Sunday 30 June 2013

Sunday 30/06/2013 - Viaduct Top Six Open - Campbell Lake

I had planned to have another visit to Summerhay’s today but when I heard that the draw was 11am, in another words an afternoon match  - much too late for me, so I switched to the Viaduct top six match on Campbell – which was a sell out and more with 24 pegs in!
 
After breakfast in Woody’s (Bela loves his sausages – he is a expert in this type of grub) it was in to the coffee tin and out comes peg 117. I was about to become one of the elite anglers that has fished this peg as it isn’t normally NOT pegged – a overflow peg! That said when arriving at the peg I was wondering why its not pegged, as there were plenty of signs of fish – I wasn’t left wondering for too long!
 
Bela drew peg 111.
 
I set up two paste rigs – one for both margins and a one for long out in front at not quite 6 metres. I started with paste in the kinder accompanied with a few hard 4’s. After two liners I was playing a 10lb Common which infiltrated every swim I planned to fish before it gave up. Next put in I had a Tench followed by a 2lb Perch – Umm! And that was it on this line for the next 5 hours and 30 minutes – other than Ronnie’s pestering my paste. In to the left hand margin and I had two more Tench as I did from the RH margin – no Carp. Swapping between the two margins I had a total of six Tench. I wasn’t sure whether the paste wasn’t doing the business or I had chased the fish out of “Ronnie bay”, so I set up a meat rig and soon discovered that it was the latter as all I got was Ronnie’s bites. So back on the paste in the RH margin and I hook a near 3lb Perch, however, as I was playing it my number four fell in the lake and as it was float I decided to play and land the Perch before recovery – mistake.
 
After landing the PB Perch I couldn’t see my number 4. I thought about asking Bela to go in for it but remembered that we had already had the "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" moment last year, which went something like this:
Bela: "Lost my number six in the lake".
Me: "Why didn't you go in for it".
Bela: "No".
Me: "It's not very deep"
Bela: "NO"
Me: "The waters not cold"
Bela: "NO"
Me: "Number six is expensive"
Bela: "NOoo, I CAN'T SWIM".
Me: "Pussy".
So as I wasn’t really catching I decided to go in the Lake after it. After stripping down to the knickers and temporarily joining the flip-flop brigade (Martin McMahon kindly loaned me his as the peg was surrounded by brambles). Peg 117 is very high off the water something I didn’t take into account before going in. In I went tearing my arm on the brambles, but found the water temperature like bath water, after retrieving the section after this was when I discovered I couldn’t get out, but once again Martin came to my rescue and pulled me out – thanks matey. The rumours as to why I had gone in the Lake was that  I had lost a plummet - twats! Once I had carefully explained to the Special One why my Knickers were wet she insisted I had  bath before getting in to bed with her.
 
I did have three more Carp before the end by persevering with the paste. My four carp weighed 22lb 13oz and my Silvers 18lb 11oz for a total of 41lb 8oz for not last!
 
The match and the Silvers was won Craig “Trigger” Edmonds (pictured right sporting his new hair loss style with his net of Tench) with 36lb of Tench and a total of 152lb 1oz from peg 120. Craig caught all his fish on 8mm meat loose feeding about 2 ½ tins throughout. The Tench were caught in his LH margin and the Carp out in front at 6 metres. Craig kept the fish coming by switching between the two swim.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Craig Edmonds 152-01-0 peg 120
2.      Lee Werret 150-13-0 peg 135
3.      Paul Elms 131-05-0 peg 113
4.      Kevin Moulton 122-08-0 peg 128
5.      Paul Greenwood 116-09-0 peg 115
6.      Joe McMahon 102-15-0 peg 118

 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Craig Edmonds 36-0-0 peg 120
2.      John Bradford 31-09-0 peg 121
3.      Tony Rixon 3002-0 peg 123
 
Weigh Sheet Follows:

 

Saturday 29 June 2013

Saturday 29/06/2013 - Hillview Open - Moorhen and Heron Lakes

Son Steve wanted another trip to Hillview which is just north of Tewkesbury and is a very popular fishery at the moment for the Brummies and Welsh. It’s the commercial fishery I first fished and with it only an easy 50 minute drive up the M5 I amazed more of the Bristol lads don’t pay a visit – lots to learn from the regulars.
 
You always get a warm welcome form the lads and Keith Hill the owner – but he is taking your money. After a breakfast and a chat with Two Metres Groves and Top Kit King it was in to the woolly hat, its OK I washed my hands after as Keith has been using his hat for at least twenty years! And out comes Top Kits favourite peg 22 on Heron (a view from the peg pictured above). Terry came round and explained where he did and where he didn’t catch. As it happened he was spot on.
 
Steve drew peg 8 on Moorhen causeway.
 
I initially set up two rigs a 4x12 Jolly to fish soft pellet or meat at 4 metres at one o clock and a 0.2 paste rig to fish the margins. The LH margin looked the business but Terry said he didn’t catch there, but I kept an open mind, but as I said he was spot on as I didn’t have a Carp from it.
 
On the whistle I fed a pot of casters down the dead LH margin and started to loose fed hard 4’s down the Left, Terry’s banker and mine!  However, I started on the soft pellet at 4 metres kindering hard 4’s. The upshot was that I was being tortured by Silvers. Wherever and whatever I tried I was being ragged. So bugger it I set up the Ronnie rig for caster over caster (I don’t know why as there are no Silvers pool here). I had Ronnie’s, Rudd, Skimmers and loads of Perch every put in. After an hour on them it went a bit iffy an indication that the Carp may have arrived, so it was into the RH margin and I did have a run of Carp, the Black original ones which no doubt I caught all those years ago it’s nice to see they are still here albeit the mouths are much smaller! With two hours to go I did have a run of bigger Carp and was expecting to do a good weight – doesn’t this always happen as it went quiet for the next half hour only adding another three Carp – this was a bit disappointing.
 
My Silvers weighed 26lb 6oz (an ideal venue to have a Silvers pool) and my 10 Carp weighed 56lb for a total of 82lb 6oz for 9th overall.
 
The match was one by Andy Newton (pictured right with some of his bucketed fish) from peg 39. I must say I was impressed with his fishing. Andy caught in both his margins and at 4 metre fishing soft pellet over loose fed micro (I nearly got it right). Andy did have a Carp that must have been close or over 20lb down his RH margin.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Andy Newton 120-10-0 peg 39
2.      Steve Ford 113-0-0 peg 19
3.      Billy 111-08-0 peg 31
4.      Corky 104-11-0 peg 33
5.      CC 104-04-0 peg 3
6.      Lee 102-06-0 peg 35
 
Weigh Sheet:
 
 

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Wednesday 26/06/2013 - Amalgamated Summer Wednesday League - Round One - Tockenham

I decided this year to fish the Amalgamation Fisheries Summer Open Wednesday League. With three matches on Tockenham Reservoir , three on Sabre Lake and two on Pawlett Ponds with the first today on Tockenham. The league is run by Andy Smith and is a sell out although there was a few missing today who are fishing a festival down at Whiteacres.
 
In to the draw bag and out comes permanent peg 28. Which meant nothing to me, only that it wasn’t on the dam wall where I was told you needed to be. Andy Smith said it was OK, but someone whispered in my ear that Andy says that about all the pegs! Arriving at the peg I found I was in a bit of a corner of a big bay. With loads of sedges to my right which I was sure would contain a few Carp although I thought I would be suicidal to fish there. I didn’t fancy it much for Silvers as I was well away from the main body of the Lake. Then to compound my bad luck Steve “The Scud” Jefferies arrives on peg 27. So it was to be a ear battering to my left and a rig bashing to my right. I got both!!
 
I set up:
 
The waggler to fish at depth with caster on the drop over caster.
The 4x16 Jolly (in 7 foot at 10 metres) with soft pellet or caster
The GB feeder to chuck anywhere.
A paste rig to fish over the soft pellet line.
A paste right for the dreaded RH margin.
 
The upshot was that the Wag, Feeder and long paste rig caught nought. The only way I could catch Silvers was with 3mm expander over loose fed hard 4’s, but couldn’t hold them there for long as the water was extremely clear (I could see down 3 feet). I did have a 1 ½ lb Roach.
 
With 13lb 6oz of Silvers in the net I was going nowhere in terms of framing. Then with 1 ½ hours to go I seen the Sedges move in the margin so a nervously placed ball of paste went in and the float buried. However, I wasn't prepared for this and took me a adrenalin fill two minutes to get more pole on, luckily it swam out of the Sedges and a 9lb beautifully scaled Common was in the net. My luck wasn’t to hold out because I lost the next two, with one Carp bottoming out my 22 elastic taking the entire rig. However, I did land the next two 9 pounders both Commons and just before the whistle I pulled out of another even though I had managed to persuade it to swim out on the Sedges – bugger. So the score was three all.
 
My three Carp weighed 26lb 12oz taking the total to 40lb 2oz for fifth overall. I was happy with this result from the peg, but those lost Carp cost me a win.
 
Scud (pictured right - he was so exhausted from his unceasing chatter that he fell a sleep holding his 14lb Common) did more damage to me than the Carp; driving home I had a throbbing headache.
 
The match and the Silvers was won by Malcolm Ockwell with 58lb 6oz from Dam wall peg 40. Malcolm caught all Skimmers on the pole using caster over caster in GB.

Finally we all got home late because some low life pinched the scales from the dam wall section. The moral is don't leave scales on a peg that is not drawn.

Good news for Mr Osborne on peg 25, I retrieved your Diawa top set with a part of a number four. I will bring it to the next match - forsaking my salvage rights!
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Malcolm Ockwell 58-06-0 peg 40
2.      B Black 43-08-0 peg 19
3.      Mike Jones 43-04-0 peg 44
4.      Gary Davis 42-12-0 peg 20
5.      Mike Nicholls 40—02-0 peg 28
6.      Dave Bacon 35-04-0 peg 33
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Malcolm Ockwell 58-06-0 peg 40
2.      Mike Jones 43-04-0 peg 44
3.      Gary Davis 42-12-0 peg 20
 
Weigh Sheets Follow:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday 23 June 2013

Sunday 23/06/2013 - Avon Angling Open - Landsend - Match and Sidney's Lakes

After a wonderful week fishing at Viaduct it was down to earth at Landsend. That said I was looking forward to it as it was another short pole match. This time it was the top 6. Back with travelling with Bela – yep can still eat a large breakfast quicker than I can eat beans on toast.
 
In to the draw box and out comes peg 61 on Sidney’s Lake (Third Lake). A change for me as during the winter I am usually on either 50 or 51 – it must be going to fish on these pegs today then
 
This Lake is venerable to the wind and as it was horrendous to say the least, it was back (or forward) to October.  Arriving at the peg I was disappointed to find that the peg was being badly effect by the gusting wind – bugger. The opposite pegs were relatively clam in comparison. Opposite me once again on this lake was Rip Off Rixon and the first thing he did was take out the front peg plank (pictured right note the Monk cut) and he didn’t put it back. The water level was down about 12 inches which meant we would have less than three foot! I did have some tree cover down to my left but I felt I was the wrong side of it today – needed to be down wind. Still I was optimistic and having set up two paste rigs and the Ronnie rig I was eager to get started.
 
I started on the paste at 6 metres and missed a bite first put in over a few micros. Next put in again with paste and a few micros I was soon netting an 8lb Ghost Carp. Having broken my landing net last week I had bought a new one, but as it was the first time I used it I found it wasn’t as deep as the old one plus a lot heavier. Anyway, as I was putting the fish in the keep net it jumped out of the net landing on to the edge of the keep net it was 50/50 as to where it ended up; as luck would have it was back in to the Lake! There were a few swear words around. I then had a torrid time trying to present paste in the ever increasing wind. I decided to try what I thought was my banker swim down to the tree with paste, only to find the water towing towards me. Through out the match even though I tried it from time to time I didn’t have a bite in the banker.
 
I decided to stop sulking about the lost fish and decided to go back in to autumn mode to suit the weather and set up a 4x14 Jolly to fish with the meat in the least wind effected part o the swim by fishing at 10 o clock and holding back the float. It was like starting a new catching a few F1’s, Crucian’s and one decent Skimmer. Perhaps the Lake Silvers might be a safer bet then. Of course as soon as you think this the Carp arrive. The upshot was that I caught 12 Carp up to 8lb really steady until the end, with the odd Silver taking part.
 
My Silvers weighed in at 10lb 10oz and my 12 Carp 46lb 11oz for a total of 57lb 5oz for Lake 2nd Silvers and a 5th overall and a section pick up by default.
 
The match was won by Rip Off (pictured right with his catch) from peg 50 with 97lb 13oz. As usual Tony got it right from the off catching on meat… see his blog for the gory details.
 
The Silvers was won by Flip-Flopper Matt Tomes (pictured lower right with the match winner) with a decent weight of 32lb 8oz from peg 19. Matt initially caught on the soft pellet and later switching to caster over caster. Matt fed a little less than 1 pint.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Tony Rixon 97-13-0 peg 50
2.      Shaun Townsend 72-10-0 peg 65
3.      Steve Wynne 63-1-0 peg 20
4.      Tom Thick 60-10-0 peg 10
5.      Mike Nicholls 57-05-0 peg 61
6.      Bela Bakos 56-05-0 peg 21
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Matt Tomes 32-08-0 peg 19
2.      Tom Thick 24-12-0 peg 10
3.      John Bradford 20-08-0 peg 1
 
Weigh Sheets Follow:
 
 

Saturday 22 June 2013

Friday 21/06/2013 - Viaduct - Charlie Barns Cost Cutter - Match Lake

This was supposed to be organised by Charlie Barns unfortunately Charlie was poorly so it was left to me! Anyway there was only five of us plus a part timer Tim Ford who had to leave lunch time.
 
I like Match Lake as it has much smaller Carp and loads of F1’s and big Skimmers. It was pegged so that everyone had a island chuck I pulled 52 and was happy with this as I just couldn’t face another day of being Carp battered. So a definite day for the Simmers I was thinking. So I set up the one rig a 4x12 Jolly as it is only three foot deep to serve two swims (just) one for the messy business CW&C and the other soft pellet over micro. I fed both swims and started on the soft pellet and was soon being Ronnied out. So switch to a big piece of worm on the other line and soon had a decent Skimmer and a small Tench only to be Ronnied again. After re-feeding both lines I found the F1’s took a liking to the worm line adding a few more Skimmers as well. So back on the pellet where the Ronnie’s were waiting for a falling bait.
 
Bugger it I set up a paste rig and went over the pellet line and had a run of big Skimmers and Tench with a smattering of F1’s. Because the Lake it so shallow it can be difficult to hold the big Silvers in the same swim which I finally suffered with two hours to go so had an easy remainder on the day fishing the top set in the margin catching the odd Tench, small Carp and plenty big f1’s.
 
My Silvers went 30lb 14oz taking my total to 65lb – F1’s do not count as Silvers at Viaduct because they got plenty of Silvers not to do this. So I came first in the Silvers and third overall.
 
We were all mugged by the local Dude (pictured right with a nice net of f1’s and below with the Silvers winner) who weighed 83lb 9oz of mainly F’s. The Dude caught initially on the waggler and later in his LH margin, both with hard 8mm pellet.
 
Mark tanner had some bad luck (again) as I am sure he would have won the match if he could have fished the whole match on the waggler, but unfortunately the Willow shucks fill his swim binding his running line in the rid rings – his swim looked like ice with snow on the top!
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Dan “The Dude” Squires 83-09-0 peg 44
2.      Glenn Bailey 70-05-0 peg 40
3.      Mike Nicholls 65-0-0 peg 52
4.      Mark Tanner 59-13-0 peg 50
5.      Martyn Woodington 59-13-0 peg 42
 
Top Silver:
 
1.      Mike Nicholls 30-14-0 peg 52
 
Well that’s it for our annual fishing holiday, which we all thoroughly enjoyed so much we have booked again for next year. It wasn’t all about the fishing as we did have some great food in the local area. I especially enjoyed the small Indian Restaurant and the Carvery. We were amazed how much Glenn “Baby Bela” Bailey was eating as can be seen from just two of his meals pictured below. Apparently he doesn’t  get cooked for at home, certainly made up for last week.
 
I must say that when Viaduct management Steve and Paul do work and maintenance they do it right. A great fishery which has lakes that suit all types of angling. We have already booked for next year.
 

Thursday 20/06/2013 - Bait-Tech Viaduct Cost Cutter - Campbell and Carey Lakes

A perfect day for fishing overcast and warm and no rain forecast. In to the draw container and out comes peg 114. Close enough to the form Silvers pegs 115 and 116 as I really wasn’t that keen to have another Carp battering. Glenn had a little moan that he drew peg 78 on Carey. Tim and Mark had switched swims and Martyn was on 114 Glenn’s peg from yesterday.
 
Arriving at peg 77 behind me on Carey was Howard Webb (pictured right with his paste mixes and meat balls – big aren’t they). With paste being in vogue it reminded me when I first met Howard which was in 2001 fishing Campbell for the first time it was open. Howard was next to me I fished the waggler with maggot and Howard fished the pole cupping in GB, but he had a large ball of something on his hook and catching big Skimmers. I asked him what it was and he said balls of GB. The first time I had seen paste used. Howard has been using GB hook baits for at least 20 years. I wouldn’t hesitate to award Howard with the invention of this deadly bait. I also understand that he was the first to use a method feeder. So when you read the various angling journals where “top” anglers are explaining the use of these methods next time get it from the horse’s mouth and have a chat to Howard– but be aware he still won’t tell what’s in his paste/GB mixes.
 
I just set up two rigs both for paste and hopefully both for Silvers. One was for the RH margin to be fished over caster and micro and another at 7 metres to be fished over micro – simple. Looking in the LH margin towards peg 113 there were sighs of plenty of Carp another snag alley.
 
I started well catch Skimmers and Tench on my two Silvers lines. In the first 45 minutes I had nearly 30lb. I got up for a pee and Glenn said he already had 70lb of Carp with seven fish and could he borrow a net from me if needed – mistake to anticipate this, always best to wait to you fill the ones you have before you go down this road. Glenn only added another 4 Carp to his total after this! But they were big as pictured right with one of his 18lb Carp.
 
Back to my swim to catch another 30lb of Silvers only to find the Carp had arrived. I only had one more Skimmer and Tench in between being battered by carp again. I couldn’t help myself going down in to snag alley losing plenty of rigs, elastic, breaking a top set and landing net frame.
 
My silvers weighed 29lb 11oz and my Carp 101lb 9oz for a match third with 131lb 4oz and a pick up of £15 which would only cover 20% of the damage done!
 
The match was won by Scott Russell (pictured right with one of his smallest Carp) with 190lb from peg 121. Russell caught in short on a margin pole in both margins using meat and paste.
 
The Silvers was won by Fishery Manager Paul Greenwood (pictured lower right with the match winner under the fisheries new banner – Bait-Tech Viaduct Fishery) with 49lb 11oz.Paul caught on hard 6mm pellet fished short over loose fed 6’s.
 
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Scott Russell 190-0-0 peg 121
2.      Tim Ford 153-15-0 peg 123
3.      Mike Nicholls 131-04-0 peg 114
4.      Glenn Bailey 126-07-0 peg 78
5.      Shep 117-06-0 peg 116
6.      Martin Lenaghan 114-14-0 peg 85
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Paul Greenwood 49-11-0 peg 131
2.      Colin Dyer 44-03-0 peg 125
3.      John Bradford 30-0-0 peg 128
 
Weigh Sheets Follow:
 

Wednesday 19/06/2013 - Tony Rixon and Mike Nicholls Top Five - Viaduct - Campbell lake

Tim Ford joined the four of us today in our lodge (pictured right on our balcony) for three days of fishing (plus eating and drinking). Tim is always great company and chirpy I can’t remember ever seeing him any other way. The morning was glorious, a proper English June day was promised and received with gratitude. Apparently it is predicted to be the best day of 2013 – hope not.
 
Went to the Viaduct café to find it closed so we ended up in the café in the square in Somerton Village. The weather allowed us to Al Fresco and a great breakfast we had too.
 
This is the second year now that Tony and I have organised a top five match (Tony did do all the work). With twenty of us on Campbell I was expecting it to fish really well and none of us were disappointed. I think there is a lesson to be learnt by a lot of anglers with very few fish being foul hooked.
 
In to the draw carton and out comes peg 129. I was hoping to be around the 116/115 (as were the majority of Silvers anglers). That said I wasn’t disappointed as I would have been if I had drawn pegs 129 to 131.
 
Mark drew peg 123 (peg I have yet still to draw). Tim peg 119, Martyn 116, Glenn 112. So some good pegs for the Lodgers.
 
The plan was to start on meat with the 4x14 Jolly for the Silvers and later on to the paste in the margins over caster for the Tench. As with all best laid plans the never work out as you would like, especially if nature is involved. So with the Jolly and two paste rigs set up. I was soon ready.
 
I started by feeding five pieces of 8mm meat (I was thinking it was a bit too big – I would have felt more comfortable with 6mm). I was expecting a bite first or second put in, but it didn’t happen. The Silvers weren’t going to play – bugger. I then fed the LH margin heavily with caster and some micro and went out to 5 metres with paste kindered with a few hard 4’s. I was soon landing my first Carp. After four or so carp it went quite so I started a RH margin swim towards the spit, were there was obviously a lot of Carp albeit on the smaller side. It looked as if the fish were looking for another spawn. By switching between the two swims I kept Carp coming on the paste. However, the RH margin was very snaggy especially under the deadly brambles. I lost a good few fish down there as well as a couple of rigs. I kept trying the safer LH margin for the Silvers but only added two Tench and two Skimmers. I did have an 8lb Common in the landing net and because of the weakness I have in my hands due to the arthritis I let the landing net slip round and the fish fell back, which was crucial on the day and cost me second place. Looking at the results in general at the fishery it’s becoming more important to make sure you land every fish especially for the sake of playing them for another couple of minutes, it sometimes can become arm to arm combat in the landing net some of these commons are stronger than my hands.
 
 I had quite a few Carp but as I said luckily they were on the small side. My few Silvers weighed 8lb 10oz and my Carp (about 30) weighed 150lb for a match third 158lb 10oz.
 
The match was won by matey Glenn Bailey from peg 112 (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 174lb 5oz. Glenn caught on paste at 5 metres at 12 o clock and around in a 5 metre arc into the RH margin.
 
The Silvers was won by Dan White from peg 121 with a mainly Tench catch for 36lb 7oz. Dan caught in both his margins using meat over meat.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Glenn Bailey 174-05-0 peg 112
2.      Tony Rixon 167-02-0 peg 135
3.      Mike Nicholls 158-10-0 peg 128
4.      Dean Malin 154-13-0 peg 114
5.      Alex Murray 150-02-0 peg 110
6.      Nick Ewers 148-15-0 peg 115
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Dan White 36-07-0 peg 121
2.      Martin Woodington 29-07-0 peg 116
3.      Scott Puddy 26-05-0 peg 125
 
Weigh Sheets Follow (14 ton weights out of 20 – Impressive):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Tuesday 18/06/2013 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

Monday was our day off from match fishing so the lads went on to Carey Lake thrashing about with wagglers and straight lead. They did more or less have eight creatures each with a typical one pictured left holding Glenn Bailey!
 
As for me I don’t do pleasure fishing so I cleaned the tackle and prepared for the next match. I then had a leisurely walk around the fishery visiting the Viaduct shop where I met Glyn Reynolds the Frenzee sales representative (pictured right with their new dual Pole sock, also known as the “Madonna with the big Boobies”)! I must say it looks like Frenzee have some interesting new products I was impressed with their toss pots and rod range – worth a look.
 
The boys came back to tie some rigs with Martyn and Glynn pictured right – look away now those that think tackle box tidiness is a sign of a sick mind!
 
So today it was off to the Acorn Fishery for their Tuesday Cost Cutter on Paddocks. In to the Ping Pong Bag and out comes ball three and six - 36. A peg I have yet to fish so happy with it – you can’t be anything else until then. Arriving at the peg it was cheering to see that the wind had been blowing in to it – with some surface scum evident. Colin Dyer added to me glee by saying that there were some of the bigger venue fish in the swim. There were a few Carp showing down to the aerator pallet.
 
Just the two rigs – a LH margin paste and a Ronnie rig. I decided as usual to start with this rig with caster hoping for a few quick Silvers – Ronnie’s and Skimmers. But after 20 minutes not a bite – Umm. Packed that away and went with the paste rig feeding hard 4’s. I was soon in to my first fish a 3lb 4oz Tench! That was the sum total of Silvers – well Greens. The upshot was I caught as predicted by Colin the better size fish steady throughout the match by lightly feeding hard 4’s, feeding about ¼ pint throughout the match. I had 12 fish in one net and about 19 smaller ones in another with 5 minutes to go I caught another and thought that I should start a new net but because of the time decided against it. I ended up going 1lb 14 oz over on this net.  I Weighed 135lb 2oz which had the forfeit deducted. This was good enough for first on the day beating the boy AGAIN – pictured right with his runners up catch. Like Mark on Sunday Glynn also broke his Maver pole section 6 which went out in a whimper in comparison to Marks Sensas.
 
The Silvers was won by Dave Wride (pictured lower right with the match winner who stole his Acorn crown today – AGAIN) with 16lb 4oz from peg 27. Dave caught his Silvers on Meat and later maggot over maggot.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Mike Nicholls 135-02-0 peg 36
2.      Glenn Bailey 123-12-0 peg 6
3.      Dave Wride 87-08-0 peg 27
4.      Martin Fisher 75-12-0 peg 8
5.      Kevin Jefferies 65-10-0 peg 21
6.      Gabriel Skarba 58-07-0 peg 18
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Dave Wride 16-04-0 peg 27
2.      Kevin Jefferies 13-10-0 peg 21
 
Weigh Sheets follow:
 
 

Monday 17 June 2013

Sunday 16/06/2013 - Summerhay's open - Longs pond

As all the Viaduct Lakes were booked out to club matches there wasn’t an open match, So as I was impressed with the first match I fished at Summerhay’s (Junction 24 - M5) we booked in for their open to be fished on Long’s Pond which is a canal donut type Pond (not quite a snake). My first time on this Pond and I was looking forward to it as I had heard a lot of good comments about it – “20 - 30lb Skimmers on every peg with plenty of small Carp”. With soft pellet over micro the regular approach for the Silvers at 7 metres which would suit me. That said I also think it would suit the Pellet thrashers and rat hole anglers like Tony Rixon with a good few of the swims needing 16 metres to do this – a bit Landsendish. The only draw back of the fishery it is right next to the M5 and it can be a bit noisy, however I do have the ability to switch back ground noise off (except Tom Thick) when I am fishing.
 
It was nice to see Steve Jackson giving up his Sundays fishing to coach the local juniors, a good turn out too which was nice to see. Well done Steve credit where credit is due. We need more of the commercial fisheries to start junior clubs – it’s in their interest.
 
After collecting the fisheries keep nets it was into the draw fanny which does make the draw a bit longer than usual as the hands seem to be in there for an unhealthy long time. Out comes peg 12. Glenn drew peg 29, Mark15 and Martyn 36.
 
Arriving at the peg I found myself next to Glenn Wickham who was on peg 11. However, the pegs are on a corner so we were facing at 90 degrees so wouldn’t effect one another as some of the pegs are 5 metres apart. Glenn said that my peg was good at 16 metres over to the far side. I explained that might be difficult as I only carry 13 metres! I was thinking a peg for Tony. Glenn also said that there was a lot of small fish in the Pond which needed plenty of caster to get the bigger size Silvers catchable. This got me thinking that I might initially target these small fish as I wasn’t sure it was going to fish that well because of the crappy weather we have been having.
 
So I set up the Ronnie rig, a soft pellet rig using a Senses Stainey 4x14 as the depth is only 4 ½ foot, finally a margin paste rig to fish down to the pallet 5 metres away. On the whistle I fed a few dampened micro at 7 metres, starting on the Ronnie rig with caster over caster I had a few small Ronnie’s, tiny Skimmers and a small Tench before the swim went finicky, thinking that the Carp had move in I tried the paste rig only to have the small fish nose it about. Looking around I was right it wasn’t fishing that well. So time for the soft and found similarly I was getting finicky indications. I did have one decent Skimmer and a few tiny Ronnie’s and Skimmers before the swim started to fizz. The way the float was behaving I was worried that the fizz was due to the arrival of a batch of tiny Skimmers which tend to mess around with the soft pellet. I had now been fishing for 3 hours and had very little in the Silvers net and one tiny carp in the other. After trying the paste in the margin a few times I abandoned this as the water did look a bit clear for the fish to feed close in. I decide to spend the rest of the match on the paste over the micro at 7 metres so set up the same rig as yesterday. I just couldn’t believe what happened next. For the next hour it was a Carp a bung with a smattering of Skimmers and Tench. I was suddenly in a fish race and I was just about to change to heavier elastic to speed up the process when the swim started to fade. For the last two hours I caught steady but no where as frantic as the fourth hour when I reckon I caught 75% of my fish.
 
I didn’t count my Carp but I had around 20 at a guess. These weighed in at 51lb 12oz and my Silvers 18lb for a total of 69lb 12oz for an overall win and Silvers second by just 3oz; otherwise it would have been a double first.
 
The Silvers was won by Nigel Wickham (pictured right with the match winner – you do feel surrounded by the Wickham’s on this venue with Dad Roy on peg 9) with 18lb 3oz of mainly Crucian’s from peg 17. Nigel caught down the track on chopped worm over worm.
 
Mark Tanner (pictured right with 4 sections of pole that should be two sections) was next peg to me and had caught his rig in the margin undergrowth and was pulling his full 18 stone to dislodge it, but gave up and walked round and after untangling his rig did the exact same thing this time his Senses pole gave up and when it did everyone on the venue thought there was a crash on the M5 with the 13 metre pole shattering in to three – a new 5 and 7 section on the way from Tony Rixon by the next morning – excellent service. I think mark could become a good customer for Tony.
 
I will be back soon to this fishery as it does appeal to me. One suggestion is for a better set of weigh scales a they are a bit on the small size.
 
Full Result:
 
1.      Mike Nicholls 69-12-0 peg 12
2.      Bill 65-05-0 peg 31
3.      Glenn Bailey 57-08-0 peg 36
4.      Mark Leahy 54-11-0 peg 39
5.      Bruce 44-14-0 peg 7
6.      Martin A 36-12-0 peg 24
 
Top Silvers:
 
1.      Nigel Wickham 18-03-0 peg 17
2.      Mike Nicholls 18-0-0 peg 12
 
Weigh Sheet Follows: