The second round of the Oxford Summer League was fished on the Thames at Medley and Folly, and with just a tinge of extra colour and a hint of flow, it fished much better for the 53 anglers than the previous weekend.
Having earned himself the nickname of ‘Mickey The Bleak’ because of his small fish exploits, Mickey Ellyatt (Oxford Drennan GOT Baits) continued his fine run of form, but this time with big fish.
Pegged at the top of the straight on Medley, Mickey was in the middle of a string of anglers who had a number of bream in front of them.
But he made no mistakes as he pole-fished whole worm over chopped worm and caster to put 52.12.0 on the scales to emerge a comfortable winner.
Two pegs above him and no doubt thankful for a vacant peg below him, Shakespeare’s Michael Buchwalder fished an open ended feeder with worm and caster to take ten slabs for a second-placed 36.15.0.
He edged out his Shakespeare teammate Tony Bench, who fished an open ended feeder to finish two ounces behind.
Teams on the day: Shakespeare 44, Garbolino Banbury Gunsmiths/Oxford Drennan 38, Turners Tackle & Bait 36, Fox Match Isis 35, Daiwa Dorking 29, Sensas A4/JR Hospital 28, Colmic Talisman 27, Abingdon OAA 18.
League to date: Oxford Drennan GOT Baits 87, Shakespeare 83, Daiwa Dorking 76, Garbolino Banbury Gunsmiths 73, Turners Tackle & Baits 72, Fox Match Isis 63, Colmic Talisman/Sensas A4 54, JR Hospital 53, Abingdon OAA 32 Rob Guppy (RS Baits) won an Open match at Stable Lake, Kirtlington, for his second victory in four days.
He put 134.15.0 on the scales, having fished the pole to the island with maggot.
Opposite the island was the place to be as Derek Hammond took second spot with 121.4.0, and Andy Benwell (Predator) did enough with 101.12.0 for third.
Beehive AC fished in glorious sunshine at Lower Court where there were a lot of fish about, but unfortunately most were more interested in spawning.
Kevin Jeacock drew the shallow end and took 107.0.0 of carp and skimmers from the margins with maggot to record an impressive win.
In second place, Dave Simmons also relied on the margins with maggot to finish with 35.2.0, and third with 31.8.0 of carp on maggot was Richard Mott.
Sixteen anglers fished the Masons AC match at Spital Farm, Banbury, where Jason Smith recorded a convincing win with a net of 49.13.0. He fished the pellet-feeder with corn on the hook close to the island to take carp to 6lbs.
Dave Pether fished the pole in open water for skimmers and roach to finish second with 10.5.0, and using similar tactics, Steve Morton was third with 9.7.8.
Sutton Courtenay fished the Ken Stevens Memorial on the Lower Moors stretch of the Thames and the 23 matchmen found the going hard. If you weren’t sat on the bream, it was hard work, with some anglers not catching.
Martin Gardener found 65.15.0 of slabs to take first place, using maggot-feeder with worm on the hook.
Bob Gosbee weighed in 19.15.0 of bream on groundbait feeder with worm for second, followed by Richard Rolf with 4.15.0 of small fish on waggler and maggot.
It was a similar story on the Benson stretch for Benson’s Berks/Oxon match, were the 11 anglers were all hoping for bream.
Dick Edmunds walked it with 28.12.0 of slabs, taking all his fish in the last two hours of the match on groundbait feeder and maggot.
A bream, plus bits, gave Bill Davies second place with 5.13.0, and Ryan MacDonald had 1.0.0 of bits for third.
The Cherwell was not in a very good state for the Oxford Bus AC match on the ‘school waters’ and there was hardly any flow.
Pete Clarke weighed in a mixed net of perch, roach and a lot of bleak for a winning 5.10.0 caught on the pole with worm or maggot.
George Kingston caught perch and roach for a second-placed 2.10.0, and new member Nick Rumble had 1.10.0 of perch on worm close in for third.
There was a bit of colour in the Thame for the nine members fishing Oxford Waltonians’ English Cup and for the first couple of hours, it fished quite well with plenty of small fish showing. But once the sun got up, it proved hard work.
Fishing a stick float with maggot, Jan Stankowski found some perch, dace and chublets to win with 5.1.0.
Tony Gee (Acorn Angling) caught dace and chublets for a second-placed 4.4.0, while Paul Bowers lost a big fish but managed to scrape third with some roach and perch for 3.15.0.
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