Sunday 30/10/2011 - Carps AC Silvers League - Round Four - Viaduct Fishery - Carey and Spring Lakes

I was surprised this morning how warm it was especially at 06:00, plus it was predicted it stayed dry all day and it did.

I reviewed the progress of the two lodges being built adjacent to Middle Lake. It’s amazing how quick these buildings are assembled from just a base two weeks ago to … see photo right.

I was fourth to pass the coffee tin and out comes peg 102 on Carey. The pegs in the hundreds have been showing some Skimmers of late so I wasn’t that disappointed (we all really wanted to be in the Spring Lake section). When i haven’t been to a venue for a couple of weeks it’s a question of starting off from where you finished. So I set up a Ronnie rig, A Skimmer rig to be fished at 11.5 metres, a GB feeder and finally a waggler to be fished over the feeder line at half way across the Lake, where I believe is the deepest part of the swim. I started by feeding three balls of GB at 11.5 metres, but started on the Ronnie rig with caster over caster. I had a few quick Ronnie’s and two half pound Perch, but it was soon clear that the fish didn’t want any feed. The Ronnie’s dried up so went over the GB with 3mm expander on the hook and was pestered by small Ronnie’s which were too quick fro me. I did have a 2lb Skimmer unfortunately it was foul hooked, but still ended up in the storage net. I decided to set up the 4 metre whip and had a run of small Ronnie’s, hybrids and tiny Skimmers on the caster, before that died through too high an influx of feed. At this stage although Bob Gullick had been struggling on peg 100 started to catch decent regular Skimmers on dead reds. So I tried my line again and as previous I caught more Ronnie’s. I decided to fish the feeder in to the deeper water and had a run of six Skimmers before that swim died. I went round the mulberry bush and had the odd small fish, but was going no where. Out once again on the Feeder with triple maggot on the hook and again a short run of Skimmers. The Skimmers appeared to be shying away from the feed – why – I don’t know. I decided to spend the last hour on the waggler over the feeder line again with triple dead reds on the hook. This accounted for another six Skimmers. I must say the bites were sublime compared with the feeder. I would have a nod of the waggler before it sailed away – wonderful. I weighed 21lb 10oz for fourth in the section – not nearly good enough. I must say it was rally dark packing up.

I must mention Tim Pallant who was on next peg 103. Tim was struggling by half way through the match until he switched to the waggler with 6mm expander on the hook (expands to about 10mm) fished catapulted hard 4’s. Tim subsequently caught decent Skimmers steady to the end for 30lb. I was amazed Tim only hooked one Carp fishing this way, as were most of the anglers in the section. – More food for thought!!

The match was won by Dave Roper (pictured right) with 42lb 11oz from peg 18 on Spring Lake. Dave initially caught on short at 7 metres using caster over caster whilst his 14.5 metre GB line settled. Dave switched to the 14. 5 metre line fishing various baits (worm. Caster, dead reds) over the GB caught big Skimmer steady to the end of the match.

Full Result:

1.      Dave Roper 42-11-0 peg 18

2.      Andy Neal 40-03-0 peg 19

3.      Bob Gullick 37-13-0 peg 100

4.      Rowland Lucas 34-12-0 peg 16

5.      Stu Foale 34-02-0 peg 17

6.      Lee Werrett 32-12-0 peg 105

League Leaders:

1.      Lee Werrett 7pts 159lb 10oz

2.      Bob Gullick 7pts  (-45lb 5oz)

3.      Dave Roper 7pts (-51lb 6oz)

4.      Stu Foale 8pts 134lb 4oz

5.      Andy Neal 8pts  (-17lb 2oz)

6.      John Green 8pts  (-44lb 2oz)

Thursday 27/10/2011 - Bathampton AA Over 55's And Disabled - Withy Pool

Don’t you hate it when the weather man gets it spot on, especially when rain all day is promised – and it did. However, we were all cheered up when Ray Bazeley passed round the donuts to celebrate his 65 birthday. After a rendition of happy birthday from his fellow “brothers” it was in to the draw box and out comes peg 60.

Peg 60 has some Skimmer form so that would be my quarry for the day. Theses pegs are very shallow close in and full of big stones so it is a question of fishing the pole as far as possible - or it’s the feeder. As I didn’t have a feeder rod it would be fishing the pole at 11.5 metres then. Actually it was a bit further than this as I set the box up in front of the platform because the water levels at right down (the rain will have some benefits). I set up the usual 4x16 Jolly for the Skimmers and a paste rig just in case the Carp turn up. I started by feeding a full 125 ml pot of a combination of caster, dead maggot and wetted micro. I started on the Jolly with 6 mm expander and nothing, umm. So I switched to triple maggot and after the first hour I had one Ronnie, one Perch and one small Skimmers not a promising start. Looking around everyone seemed to be struggling, so I stuck it out on the maggot catching what I could, mainly Perch and Ronnie’s. Then out of the blue I had two Carp one 18lb and the other 7lb 6oz. With an hour to go I tried a worm tail on the hook and hooked another Carp which I lost at the net, probably because of the large stones in front of me. I then had a run of three biggish Skimmers before I switched to the Paste for the last twenty minutes, which resulted in a lost foul hooked Carp. My two Carp weighed in at 25lb 6oz adding my 9lb of Silvers I had a total of 34lb 6oz which surprisingly put me third overall. I think I should have brought some GB for the Skimmers today – perhaps next time.

The match was won by Mike Key (pictured right) from peg 44 with 50lb 7oz. Mike caught on traditional waggler at full depth with maggot and worm on the hook fished over catapulted hard 4’s.

The Silvers was won by Alan Jones (pictured right with his catch of decent Skimmers) with 18lb 10oz from peg 61. Alan caught on the pole at 11.5 metres fishing worm over GB laced with chopped worm and caster.

Full Result:

1.      Mike Keys 50-07-0 peg 44

2.      Bob Price 44-03-0 peg 49

3.      Mike Nicholls 34-06-0 peg 60

4.      Chris Rolfe 31-10-0 peg 43

5.      Terry Church 22-07-0 peg 68

6.      Martin Alexander 22-04-0 peg 66

Top Silvers:

1.      Alan Jones 18-10-0 peg 61

2.      Harry Muir 16-03-0 peg 67

3.      Alan Shields 16-02-0 peg 69

Friday 21/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival - Day Five - Pines Lake

We had planned to go out for a curry in Torrington with Brian Shanks, Ron Hardiman and Bela Bakos tonight, but they cried off because they wanted to stay in to watch Broke Back Mountain for the fourth time this week! Mark and I went to the New Inn again and had a delicious steak.

I was a little concerned that the weather this week might be a bit cold and damp. However, we managed to survive, although the wind had a chill about it, it hasn’t been too bad – went away dry every match.

It was obvious that yesterdays result would be the one to drop and I reckoned I would need either a section win or perhaps a section second to be in with a chance of some overall festival coin. So the draw was crucial in this respect. But Pines would suit my style of fishing. So in to the draw bag and out comes peg 14. A quick check on the previous four days results and it was clear that any hopes of any overall coin had evaporated. The peg had been last in section three days and a last but one the day before with a good Angler on it – Stu Foal’s with the highest weeks weight of 9lb. I found Stu who advised fishing for Ronnie’s and hope for the best. Having come to terms with the fact I was out of the Festival I was determined to improve on Stu’s results – fishing against myself I suppose. Arriving at the peg there was a lot of very small Ronnie’s topping, which got me looking forward to a days fishing.

I set three Ronnie rigs, a Skimmer rig, and a margin rig (it’s a corner peg come bay) and finally a Silver fish waggler in case the Ronnie backed out of the corner (this was only used whilst I ate my banana – nothing caught).

On the “Have a great day everyone – All in” Andy’s usual match starting cry. I fed a ball of GB at 9 metres at 10 clock for the Skimmers and started on the Ronnie’s at 3 metres with caster. The fish were tiny 1oz to maximum of 2oz, plus they weren’t coming as quick as I would like, so it a switch to the Skimmer line with soft 3mm expander and it was the same again – small Ronnie’s. I decide to feed some micro and caster in to the end margin at 9 metres, however, a slight skimming breeze started blow a lot of green slime in to this margin. Back on the Ronnie’s this time on the 4 metre whip. It was the same again but slight quicker this was because I was now fishing further out – and the maximum I could hand feed casters. I then noticed a blow over the GB so went back over it and started to get strange line bites. I then caught a Skimmer of 1 oz, then another and another it was taking too long to catch these blighters. I noticed that everyone was struggling with pegs 13, 12 and 11 fishless and these are the good Skimmers pegs. So I decided to get my head down for the remainder of the match with the 4 metre whip. With 20 minutes to go I noticed that the surface scum had cleared a bit so I thought I would try the margin and first put in with double caster on the hook resulted in a scale from a foul hooked Carp that was as big as my Ronnie’s to that went in the net. Ten minutes later the same happened again. I was first to weigh in my section and put 140 Ronnie’s on the scales for 12lb and I had beaten pegs 13,12 and 11 which unfortunately were not in my section, but still found this satisfying. I finished up better than anticipated with 5 section points with 30lb winning the section it from peg 28, again satisfying for me.

It was Mark Tanners turn on Josephs (or as Mark calls in Jurassic Park) and pulled peg 9 on the bridge. Mark's pole survived they day as it was only tested by two Skimmers. Not everyone was so lucky, Chris Davis came back with a "Top set necklace".

The match on the day was won by Andy Pell from peg 17 Woodpecker with 148lb 12oz. However, I must mention fellow Bristolian and very nice guy Ron Hardiman who finished second on the day from peg 24 with 131lb 10oz. Ron fished corn down to the next four empty pallets!! Well done matey pleased for you.

Dropping the worse result I finished the Festival on 11 points with 193lb (dropping the lowest points and weight).
The overall Festival final results were very tight as can be seen from the top 8 below. Overall I was very satisfied with how I fished four of the matches, but if I could re-fish the fourth match on Tanners I am sure I would had got another £60 to add to my overall winnings of £200 and would, I think had finished with 8 or 9 points overall, which would may have got me some overall Festival coin. This mistake I have put down to not knowing the venue as well as many of the regular festival goers – some have been fishing it for ten years. My favourite match was fishing the Josephs Dam Wall – paste at 13 metres in 14 foot of water - plus it was a new experience for me – lovely. I must say Joseph’s peg 27 came a close runner up – what I nice place to spend the day even if you don’t catch anything.  My worries about my fitness standing up didn't materialise. I could have fished again on Saturday, Sunday, Monday ......!

I thanked Andy Seery for running it. Andy must be exhausted after each match because he fishes all the pegs for us. Those that know him will understand. What I will say is this man should not be let loose with a pen, he has the worse handwritting I have seen trying to determine the daily results for my blog was a nightmare. I now wish a took a photo of it.

So another one ticked off the fishing “Bucket List”. Unfortunately the others cannot be paid for I will have to rely on a great deal of luck to catch 100lb of Ronnie’s.

Part Result on the Day:

1. Andy Pell 148-12-0 peg 17 Woodpecker
2. Ron Hardiman 131-10-0 peg 24

Overall Festival Results:

1. Simon Keiffer 6pts – 272lb £1,000
2. Andy Poole 6pts – 231lb £750
3. Perry Stone 7pts – 379lb £500
4. Dave Stockton 7pts – 212lb £400
5. Joe Roberts 7pts – 171lb £350
6. Lee Farmer 8tpts - £300
7. Another 9pts - £200
8. Another 9pts - £150

Finally if Andy can’t accommodate you in his Chalets then, I would highly recommend the following which is where Mark and I stayed:

http://www.wansleybarton.co.uk/

Thursday 20/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival - Day Four - Tanners

Starting to feel the pace with the enthusiasm waning, but no moaning this morning! We were promised a frost last night but the temperature managed to stay at 4 degrees add the cloud cover it didn’t happen, we were also promised another dry day which we did.

Mark was on Woodpecker lake peg 25 and I thought it would suit him.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 4 Tanners. Arriving at the peg I was in a Landsend sandwich, Mike Duckett on peg 6 and Dell Boy on peg 3. This morning I was third equal overall in the Festival so to be in a chance of good points it would have to be Carp, plus I was completely fogged by the fact that peg 3 has recent Carp form with two Match seconds. So I set up three rods, shallow pellet waggler, another full depth and a lead rod. As I had time I set up a paste rig to be fished at 7 metres – no more of this as it got bitted out by small Skimmers.

On the whistle I started to feed 8’s and fished a pellet waggler over it this resulted in two missed bites which I thought were Silvers which was proven correct as I had one of 8oz. Out with the full depth waggler – still feeding 8’s and I had a 6lb carp first cast on the drop – that’s it then – nope that was it for the waggler for the rest of the day. So out on the straight lead, the boredom was relieved twice with two very small Carp. After four hours peg three hadn’t had a Carp and peg 36 had five. I had enough of this slaying, so I got my Ronnie rig out the bag with the intentions of turning a bad day in to something more memorable. In the remaining two hours I had a lovely period of catching Ronnie’s up to 8oz using single caster over caster. The three Carp weighed 13lb 4oz and my Silvers 20lb 8oz for a total of 33lb 12oz. With only 30lb winning the Silvers (fished for from front to back) it was clear I had made the wrong choice and should fished for Ronnie’s from the off (I think if I had known the Lake better I would have done this and if I had listened to Glenn Bailey) – I reckon I would have had at least 40lb and another pick up – bugger. Isn’t this why we go fishing, wanting to reverse our wrong decisions? The result to drop I hope!!

The last day tomorrow and I am on Pines which will suit me much better than today – no slaying rods on this Lake, subject of course to a decent draw.

I was really pleased to hear Mark had caught well winning his section with 89lb 4oz. Mark choose to fish the first half on the pellet waggler both up and down with banded pellet, catching the Lion share in the last ninety minutes on the lead – Mark fed 8 pints of 8’s – he does look a tad tired now as does his catapult.

The match was won by Perry Stone (pictured right - tes thats his nromal look) with 188lb 12oz from peg 3 on Woodpecker – I have written enough this week about this flyer!

Full Result:

1.      Perry Stone 188-12-0 peg 3 Woodpecker

2.      Jake Marshall 147-14-0 peg 8 Woodpecker

3.      Lee Jan 109-02-0 peg 34 Tanners

4.      Neil Cottee 94-12-0 peg 11 Tanners

5.      Allwyn 90-11-0 peg 35 Tanners

6.      Mark Tanner 89-04-0 peg 24 Woodpecker

Wednesday 19/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival - Day Three - Joseph Dam Wall

Back to the New Inn for Tapas, which I must say was very good and a change from the usual pub grub.

Glenn went AWOL this morning. I was very sorry to see him leave. Why? Glenn will explain. Glenn would have been on 13 Pines, a corner flyer with loads of Skimmers!! Poor Mark drew the worse peg on Pines peg 6 – The “Bus Stop” Swim weighing only 2lb (hope I don't draw this one).

As I said yesterday I was hoping to be on the Dam Wall and by the time I got to draw there was only one peg left for Emily’s so out comes Dam Wall peg 5. Bela drew it first match and blanked and the Angler who fished it yesterday weighed 3lb, so not a flyer then!! For company, on next peg 4 was Landsend Mike Duckett.

My target was more than 3lb. So set up the usual two Ronnie rigs – both to hand rigs for the caster. These pegs are known for fishing paste at 14.5 metres and the quarry is larger than normal Carp in excess of 20lb. So I set up a 1g paste float and was amazed to find that at 13 metres (the most I was prepared to use) I had 14 foot of water – Umm. I also set up a margin paste rig. On the “All in” I fed the 13 metres paste line with about ten 8 mm pellet which I had soaked to make them soft and fluffy, which I planned to top up after every fish – I hoped. I do like to feed micro pellet when using paste so because of the depth I made up some wetted micro into small balls to help the on their way to the bottom. I then started on the Ronnie rig close in and had five small Silvers. It was soon apparent was going to be difficult day. I then noticed that the Angler on the opposite bank had hooked a Carp on the paste. So out mine went and first cast I hooked a Carp. Playing these fish in 14 foot of water is very difficult and can’t be rushed. I used the Sensas top set with the side pull-a-bung so I could land the fish on the top five. This was new to me and played the Carp which was about 8lb for 10 minutes, after which I had it beat, but bugger the hooked pulled just as I picked up the landing net. To say I was pissed is an understatement as I thought I had lost my only opportunity to catch a Carp. However, Dad was watching down and next cast I hooked and landed a 10 pounder which got the adrenalin pumping. Out again and another Carp but this time hooked in the tail. For some reason it was less of a fight than the previous fished hooked in the mouth? This was compensation for the one I lost- thanks Dad. I then had a run of two foul hooked fish – one straightened the hook and the other pulled free. I was quite happy at this stage as I had far more in the net than I had anticipated. About an hour later I hooked a Big Boy (18lb 8oz) which took me an age to land. However, there was a down side I broke the landing net frame lifting it out. I then spent the rest of the match bite less as did most of the other Anglers. My few Silvers weighed 6oz and when added to my Carp I had 42lb 14oz. The section was won with 45lb so the one I lost cost me another section win. However, I was delighted to come second and pick up another envelope reducing my Polo shirt down to £10, still too expensive!

On Tanners Lake tomorrow which seems to be very peggy with peg 36 or peg 3 winning every match. I hope I get one of these, however, I don’t think it’s going to suit me as it's like Woodpecker.

 

The match was won by Ade Marshall (pictured right) with 121lb 13oz from peg 36 Woodpecker. Ade caught on the full depth waggler using the proverbial pellet over pellet.

Full Result:

1.      Ade Marshall 121-13-0 peg 36 Woodpecker

2.      Bob Clarke 104-06-0 peg 26 Woodpecker

3.      Ray Hayward 102-09-0 Peg 11Tanners

4.      Simon Heiffer 86-12-0 peg 20 Josephs

5.      Andy Poole 82-14-0 peg 35 Tanners

6.      Mike Etheridge 75-14-0 peg 3 Tanners

Tuesday 18/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival - Day Two - Josephs Lake

Out to dinner again but this time at the Union Pub in Dolton, where we all had steak pies, chips and mushy peas. However, before we left mark Tanner decided to have a swim in out pool – yes that’s him right.

As I said I was looking forward to fishing Josephs Lake in to the draw bag and out comes peg 27. Andy said it’s called Blackpool Pier. It didn’t take long to discover why. The platform is 5 metres long! The peg wreaked Mr Crabtree. It reminded me a bit of one of the end swims at Rood Ashton. That said there wasn’t much sign of fish except a number of very small Rudd and Ronnie’s topping. There are many stories of lost big fish on this Lake so with plenty of features around me including an island at 16 metreish. I decided to use my margin pole at 7 metres in open water and as the Lake had been patchy the day before I decided to fish negative and set up a Ronnie rig and a 4x14 rig for any Skimmers that might be about.

That left me 1 ½ hours to have a walk around and found Mark Tanner on Tanners peg 18 and Glenn on Tanners peg 6 outside the Bollywood Chalet, where Dave Stockton was staying and made me a cup of coffee – thanks Dave. During the walk around I was informed that my swim does hold Cat Fish – cripes.

Back to the swim and on the “all in” I kindered in a dozen casters with a single on the hook, it took five minutes to get my first bite a ½ oz Rudd – saved a blank then! I started to catch them regularly so switched to my Ronnie whip fished to hand. I had a good first hour catching very small Skimmers, Ronnie’s and Rudd. I thought I would try and catch some of the bigger stamp and put a small 3mm expander on the Jolly and started to miss quick bites. Switched to the single caster and hooked a Carp which after a tussle I broke off as the fish decided to switch sides of Blackpool Pier! I jumped up and made up a paste rig and first put-in in foul hooked a carp and was once again left in wonderment of a huge scale. Back out on the paste and – nothing. I now had about 8lb of Silvers and with 9lb winner the Silvers the day before I thought bugger back on the Jolty and single caster still feeding through the kinder pot. And would believe it I hooked and landed four Carp in consecutive put-ins three of them were teen fish the biggest I guessed at 16lb. I went back on the Ronnie rig and caught another 3lb of small fish. As the swim went quite I was worried that I might hook another Carp so I went back out on the Jolly with single caster. I was right as I had another two small Carp making it six – another one and I would another net, however, this wasn’t necessary, because the next one bottomed my elastic (Middy blue tightened down). As the Silvers had dried up I decided to spend the last ¾ hour fishing paste having put in a huge amount of dead red maggot to no avail.

My Silvers weighed in at 11lb 3oz and my Carp 53lb 2oz for a total of 64lb 5oz for a lake win overall and a Lake Silvers win. This contributed £160 to my Polo shirt but it’s still costing me £50 – still too expensive!! This left me 10th overall.

It will be either Emily’s Lake or the “Wall of death – first eight pegs on Joseph’s dam wall. I was secretly hoping to draw here as it would be easier than trying to fish 16 metres on Emily’s.

The match was won by Simon Jones (pictured right) from in form peg 36 Tanners with 140lb 8oz. Simon caught on the straight lead and 8mm pellet.

Full Result:

1. Simon Jones 140-08-0 peg 36 Tanners
2. Derek Smith 134-0-0 peg 3 Woodpecker
3. Perry Stone 132-02-0 peg 3 Tanners
4. Nobby 121-14-0 peg 32 Woodpecker
5. Dave Stockton 91-11-0 peg 20 Woodpecker
6. Ryan Harris 86-12-0 peg 16 Woodpecker
10. Mike Nicholls 64-05-0 peg 27 Josephs

Monday 17/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival Day One - Woodpecker

We were out for dinner last night in the New Inn at Roborough. Nice local pub complete with the village drunk (been in there all day – me thinks). After a good pork and pineapple casserole in comes about ten hikers. Not ordinary hikers, these were from Barnstaple and were “All night Hikers” and were just starting out – they all had the same livery – “We do it all night”! Best not look this lot in the eye. And I thought the Bridgwater folk were strange!
After a Mark Tanner breakfast it was off to the draw, joining the queue of 80 Anglers. We were all presented with a polo shirt and a few bags of GOT pellets. If I don’t win any coin it will be the most expensive item of clothing I have bought. However, I am hoping as the week progressive that it will become less valuable!

Mark and Glenn drew the same section – Emily’s and dam of Josephs – luckily for me they were on Emily’s as there were four blanks on Josephs and I fear we would have been on our way home otherwise.

I was next to draw and out comes the peg I drew in the last match I fished, theMaver Pairs – peg 20 on Woodpecker. There is always good advice given out And I always listen to all of it before deciding what to do. Mel King, Brian Shanks and gentle giant Stu Foale are always worth the listen. Arriving at the peg the wind was blowing at me from 11 o clock, but just gentle enough for the waggler. So I set up a deep waggler, a shallow waggler, a 4x14 Jolly to be fished at 10 metres with soft pellet and a paste rig to fish over the same line (the peg isn’t 9 foot deep as published), finally a Ronnie rig to fish in the margin with caster. I decided on a gentle approach starting on the 6 mm expander over hard 4’s, to my amazement this resulted in nowt, not even an indication. In to the margin where I had been heavily (for me) feeding caster and I had two small Ronnie’s and one 8 oz Perch – then nothing. So out on the shallow waggler and by this time the wind had increased making presentation almost impossible with presentation lasting about ten seconds. So it was out on the full depth waggler which in reality was about three foot deep ¾ across. I was soon left wonderment at the size of scale that was left on the hook. Presentation was still not good enough; if I dragged it through it would lead to a foul hooker. So I succumbed and went back to the car and got the lead rod! The upshot was that I landed ten Carp on the banded 8 mm pellet, breaking on one. I kept feeding my pole lines and did the rounds from time to time. A few small Skimmers finally arrived on the 10 metre line landing 5lb of them. I spent an unproductive last hour on the lead.
What I found was that if you kept feeding 8’s over the lead the Carp would move up in the water allowing access underneath for the Skimmer which pecked at the hard pellet. So it was a question of stop feeding until the carp followed the bait down. However, I would catch one or two, subsquently the peg would die. I put this down to the fish tearing off in the shallow water scaring the few others away.

I weighed 74lb 8oz for 3rd in section and ninth overall. One out of a reduction in the cost of the Polo shirt!!

I am looking forward to fishing Josephs lake tomorrow.

Glen did well weighing 33lb 12oz for third in his section off Emily’s 7 and had a section pick up by default. However, can’t say the same for Mark who weighed 8oz off Emily’s peg 2, but not last of the Bristol boys because Bela blanked and Chris Davis had 5oz!

Mike Duckett did fish having made a miraculous recovery and caught 77lb until he broke his pole on peg 10 Woodpecker.

The match was won by Dave Churchwood (pictured right) with 132lb 5oz from peg 3 on Woodpecker. Dave caught on the shallow waggler until the wind got up making the last hour difficult. Dave fed 4 pints of 8’s with the same banded.

Full Result:

1. Dave Churchwood 132-05-0 peg 3 Woodpecker
2. Bob Clarke 129-08-0 peg 36 Tanners
3. Neil Cottee 126-04-0 peg 28 Woodpecker
4. Gary Thorpe 120-14-0 peg 15 Tanners
5. A. Mooreton 111-0-0 peg 26 Woodpecker
6. Mark Thomas 82-08-0 peg 10 Tanners
……
9. Mike Nicholls 73-13-0 peg 20 Woodpecker

Sunday 16/10/2011 - Stafford Moor October Festival - Non Fishing Day

Today it was off to Stafford Moor Fishery to complete one of my remaining “Bucket” fishing list, which is to fish a Commercial Festival. I choose the Stafford Moor October Festival as it had been recommended by many fellow South West Anglers. For company I have Mark Tanner and Glenn Bailey. Mark booked the accommodation - Bramble Cottage - Wansley Barton. I must say for £110 each for the week self catering it was a good choice. Included, is a small fishing lake and a swimming pool. However, it is out in the sticks having to negotiate roads that have grass growing in the middle and hedgerow that scratch each side of the car and in one instance the nice lady cutting her hedge had to move her step ladder for us to pass. – Miss Satnav is essential.

I do have concerns as to whether I will last the full five days – purely because of my Arthritis. Hopefully I won’t have to resort to the straight lead!!

So looking forward to the first draw tomorrow when I will find out which 16 anglers I will be completing against for the remaining four days of the five day festival – dropping one result.

On arrival I paid the £210 entry fee – that hurt and then sulked around the venue and found Dave Downton in his Chalet and was offered a cup of coffee providing I made it! I then had the usual technical teach in on the benefits of Clurrusso (bet thats not the spelling) wagglers by Dave pictured right.

Back to the shop and Mike Duckett (pictured lower right with Andy Seery) was explaining how he ended up in hospital this morning, because last night Mike blacked out and fell on to the cast iron bath in his digs. Apparently it wasn’t anything to do with the six pints of cider Mike West fed him!! Mike was struggling to use his right arm. Let’s hope he’s able to fish tomorrow – bet he does, irrespective of his condition.

I have just heard that matey Darren Gillman won the Winter League today on the Bristol Avon with 89lb 3oz. Darren caught Skimmers and Bream on the pole from peg 12 – one above Newbridge Bridge – well done matey that will do me tomorrow!!

Thursday 13/10/2011 - Bathampton AA Over 55's And Disabled - Bridge Pool

It was 14 degrees when I left home – Marvellous weather for the time of year and for a days fishing. Apparently all change next week just as I am off to Stafford Moor for the October Festival.

Standing in the Car Park waiting for the draw Colin Golding announced that he has bought a mobile phone (pictured right with his new technology) which only cost him £16. However, he was disappointed that he was yet to receive a phone call, even though he has given out his number. So Bob Price rang the number and everyone in the car park heard it – except Colin, even though he had it on full volume!! Apparently, Bob discovered that Colin also had five missed calls. I was going to give out his new number but thought it pointless!!

With a few of the disable anglers missing today’s match, there was a higher than normal probability that I would draw a disabled peg, and I did - peg 9.

I wasn’t disappointed with this peg as there are a few Skimmers on this peg. So I set up for a Silvers day – one Ronnie rig and a 4x16 Jolly for the Skimmers to be fished down the inside shelf at 5 metres. On the whistle I fed the 5 metre line with a mix of micro, caster and hard 4’s, starting on the Ronnie rig with caster over loose fed caster. This resulted in one small Perch, one small Hybrid and two 4 oz Ronnie’s. Not a good start as next thing a bloody great Pike sliced through the swim killing it dead. So out on the Skimmers and I had a lot of pecking from tiny Skimmers so dotted the float right down in to the surface film, which resulted in a few small Skimmer blades. Next cast and I hook and land a 7lb Carp. Looking around and everyone was struggling for both Silvers and carp. I was using Mike Jones (peg 15) and Rich Coles (peg 7) as my litmus on the Silvers – both were also struggling. So I made the decision to switch to paste in the margin fished over loose fed hard 4’s for the Carp. It took a while before I hooked my first a 18 pounder – happy days. The Lake wasn’t fishing that well and I caught very, very steady another eight Carp before the all out. My Silvers weighed in at 2lb 8oz and my Carp 98lb 1oz for just over the ton with 100lb 9oz for first overall.

The Silvers was won by Bill Ferris (pictured right with the overall winner – hiding his broken front tooth) with 17lb of Roach and small Skimmers. Bill caught on either maggot or caster hook bait fished short over regular small balls of GB. This weight was very impressive on the day as the next Silvers weights were tied on 8lb 8oz.

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 100-09-0 peg 9
2. Dave Bacon 63-06-0 peg 25
3. John Smith 46-04-0 peg 33
4. Dave Gillard 38-09-0 peg 11
5. Rich Coles 37-14-0 peg 7
6. Alan Jones 32-14-0 peg 32

Top Silvers:

1. Bill Ferris 17-0-0 peg 30
2. Rich Coles 8-8-0 peg 7
2. Mike Jones 8-8-0 peg 15
3. Bob Feltham 8-07-0 peg 14

Sunday 09/10/2011 - Carps AC Silvers League - Round Three - Viaduct Fishery - Carey and Spring Lakes

Bela and I breakfasted in the Hill Top Café which was very busy. I was surprised to see Lee Werret arrive at the café from Whiteacres s as he planned to be down there for two weeks, so a week early. Apparently the venue isn’t fishing that well, which can be read across most venues in the UK at present – we desperately need a deluge of rain to reinstall the Oxygen levels in our Fisheries – it could get serious for some fisheries if we don’t.

It was another case of pass the coffee draw tin. I nearly drew right handed, switching to my left out came peg 85 – another day in the section of death. Arriving at the peg I had for company Nick Collins (88), Bob Gullick (87) Mark Broomsgrove (86), me and Barry Fitchew (81). Not as simple because Steve Kedge arrived on peg 86, I did explain that Mark had drawn the peg, but Steve was insistent, explaining that he had drawn peg 15 on Spring Lake but had to redraw – this is when his head went. Steve then said “I might be on peg 81”, no Barry had arrived – peg 80 then no Gordon was there. So back to the shop and Steve was in fact on peg 98!! I have explained this to Matron, who said she will consider keeping Steve in next week!!

I had a feeder chuck so set that up first, but left the waggler tangled up as the wind was a bit too strong for any sensible presentation. I then set up a 4 x12 Jolly to be fished for Skimmers, plus anything else at 9 metres. Then the trusty Ronnie rig for the caster.

On the whistle I fed three balls of GB at 9 metres, but started on the caster at 4 metres, which resulted in a 6oz Rudd and a few Ronnie’s – the water has gone a bit clear, so the Ronnie’s weren’t really feeding. So it was out on the 9 metre line with 2mm expander pellet on the hook. I had an hour of catching small Skimmers from 2 to 3oz – enjoyable. The swim died so I re fed with GB which didn’t have the desired effect. So it was back on the Ronnie rig, but this time out to the right in the shallow water, where I had been dripping caster. I soon had a 1lb perch in the net followed by another two which I pulled out - bugger. I then had another 1lb Perch, followed by another pull out – bugger again. I was using a lighter elastic, so I blamed this – but who knows!! It was time to try the GB feeder, so out it went with triple “putrid” red maggot and a 2lb Skimmer first cast – this is how to do it, but not fast enough as it took an age to get the next one. My impatiens got the better of me once again, so I put a big pot of cater on the 9 metre line and had a 2lb Skimmer first cast on the drop. That was it except for a puzzling number of indications on double caster. I decided that the fish were up in the water. Back on the feeder for the last ¾ hour and I had a run of 2lb Skimmers with neat GB in the feeder, with a foul hooker on the whistle – justice served. My Silvers weight in not at 14lb as I told the rest of the section, but 24lb 3oz for a section second, with ace Nicky Collins taking it with a credible 34lb 7oz and luckily for me third overall leaving me with a section default payout!

It was nice to Lee Werret (pictured right) with a smile back on his face as he drew the same peg as last match peg 18 on Spring winning the match with 56lb 6oz of Skimmers. Lee caught initially short using soft pellet and later catching the Lions share on red maggot over GB and caster. Lee fed 2 kg of GB and 2 pints of caster throughout.

Full Result:

1. Lee Werret 56-06-0 peg 18
2. John Green 34-12-0 peg 17 (hard 4 mm pellet on waggler)
3. Nick Collins 34-07-0 peg 88
4. Stu Foale 33-02-0 peg 78
5. Glen Calvert 32-12-0 peg 16
6. Roland Lucas 32-10-0 peg 103

League Leaders (Points then weight order):

1 Stuart Foale 4
2 Lee Werrett 5
3 Glen Calvert 5
4 Tim Pallant 6
5 Andy Neal 6
6 Bob Gullick 6

06/10/2011 - Viaduct Cost Cutter - Campbell and Carey

It always take time for us humans to adjust to the change to hot and cold temperatures, so no surprise today that I felt cold as the temperature has dropped 18 degrees over two days! I didn’t expect it to affects the fish though.

Another good turn out for the Skivers match. A new Skiver in the form of Josh Garrett, nice to see him back on the bank – unless he draws next to you!!

In to the draw tin and out comes peg 129 on Campbell. The peg below the Spit, I always feel as if I have only half a Silvers swim on these Spit pegs. I had Josh Garrett arrive on next peg 130. We were both glad we were on this bank as the wind was strong and gusting, but importantly off our backs.

The water still looked clear to me so I set up a full depth waggler for the 10mm banded pellet and a 4x12 Jolly for the caster up to the spit at 11.5 metres. I also set up a paste rig to fish out in front at the same length. On the whistle I put a full pot of casters down the shelf of the spit and fed some hard 4’s over the paste line. Starting on the paste I had one Carp whilst Josh next to me was catching a Carp a casts on the straight lead out to the Aerator, as was Charlie Barns on peg 132, sporting his new Drennan lead rod. I half heartedly tried the caster and had one small Ronnie. So out on the waggler and I had a run of five Carp in the net and five Carp foul hooked. With us now half way through the match and with Josh and Charlie still bagging on the lead I had a walk. Both Rich Coles (128) and Chris Fox (127) owned up to 10lb of Silvers. So I went back to the car (becoming a habit) and got my Skimmer feeder rod and some GB for a practice for Sundays Silvers League. By the time I was set up I had about 2 ½ hours left of the match. First cast with triple dead bloated red maggot on the hook and a small Carp in the net, not what I was after. Next cast a 3lb Tench – better, quickly followed by another – even better. That was it for the Tench but I did start catch Skimmers steady to the end, interrupted by the odd small Carp. However, due to the ghigh usting wind which swirled in the GB bowl giving me “GB Eye”. I don’t know what the put in the GB but it stings like hell – top tip don’t rub the eyes. My Carp weighed 41lb 1oz and my Silvers 24lb 14oz, This left me one out of a Silvers pick up and the total of 65lb 15oz getting me nowhere either.

The match was won by Josh Garrett (pictured right with some of his catch) with 215lb 7oz from peg 130. Josh caught all but one fish on the straight lead fished out to the Aerator. Josh used 10mm hair rigged hard pellet fished over loose fed 10’s. Josh fed about 2 pints throughout.

The Silvers was won by the other young gun Tom Thick (pictured lower right with the other young gun) with 50lb 10oz from peg 126. Tom’s Silvers also helped him to runner up spot with a total of 171lb 12oz. Tom caught on the pole at 11. 5 metres using banded 4’s and 6’s fished over kinder potted hard 4’s. Tom fed two Chinese take away containers (about two British pints) throughout the match.

It was nice to see these young lads doing so well, as it was for a not so young Charlie Barns. Charlie has had five tons in the last five matches beating his PB yesterday with 145lb. I hear he’s taking his rod back because it’s bending too much!! It won’t last he will soon be back on the Silvers.

Full Result:

1. Josh Garrett 215-07-0 peg 130
2. Tom Thick 171-12-0 peg 126
3. Charlie Barns 141-01-0 peg 132
4. Tica Williams 137 04-0 peg 118
5. John Green 120-13-0 peg 124
6. Dan Pither 117-01-0 peg 80
7. Mike Owens 107-02-0 peg 116
8. Jim Baines 104-03-0 peg 123
9. Craig Edmonds 102-11-0 peg 94

Top Silvers:

1. Tom Thick 50-10-0 peg 126
2. John Bradford 34-12-0 peg 96
3. Chris Fox 34-11-0 peg 127

Sunday 02/10/2011 - Avon Angling Teams of Four - Round Three - Acorn Fishery - Paddocks and Old Canal

During the drive down to the Acorn Fishery Bela let slip that his middle name is Attila as in the “Hun”. I started to call him Hun but thought better of it after a while. His full name is Bela Attila Bakos pronounced “Bala Attila Bakoosh”. Either way not a person you upset!

I haven’t fished the venue since its opening day so arriving at the venue I had a walk round Paddocks with team mate Rich Coles who filled second spot in the venues previous Wednesday’s open ran by Rip Off. I must say that it looked completely different now with all the platforms completed and the bank side vegetation maturing. The venue has become very popular with many of my mates from the Coffin Dodgers. Unfortunately I baby sit on their Tuesday opens.

I think everyone was hoping to be on the Old Canal especially as there was only one section of 11 pegs, giving plenty of room, hence less peggy. Stand in Captain Steve Segar pull the team draw and I was to spend the day on peg 5 Paddocks. Luckily we had John Baker standing in for Charlie Barns and came to the peg with me explaining the way he would fish it. John explained that the LH margin was good for the paste feeding 8 mm pellets and down the far shelf not feeding anything over paste, nearly my type of fishing. As I didn’t have any 8’s John gave me a huge box full. Oh yes it was a flyer peg. One of these pellets is equivalent to 100 micro pellets; far more than I would normally feed in one go! So not to disappoint John I fed a couple of hand full’s on the bank!

I set up three rigs one paste rig for the LH margin set at 24 inches, similar again just down the far shelf in 6 footish of water and a 4x16 Jolly again for down the far shelf to be used with 6mm expander pellet – that’s it.

Because of the depth, I started by feeding a compressed bunch of wetted micro in the kinder pot with expander on the hook and happy days I soon had three 3 pound Carp in the net. Next put in I lost a foul hooker and that was it for this line except four 3 oz Skimmers. I was surprised how quick the bites were from these tiny fish, every time thinking they were Carp. That was the end of my Silvers.

Far too early for the margin I know, but I had to try it. I had been feeding three hard 4’s regularly from the start and with the paste rig dotted down I had a Carp first put in. Unfortunately the Common Carp on this venue fight very hard and as I learnt at my cost you have to take your time, but they do their best to ruin your peg. I always try hard to keep them out of the line I am fishing which was difficult enough. Landing these fish was upsetting the swims so once again after three or so fish it would go quite. I had been feeding a Silvers line at a “stretched” 4 metres. So gave that a try and I started to catch more Carp, but this time they stayed there for the last two hours. I switched between double casters on the Jolly and once I saw a blow would go over it with paste. Getting near the end of the match I was catching well and unfortunately this also started me try to force the fish to get back out for more, loosing three decent Carp for about 10lb – a spell of bad angling that cost me framing overall. My Carp and silvers weighed in at 55lb 4oz for a section win and sixth overall. I am still dwelling on my bad angling especially as it cost me second place. Top tip don’t try and force the fish on this venue – take your time – another lesson learnt.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured right with his catch) with 76lb 10oz from Old Canal peg 9 (the meatier end of the dog bone). Tony caught …see his blog. I was impressed with how close the weights were on this Canal.

The Silvers was won by John Bradford (pictured with match winner and shop manger discussiing the issues of the week) with 12lb 12oz from Paddocks peg 10. John caught at 7 metres using worm over casters – John doesn’t feed worms because he would rather sell them in the shop!

I must mention Silvers runner up Kev Perry who was pegged next to me, what a class angler this man is.

Full Result:

1. Tony Rixon 76-10-0 peg 9 (Old Canal)
2. Andy Neal 63-12-0 peg 33 (Paddocks)
3. Nick Collins 57-01-0 peg 40 (Paddocks)
4. Paul Elmes 56-12-0 peg 1 (Old Canal)
5. Tom Thick 55-04-0 peg 22 (Paddocks)
6. Mike Nicholls 55-04-0 peg 45 (Paddocks)

Top Silvers:

1. John Bradford 12-12-0 peg 10 (Paddocks)
2. Kev Perry 9-09-0 peg 4 (Paddocks)

Saturday 01/10/2011 - Viaduct All Winners £1,000 Final - Campbell and Carey

As this match was basically winners take all and no Silvers payout I came fully armed with not only the poles but two rods – lead and waggler all made up for Carp fishing. We all knew that the draw was important today and I fancied any of the corner pegs on Campbell – especially the end where the fished were! I was next behind Tony Rixon to draw and luckily he drew peg 76 – a peg I didn’t fancy (nor did he). I pulls peg 124. I was reasonably happy with this.

 

I was confident that the paste would work on this peg so left all my rods in the car. I found myself pegged between Andy Lloyd on peg 125 and Phil Cardwell on peg 123 (thanks for the coffee Phil). Two Viaduct Carp Slayers. I set up two rigs both paste, one to be fished at 10 metres and the other in the LH margin. On the horn I fed a smidgen of micro and hard 4’s and started to feed the margin, however, I could see the bait falling a long way down in the water so gave up feeding the margin as the clarity of the water would keep any self respecting carp out of the swim. First put on the paste I missed a bite. Next put in I hooked and landed a 10 lb Mirror, next put in another 10 lb Mirror was soon in the net – happy days – not. Next put in I lost a fish which might have been foul hooked.

Unfortunately I persevered with the paste far too long adding only three Bream and a Perch. It wasn’t until the last two hours that I went back to the car and got a bag of 8mm pellet and my waggler rod. Andy Lloyd had been fishing the shallow waggler and had only one Carp to show for it, so I wasn’t going to do any better, so I swapped mine to a full depth waggler with 8mm banded pellet. The up shot was that I added another seven Carp before the all out. My Silver went 8lb 6oz and my nine carp 68lb 2oz for a total of 76lb 8oz for fourteenth overall. The nearest I got to any coin was being handed the empty winners envelope (pictured upper right)!

Dean Malin (pictured right with some of his better fish) won the £1,000 prize with 174lb 3oz from peg 119. Dean caught a few on the straight lead at the start, but caught the majority on the pole fishing 16.5 metres to the end margin using hard hair rigged 8 mm pellet fished over a combination of potted and loose fed pellet.

Runner up was Phil Cardwell (pictured right with some of his catch) with 142lb 2oz from the opposite corner peg 123. Phil caught most of his fish on the lead utilising large pieces of bread fished off bottom. Phil went home £300 richer.



In third place was Trigger (pictured top right collecting his winnings with the other lucky sods from Fishery Manager Paul Greenwood) with 123lb 13 oz from peg 126. Trigger struggled for most of the match until he switched to the 5 metre line in the last hour using meat hook bait fished over hand fed meat.

Full Result:

1. Dean Malin 174-03-0 peg 119
2. Phil Cardwell 139-06-0 peg 123
3. Craig Edmonds 123-13-0 peg 125
4. Martin Preston 120-02-0 peg 85
5. Mash 108-09-0 peg 131
6. John Mills 105-09-0 peg 118
7. Matt Parsons 104-12-0 peg 105
8. Charlie Barns 103-14-0 peg 115

And finally, with temperatures once again in the high twenties it was the Angler on peg 112 (pictured lower right) that decided enough was enough and jumped in the Lake so say to retrieve his landing net.