ATWL - Round 5: Chorley

Freezing cold, raining and blowing a gale - is there never going to be an end to this weather??

Another struggle at Chorley.  We've given up trying to climb the table now - we're just dragging other teams down with us instead - Leigh were this week's victims.  There were some particularly nasty pegs thrown up on our draw, with Mark Adams having a real disaster with the river beneath where he was.  The Adder regaled me of the sad details back at t'pub and said it was genuinely a case of a bad draw giving him a barren peg.  Whether there was some guilt attached to that sentiment (it was Adder who pegged it) I dunno, but we're due a break sometime this milennium; surely??

Phil Clegg had the unluckiest of days - a dozy boater swiped his net and got it stuck round the prop - wrecking the net and killing the fish in it.  Phil had no choice but to wrap-up, but commentators in the pub who saw the incident (and were close escapees of the same nutter) reckoned he would've had 3 or 4 points with the fish he'd already caught.

Terry was in the next section to me and was biteless for the duration of the match and Wrighty broke his No4 which was symptomatic of our luck throughout the series.

My match set off great from the end peg in E section.  I was straight into small roach on the butty at 7m and they were coming one-a-chuck until (I presume) the same boater careered into sight from Skew Bridge.  They either couldn't see or had forgotten their main sail; the boat zig-zagged wildly and resulted in a mouthful off big Sammy in the next birth.

That, and another (careful) boater put paid to my catching exploits down the track.  Nobody around me was catching up to that point, so I went across to the far side where it was barely wet at 13m.  I had a couple of pairs of eyes but nothing else stirred.  I caught another small roach down the track on my butty line and never saw a bite on my snig line.

That was it for my match - I was fearing another rout in my section, but had my spirits lifted when I realised that everyone else had struggled on my side of Skew Bridge.  The exception was Blurts who snaffled over a pound from the end of the wall at the bridge.  Danny was the other side and won the section with 1-7-odd; a good weight considering the conditions and the distinct lack of fish at the best of times down that end.

Onwards and upwards to Heatons Bridge and the finale.  Banded pellets, paste, method feeders, huge dumps of caster and liquidised corn this week - we're going for it big time...

TEAMS ON THE DAY:

1  Sams  31 
2  Ted Carter Preston  37

3  Tricast Rochdale 43

4  Sensas North West  53

5  Mosella Lostock Tackle Box MG  58

6  Octoplus Standish MG  61

7  Chorley Socials  67

8= Hindley MG  68

8= Bolton  68

10= Southport  87

10= Leigh MG  87