Rolfslake pleasure fishing day 30th October 2009

The lake looking lovely as usual

Today i was lucky enough to be able to fish Rolfslake on a rare pleasure fishing trip and i also took my wife Irene to keep me company. Also down on the lake was Paul Jay and the Beasley brothers Dave and Brian who were practising for a match next week and a friend of Paul's so i would be able to see who was catching. I arrived at 11.30 to find all the guys on the motorway bank so i had a choice of all the flyers 18,16, 13, 9, and 8 but today i wanted to correct my nightmare match on peg 14 last Wednesday so today it was peg 14 again. I again was going to use the correct version of my X4 paste fished on a 5 metre line using my 5 metre margin pole and Vespe orange elastic to give me the best chance to land the bigger fish. I fed through a cup my 6mm pellet with my paste and as soon as the float settled a mass of bubbles came up and the float burried and i was in to my first carp and it was landed in 2 minutes, much to the surprise of the anglers on the other bank. Next put in with the paste and no pellet the pole was nearly pulled out of my hands as soon as the paste reached the bottom and my second double in a row was looking up at me from the landing net.

For the next 3 hours i had loads of bites ranging from little dips to the elastic pulling out of the pole to the pole pulling around and nearly out of my hands, and quite a few fish were caught on the drop and all on the paste. I did lose a few because of the shortness of the pole but i did have a really enjoyable and enlightning day and learnt more about paste fishing in cold water which will hopefully bring me a few fish in the next couple of weeks.

Paul and the guys on the opposite bank all caught on a variety of baits from corn to meat to soft and banded pellet and they also caught big fish to 16-08 all fished on the deck long. There were plenty of fish bubbling and cruising about so things are looking up for the Saturday open tomorrow.

Jon Walker paste floats

These are the new Jon Walker floats that he has been making recently and are the same floats that he used in his Angling Times Feature to catch his big carp to 21lb.

I have been lucky enough to aquire some of these floats and have been using them for my paste fishing and they are brilliant. I use them unshotted and use the paste to weight the float down but they are very sensitive even if you leave all the bristle showing. The other anglers use these floats for their corn and meat fishing dotting the float down to give the best bites and being quite long are very stable in the wind. If you are lucky enough to see Jon Walker down on the lake just ask him to show you some.

A nice double to start

A very nice double figure common.
Last fish of the day

Until my next report tight lines Eddie

Rolfslake Wednesday open 28th October 2009

The rare Black Popular tree at Rolfslake

With a lower than normal attendance at the lake today due to a much earlier draw time than normal due to the nights drawing in quicker now, Rolfslake welcomed young 12 year old Daniel Blackwell to try his luck in his first ever Rolfslake open.

Daniel was able to fish today due to the school holidays and his dad Gary had told me that for the last few days he was so excited at the prospect of fishing the lake that he found it difficult to sleep, but with thoughts of big weights and big double fish things that dreams are made the days passed very quickly. Rolfslake also welcomed back Mike Stimson {the judge} from Oakside fishery who was getting ready for the fast approaching winter league series so he needed to brush up on the methods required to catch good weights.

As the draw was called most anglers wanted peg 8 as it had fish bubbling and rolling in the margins before the match, and also because it was an end peg and you could have all the fish from the small lake to yourself. As each angler put their hand in no peg 8 was visable and the though that someone has messsed up the pegging and not put it in was quickly erased when Daniel said is this peg 8 any good, much to the fear of the rest as a battering from the young angler was on the cards. As the match started the usual slow start was again evident and not even the pleasure anglers on the carpark bank were catching, so today was going to be a cautious and patient fishing match and wait for the fish to arrive and not to try and force it by over feeding. The weather today was mild and sunny with a little breeze blowing from the big to the small lake so no real problems for the anglers, but the keys for a good weight were down to presentation and feeding as if you fed to much the fish would just back away and if the presentation was wrong you would suffer foul hooked and lost fish.

Rolfslake's current form angler Paul Jay

The winner today and on a good run of form was Rolfslake's Paul Jay who today was on motorway bank peg 16. Paul started on the long 11 metre line towards the areator with very little success but a change to the shorter 7 metre line fished in front of the bush to his left got his day going. Paul today discarded his normal paste in favour of his now favoured 6 and 8 mm banded pellet and with this fished on a lift and drop it encouraged the fish to have a go. During the match Paul also encountered the usual spell of foulhooked fish which slowed his catch rate down but a run of good double figure fish kept him away from the chasing pack. After 5 hours Paul had put together another winning weight of 156-00 to keep his framing sequence going {well done Paul}.

After the match Paul me the importance of plumbing up correctly and to find the ledges because on some pegs you have two shelves and the fish patrol both of these, and by fishing with the bait just touching bottom it gives you the best bites

Cartel member Mick Lane

In second place today was Rolfslake's cartel member Mick Lane who was fishing on winter flyer peg 10 on the motorway bank in the big lake.

Mick today was also trying out a few methods for the forthcomming winter league as he is a member of the untouchables aka Rolfs Team Gold, and today he was going to try to catch all fish and not just to target the carp. Mick concentrated on 4 lines all to be fished on the deck but would be used with different baits ranging from maggots for the silvers, banded and soft hook pellets and meat. For three hours Mick concentrated on the silvers and caught lovely big perch ,roach and bream on the maggot and for the remaining two hours targeted the carp and was rewarded with fish to double figures in his final weight 146-12 {the silvers went a brilliant 27-04} and just clear of third place.

Daniel Blackwell P.B carp 13-04 {well done}

As for Daniel he went off to his peg armed with all the information on how to fish the peg from the regulars who were hoping that he would have a fantastic days fishing and beat his PB carp of 9-12.

John Bennett and me {Eddie} said to Daniel to beware of the massive fish that live in this peg and over the next 5 hours Daniel experienced the excitement of being attatched to these big fish and mananged to break his P.B carp three times with a common of 10-01, a common of 11-04 and finally a lovely mirror of 13-04 {well done Dan}. Daniel also hooked one of the big fish and after a long battle had his hook bent straight much to his disapointment , but after 5 hours had caught three fish for 35-01 and said he would be back.

Gary Daniels dad also had time to do a small video of his fishing day on peg 8 and it is brilliant and if you would like to watch it go to you tube put in minnowmaster209 and click on the Rolfslake Video i know you will enjoy it i certainly did.

Daniel Blackwell previous P.B carp common 11-03

Eddie failed AGAIN to beat the cartel.

As for me it was my least favoured peg 14 for me today, and all i can say is that after getting the feeding wrong it wrecked my paste fishing as i had too many foul hooked fish and all Paul could hear from peg 16 were bad words. I have been working on a revised version of my paste X4 mix but the only chance i get to try it is in a real match so sometimes it is a real chancey thing to do and today it did not work as it gave me my lowest weight of the year 57-04, but i will try it again on Friday in a practise session.

Results. top 6

1st Paul Jay peg 16 156-00

2nd Mick Lane peg 10 146-12

3rd John Bennett peg 9 141-12

4th Eddie T-Green peg 14 57-o4

5th Mike Stimson peg 13 41-04

6th Daniel Blackwell peg 8 35-01 PB carp 13-04


Until my next report tight lines Eddie.

Here is a video report From Daniel about his visit to the lake.

Rolfslake Open 24th October 2009

Report to follow

Results top 6

1st Adam peg 4 116-12
2nd Clive Pritchard peg 6 110-12
3rd Dave Whiteman peg14 108-08
4th Mike Stimson peg 16 85-00
5th John Bennett peg 9 77-12
6th Neil Riddie peg 24 75-00

Angling Times Jon Walker big fish challenge. Part two

Rolfslake's Specimen hunter Jon Walker

Today Rolfslake welcomed Ben Fisk from the Angling Times down to the lake to do a feature on Jon Walker and his recent big fish catching exploits down on the lake. Jon came second recently in an open with only 9 fish but these fish went an amazing 169-08 and his fish went 12-08, 14-12, 17-00, 17-08, 18-08, 19-08, 21-00, 21-04 and the final a lake record mirror of 27-00.

The challenge today was to see if Jon could catch to order one of these massive fish for a feature to be printed in this weeks Angling Times, so on a very cold October morning peg 8 was the chosen place for battle to commence. Jon was already familiar with peg 8's big fish potential as this was the peg that he set the current lake record of 530-00 back in 2006.

The thing that makes peg 8 so good is that all the fish at some point have to go through the peg as they make there way from the big to the small lake, and also the are so many different options for an angler to exploit. Jon today was going to to mainly use two lines one straight out in front at about 8 metres and the bush to his left which normally hold a few resident monsters, but at the same time as a back up he was going to feed the margin to his right and the far bank just in case plan A did not work. As i arrived at the lake Jon had already caught a lot of small fish { 8 - 10lb} and a few specials in his his two other nets, and i decided not to go round and disturb him but watch him from the other bank.

John today was using one of his new designed long bristle double stepped floats to catch his fish and by using a combination of cautious feeding and either flavoured pineapple pellet or stinky red meat as he calls it helped him amass his big weight. Jon is always a thinking angler and he always tries to work out how the fish want their food or how they want it presented as his match results down on the lake have born out this year. The key to getting the most fish to bites ratio as Jon would tell you is to have your float dotted down as low down as the weather allows to ensure you give your self the best chance. By fishing his rig on a lift and drop method Jon mananged to lure the carp into taking his bait as they are sometimes wary of a static bait and by having his bait fluttering in front of the fish they could not resist {all 250lb of them}. He also believes in trying to get away with as small a float as possible and with only the tip of the float visable he just waits for the float to pop before he lifts and not strikes in to his fish which he believes do not make them bolt away.

Elastics also play an important part in his fishing and today Jon opted with Vespe's hollow red and orange fished soft in the pole so as to give him every chance in landing every fish that he hooked, and today when he caught his biggest fish of 21-00 he had it on the orange elastic and in the net in 90 seconds, not because he bullied the fish but because with the elastic set correctly he was able to steer the fish eventually where he wanted it and had confidence in both elastic and pole.

Where anglers normally make mistakes at Rolfslake it is normally because of three main reasons,

1. they think fishing here is just turn up and catch 200lb which many anglers fail to do.

2. they do not get the feeding right and end up foul hooking lots of fish as they travel up and down the water levels.

3. and the most important if they got point two right and have not got the right balanced tackle then it normally ends in broken rigs or broken poles.

After a few hours Jon had put together not only a match winning weight but also a set of specimen carp any big carp angler would of been proud of and not a spod rod in sight. All Jons carp were caught on the pole and placed in nets but only for this feature as double figure fish are not allowed to be retained in keepnets but must be weighed and returned straight away {take note Mick and Paul}.

Tri-Cast Finesse Competition 15.7 mtr

Jon earlier this year brought a Tri-Cast Finesse Competition pole which all the anglers got a chance to have a look at and were very impressed with it due its light weight and stiffness and he has probably caught more big fish on this pole since he brought it than anyone who currently owns one. The pole is made using special High Modulus carbon fibre at the critical points to help the pole in areas of balance, weight and stiffness for any conditions that an angler would come up against. The pole is rated from 0 - 16 but but as Jon has proved with the right set up { Jon used Vespe's hollow red and orange elastic to catch his fish today} any fish can be landed with a little patience and a little care. This is also the pole that Jon recently used to catch the lake record carp of 27-00 and also earlier this summer during an Advanced Pole fishing feature caught the largest match weight done in a feature at 388-00 in five hours.

The amazing thing about this pole is it is just at home catching roach from the far banks of a canal as it is catching carp from a lake or massive carp from Rolfslake. The pole weighs 620 grams at 11.0m and comes with a fantastic spares package ;

2 x spare match top 4 kits 0 - 16 elastic , 4 x spare big bore top 2 kits rated 16 , 1 x cupping kit plus the cups a deluxe pole holdall and tubes.

So if you are looking for a new pole that will cover everything Jon Walker highly recommends this pole as being brilliant for all occasions that an angler will come up with.

For more information on this brilliant pole visit www.tri-castfishing.co.uk you will not dissapointed.

Jon Walker and John Bennet displaying only a small part of Jon's catch today.

When it was time to do this photo shoot Jon asked if i could help him take out one of his nets as it only had six fish in and as he gathered the net in there was no commotion from the fish so i though no problem, as i went to lift the net it would not move so i thought damm it was hooked on the platform but Jon said no its not and as it cleared the water Jon neglected to tell me that the smallest fish of the 6 was 17-00. As i stuggled to the top of the bank and looked in the net i had 6 fish for about 105-00 and Jon was bringing the small fish net up {they were all about 16-00} to make up this picture.

All the fish were in fantastic condition and were returned unharmed after the photo to await their next battle with the anglers.

Mission Accomplished a big beautiful common of 21-00
caught from peg 8 on a very cold day in October


Here are the scales to prove it 21-00

Angling Times Ben Fisk in action

After Jon had caught enough fish Ben was itching to have a go to see if he could catch a big fish and after a few small fish of about 8-00 eventually caught one of 17-00 that Jon Walker now turned photographer took a few snaps of.

On behalf of Rolfslake i would like to say thanks to John Bennett for letting Angling Times use his lake for the feature Jon Walker for again giving up his time to do another promotional feature on Rolfslake, Tri-Cast for making such a brilliant pole {the Finesse Competion} and Vespe for making one of the best elastics for catching big fish out there, and for Jon for making the best hand made floats money can buy .

I hope i have covered everybody and i hope you have enjoyed this special feature which you can also read Ben's report in this weeks Angling Times.

Until my next report tight lines Eddie T-Green.

Feltham Piscatorials A.S 25th October 2009

Todays weather was a bit of everything

Today Rolfslake welcomed back Feltham Piscatorials for their annual visit to the lake. The 21 anglers were hopefull that Rolfslake would give them some of the big fish that had been comming out recently as it is probably the only lake in the country where you only need 9 fish to win a match { just ask Jon Walker}.

The weather was a mixture of rain ,sun a swirling wind that made even more leaves come off the trees and into the lake but still it was relatively warm. In a very tight frame the winner after 5 hours was Gavin Miles who was drawn on little used of late peg 2, and who fished out at 7-8 metres and down the left hand margin. Gavin used a combination of corn and pellet to catch his fish on the deck and after 5 hours had put together a good winning weight of 127-00 {well done Gavin}.

Results.

1st Gavin Miles peg 2 127-00

2nd Paul Staniford peg 13 123-00

3rd Peter Styles peg 6 121-00

4th Colin Lovelock peg 18 110-12

5th Malcom Staniford peg 7 87-00

6th Guy Raffael peg 10 84-06

John and Pauline hope the anglers enjoyed their day and hope to see them back again.

Rolfslake Wednesday open 21st October 2009.

Rolfslake's Paul Jay on peg 14 again !

After yesterdays Angling times feature down on the lake featuring Jon Walker ,the anglers were very hopefull of a bumper days fishing with plenty of big fish included. The weather was cold with a firm breeze blowing from the south into the small lake. The pleasure angler were today on the car park bank and on the road side bank of the small lake. For the second week running the motorway bank was mainly the chosen area for todays open and most of the anglers wanted peg 8 as it was fished yesterday and plenty of bait went in so the fish should still be there. As the draw was called you could sense the tension as each angler put their hand in the bag hoping for magic peg 8 but i could not see any smiling faces, and as i drew last i stuck my hand in and there it was much to the other anglers disgust and all of a sudden the pressure was on.
I raced round to peg 8 with all these ideas of big fish ,big weights and Pb's ,but then thought you idiot Jon EMPTIED the peg yesterday and tipped all his spare bait in at the end so the fish had already had a good feed. As the whistle sounded to start the match as last week the only people i could see were the ones on the car park bank and the closest one to me was John Bennett who today was going to refuse to talk to me and let his fishing do the talking for him. Fishing was slow except for Mick Lane on peg 13 and Paul Jay on 14 who were catching well in the first hour but for the rest of us it was a struggle and during the second half of the match the fish decided to feed as it got later and the wind died down. From where i was i could see Mike Stimson on 9 starting to catch and also Phil on 10 as he kept on asking me to confirm his weighers but in the distance i could see Chris Telling sneaking a few fish from peg 28 but there were plenty of lost fish for John Bennett on 32. On one occasion John hooked a fish from in front of peg 33 and it managed to jump 3 or 4 times out of the water before it broke him, and then two minutes later he managed to hook a monster carp that John estimates was at least 25lb before it snapped his elastic and took his rig to the depths { what a shame}.

Vespe's sponsored Chris Telling

In first place today was Vespe's sponsored Chris Telling who was on peg 28 and today he ignored everone who said to him paste was finished as the weather had turned cold, and he proceeded to catch at long range {13 metres} fished on the deck to catch his fish. Fishing was slow to start with but in the last hour Chris was flying helped by big fish which helped him to his final weight of 240-00 {well done Chris}. Chris fed cautiously today using a pole cup and by fishing long had most of the fish to himself as all the anglers around were fishing no further than 5 metres. He also used Vespe red and orange elastic which gave him an easier time playing fish as they did not bolt away as usual .

In second place and on a good run was Rolfslake's Paul Jay who for the second week running was on peg 14. Paul learnt from last week that bites on paste were few and far so today alternated between soft and 8mm banded pellet fished on the deck , fished on a lift and drop which induced bites for him. Paul also caught big fish that helping him pull away from the chasing pack and after 5 hours had caught a hard earned 177-12. Completing the frame was the Swindon bandit Mick lane on peg 13 and after a good start found the fish difficult to catch later on in the match. Mick caught on pellet and meat fished on the deck and he also had fish to double figures which in the end put him only one fish off second with his weight of 166-12.

Cartel member John Bennett 1
Eddie T-Green 11

The big question -was John asleep on peg 32 during the 5 hour match today ?

Eddie T-Green wasted another good peg today.

As for me i was dreaming of a victory even before the match had started and that was my first mistake. The second was not listening to Jon Walker who said to fish small baits and come off the paste and dont feed heavy, as the fish were backing off. I started at 7 metres on the paste and had too many foul hooked fish so tried the corn and managed a few fish, but a change to the 10 metre line fished towards peg 35 and using a combination of heavy feeding and another try with the X4 paste brought an immediate response. In the last hour i had about 90lb of fish and lost a few big fish and the lesson learnt was to have your float dotted as low down as you could in the wind to get the best bites. After 5 hours i had caught 112-08 and was so frustrated with my fishing that i nearly did not weigh in but the though of beating John Bennett kept my nets in the water.

Results.

1st Chris Telling peg 28 240-00

2nd Paul Jay peg 14 177-12

3rd Mick Lane peg 13 166-12

4th Phil Powell peg 10 148-12

5th Andy Camden peg 16 146-08

6th Eddie T-Green peg 8 112-08

7th Mick Jones peg 30 100-00
8th John Bennett peg 32 90-00

9th Mike Stimson peg 9 85-00

Until the next report tight lines Eddie T-Green

Angling Times Jon Walker big fish challenge 20th October 2009

Specimen hunter John Walker

Today the Angling Times visited Rolfslake to watch Jon Walker fish and see if he could continue catching the massive carp that have been visiting his landing net of late. This is a follow on from his second place in last weeks open where Jon caught 9 fish for 169-00 with a lake record mirror of 27-00 caught on his pole.
At the lake today was reporter Ben Fisk from the Angling Times John Bennett and me Eddie and an amazing day was had but this report will be completed after the Angling Times has come out next week so as not to spoil it for Ben.
What i can tell you is that John B and myself also had a go and with a cold day and a blustery wind i was never going to be easy, and with John fishing meat he had fish to 17-08 and plenty of bites, and with me not having my X4 paste mix with me i had to use some of John's paste mix which had the consistency of mortar but i still had plenty of bites and plenty of fish by fishing in front of the bush to my left on peg 28. Considering how cold it was i was still getting elastic pulling bites from the hungry carp which resulted in fish and broken rigs but still an enjoyable couple of hours and set me up nicely for tomorrows open.

Until the next report tight lines Eddie.

Rolfslake Open 17th October 2009

Report to follow

1st Steve Cantwell 136-00 peg 4
2nd Clive Pritchard 134-12 peg 16
3rd Phil Powell 126-02 peg 24
4th Paul Jay 108-08 peg 28
5th Dave Whiteman 102-08 peg 8
6th Mick Lane 100-04 peg 10
7th Jon Walker 93-08 peg 14
8th Steve Wilson 67-00 peg 9
9th John Bennett 58-04 peg 34
10th Phil McKay 58-00 peg 6

Rolfslake Wednesday Open 14th October 2009

Just one of the beautiful big carp that have been coming out,

18-04 caught by Vespe sponsored Chris Telling.

John Bennet has also been catching big fish recently,
this is a 17-12 common from the big lake.

Me Eddie Taylor-Green with another frame today
11 out of the last 12 matches.

After the massive fish caught by Jon Walker last week i was half expecting to see a lot of bivvies set up around the lake hoping to catch a specimen big carp, but there was not just the regular characters ready for thier mid week bagging session. With the pleasure anglers set up in the small lake and on the car park bank it was decided to use the motorway bank for todays open, and with the weather bright and with little wind hopes for a big weight were looking good.

As the anglers drew their pegs the ones you wanted were the ones that gave you an end peg so that you could draw the fish into your peg from both ends of the lake so you wanted 8 or 18 as they gave you plenty of space. With the anglers going off to their pegs it left only John and myself to draw and when John pulled out peg 18 i was gutted as i fancied this one today, so as i pulled my number out and looked in my hand i was not happy to draw peg 8 in the channel as the last time i fished it 2 years ago i totally messed it up ,plus i did not want to fish more than five metres.

As the all in sounded the only angler i could see was Chris Teling and after about 2 minutes he was showing me a carp of 18-04 to verify for him so i was playing catch up, and 5 minutes later i was showing him a carp of 16-04 to check for me. There were lots of fish blowing and swirling up on the surface sucking the floating leaves in front of me but as i had not set up a shallow rig all i could do was watch them. The pleasure anglers were all catching in front of me from pegs 34 to 38 on the bomb or feeder fished with meat or boilies so i was hopeful that the fish would eventually come to me.

In first place today and on an extended glory run was Me Eddie T-Green who had a bizzare 5 hours fishing on peg 8 and on reflection should of done better. After that first fish of 16-04 safely weighed and returned i put another ball of my X4 paste on and shipped out and as the float settled on my 5 metre line a mass of bubbles came up and the float just burried, after carefully playing the fish for 5 minutes it surfaced at 16 metres and my god it was a massive common of about 25lb ish and i could not get it to turn and come to me. As my red hydro had bottomed out i was just hanging on feeling the bung coming up the top two when the fish managed to pull away from me snapping my rig and breaking the number four section on my Shimano XTA pole {brilliant}. For the next two hours i hooked and lost 8 fish in the left hand bush and two under the peg 7 platform so not very good, then i switched rigs to a Jon Walker paste float fished on the deck with no shot on and changed the top kit to fish with orange Vespe elastic.

During this time i was feeding down the edge to my right towards peg 7 and after 2 hours i saw fish swirling on the pellet and on my first put in i had a carp of 18-12 on paste at a range of 2 metres. In the next two hours i had 15 more fish for a combined board weight of 206-00 and then ran out of paste so i had to make some more out of my feed pellet but it was never the same ,and to make matters worse on my last put in i hooked another mirror of about 20lb that smashed my rig at the net. After 5 hours i had caught 248-00 felt frustrated that i should of had 400-00 but at least i had beat John Bennett so all was not bad.

Giving me a run for my money was Paul Jay on 14 who was struggling to catch on paste today so opted to fish long at a range of 10 metres fishing banded pellet fished on the deck. Paul found that by lifting and dropping his rig he had a better response from the carp and again caught big fish to 16-00 but only feeding through a toss pot as when he fed through by a catapult the fish just backed off the feed. After 5 hours Paul had put together another big weight of 225-00 and only three fish off a match win.

Completing the frame was Vespe sponsored Chris Telling on form peg 9 but he struggled with missed bites and lost fish as the fish would not settle, but a change of rigs helped him up his catch rate by fishing on the deck using his paste hook bait and he fed his peg also by cup as to not spread the fish around his peg. At the end Chris also had a run of big fish in his final weight of 187-00 and one fish off the double ton.

In this match there were 47 doubles to 18-12 and at the moment the big fish are very happy to feed , so take care with your rigs and top kits as i am not sure some poles are designed for this type of extreme fishing. Also The Angling Times paper are doing a feature on Jon Walker down the lake next week on the big fish of Rolfslake.

Until the next report tight lines Eddie.

Results Top 7

1st Eddie Taylor-Green peg 8 248-00

2nd Paul Jay peg 14 225-00

3rd Chris Telling peg 9 187-00

4th Tony Dickinson peg 16 150-00

5th Derek Hammond peg 10 146-08

6th Cameron Sims peg 11 120-00

7th John Bennett peg 18 106-04

Atomic Club match Sunday 11th October 2009

Today Rolfslake welcomed the anglers of Atomic angling club from Didcot for their annual visit to the lake. The weather was drizzly with no wind but was at least it was warm, so the anglers were hoping that the fish would respond.

In first place was Carl Jefferys on peg 9 who also drew the same peg last year and had a nightmare, but this year he got it all right fishing at 11 metres fishing in line with peg 32 and 33 and caught fish to double figures in his weight of 217-08 {well done Carl}

Results

1st Carl Jefferys peg 9 217-08

2nd Martin Olsen peg 16 139-00

3rd Steve Cantwell peg 4 125-00

4th Bob Alder peg 32 118-00

5th Cliff Duke peg 30 92-12

6th Roger Jefferys peg 22 90-08

John Bennett hopes the anglers enjoyed their day and hopes to see them soon.

Rolfslake Saturday Open 10th October 2009.

Firstly i would like to thank all the vistors that have taken the time to visit my blog on the life and times down on the lake. In the last 9 days since i installed the counter we have had over 1000 visitors to the blog so hopefully the work that Simon and i have done have made your visits to Eddie at Rolfslake enjoyable {thanks again}.

Today saw another open and another record set at the lake which i will tell you about later. After reading my report from last Wednesday lake owner John Bennett took my advice and was seen making up some rigs just in case he did not draw peg 9 today, which on previous history was never certain. Also at Rolfslake today we had five visitors from the Isle of Wight who were hoping to catch some carp to make their trip to the lake worthwhile. With a good turn out both the small and big lake were in use today and most anglers wanted an end peg to give themselves a little space and hopefully a few fish.
With the leaves still falling off the trees around the lake John Bennett told me they are still causing a problem for the anglers as they hamper the presentation and just get in the way. As the draw took place Jon Walker drew his favourite peg 30 {not really he does not rate this peg} so a short walk from the car to his peg would give him plenty of time to sell some floats. Amazingly John Bennet did not draw peg 9 but he was not far away as he had drawn peg 10 so at least his tackle was on the right side of the lake so he could spend a little time helping the Isle of Wight anglers settle in. Paul {drawer of flyer pegs} Jay was on peg 6 so the locals were spread all around the lake so it was going to be a quiet match at least.
The weather was warm sunny and bright which is not normally good for big weights but at least keeps the anglers warm which has been a contrast to the cooler temperature of late and also no rain which would at least keep them dry. As the match started it was evident that the anglers that were going to catch were the ones that were prepared to work their rigs and change bait to find out what the fish wanted so today the fishing was not going to be easy.
The winner today was one of Rolfslake regulars Clive Pritchard who was lucky enough to draw one of the end pegs ,peg 24 on the car park bank and this would be an advantage as he could draw the fish from the end of the lake. Clive fished at 6 metres in front of the bush to his left and was able to put a run of big fish together by fishng on the deck using pellet and meat hookbait after five hours Clive was well out in front with his weight of 233-12 {well done Clive}.
In second place was form angler Jon Walker on peg 30 and today he was going to set two records the first the biggest weight for 9 fish ever recorded at Rolfslake 169-00 and the second the biggest fish ever caught at the lake a beautiful 27-00 mirror{well done Jon}. Jon fished over the bush to his right to catch his fish using meat fished on the deck, but after 3 hours was fishless but a look down by the bush saw the carp feeding on the fry as when Jon caught a carp they were coughing up little fry. Even catching these big fish{Jon's 9 fish went 12-08, 14-12, 17-00, 17-08, 18-08, 19-08, 21-00. 21-04, and the final fish 27-00} Jon had time to hook a pike of about 20-00 which he tried his best to land it before it broke him, so not a bad two hours .
Completing the frame was Mick Jones who was lucky to witness the big carp and who said it was massive but failed to take a photo so back the fish went. Mick caught at his usual short range of 5 metres fished on the deck using his special meat hook bait feeding quite heavy which brought him a few doubles in his weight of 129-08.

Todays winner Clive Pritchard

Jon Walker nearly added to his preditor list in todays match,

but set an lake individual carp record with his 27-00 mirror

Results.

1st Clive Pritchard peg 24 233-12

2nd Jon Walker peg 30 169-08 NEW FISH RECORD 27LB MIRROR

3rd Mick Jones peg 26 129-08

4th John Bennett peg 10 122-04

5th Chris Lovelock peg 14 120-12

6th Ryan Creswell peg 32 50-00

7th Mark Orchard peg 34 47-00

8th Paul Jay peg 6 43-00

9th Richard Doolan peg 38 37-04

10th Lee Davidson peg 8 38-08


Until my next report tight lines Eddie

Rolfslake Wednesday Open 6th October 2009

Todays winning peg little used peg 11

Another sweep win for Vespe's Chris Telling

With not many anglers down on the lake for a proper match and the pleasure anglers did not fancy giving their money to one of the regulars, it was decided to have a winner takes all sweep today. The anglers decided to draw the motorway bank and it gave them shelter from the rain that was chucking down today and also this was the bank gave the best results from last weekends open.

As the draw took place you would not believe that John Bennett could draw peg 9 again and as last week he was in trouble as the only two rigs he has for peg nine he had to remake them to fish peg 16 on Sunday so again he had to remake them {clue John make more rigs up}.

In first place today and Rolfslake top angler of the year to date was Vespe sponsored angler and paste expert Chris Telling, who had drawn very little used peg 11 in the corner of the big lake. Chris today fished at a range of 7-8 metres just in front of the bush to his left, and fished his rig on the deck again using paste as his hookbait which he has had all his success on this year. Chris managed to draw his fish in from the bay and from peg 13 where they normally hide, and during todays match Chris managed to catch one of the biggest board weights for the number of fish that he caught 8 fish for 131-00 {including 3 fish over 18lb and the other 5 for 77-00}. Chris fed relatively heavy to keep the fish coming and at the end of the day had another big weight of 295-00 well done Chris.
In second place just was John Bennett on peg 9 and caught again big fish but not from his favoured down the edge swim but out at a range of 7 metres out in the open water just where Jon Walker caught last week but at shorter range. John used corn and meat fed heavy with pellet fished on the sunken float method lifted and dropped and again this helped him put together another big weight together of 191-12. Completing the frame was Paul Jay on peg 10 who was keeping up with John but in the end fell 1 small fish off second place. Paul fished with paste at 6 metres fed quite heavy and again also had big fish as they start to pack weight on for the winter and after five hours Paul had 190-04.
Paste is still a very good bait down on the lake and has been producing big weights even as the weather gets colder but do not forget to bring either a change of bait and you tip rod as the weather starts to get colder and windier.

Results
1st Chris Telling peg 11 295-00
2nd John Bennett peg 9 191-12
3rd Paul Jay peg 10 190-04
4th Jersey Jim peg 8 83-00 PB also a 17-00 common PB.

The rest to follow.

Congratulations To Ian and Amilia on their recent wedding

Photo courtesy of Picksee Photography

All the anglers would like to congratulate Ian McCulloch and Amilia on their recent wedding at the Protea Kruger Gate Hotel near Skukuza in Africa. Not only does Ian draw flyers down the lake he is also a very lucky man in choosing Amilia's to be his wife. In the link Ian sent me Amilia looked stunning in her wedding dress and Ian looked very smart and they looked very happy, all your friends would like to wish you both a very happy life together.



Until my next report tight lines Eddie.

Rolfslake Sunday Open 4th October 2009

Jon Walker on another flyer peg 9 this time

Today was just like the good old days down on the lake, a full carpark of eager anglers hoping to catch one of Rolfslake's big carp hauls on a very rare Sunday open. It was also nice to see some of my friends that i have not seen for a while plus my fishing hero Colin Wedgebrow was also down to have a go or spend 5 hours feeding the fish.

The weather was mild to start with getting colder as the match went on but with very little wind the floating leaves were again going to cause a problem, as it interfeared with presentation . As the draw was about to start John Bennett's trick of drawing peg 9 was rumbled as when we looked at the peg numbers the peg 9 block had all of a sudden turned from a round block to a square one {it was only a joke that John was playing on the other anglers}. As the draw was called everyone was watching John to see his draw but today he decided to draw second last to give everyone a chance, not a good idea as John Walker put his hand in a drew peg 9 so John was in trouble as he had only two rigs and they were plumbed for peg 9. I as normal drew last and was not amused to draw peg 14 on the motorway bank as i have never got to grips with the methods to fish this peg so a hard five hours was on the cards, plus i had the added problem of having John B on peg 15 Phil Powell on peg 17 and last Wednesdays runner-up Tim Guise on peg 13.

As i was bracing myself for a beating from both sides i decided to pull my ace card from my carryall my X4 paste mix which has helped me pick up money 9 out of my last 10 visits so i was going to go for paste or bust.

As the whistle sounded to start the match there was not a lot of fish activity on the surface so i was hoping that the fish would respond to my 5 metre line as that is where i was going to fish all the match and within 10 minutes i was putting my first carp 0f 8lb in the net and not another carp visited my net for the next two hours {brilliant}. Elsewhere around the lake fishing was slow but still there were people around catching the odd fish but not Bennett and Powell so i kept giving them stick to keep them amused but i got it back from them and also from anglers on the other side of the lake. As the match got into later stages Jon Walker and Andy Morrison started to catch a run of big fish to 18lb and also Steve Wilson on 34 and Ernie Malyon on 38 in the small lake were also having a good run of fish. In the big lake anglers on the carpark bank were struggling but on the motorway bank all the anglers were catching as the sun was still on the lake and keeping it warmer.

The winner today was Jon Walker {who was keeping up his incredible run of form on the lake} who was fishing form peg 9 and after being given bum advice by John B to fish down the edge which resulted in no fish after two hours, but was given an amazing piece of good fortune by John Camden on peg 8. John C was fishing across towards the far bank grasses using his sons pole when it suddenly just broke and he could not fish across and then had to fish with the bomb rod so Jon Walker being the sporting chap just added 4 sections of pole and fished in the gap and drew all of John's C fish away {nice move}. Jon fished a combination of soft and banded pellet fished on the deck and two feet off the deck just on top of the bar and just on the down slope and was rewarded with big fish {Jon had fish to 18lb in his board weight of 241-00} that boosted his weight to 283-00 and another match win.

Only four fish behind was Andy Morrison on peg 10 and Andy fished at short range 5 metres out in front using banded pellet fished on the lift and drop method on the deck and again was rewarded with big fish to 17-00 in his board weight of 130-00 which helped him amass his final weight of 246-00. Jon told me at one point Andy was catching that fast that he caught 60lb of fish in 10 minutes just to show that you can still put a big weight on the scales in little time.
Completing the frame was Ernie Malyon on little lake peg 38 and Ernie caught on two lines both at a range of 7 metres and both fished on the deck. Line one was straight out in front using pellet hookbait and the second was down the edge to his left towards the clump of grass again using pellet hookbait feeding positively which also brought Ernie big fish in his final weight of 182-04.

Rolfslake the only place to TRY and get Jon Walker floats

Me Eddie T-Green with another frame in todays match 10/11

As for my match after that 1st fish and not having another for the next two hours i decided to abandon the 5 metre line and go and add some sections to my pole to fish at 11 metres {i have not used my pole sections from 5 to 11 metres for about ten months and they looked like brand new compared to the fist 5 metres} in line with peg 29 on the car park bank. As the rig settled on my first put in a mass of bubbles errupted from the bottom and then my float just popped up and layed flat on the surface, thinking that my paste had come off i lifted my pole to find myself connected to a beast of a fish of about 20lb that i had on the surface about three times before it smashed my rig in the bush to my right.

After putting on another Jon Walker rig on and a ball of paste on i shipped out to the same spot dropped my rig in and exactly the same thing happened except i was ready this time and a beautiful 16-12 common was landed much to Phil and Johns disgust.In the next hour and a half i had a run of 9 fish for 131lb and lost another 9 or 10 as they were happy to run me around then get to the bush to my right and come off. While i was losing fish Phil and John started catching me up but a few small fish towards the end kept me in front of John who weighed 121-00 and god did he get some stick from me. All in all i had an enjoyable day catching fish beating the cartel and keeping my framing run going, then spending some on some new Jon Walker floats.

Cartel member John Bennett v Eddie Taylor -Green

Winner Eddie {again}

Cartel member Phil Powell v Eddie Taylor-Green

Winner Eddie

Results

1st Jon Walker peg 9 283-00

2nd Andy Morrison peg 10 246-00

3rd Ernie Malyon peg 38 182-04

4th Eddie Taylor-Green peg 14 158-12

5th Jason Astle peg 6 145-00

6th Tim Guise peg 13 139-05

7th Ada Walker peg 4 131-04

8th Steve Wilson peg 34 126-08

9th John Bennett peg 15 121-00

10th Steve Palmer peg 32 101-12

A piece of news that has just got to me is the engagement of Phil Powell to his girl friend Aldonna and all the guys down on the lake would like to send their congratulations to you both.

Until the next report tight lines Eddie.