After 2 cancelled matches due to the recent Weather the Newton Abbot Juniors finally managed to get back on the bank.
We arrived early and it was nice to see an old face back but with only 4 others fishing attendance was disappointingly low.
So with only 5 fishing hopes were high of Robbie getting a top 3 Place.
The draw was called and yet another rover was going to take place Robbie drew last but pulled out first choice.
Peg 2 was chosen again as Robbie likes it and has done well from it before I believe each child chose the same peg they did in the last match why I'm not always in favour of Rovers.
Robbie wanted to fish for silvers mainly today and would see how the match went and if he needed to go for some Carp late in the match he would.
Simple set up today 1 Drennan Roach rig setup for top 2 plus 1 or 2 as we had similar depth's at both straight in front and at 2 o'clock to his left a lead rod for fishing the far bank although it was only cast twice whilst he ate his lunch (which was a nice pot noodle) but didn't produce a bite.
We also had a Margin rig for fishing both the Right and left Margins with pellet
We also made up some groundbait with some white crumb and a few maggots
The all in was called and Robbie Started on his Roach rig baited with double maggot and potted in some groundbait via a cad pot.
The float hardly settled when it dipped and Robbie struck into a small roach straight out again and another Roach was soon swung in.
20 minutes in and Robbie had 8 fish for around 8/10oz including nice Roach of around 3oz.
The bites started to slow and we noticed the lad on peg 19 had hooked an early Carp this meant we had to think early about feeding the margin line so Robbie cupped in some Groundbait and a few pellets into his right hand margin.
Unfortunately the lad on 19 took a swipe at the Carp with his landing net and knocked the hook out and lost the fish and also damaged his landing net.
This meant Robbie could continue going for silvers and after an hour had around a 1lb of small Roach and Perch
We had a very welcome visit from Brendan who gave Robbie a bit of advice unfortunately this advice hampered Robbie and bites slowed to nothing (I can see why Brendan struggles in Matches in fact I heard he came 13th in the Xmas match held on Sunday which was bad as only 12 were fishing)
Only joking he always helps the juniors when he can and has aided Robbie in the last 2 matches to catch a few extra fish which have made a big difference and it would be nice if more seniors would assist the Juniors as a few need it and the Juniors are the future of the club.
The second hour went very similar but the cold wind swung around and was now blowing straight at Robbie and he started to get quite cold.
We heard that Joe on 16 had a couple of small Carp and a skimmer but no-one else had much so Robbie was happy in 2nd and was to continue going for the silvers.
the bites were slowing down but he managed to keep fish coming by rotating his lines from Top 2 plus 1 then following the fish out with an extra section.
He had a quick look down the margin but was pestered with small fish nibbling his pellet and with no signs of Carp he went back to Silvers and continued to get bites especially after cadpotting in a small nugget of Groundbait.
The Last Hour was a real struggle with the wind and Cold but Robbie stuck at it and it seemed he would be ok for a place as long as no more Carp were caught.
Finally the all out was Called and Robbie who stopped a minute early weighed in 1kg 300g of small fish which I felt would be good enough for third as we had heard that Bailey on peg 12 had had a late run of Skimmers.
Bailey weighed second and had 2kg plus which was nice to see as the skimmers don't show often.
3rd weigh was Joe on 16 who a nice bag of fish that went over 5Kg this was followed by Freddie on 18 who did well as he fished mainly on his own and had 800g finally the lad on peg 19 was saying he may have 2Kg so I was worried for a while but didn't think he had anywhere near this as I had been watching land some fish but nothing big and not as many as Robbie so when his net came out I wasn't surprised that it went 730g which was still a good weight especially as he lost a nice Carp earlier.
So Robbie came third and was very pleased with his effort.
The presentation was done and all the kids won a voucher for Tackle Trader who always supports the kidsso a big Thank you to Max
Looking Forward to the next Match which will be the start of the winter League fishing Wapperwell on the 2nd of January
This has been a good year for Robbie in which I believe has framed in 6 of the7 Matches he has fished so for a 10 year old that's not bad.
Finally I would like to Thank Paul and Pete for looking after the Juniors theis year not the easiest job but I believe the kids do appreciate it.
And also I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year
