Final species match of 2022

The final match of 2022 has been completed.The challenge was to catch the right species in the correct time window.As it happened this match turned out to be more difficult than first imagined, there were plenty of instances where the right species was caught at the wrong time.John and Derek were considering putting in an appearance at the match, but after studious study of multiple weather forecasts only the evening before, decided they had best not come along, probably through fear of becoming even more wrinkly in the rain (lol). Roach time:                        Fishing was allowed before the match started and Mick was going well with roach catches (at the wrong time) on sweetcorn, then when the 10 am start whistle blew, his shoal of Roach lost interest and would not feed.Outcome; Roach stage failed. Breakfast time:                 A great success with 6 fabulous breakfasts all served and consumed within the stage.Outcome; Breakfast stage successfully completed by all. Mirror Carp time:             The cool and windy conditions seemed to have put the Carp off feeding as voraciously as in previous weeks, nonetheless Mike managed to land a 5 lb Mirror Carp at 12:25 pm. Outcome; Mirror Carp stage successfully completed.Outcome; Mirror Carp stage won by Mike. Perch time:                         The Perch appeared to like the blustery weather and were feeding well throughout the day. At 11:05 am Mick and Steve each caught a Perch at the same time, so as to avoid a case of ‘Old Guys Fistycuffs’, both catches were cancelled and Perch Time was back on.                                                Julie had previously caught Perch outside of the ‘Time Window’ and was pleased to be back in play after the ‘Peacekeeping Talks’, however Steve soon caught another Perch, although it did look suspiciously like the one Mick had caught previously.                                                Outcome; Perch stage won by Steve. Common Carp time:        With the Carp being reluctant to feed, Pete decided to adopt the ‘Hand Grenade’ tactic of bombing the Common Carp in to submission by chucking in several big balls of ground-bait whilst using a stealthy size 16 hook.The Carp again weren’t interested but the Roach and Rudd were, that was another case of catching the ‘right species at the wrong time’. No one else managed to get a Common Carp either.Outcome; Common Carp stage failed.                 Rudd time:                          5 minutes in to ‘Rudd time’, Mike caught a Common Carp of 4 lb 8 ozs, another case of ‘right species at the wrong time’.Steve gave Daniel some free tuition on using the whip to catch a Rudd, Daniel then caught two fish, both Perch, Daniel said “I will now listen to Steve, then do the opposite” (lol).Most anglers had caught Rudd earlier in the day, but as soon as the Rudd whistle blew, the task became impossible.Outcome; Rudd stage failed.                 Bream time:                       Bream were allocated to the special category of ‘Anytime Bonus’, the target was to be the first to catch a Bream at any time during the match. Mick got this one during Roach Time whilst focussing on trying to catch the Roach that may have been ‘bumped off’ by a shoal of Bream.                                                Outcome; Bream stage won by Mick. Eel time:                              Eels were again allocated to the special category of ‘Anytime Bonus’, no-one caught an Eel, we really needed the specialist skillset of Andy ‘Eel hunter extraordinaire’ Farrell for this tough challenge, unfortunately Andy was enjoying himself at work!Outcome; Rudd stage failed.   The three winners will be awarded their prizes at the Annual Club Dinner in January. Mike WaiteMatch Organiser, Horizon Angling Club for the disabledTel: (01243) 771373Mob: 07581062628Sent from my Galaxy