Older news (2)

Sky's the limit for GUGGS ! (27 Oct 2009)

Sky Sports TV and TalkSport radio angling presenter Keith Arthur had heard about GUGGS via TTA PRO Dick Pilkinton and had let us know that he wanted to join the Society. When Keith visited Tring's Cooks Wharf fishery yesterday WiNe took the opportunity to get him on board by witnessing him catch a gudgeon then presenting him with his membership card (picture) - yes, we WERE confident that he'd get a gobbie so we made the card up in advance ! ArKe's first gudgeon weighed in at just 16.3g but during his Cooks session he extended his PB to 23.4g.

There was a film crew present and Sky have since told us that the event will be shown on Keith's "Tight Lines" show on the evening of Friday November 13th.

Thanks for coming to fish with us, Keith, and welcome to the Society !

A rush of new members (26 Oct 2009)

This week saw seven new members join the Society. The most spectacular entrant was Dave Moss (MoDe, as we already have a MoDa) from Luton who set a PB of 38.8g on Dixons Gap upper pound during the inter-club match between TTA and Luton on Sunday.

Another notable fish was BeTo's 39.0g Gargantuan (picture) from the same pound a couple of days earlier, and caught in the same session as LiIa's 30.1 specimen Gareth (picture).

A busy week for GUGGS (18 Oct 2009)

The continued half-decent weather has meant that gudgeon seekers are still active on the banks of the canal. This week we have enrolled three new members - RoAl, at 5 years old our youngest GUGGSter, GrCh & SiMi - and seen several existing members - BrTo, McMi & LiIa - increase their PBs. Special congratulations to LiIa whose 33.3g Graham enabled him to join the "30 Club" and put him fourth in the 2009 Gobel Prize rankings.

Fish of the week was probably WiNe's 39.9g Gerontius which looked & felt like a new Society record as he was landing it but it came a tantalising 1.5g short of the mark. It was caught in the same session that produced 35.4g Gert from the stretch above Dixons Gap road bridge, both specimens falling for caster fished down the middle.

BuDa has remembered that his clonking 36.8g specimen caught a couple of weeks back (in the ressie pound on the main canal) was called Grayling, which shouldn't cause any confusion at all, should it ?

"The German" gives MaPh his first 30 (10 Oct 2009)

Phil Madley joined the "30 Club" on Thursday afternoon when he caught a 35.1g gudgeon from the Aylesbury Arm pound above Dixons Gap bridge. Its head resembled a German WW2 coal-scuttle helmet so Phil named it "The German", but he hasn't let on whether it was mannlich or weiblich.

In the same session Phil had four other gudgeon over 25g so it sounds like a good specimen stretch, well worth a visit !

BeTo joins the "30 Club" (7 Oct 2009)

Tony recorded his first 30g+ fish on Monday afternoon when he caught a 30.4g specimen named Gladys (picture) from the pound above Wilstone road bridge. It fell for bread punch on a 6m unelasticated whip, and as well as being BeTo's PB it was briefly the SB (stretch best) but WiNe soon topped that by catching 31.4g Geoffrey (picture) from the adjacent swim.

BeTo returned to that stretch this afternoon and despite getting soaked he enjoyed himself immensely, catching plenty of gudgeon including specimens of 25.6g, 28.3g and 29.7g, along with usual nuisance perch, roach and skimmers. He's hopeful that future sessions with his whip & punch tactics on that stretch will push his PB even further, maybe even towards the current Society record.

A sad tale of discrimination & prejudice (7 Oct 2009)

GiRi, our man in Ireland, writes:

"Went up to Enniskillen yesterday and amongst other things, went into Cloughbilly tackle shop. A proper tackle shop with hardly a bit of carp gear in sight. Got chatting to the patron who suggested I might like to join The Erne Angling Club, which I will do in January.

Then to the $64 thousand dollar question - "Are there any gudgeon in the Erne?", I enquired. The patron gave me a return glance which, in all honesty said it all. The shop fell silent. I bought a packet of hooks and left. The shop keeper hadnt said anything, but I felt ridiculed and humiliated. On the way home I pulled into a layby and cried my heart out. Is there a Goby helpline I can contact to talk things through?

Have other members have suffered similar humiliation? You may put this mail on the website if it helps others to overcome any pain they might be suffering."

Thank you for sharing that with us, Rich - it can't have been easy reliving the incident for our benefit. Maybe our new GUGGS business cards will help show such narrow-minded people that GUGGS means business !

First 30 from the main canal ! (4 Oct 2009)

BuDa sent us this eMail - nice one, Dave !

"I’d like to claim a new personal best gudgeon caught at ressi pound Sunday morning 4th October. Gudgeon - net fish 36.8 grams caught BuDa witnessed WaBe. Fish fell to a red maggot under 3 gram float on flick tip whip."

Apart from that it was a quiet week for the Society. BeTo spent some time on various sections of the canal testing out his super-deluxe scales which weigh down to 0.01g but he failed to top his current 28.00g PB. See you sometime this week, Tony ?

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