Thursdays 03/04/08 Bathampton AA Over 55's and Disabled - Bridge Pool

This was the first match in the 2008 series. The series is run by stalwart Colin Golding on behave of Bathampton AA. The match is open to all Bathampton AA members that qualify. The matches are all ran at the Huntstrete Lake complex. However, most matches are on Bridge Pool which has 34 permanent pegs. There is usually a good turn out of 20 plus all year through. The match costs £5 to enter with all monies being paid out, the maximum single payout is £25. Colin tries to pay the top three in the match plus top three Silvers - all receiving £25 to £20 dependant on turn out, so good return on £5 entry.

Today the opening match was on Bridge Pool. Colin had 29 booked in so all but 5 pegs in the hat. Colin starts with the disabled draw , so that anglers can drive directly behind their pegs.

I drew one of my favourite Silvers pegs number 18. I set up three rigs, one for the Skimmers (4mm GOT pellet), one for the Ronnie Roach (caster) and one for the Carp down the right hand margin (where has are all the margin bush cover gone). All of my rigs are made up with 0.18 G-Line (the original blue spool). I just vary the hook length to suit, today I am fishing a 0.14 hook length again original G-Line.

Decided to use ground bait for the Skimmer line and put in three tangerine size balls. Potted 125 ml of micro pellet over my caster Roach line. Fed 4mm hard pellet down the right hand margin (which did not get fished - Swans eat it).

Started on the Skimmer line at 9.5 metres and caught small Skimmers on 4mm soft GOT expander straight off.

Caught most of the match over this line resting between feeding by fishing my cater line which accounted for about 4lb of Ronnies plus one 9lb 2oz Common Carp.

I weighed 16lb 9oz of Silvers for a total weight of 25lb 11oz. This put me 7th in the match and first in the Silvers picking up £25.

Bob "the biscuit" Price (pictured above) won the match with eight Carp for 61lb 14 oz from peg 21 using gellatined dog biscuit fished over pellet. Bob fished about 3 foot from the island opposite.

Full Result:

1. Bob "the buscuit" Price 61-14-0 Peg 21
2. Keith Firks 37-9-0 Peg 30
3. Bob Warren 33-06-0 Peg 29
4. John Bradford 27-12-0 Peg 25
5. Joint Pete "the real" Phillips 27-4-0 Peg 23
5. Joint Pete Powe 27-4-0 Peg 9

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 16-09-0 Peg 18
2. John Bradford 8-02-0 Peg 25

Wednesday 26/03/2008 Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - North Pool

Asked to peg this thirteen peg match at the last moment, so enlisted the help of Chris Fox who subsequently phoned Paul Fairers who was delivering the post! We were just deciding on the last three pegs and along comes Rodney Wotten and informs us the the pegging could be better. So I re-pegged! Just finished when Andy Gard runs up announcing that Colin Golding had not booked him in. After discussions with Rod put in peg 4A which was permanent peg 7.

I drew peg 9 on the day, permanent peg 16, which had come second in the previous match with 20lb of Carp from the end margins.

As usual I targeted the silver fish, which are primarily Crucians. I set up two rigs one for the margin and the other out in front.

I don't know why I used two rigs as the depth was the same at 2 foot 3 inches! Started on 4mm GOT bait expander pellet out in front in open water, which accounted for four Crucians to 1lb 12oz. The peg soon died. I then switched to the end margin with corn over pellet and lost one foul hooker. Switched to double maggot out in front and landed another 3 Crucians. Back to the margin with red maggot and caught about 1lb 8oz of Rudd and Roach, plus one 2lb 2oz Carp.
I weighed a total of 11lb 9oz which included 9lb 7oz of Silvers for second in the silvers and a pick up of £25.

Rod Wotten (pictured above) won the match with a credible 35lb 8oz of Carp from permanent peg 8.
Mike Owens qualified for the Wednesday Silvermania with 10lb 5oz of Crucians and one good Tench.

Full Result:

1. Rod Wotton 35-08-0 Peg 8
2. Pete Sivell 29-04-0 Peg 19
3. Tom Thick 24-10-0 Peg 22
4. Mike Owens 19-08-0 Peg 24
5. Andy Gard 15-14-0 Peg 14
6. Mike Nicholls 11-9-0 Peg 16
Top Silvers: Mike Owens 10-15-0 (Wednesday Silversmania qualifier).

As usual my good friend Charlie Barnes (pictured right) was in attendance and had some quality Roach on caster.

As is was Easter I though it appropriate to add his photo to my Blogg (it's only the glasses that gives him away)

Sunday 23/03/2008 Carps AC - Cider Farm Yarlington Mill

Yet again a very cold North Westerly wind blowing. Temperature 6 degrees. Drew peg 11. I had not fished this before, so optimistic! The wind was blowing direct through an opposite leg straight in to my face. I set up two rigs one for near and far shelf (same depth, just adjust distance from the bank) and one for the deepest part of the track, which was at about 6 metres.

Started down the track with 4mm pellet - no indication. Tried down the inside with corn and had one very small mirror Carp, then nothing. Out again over the pellet line with corn and immediately caught a Mirror Carp on the drop!

Tried the far shelf at various depths and caught nowt. The wind increased and it got colder. The two fish weighed 1lb 7oz. Having plumbed about I concluded that the peg would be good in summer - roll on.

Martin Rayet won the match with a credible 26lb from peg 33. Martin fished to the left at 14.5 metres across at 11-0-clock, down the far track with soft pellet. Must say a good performance on the day. Martin has now won three matches since buying his latest car: a red escort estate for £300, which Martin must have paid for by now out of his winnings!
My partner for the Carps pairs festival in July, Glenn Bailey (pictured above - in warmer days at White acres) was runner up from peg 41 with 17lb. Although we live in Bristol we are planning to stay locally, hopefully other Carps members will do the same and have a couple of good nights out.

Full Result:

1. Martin Rayet 26-15-08 Peg 33
2. Glenn Bailey 17-13-0 Peg 41
3. Jamie Dyte 11-10-0 Peg 48
4. John Green 6-3-0 Peg 36
5. John Page 5-01-08 Peg 12

Wednesday 19/03/2008 Carps AC - Cider Farm Yarlington Mill

A good attendance of twenty nine in consideration that it was a midweek match with a north westerly wind blowing and ground frost. I drew peg 50 which is a corner peg. The NW wind was blowing right into the my right cheek. I set up two rigs, one for pellet at the bottom of the near side shelf down the peg at five metres, which was about six foot deep. The other for corn across to a clump of reeds. I anticipated that the reeds would give my 14x10 wire stemmed float some protection from the wind.

I Started on the pellet line and had a five Carp, after which, it completely died. I spent the rest of the match trying to catch across. It wasn't until the wind changed from the NW to the SW (blowing in to my left cheek) that I started to catch the odd Carp on corn. The wire stemmed float worked well in the conditions. However, I Could not develop a consistent feeding pattern.

I weighed 14lb 1oz. Which was only enough to beat my match mentor Charlie Barnes on peg 48 by 1lb 1oz!

I must say the fish looked a bit worse for wear, particularly around the mouth - Angler speed merchants - a little more care please.

The match was won by Andy Britt with 50-04-0 from peg 26. Andy fished soft pellet throughout. This was Andy's first visit to Cider Farm, so expect to see him back again.

Jim Baines (pictured above) came third from Peg 46 with 32-07-0. Jim and I go back a long way to the Bristol Avon and the Gloucester Canal open matches. I still have a float Jim gave me which he had been using with good results on the Gloucester. I kept the float as memento of beating Ken Giles off the next peg at Hempstead. I remember Jim was the first angler to win a match (100 + pegs) on the Bristol Avon at Claverton with Barbel. Jim is also an excellent guitarist - Dire Straits, etc... Jim has played with Franky Vaughan and the V men. He still does gigs for clubs and parties, etc...
Carps are back to Cider Farm on Sunday!


Full Result:

1. Andy Britt 50-04-0 Peg 26
2. Ryan Potter 33-09-0 Peg 53
3. Jim Baines 32-07-0 Peg 46
4. Steve Kedge 24-07-0 Peg 10
5. Jess Jordon 23-09-0 Peg 24
6. Dominic Sullivan 22-13-0 Peg 43

Mark Gibsons Match Report:


There was an excellent turn out for the CARPS AC Wednesday Match fished on Yarlington Mill Match Lake at Cider Farm Lakes. Leading the 29 man field was Andy Britt (picture - by Mark Gibson) who fished soft hooker pellet at 12 metres at the bottom of the island ledge from peg 26 for his 50-04 lbs of carp to 3 lbs. On the opposite side of the lake Ryan Potter battled a strong northerly wind from peg 53 for his 33-09 lbs second place. Jim Baines was only one fish behind him catching 32-07 lbs from peg 46. In all 434 lbs were brought to the scales giving an average of 19 lbs a man.

Sunday 16/03/2008 Carps AC - Landsend Fishery

This was my first visit to Landsend since winning the Carps golden pairs with Darren Gillman on 30 April 2006. This match was a Carpsmania qualifier so cost £26 to enter. The top weight overall and top silvers weights qualify. Before this match I had never drawn Specimen Lake. Tony Wittcomb drew my peg and pulled out peg 2 so still not fished Specimen! After twenty hours of non stop rain I was not sure what to expect. However, I decided to bet on qualifying through Silvers. I made up three rigs. One for the left margin (feed caster). One the bottom of the far shelf at 11 metres. On the same line I set up a small paste rig (14 Tubertini 808).

Started with 4mm Ringer pellet over kinder potted 3mm soft pellet.  My first fish was a 1lb Crucian (this indicated that the presentation was right). I then started to catch Carp which totally buggered my silvers plan. Changed from 6-10 elastic to 16. The second fish after the change was a 16lb 14oz Mirror Carp. I knew the weight as it was weighed and returned as I only had two nets! Apparently it takes only six seconds for a fish to start feeding again after being caught so I wondered if I would catch it again! I also read that a Carp of twenty pounds eats fourteen ounces of food a day at the peak of summer.

The upshot I stayed on the one rig throughout the match and by careful feeding kept Carp coming in fits and starts throughout the first 5 hours 55 minutes after which I landed a 5 lb Bream!
I weighed 6lb 10 oz of silvers and 73lb Carp for third overall and a pick up of £40. I was impressed with the water quality and the pristine condition of the fish.

Martin Rayet won the match from peg 40 on Specimen with 158lb 05oz. Martin used soft pellet into the end margin at 16 metres, landing carp to 16lb.

The Silvers did not generally feed. However, Mike West took the silvers from Specimen Lake with 28lb 08oz of Skimmers and Bream to 6lb on soft pellet.

Full Result:

1. Martin Rayet 158-05-0 Peg 40 (Sunday Carpsmania qualifier)
2. Shaun Townsend 104-10-0 Peg 7
3. Mike Nicholls 79-08-0 Peg 2
4. Bela Bakus 71-08-0 Peg 39
5. Mike Duckett 64-12-0 Peg 30
6. Matt Dark 48-12-0 Peg 20

Top silvers:

1. Mike West 28-08-0 (Sunday Carpsmania qualifier) Peg 28
2. Darren Gillman 21-08-0 Peg 26

Tony Rixon is running a match at Landsend on Easter Bank holiday Monday ring 0117 9517250 to book in.

Wednesday 12/03/2008 Carps AC - Plantation - Main Lake

Three days of non stop high winds (gusts to 60mph) nearly stopped me going. My liking for the venue swayed me. The water quality and condition of the fish are superb, but hard to catch!
I pegged the match so that everyone had the wind off their backs. I drew peg 4 which is permanent peg 30. For the slayers this would be normally a straight lead chuck to the island gap with sweet corn , however, as usual, I went after the Silvers (Roach/Skimmers/Crucians). I decided on a 6m line due to the high wind, where I found six foot of water. I fed for Skimmers. Presentation was difficult but the tow was enough to drag the float around against the wind. I could not form a feeding pattern that kept the fish coming. In hindsight I probably fed too much. The upshot was that I struggled all day for 5lb 12oz and 3rd in the Silvers consisting of mixed bag of Roach, Skimmers, Crucians, Perch.

Because of the conditions I new the match would be close, which it was. All the silvers were taken on single red or white maggot.

The match was won by Mike Owens (pictured) from peg 34 fishing sweet corn into the left hand margin. He weighed four Carp for 12lb 11oz. Colin Golding won the Silvers from permanent peg 27 with 7lb 2oz ( 1lb 6oz more than me!).

Full Result:

1. Mike Owens 12-11-0
2. Andy Gard 8-10-0
3. Colin Golding 7-2-0
4. John Bennett 6-15-0
5. Mike Nicholls 5-12-0
6.Tom Newell 5-5-0

Top Silvers: Colin Golding 7-2-0 (Wednesday Silversmania qualifier)

Sunday 09/03/2008 Carps AC - Burley Fields

Burley Fields is situated between Gloucester and Cheltenham (a few miles east of Junction 11A - M5). This venue never disappoints with the quality of Silverfishing. Quality Roach dominates with plenty of Skimmers. I have fished here twice this year and I can say so far this year both have been my best days fishing. However, the landscaping leaves a lot to be desired (has been described as a poop hole).

I drew peg 9 which I had not fished before, in the middle of the right hand bank. One problem with the venue is that it is tree lined which causes the light is bad and variable making float tip colour choice difficult. I choose black but needed to go white then back to black dependant on the sunlight and ripple. Always wise to have a Roach and Skimmer line here, so choose to fish for Roach at 10m (light dictating distance) out in front and for Skimmers at 11.5m at 2-o-clock.

Started on the Roach line and caught quality Roach from the start on caster. After a hour it started to slow so fed again and went to the Skimmer line and caught six small Skimmers straight off. Then nothing (hind sight tells me I should have started on the Skimmer line).
Back to the Roach for the rest of the match, progressively the fishing faded. The bait presentation to catch the larger Roach is important:

The caster must not be broken, by this I mean no white caster inners to be showing.
The hook must be buried.
Dry caster to be used on the hook.

I weighed in 25lb for second in the match and second in the Silvers and picked up £45. My travelling partner on the day Martin Rayett (pictured) won the match with 26lb 10oz which included two Chub for 10lb. Both caught on his pellet line. He also lost one.

Full Result:

1. Martin Rayett 26-10-0 Peg 5
2. Mike Nicholls 25-0-0 Peg 9
3. Gordon Cannings 20-10-0 Peg 8
4. Colin Golding 20-0-0 Peg 11

Top Silvers:Martin Rayett 26-10-0 (Qualifies for Sundays Silversmania)

Sunday 03/03/2008 Carps AC Hunstrete - Withypool

Practiced on peg 48 the the previous Thursday with Bob Warren and Terry Bruton. During practice I had about 23 lb of Skimmers averaging 4oz. On match day I drew peg 43, which is a peg I have pleasure fished landing an estimated 120lb of Carp. Bob drew peg 48! I intended from the start to fish for silvers as the Carp were absent during practice. The wind was blustery and blowing into my bank at 11-o-clock. Plumbed the depth to fish about 2ft up the slope towards my bank (to avoid silt and better bait presentation) which was about 10 metres of pole. The depth was 7ft (just over a power top set), so a 4x16 Jolly was just right. Fished a 20 Tubertini 808 on 0.14 G-line, with 0.18 main line.

The night before I mixed 3 pints of ground bait consisting of 50% brown Lake and 50% Gimps Gold fish meal. Fed 4 tangerine size balls through the cup at the start. I also included some 3mm soft expander pellets. I fished 4mm Ringer expander's on the hook, which accounted for all my fish. At the two hour mark I fed the same again. Then later switched to kinder potting 8 - 3mm expander pellet every fish.

I Lost two - 1lb Skimmers and one Tench due to striking in the direction of the tow (this was necessary due to bait movement, as holding the line above the float caused a static bait).
I weighed 16lb 9oz for 3rd in silvers but picked up 2nd (£35) by default (thanks to Tom Thick who came 2nd in the match). John Bradford won the silvers with 18lb 4oz of Roach from peg 41 using caster.

Full Result:

1. Terry Green 52-15-0 Peg 58

2. Tom Thick 36-7-0 Peg 56

3. Colin Golding 28-12-0 Peg 52

4. Bob Warren 26-12-0 Peg 48

5. John Bradford 18-4-0 Peg 41

6. Mike Nicholls 16-9-0 Peg 43

Top Silvers: John Bradford 18lb 6oz - Peg 41 Roach on caster