Thursday 31/03/2011 - Bathampton AA Over 55's And Disabled - Bridge Pool

Today was the first match of this seasons BAA Coffin Dodgers. And it looks like a lot of coffin dodging has been going on over the winter as we had our biggest turn out with 32 fishing – only two pegs left out – 12 & 20. It was also Mike Jones first match as organiser coinciding with his 76 67 birthday, so Mike had a rendition of the traditional song. As can be seen from the picture right with Ray Bazeley Mike was well organised bringing his patio set with him (1st and 3rd in the Silvers pool today)

There was a bit of drizzle before the draw which soon subsided and we were left with the angler’s worse condition – high gusting SW winds. The night before I was thinking of the pegs I would prefer and those I wouldn’t. It’s amazing I drew a peg that I didn’t even consider – peg 25. By no means a peg you would say no to. For company I had Terry Bruton on his usual Skimmer peg 24 and Chris Rolfe on his usual peg 26. My peg is 7 metres back from both of these pegs so you need to fish long for the Silvers. However, because of the windy conditions that wasn’t an option. The best I could offer was 9 metres.

For some reason Chris Rolfe was loose feeding most of his tackle throughout the match. The only items that didn’t get a wetting were his pole roller, tackle box and himself! He didn’t get all of it back either.

I set up a Ronnie rig which didn’t catch a fish. A margin paste rig, which although had a few outings didn’t have any interest. A Skimmer rig to fish at 9 metres. The upshot was the lake fished really strange. All I could muster from the swim was 3lb 1oz even though throughout the match I set all sorts of rigs in an attempt to get bites. With the Ronnie’s not feeding and the only way to catch a Skimmers was either on the drop which accounted for the only two I caught or up in the water. This is the second match on the lake that I couldn't catch on the bottom!

I was on the scales today and I was amazed that from pegs 34 to 27 everyone DNW’d, with seven of the angler going early including matey Rich Coles.

The match was won by Martin Alexander (pictured right with his biggest Carp) from peg 27 with eight Carp for 71lb. Martin caught all but one on the straight lead with hair rigged hard banded pellet fished to the opposite island. Martin loose feed two pints of 8 mm pellets throughout the match. Martin did have a big foul hooked Common Carp on the pole.

The Silvers was won by Mike Jones from peg 9 with 14lb 8oz. Mike caught Skimmer on caster over loose fed casters fishing 30 inches deep in 9ft of water.

Full Result:

1. Martin Alexander 71-0-0 peg 27
2. Chris Snow 20-02-0 peg 21
3. Bob Tilley 19-14-0 peg 5
4. Bob Warren 15-04-0 peg 17
5. Mike Jones 14-08-0 peg 9
6. Pete Phillips 12-05-0 peg 10

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Jones 14-08-0 peg 9
2. Terry Bruton 5-13-0 peg 24
3. Ray Bazeley 5-01-0 peg 11

Sunday 27/03/2011 - Boyd Valley Open

Bill Ferris wanted to know what my winter Skimmer GB mix consisted of. I don’t have any issues with this; unlike some anglers, one I know doesn’t even like other anglers fondling his GB!
All of the following GB’s should be sieved to remove all the large particles, which can be kept and stored for a summer bag up mix.
1 x 1 pint Sensas Lake (black or natural)
1 x 1 pint of Sensas Magic (great on it’s own for small Canal Skimmers)
1x 1 pint Swim Stim – Amino (black or green)
I then add IM5 as a binder. The quantity is dependant on the depth of the water I am fishing. For shallow venues such as Viaduct and Bullocks Farm, etc… I add ½ pint. For deeper venues such as; The Sedges and Huntstrete I add up to 1 pint.
I blacken up to suit with Sensas black powder.
I always mix it the night before and split the mix in to two separate plastics bags (because I am fugal). I take home any unopened bags and freeze for the next match – but check the bags for any air holes.

On the day of the match I decide on the quantity of GB to feed dependant on the conditions etc…If I am going to feed kinder pot I add extra water to bind it tight (this mix is easily made in to a paste like substance). If I am going to “Ball it”, I leave as is, providing it hasn’t dried out too much.
The deep mix is ideal for feeding expander pellet through the kinder pot.
I can all most guarantee that Carp will not home in on this GB as I have only caught two all winter whilst using it.
All of the above ingredients are available from Avon Angling.
I might now remember for next winter what I was using and where I bought it!!

Yet another Sunday at Boyd Valley Lake. Once again we were surrounded by wild life and at last I found a bird (pictured top right) that would keep perfectly still and is without the best tehre is at catching small Ronnie's.

In to the draw box and out comes peg 10, same peg as last week. However, the wind had changed around 180 degrees and was now blowing in to peg 6 which meant I would need to fish bias to my right. I thought it would be harder today as the temperature had dropped so had the water level. Because of this I set up four Ronnie rigs – one for the RH margin (shallower) – one for the LH and two whip s for out in front (wind permitting). Using caster hook bait over loose fed caster and switching between all for rigs I just about managed to keep the Ronnie’s coming throughout the match. Because the fish weren’t really feeding I only just managed to get through 1 pint of caster. It wasn’t only the Silvers that didn’t come out to play as the Carp and Skimmers decided to have a day off. Because of this my 32lb 2oz of Ronnie’s was enough to win both the Silvers and match. The match winner is pictured right with the Special One - I'm the one on the right (picture courtesy of Edie Nicholls aged 4).

The default Silvers winner was Joe Mc Mahon (pictured right with his net of Silvers) with 17lb 5oz of Ronnie’s from peg 4. Joe caught on his top set with caster. A young angler to watch providing Dad doesn’t advise too much!!

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 32-02-0 peg 10
2. Shaun Townsend 30-08-0 peg 7
3. Martin Rayet 27-14-0 peg 3
4. Lee Trivet 24-10-0 peg 11
5. Leyton Palmer 23-0-0 peg 9
6. Dave Haines 22-10-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 32-02-0 peg 10
2. Joe Mc Mahon 17-05-0 peg 4

Saturday 26/03/2011 - Hillview Open

Son Steve wanted another outing to Hillview, so as he offered to drive I agreed to take my aching neck for a restful Carp session.

On arrival Keith Hill informed us that he had re-stocked the fishery with F1’s. Keith has put 1100 lbs in to both Lakes and 700 lbs in each of the four canals. A total of 4480 lbs. The fish appear to be between 12oz to 1lb.

After one of the best breakfasts this year (I couldn’t eat the last half of sausage) I was first in to the woolly hat (according to Keith because I am the oldest) and out comes peg 7. This peg is opposite the only island and has some recent form on the waggler. There were plenty of fish crashing around it when I arrived. However, I had no intention of fishing there. I noticed that Steve had drawn opposite me on peg 18 the other island chuck. I walked round to tell him he had the whole island to himself if he wanted.

Back to my swim and I set up two margin rigs one paste rig for the LH side and a 4x12 corn float for the RH margin, designed by me and expertly made by Mark Haskins (pictured right) (apparently no relation to Topper). These floats can only be purchased from Avon Angling. I must say they worked very well with excellent shotability. I also set up a 4x16 Jolly to be fished at 6.5 metres to be fished with expander pellet. On plumbing up in the LH margin I had a fish peck at the plummet. So that was where I started on the paste. I immediately had fish nudging the paste. I thought it was Ronnie’s so I picked up the corn rig and had an F1 straight away. I started to feed some hard 4’s over the top and had a run of F1’s until I had a 2lb carp. The swim then died. So I went out on the 6.m metre line with soft 3mm pellet kinder potting in some micro. Once again I caught F1’s until I caught another 3lb Carp. I then had three Bream to 3lb. I decided to switch to feeding hard 4’s which appeared to do the trick as I started to catch proper Carp regularly. However, a long quiet spell followed. I kept trying the margin with paste and corn but it didn’t show much sign of life, I think the water was too clear. I fished the remainder of the match on 6.5 metre line having another good run of Carp with a smattering of F1’s. My Silvers net (including the F1’s) went 30 lb and the 15 Carp weighed in at 64lb 8oz fro a total of 94lb 8oz putting me top on Moorhen Lake and second overall.

I was narrowly beaten by Alan Hicks (pictured right with his F1 catch) on peg 37 with 98lb of F1’s. Alan caught at 7 metres starting on pellet and later switching to paste which he thought was the more productive bait. Luke Hughes on the next peg 39 to Alan also had 90lb of F1’s.

Steve caught 51lb of F1's on the short pole aslo using paste. Glad I didn't fish the waggler as Steve was tormented by the F1's taking the pellet out of the band - landing none!

Full Result:

1. Alan Hicks 98-0-0 peg 37
2. Mike Nicholls 94-08-0 peg 7
3. Luke Hughes 90-04-0 peg 39
4. Rob Hands 67-0-0 peg 16
5. Ian Smith 62-13-0 peg 32
6. Garry Hughes 62-08-0 peg 5

Wednesday 23/03/2011 - Carps AC Plantation Winter League - Round Four

The Special One and took the Granddaughters to Vassals Park yesterday where I was persuaded to have a go on the Tarzan swing. It looked easy enough with a four year old weighing 3 stone. I should have known that it’s a completely different story with 11 stone Pensioner on it. I hit the end buffer and jarred my neck. This resulted in a restless nights sleep. I got up early this morning and I felt fishing the long pole for Skimmers today was going to be painful, especially seeing the pole back on to the back roller, which it proved to be.

The weather was real spring like with bright blue skies and temperatures in the high teens – great this long cold winter is over.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 27, yet another island chuck and a Carp flyer. My draws must be pissing off a lot of the Carp Slayers. I have fished the peg before winning the Silvers with a good net of Skimmers, so I set up a Skimmer rig to be fished at 11.5 metres and three Ronnie rigs – one to be shallow at 6 metres, one for 7 metres on the bottom and a short rig also for fishing on the bottom. All the Ronnie rigs would use caster hook bait over loose fed caster. After feeding four balls of Skimmer GB on the Skimmer line and a few casters for over the close in Ronnie rig. I tried for the Skimmers, first with maggot which resulted in two small Ronnie’s then 3 mm expander which also resulted in a similar catch. Great, I could rest my neck. On to the short Ronnie rig and I started to catch fish to 1lb. The up shot was I kept switching between the shallow 6 metre rig and the short rig to keep the Ronnie’s with a smattering of Rudd coming on and off through out the match. The 7 metre rig didn’t get used. I weighed 34lb 9oz for 2nd in the Silvers and I think 7th overall.

The match was won by John Dursley (pictured right) with 93lb 4oz all Carp catch from peg 8. John caught at 13 metres using banded 8mm hard pellet at depth. John loose fed about two pints of a mixture of 4’s and 6 mm hard pellet.

The Silvers was won by Dave Wride from peg 38 with an impressive all Skimmer catch of 43lb made up primarily of 4 – 6oz fish. Dave caught at 9 metres using 4 mm soft expander pellet fished over small (Kinder) balls of GB.

At the results there was a big debate over the payout. I suggest that everyone is provided with a set of printed Wednesday match rules, especially the match organiser on the day! It would be beneficial if everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet.

My travelling partner Leyton Palmer picked up fourth in the overall by default but donated 50% of it to Steve Dawson out of sympathy for the Silvers not being defaulted. I would have thought Leyton would have put us needy pensioners first!

Full Result:

1. John Dursley 93-04-0 peg 8
2. Mike Owens 56-06-0 peg 26
3. Steve Kedge 52-0-0 peg 23
4. Leyton Palmer 45-02-0 peg 25
5. Steve Dawson 43-01-0 peg 1
6. Dave Wride 43-0-0 peg 38

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 43-0-0 peg 38
2. Mike Nicholls 34-09-0 peg 27
3. Steve Kedge 32-12-0 peg 23

PS: My neck is still very painful so have decided to take some medication - alcohol!!

Sunday 20/03/2011 - Boyd Valley Open

Back to Bowd Boyd Valley Lake for another open run by Leyton Palmer. Every match we have a different line up with Andy Britt putting in an appearance today, luckily there was no singing! Andy brought with him some good news that Dad Bryan is enjoying a spell of good health – might see him out fishing next.

This lake is a nice place to spend a day for the wild life alone. The herd of Deer are still in the back field and I spied the fattest Pheasant (pictured right). I was assured by Matt Taynton that the meat would most likely be tough – colourful game bird all the same. One thing that irritates me is litter being left by pleasure anglers. I wonder what state their homes are in – it’s so easy to take it home and recycle. I clear my swim every time as I can’t fish with litter anywhere near me.

What a lovely Spring day – BBC got it wrong again – no rain or clouds.

I went for a walk around the lake yesterday meeting up with Layton Palmer in peg 11. With the wind blowing into this bank there was a lot of Carp showing in the margin. Leyton was hoping to draw the peg today but ended up in just the peg he didn’t want – peg 6, however, he did manage moan a few on to the hook.

I drew peg 10. Happy with this, but in two minds as to fish for Carp or Silvers, as this peg has two good Carp margins. As I had a bite on a bare hook whilst shotting up decided me – Silvers it was. I set up three rigs two identical Ronnie rigs to be fished on the bottom 4 ½ foot deep, and a 3.5 metre whip with a small waggler to be fished at 2 ½ foot deep. All the rigs to be fished with caster hook bait over caster. The whip only accounted for 7 or so Ronnie’s albeit better quality, but because of the wind I was missing too many bites. So the majority of my fish came to my Ronnie’s rigs, which needed three no 11 back shot to get better presentation against the right to left wind. I nearly added three Carp but they were a bite too fast for me and I lost them all in the bank side Sedges luckily I had the spare rig made up. Isn’t it amazing all though there appeared identical I couldn’t catch as quick with the substitute? Andy Britt was also fishing for the Silvers and had counted his 230 fish which I thought would run me close. I weighed 33lb 13oz of Ronnie’s to Andy’s 17lb. This put me first in the Silvers and because the Carp didn’t feed third overall.

The match was won as expected by Steve Jefferies (pictured right with one of his small fish - yes this is what a Millionaire looks like) from peg 11 with 46lb 3oz his catch included Carp to 10 lb. Steve caught all his fish in the LH margin fishing long down to the post. Steve caught on sweet corn over pellet feed.

Full Result:

1. Steve Jefferies 46-03-0 peg 11
2. Jerry Pocock 39-08-0 peg 12
3. Mike Nicholls 33-13-0 peg 10
4. Matt Taynton 27-06-0 peg 2
5. Martin Rayett 26-08-0 peg 3
6. Leyton Palmer 25-10-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 33-13-0 peg 10
2. Andy Britt 17-0-0 peg 9

Thursday 17/03/2011 - Bathampton AA Silvers Championship - Huntstrete - Final Round Seven - Bridge Pool

St Patrick’s Day saw Harry Muir do an Irish jig and present a card to our good friend Andy Shield on his 53rd Birthday ( Andy pictured right reading good wishes!).

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 16. I was delighted with this as I have many fond memories of this peg. On peg 17 I had Martin Alexander and peg 15 the mad Irish man Harry Muir for company.

I set up the usual two rigs – 1 x 4x16 Jolly and a 1 x Ronnie rig. I started by pot feeding four big balls of GB at 7 metres and first put in had a Skimmer on the drop which came off shipping back – happy days – not. It took 15 minutes before I had a 4 oz Skimmer in the net. Looking around the fishing appeared to be slow. I concluded that the Skimmers weren’t going to feed as they are usually first on parade. So after an hour and four small Skimmers in the net it was time for the Ronnie rig with caster hook bait over caster. First cast I had an indication following this I had a run of Ronnie’s up to 6oz. However, I soon realised that the fish were up in the water so took 2 foot off the depth and started to catch a lot quicker. With two hours to go the swim died so switched to the maggot and kept the Ronnie’s coming albeit them being a lot smaller. Unconsciously I kept putting a caster on the hook instead of a maggot and didn’t realise until I didn’t get a bites – I don’t often fish maggot for Ronnie’s! I weighed 16lb which was enough for a match win.

I was fishing for third place in the knockout with Rich Coles and managed to double his weight. However, the Knock out was won by Bill Ferris (pictured right with runner up Bob Price) with 14lb to Bob’s 4lb.

Paul Barnfield and I (both pictured right) were leading the pairs at the start of the match which we maintain by weighing in a total weight of 25lb, giving us an overall points tally of 62. Runners up were Rich Coles and Harry Muir with 52.

The overall league was a close affair on the day between the top two with Paul Barnfield just keeping the lead he held all series from Paul Staite (both pictured right), but by just one point. With the win today I managed to sneak up the league table and finish 3rd overall.

1. Paul Barnfield 74

2. Paul Staite 73
3. Mike Nicholls 66
4. Mike Jones 60
5. Rich Coles 50
6. Bill Ferris 36

Full Result on the day:

1. Mike Nicholls 16-0-0 peg 16
2. Bill Ferris 14-04-0 peg 24
3. Pete Phillips 13-02-0 peg 26
4. Mike Jones 10-11-0 peg 30
5. Paul Staite 10-09-0 peg 31
6. Harry Muir 9-04-0 peg 15

No Carp weighed.

Many thanks for a great series goes to Bathampton AA, Mike Jones and Veals Tackle for providing many tackle vouchers.

Sunday 13/03/2011 - Boyd Valley Open

Driving the 1 ½ miles down Rye Down Lane to Boyd Valley Lake I had to bang on the brakes because a Deer had jumped through the hedge landing just in front of me. On seeing me It immediately jumped back through. On arriving in thewcar park the field behind the lake had four Deer (pictured right) grazing, good to see.

The venue has become very popular for the East Enders of Bristol because of the short travelling distance, coupled with the ever escalating cost of fuel. I will be back again next week.

The question for me was would I pull peg 8 again. The answer was no, because Steve O’Toole was running late so Dave Haines drew his peg first and out came my peg 8 (did Steve turn up, I thought I heard his voice!).

In to the draw bag and out comes in-form Carp peg 3, umm. Due to the over night rain the peg had a red pool of water along the front sleeper, I tried to perch my seat box away from it, but soon resigned to sitting in it. I set up my usual Ronnie rig and one Skimmer rig to be fished just down the inside shelf at 7 metres. I decided to feed my 3 mm expander pellet in hard ground bait to get it down on the bottom quickly to stop the Ronnie’s eating them on the drop. I started after the Ronnie’s by feeding the usual caster with caster hook bait, catching straight off fish in the 3 to12oz bracket. I did have a go for the Skimmers but had only one of 3oz, so decided to stick with the Ronnie’s for the remainder of the match and other than one 2lb 5oz Carp ½ hour to go I had caught Ronnie’s regularly through out. My Ronnie’s weighed in at 31lb 4oz, giving a total of 33lb 9oz for first in the Silvers and fourth overall.

The match was won by venue first timer Matt Taynton (pictured right with his catch) with 49lb 6oz from peg 9. Matt caught some early small Carp out in front at 7 metres. Matt later switched to both left and right hand margin with corn hook bait catching three quality Carp to 8lb in the last half hour or so.

Full Result:

1. Matt Taynton 49-06-0 peg 9
2. Lee Waller 38-04-0 peg 11
3. Leyton Palmer 36-04-0 peg 1
4. Mike Nicholls 33-09-0 peg 3
5. Bela Bakos 19-04-0 peg 2
6. Steve Jefferies 16-01-0 peg 5

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 31-04-0 peg 3
2. Dave Haines 14-10-0 peg 4

Thursday 10/03/2011 - Bathampton AA Silvers Championship - Huntstrete - Round Six - Withy Pool

I am safe in saying that the conditions today seriously impacted the fishing of every angler. Primarily there was a strong to gale force South Westerly blowing at cloud level. However, at lake level it was a different story all together. The wind was converted to strong gusts hitting everyone at all points of the compass. This made holding the pole and presentation very difficult to impossible most of the time. I had a first today seeing a water spout which was formed on the surface of the lake and was approximately 12 foot diameter lifting the water some 2 foot. I was also amazed how fast the wind can change direction.

I was still in the Knockout with four of us left; I drew Bob Price who had drawn end peg 41. Bob said he was going to beat me with big Silvers – true to his word as it happened.

In to the draw bait container and out comes peg 43. Happy with this peg – normally! Martin Alexander said I could expect to catch Carp on this peg, we’ll see.

I had packed a feeder rod because of the expected high winds and in case I drew in the low sixties. But because peg 43 is narrow I left it in the car. I set up one Slimmer rig a 4x16 Jolly to be fished just down the self at 10 metres. Surprisingly as there was no appreciable tow it was just about the right weight. I also set up a short Ronnie rig – I can’t remember why now!! On the whistle I fed four balls of Skimmer GB laced with a few casters and pinkies at 10 metres. Out with single red maggot and - nothing. On to a single pinkie and I had a few 1oz Ronnie’s before I latched in to a 9lb “Barny” type Carp (short and plump). So Martin was right and I think the issue of Carp was to keep my Ronnie’s disappearing for long spells. I was struggling not only with being bite less but with the wind. It was so bad Steve Jefferies on next peg 42 packed up early. With 1 ½ hour left I had enough of pole fencing with the wind and went to the car and got the Feeder rod. It wasn’t very productive for the twenty minutes I used it, but it did give my arms a rest. My Silvers weighed in at 4lb 13oz for nowhere and my single Carp went 9lb 9oz for a consolation pick up of first in the Carp pool.

As predicted Bob Price (pictured right with his runner up catch) beat me very easily with 14lb 11oz of big Skimmers - well done matey. Bob now faces his good friend Bill Ferris in the knockout final who knocked out Rich Coles.

The match was won for the second consecutive match by Paul Staite with 24lb 14oz from end peg 60.Paul caught eight Bream on the pole using 4 mm soft pellet hook bait fished over and mix of micro and 4 mm expander.

Full Result:

1. Paul Staite 24-14-0 peg 60
2. Bob Price 14-11-0 peg 41
3. Harry Muir 13-15-0 peg 62
4. Mike Jones 10-09-0 peg 69
5. Chris Rolfe 8-13-0 peg 48
6. Paul Barnfield 6-05-0 peg 45

Top Carp:

1. Mike Nicholls 9-09-0 peg 43
2. Bob Price 7-07-0 peg 41

Wednesday 09/03/2011 - Carps AC Plantation Winter League - Round Three

More good news for The Sedges Fishery from Paul Locke who during a recent bagging pleasure session on Tile Lake found himself in the middle of a major restocking. Paul stopped fishing to witness the goings on and was amazed to see a large amount of big Bream up to 8lb being stocked. Returning to his swim and after a quick re-feed with micro pellet had an eight pounder first put in – so they must be dead easy to catch then!!

I had an ultimatum today from Leyton Palmer – “Complain about my driving again and you will be riding in the back of the van blindfolded”. So today ride was very sedate, even though Leyton was one out of the money!! Leyton found somewhere unusual for breakfast – Yatton Railway Station. I must say it was a tad expensive, but very good food. I really enjoyed my coffee, no heart burn today.

The weather forecast was for strong SW winds, which there was no sigh of at the draw. However, I was hoping for a draw on the far bank which would give the wind off the back. In to the draw bucket and out comes another peg with “island chuck” peg 8. Apparently this is a good Carp and Skimmer peg, but was fished the day before! For company today I had Dave Wride on peg 7. I decided on the same set up as the previous venue match and after feeding four balls of Skimmer GB at 11.5 metres the wind picked up and was blowing right in to me and it was gusting. I started on the long Ronnie rig with single caster over loose fed caster and didn’t have a bite. The wind wasn’t helping my feeding it was falling short and going all over the place. So put a small pot of casters in at four metres and tried the Skimmer line. It was soon apparent that my 7x 11 modified PB14 was far too light for the wind strength. However, didn’t bother to change as I was still expecting to bag up on Ronnie’s. I initially didn’t have a bite on 3 mm expander so switched to a single red maggot and had a run of Skimmers to 1 ½ lb but mostly 4 to 6 oz fish. I tried another pellet and hooked a 6lb Carp which gave me a right song and dance, so decided to stay with the red maggot. The swim died so I re-fed with three balls of GB and tried the short Ronnie line. First try I had a 1lb Ronnie’s followed by a 2lb Perch. But that was it on this line the fish wouldn’t come close enough. I tried the long Ronnie rig again and had a run of 2-3oz Ronnie’s. Back out on the Skimmer line and for some strange reason I kept foul hooking decent Skimmers just putting a few scales in the net! I wish I could see what was happening under the water. The fish then settled and another short run ob small Skimmers followed. Towards the end the wind died and for ¾ of an hour I had a 2oz Ronnie every cast plus a bonus 2lb Skimmer. Silvers weighed in at 27lb 6oz for second in the Silvers, adding the 6lb Carp my total weight was 33lb 6oz for 7th overall.

The match was won by Chris Davis (pictured right with some of his catch) with a massive 131lb 8oz from peg 4. Chris caught at 13 metres fishing hard banded 6mm pellet just off bottom. Chris fed 6’s and 8’s through his catapult feeding less than a pint all match.

The Silvers was won by Steve Dawson (pictured bottom right) from peg 33 with 28lb 10oz. Steve caught initially at 9 metres over GB then kinder potted soft pellet. After Steve had netted 10lb of Skimmers he swithched to the maggot at 4 metres down the right and had a good rest of the match catching quality Ronnie’s.

Full Result:

1. Chris Davis 131-08-0 peg 4
2. Darren Vowles 77-0 -0 peg 29
3. Bob Price 46-06-0 peg 18
4. Leyton Palmer 42-13-0 peg 38
5. Steve Kedge 39-06-0 peg 27
6. Dave Wride 38-10-0 peg 7

Top Silvers:

1. Steve Dawson 28-10-0 peg 33
2. Mike Nicholls 27-06-0 peg 8
3. Mike Jones 23-06-0 peg 19

Sunday 06/03/2011 - Viaduct Teams Of Five Winter League - All Lakes - Round Five - Final Round

It was encouraging for the team to arrive at Viaduct to find that due to a weighing error on the previous match our team Silverfox TM (motley crew pictured right) were promoted to first overall.

We were realsitic enough to realised that we would need another good draw to hold off some of the better teams. Captain Tom had done a great job so far with the draw bag. However, not quite so good today, but could we get our target points of 50 from it?

My turn on Spring Lake and Tom handed me peg 12. Not that impressed, but cheered up when the Captain advised me to forget trying to catch Carp! It's twice in three days that I found myself next door to my fellow Coffin Dodger Rich Coles occupying peg 11.

Rich and I discussed best approach and both set up the same - waggler, small feeder and one pole rig. I found my peg strange in that peg 16 is casting (legally) across me and Rich towards the island. It leaves you wondering how far you can fish out. I decide my maximum would be at 12 o clock level with peg 15. I started by potting in one small ball of particle free GB at 13 metres, starting on the waggler with double dead red fished over loose fed caster. I soon had two Ruff in the net whilst pegs 14, 17, 18, 19, 10 and 9 were all catching Skimmers. I then had a 1lb Skimmer but it was very hard. On to the pole and another 1lb Skimmer, followed by a few micro Ronnie’s. I kept swopping between the waggler and pole but struggled. I put this down to the bright conditions combined with flat calm water surrounding me. Those that were catching had some ripple. So with an hour to go I had some ripple form just beyond my waggler line so picked up the small feeder rod with double Pinkie and one semi-conscious red maggot on the hook and with the GB packed with Pinkies cast to the ripple. After fifteen minutes I had a liner and subsequent to this I landed six Bream to 3lb in consecutive casts before the wind, hence cover disappeared. I weighed 18lb 3oz for 10 points (I think) which was well satisfying from this peg.

The match was won by John Buckingham (pictured right) from peg 100 with 13 quality fish for 99lb 8oz. John fished the lead with 10 mm punched meat hook bait on a 12 inch hook length. John fed nothing all match as he was fishing well beyond feeding range.

The Silvers was won by Matt Parsons (pictured right sporting a fluffy goaty beard) from peg 128 with 45lb 12oz. Matt caught on the pole using 4mm punched meat hook bait fished over liquidized meat fed in GB.

Team wise Silverfox TM did make our target points with 52. However, it wasn’t quite enough to take the overall title as Somerset Angling (pictured lower right) who were one point behind us before the start, put in an excellent performance from a good draw, beating us in to second position overall by 13 points. That said the whole team were delighted to have picked up £450 for second. Mostly thanks to Captain Tom who came second overall individual – well done matey a great series for you.

Full Result:

1. John Buckingham 99-08-0 peg 100
2. Anton Page 94-0-0 peg 123
3. Chris Ware 92-08-0 peg 114
4. John Howell 85-03-0 peg 102
5. Tom Mangnal 78-02-0 peg 85
6. Clive Petite 73-03-0 peg 3

Top Silvers:

1. Matt Parsons 45-12-0 peg 128
2. Alex Murray 41-09-0 peg 5
3. Paul Greenwood 39-06-0 peg 99
4. Stu Foales 35-04-0 peg 97

Teams On Day:

1. Keyford 70
2. Somerset Angling 66
3. Maver Veals Blue 62
4. Amigos 57
5. Sensas Thyers 56
6. Silverfox TM 52
7. Mega Baits 52
8. Garbolino BVMG 47
9. Team Jinx 44
10. Team Viaduct 42
11. Viaduct Select 41
12. Langport AA 38
13. Somerset Magic 34
14. Westerleigh 34
15. Avon Angling (Select!!) 23
16. Viaduct All Stars 22
17. Maver Veals Red 19

Teams Overall (Final Position):

1. Somerset Angling 278
2. Silverfox Angling 265
3. Garbolino BVMG 251
4. Team Viaduct 251
5. Maver Veals Blue 232
6. Maver Veals Red 228
7. Keyford 227
8. Team Jinx 220
9. Westerleigh 215
10. Avon Angling 196
11. Viaduct All Stars 194
12. Sensas Thyers 194
13. Somerset Magic 180
14. Amigos 178
15. Mega Baits 154
16. Langport AA 147
17. Viaduct Select 144

Top Overall Individuals:

1. Will Bohne 79

2. Tom Mangnal 75

3. Steve Kedge 70

4. John Howell 64

5. Paul Greenwood 63

Back at the pub waiting for the results I heard the barman shout out "one Cappuccino" and guess who it was for - see right - and what's Deano got the Hobbit doing?

Thursday 03/03/2011 - Bathampton AA Silvers Championship - Huntstrete - Round Five - Bridge Pool

Firstly, bad news for Steve Jefferies, apparently he shouldn’t have picked up for second default in the Silvers in yesterday’s Carps AC match that should have been Bill Ferris. Some financial adjustment needed I think.

Credit where credit is due and I know I have said this before but here goes again, Mike Jones is running a great series – he has a very professional approach and looking forward to the Coffin Dodgers starting in March, which looks like a sell out already. (I hope that’s enough consolation for beating him in the knock out today).

This winter seems to be longer than any I can remember, 1 degree leaving home and 3 degrees travelling home add the NE wind chill and we were all bloody freezing. Nonetheless, it was a good turn out (see pictured right some of the anglers setting up) – except where was my pair’s partner? Apparently Paul Barnfield has just landed himself a job as a Ranger with Bristol Water – congratulations’ matey, will we see Paul again?

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 28 (North facing), reasonably happy with this, but would have preferred an end peg with plenty of room. I had Rich Coles on peg 27 and Paul Haines on peg 29 for company. I wasn’t sure how it was going to fish so I decided to fish as far out as the light conditions would allow, which was 11.5metres. Two rigs 1 – 4x16 Jolly for the long line and a Ronnie rig for close in which proved to be optimistic. On the whistle I fed three balls of my Skimmer GB but without any particles added. I feed a bit of hemp seed on the short line – waste of money!! I started on double dead red and had a bite first put in the fish was so small the elastic gave him its freedom. After a longish wait I swapped to a single wriggly red and had a 1lb Skimmer – that’s better. The upshot was the fishing was extremely hard and I had the odd Skimmer on maggot throughout, re-feeding at half time, adding fifty Pinkies or so (no Mr Jones I didn’t count them) and with two hours to go I latched in to a Tench which really helped me on the day weighing 3lb 7oz (picture right with a very cold angler) which earned me a £15 voucher. As I didn’t think I had broken in to double figures I was well pleased with my 12lb 10oz and second overall.

The match was won by Paul Staite (pictured right with his all Skimmer catch) from end peg 32 with 15lb 15oz. Paul caught all his fish on expander pellet.

With only one Carp caught the entire Carp pool went to Harry Muir (pictured bottom right unhooking his one and only Carp). It weighed in at 6lb 11oz.

Full Result:

1. Paul Staite 15-15-0 peg 32

2. Mike Nicholls 12-10-0 peg 27

3. Mike Jones 11-10-0 peg 24

4. Harry Muir 9-05-0 peg 7

5. Ray Bazeley 7-07-0 peg 16

6. Rich Coles 6-14-0 peg 26

Top Carp:

1. Harry Muir 6-11-0 peg 7

Wednesday 02/03/2011 - Carps AC - Bitterwell Lake

I was in two minds whether to go today, primarily because of the cold North Easterly wind, plus I had a match Thursday. Anyway I woke at 06:30 so decided to get up and get on with it even though the temperature had fallen to 2 degrees.

On arrival I was surprised to find a good turn out of 13 anglers. Because of the wind direction Steve Dawson suggest that the car park bank should be pegged instead of the road side. Good idea. I drew peg 2 which luckily enough out of the wind, between Stu Foale’s and Colin Golding on peg 1.

After my lesson on feeding during the last match on this venue at the moment I decided to fish for the Roach rather than go for the resident Skimmers and feed very carefully. I set up a 5 metre whip and my Ronnie rig to be fished as far as I could without unshipping which was 9 metres. I started by kinder potting in three maggots and twelve casters. Even after this small amount of feed I had to wait 15 minutes for my first ½ oz Perch! I then had my one and only Skimmer of about 1 ½ lb. I kept kinder potting a similar amount of bait regular and I irregularly caught Ronnie’s to 12 oz. I didn’t get any of the usual small Ronnie’s which is normally the case. I kept the better fish coming through out the match, catching the one Skimmer, twenty five Ronnie’s and two micro Perch for 14lb 3oz. This put my first overall and first in the Silvers.

John Smith came down to see how I was catching and soon realised that he had fed far too much – similarly, another lesson learnt.

I could see the anglers opposite shivering whilst we on the sheltered bank were sweating, albeit the sun was reflecting very bright in our faces off the mirrored surface of the lake.

Runner up was Chris Davis (pictured right with the biggest Carp of only two caught) with a late 8lb Carp added to his Silvers gave him 13lb 7oz.

Pictured right collecting his winnings from the Legend is Steve Jefferies who was third overall but picking up by default in the Silvers with 10lb 10oz.

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 14-03-0 peg 2
2. Chris Davis 13-07-0 peg 15
3. Steve Jefferies 10-10-0 peg 13
4. Steve Dawson 8-08-0 peg 14
5. Bill Ferris 6-05-0 peg 9
6. Andy Gard 5-15-0 peg 4

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 14-03-0 peg 2
2. Steve Dawson 8-08-0 peg 14