Winter League Match Fishing

I remember being invited to represent Pewsey Angling Club in what was known as the Winter League I had already fished for Salisbury and District Angling Club in the past in two regional winter leagues.

 One was when Salisbury traveled to the Bristol area and therefore we fished the Bristol Avon on many occasions. The Bristol boys knew the river like the back of their hands and we were normally thrashed out of sight by the likes of the two Bristol A and B Teams and also Bathampton who had a couple of teams. 

We just couldn't compete with them. They were all sponsored quite heavily and had excellent anglers on their books. They were able to amalgamate their experiences and knowledge of the Avon and knew how to fish it in all conditions. They were just too good and would normally take most of the honours and with it most of the pools money.

Luckily we were invited to take part in a new Southern Area league which included Christchurch, Pewsey, Downton, Ringwood, Eastleigh and Wimborne. I think that the major players turned out to be Christchurch who had two teams in the league. At least we would get the chance to fish on waters we knew something about. This included the Hampshire Avon, Rivers Nadder and Avon around Salisbury and of course the Kennet and Avon Canal at Pewsey.

Getting back to me being invited to represent Pewsey. This came about because a few of us got a bit disillusioned with how the club was being run by Salisbury. A few of us thought we could do well on the Kennet and Avon Canal, so we decided to join the Pewsey Club. You had to fish the season out by attending the inter club matches and depending on where you finished in the club points system you attained the Winter League Team if you were high enough. That seemed to me to be a fair way of choosing the team and luckily my friends and I qualified to fish for Pewsey.

We were not flavour of the month with the Salisbury Winter League team because the defection of five good anglers greatly weakened their team and would obviously harm their chances unless we could be replaced by other good anglers. There were a few other anglers who were glad to see the back of us at inter club matches as it allowed them a better chance of doing well at club level. Well, good luck to them I thought at the time.

Generally the Kennet and Avon Canal comes into its own in the Summer months. The Winter months are a completely different kettle of fish, if you pardon the pun. It took us a fair while for us to master the canal in all its different moods and conditions.

 It is fair to say that in the Winter, it was a right pig of a venue and matches could be won with only a bonus fish to take your weight over the pound rather than the normal ounces. At times we had to get a long boat to go along the stretch to break the ice before we could wet a line. It can be pretty soul destroying fishing a Winter League match on the canal in Winter, with the pressure of not blanking and all your team depending on you getting a couple of ounces from an ice encrusted swim.

For those who are not familiar with the term Winter League Matches, I will explain as best I can how it all works. Throughout the fishing season your team are expected to fish approximately 12 matches. These matches are usually on the waters of each of the teams involved. Your team is expected to provide, if possible, 2 matches on two different waters owned by your club. For the slightly larger clubs like Christchurch and Salisbury it was not a problem, but for some of the smaller clubs like Pewsey and Wimborne it was not easy. Wimborne had only the River Stour to call on and Pewsey had only the Kennet and Avon Canal.

The league had about 10 teams of 12 anglers so each club had to provide a venue capable of at least 120 swims. This was always a bit of a challenge for all the clubs. Unfortunately you could find yourself being pegged too close to other anglers and in pegs that were not regularly used. It could be a bit of a nightmare if you were one of the unfortunate ones. Speaking for the Pewsey club, you could find yourself very close to the anglers on each side of you. You could find your team fishing on 3 different stretches of canal, which made ferrying your team about before each match a real headache, especially if you were not savvy about where each section was.

Some stretches were quite good in the Summer, some were not very good. All the stretches were probably crap in the Winter and there could be over 50% dry nets in the match, which could be pretty soul destroying even for the best of anglers.

Fishing on the River Stour in the Summer, with little or no flow on it was very peggy and no joke for most anglers. 

To finish high on the points list at the end of the season took quite a bit of luck as well as a lot of skill.  Each match had 12 sections with one team member fishing in each section. Before the start of each match your team captain would draw a number for your team. The number he draws out is where each of your team would fish in the section. As an example if your captain drew peg 3, then your team fished that peg in each section. Your man would be fishing against the other 11 in his section. The main thing for him to do was to win his section.

 If he was lucky to catch a good weight and had entered the pools he could win money if he came in the top 3. If you were to win your section you would score one point, if 2^nd you would get 2 points and 3^rd would get 3 points and so on with the lowest weight getting 12 points. If you blanked you would automatically incur 12 points. The idea was to get the lowest number of points against you over the course of all the matches.

This could obviously work the other way round if winning your section gave you 12 points and the lowest weight and blanks getting just one point. The winner at the end of the season would be the angler who had the highest number of points. Anyhow, it was a long time ago and my memory is not as good as it was, but I am sure you get the gist of it.

At the end of each match the points for each team would be amalgamated to form a team score. After each match the team which had done best on the points score would be awarded team points and over the course of the season you could work out which team and also which individual angler had done the best. This would give you a Southern Area Winter League Team Champion and also a Winter League Best Angler Champion.

The winning team would then go on possibly to compete in a Winter League Team Final covering the whole country. The individual Area Best Angler Champion would get the opportunity to fish an Individual Winter League Championship Match.

All in all, the Winter League could be very cut throat with a lot of pools money at stake. Those anglers lucky enough to have plenty of money, plenty of time on their hands and be well sponsored with tackle and bait had a distinctive advantage on the normal club angler. They did, however have to be pretty skilled anglers to perform on the highest stage.

Winter League Match angling for me was pretty soul destroying. Fishing venues at the wrong time of the year in the wettest and coldest conditions, to catch ounces of fish did nothing for my health and confidence. I went from being a very good club angler who knew his own waters like the back of his hand to an also-ran “small fish” in a mountainous sea.

 I spent far too much of my own money fishing Open Matches to gain knowledge of waters far from home and the associated high costs it involved. I do not miss the many, many, dry nets in the depths of winter when my hands and body were cold and aching after trudging miles with my tackle on my back. I do not miss watching a float or tip for hours on end in the freezing cold.  I do not miss the luck or lack of it when drawing in another dead stretch of river or canal.

In my later life I am suffering with Arthritis and Fibromyalgia which has left me with joint and muscle aching. This, I am sure has been partly caused by all that Winter fishing in damp waders and getting thoroughly soaked in the search for success. You would have to be a genius to make match angling pay and I realised too late that I do not fit that description.

On the other side of the coin, I do miss having my name called out for winning a match, picking up my pools winnings on quite a few occasions and winning my sections for my teams. I miss the fantastic camaraderie between fellow anglers before, during and after matches.

I miss being in my local tackle shop discussing the state of the fishing and generally putting the world to rights. Finally, I miss having p*** taken out of me, taking the P*** out of the unfortunate others and being able to laugh about it afterwards.  I do feel that I would have been much happier and richer if I had stayed a club angler instead of trying to fly without wings.