July North West Carp Social

The first North West Carp Social of 2006 took place this weekend at Excalibur AC’s Blackwood Pool in North Staffordshire, where NWC website forum regulars finally got the chance to put some faces to names.

Gaz and Gerty were so eager to get fishing that they made it to the venue before Julian had even had chance to arrive and unlock the gates, though technically Bloo was the first to arrive as he had been up at the pool since 6am finishing off swims in readiness for guests!

Next to arrive were Danny, martinp and bazauk, shortly followed by Braidman and a whole host of Monkey regulars including Miffa, Chris and Shaun. After a quick reccie the hot swim choice appeared to be Peg 2 where a number of fish had been spotted, however, Gaz and gerty offered up the Peg 2 bank with Gaz then settling into Peg 20 and Gerty dropping in next door on Peg19. This left bazauk with Peg 2, martinp on Peg 3 and Danny on Peg 5. Braidman decided to pick a quiet swim down in the corner (or so he thought) with Chris dropping into Peg 17.

Danny with one of four fish banked during the event

Shortly after setting up Braidman had a run from a bait placed close into the marginal sedges but unfortunately failed to connect, which made Danny the first person to catch when a nice double figure common picked up a bait placed to the pads on the dam. The bright sunny conditions which had greeted anglers on arrival slowly worsened during the early part of the afternoon, with overcast windy conditions forming the basis for the rest of the session intermingled with a few spots of rain. However, this did nothing to dampen the spirits of those present and Chris soon had the fish feeding off the top and went on to bank a couple of lovely fish to double figures during the afternoon. Danny continued to reel in the fish on Peg 5 whilst Julian (who just happened to have a rod with him) did an hours stalking off Peg 12 resulting in a small but attractive fully scaled mirror.

Chris plays a fish in front of an excited audience!

Bet made an appearance late in the afternoon to meet up with some of the guests although there was a rumour the real reason for visiting was a secret fact finding mission for Phil Highlander prior to the August Social! However, most present seemed more interested in talking about Bet’s Land Rover, unlucky Phil, you’ll have to find it out for yourself! :-)

With conditions threatening to worsen further, Julian and Miffa got the Barbie fired up in the hope of getting everybody fed and watered before the heavens opened. Luckily the rain held off for the duration and appetites were stifled (well, most) with sausages, burgers, and the worlds smallest baps! Food out of the way, guests were able to get down to the all-important business of bonding, with Miffa and bazauk first to get to grips with understanding colloquial dialects and regional specialities - Oatcakes and ducks remained hot topics for conversation throughout the evening, although after a few beers, the term ‘understanding’ is used in its loosest sense!

Chris with a nice Blackwood common

With work out of the way, Nige and Steve Baker made an appearance and set up their shelters on the dam before joining the social, which by now centred behind Chris’s swim, where non-anglers Julian, Miffa, and Shaun had decided to erect their bivvies - Glastonbury style. Further merriment was had by all throughout the course of the evening, topped by a late night delivery from the local kebab-house arranged by Chris. After which, Bazauk’s favoured topic surrounded the merits of a ‘Value Box’ containing fried chicken, donor meat and chips - all for under £4.00!

Once anglers had retired to their respective swims more fish were banked, and come the following morning Gaz led the way in the big fish stakes with a 15lb 2oz mirror, from a bait placed just off the island sedges which had been threatening to go off all day as a succession of carp boilied and fizzed over the area! Chris also managed a small mirror in the night, and Bazauk lost one from the far bank margin on Peg 2. Steve Baker had managed four fish before he had to leave again and Nige also managed to sneak one before heading back off to work.

Bazauk does battle with the Long Mirror

Heavy rain in the night twinned with brisk wind made floater fishing difficult on the Sunday morning as the water remained coloured; however Chris managed to bank one off the top whilst Danny and bazauk both took fish off the bottom. Danny now had four fish under his belt to double figures, and lost a further fish during mid morning, however, he’d done enough to give him the edge over Steve Baker on weight, but it was bazauk who took second in the big fish stakes when he banked the long mirror at 11lb 12oz. A slow period followed and with the rain holding off, guests began a slow pack up whilst it was dry.

Bait and tackle prizes were then dished out with the final guest standings at: Most fish went to Danny with four fish (with heaviest weight) and second was Steve Baker, also with four fish. Biggest fish went to Gaz with his 15lb 2oz mirror, with second going to bazauk with an 11lb 12oz mirror.

Bazauk with the Long Mirror - Almost as good as a value box!

As is always the way, as the last guests packed their gear away, the sun tried to break through the low lying cloud which had prevailed throughout much of the social, and with another hour before he had to be home Julian decided to have a quick dabble off the top and jumped into Peg 20 which had now been vacated by Gaz, resulting in a double figure mirror before banking the last (and perhaps smallest) fish of the social, pictured below.

Julian, Miffa and the organising team would like to thank all those who travelled to take part in the event and a great debt of thanks also goes out to the members and officials of Excalibur AC for the use of Blackwood Pool, as a lot of effort went in behind the scenes prior to the event. The next Social is fully booked and takes place on Saturday 12th August, and after a successful first event plans are already afoot to secure a new venue for a much bigger event in 2007.

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July North West Carp Social

Stig