WE’RE not sure what’s going on but for the second time in a week a match record has gone in the middle of winter.

First it was the record at British Waterways’ Blythe Waters that went, thanks to an amazing 106-2-0 bag Sheldon’s Wayne Russon took from peg 12 of the Bridge Pool. Amazingly Wayne fished bread a foot off bottom on the waggler for his catch, and he didn’t feed anything all day.

Now we hear that the match record for Brook Pool at Wassell Grove Fishery has been beaten. This time it was local rod John Bagley who did the damage, fishing as if it was the middle of summer with corn and even catmeat down the edge and at 14 metres to take carp to 6lb for a 64-5-0 bag.

It all goes to show just how tightly the carp shoal up in winter. The second weight in the Blythe Waters match was only 18-11-0 and the second weight in the Wassell Grove match was 30lb.
It was a point re-iterated in the Saturday match at Moorlands Farm, where venue expert Chris Hill took a staggering 104-14-0 from peg 54 on the Meadow Pool, while the second placed angler couldn’t even manage half that weight.

So that’s two match record bags and a ton-up bag in a freezing cold week. Who said winter fishing was a waste of time?

Geepster