Qualifier 1 - Dixons Gap - 3rd June 2008

Wet and muddy, unfortunately, but five of us turned up for the draw so we decided to go ahead and gave everyone the choice of "walking off" to a swim above the bridge or below - we all ended up below, as it turned out. Martin and Dave caught small stuff throughout for their weights, but the only fish of any size was my 3.5lb+ chub which fell for a piece of luncheon meat. Mick ("I knew I should have brought my pole") had a few bits from immediately below the bridge and Brian had just a couple of small perch.  Sean arrived late (drove from Swindon !), saw that there wasn't much to beat so decided to join in and was rewarded by just one small roach.

Sean was given the honour of choosing next week's venue and he opted for the Buckland - Puttenham stretch, so the draw will be at

Buckland bridge, 17.30 on Tuesday 10th June.

Fingers crossed for better weather and a few more fish !

Qualifier 2 - Buckland > Puttenham - 10th June 2008

At last, some decent weather ! Sunny, with a bit of breeze but not enough to make life difficult, even for me. British Waterways had cut the grass just that morning so no need to hack pegs out. We thought the stretch would provide a fair contest as there are no obvious flyer swims and so it proved with everyone catching fish - one half-decent bream would have catapulted Brian from last place to first.

The weigh-in was (a bit) more organised than last week, I'm pleased to report. The nets contained a mix of gudgeon, perch, roach, rudd and skimmers with no-one catching anything major - I think my last gasp skimmer of around 1lb was the biggest specimen. Unusually, we had a dead-heat for first place, and Martin didn't fancy extra-time or a "Golden Fish" session just for the extra £2.50 so the result was:

There was a consensus decision on next week's venue ( and I certainly wasn't arguing against it   ) so

Wilstone wooden bridge, 17.30 on Tuesday 17th June.

( Remember, Tony's back in the country and has finished mowing the lawn so it'll be a case of "Beadle's About"     Afterwards I'll be up for a beer in the Half Moon just along the road, if anyone else fancies one.)

Qualifier 3 - Wilstone wooden bridge pound - 17th June 2008

Reasonable conditions - dry, cloudy with sunny spells, nothing much in the way of breeze. With a record turn-out and using the whole pound, we hoped for some decent sport and maybe a few lumps but sadly it didn't happen. Everyone caught fish, but the only specimen that bulged the net even a bit was Don's 2lb tench, caught on sweetcorn.

The weigh-in procedure was even better this week - by the Final I'll almost know what I'm doing. Apart from Don's whopper (?) there were plenty of gudgeon, perch, roach, rudd and small skimmers, with the top 3 being separated by just 4 oz. Martin bagged up in the far bank bay, just left of the wooden bridge, local hero Mick did quite nicely on the peg where he seems to spend most of his spare time, and Tony had plenty of small roach off the concrete just below the road bridge. Home advantage did me no favours at all, although I didn't get one of my favourite pegs (sour grapes or what ?)
 

To howls of dismay, last-placed Dave chose Red House for next week's event so

Red House bridge, Aston Clinton, 17.30 on Tuesday 24th June.

It could be the first ever 0-0-0-0-0-0 dead heat in history.

After a long debate, we agreed (I think) that the only way to get there by road is to come off the A41 by-pass - you can't do it direct from Aston Clinton village. I shall bike down the tow-path, there being no need to worry about taking a landing-net or a keep-net.

Qualifier 4 - Red House, Aston Clinton - 24th June 2008

The ES attendance record was smashed again, but that was the only smashing thing about the match. Weather was naff - cloudy, cool, strongish easterly breeze - and the fishing was worse than we could ever have feared.

 

It certainly didn't fish as well as it had done for Mick on Sunday and for me on Monday evening, same swim even in my case. We know the fish go off the feed when the wind's in the East, so maybe that was the reason for the change in just 24 hours. (And before you even think it, NO, I hadn't lobbed kilos of bait in on Monday !). Martin was "done" by two carp and lost a good bream, as did Tony, but apart from that the few fish hooked were tiddlers. My net contained just one perch of 5oz which arrived quite soon after the start, but I didn't even get a bite after that. ES newbie Richard did hook 4 fish but they all escaped, probably due to his inexperience using a pole. Luckily for Dave we paid only the top 3 - as he chose the venue I think there would have been a queue to shove his winnings where the sun don't shine if he'd been in the money 

With a little "advice", Richard's choice for next week was :

Red Lion bridge, Marsworth, 17.30 on Tuesday 1st July.

walking-off towards Cooks Wharf.

Richard, Tony & I went to the Half Moon, Wilstone for a post-match analysis but it didn't get beyond phrases such as "That was cr*p", "Dave Moore is a right w*nker" and "Anyone for another beer ?". According to Tony, "At least we all should catch at the Red Lion next week" - famous last words ?

Qualifier 5 - Red Lion, Marsworth - 1st July 2008

At last - decent weather and some good sport. Not such a good turn-out as last week but a couple of people had given their apologies in advance. After we'd all chosen our swim I thought we'd have trouble with the start & finish as I was so far from everyone else that I was probably in a different time-zone - the ultimate "end peg", but it didn't do me any favours.

 

We all caught fish throughout, although Don came on really strong towards the end, hence his excellent weight - congratulations to him for being the first person to beat Martin so far, and to Brian for his best finish yet. Sean (late again !) fished tight to the NEAR bank for his very respectable bag. No-one landed any real lumps, although several people had brief "epsiodes" with carp, and the best fish was probably Don's tench of around 2lb. All in all, a very pleasant evening, apart from my argument with the two passing anglers who didn't see the need for buying day tickets, and the bee-stings that Mick & I suffered during weigh-in.

Dave "Last Once" Moore was given the privilege of picking next week's venue so he went for :

Top two pounds of the Aylesbury Arm, Marsworth, 17.30 on Tuesday 8th July.

Park in the lay-by on Church Lane below Marsworth church then walk over the main canal bridge and along the lane to the Arm

OR

Park at Dixons Gap and walk up towards Marsworth.

For the Final (15th July),

 I suggest we return to the Red Lion stretch as it seems that all pegs along there will produce fish to any method, so it's fair for the waggler wavers and the pole dancers. Discuss it on the 8th ?

Qualifier 6 - Top 2 pounds of AA, Marsworth - 8th July 2008

Happily the rain packed up well before we arrived so we had a dry but breezy and none-too-warm evening. We would have cracked double figures if regular Mick Sibley had arrived - where were you, Mick ? The walk-off saw 5 anglers choose the top pound, with the other 4 below the lock. Martin had what most people thought would be the winning peg, but it didn't turn out that way ...

 

With 10 minutes to go, Brian had next-to-nothing but he landed two chub right at the death.  Dave, Don, Martin and I had also a chub apiece, with mine being the biggest at around 3.5 lb., Dave and Don also had half-decent bream. Strangely, Sean probably caught the MOST fish, but his were all gudgeon caught close to the near bank.

After some discussion, the Final will be at

Red Lion, Marsworth,  at 17.30 on Tuesday 15th July.

Has Martin peaked too soon ? Will man-in-form Brian keep up his good run to take the honours ? Or will Don show us how it's all done there again ? I don't really mind, as long as we all catch a few fish and stay dry !