Spring Grove Ponds - Bookham

As I cycled home from Wildlife Aid at 1.30pm on Friday afternoon, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and with a club match on the ponds 150 yards from my house on the Sunday, it was the ideal opportunity to sneak round there for a bit of practice.

After a quick call to "The Boss" to get her blessing, I grabbed my H10 edge pole, a bag of Special G groundbait (to make paste as I had none prepared), a landing net and a few bits of tackle and I was on my way - reaching the ponds on foot about 5 mins later !

I set up in one corner in a peg I've always liked where you can fish alongside some rushes and there are always plenty of fish in it. After studying the rushes for a bit, there was a little bay in them at about 10 metres so I chose to fish there. It took a while to get the fish interested as I didn't get a bite first put in ! Although from then onwards it was a fish a chuck, mainly carp between 1 and 3lb but with the odd 4lber. After an hour (which included a lunch break to eat my sandwich) I'd had about 20 carp and was now getting bored as I'd even had two or three fish on the drop in 2 foot of water ! After a quick walk around the lake I decided to move up the other end and just fish in the edge in about 3 foot of water. Although the fishing wasn't quite as hectic, the fish were averaging a pound heavier than in the original swim and I soon got bored with that as well. After another wander around the pond to try and help a couple of youngsters (although they didn't really listen as they always seem to know best), I moved swims again to a peg on the front bank. The same pattern followed as once the fish found the paste, it was a fish a bung until 4.50pm when I decided it was time for home - and in just less than 3 hours I'd had about 40 carp.

Sunday morning arrived (it's really odd walking to a fishing match) and with 20 anglers booked in, the fishing should be ok but you really wanted a draw on the Top Lake (I never draw anywhere else) as the fish are bigger and most of the frame weights come from there. After a quick walk to check out the pegging, I decided that the pegs I really fancied were 1-7 and 11 and 12 on the Top Lake and 13 and 14 on the bottom lake.

Not suprisingly Donald Garnish (who draws better than Rolf Harris) drew Peg 7 (my initial swim on Friday) and then Plummers drew Peg 2 ( my second peg from Friday), Ross drew Peg 4 and suddenly there were only 3 pegs left - two decent Pegs in 5 and 12 and one peg I really really really didn't want - Peg 18 on the bottom lake. So in went the lucky right hand, a quick rummage about and out came............PEG 5 - Yippeeee. I've never drawn on the Bottom Lake in a match and didn't really want to start now !

We usually only fish matches on the ponds during the winter when the river is flooded and all the rushes in the ponds have died down. With the weather still in Autumn mode, all the rushes were still growing well and it was a real problem trying to position my box so that I could fish along them as they do grow out a long way. Living so close to the lakes gave me a distinct advantage as I then popped home to collect my platform and longer legs for my box so I could get an extra foot or so out from the bank to see along the rushes.

I set up two rigs, one to fish along the rushes to my left and one to fish straight out in front of me at about 6 metres at the end of another bed of rushes. I usually don't feed anything on the pond, just letting the paste coming off the hook to feed the peg but as I was fishing two lines, on the whistle I fed a big pot of pelletts out in front as I didn't intend to fish it for a while as I would be too busy bagging down the edge !

Well, things didn't exactly go to plan as apart from Don, everyone seemed to be struggling to get a bite and after an 40 minutes I only had one small carp of about a pound in the net. I really don't know the reason it was fishing so badly, some suggested that it was due to the number of anglers on a small pond but having fished it many a time, I think it was probably due to the change in weather and air pressure. I don't think I have ever fished the pond and the fish haven't started "Blowing" in your peg once you feed even the smallest amount of bait but I never saw a bubble all day.

As others were catching a few fish long, I fed some pelletts out at 10 metres where luckily the depth was the same as at 6 metres and I spent the rest of the match switching about between the three lines and nicking a fish here and there. I did have one little spell when I had 5 bigger fish of about 4lb each down the edge, which when most of the others were probably about 2lb, were a very welcome bonus.

As expected Don finished well clear with 69lb, followed by Hathers who did very well to win the Bottom Lake with 43lb and finish second overall. My 40-10-0 was enough for third place, followed by Ross with 32lb.

Plummers drew the "Nursery Peg", catching loads of small fish for 25lb and another pound went to me ! He has just bought himself a new G10 pole but I think that he may have to send it back as it appears to have a useless Big lump attached to the butt section !

Result

Donald Garnish.............Peg 7...............69lb
Mark Hathway.............Peg 13.............43lb
Dave Pearson...............Peg 5...............40lb
Ross Nursey.................Peg 4...............32lb

The only disapponting thing was that a few new members fished the match and after I'd told them how good it was, it didn't fish to it's true potential.