Greetings from Michigan

[Mick]

A very warm welcome to the forum GB.

[Olly]

Nice to hear from another Queen Vic Member from the 70's! I won the Couper Mem. Cup in 1975. Dave Ball from Surbiton and Bill Rushmer were also fishing the Lakes. Had some huge tench in those days I had quite a a few 6-7lbers!
Marco's was the scene of big bream captures - Ivan Marks?

[Mitch300]

Hello Olly,

I think we must have overlapped at Queen Vic. Ron Matthews (a delightful fellow) was the secretary in those days. A few other names like Dave Holland and Geoff Seamer (I may not be accurate on the spelling) come to mind. My best tench was 9lb 3 oz in 1976 (from just past the Boyers sign) and I had bream to 8lb 3oz from that main lake. Still have the rods and reels I caught them on. Only just replaced the line! I think I won the Fur and Feather in 1976 too, with a couple of small tench. I didn't enter the sweepstakes because my pocket money wouldn't go that far. I remember cycling over to Marco's pit to watch Ray Mumford pole fishing and Ivan Marks swing-tipping in those close-season matches. Ivan saw bites that no-one else did, and happily chatted away to us while we sat in the grass about ten feet behind him. What a wonderful character.

The magic of those days returns every time I tackle up, even though I'm several thousand miles away! Have you fished the lake (I guess it's now two lakes) recently? Or is it just another carp zoo?

G. B.

[Olly]

I remember Ron Matthews as well - Geoff Seamer also rings a faint bell! I was about 25 when I joined and had 2 x 5lb+ tench on my first visit
I caught a tench in 1972 that got into the Top 50 Tench ever caught. Your 9.3 would have equaled I think the record from a few years earlier!

I pike fished it and had a couple of low 20's but moved on - when the work started. Marco's was a real bream pit - a 50+lb net always a possibility.
I knew Ray Mumford quite well, as did Bill, and he was a member of the Optimas Speci Group.

[Mitch300]

Hello Olly,

Two five pounders! I started with many blanks on that lake until I finally figured out that they liked to feed a few rod lengths out in the early morning. A twenty pound pike would have been a fish of a lifetime for me. I only caught three and four pounders there.

To help jog your memory, I found an old photo of Geoff Seamer. I'm the one with the bream and the traditional 70's haircut, and Geoff is the one in the waders just behind me.

Those were the days!

G. B.

[Richard Jackson]

Welcome to the forum G B

[N9nty]

Warm welcome to the forum. I still use my B&W fibreglass rods and have Hardy Fibretube 12 foot fly rod, very good it is too.