Cold early conditions resulted in slow fishing at the matches, but some good weights towards the end. Water samples taken show excellent water purity in the South Pond

A good mixed bag for Rod Langthorne and carp for Andy Weavil

Six members competed at the November 5th match. With clocks falling back, matches were started later in the hope it would be warmer. Preceding nights had not been that cold but a little mist rose from the South Pond as the sun started breaking through to warm the water. Swims on the Winchester Road were included in the draw for the first time this season.

Catching proved to be slow, even from the sunny Winchester Road. Here matchmen had to contend with very bright reflection on the rippled water which hindered float sighting. It did become very warm, until the clouds arrived to reduce the temperature. Tactics swapped between feeder and float fishing on both sides of the water with little ground bait and free offerings such as sprayed pellet or maggots.

Over on Station Road swim 15, Roger Pilling struggled to find bites. Using his 7m long bolognaise rod he scraped 2 lbs-3oz of fish including rudd, small bream and an 8oz carp for third place. Rod Langthorne (swim 17) preferred red maggot on the waggler with a little red ground bait. His tactic resulted in a creditable 9 lbs-9oz of fish which included perch and a larger bream with many small silvers. He worked hard but it kept him warm in the shadowed south side of the pond. Rod took first place for the Associate Series competition.

On sunny swim 7, Joey Sylvester had a torrid time. He persisted with the feeder but had no success whatsoever and did not weigh in. Steve Edge on adjacent swim 6 swapped between feeder and waggler landing 3 lb-5oz in total for second place. The weight included a carp on the feeder and the rest were roach on maggot and waggler. On swim 5 was associate member Chris Shepherd. He fished the distance waggler, struggled to catch, netting 1lb-7.5oz to come second in his competition with Rod.

Andy Weavil drew swim 1 but lost three feeders in the trees towards Fairlawns for no fish. He watched his swim defrost and reverted to a leger bomb as he had no more feeders. He continued to cast to the same area and in the final hour his swim came to life. Carp followed carp and he netted 13 lb-8oz to take first place. Well done Andy.

Joey Silvester wins match 6 with a good bag of carp

A cold night preceded match 6 on 19th November and it remained calm and sunny but cold throughout. The water still retained some colour but we anticipated fishing would be hard. Six members fished, with four lucky enough to draw swims on the Winchester Road side in the sun!

Steve Edge drew swim 7, spending a lot of time catching or avoiding a tree as he cast. He had less success with fish, landing a miserly 1 lb-1oz of silvers with two mini perch. Chris Shepherd was on swim 6 "massing" 2 lb-4oz of silvers, mostly at distance on the waggler and maggot. Sun on the water hampered spotting your float.

Weights increased for Roger Pilling and Joey Sylvester on swims 5 and 2 respectively. Roger favoured bread punch at distance and netted 3 lb-6oz of silvers. Joey took the match with a very creditable 17 lb-5oz of carp. Feeder/bomb fishing to the trees using sweetcorn over pellet was his winning technique. And he was warm!

Over on swim 13, associate Rod Langthorne fished waggler for a good bag of small silvers on maggot with a little red groundbait. He tried worm but success was limited. However, he weighed in 6 lb-6oz to win the Associate competition. Busy fishing to accumulate that weight of silvers! Andy Weavil drew swim 17 and like Rod saw no sun for the whole five hours. He did manage 4 lb-1oz of healthy roach with a chunky 8 oz. hybrid to give him second place.

Water samples tests show very good water quality in the South Pond

A "Clean Water for Wildlife" survey is being run by the Freshwater Habitats Trusts to build a picture of water quality across the UK. A simple test kit is used to measure nitrate and phosphate content. Samples were taken from four sites at the South Pond and two at the North Pond to contribute to the survey. Results were interesting.

The new North Pond area of water was low on nitrates (0.2-0.5 ppm) and negligible on phosphate (<0.02 ppm), but the input stream coming from Newtown and Claylands was much higher on nitrates (1-2 ppm) and phosphates (0.05-0.1ppm). The water must be being filtered by the silt and plants before the water reaches the main pond. The South Pond, however, had negligible nitrates or phosphates. Samples were taken in four places including where the general public sometimes feed the ducks. Some of the samples contained freshwater cyclops showing the invertebrate life living in the pond.

The North and South ponds are not connected at the moment by direct flow of water. However water will be seeping through the silt from North to South pond. Further samples are being taken during December for comparison.

January & February activities

The Match Series continues in January 2018. The winner of the Match Series is the angler with the most points at the end of the season choosing their six best results from eight possible matches. This approach allows for the possibility of missing a match or two due to holidays or other commitments.

Joining the Club

If you are interested in joining the club please contact our membership secretary Cathy Naylor on 07934-895513 for an application form. Alternatively, applications can be made by downloading a membership form from the website and sending, with an SAE, to our membership secretary (details above and on the web site). The membership year runs from mid-June.

Membership is open to anyone who lives in Bishops Waltham, plus a number of Associate membership places (for those living outside the Parish). Priority is given to Parish membership (especially juniors), but anyone living outside of the Parish wishing to join should contact Cathy for an Associate Membership space.

Club web site

For more information about the club and its activities, the club's web site can be found at: www.bwpfc.org.uk

Steve Edge and Barry Jerome