2017 Championship: Round 2

2017 Championship: Round 2 - Match 2, Reach Lode, Upware 18th June 2017

The hottest day of the year so far, combined with no flow at all other than from the very occasional emptying of the lock, meant dissolved oxygen levels were very low. This in turn meant most fish were asleep for the whole day, and probably still are as it has since got even hotter!

Some of the more delicate among us came home with burnt hands, shipping a matt black pole that had had just a few seconds outside of the umbrella shade was not a good experience and the temperature in general made life quite unpleasant. It is a rare feeling but this is one day when I wished I had stayed at home!

The Mepal Marvel may have thought it would be his day again as before he drew peg 2 three decent carp were seen cruising the early swims with his name on them. It was not to be however and Marvel or not, after much cursing at the floating weed, he resigned himself to an early finish, tipping back what might have proved to be decent points! He did however land the biggest fish of the day, an 8 lb pike!

Jason weighed in 4 lb 7 oz, which included a couple of ½ decent skimmers, to win first place, followed not too closely by Trevor with 2 lb 10½ oz. Jamie took third place chased by Kevin, who once again employed his ultra bright fluorescent electric-purple pinkies. At least these helped distract eyes from the huge split in his shorts!

Next year it was suggested a ‘raking’ session be held at least 1 – 2 weeks before the first match in order to give things time to settle and for the floating weed to clear. This because it proved a real nuisance as with no flow it hung around covering most of the surface for the whole match.

Our next match on 2nd July will be on The Cam, above Baits Bite lock, a favourite venue for many of us. A cooler spell should see the bream feeding so let’s see what the Mepal Marvel can do this time. As usual please book your place via Trevor, details as per the club book.

Ian Claydon