Sunday 24/02/2013 - Viaduct Teams of Five Winter League - Round 3 - All lakes

It was the first time we had to queue for breakfast in Woody’s, but it didn’t take long to get served, certainly not worth the longer drive from Shipham –sorry Wendy!

 

It was my turn of Specimen Lake and before the great rains it would had been my choice for the Silvers (as would everyone else). That said Captain Tom has been drawing crap. Tom came back with the following draw:

 

Me peg 10

Jamie peg 1

Steve peg 74

Bela peg 81

Tom peg 115

 

Another crap draw me thinks.

 

Walking around the venue heading for my peg it was good to see that Fishery owner Steve had pruned the tree on peg 52 and had done further housekeeping around my peg 10 (pictured right). It’s not only my opinion that this is the best managed fishery in the South West – results speak for themselves.

 

No conflict between club management versus commercial interests on this venue.

 

Although yesterday in the tackle shop Tony Rixon was wishing me on peg 7 explaining how I would need to sit on the corn for five hours tight under the LH bush, I was relieved to draw peg 10. At least I could fish a small GB feeder and the Waggler which is all I set up neglecting the pole for the first time in seven years!

 

I started on the waggler with a single shocking pink dead maggot whilst feeding caster over the top. I had a Ronnie first cast – so no blank – Bela!

 

After about six fish for six once I foul hooked a 13lb 14oz immaculate Common Carp in the pectoral fin, which is sometimes better than in the mouth because the fish gets confused due to it being rotated as it’s played. Anyway it ended up in the net – team job done!

 

That was it for Carp, by feeding the peg through the feeder (which produced hardly any bites) and fishing the waggler over the top I kept a few very small Skimmers and Ronnie’s coming until the end.

 

My Silvers weighed in at 6lb 10 oz for a total of 20lb 8oz and a section score of 13 points which I would have settled for after the draw.

 

The match was won by Fred Roberts (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 196lb 1oz from peg 125. Fred started on the straight lead and was getting liners so changed to the waggler 6 inches off bottom with three dead reds on the hook landed 32 Carp. With the majority of his catch coming in the last hour or so – well done matey.

 

The Silvers was won by Matt Williams with 39lb 2oz from Carey peg 100. Matt caught at 13 and 14 metres with dead red maggot hook bait fished over GB laced with a few dead Pinkies.

 

Well s expected the team struggled resulting in:

 

Me 13 points

Jamie blank

Steve 6 points

Bela blank

Tom peg 18 points

 

We must be holding up the league!

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Fred Roberts 196-01-0 peg 125

2.      Wayne Buckingham 136-12-0 peg 64

3.      Craig Edmonds 131-12-0 peg 86

4.      Tom Mangnall 103-14-0 peg 125

5.      Phil Cardwell 98-03-0 peg 126

6.      Kev Crabbe 80-14-0 peg 116

 

Top Silvers:

 

1.      Mark Williams 39-02-0 peg 100

2.      Anton Page 32-07-0 peg 42

 

Full Lake Results:

 

 

 

 

 

21/02/2013 - Bathampton AA/Veals Silvers Championship - Bridge Pool

As Bob Warren had sold his car I picked him up as he only lives round the corner. Although Bob isn’t fishing the league he was drafted in to deputise for Harry Muir.

The weather brought out the cold weather gear and I was surprised to see we had a “Navy Seal” (pictured right) at the draw disguised as Bill Ferris!!

 

The weather forecast was for a “Feels like” –3 degrees due to the bitterly cold SE wind.  So I was hoping to draw between pegs 14 to 24 and have the wind off my back/side.

 

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 9. A good peg from which, I have had plenty of results. However, the wind was directly in the mush and at the time of setting up I had the glare from the sun which forced me to fish away from it at 1 o clock. Luckily after half an hour the sun disappeared, not to show again, making this the coldest days fishing so far this winter.

 

I set up two 4x16 Jolly’s both to be fished at 9 metres one rig for the Pinkie and the other for soft pellet.

 

I started by feeding some micro and the soft pellet rig. Being impatient for bites I didn’t give it long enough on hindsight quickly switching to my Skimmer mix of GB and Pinkie on the same line. I was then soon getting bites from small Ronnie’s. That’s what fishing is about for me getting bites. By regularly topping up with a nugget of GB I kept a few Ronnie’s coming. Then out of the blue I had three consecutive Skimmers. The rest of the match it was a question of scratching around for the odd small fish. The Lake was fishing really hard so my lowly 5lb 10oz put me 5^th overall, but more importantly another section win.

 

It was disappointing for the pairs as once again my partner Chris Rolfe was in my section. At least he managed 4 points.

I don't know what we will catch once BAA net out these small fish that are providing some sort of winter sport?

The match was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured right picking up the contents of his tackle box, which for some strange reason decided to empty out in the car park) from peg 14. Paul caught ten good Skimmers to 2lb using maggot hook bait fished over micro at 11.5 metres.

 

The not so accidental Carp pool was won by Terry Bruton from peg 33 with twp carp weighing 16lb 7oz.

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Paul Barnfield 14-09-0 peg 14

2.      Dave Poole 10-0-0 peg 16

3.      Ray Bazeley 7-12-0 peg 21

4.      Mike Jones 6-0-0 peg 11

5.      Mike Nicholls 5-10-0m peg 9

6.      Paul Staite 5-06-0 peg 28

 

Accidental Carp:

 

1.      Terry Bruton 16-07-0 peg 33

2.      Bob Warren 10-03-0 peg 32

 

Biggest Silver:

 

Ray Bazeley 2-11-0 Tench peg 21

Sunday 17/02/2013- Viaduct Teams of Five Winter League - Round Two - All Lakes

It was my turn on Match Lake where the waggler is usually key. However, my Arthritis was playing up in my right hand. Tom Mangnall came back with the team draw, which didn’t appear to be wonderful to say the least.

 

Tom peg 26

Me peg 52

Jamie peg 71

Steve peg 102

Bela 132

 

I wasn’t that disappointed with the draw until I got to the peg and found once again there was a pesky small irritating tree on the right hand/directly over head cast. Cut it down it has no value on this venue!

 

With the wind off my right shoulder I was hopeful about he waggler so this was the first float I set up. I ended up changing the float three times because of the difficult cast and my painful right hand, settling for a heavier float than I would normally use. I set up a 4x14 jolly to be fished at 11.5 metres (all that I could ship out) for maggot/caster over GB. And finally a LH margin rig to be fished at 10 metres for the worm over CW&C.

 

On the “All in” I fed a ball of GB laced with Pinkie and caster at 11.5 metres at 12 o clock. Next to get fed was some potted CW&C down the edge.

 

The cunning plan was to start on the waggler with single white maggot over to the island but not initially too close loose feeding some caster short. First cast and a 2lb Carp gets netted. This was quickly followed by three F1’s – got if sorted – not. The fish just disappeared. Then the wind got up making it very difficult. Not until I had to chuck tight to try and try and get a bite. This resulted in frustration ending up in tears losing a couple of my precious wagglers (hope Steve Long don’t nick them)!

 

The upshot was I struggled for the rest of the match catching two small Perch down the edge plus a “worth the visit” 1lb Perch, The pole produced a few Ronnie’s and three small Skimmers.

 

I did get up and set up the feeder but didn’t have a bite on it and even then managed to loose a couple of feeder in the opposite bank – I’m loosing it!

 

My Silver weighed in at 3lb 3oz and my Carp 7lv 14oz for a total of 11lb 1oz and a miserable 6 points.

 

Team wise it wasn’t looking good:

 

Tom 2lb-7oz – 1 point

Me 11lb-1oz - 6 points

Jamie 3lb-60z - 4 points

Steve 115-15oz – 17 points

Bela 1lb-oz – 1 point

 

The match was won by Des Shipp (pictured right with the Silvers winner a photo of the top two anglers in the South West – been waiting for this one a while) from peg 85 with 191lb 1oz caught on meat on the lead, feeding nothing.

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Des Shipp 191-01-0 peg 85

2.      Dave Romain 175-10-0 peg 53

3.      Mark Poppleton 152-12-0 peg 116

4.      Rob Wyatt 146-02-0 peg 73

5.      Martin Preston 136-14-0 peg 4

6.      Mash 128–13-0 peg 78

 

Top Silvers:

 

1.      Tony Rixon 32-04-0 peg 38

2.      Alex Murray 25-07-0 peg 24

 

Below are today's Section sheets:

 

 

Thursday 07/02/2013 - Bathampton AA/Veals Silvers Championship - Round Two - Bridge Pool

I had a walk down to the Lake before the draw and was astonished to see that the colour was very similar to that of two years ago when there were issues. Hence, my expectations for a big weight were lowered.

 

Before the draw we had the draw for the pairs and as it happened this was the most exiting part of the match for most. This year it was my time with Chris Rolfe – so happy with this. However, not a good start as we were in the same section, so down one point before we wetted a line.

 

For some unknown reason I stood close to the organiser and ended up with the draw recording sheet. However, I wasn’t going to be delayed to last in the draw so dug in early into the tight draw bag. And out comes peg 16 - very happy with this one, but inherited another job of scales man along with John Smith who was on peg 15. On peg 17 I found the Bath expat Rich Coles so I had great company.

 

I set up 1x 4x16 jolly with a 20 hook (my last hook – Mr Rixon) to be fished at 10 metres at 1 o clock with maggot over GB. 1x 4x16 jolly with a 16 hook to be fished at 9 metres at 12 o clock with soft pellet. Finally, my usual Ronnie rig for the caster. To cut this  one short, I didn’t have a bite on the caster.

 

Taking the learning from the previous match on this lake the plan was to start on the pellet over micro then after I had emptied if over the first of the match switch to the GB and maggot to keep some fish coming. Well, other than the start the best laid pans don’t always work out!

 

The first 90 minutes went to plan, subsequently, due to the lack of bites and well ahead of plan I was feeding the GB line. This produced a massive 1oz. Back on the pellet and a few more Skimmers, before both swims died. I spent the next two hours catching bugger all.

 

Because of the water colour my thinking was that the fish didn’t want to feed in the deeper water over silt for any length of time. So I fed some GB laced with Pinkie into the margin and fish double Pinkie over it and over the last hour added another 1lb of small Ronnie’s.

 

 As I anticipated the fishing wasn’t brilliant with my 12lb putting me second overall and a section win and just 3 oz behind the winner. The saving grace of the match was everyone weighed in, thanks to the small 1-2oz Ronnie’s, otherwise there would have been a few blanks.

The match was won by Dave Wride (pictured right with the accidental Carp pool winner) from peg 26 (another peg with an empty peg each side). With 12lb 6oz. Dave caught over both his micro line and his F1 GB line using maggot, Pinkies or soft pellet.

 

The accidental pool was won by Paul Staite with a 12lb Common Carp from peg 29. 

It has now become routine to go for a Pinkie Ponk in the Compton Dando Arms after the match. The picture right is the honoury members of the Pinkie Ponk club.

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Dave Wride 12-03-0 peg 26

2.      Mike Nicholls 12-0-0 peg 16

3.      Paul Barnfield 11-15-0 peg 28

4.      Terry Bruton 10-02-0 peg 9 (3lb 12oz Tench)

5.      John Smith 9-04-0 peg 15

6.      John Bradford 8-02-0 peg 33

 

Accidental Carp:

 

1.      Paul Staite 12-0-0 peg 29

2.      Bob “Medium Sliced” Price 9-10-0 peg 30 (Not so accidental)

3.      Terry Bruton 8-08-0 peg 9

 

The weigh sheets are shown below:

 

 

Sunday 03/02/2013 - Viaduct Teams of Five Winter League - All Lakes - Round One

Today was the start of the Viaduct Winter League - Teams of Five. However, Silverfox TM had to make some last minute adjustments because Phil “Fabio” Harding broke his arm skating down his outside stairs. Captain Tom Mangnall drafted in a good experienced replacement - Jamie Parkhouse.

 

The league is a sell out with 19 teams of five fishing – 95 anglers.

 

The weather was promised to be 10 degrees with little to no rain and less wind than we have had recently and that’s what we got – is the winter coming to a close – hope so.

 

Before the draw it was nice to see some of the old faces especially Rob Jones who has been out of angling for a while because he broke his leg falling off a ladder. He is fishing with a team from deepest Wales. With one of his team mated driving up from Pembrokeshire (also know as little England) to be precise Milford Haven he left at 03-30 – fair play I say – I hope he caught a few so that the drive home wasn’t too despondent – I know Rob Jones would catch wherever he drew.

 

Tom Mangnall came back with our draw. Well Lord Sugar would have fired him for drawing this crap:

 

Steve Skelton peg 111

Jamie Parkhouse peg 77

Tom Mangnall peg 5

Bela peg 38

Me peg 105

 

The upshot of this was Tom, Bela and I weren’t really drawn on the Lake we were competing against.

 

That’s enough of the team stuff. For me it meant I wouldn’t get to fish my favourite Lake - Lodge and I would have two matches on Carey – not a good start for the overall individual league placing perspective.

 

There were five of us in the overspill from Lodge Lake. I was hoping the Ronnie’s would feed as I didn’t fancy my chances of catching Carp. So I set up the waggler which before the all in looked a good option, however, because of the nasty skimming wind that started to hit my peg close in it didn’t get fished. I decide on a 4x12 Perch rig for the RH margin near a bit of cover from some bank side weed. However, having tried it a few times this line was abandoned. Next I set up a paste rig to be fished down near to the platform leg of empty peg 106. I did have a float tremble but that was all from this rig. So it was down to the 4x14 jolly to do the business at 9 meters.

 

I started by feed a very small ball of my Ronnie GB laced with some Pinkie and luckily enough I had a bite first put on a nearly dead red and netting my first 2oz Ronnie. This set the scene for the rest of the match, catching Ronnie’s between 2 and 3oz regularly throughout the five hours. I did lose a couple of bonus Silvers which I believe was Perch, but made amends with a 2lb Tench and a 1lb Skimmers. Come the final whistle I weighed 11lb 6oz of Silvers (1lb 6oz more than our captain’s target). This left me with 13 points out of 19. I certainly would have settled for this before the start.

 

The match was won by that nice man Nicky Ewers (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 119lb 15oz from peg 123. Nicky caught all his Carp on the straight lead fished around his peg including the end margin using either corn or meat hook bait. Nicky fed nothing.

 

The Silvers was won by the Dude from peg 42 with 23lb 7oz, comprising of mainly Skimmers to 3lb. The Dude caught on the pole up to the aerator fishing worm over CW&C.

 

Bela had to get home early because of his angle bracelet so I didn’t get the team result. However, the section sheets are shown below to work it out your selves.

 

Full Result:

 

1.      Nick Ewers 119-15-0 peg 123

2.      Dave Romain 97-01-0 peg 86

3.      Dave White 96-11-0 peg 119

4.      Dave Stacey 79-06-0 peg 102

5.      Keith (Mash) Mashadar 75-12-0

6.      Barry Fitchew 65-11-0  peg 99

 

Top Silvers:

 

1.      Dan “The Dude” Squires 23-07-0 peg 42

2.      Mark Williams14-12-0 peg 25

3.      John Buickingham14-04-0 peg 26