24 hour Charity Match 27-28th August 2022

The 2022 event took place as follows -

1st peg 5 Louie Brown 65lb 8oz
2nd peg 18 Mike Bickley 46lb 15oz

3rd peg 20  Jim Fleming & Hugo Bardsley (Team Hugo) 35lb 6oz

4th peg 16 Rob Holtom 35lb 5oz

5th peg 30 Dave McGahey 24lb 8oz

 A number of other anglers fished parts of the event and their contribution is gratefully acknowledged.

Saturday morning began with the peg selection, which was not as easy as it would seem. All participants were looking for pegs that gave the space for the mountains of equipment  that's needed for the full 24 hour marathon, but which also looked to produce a few fish. There were a good number of carp loitering in the bay by pegs 1 and 2 which looked promising, but in the end the usual favourites were selected by the anglers who were planning to complete the full event. (Lee Cherry fished peg 1 and had a good mixed bag of silvers).

Louie Brown had a family event to attend and would miss the Saturday evening session, but as its the taking part that counts, he gamefully agreed to fish the sessions he could.

Bright, calm conditions promised a slow start and that proved to be the case. At the first weigh-in Mike Bickley led with just over 12lb with Dave Mulcahy close behind on 9.5lb. Louie struggled and after finding the feeder not producing, switched to short pole tactics to finish the session with a solitary roach. 

After a break for tea (Louie departing for his shin-dig) the fishing improved for the evening hours as things settled down, and better weights resulted. Mike once again landing the most with 27lb+ of carp and bream falling to punched meat feeder tactics, Team Hugo close behind with 25lb of carp, bream and Ide. Mike leading overall by approximateley 10lb at this point.

Julie Williams from Francis House came on to thank us and wish us all luck.

Then, it was like someone flicked a switch and everything changed. 

Louie returned and immediately set about making up for lost time, landing a mirror carp of 18lb, followed by a super common of exactly 20lb (a new PB for him). These were immediately followed by two more large carp. Meanwhile everyone else's swims stopped. Dead. Mike didn't have a single bite between midnight and 6.00am, Team Hugo and Rob had a mere handful of silvers, while Dave had a nightmare with tackle malfunctions.

The result of this was that Louie stormed into the lead with an incredible 62lb with 4 fish from the session !

It was a lead that simply couldn't be caught.

The Sunday morning session proving difficult as usual, mainly due to fatigue, but also because only silvers were feeding making it almost impossible to make a decent weight. Mike landed 6lb 9oz a bream and silvers on maggot waggler, Louie had a lovely crucian on the tip, Hugo a handful of skimmers roach and perch, Rob a few silvers, while Dave had 3 bites and no fish.

It was an event to remember for all but particularly for Louie Brown. A mammoth recovery session, a new PB and a first RAC win with trophy all completely deserved for an outstanding performance. It was noted that he landed every single fish he hooked. Great Skills.

A huge thanks to all the RAC members who came down and made donations to this very worthy cause (all funds raised go to Francis House Children's Hospice). And thanks to the friends and family who visited and made things that little bit easier for us.

Particular mentions include Edgeley Sports, Rob Holtom, Helen Stanfield, Debbie Leigh, Lee Cherry, Jim Law, Alan MacWilliams, Mark Wheatcroft, Mike Norris, Steve Brown, Audrey Fleming, Paola Bickley. Sorry if there is anyone we've forgotten to mention, still not had a nap as I write this :)

The BIGGEST thanks to those of you who sponsored, which is, after all, what its all about.

Donations can still be made via the club or directly to FHCH online here - 

https://www.francishouse.org.uk/get-involved/donate/donate-online/

There has been quite a lot of interest expressed in participating next year, which will take place on its usual date of the August bank holiday weekend. Make a note in your diaries !