Sunday 9th December - Clevedon Club Match Rushcombe Lake

''What a load of Bullocks''

This was my first outing in a month and although not a huge fan of Rushcombe Lake at this time of year I was looking forward to wetting a line.
It was a 08:30 draw and I got there about 08:15, as I drove up towards the car park I saw that the Match Lake had been closed off and I could see a lot of the Frys AC guys. Was this to be an interclub instead? Not so Frys were running their own match and there were only a few of Clevedons anglers, namely 7! Which is poor and has been the case for a number of months, it also appeared there was some confusion with the booking but was not a problem as there was plenty of space and hardly any pleasure anglers.
Paul Faires pegged out and we were all huddled at one end but 4 pegs were put on the island which in my expericene always fishes better. I didn't draw on the island and I had Mark the 'paste' Walsh to my left and John the 'duck' Wolstencroft to my right. On the island was Paul Faires, Glen Calvert and Ady Baker.
It was going to be rock hard, the water was clear, down about a foot (how can this be given the rain we have had) and there was a chilly wind coming straight up the lake and into the face of Walshy, at the end of the match he looked like he had been on holiday for a week lol.
Simple rigs today (for everyone), 0.09 or 0.10 to a 20 or 18, little or no feed and dead or live maggot or punched bread on the hook.
At the beginning a few of us had bites from brown goldfish fairly quickly but then nothing. I think Ady caught a carp about 40min into the match and then don't believe he had another bite!!!
I caught 5 brown goldfish all day, Walshy caught a couple and John Wolstencrof who got his head down and fully concentrated almost right to the end blanked, not a bite.
On the island it was a different story, the press report below covers it.

Slow day on Rushcombe

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club members took advantage of a break in the recent adverse weather conditions and fished a match on Rushcombe Lake which is part of the Bullocks Farm complex at Kingston Seymour. A biting wind combined with low and very clear water made it a difficult day for most and bites were a premium. Competitors had to use ultrafine lines and small hooks and minimal feed to induce the fish into taking the bait. Glen Calvert took full advantage of a reasonable peg and put together a decent catch of small carp for a winning weight of 14lb 9oz. Glen pole fished to far bank features but in the closing stages of the match took two better fish from a halfway point and caught on dead maggot. Paul Fairs and James Gunter fought it out for second place with Paul just edging James with 7lb 8oz of small carp caught on bread to James 7lb 4oz.

1^st Glen Calvert 14lb 9oz

2^nd Paul Faires 7lb 8oz

3^rd James Gunter 7lb 4oz

Glen with his winning catch.

Next outing is the Clubs Christmas Match 23rd Dec on Acorn and Plantation, 20 pegs on each.