The Great Gudgeon Match 2006
The Great Gudgeon Match contenders - a motley crew you will agree!
I don't know why, but last year I organised a gudgeon match and it was
a great success, so to continue on a winning streak, it was time to
organise the 2nd Great Gudgeon Match.
I find organising fishing matches a real pain, holidays, sickness and
grannies funerals all seem to play a part, with anglers disappearing
for months on end, and then appearing asking 'where's my invite then?'
It was 'invite only' so picking the contenders was difficult, not wanting
to upset anyone and trying to remember who had expressed an interest.
So with trepidation, I sent out the e-mail invites... first to reply
was Ken Stevenson, he came second last year and said he intended to
better the score, nothing like early intimidation I thought!
Eventually the places were filled and the day was drawing near, when
Rex Ward, the fishery owner, said he had 'invited another angler, that
will be ok won't it?'
Of course Rex, I said, 'who is it?'
'Oh it's Matt Godfrey, you know him, he's the junior world champion'
Now let's be honest, would you want to fish a match with him at the
side of you?
'That's brilliant Rex, he's a great chap, it'll be brilliant!' I replied
through clenched teeth.
Never mind, if I could beat him, he would never hear the last of it,
a chance for major leg pulling, or so I thought.
So bright and early on 24th July saw a bunch of contenders scoffing
full English Breakfasts at the cabin before the big event. Included
in the line up was six NFA coaches, a banker (yes, I did spell that
correctly), a bait manufacturer, a couple of Barlow regulars and yours
truly... oh and a junior world champion.
Typically, Dave Charlton from Leicester had arrived without any money...
'Kev, lend me a tenner, I'll pay you back from the winnings.'
Yeah I thought, in your dreams. Who goes on a fishing match without
any money - Dave does apparently! He drew peg 8, out of sight and earshot,
which pleased me, he's a terror with the banter.
Of course, as you can imagine - the NFA coaches were trying to talk
each other out of the match, 'you'll never catch there', or 'are you
still using that old pole?' and worse... one of the guys was wearing
baggy shorts and explained to the anglers on the other side of the pond
to be careful where they looked... you can imagine the comments... yep,
it was going to be one of those matches, as I closed my eyes.
I drew peg 4 and was happy with the swim, it was one of my favourites,
'my name's on the shield again' I thought as I tackled up. Ken Stevenson
was on peg 6, so I could keep an eye on him, while Matt Godfrey was
on peg 11 (no chance I thought), this could be a good match!
On the peg to my right was Jason Grant, who runs a bait company south
of Watford, who was truly harassed for being a 'southern softie' by
his 'mate' Ian Cloakes, fishing the opposite bank. Ian explained that
'this was proper match fishing, nowt like them softies are used to darn
sarf, who don't know what real beer, snap and fishing is like'. This
was a whole new world for me, nothing like a bit of North verses South
aggravation! Much to my amusement, Jason gave as good as he got, feeling
at home amidst the banter!
As the whistle blew, I put in with a single maggot on a 20, tight against
the marginal reeds, immediately the float buried and I lifted out a
prized gudgeon... easy this...and then it dropped off, missed the keepnet
and back into the pond! Never-mind, first cast - a bite, this is going
to be very good!
Second put-in resulted in a perch, which also dropped off, never mind,
there's plenty more and it wasn't a gudgeon, I'll net the next fish
though... Yep straight away, another gudgeon, which I netted, 'the match
is in the bag' I thought.
Half an hour later and the bites had stopped. I threw everything at
'em, you name it, I tried it - all to no avail. Oh no!!
Luckily everyone was experiencing a similar situation, I could see fish
in front of me, but couldn't tempt them to my hook. The rudd were showing
in numbers, flashing at the freebies I catapulted in, but they generally
avoided the one with the hook. The gudgeon had disappeared and things
weren't looking good.
As the bites slowed down, the banter increased: 'How many gudgeon you
caught then Kev' - came from Dave Charlton.
'About a dozen I replied, (lying through my teeth), how about you?'
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(left to right) 2nd place Matt Godfrey,
1st Dave Charlton, 3rd Kevin Miles |
'Not that many' was his reply.
I stood up to check out the opposition, Matt Godfrey was snatching rudd
off the top every cast, Dave Dorning had a nice carp in the net, but
everyone was keeping quiet on the gudgeon situation. Cagey lot.
Eventually time was called - and all the bluffing and banter ceased
as weighmaster Jim did the honours.
The scoring system was simple, 13 anglers, so the heaviest weight got
13 points, second heaviest weight got 12 points, etc. Then for every
gudgeon caught - an extra 2 points was added. So in theory you could
win the match with just gudgeon, bless 'em!
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Worthy winner - Dave Charlton pictured with
the Barlow Shield |
In first place was Dave Charlton, included in his catch were 24 gudgeon,
which resulted in a total score of 58 pts.
Second place went to Matt Godfrey with a total of 25 pts and I came
in third with 16 points.
It was a great day, everyone enjoyed themselves, new friends were made,
the sun blazed down, we all caught a few fish and some great banter
was had by all - that's what fishing is all about.
Yes, he did give me back my tenner, with the comment: 'Told you I'd
pay you back out of the winnings!'
What can I say?
Until next time, good fishing to you all
Kevin Miles
Editor
Here's the full results, in no particular order:
Ged Lovelock, peg 2, 3pts
Carl Bamford, peg 12, 9pts
Glyn Williams, peg 15, 4pts
Kieth Corbett, peg 7, 5pts
Dave Dorning, peg 1, 14pts
Kevin Miles, peg 4, 16pts
Dave Charlton, peg 8, 58pts
Steve Shipp, peg 13, 1pt
Ian Cloakes, peg 14, 8pts
Jason Grant, peg 3, 11 points
Matt Godfrey, peg 11, 25pts
George Benson, peg 5, 6pts
Ken Stevenson, peg 6, 9pts
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