture myself I'm sure it will crop up online sooner or later as there were plenty with their cameras out....gits!

The most important result of all was the fact that we raised a massive £1857 for charity which is a great achievment and by all accounts is a new record. A big well done to all involved,especially Nicky the Bricky who has the unenvious task of putting it all together.

Roll on next year......