Glamorgan Anglers Club Limited

All the characters depicted in this story are real, these events really happened… Brace yourselves.

For many dedicated Carp and Specimen fishermen (or women), the prospect of spending 48 hours sat at the side of a pond or lake is water off a ducks back so to speak. For the not so adventurous Pleasure Angler it was a chance to have a go at what we usually only see others do on the telly or hear about from mates.

The first daunting task was to sort out what to take, what would I need? Well it was quickly apparent that I may need to hire a lorry to transport what was more gear than is in a tackle shop window.
So Friday morning it’s a final check, get the Baits out of the Fridge, fill water containers, load the car and it’s off.

On arrival at the Pond, it was quickly apparent that quite a few of the competitors had decided to arrive early, many already loading their “Barrows” high with gear ready for the off. Mick Fraser had already been around the pond with a Strimmer to ensure everyone had clear access to the water and put additional Bark Chippings down where required for additional comfort.

3.30pm – Mick Fraser and Colin Farnham, our organisational Team for the weekend conducted the draw for pegs, everyone who was in the draw dug in, many with smiles as they have drawn favorite pegs, but oh no, not me, Peg 13… No Carp Corner.

It was agreed that Fishing would commence at 5.30pm, giving everyone time to get themselves sorted out and set up prior to the off. So in the immediate vicinity of No Carp Corner , Steve Marsh would be in peg 12 to my right, (excellent, I can snoop on what he is using as he always manages to catch fish,) Peg 14, Adrian Corrigan and his son Kaleb, incidentally it was Kaleb’s first fishing trip. A little further round the pond Gaz Locke and Alan Trowbridge, two locals to the pond, so some more snooping required.

It soon became apparent though what would be the “between bites” entertainment, Gaz had a blue neon sign on top of his Bivvy… “BAR”….

As the first day turned to dusk, No Carp Corner was living up to its name, so it was time to crack open a bottle or two, but as my fellow Anglers from the “Council Estate end” of the Pond as Mick Fraser put it, had a quiet few hours, Peg 13 now became Social Peg. (I have photographic evidence though that Mick Fraser joined us on more than one occasion).

Rumours started to filter through that one of the young lads fishing the other end of the Pond had had a good start and was already bagging up…. More Wine Barman…

For No Carp end of the Pond, the first highlight came about 2 am, Mick had put together an Air Horn connected to a Fire Extinguisher, this was the start and finish signal, but now in the hands of Gaz Locke it became a weapon. Young Joe Cannon had decided it was time to kip, so had bedded down for the night, Gaz decided to test his hooter, so crept up to Joe’s Bivvy, inserted the Hooter through the door and… WAHHHHHHHHHH.

As the morning sun filtered through my Bivvy door, the hangover from hell kicked in, 3 hours sleep and it was back to trying to at least catch a fish…..any fish.

Quite a few had stayed up during the hours of darkness and had been rewarded with some decent fish, rumours still filtering through that the lad at the other end was still bagging up.

Following a cooked Breakfast and large amounts of hot tea with the odd headache tablet thrown in, I decided to take a wander around the pond and see what was going on. Dennis and his Grandson were already preparing for the days fishing, Mick Fraser still one of us with nothing in the net, the Ladies who were taking part were hoovering their bivvies, (so organised…), all seemed to be a bit despondent that not much has been caught on our side of the pond.

The far side of the pond was a different matter, Carp had been caught steadily through the night and Andrew Panes had already got 60 or 70lb of fish in the bag.

As the day dragged on it became apparent that Adrian Corrigan’s son was bagging up, albeit small silvers on maggot but still better than the rest of us, so if you can’t beat em, join em.
Up went the float rod, size 18 on 2lb line and hey presto, it may not look much, but at least I’ve not blanked.

For those of you that know the pond, you will be aware of a patch of lilly pads right in the corner of the peg I was fishing. What was starting to become apparent was that a fish or two had taken up residence in the corner.
It was time to go commando and freeline a piece of bread under their noses, only problem was that the best access to the fish was between a couple of trees.
So dangling from a branch, trying to keep the line above the bait, one of the residents came up and at last, Fish on. Now comes the problem, how do I get it out of here, hanging on for grim death, no where to move?
Luckily Steve Marsh and Gaz were close by, so Steve shimmied down the bank with the landing net, Gaz hanging on to Steve’s jacket to stop him tumbling in. Off the Mark at last.

Saturday Evening became another night of shall we say pre empting a hangover, although it must be noted that Mick Fraser did have quite an input into emptying the beer cases before turning up with a case of his own.

Steve Marsh decided although a bit worse for wear would fish through the night, so as the rest of us slept off yet another beerfest, Steve in peg 12 and Keith in peg 11 had some good Carp fishing in the margins.

Sunday morning started much the same way as Saturday, head like a bucket and the distinct need to get the kettle on. As life started to emerge on no Carp corner, a screech from the other end of the council estate, Mick Fraser had a bite, what started as YYYEEESSSS soon changed to AAAGGGHHH NNNNOOOOOOO.
What followed was a rendition of what became the event song, “Take a look at the bright side of life”…..

With the weather reports that rain was imminent later in the day, most decided to start packing up around 11 am.
By 1pm most had packed away and Mick made the decision to end the event before the rain started.
So it was everyone down to the Portacabin for the final results and raffle draw.

Ty Hafens Regional Appeals Organizer Mr. Phillip Thomas kindly presented the Prizes and drew the raffle.

1^st Andrew Panes 261 lbs

2^nd Craig Gardner 116 lbs 8oz

3^rd Lee Perry 109 lbs

Almost 1500lbs of Fish were caught but most importantly the Club was able to present to Ty Hafen that a total of £2660 had been raised.

On a serious note, I think it is only right that we congratulate Mick and Colin on organising the event, which everyone agreed was a great success. I would also personally like to commend all the Juniors who took part in the event for their impeccable behaviour, for a couple of the younger juniors it was their first time fishing overnight.