Sunday 20th August 2006 – The Oaks, Sessay

Chappy Slap No. 1

Let me just start this weeks account with a continuation of my last story, following my comments about the resemblance between Hattie Jacques and Chappy, (well, have you ever seen them in the same room together), Chappy said, via the Oaks Banter website that he was going to give me a Chappy slap.

Whilst I was in the middle of organising everything, I was talking to Desperate Dan look-alike, Paul Hart who introduced himself and we were just talking about the look-alikes on the website, at which time, this promptly reminded Chappy that he was going to slap me.

Being behind a desk, I was boxed in and couldn’t make my escape. “Hattie Jacques, Eh, Mick, Hattie Jacques, I’ll give you Hattie Jacques” which was repeated again and again as he was slapping me.

The attendance for today’s match was very low in relation to recent attendances, as there was only 37 on the match. There were a few people away practising for team matches, there was a match on over in Manchester and there was also a big river match on, I think that that is the reason for the low attendance.

One well-known angler said that he wouldn’t be booking on the match (or turning up) if there wasn’t 50 on the match. Is the Kamasan so important? I don’t think that the said angler has any (or not many) points yet.

3 jackpot pegs were drawn and they were pegs 40 (Mal Bailey), 44 (Martin Craig) and 74 (Andy Dargue).

In view of Panic, Purverted, Pacifier, Nightie and Macca not being in attendance, I quickly looked around for an opportunity of a quid. I asked Paul ‘Sweeney’ Todd if he caught anything yesterday, he replied “No”. I asked him if he had caught anything last Sunday, he said “No”. I asked him if he wanted a quid, he said “Yes”. Easy Money!!!

Chappy said that Pimmy was feeling left out and that I ought to have a quid with him. Shall I just pay their digs whilst they stay over? I very quickly declined, poor Pimmy.

My quid’s were going to peg 22 (Orc), peg 76 (Chappy) and peg 10 (Sweeney).

I put my hand in the bag and drew peg 60. I blame my bad draw on Granddad. He volunteered to hold the bag and was first in. I am usually first in the bag and I think that Granddad took all of my luck when he dipped I before me.

I arrived at my peg to find it flat calm. There were fish clouding the far bank at the bottom end of my peg, some 16m away. Fish were topping down the middle at about 7m.

I set up 3 rigs as follows:

A very shallow rig set about 12” deep. This was a .1g DC6 float set up on .13 Preston Powerline straight through to a size 16 Colmic WN501 hook. This was tied to white hydro through my top two kit. (I might do away with the white hydro through 1 section!!).

A rig was set up to fish on top of the shelf at 12m. I found that I had about 18” depth and a .2g Garbolino DC6 was the weapon of choice. This was also set up on the same line and hook as above.

I also set up a .75g Series ‘E’ float for down the middle. This was set up on .15 Preston Powerline straight through to a size 14 Colmic WN501 hook. Both of these 2 rigs were set up on grey hydro elastic. I found that I had about 5ft of depth at the base of the slope. In view of the wind, I added about a floats length of depth onto the rig.

I like the WN501 hooks as they have a nice bend for rolling either conkers/pellets and or corn onto the hook. They are strong and they also stay sharp for a long time.

For bait today I had:

1 bag 3mm pellets
1 large tin of corn
Some conkers
4mm expanders
And some 4mm hard pellets

The wind, the wind!!!

Within 5 minutes of the match starting, the wind picked up and started blowing from left to right and the 16m line was now a bit like Afghanistan – a no go zone.

Why does that always happen, you arrive at your peg to find it flat calm, during the setting up period the peg is still flat calm, as soon as I shout time, the wind blows and continues to blow, generally increasing in strength as the match progresses, until I shout time at the end of the match. Today was not different.

Suggestions were flying around about having matches 4:00 am – 11:00 am and 4:00 pm to dusk.

At the start of the match, I fed a Tosspot full of bait on the deep line and also across on the 12m line. I got the 12” deep rig, baited up with pellet on the hook, put a few 3mm pellets in a fruit shoot and shipped out to 16m. This was made increasingly difficult due to the high bank some 3m behind me. In order to get to my peg, I had to walk down a little bank to put my box down.

I tipped the bait in and waited about 2 minutes, got my first indication and missed it (probably a liner). I dropped back in again and caught an F1 about 10oz. I re-baited went back out to 16m, dropped in and caught another F1 almost immediately. The wind was by now getting very strong and it was becoming a struggle to hold the pole and present the bait properly.

After 30 minutes and 5 fish, I decided to sack this line. I swapped over rigs and put the shelf rig on, baited up with pellet, shipped out to 13m, the float buried and a carp of 1lb was soon in the net. I baited up again, the float was being dragged offline due to the wind. I got a ‘dink’, struck and foul-hooked a fish. With the wind pushing the rig around the rig brushed into a fish, causing the ‘dink’, hence the reason for the foul-hooked fish.

I baited up with corn and fed pellets through the fruit shoot, the bait was keeping still, but the bites were at a premium. I decided to have a look down the middle.

Paul Burton on the next peg (62) was catching a few fish up in the water feeding some sloppy groundbait (I presume) and either caster or pellet. The wind was side on for him, but he had turned round slightly to have the wind coming at a diagonal for him. Keith Alder on peg 58, was fairing worse than I. I just felt as though I was going nowhere as usual. I lost approx 5 or 6 fish all match (most likely foul-hooked). I managed to get a few fish going in the last hour by feeding 4mm pellets at 3m out and fishing with the deep rig over the top, baited up with corn on the hook. I would estimate that I caught approximately 15 – 18lb in the last hour doing this.

As soon as I shouted time to end the match, the wind abated and it would have been possible to fish across to the far side. Bloody English Weather!!!

Thank god for Sweeney!!

Chappy was saying that he had about 25 – 30lb, I said that I had a similar weight, and as I found out, I wasn’t telling porkpies. I put 31lb 5oz on the scales; Chappy put 43lb on the scales – bugger, a quid down already. Orc had fished a blinder and managed to eke out 59lb form peg 22 (well done, must be your best weight up there yet), but alas, another quid down. Sweeney saved my bacon by weighing only 29lb odd (he should have had a lot more from there).

Full Result:

Gareth Drury (Oaks/HAS), 118-08. Peg 4.
Billy Brierley (Garbolino Elton) 103-10. Peg 50.
Mark Calvert (Garbolino Elton) 101-12.
Haircut Andy Bridge (Garbolino Elton) 100-04.
Chris Hall (The Oaks) 100-00. Peg 6.
Rob Minikin (HAS) 95-02. Peg 64.

Chappy Slap No. 2 - Have you ever seen a grown man cry?

I did, I was that man. I was crying from laughing so much at seeing Chappy chasing me round the Oaks Lakes car park. Let me explain.

Following Chappy’s 25-30lb being nearer to 45lb than 25lb and the subsequent loss of weight from my pocket. I asked the boys behind the counter to give me a quid in change (50p in 5p and 50p in 10p, to be precise). I went over to Chappy, shook his hand, said “well done”, and then handed him the change. His response was unprintable. I started to walk off with Chappy asking for a quid coin. As I made a mad dash for the door with Chappy in hot pursuit (“chase me, chase me”), I managed to squeeze past Andy Dargue, who was minding his own business standing just outside the doorway. I was halfway across the car park when Chappy got to the door and the aforementioned Andy Dargue.

In view of the size difference between Chappy and myself, Chappy was only just able to get past Andy, although he did take the cup of coffee that Andy was holding with him and promptly poured it down his own sleeve.

After a short jog, I relented and hastily got a quid coin out of my pocket to give to Chappy and let him catch me. As I handed over the quid, Chappy threw my shrapnel on the car park floor. As I bent down to pick up my change before it got lost in the pebbles etc, Chappy pushed me over, where I laid laughing my arse off with tears streaming down my face. Although, I will say in Chappy’s defence, he did help me pick up my shrapnel.

2 Chappy slaps in one day, I must be doing something right!!!

User Report – Alan Scotthorne Shimano Carryall

I purchased this carryall some 4 months ago now. I bought it because it was large, has a hard base and seemed comfortable. The dimensions of the carryall are 52 x 35 x 45cm. Now that I have used it, it is still large and the hard base is still there, it hasn’t been chewed through by rats or mice yet and I can get all of my stuff in the carryall including my wet togs at the end of a rain soaked session. The large side zipped pocket looks big enough to accommodate a keepnet, although I prefer to use a dedicated stink bags, and the side pocket is large enough to take a large bait tray (6 bait boxes). The only down size is the length of the strap. The strap is set as short as possible, but it still knocks against my knees when I walk, which makes it v. v. uncomfortable to carry, with this in mind, the carryall would only be suitable for some one the size of Hattie or Big Mark. I would assume that it is also too long for Mr Scotthorne himself. Come on Shimano, we’re not all 6ft 6” tall.

All in all, a large good quality carryall that seems well put together let down by the length of the strap.