The Special One had invited her friend around to watch the Royal Wedding, so I had my marching orders. So it was off to Viaduct with the other escapees. Looking around at the draw it was the who’s who of Viaduct regulars. There was some chance of heavy showers which didn’t realise. It wasn’t only the match anglers escaping today, every peg on the venue were taken up over the day. I am not surprised as there have been some colossal weights recently, both Silvers and Carp. I some how seem to miss these matches.
I decided to hang back in the draw and rub against Tony Rixon. I think this was the best decision of the day. In to the draw ice cream container and out comes peg 111 on Campbell. Umm, has some winter form for Silvers. A quick chat with Steve Long and Carp was mentioned, similarly Andy Lloyd thought Carp. The venue has been responding well to meat – that is all species – Carp, Tench and Skimmers. That makes it difficult to single out the Silvers species, making it very peg dependant. As I drew late I looked at my section and soon realised that with Ray Hayward on peg 110 and Andy Power on 116 that a section win was an unlikely option. I sat on my peg for some while unsure how to attack it for the Silvers – meat or meat or go for the Ronnie’s with caster (for those that don’t know what a Ronnie is, it’s a 2oz Roach that nibbles away at any soft Carp bait). I opted for the meat to be fished at 6 metres and 7 metres. In hindsight (I have a PhD in hindsight) this proved to be the wrong decision as I could have won the Silvers on the day with Ronnies.
I set up a 4x14 Jolly with a Tubertini no 14 - 808 to 0.14 hook length. I decided that the best way to focus the Silvers would be to feed lightly through the kinder pot (3 pieces of 6mm Spam) with similar on the hook (6x4 mm Bela’s meat cutter is broken). I started well catching 10lb of Skimmers and a couple of Carp at 6 metres in the first half hour. It then all went tits up when the Carp came chasing in. I realised at this point that Carp was going to be the order of the day. However, even feeding 3-4 pieces of meat after every fish lead to missing a lot of bites. I tried fishing off the bottom, which lead to even quicker and more missed bites. I decided that the fish were taking the meat on the drop but would only take it whilst falling. So I opened up the 7 metre line feeding it in the same way. A pattern then materialised, which was a question of feeding the short line whilst fishing the long line and vice versa. I could catch three to four fish on each line before having to change. I ended the match with 19 Carp for 113lb 12oz and my half hour Skimmers went 10lb 10oz for a total of 124lb 6oz. This left me no where in the Silvers but fourth overall. It was very satisfying for a Silvers Slayer to pip the two venue experts – one by 1lb 2oz and the other by 4lb 13oz especially as Ray put a five pound whistle fish back (talk to Ray about this one)!! I fed around ¾ of a large tin of Spam.
I lost three fish: One palletised me: One lightly hooked and once again I experience that extraordinary event where whilst applying high load on the fish the hook pulls and my Jolly float has completely vanised even though it was held to the line by four rubbers (I never use the eye of the float).
The match was won by Matt Parsons (pictured right with the Silvers winner) from peg 132 with 147lb 14oz. Matt caught down to the end bank and out in front at 7 metres using meat hook bait over loose fed meat.
I think it well worth a mention that the runner Steve Kiefer (pictured right) caught sone very big Carp from peg 113 (which isn’t usually pegged) with once again that in form meat, fished at 7 metres. Steve fed about 1 ½ tins.
The Silvers was won by Phil Harding with 25lb 1oz all Skimmer catch from peg 71. Phil caught initially on meat switching to 6 and 8mm hard pellet hook bait. Phil caught at both 7 metres and 14 metres.
Full Result:
1. Matt Parsons 147-14-0 peg 132
2. Steve Kiefer 137-09-0 peg 113
3. Nick Collier 133-10-0 peg 94
4. Mike Nicholls 124-06-0 peg 111
5. Andy Power 123-04-0 peg 116
6. Ray Hayward 119-09-0 peg 110
Top Silvers:
1. Phil Harding 25-01-0 peg 71
2. Alan Healy 23-07-0 peg 121
3. Matt Parsons 21-14-0 peg 132
With the good weather staying with us I was really looking forward to going back to Trinity – Woodlands. This I was time travelling with Mark Tanner.
With only pegs 1 to 22 reserved we had to cram in a bit more than Sunday’s match but all 15 anglers had a reasonable peg. However, the match the previous day fish very bad with the Carp really getting in to unprotected sex.
In to the draw box and out comes peg 11. The peg Bela had Sunday. I was happy with this as it is a middle Lake peg. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as Sunday trying for the Ronnie’s and Skimmers on the traditional baits that didn’t produce Sunday – fair enough you think. So I intended to start where I finished last match – on paste in the margin. I was soon in to a 1 ½lb Skimmer – happy days! Next I had a 6lb Carp followed quickly by another. Then I hit the wall. I couldn’t get another meaningful bite from either margin. It was clear that the Lake wasn’t fishing no near as good as Sunday. I had buggered about with the paste for far too long, so with two hours to go I decided to try and catch some Ronnie’s and Rudd with the remaining half pint of casters I had in the bait bag, so I set up a 4metre whip and a short Ronnie rig. Garry Cross on next peg 10 was blanking and came round for some maggots to save a blank; Gary obviously thought he was fishing a team match!! Starting on the whip ended in disaster as I hooked three Carp 2 foot deep the third finally trashing the rig. However, the short rig really came up trumps with a small fish a bung. The upshot was that this match was a complete reversal of Sundays ending up with 14lb 5oz of Ronnie’s without being too bothered by the Motherless the two Carp went 12lb 6oz for a total of 27lb 7oz. This put me 1st in the Silvers and 6th overall.
This goes to show once again that you can not second guess fish.
The match was won by John Page (pictured upper right with some of his catch and lower with the Silvers winner) with 62lb 12oz from peg 6. John caught the majority of his fish long in to the end margin.
Full Result:
1. John Page 62-12-0 peg 6
2. Darren Vowles 52-15-0 peg 9
3. Mark Tanner 33-15-0 peg 20
4. John Thompson 32-02-0 peg 8
5. Colin Golding 27-07-0 peg 3
6. Mike Nicholls 27-07-0 peg 11
Top Silvers:
1. Mike Nicholls 14-05-0 peg 1
2. Rod Wotton 10-09-0 peg 16
Stop Press:
The Coffin Dodger matches have been cancelled until further notice – see BAA website for details.
Today Anton Page fishing Landsend broke the venue record by a significant margin. Anton weighed 342lb 8oz (45 fish) from peg 31 fishing shallow with 8mm banded pellet feeding nothing, just slapping his hook bait (fed less than me then). Anton used six keep nets and threw back 10lb of Silvers to make a net available for Carp – shame on you.
Tom Mangnall broke the Viaduct record yesterday with 319lb 5oz (25 fish) from peg 94. Tom caught on banded 8mm catching a few on the waggler with the lions share falling to the pole shallow dapping around. Tom did feed 4 pints of a combination of 6’s and 8’s. His catch included two twenties. Not the only record broken by Tom this weekend.
Today I was back at Chilton Trinity and Woodlands Lake. It’s amazing that we have temperatures in the high twenties and there are still Bluebells in full bloom (see picture right). The last time we had temoeratures higher than this week was in the April the year I was born - 1949.
In to the draw box and out comes peg 16. Apparently a right Carp peg but I remember Nicky Collins catching some Skimmers using CW&C from this peg last year. So I set up two rigs one for the CW&C to be fished at 13 metres using a 4x16 Jolly and a paste rig for the snag pit margin (they have removed the tree to the left) set to four feet deep. On the whistle I fed a pot of CW&C at 13 metres and started to feed a few 4’s in to the RH margin, where there were a lot of small fish spawning. Starting on the worm produce bugger all, not quite true I had one 4oz Eel. I then had a period of Silvers mania and set up another four various Ronnie rigs, all to no avail as the Motherless Minnows gets to the bait before anything else (except Carp). After two hours I had about 2lb of Silverfish fish in the net. I had a call of nature and a drink and decided to swap to Carp even though I could hear Tom Mangnall bagging on peg 20. So into the RH margin with paste and first put in - cripes a 3lb Skimmer –change that back on the Silvers then! I had six more and a Tench before the Carp decided to intervene. It was then a question of getting the Carp out as quick as possible to get back for a Skimmer, but the Carp were winning this one. It was then a question of keeping the Carp from going under my platform and in snags which accounted for six lost Carp. My Silver weighed in at 23lb 15oz (accidental Silver I suppose) and my Carp weighed 66lb 14oz for a total of 90lb 13oz. This left me 2nd in the Silvers and 3rd overall –no mans land.
With this being the last match in the series, both the Overall and Silver League positions were very tight, with everyone hoping for a good draw. As I only needed a section Silvers win I was hoping to be in a four peg section along with Carp Slayers and I guess vise versa for the Slayers hoping to have a tiddler snatcher next to them. However, that would have been too easy, which this league hasn’t been for anyone really. In to the draw and out comes peg 33 – in Bubbly Bay. I wasn’t that impressed, but having said that other anglers contesting the Silvers have fished it – Steve Dawson and Mike Jones, so you have to take the rough with the smooth. It always appears by the bubbles showing in the around the bay that there are plenty of feeding fish – hence my name "Bubbly Bay". I think because it is a becalmed area that the gas bubbles are easier to see.
I set up my usual Skimmer rig which needed a 4x16 Jolly as this is the deepest part of the lake (without fear of contradiction by Mike Jones). I then set up four Ronnie rigs. I decided to leave out the GB today because I was in a bay instead deciding to focus on loose fed caster. Starting shallow at 5 metres with single caster I had a 6 oz Rudd first cast. It then became very strange as I kept missing bites (hundreds to be precise). It appeared to me that the Ronnie’s weren’t going to really have it as they had done during previous matches; it might have something to do with the swim. So I did an unusual thing and dug out some worms and started to feed CW&C on the Skimmer line and caught seven decent Skimmers on pieces of worm before I re-fed, however, as the day went on the swim gradually produced less and less, adding about another 4lb for the rest of the match. I only fed about £3.50 worth so can’t complain! The upshot was I kept a few Ronnie’s and Rudd coming by switching between all four rigs around the full 180 degrees of my swim. The Slivers fishing was interrupted good few times by Carp, loosing seven breaking on the 0.1 to flick tip, landing two. My Carp weighed 5lb 2oz and I was surprised to find that my Silvers went 28lb 10oz. This put me third in the Silvers and gave me sufficient points to win the league over Steve Dawson on weight count back.
The match was once again won from peg 8 by Darren Vowles with 193lb 15oz (PB). Darren caught shallow at 13 metres using 8 mm banded pellet over loose fed 8’s. However, the lion’s share of his carp fell to the pellet waggler to the island using the same hook bait and feed. This also put him first overall in the league again by weight count back.
The Silvers was won by Steve Dawson from peg 23 with 40lb of Ronnie’s and Rudd.
I must say it was a well organised league which was hotly contested throughout remaining very friendly and good humoured. Carps AC are running two more Wednesday leagues this year based on the same format, so contact John Bennett if you want to fish.
I think having equal payouts for Silvers and overall, defaulting to the overall is the way to go for the future and very forward thinking of Carps AC.
Full Result (On the Day):
1. Darren Vowles 193-15-0 peg 8
2. Dave Baker 126-09-0 peg 19
3. Ray Bazeley 109-15-0 peg 12
4. Mike Owens 104-05-0 peg 31
5. John Dursley 84-04-0 peg 39
6. Leyton Palmer 72-06-0 peg 6
Top Silvers (On the Day):
1. Steve Dawson 40-05-0 peg 23
2. Chris Davis 36-11-0 peg 29
3. Mike Nicholls 28-10-0 peg 33
Result Overall :
1. Darren Vowles 6pts 608-0-0 (100lb/match)
2. Dave Wride 6pts 321-05-0
3. John Dursley 8pts 386-05-0
4. Leyton (Fourth) Palmer 8pts 350-0-0
Results Overall Silvers: (pictured right)
1. Mike Nicholls 6pts 187-04-0 (30lb/match)
2. Steve Dawson 6pts 177-05-0
3. Steve Kedge 8pts 166-07-0
4. Mike Jones 8pts 138-11-0
Being “Bob the Bread’s” 73rd Birthday match (pictured right with his BD cake) he treated us to cakes and soft drinks – Happy Birthday matey and wish you many more.
I had some real competition for the Silvers today as good friend Darren Gillman managed a pass out. We both once again ended up pegged next to each other. I was on peg 6 and Darren peg 7. I thought Darren had the slightly better peg as he was closer to the small amount of ripple than me. My peg was flat calm, which isn’t conducive for Ronnie fishing. I thought we were in for a close encounter – all in good fun.
I set up five Ronnie rigs for all corners of the peg, all rigs to be fished with single caster over loose fed caster. With a lot of hard work I kept the Ronnie’s coming but no where near as many as previous sessions, plus they were a lot smaller. It was soon apparent that it wasn’t fishing that well as even the Carp Slayers were struggling. I noticed that Darren was taking a lot longer to bait up than me and realised during the post match debrief that he was using maggot hook bait because he struggled to catch with the caster over caster. I thought it was close between Darren and me at the weigh in but Darren thought not, convinced he was 10lb behind me in the Silvers. I weighed first and put one Foul hooked Carp on the scales for 4lb 13oz and 22lb12oz of Ronnie’s for a total weight of 27lb 9oz. Darren was nearly right as his Silvers went 13lb 10oz. However, I was delighted to find that I had not only won
the Silvers but also the match overall (pictured right is the Silvers winner by default with the match winner). As there was only one payout in the Silver pool it was double delight that matey Darren picked up the £50 by default.
It’s about time I beat him off the next peg.
Full Result:
1. Mike Nicholls 27-09-0 peg 6
2. Terry Church 24-10-0 peg 5
3. Mark Tanner 23-07-0 peg 11
4. Martin Alexander 21-09-0 peg 4
5. John Thompson 19-01-0 peg 9
6. Darren Gillman 18-08-0 peg 7
Top Silvers:
1. Mike Nicholls 22-12-0 peg 6
2. Darren Gillman 13-10-0 peg 7
Back to Hillview with son Steve, after our standard double toasty sandwich breakfast Keith decided that because of the numbers it would be both Lakes and the first canal in the draw. So I was first (based on the youngest first) in to the smelly woolly hat and out comes peg 39 on Heron. I can’t remember when I fished the peg last – many years ago I think. I wasn’t disappointed even though I had a few regular noses turn up at it. Steve drew peg 2 on Moorhen, a peg I fancied – got that wrong.
All the pegs at Hillview have margins that have been worked at by many anglers over many years and it doesn’t take long to plumb around to find where to fish them - both Right and Left hand. I set up a paste rig and a banded pellet rig for the LH margin and a corn rig for the RH. My main attack was to be the soft pellet rig to be fished at 5 metres (top 6) for which I set up a 4x14 Jolly with the tip blackened down, to target the F1’s. On the whistle I started to feed 4 mm pellets in the LH margin and few grains of corn in t the RH, followed up with a dozen 4’s and 20 odd micros at 5 metres.
I started in the LH margin (it's one of the few venues you can do this) with 6mm banded pellet and had a small F1 first cast. I then missed a few bites, so switched to the 5 metres with 3mm expander hook bait. I had a run of F1’s with a smattering of Skimmers. However, I couldn’t get the feeding right through the Kinder. If I fed too noisily or too much the Carp would scatter and interrupt the F1’s, with the odd lost foul hooked Carp replacing them. I tried the LH margin with paste and the RH with corn but there wasn’t any sign of Carp. I persevered for the remainder of the match on the 5 metre line landing more F1’s and Skimmers plus 7 carp to 4lb. The F1’s are very difficult to unhook as they either shed the hook in to the landing net or double hook themselves as they will not keep still. Nonetheless a very interesting fish to catch. I weighed 21lb of Carp and 46lb 1oz of F1’s and Skimmers for a total of 67lb 1oz. this left me penniless, second in the section and 9th overall.
I have been looking at laptop blinking cursor for a long time, trying to decide what to write and also be diplomatic. If I wait any longer I will be out of my forty five minute time limit I have set for each of my blog entries, so here goes.
There are current issues with the fishing (note I say fishing not water quality) at Bridge Pool but I don’t think they are as serious as many anglers were purporting today. My opinion is that the club might be better advised to focus more on the fishing and refrain from the lake chemistry and leave well alone to mother nature. I think the fishing has gradually deteriorated since December 2010.
After a breakfast at the Longwell Green ASDA with Bob Warren it was off for a draw. With a few regulars down at Stafford Moor and a few stay-a-ways because they were worried they might blank, we still mustered 24. We decided to leave the top pegs out as there were less signs of fish in that area. I think this proved the right decision for once. I drew peg 13 for the first time ever. Historically pegs 13 and 12 haven’t been pegged. Because I had fair warning that the fishing was going to be hard I took plenty of different baits in case I had to while away the day, which necessitated plenty of rigs. I haven’t bothered to record them as I only caught on three of them and very little of each. I caught 2lb at full depth on single maggot over Skimmer GB at 6 metres (you can’t get the fish to feed on or near the bottom for very long at present). I had 1lb shallow – two foot deep with single maggot over loose fed caster. Finally I had 1lb in the LH margin with single maggot over loose fed hemp. My total weight was 4lb 2oz which gave me second in the Silvers by default – still an enjoyable day.
The match was won by Geoff Stones (pictured right receiving his wedge from organiser and Silvers winner Mike Jones) with one 12lb Carp from peg 21. The frame was made up with who had the biggest Carp.
The Silvers was won by Mike Jones with 10lb 10oz (pictured right with his catch - nothing wrong with these Skimmers) from peg 14. Mike caught the majority of his fish shallow with caster hook bait over loose fed caster. Mike even had a few Skimmers in the mouth!
Full Result:
1. Geoff Stones 12-10-0 peg 21
2. Chris Rolfe 10-11-0 peg 5
3. Mike Jones 10-10-0 peg 14
4. Dave Gillard 9-02-0 peg 29
5. Bob Warren 6-08-0 peg 18
6. John Smith 6-02-0 peg 9
Top Silvers:
1. Mike Jones 10-10-0 peg 14
2. John Smith 6-02-0 peg 9
3. Chris Rolfe 4-05-0 peg 5
4. Mike Nicholls 4-02-0 peg 13
Bela and I had planned to travel to the Sedges with Paul Elmes. Unfortunately Bela cried off because he has landed himself a nasty virus - get well soon matey. After a few failed attempts to get Tim Ford (sorry I got you up early mate) a lift with us, it was Paul and I having a great breakfast in the Fountain Café in St George alone. I was amazed how much Paul can eat. Paul drives a VW 2.5 TDI Transporter, I soon formed the opinion that it is probably the best vehicle for match anglers, it can take three lots of gear with ease.
It was nice up meet up with Denise and Jamie again. Once more they have improved the fishery since my last visit, not only with fish stocking but also the surrounding environment. It is certainly a popular venue with very few pegs not being fished. You reap what you so in this life.
The match was won by Tim Ford (pictured upper right with part of his catch) on corner peg 40 with 119lb 9oz. Tim caught ….see his blog.
The Silvers was won by Steve Hutchinson (pictured right with the match winner) from peg 35 with 48lb 5oz which consisted of primarily seven Bream to 7lb (complete opposite of the spectrum to my catch). Steve caught at 13 metres using chopped worm over potted CW&C. Steve fed about ½ kilo of worm with a pint of caster.
Steve Segar next to me on end peg 30 caught one of these recently stocked big Bream on his last cast (pictured lower right with a skinny 6 pounder).
Overall the lake fished well under the conditions. I think most of the anglers will be back soon.
Full Result:
1. Tim Ford 119-09-0 peg 40
2. Tom Mangnel 99-10-0 peg 39
3. Tony Rixon 93-06-0 peg 23
4. Steve Hutchinson 48-05-0 peg 35
5. Paul Elmes 47-122-0 peg 21
6. Tim Clark 42-05-0 peg 34
Top Silvers:
1. Steve Hutchinson 48-05-0 peg 35
2. Mike Nicholls 31-12-0 peg 29
3. Dean Mallin 23-01-0 peg 22
What a glorious day, wall to wall sunshine with temperatures in the high teens. I took the picture on the right of a Pansy in my garden because of the vivid yellow (never looks as good as the real thing).
Leyton suggested I get some sun on me to help the pains in my neck and back – I now have sun burn and still a bad neck!!
Off again to Plantation with Leyton “Fourth” (every time he takes me he comes fourth)! After our usual breakfast in Yatton Railway station we were off for a draw. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 12 - a corner peg – not usually good for Silvers. But what was really disheartening was to see Steve Kedge arrive on point peg 19 and Steve Dawson on peg 18, both in my section and both up my ass in the Silvers league, and both on better pegs. The optimist in me was hoping for them to share the fish allowing me to compete.
After I set up my usual Silvers rigs I walked round to Steve Dawson who showed me his catapult. Well, I have a picture of the “Sutton” Pult I now have a picture of the “Dawson” pult (pictured right). Two ends of the spectrum I think.
After feeding two balls of Skimmer GB at 10 metres I started on the usual Ronnie rig with caster hook bait over caster. I caught decent Rudd and Ronnie’s straight off, but was soon playing a 6lb Carp which broke me. New hook length and another Carp on - bugger. I pulled harder but as it was only 3lb 8oz it came in very easily – but it broke my float and trashed the rig. This really slowed me down as I had to change rigs and fish a different line to avoid the Carp. I had been feeding the RH margin with caster with the intent of catching some of the big Perch. I later tried it and lost a 3 pounder followed by netting two smaller ones. However, I did have two Decent Skimmers on this line which was a surprise and a bonus. With two hours gone I tried the Skimmer line which had been fizzing like hell since the start. I had three Skimmers over it with 3mm expander pellet but it wasn’t as productive as the Ronnie’s. So I stayed with them to the end chasing them around the extremities of my swim. I thought I had kept up with Steve Dawson but couldn’t tell what Steve Kedge had caught. I weighed 37lb 7oz. Steve Dawson 38lb 12oz and Steve Kedge 50lb – taking over my Silvers lake record – well done Steve. I make that 126lb of Ronnie’s over the 3 pegs and took the top three pools in the Silvers. With one match left I am still just in the lead. It is all down now to the last match which makes it all very interesting and will probably decided on weight which is usual in these small sections.
Anyone interested in a trip to Holland from 27th May to 5th June 2011? Party of 6 going but 2 cabins booked so room for 2 more. Good Bream fishing with Carp, Big Ide and Roach also featuring. Restaurant on site with excellent food.Contact Bob Feltham on 07789 201735.
I got a picture of a rarity today – a four wheel drive trolley (pictured right) designed and built by Martin Rayet, sponsored by Dave Tippet.
Back to Boyd Valley for the last time for a few weeks. I drew peg 7. As I fish for Silvers I don’t really mind where I drew but do like a bit of bank side cover, which peg 7 doesn’t offer. I was sandwich between the two Martins, Rayet on peg 6 and McMahon on 8. I set up my usual Ronnie rigs and as usual caught straight away with caster hook bait over loose fed caster. The fishing was much harder than previous matches but the Ronnie’s were averaging bigger. The weather conditions didn’t help as the swim occasional went flat calm making it difficult to hit the bites. I wish I had started a Skimmer line as Martin Rayet was catching a few on pellet, this would also give the Ronnie’s a rest. I did have a difficult last ¾ hour, but still managed to put 30lb of Ronnie’s on the scales. This put me 1st in the Silvers and 4th overall.
