2023 - Soar Champs at Sutton Bonnington on the River soar - by Mick Carr

First match since returning from a 2 weeks fishing holiday in Sweden with Phil . Looking forward to see all the lads as the social side of fishing in Leicestershire leagues and opens is just the best 

The HQ and Breakfast was the Kings Head at Sutton

Soon the Pub started to fill with Breakfast smells in the air 

Great atmosphere 

My Peg 15 from the playing fields end 

My Catch , a very hard earned one on a typical awkward Soar

Great report of results by HOTFISHIN'

This prestigious Cup has made it to the Greensmith trophy cabinet 

My Report of this eventful day :

24th September 2023 River Soar Championship. This match normally is fished end of March but river was in flood and cancelled. Due to the match calendar being full the only date available was 24th. Sutton Bonnington stretch split into 2. Soar lane and playing fields. We all met at Kings Head in Sutton Bonnington for breakfast, a good chat and the draw. I drew peg 15 playing fields. Never fished that peg but lads told me small fish were there but i want bigger. Got to peg and very clear. Wind downstream but not too bad although by 2ish it was gusting. Decided on 3 lines. Feeder far side, flat float at 9mtrs and 2gram float on top of near shelf which was 6ft deep. A foot further out it dropped away. Baitdropped casters,choppie,hemp mixed with dryish groundbait to give a light cloud. Did not use dark gb. Well it seemed to work as 6 small perch and a solitary small roach in first hour or so. Also dropped 2 as they were just holding on to the small worm i was using and of course a couple of missed bites. Then it went dead so out on feeder and had 5 x 2minutes casts to look for bites but basically to get feed down. Switched to flat float pinned to bottom as not enough flow really but gave it up as not really working. Back on inside line and caught a couple more but feeder was calling. So many savage quick bites or little tremors. Could not hit them. Done my head in but talking afterwards it was the same for most. Only had 1 proper bite which resulted in my best perch of just over a pound. At the weigh in i had 1lb 14oz which was second in section beaten by Andy on next peg 14 with 2lb 5oz. It was hard but enjoyable. Back to pub. Guiness flowed and the laughs started. The camaraderie at these events is special and long may it continue. Will be back for the next champs but this weekend is the start of the Soar Valley Winter League or SVWL and looking forward to that. We need rain to add a bit of colour but looking at forecast we are not going to get much so could be another low weight match for most but this river has a habit of suddenly switching on so a surprise could be on the cards.

See you all on the SVWL next week when 9 teams of 10 are active on the river soar again.