Back at the popular west Kent venue, Monks Lakes. We had the pleasure of fishing Lake 2 which not only contains a good head of carp, it also contains some good barbel, and rumour has it that one has grown to over 6lb but some good sport was expected. A few absences and a near equal number of subs meant we started the match with only 35 anglers.

The weather was kind to us with a stiff breeze helping to keep the temperature down a bit. It wasn’t long before the splashing of fish being landed was echoing round the lake. Mick Fell fishing close to where he last fished the lake was off to a good start building a good catch to take 3rd place on B section. Derek Harvey almost at the other end of the section took 41kg for 2nd place and James Young fishing in the middle of the section knocked out 42.8kg to win B section.

A different story on A section, Trev Lee in the hot peg landed 51.4kg for 3rd place Father and son duo John and Dan Warman took the section apart with72.4 for John in 2nd and 74.2 for Dan to take 1st place. Bamber took C section with 51.5kg with Bob Atkinson 37.2kg and Dan West 34.7kg taking the minor places. On D section the weights were just as deciding Andy Piper 46.3kg took 3rd Paul Gilbert 55.1kg finished in 2nd and next door last minute guest angler Kev Dyer took the lake apart with 100.3kg well done Kevin.

Highlight of the day was Ron Seacoombe’s spectacular single handed attempt to lose the match and upset everybody, lose some gear and get soaked. He managed the lot and was lucky only to lose a few fish, the moral of the story must be always check your nuts before fishing. Ron’s punishment for this grave misdemeanour is to be exiled to Singapore for a considerable time with no chance of parole, enjoy yourself Ron!

Due to technical problems there was no pictures this week and the angler of the month will pick up his prize from one of the shops. See you all at Lavender in August when I will be refreshed from my holiday, any problems you will still be able to contact me in the week before the match but I would appreciate a break if possible thanks.
 

Our long awaited open day had finally arrived and instead of the usual barrows the shop front was rearranged with tables, a gazebo to create some shade, a display of the latest MAP poles and a barbeque. The shop windows had posters showing more MAP products and on the tables were the latest meat cutters and a selection of Miracle baits provided by their creator Steve Gregory, that reminds me it was the MAP tackle Miracle baits open day at Blean Angling, the culmination of some hard work by Mark Coker to bring the MAP team to Canterbury not only to display the latest products, they had agreed to fish in our monthly shop match…. did they really know what they were letting themselves in for?

'Hard at work with a customer'

In the end Mark suggested that Steve go and have a look at the lake so they could work out some tactics for the match.

Sunday arrived and we pitched up at Cottington slightly earlier than normal as there was a football match on later that many of the lads wanted to watch. Steve and Tom spent time with the lads prior to the draw trying to glean last minute information.


'No question was too much and a lot of sound match fishing advice was dispensed.'
'Customers gave the boys little titbits of info about Cottington and opinions were exchanged.'
 

'It was a busy day, and even Mark got involved!'

Draw done the exodus was lightening fast all in a hurry to get ready before the whistle. Mark and Bob opted for the more casual approach. Mark more so as he walked the wrong way to his peg and had top beat a hasty (ok slow) retreat to get to his peg in time, only to find out he had Steve Gregory alongside him. “Oh no” said Mark I haven’t got to give another fishing lesson to a northerner have I (In his dreams). With the weather baking hot it was going to be a hard day and that came true, although all caught fish it was hard and experience told with the top three all previous winners at the venue.

In 3rd place Dan Warman with 49.5kg, 2nd was Stu Atkinson with 52.5 kg just beaten by Brian Malyn with 52.7kg. Obviously all that rest Brian has during the winter means he has plenty of energy for the fish race. For the record Steve Gregory weighed in 43.2kg to take the right section. Well done Steve, come back in the future and have another go, we would love to see you again.
 
Highlights of the day were the 4-1 stuffing the Germans gave us which rather took the edge off a good day. Mr Foreman was on form, if I had a quid for every moan I would be a very rich man. One day we will find water he likes.

Many thanks to Martin Waters for all his help, thanks to Mike and Barbara and once again thanks to you all for turning up.

Click here to view the league table: images/uploads/JUNE27TH(1).pdf
 

A good start to the summer for carp angler Connor Bruton down at Mid-Kent Fisheries, after a long winter and a slow start to the season. There were plenty of spawning fish over previous weeks and patience soon paid off, Connor reached a new personal best of 39lb 12oz. The bite came at early morning hours after an eventful morning of showing carp. The fish was caught at short range over a small amount of hemp and particle.

The first match of the new series and we gather at Lavender Farm the forecast was for a dry day but it could be a little windy, nearly right, dry and a strong wind blowing across the lake from the north west. Fine for some but others struggled to hold their poles and reverted to the feeder to try and catch fish.

Fish that was what we were after, but the fish had other ideas and proved elusive, none of the lumps that we know are in the lake decided to put in an appearance apart from a few in the higher draw numbers. With less than half the field catching double figures it shows how hard it fished.

Ron Hussey and Dan Warman tied for 3rd place with 12 kg; both fished the whole match into the wind and did well with the conditions. This week’s featured West is “Steve” who took 2nd place with the wind behind him. Steve was able to present his bait that little bit better and amassed 14.1kg.

Emerging from his winter hibernation to take the first match of the series was Bryan Malyn with 15kg. I think Bryans shorts would have been a little out of place at Monks back in January but still each to his own.
Highlights of the day… The attempt by Kerry Davies to give Bob a yellow card for being late, how can I be late?

As usual Mr Foreman had his opinion about the venue if I was to extract the swear words there would not be much to write so we can take it Steve was not impressed, one day he will have something nice to say about a venue but don’t hold your breath.

It was a joy to watch an old hand giving a demonstration of fishing the method, well Ray, at least it caught you some fish.

This weeks award to the Angler who keeps himself control in the face of adversity goes to Jason Robson he only swore once when his pole “fell apart” in his hands and to make his day worse,  son Sam beat him again.

We welcome a new face who wants to be known as Eggy, fine there’s no law against it but we do know the name of a good therapist. Look forward to seeing you all at the shop open day on the 26th June, then don’t miss your chance to fish against the MAP team the following day Phone one of the shops for details.

Click here to view the league table:images/uploads/30may2010(1).pdf

First match of the new series and you could be excused for thinking we had gone back in time as it was colder than some of the winter matches we managed to hold, all due to the wind being in various combinations of easterly.  A new team, the return of an old face but most of all our old friend Steve Foreman had found his way back from some exotic location to join us in the cold.

To be honest fishing was very hard for some but Dan Warman kept up his knack of drawing well at all venues and landed peg 1 in the corner and only his Dad John could come anywhere near the weight.

Top team was once again Danny’s Boys who threw down the gauntlet with a win, two 2nd’s and a 3rd.  New boys, Blunder Boys gave a good account of themselves with all members scoring.
Mick Fell gave notice that he was back for the summer with a fine section win from behind the islands, well done Mick.

Next fixture is at Bax Farm, we will be using the stream sections about 11 metres wide and around 1.2 metres deep (4 foot for the oldies) with a good mix of fish throughout the sections.

Just a small reminder match fees for this series will be £15 per man £60 per team after pools and peg fees all monies in surplus will be held over to the last match. As usual thanks to Steve and Dan for their help.
 

MAP BLEAN ANGLING Angler of the month for May is local favourite Kevin Dyer.

Kevin was a last minute replacement due to a shortage of anglers. Kevin used his exceptional talents to take this months top weight of 25.1kg.  Many thanks to Kevin for helping out. Kevin is pictured here with Bob Richards, Blean Angling’s match organiser with his prize of the latest MAP Reel. All of MAP TACKLE ‘S exciting range is available from both Blean Angling ‘s shops and here online.

Click Here to view the league table: images/uploads/1may(1).pdf
 

Nearly a summer’s day was what was promised by the weather men and it was basically correct. A small shower to liven things ups but on the whole a good day for a fish and settles the winter long battle for top honours in the league. As always the league has been well supported through some foul weather and I can only applaud the attitude that has been shown across the board when it came to the bad weather.

Now back to the match in hand , a few known faces were absent for one reason or another, we are not sure if Steve Foreman is still on Holiday in some exotic location or a victim of the ash cloud, no doubt he will show up soon.

Our thoughts go out to Ray and Sandy at this sad time.

Today was one of those matches that not only was to settle the league it was to see records set.
Dan Warman already acclaimed as a top angler amongst us was just 1 point short of a maximum 159 points which means he won 3 rounds and was 2nd in the other and just for good measure he was 3rd in the match that he dropped. I am sure we all congratulate Dan on this amazing feat.

Results on the day showed good weights coming throughout the lake with half the anglers who weighed in had 20kg or more. Everyone caught fish, some chose not to weigh as it would not affect the result. Venue favourite Dan Warman took the honours with 48.9kg. Stu Atkinson put on a brave effort to come 2nd with 41.3kg, 3rd on the day was Bamber with 37.5kg and yes there is a West on the score sheet… Steve took the left section prize. Dave Elliot away in the distance on Peg 92 took the right section.

Now Dan West has joined the adult ranks we have a new name on the junior side who is fast making a big impression on the league, Sam Robson finished 9th in the league in his first series with us a big well done there Sam. Sam is hogging the bragging rights at home as he has beaten his dad Jason several times, it may be time to keep an eye on Sam and Jason as they have formed a team to take us on in the teams of four in the summer. I am in no doubt that we will be mentioning Sam a lot more in the future.

Many thanks to all those that have helped and supported us through the winter series.
Ray and Mark for their endless support. Mick Wright and Steve West for there patience.
Our Fishery owners for there understanding. And a special mention to Mike & Barbara for being there (Except in February).

Click here to view the league table:images/uploads/25april10.pdf
 

After a long winter freeze it was time for some of the carp lads to get out and try to land that early spring carp. The second 48 hour Carp Pairs Competition took place at Cottingtons (Pepper Lake) on the 9th of April.

After the draw early Friday morning the lads quickly made their way to the swims and soon the small lake was transformed into a village of bivvies. At noon, the first baits were cast out and action was slow with the odd fish being seen cruising under the surface, making the most of the warm spring day.

As the day came to an end, a few carp were spotted feeding and moments later, Lee Bruton, in swim 1, was soon into a carp which was putting up a great fight. As the fish became exhausted the net cord was slowly slid under what was weighed as a 34lb mirror carp. Mr. Steve Baits himself was then called round to verify the fish and moments after Steve returned to his own swim, Lee Bruton was into another hard fighting Cottington carp which weighed in at 28lb - another great looking mirror carp, with 62lb in the bag, things were looking good for Lee and Connor Bruton in swims 1 and 2, but the action carried on; just after sunset, Connor Bruton had a take and was trying to keep what felt like a good fish out of the far margin. With Mr. Steve Baits trying to sabotage the action, minutes later another 31lb mirror was on the unhooking matt.

As the night went on the action slowed. Early Saturday morning the spring mist was on the lake and fish were spotted again moving around in the far margins. Connor Bruton managed to tempt another 13lb mirror bringing the Brutons’ total weight to 106lb. Later that morning after the sun had burned through the mist Paul Gordon over in swims 15 and 16 had a bend in his rod as he landed a 19lb mirror, as Steve battled with the landing net which was caught in a bramble bush, Steve has recently been sacked as gilly. With the day heating up, the carp were once again cruising around with no intention of feeding.

Lee Bruton had another take and soon had his 3rd fish of the session, which was a 16lb mirror. The night looked promising with many fish showing at the sunset, but as the action slowed up for Lee and Connor in swims 1 and 2, Wayne and Richard over in swims 9 and 10 were having some action; Wayne had a take on a bait cast to a far margin and on lifting into the fish, he thought that the fish wasn’t hooked. After realizing moments later it was still there, a 35lb mirror was in the net after a few breaths of air – the biggest fish of the weekend as it turned out. Later that evening Wayne managed another common carp, which took the scales to 10lb. As Sunday morning arrived the competition came to a close with only one more fish being caught, a fish which wasn’t  of the targeted species; Lee Bruton managed to hook one of the few Pepper Lake pike, which  - shortly after being hooked - went to work on cutting through his line.

The end weights were as follows (Lee/Connor 121lb, Steve/Paul 19lb, Wayne /Richard 45lb) All in all, a great weekend and looking forward to next time.
 

The forecast was bad heavy rain and high winds, which we braved last month but this time the forecast was wrong, yes it was windy but it was dry and relatively warm, all the ingredients for  a reasonable days fishing…. except someone forgot to tell the fish.

Most anglers caught at least one fish in fact only two blanked. Fishing from the caravan park bank Dan Warman ignored all those around him and gave a lesson in match angling. He finished the day with 31kg.  Hanging on to his exhaust fumes was James Young with a creditable 22.4kg. Completing the frame for this week was Bob Atkinson tucked away behind the bridge he dragged in 14.7kg. Gary Cross venue regular just missed out with 14.5kg. Jason Robson took the bragging rights in the Robson household with 4.6kg to Sams 1kg but Sam still has a 29 point lead in the league.

The only real downside to this match was the attendance, just 18 anglers. I know Stones is not the most popular venue but venues big enough are hard to find. If any one has any ideas to freshen up the league i.e.: new venues change the system some way, scrap the league.  Let us know and we will discuss. You can either e-mail the shop or me we will not take it as criticism.

You can contact us on the following

sales@bleanangling.com mark it for the attention of Mark/Ray

Or

bobrichards59@btopenworld.com


Last match of the winter series is at Cottington Match Lake on the 25th April draw @ 8:30am

Don’t forget the annual Random Pairs on May 3rd @ Lavender Full details available soon

Click here to view the league table: images/uploads/28thmarch22010.pdf