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Day 2
Gary Thorpe (GOT Baits)
223lb -08oz
Peg 27.

It was a relief to all that the lake fished much better today. With weights well up a total of 13 Ton plus weights were taken. Top of the pile for today was GOT Baits match angler Gary Thorpe. Drawn on Peg 27 he fished shallow and sprayed pellet from the off to take fish into double figures for a match winning 223lb 8oz. Gary's festival plan to fish shallow had now landed him two section wins from the car park bank and who would guess against him doing the same on Monday? It seemed that the fish in the deeper water had gone off the Paste and the pellet up in the water was the key to taking a Ton plus weight.

In contrast to the the deeper half of the lake, the shallow lake was still fishing to the paste. One of the better paste anglers at Rolfslake, John Bennett, was drawn on Peg 6 and fished at just 4m to take a run of fish to double figures pushing Gary all the way to the whistle with a net busting 220lb 8oz. John was however rewarded with a section win and 10 points.

Gary spraying his way to a festival win?

I was drawn on Peg 9, and I ran to my peg knowing it was one of the better pegs in the section. To cut a long story short I fished too long at 12m and fed too heavy on the inside line. A string of foul hooked fish at 12m frustrated me at the same time as keeping me plodding away at putting a weight together. Kevin Arathoon was having the same problem next door on Peg 10. However, Kev fished much shorter and managed to take a number of fish in the last few hours to put me well in the shade. I finished up loosing 14 Carp and landing only 9 for 75lb 8oz. I went back to the travel lodge knowing I had been well and truly beaten by the lake today! was there going to be no end to my festival misery and I recorded yet another middle of the section?

Dave Wightman also enjoyed a good festival

In A Section Mark Burns had topped the list with 173lb. Mark had taken fish up in the water from the Car Park bank to push Russell Alexander into yet another section 2nd and Pete Coxhead into 3rd. The 3 anglers had been split by just one fish with 173lb 170lb and 167lb respectively. Austin Williams had fished a great match to take 104lb but was rewarded with only 4 points from the top section. Going into the last day, it was a question of who could challenge Gary Thorpe to top shop. Russell, Kev Arathoon and Pete Coxhead looked like mounting a challenge but Gary would need to draw something like Peg 13 to even stand a chance of blowing out!

John Bennett on his way to a section win at peg 6

For me the best weight of the day came for draw bag specialist Colin Wedgbrow. Drawn of the black sheep of all pegs at Rolfs, Peg 12, the midlands based angler did not fancy his chances of catching. The peg had taken just 1 carp yesterday but Rolf wagered the traditional £1 stake that Colin would take 100lb. True to his word, the fishery owner went home £1 better off as Colin took exactly 100lb from the unfancied peg. Fishing tight to the margin to his right he had taken 73lb+ made up from just 6 fish and a few 'sprogs' for a total of 27lb. A great weight from a poor peg. Colin had now drawn out of sorts Peg 14 and Peg 12 - who would bet against Peg 13 for the ever jovial matchman on Monday.

Colin 'Drawbag' Wedgbrow

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Day 3
Lloyd Rush (GOT Baits)
213lb -12oz
Peg 39.

C section for me today, and I was dreading the draw! As the names went up to draw I was hoping that 35, 36 or 39 would remain in the bag. As I was called forward, both of my fancied pegs remained in the Money Bag Rolf uses to draw the pegs from. Out popped 39! result, I would at least have something to fish for today. A good peg and the chance of saving face.

After two hours of the match had gone I had taken just 1 fish for 11lb 8oz and lost 2 fish both estimated to be between 15-20lb each! What had I done? The fish repellant seemed to be working well and I couldn't figure out why the Carp were backing away from the hard pellet feed. A change to feed soft expander was like hitting a light switch as I took a run of fish in the 3rd hour and things started to look up. At one stage I had a run of fish that went 16lb, 15lb 8oz, 11lb, 13lb and 14lb 8oz. I was not missing any bites and all the fish were hooked properly and giving me little or no problems. Apart from a twisted keepnet that had to be adjusted in the last hour the second half of the match was very enjoyable. I ended up with a double ton to win the match with 213lb 12oz and a return of my sanity. Like many venues, Rolfs is one that rewards those that put in the effort - oh and those that chuck £1 coins in the lake. After Russell Alexander had chucked in a quid and I had followed that up with 50p and other mixed coinage - Rolf was last seen heading into the lake with his sub-aqua equipment!

On my way to 200lb and a Match Win.

Mark Burns had fished Peg 37 with Meat & Pellet and had caught for the whole 5 hours, although the last hour was a little slower than the others. His eventual 188lb 8oz was double of that required to win his section and good enough for 2nd on the day. Mark had finished the festival with a good section win and boosted himself into the top 5 and a bit of coin.

Mark Burns on Peg 37 - Had good success with meat this festival.

In A section, Gary Thorpe had proven himself to be impossible to beat with a fine 174lb 8oz. Once again, the GOT Baits angler had fished shallow and long to take the near double Ton up bag of fish. The 3rd successive section win was more than good enough to blow the competition away for a festival winning payout of £500. Russell Alexander had taken 66lb 12oz in a tight B section for 3rd and 8 points that sealed a payout of £400 for runners up spot in the festival. Full festival results are after the this Day 3 review.

Phil Powell at Peg 4 on Day 3.

Once again the Rolfslake festival had passed and all anglers had a good time. The rain had stayed away, and forgetting the first day, the fishing was good. My thanks to Rolf for his hard work in getting the venue ready and to Kevin Arathoon for doing the section boards on the 3 days. A special thank you to Russ and Norm for sharing a room at the travel lodge - snoring in stereo! Although they had to put up with my constant yakking! Oh, I forgot to mention the Colin Wedgbrow made it a trio of top draw when he pulled 13 from the bag - the worst peg by far in the best section. Well done Colin - I usually get those pegs. Keep up the good work.

Macca - (Matt McDermott) waiting for a fish at Peg 7.

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