Last match in this year's Summer league and again, it all seems to have flown by too fast.
It was an exciting match, more for the action around the pool than in it! More of that later.
Twenty four members was a great turn out and most arrived in time to grab a butty at the chuck wagon before battle commenced.
Wing Commander Ken was late leaving the hangar, so he didn't arrive until 8.30am just as the draw was starting, so he made it by the skin of his teeth.
Following the draw everyone dispersed and set up ready for the all-in which was due at 10.00am for our usual five hour match.
Weather wasn't bad maxing out at about 16 degree's later in the day, when the sun appeared it was quite warm and when it clouded over the breeze was a bit chilly. Fortunately whilst we had dark clouds overhead, there were only a few spots of rain which never amounted to much and soon disappeared.
Minutes prior to the all-in at 10.00am the first 'action' kicked off with Chairman Frank having his rod bag slide from where it was propped up on the adjacent fence, for it to fall on to his poles and top sections already set up. So in the blink of an eye he had smashed two number four sections off two different poles and a top two for good measure. He hastily got a hacksaw from nearby (as you do) and proceeded to repair his pole so at least he could fish for the day and still managed to get 16lb 11oz.
The next highlight was for Joe Fagan on peg 38 to drop a pole section into the pool. Without batting an eye, he stripped off completely and disappeared into the murky water to retrieve it, to the cheers of the nearby anglers who later complained that he ruined their swims and was using illegal bait (something about a dodgy maggot!).
The remainder of the match was relatively dull in comparison, bait today was basically anything from Castor, maggot, worm, corn, meat, pellet, you name it, it was used, down the side was good on some pegs, as was open water for others.
After five hours the match concluded and the weigh-in got underway, when the final action started. Unbeknown to most, Ray on peg 27 had lost two sections in the murky waters of canal pool during the match and was all for leaving them as he wasn't going to do a 'drip dry Joe' routine and jump in . . . . However one gallant soul aka Rooster Roylance said, he'd go in. After stripping down to shorts and tee shirt (thank God he kept his kecks on), Rooster did a very good Tom Daley impersonation and took a run, jump and bombed into the water, majestic it was!. The local residents in Oswestry were quickly warned of the imminent Tsunami that would befall them . . . Only joking Michael, he waded around for a while and fortunately for Ray recovered the missing gear and then ungracefully hauled himself out of the water.
That was about it, a fun day, and underlines why we go fishing for a great laugh with a bunch of mates!
Well done to all who fished and our entertainers for the day Joe and Mike R.
Congratulations to our winners and hard luck to John Bryan who drew Golden Peg today and still managed a reasonable fourth place.
Also to Tony Bennett (no, not that one), a guest of John Mysiak who enjoyed the match (and who wouldn't have), he's coming back next year as a member. Glad you enjoyed it Tony.
Thanks to our Referee and netsmen, Alan, James & John for a professional job throughout the season, do it all again next month for another year!

Next stop on this mad rollercoaster of a ride is Prize Night on 4th October (hope to see you there).
After Prize Night our Winter League starts on 12th October at Charity Farm, so we hope to see you all again soon with a few extra layers of clothes.

We would also like to say no angler was harmed in the making of this report, although a few have split their sides since hearing the tales in the pub earlier.

That's it for now,

See you all soon......Tightlines.....