Keith Culley Memorial Match – Clattercote 2010

Fun in the Sun

Keith Culley was one of the founder members of FishingMagic back when it was a humble mailing list. Keith is sadly no longer with us but every year FishingMagic members gather at Clattercote Reservoir near Banbury to compete for the trophy named in his memory.

Pikey Paul lands a fish

Numbers this year were down on the 25 or 30 or so who usually fish maybe down to recession, the cost of petrol, or simply the fact that no one has yet thawed out from the long hard winter.

The match is usually fished in May but we departed from tradition this year to try and see if we could get more consistent sport from the lakes large but notoriously fickle population of fish. It’s the type of venue that you can catch 100lb one day and blank the next. The jury is still out on that front, but most caught a few and there were fewer dry nets than in previous years.

Worries about the weather were dispelled when the day dawned bright and stayed that way. The usual gale force winds and rain were absent making it the best day of the year so far.

Andy Nellist unhooking one of his

It was venue regular Steve Wilson who carried away the trophy with an expert performance on the sinking bagging waggler to net 62lb 7oz  of carp and bream in the deep water on peg 14 putting him over 40lb ahead of Coarse Fisherman Editor and 3 times winner, Stu Dexter with a 22lb 14oz mixed bag of roach and bream. Peter Crabtree followed in 3rd with another mixed bream and roach bag of 13lb 15oz.

Many thanks to FishingMagic for providing the after match eats in the excellent Brasenose Arms in Cropredy and for prizes for the biggest fish and for the after match raffle. Windy won the carp barrow (never did a man need one more!) and Graham Marsden kindly donated his prize of a Greys TX Specimen Rod for a 7lb 2oz carp for another draw, this time won by Paul Howarth.

Peter Crabtree with a bream

Here’s to next year when hopefully we will see a few more new faces at what is always a great FishingMagic day.

PS Anyone who wants to learn the dark arts of the bagging waggler, Steve Wilson has kindly offered to host a tuition day at Clattercote during the summer. Details in the events section in due course.

The table of results –

Stu presents Steve with his trophy, is that déjà vu or a premonition of next year’s match?

Perhaps we should leave you with this captured dialogue –

Windy, overcome with emotion at winning a tackle barrow, then oversteps the mark!

Note from FishingMagic –

A giant round of thanks to Nigel Connor for organising it all.