Sunday 29/06/2008 - Carps AC - Summer Individual Series - Round Four - Landsend Fishery

I am not superstitious (ask Bob Warren), however since I have been saluting single Magpies I have been doing well. I saluted three on the way to this match but must have missed a couple! I drew peg 24 on Match Lake and was expecting to catch a good bag of Silvers - failing this its a noted Carp swim. The upshot was that I started OK at 10 metres on paste with three Tench and two Skimmers - then struggled for Silvers. Switch to the end margin for Carp and nothing other than one foul hooker. Spent rest of the match scratching around for bits with caster. I ended the match with 14lb 14oz of Silvers and two Carp for a total of 21lb 8oz. I think I am now too far behind to consider any of the main overall league prizes.
Andy Neale (pictured top right) completed what must be the perfect weekend as yesterday Andy qualified for the Fish-O-Mania final at Moorland Farm and today won the match. Andy drew Match Lake peg 13 and finished with 172lb 14oz of Carp. Andy fished in to the end margin and down to his right margin using over pellet - WELL DONE MATEY. Carps AC members will undoubtedly be supporting you on the big day at the Arena.

The Silvers was won by Tom Thick on Match Lake peg 4 with 34lb 4oz. Tom fished bits of worm over chopped worm and caster.

Full Result:

1. Andy Neale 172-14-0 peg 13
2. Lee Werrett 125-13-0 peg 26
3. Martin Rayett 110-01-0 peg 18
4. Alan Oram 77-15-0 peg 31
5. Roger Young 76--02-0 peg 5
6. Dick Bull 69-02-0 peg 36

Top Silvers:

1. Tom Thick 34-04-0 peg 4
2. Roger Young 76-02-0 peg 5
3. Martin Rayet 28-08-0 peg 18

Thursdays 26/06/08 Bathampton AA Over 55's and Disabled - Bridge Pool

It was last Christmas that I decided to have a clear out of my accumulated ground baits and pellets. I found a large number of various makes of expander pellet which was destined for dusty bin. Being prudent I decided to crush some up as an additive to my skimmer ground bait. I was surprised that once crushed (using a 4lb lump hammer) that most sank without adding water.

I added one third crushed expander to one third Sensas Lake (My favourite all time ground bait) and one third Gimps Gold (John Bradford – not the Gimp in “Pulp Fiction”) fish meal. This mix has worked very well for me over the winter for the Skimmers particularly in the deeper venues such as Huntstrete. Now we have warmer water temperature the mix appears to be less effective - as I discovered today. The ground bait is improved when mixed the night before, or used from frozen. So get crushing!

Drew peg 28 today - again a good draw (whats new). The brisk wind was blowing at 11 clock in to me so decided to go for the silvers to my right where there was some shelter. I started on the caster and caught some Ronnies and skimmers for about an hour. I then latched in to a double figure Carp. I tried the 6mm expander pellet at 6 metres over my ground bait, but pestered by 1 to 2 oz Ronnies. I came back on the caster, but found it very slow, then another Carp. At this point I decided to focus on Carp using paste. I ended the match with 14lb 9oz of Silvers and twelve Carp for 93lb 8oz and a total of 108lb 1oz for first in the match and first in the Silvers and a pick up of £25.

John Bennett who was on the next peg 29 offered to to take my photo. John was shaking so much that Chris Snow also took a photo. However, John assured us that his photo would be fine! I have published both can anyone tell the difference?

My long time friend Terry Bruton was runner up (for once) with 65lb 13oz of Carp from peg 24 using the shallow pellet waggler.

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 108-01-0 peg 28
2. Terry Bruton 65-13-0 peg 24
3. Dave Bacon 51-01-0 peg 8
4. Martin Alexander 39-04-0 peg 3
5. Colin Young 36-14-0 peg 10
6. Pete (the real) Phillips 33-04-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 14-09-0 peg 28
2. Pete Phillips 14-0-0 peg 6
3. Chris Snow 13-0-0 peg 26
3. Keith Firks 13-0-0 peg 32

Wednesday 25/06/08 - Cider Farm Open - Dabinett

Tried to fish Cider Farm last Wednesday, with the fishing gear all packed, I started car to find that the alternator warning light stayed on - up to the local garage and with a new alternator fitted and £190 later back on the road. I was very disappointed as I like this venue, not only for the very competitive fishing with usually only one or two fish separating the frame placings, but it is a very nice and quiet place to spend a day.

However, made it to the venue this week and drew peg 21 on Dabinett. This is a good draw as it is in the gap between the islands - opposite the aerator. I set up a 4mm and paste rig at 5 metres and a 6mm pellet rig at 10.5 metres. Started on the 4mm pellet kinder potting micro pellet - no indications - switch to paste - no indications. I decided to leave this line and feed no further. Went out at 10.5 metre with 6mm GOT pellet - nothing! I decided to switch this line to paste and started to catch steady by drip feeding 4mm hard pellet. I lost 8 foul hookers and netted 13 reasonably sized carp for a weight of 32lb 10oz for second overall and a pick up of £40.

The match was won by Banbury based angler Derek Cullip (pictured top right). Derek weighed 39lb 7oz from peg 18. Derek caught Carp up the far shelf using soft pellet over potted hard pellet.

Full Result:

1. Derek Cullip 39-07-0 peg 18
2. Mike Nicholls 32-10-0 peg 21
3. Dominic Sullivan 31-10-0 peg 28
4. Lewis Jones 24-13-0 peg 22
5. Andy Britt 23-03-0 peg 20
6. Dave Wride 23-02-0 peg 25

Sunday 22/06/2008 - Carps AC - Rood Ashton

The strong gusting South Westerly winds, which blew all day spoiled the match for most. The venue is very shallow, with eighteen inches of water in most pegs (if your lucky) the water had coloured up some what, due to the wind. I drew peg 16 and had the wind blowing off my right shoulder. I set up three rigs, two for paste right and left of the swim and one for pellet out in front. I started by kinder potting hard pellet with GOT expander on the hook. Straight away I had a liner, out again, another liner. Fed again which resulted in a lost foul hooker. Out again - then nothing - fed again - nothing - um!!! Decided to pot 250 ml of hard pellet in to my right hand swim. Out over this with paste and a lost foul hooker - plus one rig! It occurred to me that the fish were not having the feed. Lucky enough I had kept my left hand swim free of feed, so decided to try the paste. Although the wind made it difficult to present the paste properly, I had a fish immediately and did not look back. I caught 22 Carp (but only weighed twenty one as one jumped the net, giving my ticker a rush of adrenaline) and one Crucian for a total weight of 76lb 2oz for second overall and a pick up of £45. The Crucian weighed 1lb 10oz which gave me third in the Silvers!! It was easy packing up as I had trashed so many rigs I was down to my last one. I will be calling Gerry's of Nottingham in the morning for a top up of his corn & paste floats.
The match was won by John Thompson (pictured top right - apparently on a day out for good behaviour - NB: handcuffs hidden from view) from peg 3 with 78 lb 12 oz (the fish that jumped ship would have given me first overall). John fished the ground bait feeder throughout with hard Pellet on the hook.

The Silvers was interesting with Bill Ferris (pictured right) winning with 7lb 4oz of Roach on whip and caster from peg 15. Bill qualifies for the Sunday Carps AC Silversmania. The second weight was a mere 2lb 15oz!

Full Result:

1. John Thompsom 78-12-0 peg 3
2. Mike Nicholls 76-02-0 peg 16
3. Shaun Townsend 73-08-0 peg 7
4. Jamie White 68-02-0 peg 12
5. Darren Gillman 66-10-0 peg 1
6. Bob Gullick 59-14-0 peg 21

Top Silvers:

1. Bill Ferris 7-04-0 peg 15 (Qualifies for the Carps AC Sunday Silversmania)
2. Tom Thick 2-15-0 peg 13
3. Mike Nicholls 1-10-0 peg 16

Thursday 19/06/2008 Carps AC - Summer Evening Series - Shangri La - Round Two

As I said after the first round the next three pegs were not good. My next peg 7 produced the lowest weight first match, so expectations were low. I started on corn which resulted in three pound and half Carp. Then the rot set in, I struggled all through picking up the odd very small Carp on 6mm pellet soft pellet (pinched from Colin Golding). I weighed 12lb for 7th and 3 points.

The match was once again won from peg 2 by Phil Coulam (pictured top right with his colourful catch) with 45lb. Phil is leading the series now with 16 points. With no bad draws a head of him Phil must be favourite to win the series.

Full Result (with overall points scored after 2 rounds):

1. Phil Coulam 45-0-0 peg 2 - 16 points

2. Bob Price 39-08-0 peg 6 - 8 points

3. Tom Coulston 23-08-0 peg 5 - 13 points

4. Steve Jefferies 18-02-0 peg 1 - 11 points

5. Bill Ferris 16-0-0 peg 4 - 5 points

6. Colin Golding 13-0-0 peg 9 - 8 points

7. Mike Nicholls 12-0-0 peg 7 - 11 points

8. Ryan Houghton (Reserved for Bob Feltham) 7-0-0 peg 3

9. Mark Tanner 4-0-0 peg 8 - 5 points

Sunday 15/06/2008 - Carps AC - Summer Individual Series - Round Three - Sedges - Brick and Tile

Unfortunately I missed round two at Landsend Fishery as I was in Majorca with my wife Brenda. However, I asked Darren Gillman to keep me informed of the result, it was nice to have a text from Darren informing me that he had won the Silvers from peg 11. Our return flight was delayed five hours therefore, I was not as prepared as I could have been, I also didn't feel focused. I was hoping to draw on Tile Lake as the Silvers had not been showing on Brick. I drew Brick peg 5. I was reasonably happy with this, as it did have some form with Silvers. I fed at 11.5 metres for Skimmers and started after the Ronnie Roach. The Ronnies were not responding, so went out for the Skimmers with 6mm GOT expander pellet. The next 15 minutes cost me - I lost my first four Skimmers which would have added at least 6 pound. I put the loss down to going for them too early - leading to light hooking. The upshot of the match was I had one Ghost carp for 9lb 10oz and a mix of Silvers for 12lb 15oz for a total of 22lb 9oz. This gave me one section penalty point in the silvers and three penalty points overall. I now have three points in the Silvers and five overall.
The match was won by Geoff Rogers (pictured above right with some of his Carp catch - well hidden by the net) with 114lb 10oz from Brick peg 9 with an all Carp catch to double figures on the pellet waggler. Runner up was Glenn Bailey from Brick peg 11 (I can't remember him drawing any other peg on this lake!) with 82lb 7oz - Glenn caught half on the pellet waggler and half on the pole in to the end margin, again all on pellet.

The Silvers was won by Jerry Pocock from Brick peg 8 with 34lb 2oz of Bream and Skimmers on 6mm expander pellet. Jerry was 14lb a head of runner up Darren Gillman who had 20lb 13oz from Tile peg 27.

Full Result:

1. Geoff Rogers 114-10-0 peg 9
2. Glenn Bailey 82-07-0 peg 11
3. Andy Neal 69-11-0 peg 13
4. Tom Magnel 61-04-0 peg 35
4. Roger Young 61-04-0 peg 40
6. Rod Wotton 55-04-0 peg 12

Top silvers:

1. Jerry Pocock 34-02-0 peg 8
2. Darren Gillman 20-13-0 peg 27
3. Alan Oram 18-15-0 peg 24
4. Dave Hodgeson 18-07-0 peg 24

I thought it worth publishing the 31lb net of Rudd caught by Bill Ferris (pictured above right - pictures courtesy of Mark Gibson) at a Carps AC Wednesday match at Cider Farm - Shepherds lake. Bill caught at two metres on caster and only managed 2nd in the silvers as he stopped catching due to Carp moving in to his swim. Dave Bacon (pictured above right) won the match with 133lb 7oz!

Thursday 05/06/2008 Carps AC - Summer Evening Series - Shangri La - Round One

This was round one of the Carps AC Summer League fished at Shangri La - Landsdowne. The draw for the series is based on one draw and then rotate clockwise one peg every match there after. This will allow flexibility in setting up time as the draws are 16:30 with fishing 17:00 to 20:30. I drew peg 6 on the night and weighed 50lb 8oz for second overall. However, from the results on the night, I have got three bad draws to come, whereas the winner Bob Feltham (pictured above right) with 60lb, drew peg 2 and has four good draws ahead of him, one saving grace he will miss the next match! This is a six match series where your top five results count i.e. drop one result. After the match it was back to the Upton Inn for a pint and a warm up, everyone was freezing - what happened to blazing June!!

Full Result (with accumulative points):

1. Bob Feltham 60-0-0 peg 2 - 9 points

2. Mike Nicholls 50-8-0 peg 6 - 8 points

3. Phil Coulam 41-8-0 peg 1 - 7 points

4. John Bennett 33-9-0 peg 3 (Series Reserve)

5. Tom Coulston 25-2-0 peg 4 - 6 points

6. Steve Jefferies 22-14-0 peg 5 - 5 points

7. Colin Golding 16-0-0 peg 4 - 4 points

8. Mark Tanner 5-0-0 peg 5 - 3 points

9. Bob Price (AWOL) - 0 points

10. Bill Ferris (Holiday - Whiteacres) - 0 points

Wednesday 04/06/2008 Carps AC - Landsend Fishery - Specimen Lake

I drew peg 40 on Specimen Lake, which is the first right hand corner peg from the car park. Jamie Dyte thought I might had trouble with the Willow casts and the subsequent surface scum it makes. Jamie was right for the second match on the trot I have spent time cleaning my rigs (rod rings) trying to get them to cock properly. I set up four rigs one for the caster and Ronnies, one 4x14 for 4mm pellet, one 4x16 for 4/6mm pellet both at 10 metres and of course one paste rig at 4 metres. I caught Crucians on all four rigs - but it was difficult. I ended up with three more rigs - Paste at 10 metres (did not produce) - 4 metre whip shallow with caster (caught some small Ronnies) and paste rig in to end margin (produced one speared 2oz Ronnie). I kept all the lines going through out and ended with 21lb of Silvers - no Carp, which were conspicuous by their absence. The Skimmers had just finished spawning so were also absent. This gave me second in the Silvers and fourth overall and a pick up of £35.

Before the match John Bennett (pictured top right with his net of Crucians) asked how he might fish the venue. I Suggested that he selected one bait e.g. corn to start and select one line and feed sparingly - I had my suspicions that it was going to be a hard match. I wished I had taken my own advice! John won the Silvers from peg 36 with 26lb 12oz of Crucians and qualified for the Carps AC Silversmania final. John had a total weight of 46lb for second overall.

The match was won by Adrian Bishop from peg 39 with 70lb 8oz. Adrian did it the hard way, fishing 16 metres (which necessitated unshipping three times) to the end of the island with hard pellet over loose fed hard pellet.

Full Result:

1. Adrian Bishop 70-08-0 peg 39
2. John Bennett 46-0-0 peg 36
3. Tom Coulston 23-02-0 peg 29
4. Mike Nicholls 21-0-0 peg 40
5. Ryan Bishop 19-08-0 peg 28
6. Pete Sivell 18-08-0 peg 33

Top Silvers:

1. John Bennett 26-12-0 peg 36 (Qualifies for the Wednesday Carps AC Silversmania)
2. Mike Nicholls 21-0-0 peg 40
3. Pete Sivell 18-08-0 peg 33

Sunday 01/06/2008 Carps AC - Viaduct Fishery - Campbell

How about that I drew the same peg as last week, Campbell peg 127. My plan was to either join the Slayers and fish the pellet waggler or focus at 10 metres with corn over corn. Both should avoid the millions of nuisance fish (I don't like the term nuisance because there has been times when I have won money with 4oz!). I potted 250 ml of corn at 10 metres and started on the waggler. It was generally quiet around the lake and I was itching to try the corn, so out went the pole and in two put ins I had a 2lb Tench and an 8lb Common. I started then to drip in corn through the kinder pot and had another 8 pounder. Barry Fitchew (Fox tackle rep) started to catch well on the waggler, so I had another thrash and caught two Carp. The Willow trees where shedding their seed shucks which was catching in the rod rings and causing casting problems, so good excuse to go back on the pole, which lead to a couple more Tench and three more Carp for a total of 54lb 3oz. How lucky can you get - this took the section by triple default and a pick up of £25.

Roger young won the match (again!) from peg 130 with 157lb 15oz on the straight lead. They call him the Purple Plonker - I understand the Purple bit - but he is no Plonker when it comes to fishing this venue.

Shaun Townsend (picture top right with his excellent net of Tench - nearly smiling) took the Silvers with 64lb 14oz of Tench. Shaun caught on caster into his end margin.

Full Result:

1. Roger Young (Purple Plonker) 157-15-0 peg 130

2. Fred Roberts 121-06-0 peg 128 (fish pellet to the end on the spit)

3. Dave Luke 102-08-0 peg 111

4. Barry Fitchew 88-01-0 peg 115

5. Shaun Townsend 85-02-0 peg 135

6. Lee Werrett 84-11-0 peg 124

Top Silvers:

1. Shaun Townsend 64-14-0 peg 135 (Qualifies for the Sunday Carps Silversmania)

2. Mash 45-04-0 peg 121

3. Paul Cardwell 42-14-0 peg 114