Match Report

This was an event to celebrate the life of Adam Wake, a terrific young angler so tragically taken from us earlier this year. A superb turnout of 70 local anglers of all abilities were rewarded with a lovely bright autumnal day, though it was a bit cool if you had the wind in your face!

Lot's of Adam's family and friends were here and seemed to enjoy the day. Smiles all round as we all met some old faces and some new ones. Adam would have loved it and I hope he was smiling down on us from his new peg in the sky (knowing him it will be the best one!)

Ball Inn AC chairman Dave Whittington had done a tremendous job setting up the event. The mega raffle prizelist promised some fun after the fishing and the hope of raising enough dosh to buy a memorial bench here at Adam's favourite fishery.

The match:-

Hopes were high for some decent catches, but there was always the prospect of it being a bit hard with virtually all the pegs on the Field and Signal lakes being occupied. The high and low numbers on both lakes are normally the favoured areas and that did prove to be the case again today - it was a real struggle up the other ends.

Late in the year now and the famous winter 'flyer' peg 35 on Field was drawn by Mick Grayson, part owner of Bag-Up Angling in Sheffield. He just had to be the pre-match favourite but would the fish be there yet?

The request for a minutes applause before the start got a resounding response - bit of a tear jerker that was.

Typically just as the shout went up for the start of proceedings, the wind doubled in strength and stayed that way all day - presentation on the pole was a struggle on the windward banks and the flat calm on the opposite sides didn't help much either.

A good start from Mr Grayson on the flyer suggested it may be all over. Brian Wilson on the unfancied Signal lake had other ideas though and set set off catching ide shallow on the maggot at a cracking pace. His swim died after a couple of hours and he had to spend the rest of the match watching others catch up and pass him.

Signal was generally proving difficult with bites at a premium but toward the end of the match a fascinating battle developed on 3 adjacent pegs 35/36/37. 'Shy' Bri Chatterton (wouldn't have his photo taken with his 25lb catch) won that contest and the lake, just pipping Adam's dad Chris Wake by ounces. Pete Foster was the other competitor and started catching well just too late. Maggot on small feeder and waggler was doing the business at the end there.

Back over on the Field, the fish were proving fickle. Catch a couple then they'd back off (or in my case catch one and they'd disappear for the rest of the match, but that's just me). This was happening to Mick G on the small groundbait feeder with maggot and the lengthy spells of inactivity were to cost him the winners spot - he had to settle for runners up place ruing the loss of 7 fish.

Top local rod Steve Brooks was a bit away from the main catching area but his 11/12 metre pole attack eventually paid dividends despite the difficulty in the wind. Originally starting with worm/caster Steve realised the fish were backing off and fed micro pellet quite heavily, catching well in the last hour or so on soft pellet for a well earned victory.

His lad, Ian had caught quietly and steadily from his peg 1 corner draw - possibly helped by peg 2 being empty and he too finished well up in the frame.

Others caught late on as well to make up a respectable looking frame but it was hard as we thought it might be. Still it was a special day out and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Following the prize presentation, the draw for the raffle prizes seemed to go on forever, but the light hearted banter made it worth the wait. First prize went to Adam's sister who drew out her own number and let dad Chris Wake have first pick - no surprise when he chose the Preston On-Box kindly donated by Don and Vicky at Tardis Tackle. A multitude of other prizes included nets from Bag Up Angling Supplies and a set of luggage provided by Maver. Can't list them all but thanks to all the providers.

A superb total of £1450 was raised on the day - more than enough to set up the bench as requested by Adam's family.

Special mention for:-
Steve and Ian Brooks - they put their winnings back into the pot
Bill at Lodge Farm Fisheries - for providing the pegs and weighers at no cost

Result