We kicked off this year’s Dave Clarke Cup on Seven Pound Creek, hoping to make the most of a friendly North‑Westerly wind. Spirits were good as we took a short hike along the bank — the sky doing its best early‑season impression with white broken cloud, flashes of blue sky, and just enough breeze to put a nice ripple on the water

Everyone started with the usual early‑season suspects: teams of blobs, FABs, black‑and‑green lures, and medium‑fast to fast lines. I even learned something new — FABs aren’t just pretty; they’re designed to tempt trout all the way through the water column, especially when fished as the point fly on a washing‑line setup with a sink‑tip. Always good to add another trick to the box

The rules were simple: note the time of your first fish, count your total, and the highest number wins. If there’s a tie, the earliest first‑fish time decides it

Micky was first off the mark at 09:20, quickly followed by a second fish — but apart from that, the whole stretch felt eerily quiet with few signs of fish. After a quick huddle, we called in reinforcements: Stan the Man, who kindly swung by in the ferry to scoop us up and take us across

Boarding was… memorable. Mick treated us to his new signature technique — sliding down from the bow on his backside like he was joining a waterpark ride. Once we’d stopped laughing, we headed for Gorse Bushes in good spirits

Gary had a engagement that afternoon, so he hopped back with Stan to the Lodge. The rest of us pushed on. Mick soon picked up another fish off Dunsters Point and one more from Gorse Bushes. Martin also got into the action with a fish from Dunsters

Graham Morgan-Plumb had planned a later start and, after hearing our updates, decided to head for Tinkers. Micky yomped over to join him — seeking both Graham and, hopefully, some more fish! We heard that Graham had three fish, two on black-and-green, one on a Cormorant, all using a slow glass and dead slow retrieve

Then the weather decided it had been kind enough. The wind picked up, the hail arrived, and conditions turned properly grim. Classic early‑season stuff: one minute sunshine, the next minute you’re being sandblasted by ice. James, Steve and I had been defeated and beckoned the return of the ferry

A tough day’s fishing, probably down to the weather shift and the pressure from recent angling. Nonetheless, Micky, Mick and Martin prevailed!

Congratulations to Micky Heasman, the Dave Clarke Cup winner!

• 1. Micky Heasman - 2 fish
• 2. Mick Priest 2 - fish
• 3. Martin Wright - 1 fish
• Gary Collins, James Dench, Simon Gregory and Steve McGregor all blanked 

N.B. While Graham signed up for the event and did have the highest number of fish, he wasn't strictly part of the group and competition

Once again our Wacky Racers met for the TWFFS Chalybeate Pairs competition. Over breakfast rolls the draw was made for the 'cars' that each team would be sharing

Cars, Drivers and Co-Drivers are as follows

Andy 'Dick Dastardly' Stoner with Mick 'Mutley' Priest driving the Mean Machine

Paul 'Rock' Bassett-Huckstepp with Paul 'Gravel' Osborne were the Slag Brothers driving the Boulder Mobile

Bob 'Blubber Bear' Holland with Scott 'Lazy Luke' Benton driving the Arkansas Chuggabug

Peter 'Rufus Roughcut' Thomason with Keith 'Sawtooth' Nicholson driving the Buzzwagon

Micky 'Private Meekley' Heasman with April 'Sergeant Blast' Heasman driving the Army Surplus Special

Simon 'Big Gruesome' Gregory with Christopher 'L'il Gruesome' driving the Creepy Coupe'

The aim for each driver/angler was to get their cars around the famed Chalybeate racetrack as quickly as possible, gathering as many trout as they possibly could on the way. Bonus fish were available in the form of Joker fish which counted double to each car's overall bag

Track conditions were dry with bright sun forecast for the whole race - certain to make finding trout difficult

The record number of spectators were hoping for a close race but, Peter 'Rufus Roughcut' Thomason with Keith 'Sawtooth' Nicholson driving the Buzzwagon, cut through the field and took an early lead. Other cars were quite literally left behind eating their sawdust

At the halfway pit stop the race looked over with the Buzzwagon way out in front but hope still remained that other racers might stage a comeback after fuel was taken on board. There was also hope that Andy 'Dick Dastardly' Stoner with Mick 'Mutley' Priest driving the Mean Machine could come up with a plot to scupper the Buzzwagon. Even Bob 'Blubber Bear' Holland dropping his trousers didn't manage to stop the Buzzwagon on its run to the finish line

So the final positions for this years Chalybeate Pairs wacky race are as follows

1st Place and Chalybeate Pairs 'Wacky' Trophy Winners are - Peter 'Rufus Roughcut' Thomason with Keith 'Sawtooth' Nicholson driving the Buzzwagon - 4 Trout each with one Joker Fish - Total Bag weight of 14lb

2nd Place went to Andy 'Dick Dastardly' Stoner with Mick 'Mutley' Priest driving the Mean Machine- 1 Trout - Total Bag weight of 2lb fish caught at 09:18

3rd Place went to Paul 'Rock' Bassett-Huckstepp with Paul 'Gravel' Osborne were the Slag Brothers driving the Boulder Mobile- 1 Trout - Total Bag weight of 2lb fish caught at 10:43

4th Place went to Micky 'Private Meekley' Heasman with April 'Sergeant Blast' Heasman driving the Army Surplus Special- 1 Trout - Total Bag weight of 2lb fish caught at 10:50

Joint last to cross the finish line with 0 fish were

Bob 'Blubber Bear' Holland with Scott 'Lazy Luke' Benton driving the Arkansas Chuggabug

Simon 'Big Gruesome' Gregory with Christopher 'L'il Gruesome' driving the Creepy Coupe'

A raffle held during the pit stop raised a wonderful £90 towards Society funds

Thank you to all our Drivers and Cars for making the day another TWFFS success

I look forward to another Wacky Race in 2027