Cash boost for area’s premier junior event

by angling correspondents Roger Stocks and Stuart Lilley
Roger Stocks: 07733 092237 – Stuart Lilley 07811 923599 – email: roachpole10@aol.com

FOLLOWING the success of last year’s inter schools match, which we will be running again on 18th July, we applied to Focus on Young People in Bassetlaw for funding and have been awarded a grant of £300 towards costs.
This is marvellous news for us. The event is to be run in conjunction with Daiwa Hallcroft fisheries, Worksop and District AA and the Guardian sports desk, and promises to be one of the main events on the junior angling calendar.
Letters are being sent off to all local secondary schools in the Guardian readership area inviting them to send a team of eight anglers in line with the schools national championship guidelines (Portland are the current champions).
The present inter schools champions are the Valley Comprehensive of Worksop with Reece Nicholson the individual champion and this year the competition will be even tougher with hopefully more schools competing.
We will be giving full coverage to the event, there will also be a number of NFA coaches on hand on the day which promises to be even better than last year’s, so if any juniors are interested make sure you let your teachers know.
Sunday saw the Worksop and District AA delegates and bookholders match take place on Sandhill Lakes in unseasonably hot weather with a total of 28 anglers struggling to get a bite.
Once again the younger anglers shone through, proving what a credit they are to the Association as well as their associated clubs. Top spot went to 14-year-old Reece Nicholson of The Ryton AC who managed 3lb 1.5oz of small roach using pole fished squatt over groundbait off peg 74 with Mal Kirton of the Flamingo AC claiming the runners-up position with 2lb 4oz off peg 72 employing waggler fished maggot. In a close third place was 15-year-old Thomas Davenport representing St Joseph’s AC with 2lb 3.5 oz of small skimmers and roach using pole fished maggot over groundbait. Section winners were; Section A Brian Marsh; Section B Bob Fisher; Section C A. Tomlinson.

CLUB RESULTS
LANGOLD Lake Spring League results from Sunday: 1st John Turner 31lb 8oz peg 34 ground bait feeder with red maggot hook bait; 2nd Paul Davis 19lb 6oz peg 36 ground bait feeder worm hook bait; 3rd Pete Gleaden 13lb 2oz peg 38.
Whitwell AC fished the first of a pre-season tri match on the long island at Lodge Farm on Sunday 15th. This was the hottest day of the year so far and the fish were basking rather than feeding in. 1st Paul Hollybone 23lb 7oz peg 96 fishing in the margins all day using chopped worm and caster; 2nd Bryan Smith 17lb 5oz peg 93 using the feeder with pellet; 3rd Keith Wood 17lb 2oz the pellet waggler.
The next match takes place on Sunday 29th April at straight mile fisheries.
Seventeen anglers attended last week’s Worksop United permit holders match on the Bracebridge section of the canal. 1st M. Drage 15lb 12oz peg 30; 2nd R. Allen 11lb 12oz peg 18; 3rd R. Lamb 11lb 4oz peg four.
Venue regulars Gateford Angling Supplies made their usual Wednesday visit to Lodge Farm where they tackled the lily pond: 1st Ian Mellish 48lb peg 71 pole and pellet; 2nd M. Henshaw 39lb 5oz peg 69 pole pellet; 3rd Chez 36lb 8oz peg 55 pole and pellet.
The members of the Hatfield Arms at Laughton also fished the lily pond at Lodge Farm last Sunday: 1st J. Simpson 59lb 13oz peg 64 pole fished corn; 2nd A. Dam 53lb 9oz peg 51 pole and caster; 3rd A. Simpson 35lb 9oz peg 68 pole and caster.
Also at the Scrooby Top venue on Sunday were the Bircotes AS who visited signal pond: 1st Mick Orritt 58lb 6oz peg 35 pole and pellet; 2nd L. Hunter peg 30 30lb 7oz pole and pellet; 3rd P. Morgan peg 31 26lb pole and pellet.
The latest Worksop Angling Supplies Batchelors AC match was fished on the signal pond at Lodge Farm fisheries last Saturday where Roy Butterfield broke the pond record. 1st R. Butterfield 76lb 4oz peg five pole/pellet; 2nd J. Eves 43lb 10oz peg 37 pole/pellet; 3rd G. Miles 34lb 6oz peg 35 pole /pellet.

COMMERCIAL ROUND-UP
THE final round of Linda’s Lakeside Winter League took place last Saturday at the Ranskill venue which saw the tightest finish in the 10 years that the event has been running.
Worksop AAs Dave Wright just edged out Ollerton’s Pete Tatley in to the runners-up position by a section countback. In an atmosphere of good humour all the anglers who participated would like to thank Linda and Steve for their hospitality.
The match lake is on top form at the moment with pole fished paste taking match weights of carp to 92lb and floating dog biscuit accounting for nets to 89lb. Also on the match lake, short pole fished caster or pellet is seeing silver fish nets of mainly Ide and skimmers of around the 50lb mark.
On the strip ponds, match-winning weights of 53lb 7oz are needed to win the silver fish only matches on the second strip with Mark Watson banking a mixed net of 120lb+ on peg four on the first strip using ledgered meat.
On the carp lake, Rob Cheetham netted a common of 25lb 6oz from peg six with Richard Dunning enjoying a three-fish haul off peg one which included two 20s.
Over on the trout lake, Retford’s Dave Westhorpe cast an orange fritz on sinking line to tempt a rainbow of 8lb 4oz with fellow fly caster Kieth Wadsworth landing rainbows to 3lb in his 13-fish catch on egg fly and floating line.
A little bit further north at Scrooby the Riverside proprietor John informs us that the Crosby twins Craig and Chris have been taking the main lake apart using popped up bread, putting 94lb and 84lb respectively on the scales to top the field in Tuesday’s open.
If you fancy fishing properly, pole fished pellet or ledgered meat or sweetcorn is still producing good mixed bags of 50lb+ on the main lake with Marcus Orritt claiming a runners-up position with an all Ide net of 46lb 10oz taken on his top two sections of pole with a caster or maggot hookbait.
On Sandmartins, venue expert Les Richmond had a winning net of 54lb using pellet shallow on the waggler but any methods can produce good nets on this 20-peg pool. On the strip pond, John Siddons netted a 90lb+ weight of stockies fishing either pole and pellet or casting a bomb over to the far bank reeds.
The top match weight to fall at Daiwa Hallcroft was in Friday afternoon’s open on the moat pool where Jamie Masson fished the paste on the long pole to put a winning net of carp together weighing 113lb 14oz.
For fine mixed nets of over 60; try a visit to the bridge pool where pellet fished on the long pole either shallow or at full depth depending on conditions is the top method at the present time.
Cat meat fished down the edge is accounting for some of the Retford venues specimens in to double figures on peed, moat and bridge pools, alternatively fish ledgered meat to any features including the aerators or any islands.
Pole, waggler or feeder fished pellet, maggot or corn is a fair bet to get a response from the stock carp in croft pool which is an ideal water for anglers of varying abilities.
Over at Sherwood Forest Farm Park, Tuesday’s open match which took place on the Sherwood Lake produced a winning net of mainly bream which took the scales to 50lb 4oz which were taken on pole fished pellet.
The Holmedale lake is on fire at the moment with pole fished corn the chosen method with peg 31 being the hot peg. This peg features the famous bore hole which is unique in such that it will not respond to any loose feed which appears to spook the fish, so the best method is to fish a single piece of corn presented on the pole. On the Wednesday match, Pete Ellis put this in to practice to bag an impressive winning weight of 141lb 12oz with venue regular Neil Wilkinson using the same method on the same peg again in Sunday’s pairs match for a comfortable win with 120lb 7oz.
Now that the weather is warming up the margins can not be ignored where pole fished paste or corn is tempting lumps well in to double figures.
As you can see from the club results at Lodge Farm, pole and pellet are accounting for good weights of mainly carp on lily and long island with corn and caster a good alternative back-up method.
Again on the warmer days the margins are worth a look for the bigger fish with paste hookbait over a pellet loose feed. On the top pond mixed nets of silver fish are falling to maggot fished on a slow drop under a waggler with loose feed fed little and often. On the signal and field, stock carp and skimmers are falling to pellet or maggot at varying depths depending on weather conditions.

THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
STANLEY Street SC’s next spring league match is to be held on the lily pond at Lodge Farm on 22nd April with the draw at 9am and not on Croft Pool at Hallcroft as previously reported.