Never before have we had a final result as close as this. The rather disappointing performances of the front runners in the last match caused a four-way-tie for first place with all four having 31 points.  In this situation we add up the total bags weight for all four competitors.  There was much calculating and checking of calculations occurring in the Ferry Boat, but in the end John O’Regan emerged as the winner just 6 ozs in front of second place.

Well done to John O’Regan. This is the third time John has won this competition. There looked like there was some wager money changing hands between himself and Frank. John also won the biggest fish with his 4lb 4oz fish caught at the start of the competition – so it was pretty much a grand-slam.

It was another very successful competition. It was certainly the best attended Autumn League ever, which perhaps reflects Walthamstow’s improving form and the increasing popularity of these friendly competitions.  When we started this series 5 or 6 years ago we would work hard for a couple of fish. This year fish abounded and catches of a dozen or so small fish were possible – the difficulty being how to get those bigger fish out - but that’s fishing!

Week by Week reports

Conditions were excellent despite a mild Easterly wind. There was an excellent turnout on the day with anglers spread throughout Nos 4 & 5. However, some individuals headed straight to the Houses Bay on No 5 where the fishing was excellent with everyone scoring heavily. Small Black and Green Boobies on DI5 lines worked well although others stuck to their trusty floating lines with small flies or weighted lures. Frank Daley released a nice 3lb brownie on No 4. Lots of fish were caught on the Causeway from No 5 but they were mainly stockies. John O’Regan landed the heaviest fish of 4lb 4oz.

All in all, a good day with Andrew Green coming tops with a total weight of 6lb 6oz. This represented the best of about a dozen fish. Kevin Blackwell should have won this after returning a couple of really good fish in the morning. The fishery was really fishing well in a number of areas.  The Causeway was busy. Most anglers couldn’t be bothered to walk any further. However, club anglers that went that little further into the Houses Bay found it packed with fish.

Conditions were very similar to the previous week. Lots of fish were caught. Frank Daley had his fish on bloodworms in the morning but seemed to be catching on the washing-line in the afternoon.

Another Indian summer day with a mild Southerly wind saw a good turnout of anglers. The usual suspects spread throughout Nos 4 & 5 and fish were again taken on small Black and Green Boobies with a DI5 line.

The loyal floating line brigade had to wait until the afternoon for their best sport. Conditions were excellent, and the situation was somewhat hampered with the stocking of 2,000 rainbows and 500 brownies the previous Tuesday. Lots of fish were showing throughout the day although catching them was proving somewhat difficult.

Mike Sternfeldt caught a nice fish on a Green CDC fly in the surface film, and Gary Inwards caught the heaviest fish of 3lb 14oz on his favourite Booby in a quiet corner away from prying eyes. Pat O’Neill lost a nice fish on a Buzzer and landed a rainbow in the dying minutes.

Lots of brownies were caught and released: the Houses Bay on No 5 was heaving with them. Jim Dillon released some stockie rainbows earlier in the day and three browns in the afternoon. This raised a debatable point of a 4lb fish total for two released small browns, but rules are rules and the 4lb total stood. Gary topped the list with his two fish for 6lb.

It had been a pleasant Autumn so far. Mild weather and light winds had kept the leaves on the trees and there was a colourful display. The water temperature was now 12°C so had dropped from 14 °C recorded previously.

After difficult but enjoyable club-trip to Bewl last weekend many were glad to get back to Walthamstow where as usual we were experiencing an Autumn bonanza. The one problem being that the fish were on the small side. Andrew Green had 12 and Richard and Gary had about 10 a piece but all the fish were small. 

The better fish seem to have fallen to the floating-line men. Phil Smithson was fishing a Damsel on a floating line. Mike Sternfeldt picked up decent fish in the closing stages on a floating line off the Causeway. John O’Regan was as usual wandering around the fishery with a Minky on a home-made sink-tip. All these floating-line men occupied the top slots this week.

Many were thinking that a tactical change was necessary. The Booby was a very consistent method. It worked well in the morning when the fish were sluggish and deeper down. However, it appeared to be picking up the smaller fish. 

It seemed the bigger fish would frequently be caught in the afternoon and often on a floating line. Mike Sternfeldt seemed to pick up bigger fish in this way and Kevin Blackwell seemed to prefer the Minky to the Booby.

An Autumn gale raged with Westerly winds up to 20mph howling across the reservoirs. Kevin Blackwell opened up the scoring taking a fish on his first cast off of the first platform of No 4 on a Minky that had barely sunk. It was a reasonable fish and Kevin decided to keep it. A further decent fish took Kevin to the winner’s podium. Most started off on No 4 hoping for a bigger fish but it became apparent that this was a more difficult day. In the end you were lucky to catch 2 or 3 fish. This was in stark contrast to the competitions so far where half-a-dozen would be realistic and perhaps up to a dozen fish would be taken. Most abandoned No 4 and fished the West Bank of No 5. Although Mike Sternfeldt did well on the point of No 4 near the life-preserver on the floating line and in fact the whole of that bank produced a few fish.

The final competition was a three horse race for the top spot. Kevin Blakewell was one point ahead of John O’Regan and Gary Inwards but Andrew Green was stalking the front runners a few points behind. However, on the day none of the front runners did very well. Brian Adkins won with two nice fish. It was thought he had these from the West Bank of No 4 before the wind got-up and made this bank difficult.

In the end we had a three people tied for 4th place on 4lb12oz and a gap of 5 ozs separated 2nd from 7th place. This shows how uniform the sizes of fish were this Autumn.

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