Jinx Series

Second round of the Jinx series today sees us at Tunnel Barn Farm fishing Top Pool

Another new venue for me and another I am looking forward to

The only downside is going to be the weather as it's forecast to pour with rain all day and as I left home it looked like being right for once as it was hammering down and showing no signs of stopping

I have to say it's not the easiest of places to find but after a few wrong turns I pulled into Tunnel Barn parked up and made my way into the cafe to sample a hearty fry up

Unfortunately they stop serving at 9.30 and I had arrived at 11.00 ready for a 12 noon draw ( who regrets driving past the little chef at Oxford now! )

unable to get any thing to eat I headed into the shop and brought a bag of pellets I actually tried to buy 2 bags but they insisted on only selling me 1 as they insisted that any more would kill the swim so after a quick run down on how to fish Top Pool and a bit of confusion over a £20 note (which I'm still sure I gave him ) I set off for Top Pool with a bag of fishery pellets and a de-canned bag of corn

On the way out I met Ant who was on his way in to get some bait after a quick chat I was in the van and off to Top Pool car park for the draw only problem was there aren't many signs and with huge banks of earth everywhere it's impossible to see where you are

So I ended up following a track round a lake that all of a sudden stopped in what looked like a field I stopped to ask the guy setting up on the corner peg if he knew where Top Pool was but like me he had no idea where he was let alone Top Pool

Then Ant pulled up behind me lost too he made a quick phone call to Simon and we were soon out of the track and on our way to the right car park

The other Jinxers soon started to roll up and even Malc was on time and soon had the lake pegged pools money collected and the draw under way

I drew peg 20 not sure what the permanent peg number is but in the picture above its 2 pegs down from the car park with the white car in opposite the left hand end of the island

Most of the pegs along this bank seem to be 4 or 5 meters out into the lake but poor old Geoff on the next peg drew 1 of the few that weren't and had to take a back seat

When I arrived at the peg I saw fish moving at the end of the platform and decided to just fish a top 2 out in front

And as a back up I plumbed up a margin swim to the left of the platform also on a top 2

For bait today I have decided to go with GOT 6mm cat meat flavor soft hookers as my main attack with corn and meat for backup and a bag of fishery pellets for feed I also have a jar of frenzied hemp as that seems to work well with the cat meat pellet

Rigs today are same as usual a Malman 4x14 Thicko on Silstar 0.14mm straight through to a B911 16 hook for pellet with an identical rig with a size 14 hook for corn and meat with a shallower version for the margin

I went with black hydro elastic but slackened it right off as my insider info from the shop suggested F1's would be the main target with the chance of a decent Carp thrown in

On the all in I put a pot of pellets out in front and another in the margin then went out in front at 3m with a pellet fished on the deck. Geoff on the next peg started on the method feeder tight over to the island and had a couple of small Carp straight away and I could see Steve Wilson catching silvers from the off but I was beginning to think I had killed my peg with the pot of pellets as I hadn't had any movement on the float at all when all of a sudden the hydro shot out and I was into a fish not a monster much to Malc's amusement as it was only an 8oz mirror but it ripped so much slack hydro out Malc assumed it was a decent fish and quietly expressed his surprise when he saw the size of it

I started to feed hemp instead of pellets and was soon getting regular fish between 8oz and 1lb I struck into 1 fish which nearly ripped my arm off as it tore off down the lake and as the hook pulled all I was left with was a scale that any fish at Rolfs would have been proud to own

When the bites got slower I swapped to corn and managed to temp a few better size fish knocking the 2lb mark but on the corn it seemed to be a lot longer waits between fish and meat although produced a few F1's wasn't as productive as the pellet

The rain continued to hammer down all day with just a few brighter spells later on and looking round the bit of the lake I could see most people were huddled under brollies and all seemed to be catching the odd fish

I gave the margin a try a couple of times but with the exception of 1 bite I missed not much was happening there so I went back out in front and fished the pellet on the deck

Malc wandered round the lake having a chat and trying to spread as much bad luck as he could he said that Keith ,Paul and simple were catching well in the other bit of the lake and I could see that Ant was catching a fair few as was Mark C in the corner

After a few heavy downpours the bites dried up a bit and I had to chop and change to try and find a few fish and mainly managed to get a few small skimmers and 1 decent one pushing 2lb

Then into the last 30 Min's the fish came back and I had a good run of small Carp right up to the whistle

Although the best fish I had all day was probably only about 2lb I had caught fish all day it hadn't been manic or a fish a chuck but I guesstimated that I had getting on for 50lb ish

I put all my gear away in the van and wandered round to watch the weigh in as I approached the group by Malc's peg a huge cheer went up as the scales confirmed Malc's entry into the "Minxed Club" as Gemma beat him by 2lb

When we arrived at my peg I was a bit out with the guesstimate as I only managed to weigh 43lb but it was enough for second in section and a pick up for once

Ant won the section with 64lb 8oz

And Keith won the match with a fine 85lb 4oz

Full Results

1st…… Keith Ashby……………….… 85lb 4oz

2nd…… Antony Haywood…….…….. 64lb 8oz

3rd…… Simon Mound (Guest)…….… 62lb 4oz

4th…… Mark Causer………………… 55lb 4oz

5th…… Eric Robathan………………. 54lb

6th…… Paul Roberts………………… 48lb 8oz

7th…… Dave Moore………………… 46lb 2oz

8th…… Clive Pritchard………………. 43lb

9th…… Colin Sharrard………………. 37lb 8oz

10th….. Dave Collier………………… 35lb 3oz

11th….. Steve Wilson………………... 32lb 8oz

12th….. Dai Thomas…………………. 29lb 2oz

13th….. Nick Jones………………..… 27lb 4oz

14th….. Roy Ravenhill……………….. 27lb

15th….. Geoff Eggison……………….. 24lb

16th….. Nick-Watkins-Price………….. 21lb

17th….. Simon Rowley……………….. 19lb 2oz

18th….. Kev Lake…………………….. 18lb 10oz

19th….. Gemma Doyle……………….. 14lb 8oz

20th….. Malc Doyle………………….. 12lb

20th….. Tim Westmoreland (Guest)…. 12lb

20th….. Mitch Auger (Guest)..….…… 12lb

23rd….. Mark Lake……………………. 11lb 3oz

Total weight on the day……. 791lb 14oz

SECTION A

1st…….. Keith Ashby……………….… 85lb 4oz

2nd……. Paul Roberts………………… 48lb 8oz

3rd……. Dave Moore………………… 46lb 2oz

4th……. Nick Jones………………..… 27lb 4oz

5th……. Gemma Doyle……………….. 14lb 8oz

Section Total Weight………………….. 221lb 10oz

SECTION B

1st…….. Eric Robathan………………. 54lb

2nd……. Roy Ravenhill……………….. 27lb

3rd….…. Malc Doyle…………………… 12lb

3rd….… Tim Westmoreland (Guest)…... 12lb

5th……. Mark Lake……………………. 11lb 3oz

Section Weight Total…………………… 116lb 3oz

SECTION C

1st……… Mark Causer…………………. 55lb 4oz

2nd…….. Nick-Watkins-Price………….. 21lb

3rd……… Simon Rowley……………….. 19lb 2oz

4th……… Mitch Auger (Guest)..….…… 12lb

Section Weight Total…………………… 107lb 6oz

SECTION D

1st…….. Antony Haywood…….…….. 64lb 8oz

2nd……. Clive Pritchard………………. 43lb

3rd…….. Dave Collier………………… 35lb 3oz

4th…….. Geoff Eggison……………….. 24lb

5th……. Kev Lake…………………….. 18lb 10oz

Section Weight Total.………………… 185lb 5oz

SECTION E

1st……… Simon Mound (Guest)…….… 62lb 4oz

2nd……… Colin Sharrard………………. 37lb 8oz

3rd……… Steve Wilson………………... 32lb 8oz

4th……… Dai Thomas…………………. 29lb 2oz

Section Weight Total…………………… 161lb 6oz

Due to the damp miserable conditions most people didn't hang around for long and headed off homeward bound

But all in all it was another nice days fishing in good company looking forward to the next round at Holly Farm