Big Bash Angling Club

All paid on thank you

Big Bash Summer league round 15 Laurels  Lake 25.10.2025

Our Last Summer League match of  2025 and Summer has long since left us if anything about todays weather was to go by. 6 degrees overnight, a high of 9 today and a very cold wind blowing off the moors onto the lake. Some sunny periods,  some clouds, odd very dark cloud and a threat of rain with the very cool wind. Woolly hat was on protecting my solar panel, clothing layers increasing around my athletic body and sandwiches will soon be replaced by hot soup.

Jaspers Friday night live draw with 15 names on the spinning wheel and the whole of Laurels Lake kindly donated by Aaron & Alex there was plenty of space and room for everyone. Difficult to get the pegging right, some good areas, some slightly difficult ones, some favourites and some not so. The peg selection is a hard one, no one wants to do it, you can never win.  "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time". Peg 6 in dead mans corner landed for yours truly, well chuffed not.

Arrived at the lake and walked straight past peg 6 as I thought it was further along than it actually is. Saw peg 4 and then I was even more grumpy as it is the corner peg on  the North bank. They don't call it dead mans corner for nothing. The Laurels revamp a few years ago improved the lake no end however dead mans corner remains dead man's corner. I am generally an optimistic glass half full person however this morning I was as grumpy as hell. The lads tried to cheer me up, Dave Fox said he won a festival match off peg 6 with less room than I had. He then dropped out however it was in early summer. Steve Curtis also said he had caught off peg 6, then he dropped out the wind was blowing in which today wasn't the case. Hey ho give your head a wobble and sort yourself out Leo.

A very hard day around the lake for everyone and a struggle for bites, locating the fish, getting them to feed consistency which reflects in todays weights.

Due to AGM the match times moved forward and it was 09:30 Start and 3:30 finish.

Peg 2 Dave Fox a venue regular all year however it took about 45 minutes of nothing on the rod so he moved to his righthand margin and with a maggot approach started on small roach, skimmers and then perch. A real mixed net of silvers and some quality large resident Laurels Perch to be proud off. 32-6

Peg 4 Steve Curtis  A really frustrating day for Steve who it is fair to say also struggled. At 11 oclock he even went on pole in his margin using maggot, yes maggot. He had seen the size of the Perch Dave as watching and tried similar tactics however was roached out which just added more to his frustration. 12:30 and his favoured rod arced around for his first F1. Catch one, move on try some thing else, wait and catch another.  Long day at the office however Steve is called fishfinder for a reason which resulted in 44-12 and another section win.

Peg 6 Leo Martin Despite the moaning and groaning I set up a 2+1 maggot line, 2+1 pellet line, both about 4 feet deep. A margin line 2+1 to my right which was 3 feet tight in to the bank. Bomb and method rods. Fed several swims for these, pellets to island and right hand side of it, corn in betwen pegs 8 and 9, pellets to corner near hay bale. Swapped and changed wafters on method, pellets and corn on bomb, and tip went round about 12 ish for 3 fish on krill wafter on method with fishery pellets. Then nothing. More rotation and another fish. Tried margin and roach. More rotation and pciked u0p one on bomb and corn. Kept rotation for odd fish before going in margin at 2pm and had 3 fish back to back then nothing. 2 of these fish went 9lb and 6lb. No more bites here either. 31lb and thanks for coming however this is much better than I expected off this peg.

Peg 12 Paul Whitehouse  38-15 and a 2nd in section

Peg 14 27- 4 and a difficult day for Andy today.

XXXX

Peg 15 Michael Roche who fishing rods to island in front and Robin Red pellet managed 58-11 for a 1st in section.

Peg 17 Joe (not on a end peg ) Martin 53lb and a 2nd in section

Peg 20 Smiler DNW

Peg 22 Richard Cooke 33-05 and 2nd in section

Peg 24 John Utting 32-04 and a close-run battle with Richard next peg.

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Peg 30 Tracey Benson. As well as his usual long pole approach Tracey today set up not 1 but 2 rods. He must have known it was going to hard.  He did however secure his match winning fish from his margin lines today. 58-15 was todays winning weight and Tracey continued his winning streak with us on top of Steve Gregorys matches. Well done Tracey.

Peg 35 John Lanelly found it hard and recorded 13-10

Peg 36 Mark Radford 38-12 and another section win for Mwrk

Peg 38 Steve Guy also another hard day to record 10-3 but importantly took the shiny pound and bragging rights of his good mate Smiler

Peg 40 Scott Barker recorded 19-11 and 2nd in section and hopefully a smile and happy chappy as he was being driven home by Joe.

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Well done to everyone sticking it out to the end today despite the fish not wanting to play.

For information, 24 people fished the fishery open today spread on Loco and Bennys. The 2 highest weights on Loco were 27-13 and 27-6. On Bennys the 2 highest weights were 85-8 and 38-0. There were quite a few DNWs as well which in reflection shows we were not the only ones to struggle today. Winters coming , time to scale down, smaller baits, less feed and be grateful for each fish we catch.

The end of our summer season and the league. We now say au revoir until next summer to some guys. The hardy ( or insane) few will fish on through the winter with our own winter league and others fishing with the big boys in various pairs and singles leagues. Hopefully we can all meet up on the Big Bash fur and feather on December 13th on Strip at Lindholme lakes. Places are still available, please be in touch.
 
Thank you to everyone who has fished with us this year. Club, league members and our guests who make the Big Bash Angling Club as special as it is.

Up to date list

Annual Fur and Feather match is booked at Lindholme on Strip lake on 13th December 2025 , 15 pegs as starter



1. Mark Radford
2. Steve Guy
3. Nigel Cooke
4. Andy Waite
5. John Lanelly
6. John Utting
7 Keith Smith
8 Indian
9 Leo Martin
10 Woolfy
11
12
13
14
15

Yes please

For ease of traceability below are the WhatsApp conversations taken from 17.10.25 regarding peg booking and match attendance

For me you can only pay out what you take in so if i there's 11 anglers £50 winner and 2 sections winners at £30 each  just for example can't pay out more that what's coming in and pegging fee I'm willing to for my peg if I'm there are not cos you have booked a peg for me at start of season    Scott Barker
I agree with Scott.
If you join the club you should pay for every match  John Utting


As John and Scott have said pay for every peg fee up front, if a rider can fish in your place money carries over or returns to your pay pal account reduce pegs to members booking in for 2026 season  John Lanelly

Same here pay for your pegs upfront  Mark Radford

Same for me as been put back on shifts. Will to pay for all unattended  matches.  Keith Smith

Its a situation many angling clubs are facing, having been involved at grange we see it happening all the time, clubs booking 16 pegs for a pond which is more than generous but then only 6 or 8 turning up, this is not sustainable and several have folded. Most anglers are now getting on a bit averaging 60+.Some pass away as we know ,other ail thus numbers deplete. Choosing amount of pegs to book in advance is tricky and once these pegs are booked the fisheries are reluctant to reduce numbers as they have probably turned bookings away. I dont know what the answer is, over charge anglers for unused pegs they wont join, under charge we loose money. Book 15 pegs for example at lindholme £165,9 turn up income £189 in £24 left to pay out doesnt really work.I think this year decisions we make could be crucial to the survival of the club. I also personaly think some members would prefer small knock ups as done on the Wednesday knock ups .It will be interesting to know others opinions on where we are heading  Steve Curtis

Every word a true one Steve
Club Angling on a slippery slope atm Nigel Cooke

Slippery slope maybe but you try booking a lake with short notice..... we have to book so far in advance due to decent waters getting booked up 2yrs in advance...  Jasper

Thats one of the problems trying to book the right amount of pegs for the amount of people turning up, its almost a impossible task. Book not enough and let members down too many and loose money.    Steve Curtis


Maybe a yearly subscription could be the Answer just saying like  Nigel Cooke

I suggest a weekly payment of £3 a week subscriptions
It's not a pint of beer
I would gladly pay monies up front for the whole year
This would reduce administrative work and make sure the club has a future

Only book ten pegs on a first come first serve as we do have a reduced number for 2026 season. I have been in two clubs that folded because members didn't attend matches so the clubs went into the red and folded. I'm sure some venues will increase peg numbers if enough notice is given.

Two mates of mine - one runs an angling club the other a golfing society. Both often struggled to balance the books.

Angler secretary, for years, paid deposits out of his own pocket and collected the money on match days. This was ok when pegs were only a couple of quid. When they went up members agreed to pay deposits in advance. Balances paid on the day. Often no shows resulted in those fishing paying extra to cover the balance owed. Regular no shows were expelled.
When more venues demanded full payment upfront he asked members to each pay £150 upfront.
Most refused and the club folded.

Golf secretary. Produced a calendar of events. Showning dates, golf courses and weekend trips (including coach travel). Cost for each individual event was shown.
Members booked on the events they wanted to take part in and paid in full.
Secretary booked each event for those that had paid. Society is flourishing.

My conclusion: Golf secretary's job is easier than that of an Angling Clubs secretary's.

Pay for peg in advance to secure peg on each match that you want to fish. Book pegs for those that have paid for them.

Any more comments, items or feedback for the AGM please ?

Saturday 29th November - Grange Park - Heron

Match 3 of the 2025 Winter League

£20 Pegging and Pools to be paid before Friday 21st November ( PayPal - leo_martin15@msn.com )

Please make yourself aware of any fishery rules and club rules

Peg numbers will be appointed by a live draw live on Facebook on Friday 28th November

All anglers are encouraged to weigh in so as not to effect section points of league members. Any league member not weighing in will incur extra section points.

A no show or late notice (less than 7 days) will result in a £9.00 charge to cover the pegging fee so as not to effect the pools.

Confirmation needed from all Winter league anglers as per the 7 day rule above.

All anglers to have valid rod licence with them at all times in case of checks - Big Bash Angling Club can not be held accountable if caught without a valid licence.

1. Rich Cooke                 💰20
2. Steve Jackson             💰20
3 John Lanelly               💰20
4. Dave Fox                     💰20 
5. Gavin Cooper              💰20         
6 Mark Radford              💰20
7 Tracey Benson              💰20     
8 Nigel Cooke                  💰20
9  Indian.                            COD
10 Leo Martin            💰20 

Reserves


Withdrawn
1  Keith Smith   
2.  Lewis Fox