No complaints from the members this last month with some lovely Roach, Rudd, Tench, Bream, Perch and Carp being caught along with some other exceptional fish. First of the better fish fell to that man Steve "Salmon" Sandiford. He was back at one of his favourite haunts and lured this 17lb Salmon pictured below. Not content with that one a few days later he caught the smaller one weighing in at 15lb. If that was not enough he also caught a 6lb Bream from another local river. Not a bad haul for a few days on the bank.
Dave Greally also had a good month catching this Barbel at 8lb 10 ozs.
He followed up with this lovely 21lb 8oz Pike whilst fishing in Scotland over the bank holiday weekend.
Other notable fish this last month included a 6lb 15oz Chub pictured below and on the same session a 6lb 4oz fish for Bruce Turnbull.
The SENPAC Summer league matches are now coming to a close and the final result will be given in our next post. Only a month to go to the new Pike season and the members are gearing up for the off. Please continue to follow our monthly reports as the Pike season is about to start. Hopefully more big fish to report over the next few months.
Pictured above two new recruits to the SENPAC squad. Meet Finn holding the Carp and Zac pictured with his Tench. What will the future hold for them. Well hopefully out on the bank with the lads for some Winter Pike fishing in the months to come. This last month has been very enjoyable for our members who have been out and about mostly at our local waters.
The region's Summer league matches started with Mike Halligan taking the first event.
Dave Greally had a break in Scotland but found the fishing rather tough. At least this small Pike pictured below made it more enjoyable.
Another good month for the members with a couple of really nice fish being caught. First of all Steve Sandiford on one of his yearly holidays down South lured out this beautiful Barbel pictured below which weighed in at 12lb 3ozs. Due to very high water levels Steve was unable to fish on his first day but made up for it in big style the next day with this early morning cracker.
Another happy SENPAC member was Dave Greally who caught this
6lb 12oz Chub whilst fishing one of the Yorkshire rivers.
Bruce Turnbull took time out for a fortnights holiday abroad but it did not take him long after his return to catch this lovely 14lb Common from one of the local waters.
Bruce also enjoyed success during the month when he lifted the prestigious Golden Maggot trophy the first Summer event on the club's calendar.
The other members of the region have also been out and although the size of the fish they have caught have not been of the standard above its all about being out on the bank and enjoying your fishing.
The month started well when Bruce Turnbull caught this nice 12lb Pike (pictured below) whilst enjoying a short break over the border with Dave Gardner.
Steve Sandiford certainly enjoys his lure fishing and was successful again when fishing one of our local waters catching six Pike in a couple of hours.
Most of the Pike gear has been put away now until October, so everyone is concentrating on catching some Summer species. Local waters have again been fruitful with good bags being caught. Paul Proctor caught in excess of 100lbs of Carp during one of his sessions. Dave Gardner and Bruce Turnbull have also enjoyed quality catches. Bruce is certainly enjoying his fishing at present. Pictured below some nice fish caught in May.
In the next few days our coarse fishing matches will commence. First in line is our Golden Maggot trophy followed by our four match series for the Summer cup which will be held over July and August. Our trophy year has just ended with the following members being successful in the various categories. Top of the list is our Pike angler of the year which this year was won by Aaron Greally who also picked up the biggest Pike of the year award. Dave Greally was club trip champion and for the second year running Chris Graham lifted the trophy for the biggest Pike caught on a club trip. Steve Sandiford won the best Pike on a lure and Mike Bell was presented with the Stuart Mordue trophy. Paul Proctor and Dave Greally picked up the trophies for winning last year's Summer cup and Golden Maggot matches.
If the fishing was looking brighter in March then April was the start of better things to come. It was full speed ahead for some of the lads who caught some nice fish during the Easter break. Dave Greally took time out to venture into one of his favourite haunts in the highlands of Scotland. Bruce Turnbull and Dave Gardner followed in his footsteps and we will report on their trip in our next blog report. Dave Greally caught this nice Pike weighing in at 17lb 4ozs pictured below on his trip.
Steve "Salmon" Sandiford was also out and about trying his luck on one of our local rivers and as usual had something to celebrate in the shape of this 20lb fish.
The coarse fishing has also continued to improve with Bruce Turnbull enjoying good sessions catching Carp and Bream. This nice Bream of 9lb being the highlight of Bruce's month.
The lighter mornings are starting to appear and hopefully the weather will improve. Our members are looking forward to our Golden Maggot trophy match in June which will be followed by our Summer series of matches in July and August.
We are now at the start of April and the Pike season has come and gone. Results for March fared better than the previous months. The club's Jolly Boys outing took place during the month and although the fishing at times proved hard the lads did manage to catch some Pike. The final club match took place over the weekend of the trip with Dave Greally catching a 14lb 8oz fish which took him to the top of the leaderboard. Paul Proctor also had some success with a 14lb 4oz. As for the other guys, well they managed a few Jacks as well. The final result for the club championship saw Dave Greally win the event. Peter Armstrong took second place with Chris Graham and Paul Proctor taking third and fourth places.
Trophy Winner Dave.
One For Paul.
The PAC Lake Of Menteith events took place in early March. Both events were attended by region members but on both occasions the fishing proved difficult with rain and blustery conditions not helping the cause. In the end Bruce Turnbull, Dave Gardner and Dennis Fearon tried their best but unfortunately for them it did not bring any results. Early in March Bruce Turnbull continued his search for a double figure Yorkshire Barbel. After putting in many hours of hard work he was finally rewarded with a fish of 11lbs 2 ozs.
At Last The Wait Was Over.
All Smiles. Peter Still Catching.
The region will now look forward to the next few months when we will have our match for the highly sought after Golden Maggot trophy along with our four match Summer league trophy.
It's been a while since we posted an update on the SENPAC goings-on so apologies to our regular followers.
The main reason for the passage of time since our last posting is, simply, there hasn't been a lot happening in terms of our Pike fishing. Unless something spectacular happens during the few remaining weeks of the season, then this one is going to go down as a bit of a dismal affair.
Sure there are fish being caught by a few of our number but generally we are having to work hard for meagre returns in terms of the size of fish being caught and some of the better fish have fallen to members who have experimented with their fishing by trying new waters as their more regular venues have failed to produce.
One of the SENPAC traditions for early March is for some of our members to enter the annual tombola that is the PAC's privileged access event on the Lake of Menteith. This year was a little different to previous years in that there are two visits to "The Lake" rather than just the one and as a result the odds against being drawn out the hat for what is normally a heavily over-subscribed entry were much reduced. That said there were only three of our number who bought a ticket and all three were successful. As I write this Dave Gardner and I have had our day afloat, Dennis Fearon has another few days to wait before he gets his opportunity, so best of luck Dennis, I hope it turns out to be better for you than it was for Dave and I!!
Speaking of which...………… https://youtu.be/q6ElnF4HWng
