The FM Charity Carp Match and James Farrow Memorial Trophy 2007Richard Farrow writesThe years fly past far too quickly, it seems no time at all since I first met several FM regulars at Selby for the second such event in 2003. This year we strived to get a venue that was more Central, or even to the North of the country, all to no avail. As we were getting desperate for a venue Cakey said, ‘What about Snetterton, I like Snetterton’. A quick call to James and Karen and they generously donated the Mallard Lake free of charge and over a weekend. I would like to express my sincere thanks to James and Karen for their generosity and my thanks to James and his sons Oliver and Philip (who were friends of my James) for their hard work in tidying up the lake and creating new swims.
I must also express my thanks to Cakey for his help with this event and the auctions that raise money for the East Anglia Air Ambulance. This annual event is very special to Di and I and we really appreciate Cakey’s input. Di and I would also like to thank Claudia who took our breath away and really touched our hearts with her most generous donation of an engraved tankard for the winner of the event. The story of the fish-in I will leave to some of those who fished the event. But before that I must express my sympathy to Claudia who shared a swim with me, firstly for my snoring and secondly for the naughty tree that stood still for me but seemed to move when Claudia had to cast. Considering how naughty the moving tree was Claudia did well to only get caught up in it three times.
Not all the monies are in yet but I believe we will have raised in the region of £ 1600, I will confirm this as soon as all monies are in. Once again a big thanks to everyone who supported the event, whether by fishing, donating auction items or by bidding for them, thank you one and all. The fish-in according to Les and Chris Clark Chris and myself got to the lakes at Snetterton at about 3pm, after a long crawl on the A 11. We said a quick hello to the lads who were already there and then looked around for a swim. I chose a swim with a small island about 35yds out to my left, in fact this was the same swim that Bully had fished last time and had a 24lb common/mirror (the jury is still out on that one). We carted all the gear up, including the kitchen sink, and got set up. Three hours later we were sorted. About 8 pm we went around to the gazeboes to meet up with everybody and have some food and the odd warm lager and red wine and after a while back to the swim to bait up and to get some kip. It had been a long day.
I didn’t sleep too well, and judging from the talking and laughter from the rest of the mob (mainly Cakey and Wol), they couldn’t either. I had a margin rod out with a big bunch of maggots and about 2.30 am I had this run, surprise surprise, a bloody eel of about 1 1/2 lb and out of the darkness this yeti appeared with this bright light as a third eye. No, sorry, it was Richard coming round to see what I had. Just before first light I had a small tench of about 3 lb and then a missed run. The rest of Saturday was dead as far as the fishing went, so it was just a case of sitting and waiting – for Wol’s Barbie! We all reeled in our rods at 6 pm (except for young Tom) who was loving it so much that he chose to fish on. By this time we had had a lot of rain and I was hoping it would stay dry for the Barbie – no chance! Claudia and her partner Mike had arrived early that day, plus Richard’s wife Di and the owners of the lakes, so it was a full house; about 18 people under two summer gazeboes and it was dry for about 20 minutes and then it hammered down; bloody stair rods for a good hour or so. Talk about the British stiff upper lip, everybody just ignored the rain and carried on eating and talking. At 8pm we all went back to our swims to recast our rods. I cast my left hand rod just short of the island, the middle rod I cast tight to the island, about 35 yds past and the line caught on the tree but a quick flick freed it, the right hand rod was set off to the right, so all sorted, a couple of cans of fosters and head down. Next morning (Sunday) I woke up, heard a lot of chatter coming from Claudia’s direction (nothing new there then), then Richard came round to tell us that speci hunter had just had a 30lb 8oz carp ,so I sent my good wishes to James (bas***d) and that was that.
About 10am I decided to rebait and recast: left hand rod fine, middle rod, reeling in I found out that the rig had been caught in the tree on the island for about the last 14 hours …..doh! And on that high point that is about it, apart from saying that Chris and I really enjoyed ourselves, meeting old mates and making new ones. We would like to thank everybody for a great weekend,with special thanks to Richard and Di for all the work they did, and to the owners of the lakes (sorry, can’t remember their names) for putting up with us.And a special thought for Cakey who had very bad news about his mum. We are thinking of you mate. The fish-in according to Stuart Bullard Over the last few years my fishing “habits” have changed somewhat. They have gone from “catching fish is the priority”, through “fish and social” to “chill time”. I am not sure what comes next, but at the moment I am still ensconced in “chill time” fishing. So a few days on Mallard at Shropham was just the ticket. A beautiful lake (what I would call a proper fishing lake), with some lovely fish and absolutely no chance of being kept up all night by over-caught pasties. 48 hours of slumber beckoned. My swim selection was based on robust criteria – proximity to BBQ, proximity to car and access to rods during the night should some bugger of a fish decide to track down my carefully disguised hookbait.
On this basis I selected my swim, which was the next one down from Richard and Claudia. The fact that it was actually the next one available down from where the car was parked and the BBQ meant it fitted all the criteria as well. From a fishing perspective it was obvious it would be hard. We were all going to be quite tight on our lines once all the swims were filled up, and in fact I only really had an arc of about 20 degrees max straight in front of me, and given it is not an easy water I thought this may reflect on the fishing…..but who cared, it was chill time! And then it happened. Now I have been involved with numerous planning applications, on both sides of the fence, and have consistently argued that in England the current process is detrimental to long term development, however, even I was surprised with the obvious concessions the new development was accorded in the swim next to me. Out came the hammers, a procession of full wheelbarrows and bucket after full bucket. And before you knew it, a whole new estate was constructed next to me. It was quite impressive, especially as it was a pre-packed housing estate, but it did get me thinking that the market for further developments must be quite restricted as the area of real estate required to erect such buildings must be very limited. I guess the Great Lakes might have some space. Anyway, after an unspectacular Friday night that was only interrupted by rain lashing in through my open bivvy (and I did wonder how the new estates drains were holding up) we entered the main event…….Wol’s BBQ and the auction. Now Wol’s BBQ has come a long, long way since the first event where he burnt everything to a frazzle and in an incoherent drunken rage tried to physically force feed an elderly gentleman who happened to pass by. He also happened to be the land owner and a WWII fighter pilot. Never to be forgotten was his diatribe – “ere mate, do you wanna burger?!” at the top of his voice……..about 10 times. Sadly his BBQ’s are now of a high standard and he remains sober. Nevertheless, it was very tasty. Unfortunately the auction was cancelled due to the illness of Cakey’s mother. I cannot remember what time it was, but one of the tenants in the new estate managed to winkle out a fish. As it turned out it was actually the constructor and property developer himself, so it was good to see his investments were paying off. When I got my camera out he got very excited and said to me (actual words): “Look at the size of it, look at the size, make sure it’s a good picture as I want this in AT.” “Mate,” I said, “I haven’t got a wide enough angle lens to capture it all, plus AT would need to dedicate a whole centre spread to that.” This made him very pleased, although on reflection when driving home I did wonder if we had crossed wires and that he was actually talking about his fish. Anyway, Saturday night passed without a murmur. Actually that is not entirely true. Many around the lake had thought a hippo had beached itself nearby, but it turned out to be Richard’s snoring. So I chilled until Sunday afternoon and went home very relaxed in the knowledge that some money had been raised for good causes. Could it have been better? The weather – certainly, catching a fish – possibly, the venue – no way. A lovely lake, probably my favourite. Footnote – it appears proper planning permission was not consented as the new development was being dismantled as I left. At least he caught a fish. The fish-in according to Speci-hunter James When i left Bicester I had no idea what I was in for with meeting the motley crew. After travelling through 3 different counties with its own weather from sun to very heavy rain I made it to Snetterton and well I was impressed with the lake (top marks Richard). Having met most of the mob after chatting and watching how to land a fish the Wol way I settled on my swim, built my mansion and put out my rods. I settled in for the night. The next morning I was woken up by my arch rivals Claudia and Cakey. Once the car horn sounded I got on with the fishing, spodded out a load of pellets and boilies. After a few hours and nothing happening I got chatting to Claudia and Rich. When we got onto the topic of sweetcorn as that was the only bait i didn’t try during the day, when my little oracle said I should try fake blue corn .
After Wol’s famous BBQ, which was fun, I cast out my rods, pellet in the margins and my corn rig with a PVA bag of corn and halibut groundbait. After watching the bubbles out in front and still no bleeps on my bite alarms i went to sleep with the weather changing as fast as the motorbikes going round the track. Then at 5:30am a loud beeeeeeeeeep came from my bite alarm. With the sun in my eyes I was playing a carp which I nearly lost in the trees around my swim. I was over the moon when I netted it. I went to wake Claudia with the good news while she went to wake Richard. I weighed it not guessing the weight and I was stunned when the needle settled on 30lb 8oz. I had a Mick Brown moment and I just couldn’t stop grinning even when Richard said someone else caught a bigger carp I still kept grinning. With an hour to go Richard dropped the bomb and told me it was a wind-up and I’d won. My look was priceless.
At the end of the charity match I picked up three trophies, a carp statue, lovely metal pint cup and the trophy itself. As I look back I had a wonderful weekend, met a great bunch of people and caught a fish of a lifetime. My thanks to Richard for organising the weekend. I’ll be back next year to defend my trophy.
The fish-in according to Claudia Mike and I arrived at Snetterton around 9.30 Saturday morning, lucky we missed the heavy rain fall they had earlier. We were greeted by Cakester, who took us around to meet the other anglers and to pick our swims. There weren’t a lot of swims left where we could pitch, because most of them were either flooded or too muddy to put up a bivvy . Wol was still snoring away when I went over to say hi, so was Sash. Typical, first they wake me up with a phone call at daft o’ clock in the morning, (well, it was Cakey who actually called, using Wol’s mobile) asking if we were on our way, then when we arrived they were still in noddy land. I finally had the pleasure of meeting Richard, who pitched on a double swim, Posh next, then I saw this huuuuge thing, well it looked like a dinosaur, soon after I found out it was Speci’s bivvy. It looked more like a whale skin to me…..humongous …..worse thing, something inside sounded like a bear snoring.
Last on that side of the lake was Les and his lovely wife Chris. Half way round the other side, Bully and son (I didn’t walk that far though. I would have got lost in all the trees and bushes). Mike decided to pitch next swim down to Thrush and Craig, while I pitched with Richard, as most of the other swims where too muddy. Midday arrived and soon the lake had a lead attack. Beautiful 12 acre lake, lovely setting and great wildlife. Not to mention the big trees hanging over our swim. Well, I’ll let Richard tell THAT story! Sadly Cakey had to leave soon after the match started, due to his mum being very ill (I hope she will recover very soon). Anyway, once we had rods set up and lines in the water, it was time to sit down to have a cuppa and chat. Richard was a real gent and he also makes an awesome coffee, respect to his lovely wife Di, who trained him well. 6pm arrived and it was time for some grub, Wol’s famous BBQ…, and I must say, it’s a myth that he burns the burgers; it was delicious. Thanks Wol and Di for the lovely side dishes. 8pm and back to the swims, to carry on with the fishing and some more banter. Oh, and another yellow lemonade or two. Richard decided to hit the pit around 10pm as he was tired. Then it happened! As he climbed onto his bedchair, the thing decided to tip over and all I could hear was a short burst of Anglo Saxon. What can I say? I felt so sorry for poor Richard that I burst out in loud laughter. Ten minutes later I also decided to crawl into the pit. I sat down in the middle of my bedchair to free myself from my boots, when all over sudden BANG! The middle leg of the chair gave in and the chair collapsed. My comment was, GOOD LORD! Talk about instant karma. Richard and I were in stitches for ages, in fact, the whole lake heard us laughing.
Sunday morning, 5.40am, I felt someone prodding my arm and I heard this bizarre whisper. “I got a fish. I got a fish.” Still almost fully asleep my reply: “Good for you!” Again I heard the whisper, “I caught a fish on your bait, come and see.” Why are fish so inconsiderate and bite so early in the morning? Anyway, I opened my eyes and I saw Speci-hunter shaking in his boots, urging me to follow him. Up I jumped, slipped on my pink bivvy slippers and ran over to his swim. He lifted the net out of the water and revealed a beauty of a mirror carp. Blimey I said, that’s well in the twenties. Short sprint back to our swim to get Richard over. We weighed the fish and couldn’t believe it – 30lb 8oz. Well done to speci-hunter, he broke his PB by 10lb. (the poor lad was still shaking like a leaf).
Well, hectic over, kettle boiling, time to re-bait, so far I had not even had as much as a nibble on my rods. After a coffee I decide to take a walk over to the other side of the lake where Wol, Sash, Thrush, Craig and Mike were fishing. It looked like they all hit tench city, as they were catching them by the dozen. 2pm arrived, Richards car horn went, the match was over and I blanked but I didn’t care, I had great fun taking part in the match, being able to put faces to names, making new friends and most importantly raising money for the Air Ambulance. A big thank you to Richard, Di, their son Michael, and Cakey for arranging such a great fish-in and also a big thank you to Wol for a delicious BBQ. It was great to have finally have met Thrush, Craig, Posh, Bully and son, Les and Chris, speci-hunter and of course Richard, Di and Michael. I’m certainly looking forward to next year’s match. P.S. And it wasn’t me snoring…..HONEST!
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