Sunday 25th April - Gloucester Canal Spring League Round 1

 I am not sure where to start on this one to be honest and have forced myself to write about it.

34 Teams of 4 fishing this League, normally there are around 15 Teams. Due to COVID restrictions everything was done on line. WhatsApp group, emails, bank transfers, PayPal and a Zoom Draw were all used and I have to say to great affect.

The draw was not released to Team Captains until Saturday evening. I was out at a friends house and when I received ours (Sensas Nomads A) I was gutted.

Sam Johnson was on peg 33, Hempstead Straight which is dire.

Leigh Wakefield on peg 59 below the Swing Bridge at Netheridge, shite.

I was on peg 460 above Saul Junction, worse than not very good.

Chris Hook had the best peg, an end one at Splatt (below Frampton on Severn).

It did spoil my evening and I knew we were in trouble.

McDonalds at Cribbs Causeway just off the M5 was the RV point on Sunday morning at 07:15. We were not allowed to be on the bank before 08:00 and fishing was 11:00 - 16:00. We had a good old natter and a moan about our draw but what can you do, it was not in our control. I had a feeling my 2 cheese and bacon flatbreads would be the highlight of the day!

We headed up the M5 to our pegs around 07:45. When I parked up at the Rowing Club at Saul Junction there was quite a few anglers already there. Walking up the bank the angler on the end peg in the bay was Dan Squire, second angler in was Mark Brush and the third angler in was James Carty. All were in what I would say are the best pegs where the bream normally reside. In all the years I have fished the Glossy I have never drawn them but where I was heading I have drawn 4 times at least so I know how crap it is.

I knew even though the section money is well spread out I would have no chance.

Lots of crap on the water surface today and a stiff downstream wind. One feeder rod, 1.5 gram rig at 6 metres and a 2 gram rig at 11 metres.

At 11 metres I put in one ball of lake and team with dead pinkie and a few caster, at 6 metres the same mix with a few bits of chopped worm and caster.

I started off on the bread feeder which may have been a mistake. No indications in the first hour and then at 12:10 a little rattle which I hit and managed a small roach.

The angler to my left caught a roach 30 minutes in on the feeder and was ecstatic as he had not blanked. I must say I was relieved as well when I caught.

Rotating all my lines every 15 minutes or so I did not have another indication, unbelievable. 

Phone calls between each other during the match did not tell a good story but Chris managed a few skimmers.

As expected in my section the end pegs and in the bay dominated the section.

Leigh blanked in his, Sam had 10 ozs and I had 4 ffs!!

Chris managed 4lb 2oz and won his section so our initial assessment of our draw was spot on.

Mark Treasure and his team done a great job plus Kev Forty and Liz Stone.

Well done to all who caught fish and won a bit of dosh. 

We are rotating sections for future matches so I will be in D Section and hoping for a decent peg but if you look at D Section weights below they were quite low.

No surprise that we are 3rd from bottom in the league so its over for us already, we'll just go all out now for individual wins. Next round is on 9th May and that's my birthday.

I'm sure Mike Martin was looking down on us laughing his head off ..... Mike was not a fan of the Glossy.

Individual and section results below.......

GLOUCESTER CANAL SPRING LEAGUE RESULTS SHEET ROUND 1

INDIVIDUAL WINNERS

	NAME	TEAM	WEIGHT
1	Andy Powell	Sensas Lobbys Red	27lbs 1oz
2=	Mark Gaylard	Sensas Lobbys Green	18lbs 11oz
2=	Adrian McTiffin	Sensas Devizes	18lbs 11oz
4	Dave Boyle	Gowna Dreamers	18lbs 9oz
5	Dan Squire	Sensa 88 - B	18lbs 2oz
6	Ed Bryant	Maver Harescombe	14lbs 8oz
7=	Mark Brush	DGL Black	13lbs 12oz
7=	Paul Nichols	Sensas 88 - A	13lbs 12oz

SECTION WINNERS

		NAME	TEAM	WEIGHT
A1	1	Pete Goulding	Team Hereford	10lbs 8oz
	2	Liz Grant	Misfits	6lbs 3oz
	3=	Matt Hodgetts	Browning Central	5lb 6oz
	3=	Mick Nowicki	GBMV	5lb 6oz
A2	1	Paul Nichols	Sensas 88 - A	13lbs 12oz
	2	Tony Davies	Mix and Match	12lbs 7oz
	3	Paul Waddington	DGL Blue	10lbs 1oz
B1	1	Paul Passmore	Drennan Oxford	5lb 5oz
	2	Mark Dowery	Gowna Dreamers	4lb 9oz
	3	Shaun Bryan	Diddymen	3lbs 4oz
B2	1	Iain Jennings	DGL Avon	8lbs 11oz
	2	Ian Pauley	Sonubaits Thatchers	8lbs 7oz
	3	Troy Weaver	DGL Gold	8lbs 6oz
C1	1	Owen Robinson	Drennan Oxford	9lbs 6oz
	2	Ian Croxton	Browning WM Xitan	8lbs 1oz
	3	Mark Bromsgrove	Sensas 88 - A	7lbs 12oz
C2	1	Mark Brush	DGL Black	13lbs 12oz
	2	James Carty	Thatchers Sonubaits	11lbs
	3	Lee Seabrook	Maver Harescombe	6lbs
D1	1	Chris Hook	Sensas Nomads A	4lbs 3oz
	2	Paul Purchase	Sensas 88- A	4lbs 1oz
	3	Craig Wilesmith	DGL Avon	3lbs 8oz
D2	1	Neil Pickering	Sensas Lobbys Black	8lbs 9oz
	2	Mike Blackmore	Glevum Old Boys	8lbs 1 oz
	3	Andy Pollard	DGL Black	7lbs 9oz