A sweltering, bright, hazy morning greeted the 27 anglers who assembled at Hartlake Bridge to fish the river downstream in the second of the all-rounder series. In this match only traditional rod and reel float tactics are allowed and with the river moribund and in desperate need of water and showing no signs or topping fish, this was going to be a real gruella for sure. The socially distant draw for this peg down match was executed and the anglers set off to their pegs with doubtful optimism.

Once a season match dynamo Larry Howard really put the cat amongst the pigeons when he put 33lb 2oz of quality Bream on the scales to convincingly secure top spot. Serial top spot winner Peter Groombridge used all of his expertise and cunning to muster a bag of mixed silvers totalling 7lb to take second place.  Alan Leigh called on his past match exploits and used every tactic in his armoury of experience to put 6lb 5 oz of mixed silvers on the scales to take third position.  His net also included a cracking specimen Roach of 1lb 6oz.  Nominated fish of the day was a Perch and was shared between Ben Groombridge and Ray Berry who each put a 10oz specimen on the scales. All of the other anglers managed to find some sport with the mixed silvers but the heat of the day certainly did not make the going easy.

These latest results see Peter Groombridge still convincingly in the lead of the match championship but losing some ground and the all rounder is now wide open for all contenders to take a commanding position.

Larry Howard with his match winning netfull

Fluffy white clouds dotted the bright blue sky that greeted the 18 competitors who turned up at the Cemex stretch of the River Medway to fish the Re-stocking Cup Match on Sunday. A gentle warm breeze together with a lazy flow on the river in fine fettle filled the match men with enthusiasm for the challenge ahead.
Many of the field had a good start to proceedings but as the day progressed the boat traffic became incessant and the heat of the sun bore down and the bright conditions tempered their optimism.  All of the field enjoyed some good sport with the Roach, Gudgeon and Chublets eager to please but South London Boy, Ray Berry, again found the Bream and put an impressive haul of 29lb 6oz on the scales including a 9oz Roach which took ‘fish of the day’.
Ray Allen commanded second place with a good bag of mixed silvers and a couple of nice Bream to boost his weight of 12lb 12oz. Not far behind fishing on the Golden Peg was Mick Smith with a similar bag of 10lb 4oz. A close call but no cigar for Mick!
Overall a most enjoyable days fishing until a victorious Ray Berry removed his shirt to cool off and reveal his ample torso, much to the disgust of the departing match men and to rub salt in their wounds.  There is no stopping this man and he has no shame!

Grey skies and a lively south westerly wind greeted the anglers who were going to exercise their skills in the dual lake and river match fished on Haysden Lake and the Six Arches stretch of the Medway.
Many of the field found shelter from the elements that whipped up a strong ripple on Haysden, but to their advantage it also stirred up a strong undertow and put some colour in the water.  Not quite enough to encourage the resident Bream to feed confidently but enough to tempt the Roach to the baits on offer.
Mick Smith took the morning lead with 8lb of quality Roach closely followed by Martyn Hill with 6lb 4oz of the same. Lee Wakeman commanded third position with 5lb 4oz which did include the only sizeable Bream of the morning. The anglers then switched to the Six Arches for the afternoon.
The south west wind was still prominent and the sun shone brightly through the fluffy white clouds which had replaced the early grey blanket that had shrouded the sky. The fish decided to be elusive in the bright conditions but again Mick Smith managed to tempt 5lb 7oz of mixed silvers to his net followed by Martyn Hill with 1lb 10oz of quality Roach on sweetcorn. Paul Mitchell took third place with 1lb 6oz of Roach.
The weights for each section are substituted for points then aggregated to give the positions for the overall match. Mick Smith was victorious with 17 points followed by Martyn Hill with 15 points and third place going to Lee Wakeman with 12 points.
Overall not a bad days fishing as all of the field managed to tempt a few fish to their nets in the less than ideal conditions.

PS.  A new lock has been installed on the gate to Haysden Lake and the code is printed on your Membership Card.

On a bright, fresh windy morning seventeen anglers congregated at Swanmead in sanguine mood to fish the Chairman and Committee peg down match. The Medway in sluggish mood and with clear water was not going to offer up its bounty with ease and the strong westerly wind put a ripple on the water but offered no comfort to pole anglers who struggled to present a bait nor the float anglers to maintain steady control of their lines.
For those who toughed it out the rewards were hard come by and last week’s victor Ray Berry could only muster 2lb 3oz of mixed silvers but did manage to take best fish of the day with a Bream of only 1lb. His South London colleague Colin Fowler took honours on the day with an impressive 7lb 2oz bag of mainly Roach and mixed silvers. Hot on his heals and finding his form was last year’s reigning match champion Martyn Hill with a 5lb 11oz bag of quality Roach.  Third place with 4lb 4oz of Roach and mixed silvers went to Pat Galpin who, like Colin, had to contend with a steady flow of dogs paddling and disturbing his swim.  The rest of the field struggled for some hard won mixed silvers with the larger fish in the area failing to put in an appearance, a tough days fishing indeed.

Photo 1 Ray Berry with best fish of the day a bream of 1lb

Photo 2 Ditch Howard with his hard won catch of mixed silvers.

Our first match of the season got us off to an absolute flyer.

Our very popular match fishing scene resumes this Sunday with the first of the one day trophy matches which is the Padley Bowl being fished at the Long Reach and the Bungalows. Draw in the Audley Rise car park at 8am.
Will Match Captain and Current Match Champion Martyn Hill get off to a great start in defending his title or will there be a new name on the trophy this year.