Well it was a bright sunny morning and the cream of the Leeds and District Match Fraternity were walking their tackle along the top of the flood bank at Hunters lodge.
Meanwhile the members of Forum AC were sat huddled round on their wicker baskets and camping chairs wondering how they were going to fish 15 foot deep with a 12 foot rods
The draw took place and reigning champ Cabbo was first into the bag - Number 9 - the same peg as he won it from last year !! How did he do that - I only put a very small nick in the draw counter
And so everyone else despondently dipped their hand into the bag , convinced it was already over
And then Mr Crabtree broke the atmosphere "Can I use a spinner ? "
Cabbo went white .... what was this , did Crabtree have a plan
Before we could check the rule book the excitement and anticipation rose further
"Ey up Rusty " says Grford Glen who had come along to chase the Pikes "If Crabtrees using spinners , count me in for the match ........ can I use these ? "
Evidently its a new Piking method. You cast out and as the lure is sinking it whacks the Pike on the head thereby rendering it unconscious, you then strip off and swim out to retrieve your prize before it regains consciousness .
After a vote it was decided Glen was banned form the match so he wandered off with his 2 foot long lures under his arm muttering something about Rusty being a deaf miserable something or other .... didn't quite hear what he said
In the meantime Crabtree was rummaging through his bag and basket only to reveal he couldn't find his spinners after all . " I must have left them at Linton On Wharfe last week , by the way Rushy, did that Stan bloke on the committee ever say why its crap up there , did I tell you in 1976 we used to get loads of ............................... " and so we left Noel and set off to our pegs
After 5 minutes I got a text form Shane
"Got an Ide pet, first cast, A new Nidd PB for me. Can you come down and help me weigh it pet and take us a photo for Facebook like "
I reeled in and text back "Well done mate, Its probably a Roach and its the Ure we are fishing mate not the Nidd, just put it in your net and we'll get a photo later "
"Ah, the Ure pet, canny like , never fished there , where is it like ? Got me Ide on a weearm pet "
two hours later and Cabbo who was pegged next to me was looking rather despondent having only managed 3 Tommy Ruffes. He was even more miserable when our roving reporter Andy Mortia arrived with an update ,
"Shanes had an Ide but he's gone to get his sat nav to see where the River Ure is, Crabtrees digging up worms , Ronnies fallen asleep in the sun, Eddies looking very professional trotting a slider down the middle of the river at 36 foot depth , Keith Smileys got a 20 foot rod and is smiling cos hes had a few Roach, your Dad Joes had a few as well and Nigel Smithleback is rummaging round in his wicker basket cos Crabtree said he was sure he'd put his spinners in there last time they went to Linton !
Oh and theres a scruffy looking guy complaining about not being allowed to join the match and said he would have been winning it by now
"Oh and Rushy said he's beating you cos hes located a swarm of Tommy Ruffes and hes had 4 on the trot "
Poor Cabbo could see the title drifting form his grasp and sent Andy on his way down to the Match lads at Linton to try and come up with some ideas. Unfortunately I hijicaked him on his return and nicked the info
"Rushy, them guys down there are all using poles and fishing down the middle mate , get out there " advises Andy
"But I'm set up at 12 foot deep mate on the waggler and I cant be bothered putting a slider on now. And anyway, I've found the Tommy Ruffes and I'm getting one an hour now so I don't want to upset my catch rate " says I rather defensively
"Rushy, I'm telling ya, just put another 6 foot on and get it out in the middle of the river " says Mortia rather too convincingly
I couldn't resist it , put another 6 foot on , whipped the line out of the water like John Waynes lasso and before it had chance to straighten out behind me whipped it forward towards the middle of the river
" Bollocxks - now look what you've made me do "
"Ah you seem to be stuck in that tree Rushy, you probably had too much line out , anyway mate I'd best be off I promised Shane I'd take a picture of his Ide , good luck " and he drags the dog off choking at the collar as a result of the speed of his exit
Losing the will to live , I wound my watch forward ten minutes and called time ................. I wondered if the Match lads had faired any better down at Linton , bet they didn't have wagglers dangling off trees and blokes taking photos of every fish they caught
On a positive note , everyone caught (well, almost everyone
) and the winner was ....................................................
Keith Smiley with his 20 foot rod and a weight of 21lb
Second Eddie with 11lb 4
Back to the pub to talk about what could have happened and why it all went wrong
Another great day out - thanks for turning up lads ............. watch this space for the next outing