Sunday 28/06/2009 - Avon Angling Open - Sedges Fishery - Tile Lake

The weather is still strange, with high temperatures, low cloud and very little wind, sweltering.

After the week at Whiteacres my back was aching. However, yesterday I lifted a large pot in the garden so that I could mow under it - and wham shooting back pains. After a nights rest the back didn’t feel too bad until ….

At last we have weaned Tony Rixon off of Landsend and Avalon – the only two fisheries he seems to fish these days. So Sedges Fishery – Tile Lake it was to be. A warm welcome and a cup of tea from Denise and a privilege talk through her natural garden and some wonderful examples of Wild Poppy. It was good to see youngsters (relatively speaking that is) Captain George Perkins and Matt Cardwell having also booked in to the match. Have no doubt, theses are good young anglers.

Before the draw Darren and I walked Tile Lake, I decided that peg 24 was the best for me and the Silvers. However, I noticed how clear the water had become. To the draw and guess what Darren draws peg 24…Umm. I drew peg 21 (the picture right shows us before the draw in our Sensas summer Skirts). Normally a Carp Slayers peg!! When I got to the peg I wasn’t convinced that I was going to catch many Carp as the little wind we had was blowing in to the other end margin. However, there were a few blows in the end margin at 10 metres. Whilst tacking up my hook caught in the keep net and whilst bending forward to release it ….. my back suffered a hot searing pain. Bugger! I intended to fish at 13 metres in to the end margin, but due to my discomfort I decided against it and went for the 10 metres line. As I had so much time I set up allsorts:

2 x paste rigs

1x hard pellet rig

1x shallow caster rig

1x deep caster rig

1x 3.5 metre caster whip

I started by potting in some micro and 4mm pellet in to the 10 metre margin. I loose fed some casters out in front and started on the deep caster rig - nothing. On to the whip and first cast a 2lb Skimmer in the net, then after a run of ½ oz Rudd I went in to the margin with the deep paste rig (three foot) and had a run of nine small Carp before the Ronaldo’s moved in. However, by persevering with the paste I caught the odd Carp and a bonus 4lb Tench, but it was very frustrating. To give my back some relief and went and had a chat with Darren. He estimated that he had 7lb of Silvers and had just started to catch some better Eel’s over white maggot. I went back thinking that Darren was probably winning the Silvers and by my reckoning I had 6lb. So I decided to give the caster a try over the pellet. As there were only a few anglers fishing for the Silvers this would also give me some insurance for a pick up. Amazing, I had a good hour catching Perch to 1lb with some better Ronnies. I also had a couple of decent Carp to 8lb. I believe caster can be deadly in clearer water. With ¾ of an hour to go I went back on the paste with the shallow rig (two foot) and had another three Carp – loosing two. I was the first to weigh and my Carp went 35lb 8oz and to my surprise (and Darren’s) my Silvers weighed in at 18lb 4oz for a total weight of 53lb 12oz. This put me third overall and second in the Silvers to Darren who weighed 19lb 14oz! I picked up £40 for overall placing and Darren £40 for his Silvers win.

Jamie the fishery owner manned the scales and is pictured right with one of his better stamp of Eel’s. It was caught by Steve Seagar from peg 29 on paste!! Steve refused to get near the beast again in fear of getting eaten.

The match was won by Tom Magnell (pictured lower right with Tony handing overhis match winnings) from peg 39 with all Carp catch of 91lb 2oz. Tom fished the pellet waggler to his opposite island. Tony was runner up off the next peg 38 with 72lb 12oz. The Master being beaten by the student – Tony said after “that he really “cheesed” off with Tom’s grinning at him all through the match”. Well done Tom, one to remember, even though you will have to find another tackle shop to buy your pellet wagglers!!

Full Result:

1. Tom Magnell 91-02-0 peg 39

2. Tony Rixon 72-12-0 peg 38

3. Mike Nicholls 53-12-0 peg 21

4. Tim Ford 48-04-0 peg 34

5. Julian Cooper 38-03-0 peg 23

6. Stu Foale 35-02-0 peg 40

Top Silvers:

1. Darren Gillman 19-14-0 peg 24!!

2. Mike Nicholls 18-04-0 peg 21

Thursday 25/06/2009 - Bathampton Over 55's - Bridge Pool

A catch of a lifetime for Paul Faiers. Paul fishing a Fry’s club match on the main lake at Acorn Fishery has weighed a massive 100lb of Perch up to 2lb. Paul caught them on pieces of worm fished over red maggot feed. The Perch had recently been stocked by the fishery owner. Well done matey, something to tell you Grandchildren!!

The weather is strange, cold before the draw and 26 degrees by lunch time – what’s going on. Oh, yes global warming. It is certainly confusing the fish.

Another good turn out, probably because the match was on Bridge Pool. It was the first time that I can remember Colin choosing to draw a close peg. But he got a good-un with peg 16.

I drew peg 30, spot on again! I know this peg well and decided to fish the caster shallow. But first I made sure that the bigger Skimmers were going to show. So started on the 6mm GOT expander over a 250ml of wetted micro and 4mm pellet. I had a couple of small Skimmers, but it was slow. So out on the caster shallow and basically I got my head down, catching 22lb 7oz of Ronnie’s with a smattering of small Skimmers. This was enough to win the Silvers. However, I did have one 10lb Carp on the caster and one 9lb 9oz Carp in the last ten minutes down the edge on paste. This gave me a total weight of 42lb which was also good enough for first overall and a pick up of £25.

Terry Bruton was runner up in the Carp pool with nine for 40lb 12oz (won’t be getting a phone call on this match!!). Terry fished peg 7 on the pellet waggler to the end of the island.

Third over all was Pete “The Real” Phillips (pictured right with his best Common Carp) with six Carp for 39lb 12oz. Pete likewise fish the pellet waggler in to open water form peg 32.

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 42-0-0 peg 30
2. Terry Bruton 40-12-0 peg 7
3. Pete Phillips 39-12-0 peg 32
4. Bob Price 24-10-0 peg 13
5. John Bradford 16-10-0 peg 6
6. Bob Tilley 15-12-0 peg 10
6. Mike Jones 15-12-0 peg 8

Top Silvers:
1. Mike Nicholls 22-07-0 peg 30
2. John Bradford 16-10-0 peg 6
3. Chris Snow 10-10-0 peg 28

My apologies to Bob Feltham who did in fact fish five of the six hours in the last "Coffin Doggers", even though he told me he wasn't going to fish. Bob tells me he had about 9lb which was extremely good from peg 4.

Today the great Michael Jackson died aged 50.

Sunday 21/06/2009 - Tony Rixon Float Only Individual League - Round Three - Landsend Fishery

Round three sees us at Landsend Fishery. The news is that the Lakes are fishing well, except for the Specimen Lake. Because of the number of anglers fishimg (56) Specimen Lake will have all but 2 pegs taken, whilst the other lkaes will have plenty of room. So don’t draw Specimen Lake, particularly the pegs furthest from the car park.

So what do I do draw peg 30 on Specimen!! Not a good draw I was told. However, always the optimist. I started at 11.5 metres with soft 6mm pellet, fished over some micro and 4mm hard pellet. I had a few missed bites and soon realised it was 2 oz Ronnie’s having a peck. So out on the paste and soon the Ronaldo’s was playing football with it. At this point I realised that it was going to be a struggle. So out on the Ronnie caster rig and all I could catch was 1 – 2oz Ronnie’s. This wasn’t going to win anything. So I set up for 16 metres to the far bank with paste. After two foul hookers I landed a three pounder. That was it, on came the Ronaldo’s. Now desperate and with an hour to go I decide to finish on the Ronnie’s. I weighed 7lb 8oz of Ronnie’s and 3lb 2oz Carp for a total of 11lb 10 oz and last but one in the section. I had Clint Wojtyla in the knockout and fully expected to be out. Imagine my belief (relief) when I was told Vince had weighed 7lb 8oz. At least someone had a worse day than me! So the day wasn’t a complete waste.


My section was won by Anton Page (pictured right with his “near” twenty pound Mirror Carp! Can’t help noticing Anton’s weight loss, pink sun glasses and frilly hot pants– what’s going on, has any one checked for a fake sun tan) from corner peg 32 with 57lb. This also put him in 6th place overall but first out of the money.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured bottom right supervising Steve Evans working the results) from peg 42 on John Walters Lake with 131lb 2oz. Tony caught on both hard 8mm pellet and paste – it seems only yesterday that Tony was turning his nose up at paste as not a "proper" bait!!


The Silvers was won by John “The Gimp” Bradford from Specimen Lake peg 34. John also struggled most of the day at 16 metres for 33lb 2oz of Chub on caster.

Full Result:

1. Tony Rixon 131-02-0 peg 42
2. Leon Hubbard 119-06-0 peg 19
3. Josh Garrett 68-05-0 peg 5
4. Rob Wotton 66-05-0 peg 3
5. Chris Davis 61-03-0 peg 6
6. Anton Page 57-0-0 peg 32

Top Silvers:

1. John Bradford 33-02-0 peg 34
2. Nicky Collier 26-08-0 peg 36
3. Ryan Jordan 25-12-0 peg 8

Overall Individuals (weight order):

1. Tony Rixon 21 points
2. Martin Rayett 19
3. Leon Hubbard 18
4. Alan Oram 18
5. Josh Garrett 18

Friday 19/06/2009 - Whiteacres - Day Seven - Mawgan Porth

Day Seven was to be our last day and we are back to Mawgan Porth. We were up early to clean the Caravan before we left. Lucky enough Mark Tanner (pictured right – posing for own camera – he seems to do this a lot!) is an expert as he is a long time “Shed Puller”. Bob the caravan was left gleaming and no smell of fish!!

A pre-draw walk round the Lake and it was noticeable that the water had become a lot clearer since the last match.

This is a remarkable venue; I would argue that it the best environment to fish in the UK. I took a short video of Janet (bottom left) giving the pre-match instructions. There are many fishery owners that could learnt a lot from Janet. Strange though, that Janet still needs to read it from a crib sheet after five years, three times a week! The tin rattler in the foreground is Janet's Dad.

To the draw and no sign of Skip (stig) McCabe – has anyone ever seen him? Steve drew peg 6, Mark peg 38, Glenn (pictured right – with a contented smile) drew the flyer peg 47 – this peg has won more times than any other. I drew peg 8. Due to the water clarity I decided to fish Corn over loose fed Hemp in to my left hand margin. It was very slow start – looking round everyone appeared to be struggling. After two hours I decided to try my favour paste in to the left hand margin. My catch rate increased to twenty fish an hour until the last half hour when the fish really had a go. I weighed 90lb 4oz for 5th overall and 3oz out of winning my section! If only I didn’t have a £25 pee!! I must say it was nice going back to five hour matches - much less tiring.

Glenn also had a slow start and after the first hour was well behind the venue expert Andy Partridge, who had drawn peg 16. Over the rest of the match Glenn gradually pulled back, especially in the last hour. Glenn fished hair rigged 10mm hard pellet at 50 cm (Andy reckons that a lot of fish live under the quite large platforms) over loose fed 4mm – lifting and dropping the bait until the fish hooked them selves! Alas, Glenn, like me could only manage second to Andy weighing 111lb 2oz. Glenn picked up £50 from the pools.

Steve weighed 54lb catching most of his fish in the last hour. Mark, like the anglers around him struggled weighing in 40lb. I think the clarity of the water dis effect the weights today.

Full Result:

1. Andy Partridge 126-05-0 peg 16
2. Glenn Bailey 111-02-0 peg 47
3. Dave Chinn 99-10-0 peg 11
4. Howard Stocker 90-07-0!! peg 42
5. Mike Nicholls 90-04-0 peg 8
6. Dave Turbberville 84-14-0 peg 5

Thursday 17/06/2009 - Whiteacres - Day Six - Residents Rover

The weather today is perfect for fishing warm, but not too warm and overcast. Thursday’s sees the Whiteacres Residents Rover Match. The match is open to all Whiteacres Residents. They run three separate Sections - Junior’s, Ladies and Seniors. You have the pick of the all Lakes except Nelsons. You start by drawing your position in the queue to select your swim. Lucky enough there are only 84 fishing. Three years ago there were 200 fishing and I drew 198 to pick and Mark Tanner 200!

Mark Tanner spent most of yesterday walking the Lakes and noting the pegs he might select. Glenn also had a look around. Steve and I were a bit more laid back and decided to wait and see what queue number we got.

Mark drew 7 and selected to fish Pollawyn 20. He really fancied his chances with pleasure anglers each side of him. The elderly couple he was sandwich by told him they had caught 400 lb on Prawns the day before – but wasn’t fishing very well today!!!!

Steve drew 12 and selected to fish Pollawyn 31.

I drew 74 and selected to fish Python 15. This Lake has been restocked with new fish F1's, Tench and Skimmers, so I thought I would go for a days fishing not expecting to frame.

Glenn drew 84 and last in the queue!!! For some reason Glenn selected Sycamore peg 7!

The three anglers around me set up to fish shallow. I decided to fish soft pellet and paste at 9 metres, although I did set up a shallow rig just in case. I started on the pellet and had a few decent Skimmers and F1’s. I then fed a full 250ml of micro and 4mm hard pellet and the fizzing started! I changed to the paste and had a good second hour, just keeping ahead of the others. I then made a big mistake and fed another full pot and pulled too many fish in to my swim. I then had a very frustrating hour foul hooking and striking the paste off at liners. Then by fishing 1 metre away from the feed I was able to start catching again, but Daz Bennett next to me had caught me up. I decide to start feeding wetted (fluffy) 8mm pellet in the kinder pot which helped, with much better bite indication. I then struggled in the last hour. Daz had been pestered by Ducks all day, however, in the last hour when they buggered off he caught very well – one a bung - catching a bonus 3lb Common. At the weigh in and had 21lb 5oz of Skimmers and 40lb 3oz of F1’s for a total weight of 61lb 8oz.

This put me 8^th overall and a pick up of 1 bag of ground bait and a bag of pellets!! I wish now that I had practiced, I certainly would have fared much better by improving the feeding. I might have even got in the money.

Daz next to me fished a good match and well deserved his 3^rd place with 88lb 8oz – he fished well, most impressed. However, I did see him practicing there the day before.

As for the rest, Mark, Steve and Glenn DNW’d!! Steve at one time counted seventeen ducks chasing his loose fed pellet!!

I took a video (bottom left) of the result which shows the format of the payout.

Full Result:

1. Dave Richards 111-12-0 peg 14 TO

2. Paul Haines 96-05-0 peg 18 Pollawyn

3. Daz Bennett 88-08-0 peg 16 Python

4. Lee Bennett 82-04-0 peg 11 Peg 15 TO (Brother of Daz)

5. Andy Bennett 72-03-0 peg 11 Jenny’s (Brother of Daz)

Just goes to show how practicing can bring you luck!

Wednesday 16/06/2009 - Whitesacres - Day Five - Day of Rest

Day Five, our day of rest. It was opportune as the weather forecast weren’t good. However, Glenn got up early to try and beat the rain, for a few hours fishing on Sycamore. Glenn found the fishing hard, which is no surprise as the atmospheric pressure has been up and down like a yo-yo. Glenn (pictured right doing his Rigsby act) came back lunch time after catching around 40lb and prepared his rigs for tomorrows Residents Rover.I decided to stay in and catch up with my blog (pictured lower right).

I am contemplating thinking of entering the Whiteacres photograph completion “Flora and Fauna”. It was difficult to find much, but did find some Wild Honeysuckle near Nelsons Pool. See phorgraph below right.

Night out in Newquay a couple of pints and in to the Indian. I must say the meal was excellent and the view of the setting sun from the panoramic windows was awesome.

Tuesday 16/06/2009 - Whiteacres - Day Four - Mawgan Porth Fishery

Mawgan Porth Fishery was first opened in 2004 and I fished the very first match. I drew peg 7 and found I was opposite Bill Knott. I remember Billy moaning most of the match, plus a reprimand from owner Janet leads to his promise not to fish the venue again. I think has kept hat promise. I fondly remember Billy’s Dad Bill Senior. Bill Snr used to fish the SWWL with his team Marazion where Bill and his wife owned a hotel. Bill loved fishing the Crane at Keynsham and didn’t think twice of the round trip throughout the winter to and from Cornwall. Bill was a very good river float angler. Bill is also well known for his cut price Mitchell reels. Bill probably was the first to buy bulk and sell below rrp pissing off the retail trade. Now they are all cut pricing – Internet etc… I wonder what Bill would make of this, bet he would be deeply involved if he was still with us. I also remember one day Bill Snr brought Bill Jnr to a match (aged about 8 years), Rich Coles made the comment that Bill Jnr looked like a Chimpanzee.


Back to the match. A warm welcome greeted us from Janet, plus a beautiful sunny day. The Fishery is in a beautiful natural valley, surrounded by wild flowers and fauna. But be aware Janet is very, very protective of her fishery and fish which reflects in the quality of the fish - absolutely pristine. Janet provides keepnets, landing nets and cloths. She also sweeps down the platforms before you set up as well as weighing everyone in (mammoth task on this venue)! It is the best environment I have fished in. The picture right shows son Steve setting up, just look at the surroundings. I also included a photograph of a real Duck House (pictured right, this one didn’t cost £2,500, nor is it up for a charity auction).

Janet does the draw in her little open sided shed (pictured right – with Glenn looking on). I need to draw in the shallow part of the lake to have a chance of framing which is the nearest en to the car park. I drew peg 16. Janet keeps contemporary records of all her matches and a quick check on my peg revealed that a mere 25lb came off of it the day before! I have fished the venue some 10 times now and have some experience of fishing it. Glenn drew next to me on peg 18 and Steve 28 both of these are end pegs, but at the wrong end. Mark drew better on peg 8. I started in the right hand margin on small bits of paste (about the same size as an 8mm pellet). I fished this over loose fed wetted 4mm pellet (sparingly). The fish are either Common or Mirror Carp averaging 1lb, with a lot of small 3 oz Skimmers (they can drive you mad if you get them in your swim – ask Glenn). I had a good first two hours catching one a bung. It then slowed and a switch to deeper water out in front on the top set and full sized pieces of paste. Back to one a bung until the last hour until the Skimmers moved in which left me scratching around for the odd Carp. I weighed 136lb 10oz (pictured right waiting for the scales) for second overall and a pickup of £56.

Mark weighed 74lb 3oz; Steve weighed 73lb 12oz and Glenn 74lb 14oz. amazing that there was only one fish separating them all!!

The match was won by the local venue expert Andy Partridge (pictured lower right) with 167lb 10oz from peg 5. Andy started on expander pellet over loose fed pellet then switched to corn over hemp. The Hemp is probably the answer to the Skimmers nuisance.


Full Result:

1. Andy Partridge 167-10-0 peg 5
2. Mike Nicholls 136-10-0 peg 16
3. Andy Thomas 134-10-0 peg 41
4. Chris Whitehead 116-13-0 peg 47
5. Jim Hornsby 103-11-0 peg 42
6. Dave Chinn 96-09-0 peg 36

The record match weight is 343lb 13oz by Skip McCabe in five hours!! The "Stig" of the Angling World - some say he has four arms!!!

Monday 15/06/2009 - Day Three - Whiteacres Residents Gold Match - Trelawney and Twin Oaks

Day 3 brings with it the Residents Gold Match, which is to be fished on Lakes Trelawney and Twin Oaks. It’s not a lucky match for me, although I did qualify for the final, plus free caravan holiday on my first attempt in 2004, but because of work commitments I could not fish. Ever since then I haven’t won a bean, and a few DNW’s .

The match is run by Clint Elliot the Fishery Manager, the draw was held dead on time at nine. I drew peg 31 on Twin Oaks. I was well pleased with the draw as the wind was perfect for the pellet waggler and with plenty of tree cover on this inside with 30 inches of margin water. So with waggler set up and margin paste rig I was ready. I fed both margins and started on the waggler. After 1 hour I had only used two pellets in hair rig band! Into the margin with paste and Ronnied out! I decided to give the corn a try with a few decent Ronnies in the net. Then came the down pour and thunder. It was so heavy I could not see my float a top set away! At this point I near went up to the shop for a pint of caster, but too far too walk! Once the rain stopped I went back out on the pellet waggler and had a bit of sport for an hour putting nine Carp in the net for a total weight of 29lb 6oz for third in the section. It took me an age to pack up as everything was soaking wet and covered with mud splash up from the platform. With the weather so bad I could get the camera out only to take this of a Mallard Duck (pictured right).

Steve drew peg 25 on Trelawney and struggled for a weight of 11lb 8oz.

Glenn also drew on Trelawney peg 5. Glenn caught 27lb 14 oz on the pellet waggler, which included a foul hooked eight pounder. Glenn won his section picking up £40.

Mark drew peg 10 on Twin Oaks. I asked Mark to put in his own words how his day went:

“I drew Peg 10 on Twin Oaks, which Steve had pleasure fished on Saturday. Dropping Steve at Trelawney Mike suggested a walk would do me good, however then discovering two flat tyres on the trolley; it was a case of almost dragging my kit to Twin Oaks. The whistle for the off at 10.30 am sounded the all in, and all around it was ‘Method Madness’ as usual, with the Northerners appearing to lead the way. As I had a strip of bare bank and grass tight over (unlike having to contend with the overhanging gorse on Saturday) I was thinking if you can’t beat them join them. After the first hour enduring the lashing down rain (pictured right), and having left my Gore-Tex waterproof trousers in the car, which was parked at Trelawney and only a small Carp and one small Roach for my efforts. I threw the lot up the bank, and went straight out on the 5 metre paste line at the bottom of the near shelf, after very little movement and another two Ronnie’s (as Mike calls them), everything was swimming with water (paste, method mix, micro’s, tackle trays, carryall etc…). The lure of a pint of Olde English up at the Anglers Arms seemed more appealing by the minute.

Rain stopped, so straight down the edge on my corn and pellet line and was straight into a lump, with a good bonus 10lb Common in the net, it was straight back in and into another of the same weight. Things looking better now, and into the last hour with another seven in the net to put 44lb 14oz on the scales. Peg 8 below weighed 55lb all on the Method, Peg 12 above weighed 26lb. Moving up Twin Oaks, all the weights coming off Pegs 14, 16 and 18 where the wind had been blowing, the winner Neil Carless on Peg 14 who had caught well on the Method, before catching 60lb down the edge in the last hour or so, fishing pellet and paste over two pints of Luncheon Meat.

With a four pints maximum pellet bait limit (which just leaves anglers with no alternative other than to take other substitute baits), and the current fish issues, I wonder why they still allow meat on the complex.”

Full Result:

Neil Carless 109-08-0 peg 14 T O
Dave Richards 81-12-0 peg 17 Trelawney
John Burchell 61-12-0 peg 19 T O
Dave Thompson 59-15-0 peg 8 T O
Dave Brain 54-01-0 peg 18 T O
Adrian Clark 53-11-0 peg 16 T O

Sunday 14/06/2009 - Whiteacres Day Two - Gwinear Open

Day two, we are off to the “New” Gwinear Fishery to fish their open. The venue has been completely revamped, with the match lake being drained and every living organism “nuked” then the bottom scraped. The lake was then made into three separate lakes. Each lake then fitted with a new liner.


The pools are paid to the top two on each lake, which I think is fair. The lake pegging map (pictured right) shows the three Phases. Phase 1 has a lot of big Skimmers plus carp to 14lb. The other two phases are similar with smaller Skimmers and small Carp averaging 1lb. We had a walk around the venue. Off course I wanted to draw Phase 1! We were hoping that we had an angler on all three Phases, rather than all four of us on one Phase.

I drew peg 11 which is Phase 3 along Mark on peg 8 and Steve on peg 18. So one of us will be going home empty handed!

With no margin to talk of I set up two 4x14 Jolly’s to fish at 7 metres with 4mm expander pellet one at 10 o clock the other at 1 o clock. At both positions I had 8 foot of water and still shelving off. I started well with a few small Skimmers and some small 1 lb Carp. However, the wind decided to change, which left me becalmed and bite less for some time. It was obvious from the final result that the fish were following the wind. This is probably because the fish are “new” to the environment. The upshot was that I weighed 29lb 6oz which included 3lb 6oz of 4oz Skimmers. This put me 4th on the lake one behind Mark Tanner who weighed 30lb.

The Lake was won from corner peg 15 with 56lb with Steve a close runner up with 53lb and a pick-up of £45 for lake second. The video attached (bottom left) shows Steve weighing in and getting a rollicking for having one Skimmer in his net of Carp (the last fish he caught - blimey Skimmers are expensive in Cornwall) – shows how careful Andy Dare is being with his fish.

Glenn Bailey (pictured right being weighed in by Andy Dare) drew the corner peg 43 on Phase 1 and won the lake with 62-14-0. Glenn caught Carp from the end margin on paste. This also put Glenn third overall and a pick-up of £60.

The match was won from Phase 2 by Bob Rand (pictured lower right) with 81-0-0. Bob fished 16 metres with pellet.

My impression of the venue revamp is that it is far better than the latter years of Simon’s management. I do enjoy this type of fishing – small soft pellet, etc....

Full Result:

1. Bob Rand 81-0-0 peg 26
2. Martin Newstead 76-0-0 peg 41
3. Glenn Bailey 62-14-0 peg 43
4. Bowzer 56-0-0 peg 15
5. Gordon Maeers 55-08-0 peg 47
6. Steve Nicholls 53-0-0 peg 18

What are the chances of Bob drawing the same peg the next day and winning again? The answer is exactly the same as the first day. Amazing enough that's exactly what he did. Well done Bob, couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Saturday 13/06/2009 - Whiteacres - Day One - Arrival

I had planned to travel down to Whiteacres with Glenn Bailey who arrived as expected 10 minutes early. Mark Tanner was taking son Steve and also arrived as expected 25 minutes late!! It took both cars just over two hours 10 minutes to travel the 160 miles. Straight to the cafe where we met up with Bob Gullick, who had been at Whiteacres for the past two weeks. Bob had framed in both Residents matches and at Gwinear, so we got a lot of insider info. It was good to hear that the method feeder wasn’t dominating as much at Whiteacres with the margins and short pole starting to frame. It was also interesting to hear that there were plenty of Skimmers showing at Gwinear. Bob also explained that the Carp were responding to a careful feeding approach. The information was well worth the cost of a breakfast.

Bob and Angie (pictured right - when I first met Angie I thought it was Bob's daughter! Good job I didn't say anything) gave us a tour of their caravan – excellent and brand new! Angie was also kind enough to sort out the bedding – thanks Angie; I always struggle with filling those bloody the duvet covers. Bob explained that is was best not to park on the grass as the car may get stuck if it rained. I pointed out Marks car to him (pictured next lower right). Bob needn’t have worried Mark spends a lot of his business life in the s**t!!

Before leaving for home Bob said he wish he could stay with us for another week!

Off to the tackle shop to book into the two residents matches. Clint gave us his usual jovial micky taking welcome – he never seems to get any older – must be the Cornish air.

Having dropped off our bags Glenn decided that we should give the “Gay lakes” (named given by Ian Spriggs some years back when they were first opened) a try – Twin Oaks. Glenn settled on peg 4, Mark peg 6, me peg 8 and Steve peg 10. Everyone (except me) wanted to try the method feeder. I decided to try the paste and pellet. I Started on the paste at 5 metres (well I am on holiday) and started to catch bream to 4lb. I noticed that Glenn, Mark and Steve had started on the feeder and was casting into the far bank bushes and vegetation. I left them to it and carried on catching Bream. I switched to 6mm expander pellet and caught some good Ronnie’s to 1lb. I estimated I had 48lb which included two carp for 10lb. You need to be aware of the bait thief's, I caught this one red handed (see picture lower right).

Glenn had 20 Carp 50:50 on the method and pellet waggler for an estimated 60lb. Mark had 4 Carp on the method and Steve 3.

Back to the caravan by 17:00 a quick sort out, shower and off to the Two Clomes (a Clome is a bread oven built in to the sides of an old fireplace) for Sirloin steaks all round. Thanks Mark!!. Then back to the Whireacres pub for a pint or two!!

Thursday 11/06/2009 - Bathampton AA Over 55's - Main Lake

The temperature had gone up some, bright sun, but with gusting winds. On the main Lake today, I don’t know any match angler that enjoys fishing this lake. It’s a shame we use this lake as there are so many Carp anglers keen to fish it

Ian Sheppard learnt a valuable lesson today – don’t let Tom Coulston park next to you, he might hit your car. However, Tom has offered to pay for the repairs! It’s dangerous enough fishing next to Tom!!!

Colin posed the question whether to leave peg 15 in or not. The consensus was to leave it in. I walked the pegs before the match with the Doc and fancied peg 15. Guess what; I drew it, and happy to do so. I can’t say the same for Bob (MD) Feltham who drew peg 4 and refused to fish. Bob got a refund and went back to MD’ing.

Before the draw Colin Golding found two Carp anglers fishing the lake and requested they pack up, explaining that the lake was closed. They duly did, and went home. Can you imagine my dismay when just after arriving at my peg a Carp angler arrives on the next peg explaining that Colin said he could fish next to me!! Exasperating, I don’t have any objections to pegging around Carp anglers on this lake – but this is stupidity in the extreme! Everyone needs to be accountable for their actions.

Because the Silvers spawn at this end of the lake I was expecting to catch a few Bream. However, there were a lot of large shadows just under the surface – Water Pigs. The peg is about 3 foot deep. I started on the 6mm expander pellet over micro pellet – blimey, I could get through the Rudd and Ronnie’s. Great I thought! Quick change to the caster and a fish a chuck, after 30 minutes with about 70 fish for 2lb I knew this was not the way to fortune. I went out again at 10 metres with pellet (limited due to the gusting winds). More small fish! On to the paste then! This worked and although the Ronnie’s (not to be confused with the Ronaldo’s that got transferred from MUF today for £80 million) played some football with the paste. I did manage eight decent Bream for 24lb 3oz. This put me second overall and a pick up of £25.

The match was won by Brian Sheppard (pictured right) from peg 13 with 30lb 12oz of Silvers, which included one Tench. Brian used 6mm expander pellet over potted pellet at 13 metres. Why didn’t Brian have problems with the 1oz Rudd and Ronnie’s?

Full Result:
1. Brian Sheppard 30-12-0 peg 13
2. Mike Nicholls 24-03-0 peg 15
3. Colin Golding 14-03-0 peg 28 (included one Carp)
4. Rich Coles 14-01-0 peg 34
5. John Bennet 10-01-0 peg 27
6. Ian Sheppard 9-12-0 peg 7

I am off to Whiteacres next week. Subject to getting an internet connection I will be blogging every day.

Sunday 07/06/2009 - Bathampton AA Open - Bridge Pool

In a previous blog (Avalon - 15/03/2009) I reported that a 1lb 3oz Dace was caught on the Bathampton waters at Compton Dando. I can now tell you that the angler was Paul Randell. Paul has sent me the attached photograph (right) of the Dace. However, Paul isn’t 100% sure it’s a Dace. I think so. Have a look and let me know what you think.

With overnight heavy rain and a lowly 8 degrees is not the recipe for a good days fishing. I knew this would happen if I bought new Polaroids! I drew peg 28. Last year I won both the Silvers and Carp off this peg on caster. So I set up two caster rigs – one Ronnie and one Ronnie/Skimmer, a margin paste rig and a soft pellet rig for 10 metres over micro pellet. I also set up the shallow waggler (for the second consequative week - am I getting waggleritus?). I started on the Ronnie caster rig and found it very slow so tried the other caster rig, again very slow. A few Carp were coming out – but very few Silvers. I went out at 10 metres on the 6mm soft pellet and started to catch a few 3oz Skimmers. However, I was missing a lot of bites due to my hooker pellets being too soft. I switched to small pieces of paste on the same rig and caught slighty bigger Skimmers (4oz to 12oz), but too slow and frustrating. With 2 and half hours gone I went for a walk. Terry Bruton had six Carp and both Kevin Dicks and Bob Sheppard two Carp each, however, Kevin had caught some big Skimmers. I went back to my peg and made the decision that Carp might be a safer bet to some coin, so picked up the waggler and fished it along the end of the opposite island. I landed six Carp – lost two and suffered a lot of line bites. I weighed 7lb 8oz of Silvers and 48lb 13oz of Carp for a total of 54lb 5oz and third overall and a pick up of £35. On hindsight I think I could have at least finished second in the Silvers. But I didn’t!

The match was won by my good friend Terry Bruton (pictured upper right) with 13 Carp for 79lb 3oz from peg 31. Terry fished the pole at 16 metres to the opposite island with hair rigged 8mm Pellet fished over loose fed 8mm pellet. Terry lost at least 20 carp mostly foul hookers. I bet terry’s back will be hurting tomorrow.

The Silvers was won by Kevin Dicks (pictured bottom right)with 13lb 4oz from peg 4.

Full Result:

1. Terry Bruton 79-03-0 peg 31

2. Kevin Dicks 75-04-0 peg 4

3. Mike Nicholls 54-05-0 peg 28

4. Bob Sheppard 52-07-0 peg 15

5. Stuart O’Toole 25-0-0 peg 24

6. Kevin (Doc) Collins 20-12-0 peg 10

Top Silvers:

1. Kevin Dicks 13-04-0 peg 4

2. Leyton Palmer 10-13-0 peg 30