Here We Go Again Then..

The net results of our Bloggers Society AGM at a local alehouse early in the New Year were twofold.

Firstly and most importantly, we uncovered an equation which Einstein himself would have put his moniker on, namely: Jeff Hatt + Alcohol + Fresh, cold, oxygen rich outdoor air = The wobbliest legs since Bruce Grobbelaar. That said, Jeff and all of the other band of merry men provided excellent company throughout the night. I think we may have struck upon a new tradition.

Of slightly less significance was that in an attempt to narrow the field this year we would adjust the rules of the 2012 fishing challenge so only the top five fish of each competitor will count in the final reckoning. Still sticking with the percentage of record weight theme but enabling people to hone their angling targets rather than having to try for all species.

Consequently I burned the midnight oil last night and have rejigged our shared score sheet so only our top five catches will now count. How I cursed Google docs for not allowing non-consecutive cell references to form a named range.

This years score sheet looks like this:

2012 Top Five % of Record Weight Challenge.

As you can see we already have some early scores from the bank from those willing to brave the cold weather we are currently experiencing.

I've managed a couple of outings in spite of the four letter word which begins with a 'W'  - and for me that's 'work' and not 'wife'! - and have had a scraper decent perch and chub to show for it.

A 1lb 12oz Perch and it's smaller relative caught on the same worm.

A 10oz Roach which took a liking to a fat lob. 

4lb 1oz Chub, best of four fish from the upper Avon Sunday afternoon just gone.

Great to be back outdoors.

The funniest thing I've seen so far this year however is when Jeff and I took a trip to a local commercial in search of big perch. Not having a bait tub into which I could lend him a few maggots he started to take a look into the many bins around the lake to see if he could find a suitable receptacle. Seeing him root through the bins was amusing enough but you should have seen the stuff he was pulling out!

There was obviously a match on the day before and in no time at all he had amassed an emporium of casters, pellets, groundbait and so much other high quality fish food he was forced to become choosy about which bags to keep otherwise he'd have never carried it all.

The bait which made the cut.

Now that's what I call ready made bait!

 It just so happened we weren't after carp on the day but it could all be stuck in a freezer in anticipation of a chub session don't you think?

Finally, I've consulted the charts and have determined that come February 10th I'll be able to leave work, be on the bank in the light and have three hours fishing of an evening without encroaching too heavily on dawn 'till dusk club rules. Here chubby chubby.

Cheers.