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Maggotdrowners - Lindholme Festival, 23rd April 2012

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The majority of the Maggotdrowning crew had gathered at Lindolme Lakes on the Sunday where I discovered that the vast majority of anglers where from the North East.  I immediately felt at home until I met a lad called Chris Walker who misheard my name Lewy and started to call me Lee.  Of course I bit and now all the guys are calling me Lee much to everyone’s amusement.  The craic is brilliant and Chris is a very funny lad, although he did almost fall in today which would have been just reward for my new nickname! ;-) The Sunday night we all ended up in the bar at Lindholme and myself, Tricky10 (Ricky), Col, Tony and Aaron (Neil Gratham's son) where there until the bitter end at 1:30am.  Needless to say the hangovers kicked in when waking up. The Draw Gary Street (Rambo) was well organised, there was no need for a disorderly queue at the drawbag as we would draw as our names where down on the list.  I pulled out peg 35 towards the corner of Bonsai .  There were 26 of us

MFS - Cudmore Arena, 21st April 2012

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Steve May organises a match where the bait is supplied every year at Cudmore on the Arena lake.  Arena is of course famous for the Fishomania final that is televised on Sky. Arriving at the fishery around 8am I caught up with Colin (BNF), Jim (JimSpurs) and Paul (Animal).  The rest of the usual suspects turned up and the banter started as per usual. The main question on everyones mind was what bait Steve May have chosen for us all.  The match rules state that all competitors are to use the bait provided only, with no additives or colourings so it makes for a very even match. The Draw We all gathered outside in the rain and the usual disorderly queue formed.  I pulled out Peg 1, which turned out to be one of the flyers and is to the right of the aerator. It's also the peg that Shane Atkin won Fishomania 2011 from.  There was a total of 31 fishing today. My neighbours for the day would be Pete Merce and Steve.  Pete Merce is a bit of a MFS legend and is currently in the top

Brafferton Fishery, York, 12th April 2012

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Peg 15 on Ghost Lake Catching up with Paul and Mick from the Anglers Cabin forum  we decided to have a session at Brafferton Fishery near York.  Paul had fished there before, but Mick and I hadn't, so we would be looking for the tips and tricks from Paul. There are a number of lakes at Brafferton Fisheries, Match Lake, Ghost Lake, F1 Lake and Spring Lake.  Paul had selected the Ghost Lake and we chose Pegs 15, 14 and 12. The Set-Up Paul advised that we would not need to fish beyond 11 or 13 metres, so I decided to have two swims at 11 metres (11 o'clock and 2 o'clock).  I would also set up a margin swim towards peg 16 on my right. Rig choice was a Malman Thicko 4x16 to 0.14 line and a size 18 wide gap pellet hook from Drennan.  I chose the heavier float as there was quite a breeze on the water and I wanted a stable presentation. I opted to start with White Hydroelastic and switch down to Blue if I was bumping too many fish. Bait was simple, Pellet and more pe

MFS - How End Fishery, 1st April 2012

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A match that was in the calendar for a while was a return to Phil Stone's fishery, How End .  Phil shuts the fishery for the month of April but had kindly offered April's fools day to the Match Fishing Scene crew for another Champion Leagues match. I was definitely looking forward to seeing how the fish had grown since my visit last May . Arriving there were already a bunch of the lads waiting outside the gate and it wasn't long before Phil came round and welcomed us all in.  The weather couldn't have contrasted the previous day any more... it was bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and very little wind.  I of course was wearing my "Battered by BNF" shirt so the lads would know that I was beaten by Colin at Grange Farm, so of course the banter started as soon as I got out of the car. I had a walk around Yasi's and Dani's with some of the lads to see how the fishery had come on in the 11 months since I fished it.  The grass has grown, the isla

MFS - Grange Park Fisheries, 31st March 2012

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A forum post on MatchFishing Scene  popped up looking for two more anglers for the belated Fur and Feather Champion League Match at Grange Park Fisheries in Messingham.  A quick look at the diary, yep, free, I pay my monies and I'm on the match. It was a couple of days later when I rechecked my diary that I was going to have to leave London around 4:30am to get to Messingham in time for breakfast, that this weekend would be a 500 mile round trip for me and to help there has been mass panic at the petrol stations due to threatened strike action, perfect timing! I arrived at Grange Park Fisheries for breakfast and of course the banter was brilliant, especially as last time I was in this part of the world, even though I arrived with hours to spare I still missed out on breakfast as I was in the wrong place! The Draw After all of the MFS crew had arrived and fuelled themselves with a hearty breakfast, the draw commenced with Colin (aka Billy No Fish or BNF) drawing first

Fishing for Dummies - Upcoming Review

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You never know who is reading your blog... I was contacted by Wiley Publishing today asking if I would like to review their first fishing book in the "For Dummies" series. Fishing for Dummies is aimed at the UK Angler and has been adapted by Dominic Garrett.  Dominic has his own website and blog, they can be found here, there are some excellent fishing related photographs on both! http://dgfishing.co.uk/ http://dgfishtales.blogspot.co.uk/ Dominic is an angling writer, blogger, photographer and guide about whom Angling Times recently commented, "Fast becoming one of the most readable angling writers in the business... has that rare ability to convey the magic of the sport".  Dominic has produced over 100 articles on a wide range of fishing.  As a guide and ex-teacher he has always had a special interest in getting newcomers and especially youngsters into the sport. So, I'm looking forward to a review copy of the book hitting my letterbox

Talk Angling 2012 Individual Series, Billhook Lake, Hampshire, 25thMarch 2012

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Peg 13, end peg, unlucky for some? I entered the Talk Angling 2012 Individual Series via an invite from a fellow MatchFishing Scene member, Nick Roberts, kindly sponsored by Yorkshire Baits .  The first match is at Bowsaw and Billhooks Lakes in Hampshire. We all met up just off the M3 and we were soon weaving our way through the country side to the fishery.  The satnav would have got me there, but Terry Turnip had a much better route. The Draw The usual unorganised line started and I pulled out peg 13, which is the furthest away, but it is an end peg, maybe it would be luck for me today... The Set-Up I decided on a method feeder and pole attack, the picture shows the different lines I chose.  Sparky, next to me pointed out the lilly pads near the method line, they were to play a part in my match, but more about that later. 10' Bomb Rod, 6lb Mainline, Method Feeder to the far bank 13 metre pole line to the group of reeds on the left 13 metre pole line to op