Sunday 02/11/2025 - Alcove Club - Poppy Match - Whitehouse Farm - Margret's and George's

Today's match was primarily for the British Legion annual appeal. So £10 pools and £10 for the good cause.

Steady drive down the Ring Road as I had a nail go in my tyre at Harescombe and had fitted the 50 mph get you home spare wheel.

19 fishing so 9 on Margret's and 10 on Georges. Hoping for Georges as not hemmed in by trees and bushes.

Into the draw bag and disabled peg 14 on Margret's for me. Great feeder peg albeit a very long chuck. Toyed with setting up the maggot feeder for five seconds, choose to fish for Ronnie's instead - my favourite target and method as it keeps me busy on a colder windy day - get bored very easily.

Next to John Amato on end peg 15 and judging by the expletives throughout the match was having a bit of a frustrating day 😀.

Geoff drew peg Margret's 7 - another feeder peg. Margins not that as good - full of snags.

Long and short Ronnie rig, 0.3 gram RJ Slim for the very short RH margin where I was advised by Bill Knight to fish for Carp, Finally a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus two in 5 1/2 foot of water, hopefully for some Skimmers.

Only tabled live and dead reds. Had some Pinkies curtesy of Fred Welsh, but thought it too early to use them - proved a mistake.

Fed the long line with GB and DR's but started on the short Ronnie rig with single LR over loose fed same. Had an amazing 15 minutes catching a Ronnie or Perch - one a bung. It suddenly went completely dead so had a quick look on the long line which was only producing the same fish as the Ronnie rig but slower loosing a 1 lb Skimmer which may have been fouled. Picked up the long Ronnie rig to fish closer to the bush down the left. Feeling a Carp had disrupted play attracted by the sound of the loose feed and first try on the long rig foul hooked a Carp which halfway across the lake the hook pulled. Subsequent started to feed the LR's in loose GB to silence the feeding. Things picked up but it was slower. About 2 hours to go we had some light rain and the temperature dropped drastically recovering after 30 minutes. Had a short look for a Carp with a bunch on LR's down the right where I had been loose feeding DR's steady all match. Upshot never had a bite. Back on the long Ronnie rig but with Pinkie over potted Pinkie and the response was remarkable catching quicker until the end.

Weighed 8 lb 8 oz and due to Georges fishing really poor this put me 6th overall! It probably looked sacrilege to most that I didn't set the feeder up - perhaps next time!! Definitely should have started on the Pinkie.

Tony Welsby (pictured - smiling!) double bubbled today winning over weight and silvers from peg 8 with 27 lb 15 oz. Tony caught at top set plus 4 barrels fishing various baits over GB, Micro and Corn. Well done matey impressive 

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 28/10/2025 - Hobnobs - Harescombe - Match Lake

That time of year when it takes me two weeks to adjust to the time change. Match now down to 5 hours with weigh-in at 3 pm. Back to the Match Lake this week, looking forward to it -17 fishing.

These matches are great value you can get a decent breakfast and match for £21, but don't expect payouts to boost your pension. Traditional match anglers know it's not about the £ winnings, but the fishing, camaraderie and competition. We soon get weighed in by Gary and Kathryn the excellent fishery management team (pictured).

Peg 5 for me found myself between the two Phil's so expect conversations to get confusing. Unlike many venue's there are no flyer pegs and impossible to predict the best pegs on the day, which is a great attraction.

Looks like a decent days weather wise. All ready for the all-in (picture looking up from peg 1 picture taken from Smithy's end peg 29).

Bait tray today Live Red Maggot (LR's) and a bit of GB.

Three rigs - A 4x12 strung our 4x14 Winter yo fish at top set plus two barrels with double LR's over loose GB and LR's - result one early F1 and a lost fouler, then pestered by small Ronnie's. A  0.3 gram RJ Slim to fish down the left up to the Reeds with the same feed and bait - result one decent F1. A  0.25 short Ronnie rig fished down the left towards the empty peg would have preferred the right side as it was clear of Reeds but too close to peg 6 Phil. Same baits and caught small Ronnie's with the odd 3 to 4 oz ones and one Skimmer plus four small F1's. It was very hard today, but enjoyable with plenty of close weights again.

Weighed 22 lb 1 oz for 4th and section win just piping Phil Auger peg 6 whom I thought had twice my weight. Used 1/2 pint of LR's today 😁. Very enjoyable day's fishing - when is it not?

The match was won by "Stitch" (pictured) with 41 lb 12 oz from peg 19. Stitch caught one metre off the far bank using pellet over loose fed pellet. Well done matey decent weight on a hard day.

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects. Found a pub that doesn't sell Guinness 😕.

Bloody traffic a nightmare around my home at the moment, closed one of the roads I use coming home.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 14/10/2025 - Hobnobs - Harescombe - Doughnut

Last time this year on the Doughnut for me and probably the last time at Harescombe for Glenn until the Spring when the paste starts working again. I'm currently thinking of fishing the silver matches on Thursday's on Field Lake.

Eighteen fishing today. Into the draw bag and peg 28 for me. Not seen this peg in before but explained by the numbers fishing today. Its the last number on the Nut, subsequently next to peg 1 occupied by matey Rich Powell. To my right had a decent gap to Tony Welsby peg 24 who started off like a train and thought it was on the cards for a win. Quite liked the look of the peg, very narrow. Flat calm though but the tow wind effected.

So just the one rig a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock with maggot - simple.

Fed a small pot GB laced with LR's with double LR's on an18 hook to 0.14 GLine in five foot of water. First put in had Carp catching me by surprise - usually got to wait a while for the first bite here, so, is a red letter day on the cards? Four tiny Perch later, the answer was nope! Everyone was struggling. With two hours gone and three Carp in the net faith in my method started to vane. So put on another barrel and added the 6 inches difference reaching full depth, but after five minutes regained my composure and reverted back to the one barrel 😕. Glenn came round with two hours to go who had just the one Carp and by which time my tally was five. Good job the exit gate was locked!! The last hour came and I started to string a few more Carp together and thinking I had another half hour refed the line only to here the all out - 3 o clock finish from now on. 

Finished with ten Carp and four Perch 😁 for 30 lb 15 oz taking 3rd spot. What was interesting the peg tow's in both directions probably due to being on the end on the Nut. Very enjoyable day, love this hard fishing after all I was brought up catching next to nothing on the rivers and canal fishing winter leagues etc...

Phil Auger came out clear winner by miles with a catch of 87 lb 1 0z from peg 14 (pictured with his catch and the mud bank). Phil caught long over the mud bank fishing 12 inches deep with maggot hook bait and feed. Will done matey

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects to end another memorable day.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 07/10/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe Fishery - Doughnut

Travelled on my own today which always makes the journey appear longer. Nice breakfast again with John S, Chris G and Pete G. Jock reminisced the three days he lost after fishing the super league for Swindon on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. Apparently he Disney drink anymore.

Hoping to be over the far side for a change and was rewarded with peg 19. As with last week on the Match Lake found myself next to Mick peg 18 and Richard peg 20 aka Teabag - little less coughing and spitting today.

There are lots of different baits you can take to matches which causes confusing and switching around resulting in reduced catches. I choose a bait and try and make it work. So far that has been paste here but have now switched to maggot, in my opinion the best bait if no silvers around.

At last conditions were good for the waggler so set up a 6" Drake. A 4x16 Winter to fish up the slope in nearly 5 foot of water at top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock and the short Ronnie rig. All to fish maggot.

Fed the inside lines and the far bank. Started on the waggler with double LR's hook bait with the depth set at 3 foot. Soon found that the far bank had collapsed with the depth being just a few inches. Shallowed up to 18 inches and was soon foul hooking Carp. Hooked three in the mouth and had lost five and time to ditch the waggler - at least got that one out of my system - bit ridiculous trying to fish a mud bank with a waggler - but fun. Thanks to Mick for retrieving my waggler 😁.

Had a short go on the Ronnie rig with single LR over loose feed which didn't feel right, so spent the rest on the match on the one barrel line and from there on had a steady day catching some beautiful looking Carp to 4 lb. Played about with the feeding which was informative, get it wrong and foul hooking follows. Can't emphasise enough how important it is to take time plumbing up on this lake.

Weighed 56 lb 8 oz which included a 1/4 oz Perch for second overall. Fed about 3/4 pint so not a lot of bait required. Enjoyed the day but did get a tad cold near the end.

The match was won by Rob Pass (pictured) with 66 lb 5 oz from peg 9. I'm sure paste played a big part for him today. Well done matey.

Chris Gay took our section by default, fishing 16 metres with worm over micro - cripes hard work that. Nice one matey.

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects and another good laugh.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 31/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Another visit to Harescombe with Glenn, just wish we had a fishery like this nearby, but well still, worth the drive.

Into the draw bag and peg 14 again for me. Hopefully the peg will fish a bit better with 28 lb to beat. Will be applying some learning from the last match which might help the cause.

Felt I was in the open end at the Mem facing the Thatcher's end with Pete Greenslade, Glenn Bailey and John Smith (pictured - that's him on the left - The one on the right looked like a Ginger!) opposite me in a line - UTG.

Thought I would try the 7 mm meat today so set up a 4x12 to fish top set plus two barrels. But would start on the paste to see if there was any longevity in the method with a 0.3 gram shotted paste rig to fish top set plus three barrels. Finally a short Ronnie rig for fishing each side with LR's.

Had the usual three early Carp and one F1 on the paste over kindered micro before it died. Didn't try forcing the line as it didn't work last time, so, switched to the meat line at 2 0 clock where I had been regularly loose pieces of meat. Expected initially to get pestered by small silvers. However, no indications but did foul hook a Carp up in the water, patience exhausted after 10 minutes so binned it in favour of the Ronnie rig knowing that I would have to face catching tiny Ronnie's before the Carp arrived. Went through the pain barrier catching Whitebait before the odd Carp arrived and had a decent couple of hours catching Carp to 7 lb. However, had to put up with Whitebait in between each Carp but as the match progressed the silvers were less of a nuisance, netting a a few bigger 3 oz Rudd and Ronnie's, but no Perch today.

Meanwhile John Smith was busy foul hooking and losing his first seven fish. John stayed strong taking the piss take on the chin, it would have broken most men💪.

Weighed 51 lb 8 oz for fourth overall and a section first. Really enjoyed it today, especially as didn't feed too many maggots. Took away from today that the paste on the Match lake will for me be mothballed until next Spring.

The match was won by "Stitch" (pictured) with 66 lb 9 oz from peg 2. Excellent weight on a difficult day.

Back to the Lamb for a pint with fellow GAS Heads. Glenn was pondering at his lucky polo shirt and realising he had it on inside out. 😂

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 25/09/2025 - Over 55's - Bitterwell Lake

Tony Rixon organised this match with 18 of the over 55's including a couple of stragglers. Weather wise it was to be beautiful albeit a cold start.

Nice to see my old City of Bristol team mate Steve Gosling out fishing with us again. He did have a reputation of being late or no show back then. Seems he's got over that 😀. Very welcome.

Into the draw bag and peg 29 for me. Hang on another "Rixon Redraw" (accidentally dropped a peg on the floor). Peg 23 instead for me. Really didn't mind which peg just nice to be out fishing, plus would have been in the Sun either peg.

The peg was flat calm with the little wing blowing towards peg 8. Whilst setting up noticed the reeds moving which wasn't ducks hoping it was Tench rather than Carp. Set up a 0.3 gram rig for the edge of the reeds to the right for double caster over kindered caster. The waggler, a 4x12 Winter for top set plus three barrels for Skimmers on single caster/LR over GB and caster and a long Ronnie rig to fish single LR over GB and LR's.

Fed all the lines, starting on the margin line. It didn't take long to hook and finally net a decent Tench. Two more followed. I then lost one. Had been thinking the elastic was under gunned due to the reeds. So without thinking it through got a heavy elastic top set out and this time slipped on a worm and had a bite straight away and pulled out of it - bugger. Next bad decision was to feed a bit of chopped worm which resulted in a disaster - hooked a Carp which broke the number 3 section and with an old couple stood behind me hindered me getting to the broken section with my landing net before it shot off to the middle. It was my error as I was playing the Carp as if on my Carp pole and not my silvers pole!!!

Now here's a thing in the past 30 years I've never gone to a match without a spare pole. However, today I didn't, as this morning gave one of my silvers poles to Clayton Hudson for repair. So didn't get to fish my skimmer line as no pole. Had to spend the second half of the match on either the waggler or Ronnie rig adding a few small Ronnie's and Perch BUT because of only loose feeding attracted Carp where ever I fished. Hooked 9 lumps, got a few out on the waggler.

Weighed 12 lb 2 oz for 6th overall. I felt I could have done far better with the pole and left wondering about what I may have caught on the Skimmer line. My fault "fail to prepare, prepare to fail". Hope Charlie/Paul get my top set back which will mean the Carp got free, concerned more about the health of the Carp than the top set. Nonetheless, enjoyed the day and thanks to Charlie for weighing in.

Wonder how many times Tony Rixon (pictured) has won the matches he runs? Well today was another. Tony weighed 21 lb 2 oz from peg 13 catching Skimmer's on caster or red maggot hook bait, over caster and GB feed. Well done matey. With his retirement on the horizon expect more of his matches😁.

I didn't go home empty handed, Kev Winston gave me a GAS bucket hat (pictured) which for some reason didn't fit him 😂.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 23/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Glenn couldn't make it today so on my own. It felt cold loading the car, might have been because we had a light frost with the temperature at 2 degrees when leaving home. Had a nice breakfast with John Smith and Pete Greenslade. 

Had a quick look at the Match Lake and as could be expected very little signs of fish movement. With a bright day expected equated to a low weight affair today.

Into the draw bag ad peg 14 for me. Arrived at the peg to find this end of the Lake flat calm with the light breeze giving some cover to the opposite end. Due to being in a valley it doesn't usually matter as the wind varies in direction throughout the matches. However, it appears that with the wind in the NE it tends to stay.

For company on end peg 15 was club treasurer Dave Rugman. Wasn't sure the paste would work today but would be may starter to look see. Set up a 4x12 Winter for corn both fished at three barrels, paste in front and the corn at 2 o clock. As the wind was right set up the waggler.

Started on the paste and had indications straight away and in the first hour had three decent Carp. Subsequently it was a struggle. Had a few casts on the waggler with double LR's over heavily fed same and had some Ronnie's which indicated that here wasn't many Carp over the far bank. So binned it, but sure it will work another day. Set up a shallow paste rig to see if it could work, again nothing. Switched a worm for the paste (beauty of shotting paste rigs) and had an F1 first try didn't have anymore so fed some chopped worm which seemed to make things worse. Tried the corn line to no avail, couldn't sit there with no indications. Started to fidgety so set up the short Ronnie rig to fish the margin with a heavy feed of maggot. Could catch a 2 to 3 oz Ronnie every put in, kept feeding and was rewarded with the bottom colouring up and another and last decent Carp. Did have two decent Roach and a good Perch.

Everyone at our end of the Lake was struggling and with Dave, Jock and Tony in our corner the fishing efforts died down being replaced with banter. Good laugh.

Now here's a thing Dave was fishing the tea bag up to the end bank and blanking until he had his usual delivery of a beef burger and subsequently started to catch. Apparently it was the burger juice on his hands that made the difference. 

My silvers weighed 8 lb 10 and my five Carp 18 lb 14 oz for 27 lb 8oz for second in section.

and beat a couple of tea baggers!!

The match was won by Phil Auger (pictured) with 59 lb 13 oz from peg 9. A decent weight considering the conditions. Well done matey.

Dave said to me best get out of the fishery quick because the Cow's were about to be driven down the lane. Bloody good advice as got to the pub 20 minutes before Pete and John our section winner.

Weigh Sheet: