Sunday 27/11/2011 - Carps AC Silvers League - Round Six - Viaduct Fishery - Carey and Spring Lakes

After another great breakfast in the Canards’ Well it was off to the final round of the Carps AC Silver’s League at Viaduct.

I was quite optimistic today even though the forecast was against us – bright sunshine and high winds. Once again everyone wanted to be on Spring Lake. It was pass the coffee tin, which I was third into and out comes peg 80. Not such a favourable draw, which also happen to set an unlucky theme for the day. That said I was still hoping for another 20lb to make it 20lb+ off every peg in the series.

I set up just the two rods – waggler and feeder with dead reds and caster on the bait table.

I discovered today that dry casters can be catapulted 5% – 10% further than wet casters. However, if you buy then from Avon Angling and wait two hours the casters will go miles further – because they sprout wings!

First cast on the double red maggot on the wagged fished over loose fed caster resulted in a bite. I struck unknowing that the line had caught around the pole roost (why I had used the pole roost beggars belief as I hadn’t set up the pole) and I broke the line at the reel. This was just the start of a bad day at the office. Whilst I set up again I chucked out the feeder with triple red maggot with five weeks old GB and caster in the feeder. I had nearly set on the waggler again when the tip went round and I landed a 1lb Skimmer, plus I retrieved the waggler line with a 4oz Skimmer on the end which fell off as I lifted the line. At least I got the line out and my new “second hand” waggler. As I was untangling the waggler line I mistakenly broke off the feeder rig, so I was left with nothing to fish with!! So after a failed rushed attempt to get fishing again it was a count to ten to calm myself down. Having set both rods up again I cast the waggler for the second time and hooked a good fish – not a Carp it wasn’t big enough for this Lake. I saw a spiky dorsal fin and was thinking big Perch, alas not; it was the smallest Carp in Carey a 3 pounder! That released and the third struggle of the season started. I must say the first half of the match wasn’t one of my best switching between feeder and waggler and managing to catch nought. It took the second half on the match for me to gain some sort on calmness and consistency, concentrating on the waggler. I started to put a few fish in the net in between hooking two more disruptive Carp. The frustration continued to some extent as I pulled out of five good Skimmers even though the fish I caught were deeply hooked (probable why - pulling out of the fleshy part of the throat). I must say I wasn’t unhappy when the whistle went. My net of Perch and Skimmer went 10lb 6oz which was fourth in the section. Not the 20lb I was hoping for, but considering the conditions I felt I did the peg justice especially taking into account my initial bad angling.

The match was won by Stu Foale’s (pictured right with his funny hat hiding his new hair do) from Spring Lake peg 16 with 38lb 3oz. Stu fished 13 metres with either caster or red maggot over GB. Stu operated two lines throughout.

Today’s weight plus three draws on Spring Lake helped Stu to overall league winner picking up £250 and a holiday in Majorca. Bela and I are waiting for the invitations to join him!! Well done matey.

I must say the league was a success with the final league result being close right down to the top sixteen anglers. Without fear of contradiction I believe that this league had the cream of the South West Silvers Anglers taking part – not an easy league to win without the help of the Gods me thinks.

Full result (on the day):

1.      Stu Foale 38-03-0 peg 16

2.      Lee Werret 34-09-0 peg 18 (drew this peg three times)

3.      Steve Kedge 32-02-0 peg 76 (1lb 8oz Eel included)

4.      Clive Pettit 24-11-0 peg 17

5.      Tim Pallant 22-01-0 peg 105

6.      Gordon Cannings 19-15-0 peg 78

Top Six Overall Money Winners (Final Position five matches count):

1.      Stu Foale 7pts 152lb 9oz

2.      Tim Pallant 7pts 127lb 11oz

3.      Bob Gullick 8pts 115lb 12oz

4.      Lee Werret 9pts 194lb 3oz - Ave 39lb per match

5.      Rowland Lucas 9pts 142lb 5oz

6.      John Green 9pts 131lb 10oz

Thursday 24/11/2011 - Bathampton AA Over 55's And Disabled - Withy Pool

Another mild warm November’s day even though we had an early draw of 08:30 – next match the draw is 08:00! This day last year it was snowing, hopefully we will have an ice free winter, particularly as I have decided not to fish if the Lakes have a lid of ice.

Arriving at Withy Pool it was soon apparent that the aerator had a mechanical issue, either that or the Carp on peg 35 were sat under the paddles doing a bit of head banging!

In to the draw bucket and out comes peg 41, I have drawn this couple of times before and have won coin with Carp, with very few Silvers showing. I wasn’t that disappointed. However, looking at the water it was very clear (as is most fisheries at present) so wasn’t expecting to bag up today with two keenest being more than enough!!

I set up my usual Ronnie rig and a 4x16 Jolly with a 0.14 hook length with a Tubertini 808 hook to be fished at 7 metres out in front.

I fed the 7 metre line with a concoction of five chopped worms, pinch of dead reds and the remainder of the pot was topped with caster. I started on the Ronnie rig and unbelievably I didn’t have a bite or any indication, not even from the little Perch that can be a nuisance on this peg. That was it for this rig; I packed it away before picking up the Jolly. I started on a piece of worm and after 30 minutes had my first bite an 8lb Carp. I quickly followed this with my only Silver fish of the day – a 4lb 8oz Skimmer. An hour later I hooked another Carp which was a lump and just after adjusting the angle of the top set to the fish the hook pulled – costly I’m thinking. Two hours later after trying every conceivable bait and combinations, there of, I hooked and landed another 11 lb Carp on double caster. I decided to stick with this bait to the end and was rewarded with my fifth and last bite with five minutes to go – another Carp which after a minutes tussle broke me – was it foul hooked – don’t know and never will. My total weight was 22lb 14oz, which surprisingly put me in coin position third overall.

Similarly John Smith (pictured right playing his fouler - seven other Anglers are in the frame) hooked a Carp with five minutes to go, unlike me he landed his double which was foul hooked in the tail (big paddle inoperative) – jammy bugger.

The match was won by Ray Bazeley (pictured right with the Silvers winner) maggot over a mix of caster and micro pellet.

The Silvers was won by Bob Feltham (MD) (pictured right with his catch of quality Bream) weighing 19lb 6oz from peg 46. Bob caught on various baits, with the Lion share coming to a single piece f corn fished at 13 metres.

Full Result:

1.      Ray Bazeley 36-0-0 peg 66

2.      John Smith 31-06-0 peg 43

3.      Mike Nicholls 22-14-0 peg 41

4.      Bob Feltham 19-06-0 peg 46

5.      Alan Jones 18-06-0 peg 45

6.      Rich Coles 15-08-0 peg 61

Top Silvers:

1.      Bob Feltham 19-06-0 peg 46

2.      Rich Coles 15-08-0 peg 61

3.      Martin Alexander 14-0-0 peg 42

Monday 21/11/2011 - Bitterwell Monday Open

Waking today it was clear I was paying for the excellent days fishing yesterday on the waggler with my RH wrist in agony. Why is it that we grip the rod handle so tight – I think it’s the tension created in the anticipation of a bite. I had planned to fish Bitterwell, which is a rarity for a Monday as I am usually doing the weekly shop with the Special One. After a pain killer I decided to go but fish the pole short for Ronnie’s with caster.

Like most fisheries the water had gone clear, but because of the overcast conditions I thought the big Ronnie’s might put in an appearance. In to the draw box and out comes peg 8 which is on the far bank, two pass the big Oak towards the changing rooms. That’s OK as it can be good for the Silvers. On the end peg 7 was match organiser Steve Dawson who was having great difficulty in reconciling the pools money, he seemed to be one payment short. After Steve talk himself around the pegs everyone appeared to have paid – half hour later the penny drops and it was Steve himself who hadn’t put his tenner in - Duh!!

I set up two Ronnie rigs to fish with caster or dead reds the only baits I took. Starting on the 11.5 metre rig with single caster potting a few with the Kinder pot resulted in a lost foul hooked something – not sure of the species. With an hour in to the match I had nothing to show from this line. So it was on to the 4 metre whip again with single caster over loose fed caster. This resulted in about a dozen Ronnie’s and some tiny micro Perch. However, the swim died and with an hour to go |I decided to call it a day so weighed in my 3lb and packed up to take some photos instead.

The Lake fished hard but on schedule 15 minutes after the all out fish were topping everywhere because the light had gone.

The match was won by Terry Church (pictured right with one of his two big Carp) from peg 12 with 26lb 3oz. Terry caught on the maggot feeder fished out to the aerator with triple red on the hook.

The Silvers was won by Steve Dawson from peg 7 with 8lb 14oz. Steve caught the majority of his fish on the waggler, but needed to swap around to keep them coming although spasmodic.

Runner up in the Silver was Chris Davis with a quality Ronnie’s to 1lb (pictured right), caught on his favourite chop worm method.

Poor Ryan Jordan (pictured lower right) who drew fancied peg 1 thought he had scraped in to the coin until the last angler weighed in Beat him.

Full Result:

1.      Terry Church 26-03-0 peg 12

2.      Norman Ferris 22-02-0 peg 13

3.      Ryan Jordan 19-06-0 peg 1

4.      Lee Waller 18-0-0 peg 9

5.      Steve Dawson 11-06-0 peg 7

6.      Noel Fletcher 10-09-0 peg 11



Top Silvers:

1.      Steve Dawson 8-14-0 peg 7

2.      Chris Davis 8-05-0 peg 3

Sunday 20/11/2011 - Avon Angling Teams of Four - Final Round Six - Viaduct Fishery - Carey, Lodge and Match Lakes

The majority of anglers from Bristol who needed a breakfast were heading for the Bear Hotel in Street. However, Bela and I decided on the Fountain café in St George. Arriving at the Café it was soon apparent that it wasn’t going to open anytime soon. So about turn and we headed for the Canard Well Hotel in Shepton Mallet. Both Bela and I thought it was a great breakfast, so have decided to make this our fist option when travelling to Viaduct.

With Charlie out with a bronchitis sick note, the Gimp was in and Steve Segar deputised as Captain. The draw made and Rich Coles was first to inform me that I was on the peg he won the Silvers from on the Wednesday – peg 47 on Match Lake - wonderful. After a run down from Rich, it was to be waggler and double caster over loose fed caster all match then. However, because I had plenty of time to set up I also put up a margin rig (a rare 4x10 Drennan wire stem chop) for the RH side.

On the whistle I fed the margin with a pot of dead reds, I then proceeded to fish the waggler. Having started with ridiculous light hook length which I struck off the first fish, what ever it was. So on went a 14 808 hook to a 0.12 G line hook length. I then started to pick off a few Skimmers to 3lb, but the skimming wind was making it difficult plus the water had gone clear added to the bright daylight, it was a case of catch a few then the disappearing act. I kept a few coming, but it really slowed come the last two hours when I decided to go tighter to the island and shallow up for Carp. This worked well, catching four small Carp and a number of F1’s until the last ten minutes when my waggler ended up in the River Carey behind me! So the margin wasn’t a complete waste of time but nearly – I didn’t have a bite on five maggots hook bait!! I weighed 20lb 6oz of big Skimmers and 22lb 5oz of Carp (F1’s count as Carp at Viaduct) for a total of 42lb 11oz for a Lake second (by 6oz) and a £60 section win. I was surprised to find this also put me 8^th overall. I fed about one pint of caters throughout the match. Another memorable day's fishing.

As the Gimp did an end of match disappearing act I wasn’t sure how the team faired. I think we beat Avon England again though – see Tony Rixon’s blog for the team results.

The match was won by Alan Oram with 183lb 9oz from peg 96. Alan caught on his favourite straight lead approach using 8mm meat hair rig by pulling a band through the meat. Alan landed 15 Carp fishing 25/30 metres out in to the “bowl”. Alan fed – NOTHING throughout the match!

The Silvers was won by England Star Des Shipp (pictured right with the match winner) with 48lb 3oz of Skimmers from Lodge peg 68. Des fished the pole on two lines at 14.5metres – one line over GB and the other over potted casters (feeding about 100 casters a time). Des caught primarily big skimmers on single caster. The swim did die in the last hour but his weight was soon boosted with a couple of big Carp.

Matey Bela was on the next peg to Des and was expecting to give him a lesson in waggler fishing – NOT.

Full Result:

1.      Alan Oram 183-09-0 peg 96

2.      Tom Mangnel 114-15-0 peg 87

3.      Kev Perry 106-05-0 peg 100

4.      Des Shipp 85-05-0 peg 68

5.      Clayton Hudson 64-0-0 peg 101

6.      Kev Moulton 47-0-0 peg 70

7.      Neil Mercer 43-01-0 peg 42

8.      Mike Nicholls 42-11-0 peg 47

Top Silvers:

1.      Des Shipp 48-03-0 peg 68

2.      Steve Kedge 31-06-0 peg 97

3.      Nick Collins 26-04-0 peg 40

Wednesday 16/11/2011 - Teams of Four Practice - Viaduct Fishery - Lodge and Match Lakes

As usual I have picked the grandchildren’s chest virus. I haven’t slept well for the past two nights, last night was no different – cough, cough, cough. Up at 06:00 and after a very slow cup of tea it was shall I or shall I not go. After deciding that going was far better than lying on the couch drinking coffee whilst watching black and white films wondering how everyone on the match was doing. No ones died of fresh air – have they? I had to speed up filling the car as I was going to the Bear Hotel for Breakfast where I met up with Tony and his cronies. Great breakfast.

With Lodge Lake and Match Lake full with 11 pegs on each I was hoping for a day on the waggler which really meant drawing Match Lake or the wider pegs on Lodge. If I were to draw a Carp peg I would choose peg 53 or 66, although I have never drawn 53. I was into the coffee tin one behind Tony Rixon who had pull pee 64 on the Monk. In I went and pulled peg 66 – very happy with this even though the wind was blowing into peg 53.

I walked around Bitterwell Lake to spectate the Monday League and was surprised to find a lot of Skimmers coming to the paste. So I made up a small amount of paste (the only pellet based substance allowed on the hook during the winter) in case I drew a corner Carp peg. With the waggler left in the car as this isn’t an option on this peg. I set up a Skimmer rig to fish over a bit of GB at 11.5 metres, a margin corn/caster rig for the margin up to the LH pallet which the front leg is 11.5 metres and the back leg is 13 meters and a paste rig to fish the same swim as the corn rig.

I started on the double maggot over kinder potted GB on the Skimmer rig and it was obvious that I was going to be pestered by the millions of ½ oz Ronnie’s in the lake (welcome when it’s frozen over) so gave that up in favour of a corn. This bait was just butted about without ant real takers. Tony opposite on the monk was having a similar experience. So it was time to try the banker margin. So in I went to the first leg of the platform (it’s very important that you don’t chase the fish out of reach too soon which is easily done on this peg) with corn, kindering in some caster. It look like the Ronnie’s were line up here too, so I switched to double caster to check and hooked the smallest Carp in the Lake – 1 ½ lb specimen – fought well though.

Tony had also gone in to his margin and also hooked a Carp on corn. However, he was using Girls elastic allowing the fish to go under his platform. So Tony had his Landing net one side of the platform and his top-set on the other – time for the Platform and top-set shuffle. I have never seen this done yet (plenty of attempts – usually ending in tears), if anyone can do it, Tony can and he did after taking out his keep nets – luckily for him it was a small fish (see picture right).

I decided to try the paste over caster and had another three small Carp to 4lb. With two hours to go it was time to go to the back leg of the platform at 13 metres (as far as I was willing to risk). Again with paste over caster I had another quick five Carp before in the last twenty minutes the fish had backed off out of reach. My nine carp weighed 41lb 5oz for third on the Lake and seventh overall and one out of the coin. Other than the winners weight the match results was very tight.

The match was won by lee Werrett (pictured right with his catch) with 92lb 3oz. Lee caught the majority of his Carp over to the tree using five maggots as hook bait. Lee fed about a pint of caster and a pint of maggot.

The Silvers was won by team mate and Coffin Dodger Rich Coles (pictured lower right) with an excellent weight of Skimmers of 41lb 4oz from peg 47 on Match Lake. Rich caught all his fish on the waggler using caster over loose fed caster, Rich fed about 1 ½ pints of caster.

John Green was runner up with another net of decent Skimmers caught on the same method as Rich from peg 62 on Lodge.

What a great day fishing these two anglers had – Just what I was hoping for!!

Full Result:

1.      Lee Werrett 92-03-0 peg 53

2.      Andy Lloyd 56-07-0 peg 51

3.      Phil Harding 55-06-0 peg 59

4.      S. Woods 50-10-0 peg 50

5.      Mike West 46-13-0 peg 52

6.      Clint t Wojtyle 45.05.0 peg 48

7.      Mike Nicholls 41.05.0 peg 66

Top Silvers:

1.      Rich Coles 41-04-0 peg 47

2.      John Green 36-06-0 peg 62

Sunday 13/11/2011 - Carps AC Silvers League - Round Five - Viaduct Fishery - Carey and Spring Lakes

With Bela up on a roof, it was a lonely trip down to Viaduct Fishery. However, there was little to no traffic. Luckily I arrived early enough for the earlier arranged draw for 08:30 – it’s now guess the draw time!!

In to the ice cream container and after dropping back two tickets stuck together (I never spilt them as I am convinced that I put the better peg back) it was deep down to the bottom and out comes peg 16 on Spring Lake – perfect. On current form not the best peg in the section but best to be here than the best peg in a crap section, me thinks. In any case I was expecting plenty of bites which fishing is all about. I had Nigel Easton on next peg 17 and Glen Calvert on peg 19 both excellent Silvers Anglers. Luckily for them peg 18 wasn’t drawn. This was going to make it more difficult for me to beat them – but I had an end peg with only some teenagers to worry about on the end bank casting their feeders etcetera around. I wasn’t sure how it was going to fish as the water had gone clear and the rain over recent days had topped the Lake up a bit.

I set up the waggle and a small feeder. I followed this with the usual Ronnie rig and Skimmer rig to be fished at 11.5 metres. Nick Collins said to expect to catch some Perch down to the RH margin late on, so I finally set up a Caster rig for this margin. On the whistle I fed six balls of GB laced with plenty of caster on the 11.5 metre Skimmer line, followed by a pot of caster down the RH margin, finally four catapults of caster out a far as I could into a skimming breeze. I started on the Ronnie rig and had a fabulous first half hour catching decent Ronnie’s with the odd Perch, losing two decent ones (as you do). I think I blunted my hook on the last one!  However, it was all short lived as I couldn’t keep them coming so had to switch lines which resulted in another good run of Ronnie’s and a 2lb Hybrid which had a barbed hook still in it mouth. To Nigel’s amusement I had a 4oz Dace. Once again I couldn’t keep the fish coming so decided to try the Skimmer line and – nothing except one Ronnie and a small Skimmerette. So I set up the 4 metre whip and tried to keep the Ronnie’s coming which worked again for a while catching the smaller variety with a bonus 2lb Skimmer. Again the fish did a disappearing act so out went the feeder. It was soon clear that the Ronnie’s were nipping the ends of the triple dead reds. So back in the whip – the fish were gone. Now with ninety minutes left it was down to the RH margin to bag up with Perch. First put in and I soon have a 15 lb Common carp in the landing net on 0.12 hook length – if I wanted the fish it would have broken me!! That was it for the margin. I decided to spend the last hour on the waggler with dead red on the hook fished over caster. I had a run of three Skimmers and once again the fish disappeared. I think because of the water clarity the fish were being spooked so it was a question of feeding then being patient (which I find difficult at the best of times) until another three would come along including a 2lb Hybrid. Both Nigel and Glen had been catching Skimmers regularly throughout on the long pole. I thought Glen had won the section, with Nigel and me owning up to 26lb it was going to be close, but I didn’t think it was going to be as close as it was. I weighed 30lb 4oz as did Nigel Easton and Glen weighed 29lb 12oz – 8oz behind us. I think Nigel and I were deceived by Glen’s knicker elastic. This left Nigel and me second overall and Glen fourth with all of us picking up coin - perfect. It was a close well contended section and I think this sort of result leaves a bond between the anglers concerned.

The match was won by John Green (pictured with the joint runners up) from peg 99 with 41lb 8oz. John caught quality Skimmers on the waggler fished at 25 metres with caster over caster. John fed about three pints throughout. You need a bit of luck at this level - such as peg 100 not being drawn either!!

Full Result:

1.      John Green 41-08-0 peg 99

2.      Nigel Easton 30-04-0 peg 17

2.   Mike Nicholls 30-04-0 peg 16

3.      Glen Calvert 29-12-0 peg 19

4.      Rowland Lucas 27-15-0 peg 98

5.      Steve Kedge 26-04-0 peg 86

Top Six overall League:

1.      John Green 9pts 136lb 10oz

2.      Dave Roper 9pts (-12lb 2oz)

3.      Stuart Foale 10 pts 148lb 8oz

4.      Tim Pallant 10 pts (-12lb)

5.      Rowland Lucas 11pts 144lb 6oz

6.      Andy Neal 11 pts (-17lb 13oz)

7.      Bob Gullick 11 pts (-18lb 6oz)

Thursday 10/11/2011 - Bathampton AA Over 55's And Disabled - Bridge Pool

Considering the time of year it was another good turn out for the Coffin Dodgers match with 26 booked in. This speaks volumes of the venue, cost of pools and the short distance to travel (for most). The BBC once again promised us rain until 15.00 and luckily there was none, in fact it was exceptionally mild for the time of year, I am not sure the fish were going to be appreciative of this.

In to the draw container and out comes peg 16 – not again – no, I had torn the draw ticket and the number two in half so on second look it was in fact peg 26 – great, a Skimmer peg.

With the electronic gates being lock out at 16.30 the match was reduced to five hours 15 minutes. Apparently BAA imposes a fine of £25 for releasing anglers after this time – surely Mike Jones can afford this? It was going to be a question of pacing myself.

Rig wise it was easy. One 4x16 Jolly even though the swim is one of the deepest on the lake (next time I intend to try a 4x18) for the Skimmers. My usual Ronnie rig, which yielded nothing in the short time I used it – they weren’t feeding in any numbers. Finally a paste rig which will now be put on the back burner in favour of a corn rig as I think the season for it is nearly over. As I still had some worms left from Stafford Moor albeit them being a bit worse for wear I thought I would use another ten of them. So on the whistle I fed a pot of casters with five chopped worms mixed in on the five metre line at 12 o clock (the deepest part of the swim, it shallows up slightly the further you go out). I started with a piece of worm on the hook with a dead red to prevent the worm wriggling off. It took 15 minutes to get my first Skimmer, which heralded am excellent run of the species – no smaller than 6oz and no bigger than 2lb – excellent. At the half way stage the swim died by which time I reckon I had 12lb. It was time to stretch my back and eat the banana. Back in the saddle and I decided to drop the worm and switch to double caster feeding caser every fish through the kinder pot. This worked well until the end – well I thought was the end of the match but soon discovered that I had accidently put my watch back to British Summertime – another hour then which proved to be painful only adding another three pound of Silvers, however, one was a sizeable Perch, but alas not quite as big as the one Mike Jones landed - 2lb 8oz Lake record. Finally the whistle sounded putting me out of my misery. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my Silvers weighed in at 27lb 8oz, with no Carp. This put me first in the Silvers and fifth overall. What a memorable days fishing.

John Smith on the peg 25 next and behind me (need to know the pegs) was giving Paul Haines (pictured right) some stick throughout the match until on the whistle Paul hooked a double figure Carp which pushed him up from nowhere in the match to coin position third. John was teasing whilst he was playing it but Paul had the last laugh, managing to land it with two minutes overtime left!

The match was won by Ian Sheppard (pictured lower right with the Silvers winner) with 81lb 10oz from peg 11. Ian initially caught on double red maggot fished over kinder potted micro. Ian later switched to soft pellet over the same feed. His catch also included 22lb of Silvers. Ian fed a kinder cup full of micro after every fish.

Finally Mike jones has published the dates for next byears Coffin Dodgers Matches, which are pictured lower centre - just double click on the frame then put on the reading glasses!

Full Result:

1.      Ian Sheppard 81-10-0 peg 11

2.      Mike Key 77-15-0 peg 19

3.      Paul Haines 36-02-0 peg 16

4.      Ray Bazeley 33-06-0 peg 29

5.      Mike Nicholls 27-08-0 peg 26

6.      Bob Warren 26-13-0 peg 3

Top Silvers:

1.      Mike Nicholls 27-08-0 peg 26

2.      Ian Sheppard 22-08-0 peg 11

3.      Mike Jones 15-08-0 peg 32

Sunday 06/11/2011 - Avon Angling Teams of Four - Round Five - Lands End - All Lakes

It felt cold this morning at 06-30 simply because we had the first frost of the winter with ice on my car windows. However, it wasn’t widespread as Bela arrived without any on his van. It was an early warning that the fishing might be harder than of late.

Steve Segar deputised for Charlie and pulled a good peg for himself – peg 31 on Specimen Lake. I was pointed in the direction of peg 51 on Johns Walter – otherwise known at the “Third Lake”. This is my filth time on this peg and I reckon I knew it fairly well and wasn’t disappointed with the draw. That was until Nick Harvey arrived and tried to evict me as he was also sent to peg 51. After a quick call to the match organiser, I was able to stay put and Nick was sent to next peg 50. It was beginning to look like I would be the end peg – even better – until the Bristol dyslectic Tackle dealer and match organiser arrived on end peg 55 (pictured right clearing his end bank - was hoping for the big splash).

I set up far too many rigs as I was soon to find that I had them all set to approximately the same depth – three foot! That said I spent 90% of the match on the 4x14 Jolly fished at 11.5 metres, scaling down to 0.12 hook length an a 16 Tubertini 808. I would normally fish a 4x12 but the wind was gusting at me between the two opposite islands. After feeding the LH margin at 5 metres with caster and the far bank swim with some hard 4’s and a few grains of corn. I started on the 3 mm expander fished over kinder potted 20 wetted micro. First cast I missed a bite – second cast I landed a 5lb Common Carp which fought very hard. I then had a run of small Skimmers, Ronnie’s and four small Crucian’s. I then had another Common Carp of 8lb which heralded the end of the Silvers. I then went into struggle mode. So it was the turn of the margin with both corn and double caster – nothing. So it was the turn of my banker swim, 13 metres over to the far bank bush where I still had 3 foot of water just 12 inches off the far bank. First I tried corn – nothing, then pellet – nothing. I decided to put a big pot of dead maggot in on this line and hopefully pull some carp in later in the match. I still kept feeding the margin with caster again as insurance for the later part of the match, however, it proved to be fruitless as did the far bank swim – this was a big disappointment. Nick Harvey of peg 50 had been struggling for a bite but switched to banded 6 mm pellet down the track fished over kinder potted hard 4’s and started to catch some big Carp to 15lb. So I decided to go back on the 11.5 metre line. But the light had changed and I couldn’t see my float which ended up as guess the bite. I did bump something whilst checking for a bite. That decided me to switch lines. I moved into the clear lighter water and switched to corn over corn which accounted for another three decent Carp. My Silvers weighed in at 3lb 13oz and my five Carp went 32lb 5oz for a grand total of 36lb 2oz for fifth in the section. Nick Harvey (pictured lower right with his nice net of Carp – what part of two flashes don’t you understand Nick!!) stuck to his hard pellet and ended up with six Carp which went 54lb 1oz for a Lake win and 4^th overall – well done matey, real quality fish.

Charlie’s Angels finished joint fourth on the day with 25 points with reserve for Charlie – The Gimp fishing a similar match that we have come to expect for our illustrious captain!

The match was won by Trigger (pictured right with the Silvers winner) from peg Match Lake 22 with 86lb 7oz. Trig caught initially down the track with soft pellet. Then catching a few over on pellet, and then subsequently switching to caster down the margin late in the match to boost his weight

The Silvers was won by Nick Collins with 26lb 14oz from Specimen lake peg 38. Nick caught mainly Roach and Skimmers initially close in at 7 metres fishing double caster over loose fed casters feeing about 1 ½  pints. Nick later switched the caster to the 16 metres line over to the island catching a better stamp of Roach and Skimmers.

Full Result:

1.      Craig Edmonds 86-07-0 peg 22

2.      Brian Slipper 62-13-0 peg 29

3.      Alan Oram 57-03-0 peg 27

4.      Nick Harvey 54-01-0 peg 50

5.      Matt Tomes 49-15-0 peg 60

6.      Steve Segar 48-12-0 peg 31

Top Silvers:

1.      Nick Collins 26-14-0 peg 38

2.      Clayton Hudson 16-06-0 peg 32

3.      Mike Duckett 14-05-0 peg 36

Wednesday 02/11/2011 - Carps AC - Autumn Series - Plantation Main Lake

Fishing is about making choices, on Commercial fisheries these can be limitless, baits, method, species, etc...I choose today to guest in the last in the Carps AC Plantation series. Bela choose to fish Landsend, but as we are there Sunday I decided on a change – I wonder who provided the Pinky Ponk?

The league is split in to Silvers and overall, so being a guest I had the choice and decided to keep my options open dependant on where lady luck put me. In to the draw bucket and out came peg 12. I wasn’t disappointed with the draw because we were promised heavy rain (that didn’t happen – did it Ray) and high winds, the peg is in the top bay and well sheltered. It also has a bit more depth than most pegs. It has a lot of Carp form primarily fishing the LH margin – so one option. However, because I still had a kilo of worm (less four used at Huntstrete last week) left over from Stafford Moor I decided not to waste them and try my hand at fishing the messy business - CW&C. I haven’t really done that well using it, I think because I don’t give it long enough. So I set up my usual Ronnie rig – caster over caster, followed by a 4x16 Jolly for the Messy. I also set up a paste rig for the margin (this wasn’t used in earnest as the Carp appeared to be having a day off). I initially chopped up ten worms and fed a small amount with a pot of casters to kick start the swim at 9 metres. I started on the Ronnie rig and it was soon clear that after five or so fish that they weren’t feeding well enough to come close enough to make them viable. So messy went out and I started to catch a few Skimmers to 1lb. I regularly topped up the messy through a kinder pot and had a funny spell where after landing a 2lb Skimmer I lost three on the bounce, I can hear Dad tell me to let the fish take it well before striking, so I took off a number 12 shot. I then lost two foul hooked Carp before I landed two tiny Carp which nearly qualified for the Silvers net. I did have a 5lb Carp later to take the tally up to three. Half way through, and believe it or not I am still fishing the messy. Still toping up through the kinder pot I had a run of four big Perch these must have weighed 9lb or so – wonderful. The swim died for a long while and I was just nicking the odd Ronnie and small Skimmer before I had two big Crucian’s.

I made it through the whole match fishing the messy business. I fed four lots of ten worms and used about ten broken up for the hook, plus one pint of casters.

Ray Bazeley (pictured right) fishing next to me on peg 10 also had some quality Perch with his six going about 10lb. Ray thought one was 4lb - I suppose we all get excited from time to time!! Ray caught his on double caster – The Perch preferred bait.

The match was won by Dave Roper (pictured lower right with his Carp catch – Dave is a very difficult angler to photograph – a bit shifty me thinks). Dave caught some Skimmers on soft pellet fished over micro at 13 metres and a few short over CW&C. However, Dave’s Carp came from his LH margin fishing meat over meat.

The Silvers was won by Steve Kedge from peg 38 with 34lb 12oz. Steve fished soft pellet over micro at 8 metres. Steve caught mainly Skimmers, feeding just less than one pint of micro. Later after the Skimmers dried up Steve switched to caster short adding about 10lb of Ronnie’s.

Full Result:

1.      Dave Roper 60-08-0 peg 8

2.      Leyton Palmer 56-08-0 peg 28

3.      Paul Fairer 46-03-0 peg 7

4.      Steve Kedge 40-09-0 peg 38

5.      Mike Owens 29-07-0 peg 5

6.      Mike Nicholls 29-05-0 peg 12

Top Silvers:

1.      Steve Kedge 34-12-0 peg 38

2.      Mike Nicholls 21-04-0 peg 12

3.      Steve Dawson 19-12-0 peg 18