Sunday 29/06/2014 - Avon Angling Float Only - Shiplate Farm - Hawthorne, Specimen Lake and West Pool

Today was to be another typical June Summers day without rain. Arriving at Shipham café it was very busy full with few anglers going to two other matches and some very tired looking festival goers from Glastonbury Shipham café was very busy. Bela thoroughly enjoyed his BIG breakie.

On to the draw with virgin (venue) Dave Haines following. I was hoping for any peg except one on the Specimen Lake. What do I draw – Specimen Lake peg 14A. I did a poor impersonation of Chris Fox throwing my peg at Tony. I did have plenty of room on the peg with Eddy Wynne on end peg 15 and Bathampton’s finest Shaun Townsend on peg 13.

I have drawn round here before and found that I caught a few fish early only to struggle for the rest of the match so I had this in mind.

Whilst setting the tackle box near level I noticed some Carp in the LH margin which gave me a lot of false hope.

I had matey Bela in the Knock out who happened to be behind me on West Pool 14. I really fancied his chances from his peg. That said I think I would have fancied his chances more had we swapped pegs, the fishing on the Specimen Lake just doesn’t suit my style.

I set up two paste rigs one for the LH margin in 30 inches, the other for 9 metres (short enough not to ship over West Pool behind me Steve Tuckers peg) I don’t like breaking down whilst playing fish) and a 4x14 Jolly for any other bait and fish also at 9 metres.

On the all in I fed the two lines with a pot of hard 4’s. Over the next hour I had three Carp averaging 6lb. For the next 30 minutes I caught Skimmers. For the next 4 ½ hours I caught absolutely nothing. It was all a bit strange for me I found I was getting Carp blowing away from my feed where I would drop the paste over only for the blow to stop and to reappear elsewhere I would again drop the paste in expecting the float to shoot under only for the blow to move away. None of this blowing was over the bait. Your guess is as good as mine, but I think it was the odd fish feeding with not enough to compete for my bait as they were for the early minutes.

Having tried the margin a number of times without a bite and various baits including caster on the Ronnie rig I couldn’t add to my weight I was really glad to hear the all out.

My three Cap weighed 19lb 2oz and my few Silvers 5lb 14oz for a total 25lb – all caught in the first 90 minutes! However all was not lost as I picked up the section by double default as Eddy and Shaun (helped by a beautiful 13lb Grass Carp pictured right - caught shallow at 16 metres) framed.

As I expected Bela beat me in the knockout by a good margin with 43lb 10oz fishing a tidy match and also wining his section, well done matey, so the Van went home happy with us sharing the cost of the Pinky Ponk.

The match was won by Tom Mangnall (pictured right with some of his catch) who was opposite me on peg 1 weighing 101lb 9oz. Tom initially caught on the shallow waggler out to the end of the opposite island and later on catch at 6 metres over meat which was his most productive period.

The Silvers was won by Rich Lacey (pictured lower right with a very close match runner up) with 10lb 14oz of small fish.

The man of the match was Pete Notton (pictured bottom right with a blush on, definitely not sun burn) whom picked up his section by triple default with 4lb 10oz!!

 

Full Result:

1. Tom Mangnall 101-09-0 peg 1 (Speci)
2. Glenn Bailey 100-05-0 peg 2 (Speci)
3. Shaun Townsend 87-09-0 peg 13 (Speci)
4. Eddy Wynne 74-08-0 peg 15 (Speci)
5. Tim Ford 71-07-0 peg 6 (Hawthorne)
6. Gordon Cannings 63-10-0 peg 15 (Hawthorne)

Top Silvers:

1. Rich Lacey 10-14-0 peg 3 (Speci)
2. Dave Haines 8-04-0 peg 12 (Hawthorne)

Wednesday 25/06/2014 - Amalgamation Summer League - Round One - Sabre Lake

It was the start of the Amalgamation Summer League with the first match at Sabre Lake. Breakfast at home today, but did get a coffee in the van opposite the venue.

The league is sold out with 24 booked in but we had 4 short due to holidays etc…It was nice to see the legend Colin Golding (pictured right) putting in appearance, peg 1 for him.

The Amalgamation has stocked 1000 - 8 to10oz Skimmers hopefully they will show. I was looking forward to the match and didn’t mind where I drew as long as it wasn’t the Bay of Biscay where the Lake is becalmed.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 19 which was on the edge of Biscay and for company I had the other river legend Mike Jones on peg 20. Unfortunately for Mike he was further into the bay than me so I should scrap the Silvers battle that was coming.

After plumbing around I found the depth a bit disappointing only finding at 9 metres 4 feet. I set up two Ronnie rigs one on the 4 metre whip and the other on the top-set to hand. The third rig was a 4x14 Jolly – all Silver rigs. I then realised that I had only brought my Carp top sets so walked round and borrowed a top-set off Harry Muir with a no 6 in. I attached the Jolly rig to this.

I started by feeding small balls of GB laced with caster on the top-set line with caster hook bait and the first fish was a Gudgeon. Long time since I caught one of these. I caught a few small Rudd, Ronnie’s and bottle top Skimmers for a while, all of them except Gudgeon were caught in the last 12 inches on the drop.

I then opened a CW&C line at 9 metres at 10-0-clock and first try with worm resulted in a foul hooked Carp which I decided to let go on Harry’s no 6!

The upshot was that after trying allsorts I fished the last two hours with banded hard fours over micro missing lots of bites and bumping just as many 2-3oz Ronnie’s. Once the micro settled on the bottom I couldn’t get a bite so re-feeding was essential.

I would get what I thought was fish fizzing over the feed but I was fooled because if you watched it carefully a lump of black silt would pop up. Hence the reason I think I couldn’t catch on the bottom. The feed in conjunction with the hot weather was reacting with silt.

I weighed 9lb for second in the Silvers just piping Mike Jones. I am sure the roles would have been reversed if we had swapped pegs.

The match was won by Malcolm Ockwell (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 51lb 4oz from peg 3. Malcolm started fishing for Silvers but notice Carp in his LH margin where he had been feeding maggot and pellet. Malcolm caught on various baits.

The Silvers was won by Doug Sutton with 19lb 8oz from peg 14. Doug caught on his favoured method small feeder with GB and maggot with maggot or worm hook baits. It looked as if Doug was the only angler to land on the new stocked Skimmers.

Full Result:

1. Malcolm Ockwell 51-04-0 peg 3
2. Dave Bacon 45-12-0 peg 10
3. Gary Davis 37-14-0 peg 11
4. Doug Sutton 19-08-0 peg 14
5. Alan Scully 18-14-0 peg 24
6. Mark Bellringer 17-03-0 peg 23

Top Silvers:

1. Doug Sutton 19-08-0 peg 14
2. Mike Nicholls 9-0-0 peg 19
3. Malcolm Ockwell 8-08-0 peg 3
4. Mike Jones 8-02-0 peg 20

Sunday 22/06/2014 - Viaduct Summer League - Campbell, Carey and Lodge Lakes

I think ISIS is bemusing the west. It took the combined forces of NATO and the US to “Liberate” Libya with sophisticated weapons costing billions of dollars. It appears it has taken four students from Cardiff with bandanas and old AK47’s to take it back! Tony Blair has a lot to answer for.

After spending a week down the Viaduct Fishery I was feeling a bit jaded but was up for another visit when asked to reserve for Andy Ford who apparently has Chicken Pox. Glenn Bailey my travelling partner for today was guesting for Tom Mangnall. Travelling down there was plenty of activity preparing for Glastonbury Festival so an area to avoid next week. We had breakfast in Cannards Well.

The really hot weather is still with us a shady peg would not only be a good for the body but also probably good for the fishing.

I choose not to fish the league as there wasn’t a Silvers pool that said it was still a sell out with 55 anglers fishing. With the 120 peg Maver Match This match on the day before it’s hard to determine how it will fish and where you would need to draw. So with the mind blank except the wish for shade it was in to the coffee tin and out comes peg 86, end bank of Carey Lake. A quick look at yesterday’s results and plenty of DNW’s on the end bank with peg 87 weighing 80lb. No shade here all day in the blazing sun it was to be.

I was lucky as I found myself with great company with Steve Skelton on peg 85, Glynn Reynolds peg 87. Dave Roper peg 87 and Kev Moulton on peg 90. The complete end bank was full with proper anglers so there wouldn’t be any thrashing around at 16 metres hoping for a Carp to catch you.

For the first time for some while I didn’t have any casters in the bait bag and felt a bit unprepared so went a bought a pint in the shop passing Tony Rixon on the way who thought it would fish well today – time will tell.

I set up three rigs to paste one for 10 metre and one for the LH margin which I had cleared out and a Ronnie rig which didn’t get wetted. The bait tray consisted of 2 pints of 4’s, paste and a pint casters.

On the whistle I fed a pot of 4’s at 10 metres and started lose feeding casters in the margin. First put in I had a 10 lb Mirror Carp quickly followed by another two. I was winning the Lake after twenty minutes! I fed again and found that the Skimmers moved in catching three for 8lb 2oz. I notice a big swirl over the caster so re-fed the long lone and put the margin paste rig over the caster and within seconds the float went under at a rate of knots only for me to miss it, with the Carp waving goodbye with a large bow wave. I did have another swirl later in the match with a repeat performance - so nothing from the margin.

We then had a welcome visit from the Ice cream girl and had a rest from the fishing joining Steve Skelton to eat our choc ices.

Back out on the long line and the Skimmers had buggered off to Glynn’s peg where he was catching so good-uns. I had a quiet period but at least I wasn’t getting pestered by the Silvers which told me there were Carp around. I then had a twenty pounder which was a bit too big for the landing net breaking the net head lifting it out. Thankfully Glynn came to the rescue with a Freenze Landing net.

I started kindering the feed with the paste and although I got more fish in the swim I had brought them up in the water foul hooking a couple which are too large to land hooked like this and happily pulling out without rig damage. I returned to dump feeding and fishing it out catching big Carp until the end. The tenth and last fish was a large double Common Carp which again broke the landing net head lifting it out. It was the first time I’ve broke a keep net head and today I break two! I think this was down to the very hot weather softening the plastic that secured the screw fixing.

Glynn and I had a good old battle although he had two more Carp than me I thought my Carp were much bigger, but thought he would sneak it with his 40lb of Skimmers.

My ten Carp weighed 124lb 12oz plus my Skimmers taking my total to 132lb 14oz for 11^th overall!! I was amazed that I had beat Glynn by 14oz. I did pick up second in the section by default

Dave Roper on peg 88 had a personal best today a 23lb 14oz Carp (pictured above right)

The match was won by Mash (pictured right) with 250lb 4oz from peg 98. Mash caught all his fish on the straight lead with 11mm banded pellet. He fed 2 pints of 8’s throughout the match.

The series was won by Andy Neale (pictured lower right adding another Carp to his on the day second overall 220lb) caught on the straight lead from peg 81. Andy caught either over to empty peg 82 or out to the end of the spit. He fed two bags of 8 pellet.

Tony Rixon was right the venue fished it's head off with nearly half the 55 fishing breaking the ton!!

Full Result:

1. Mash 250-04-0 peg 98
2. Andy Neale 220-07-0 peg 81
3. Martin Preston 208-05-0 peg 97
4. Steve Segar 187-10-0 peg 94
5. Steve Tucker 178-15-0 peg 110
6. Mark Wynne 169-02-0 peg 132
7. Tony Rixon 160-0-0 peg 59
8. Nick Chedzoy 150-09-0 peg 123
9. Phil Harding 134-08-0 peg 117
10. Paul Elmes 134-02-0 peg 78
11. Mike Nicholls 132-14-0 peg 86
12. Glynn Reynolds 131-12-0 peg 87

…..

24. Dave Roper 100-11-0 peg 88

League Overall Series (Top three pictured below):

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 19/06/2014 - Viaduct Cost Cutter - Campbell and Carey Lakes

All of us holiday makers back for the cost cutter which is still proving popular, with Campbell and Carey in the draw I was hoping for Carey to have a go with caster for the Silvers. However, I pulled peg 125 which Ron Hardiman fished the day before and really struggled.

It was 20 degrees by 8 o clock and was only going to get hotter; peg 125 would only offer the burning sun until 30 minutes to go. I set the pole length so I could ship back without going over or through the Otter fencing, which was 9 metres.

Two paste floats this time because it’s deeper at this end of the Lake I chose 0.3 gram paste floats one for the margin which had enough line above the float so I could use it out in front as back up.

I started by feeding a whole pot of 4’s our in front and one pint of casters in to the margin. I later topped this up with another pint but failed to feed off the Ronnie’s. So it was the paste out in front which was used for most of the day.

If I let the pole sit behind me more a minute I would burn my hands shipping out.

The paste I use differs from that used by Glenn Bailey; I use a dryer harder mix which I can adjust in size from 10 mm to 25 mm. And unlike Glenn I shot my floats. This enables the paste to get to the bottom quicker and has less upward force on the paste which aids lifting and dropping. I can also switch types of baits if necessary typically Dendrabena works well from time to time.

As usual I was soon landing a 10lb Carp. For the next hour I caught Skimmers and Tench this meant adjusting down the size of paste. I thought I was on for a decent Silvers weight when the Carp arrived. Over the rest of the match I caught 13 more decent Carp losing a three foul hookers and one I pulled a bit too hard on letting it go free.

My Silvers weighed 18lb 4oz and my 14 Carp 96lb 12oz for a total of 115lb for eighth place.

Some interesting details arising from the match. I was opposite Tim Ford who was on peg 116. It’s often that Campbell Lake will fish similarly across the Lake. Now Tim’s and my weights were similar the exception being Tim had more Silver fish and smaller Carp, whereas I had less Silvers and bigger Carp. Now this is due to the way we fish with Tim preferring hard banded pellet to my paste. I think the more Silvers are due to the pellet sitting on top the silt more so than paste, which tends to sink further in to the silt. It was also interesting that both Glenn and I had similar weight of both Skimmers and Carp even though we fish the paste slightly differently.

The match was won by Mark Wynne (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 186lb 15oz from peg 130. Mark caught stalking with 10mm banded pellet at 14.5 metres taking most of his catch in the first four hours struggling for four more fish in the remaining two hours.

The Silvers was won by Ian Parsons with 34lb 4oz from peg 119. Ian caught mainly “Accidental” Tench at 7 metres down his RH margin using hard banded pellet whilst trying to catch Carp!

Phil Cardwell did well off peg 123 - but it was rested the day before!!

Well this was the end of our match fishing for the week which the weather, company, accommodation, our host, food, drink and fishing were exceptional. Less said the better about England’s poor performance against Uruguay in the World Cup. We have all booked in again for next year. Just to say how similar the shirt arm logo is to Preston Innovation’s.

 Full Result:

1. Mark Wynne 186-15-0 peg 130
2. Steve Long 157-08-0 peg 110
3. Scott Russell 140-05-0 peg 115
4. Kevin Dicks 135-01-0 peg 118
5. Phil Cardwell 121-01-0 peg 123
6. Ian Parsons 117-04-0 peg 119

Top Silvers:

1. Ian Parsons 34-04-0 peg 119
2. Tim Ford 33-01-0 peg 116

Weigh Sheets:

Wednesday 18/06/2014 - Mike's and Tony's Short Pole Match - Campbell Lake

I look forward to this short pole match every year which is very popular with many other anglers.

With a 10 o clock draw and with only 50 metre walk from the Lodge we had a leisurely breakfast ably cooked by Chef Mark breakfast.

Although it’s a Mike/Tony match the only contribution by me is to book the venue, Tony does the rest as usual, what would we do with guys like this.

Didn’t mind where I drew today but ended up on a peg that I won this match from two years ago, corner peg 132. For company I had Glenn Bailey on peg 131 and Chris Fox on peg 133 who didn’t last the full term of the match – see his blog.

I was very optimistic of a good days fishing because the wind had been blowing down this end which the scum bore witness to.

No need to talk pole lengths as were all limited to top-set plus three sections of pole. With the number one missing from most top-sets we were probably fishing at 5.5 metres.

I set up two identical paste rigs 0.3 gram Silverfox pc paste floats one slightly shallower that the other for the margin under the Willow. In addition to the paste the only other bait was hard 4’s for feed. Within 5 minutes of fishing it was clear looking around the Lake that the fishing wasn’t going to be manic.

Glenn, Chris and I were soon playing our first Carp. Mine was about 10lb and the biggest fish all day. From this point on I struggled to catch out in front and spent a lot of the time down to the Right under the willow tempting the odd small Carp weighing about 2lb which are so difficult to get out of their chosen homes. I lost about four to the under water Willow branches even though I was pulling very hard to keep them out. Mean while Glenn was catching bigger Carp steady through the match taking second spot overall.

My dozen or so Carp weighed 48lb 3oz and my lonely Tench 2lb 2oz for a disappointing total of 50lb 5oz.

The match was won by Tom Mangnall (pictured below centre with the Silvers winner - Tom's the one hiding his Maver shirt logo behind Tony) with 124lb 6oz from peg 114. Tom started on meat which proved to be slow so switched to 6 and 8mm banded pellet over hard 6’s feed. Tom fed about one pint.

The Silvers was won by Tony Rixon from peg 123 with 22lb 10oz of Skimmers and Tench using 8mm banded pellet over hard 6’s – see his blog.

I must mention Tim Ford fishing his first match since major surgery converting him to a Dyson who took third spot beating Tony Rixon off the next peg by a significant margin even though they were fishing identical methods. Welcome back Tim.

Full Result:

1. Tom Mangnall 124-06-0 peg 144
2. Glenn Bailey 100-15-0 peg 131
3. Tim Ford 95-09-0 peg 124
4. Mark Tanner 73-12-0 peg 110
5. Nick Merry 73-02-0 peg 116
6. John Baker 72-10-0 peg 135

Top Silvers:

1. Tony Rixon 22-10-0 peg 123
2. John Bradford 20-06-0 peg 126

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 17/06/2014 - Acorn Fishery - Cost Cutter - Paddocks

Monday was our day off from match fishing so Glenn pleasured fished Match Lake (pictured right) and couldn’t get through the F1’s to the bigger fish with his paste. Martyn fished outside the Lodge (pictured lower right) and couldn’t get through the Skimmers with his paste. I wondered round the venue and met up with Ian Parsons to look at the new Sensas Slim series 3 poles. Although an excellent pole it wasn’t as slim as I hoped.

Today we were off to the Acorn cost cutter fished on Paddocks. The match weights have gradually been creeping up so it

promised to be a good match and we weren’t disappointed.

We were joined by Mark Tanner and later in the match by Bog runner Tim Ford. Glenn’s drawing arm came back pulling bridge peg 34. Mark peg 6, Martyn peg 11 and myself peg 29.

I was a little disappointed with my draw but had high hopes because the unusual NNE wind was blowing towards that end. It always appears to be windy on this venue. Arriving at the peg my left hand margin was clear of any scum but fishing it meant facing the wind. The RH margin contained some scum which looked as if it would gradually disperse. So after setting up a 5 metres out in front paste rig which was only got used to fend off the bloody free range chickens. I set up a margin paste rig and a 4x12 jolly also for the margin but for caster.

 So it was to be my top set to the RH margin for the full match. The scum did clear but because the wind was blowing up both legs of the lake the cuttings from the sedges was ending up in my peg. For the first two hours this frustrated the hell out of me because I had to keep scooping it out. Could anglers coming armed with shears not throw their cuttings in the lake because it will end up in someone’s peg. For me its simple to pull the sedges back over the bank and lays my pole holdall over it and after the match the Sedges just returns to where it was. At Hillview Fishery Keith Hill doesn’t allow any cutting of his margin vegetation – food for thought here.

I started on caster and caught straight away small Carp averaging 3lb. But because of the floating sedges I had to switch to the heavier paste rig. This still produced fish but I was foul hooking some because the margin is deep running off to full depth very steeply. After two hours I could get back on the caster. I then had one hell of a run catching on the drop and just off bottom. The fish did back off occasionally but always return after 15 minutes or so. With 10 minutes to go my 18 - 808 hooked had to be reshaped because it had straightened, if it wasn’t so close to the end I would normally change it. After the whistle Tim Ford had a go and hooked a bigger fish and broke the hook.

My 40 or so Carp weighed 120lb 11oz and my Silvers 11lb 4oz for a total of 131lb 15oz which reversed the pole position from last year, with me finishing runner up to matey Glenn Bailey.

Glenn (pictured right with the runner up) weighed 151lb 8oz from Bridge peg 34. He had 60 carp ranging from 1lb to 5lb mainly on paste away from the bridge due to the number of F1’s and small Carp around the bridge.

The Silvers was won by John Barker from the other side of the Bridge from Glenn with 34lb 8oz of mainly F1’s. John had to go early to get his chickens in so no pictured or details on how he caught.

The four of us fishing had a very productive day landing over 430lb between us - a memorable day especially the carvery at Brent house on the way back to Viaduct.

Full Result:

1. Glenn Bailey Bridge 151-08-0 peg 34
2. Mike Nicholls 131-15-0 peg 29
3. Andy Shields 107-04-0 peg 36
4. Mike Fisher 99-07-0 peg 12
5. Martyn Woodington 97-06-0 peg 11
6. Pete Lasson 92-03-0 peg 25

Top Silvers:

1. John Barker 34-08-0 peg 33
2. Andy Shields 22-04-0 peg 36

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 15/06/2014 - Avon Angling Float Only - Landsend - Specimen, Match and Sidney Lakes

We managed to get Martyn as reserve into Avon Angling Float Only League to be fished at Landsend. On the way we had breakfast at the newly refurbished Bear Hotel in Street. They have done a good job as the restaurant is a lot brighter; however, they have stopped the buffet style breakfast.

Another beautiful June day, where else in be world would you rather be. Tony Rixon was in his usual piss taking mode – mainly me. I have to give credit where credits due, Tony runs a great league and although he works in a tackle shop and has a reasonable amount of time to deal with fickle match fraternity it’s still hard frustrating work getting all the pegs filled. He also does most of the weighing in. Oh yes he can fish a bit too.

I get amazed at the response of some anglers after they have drawn their pegs, yes we all get a bit despondent at some pegs we draw but you have to make the best of what you’re given and try and talk the peg up adding some optimism. We had the Gimp who after drawing a peg on Sidney’s go straight home because of the lack Silvers. Chris Fox also threw a tantrum as he drew Sidney’s but was embarrassed later when be weighed 81lb. Have something to moan about if they drew the peg pictured right!

In to the draw box and out comes peg 32 far corner of Specimen Lake. The Lake hadn’t fished that well throughout the winter so has been left out of the open matches. I was lucky with this draw because the corner pegs had been producing a few Carp. For company on peg 31 I had fellow oldie Paul Blake – great company – it might be something to do with age but we do think very much alike about fishing and some of the new techniques currently being employed.

Arriving at the peg I knew the end bank margin was going to be my banker so I set up 9 metres of pole and laid it across to the ban and fault through the overgrowth and cleared away the Cow Parsley which is easy to remove. On hindsight I should have clear branches away from beneath the water.

I set up a 4x12 Jolly for the LH margin and end bank to fish caster over caster if the fishing got hard, a 4x12 jolly to fish out in front also at 9 metres for the Silvers. Then two paste rigs one full depth out in front and the other for both margins which were the same depth at three footish.

I started a usual at the mo on the 4mm semi hard over a big pot of hard 4’s and was disappointed when the float again just sat staring at me. After 30 minutes nothing so I re-fed another big pot and started to lose feed 4’s into my end bank swim with the catty. I had been lose feeding casters into the LH margin so in desperation tried the caster and had a run of small Perch. I then noticed a big blow over the 9 metre swim so went out with the paste which would surly produce a Carp. But amazingly enough – nothing now even a Ronnie tremble or liner. Now two hour in to the match and I was going nowhere. So all used lines abandoned with the focus on my banker. So out went the paste rig with a few 4’s for company in the kinder pot and a bit first put in on the drop – a Chub – another – another and then a Crucian.

Next put in I hooked a Carp which did me in the end bank. I walked around to retrieve my rig and found a tree branch on the water which luckily came away readily because it had become petrified. This meant disrobing the swim which took 20 minutes to recover. From then on I caught Carp averaging 5lb regularly through out the match limiting my losses to five Carp.

My Silvers weighed 6lb 4oz and my 22 Carp 111lb 6oz for a third in the match 117lb 10oz total.

The match was won by Gary O’Shea (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 125lb 1oz from opposite me on peg 33. Gary a good first “Slappy Hour” catching on hard pellet up in the water and down to his end margin.

The Silvers was won by the man in blue Steve Tucker from peg 36 with 31lb 14oz. Steve caught on meat over meat. It is good to see this peg producing Silvers again.

Glenn’s run came to an end on peg 24, he didn’t ask me to mention this!!

Full Result:

Weigh Sheets:

Saturday 14/06/2014 - Viaduct Open - Carey

Today was the start of our annual fishing holiday ay the Viaduct Fishery, with a mixed attendance, Bela staying for the weekend and Mark and Tim arriving on Tuesday. Glenn, Martyn and myself here for the whole week. Glenn was on a high as he had picked up on both the Wednesday and Thursday matches leading up to the holiday

The lodge still looked as new as our very first visit and extremely clean. This we think this is all to Helen Long’s (picture pending) efforts.

The match today was on Carey with a full attendance of 22. There was a lot of pre-match talk of the Skimmers feeding well because the carp appeared to be less active. So when I pulled peg 94 from the coffee tin I was delighted as there are usually plenty of Skimmers to be had. Glenn drew peg 74 and Martyn peg 85. Unusually the wind was blowing up the lake

I set up the usual 4x14 jolly for hard and soft pellet at 9 metres and two paste rigs, one for over the 9 metre line and the other down the RH margin again at 9 metres which is about as far as you can see and still be up the margin.

I started by feeding both lines with a big pot of hard 4’s and started on the semi hard pellet. You can usually expect a couple of early Carp or some Ronnie’s. Neither of these happened the float just sat looking back at me bewildered. I kept topping up with the fours to try and force some interest and a bit of a blow. It took a while before there were some signs of fish which lead to a 2lb, 1lb and 8oz Skimmers consecutively. Then nothing. I tried the paste over the line but didn’t get any indication, so this line was abandoned.

I spent the rest of the match down the RH margin and caught seven Tench with two of them managing to turn into tree branches.  I had a few small Skimmers with the biggest flying out and abandoning the hook. I also lost a near 3lb Hybrid. I did legally hook a couple of Carp both buggers doing me under the pallet.

My Silvers weighed 19lb 5oz for fourth in the Silvers. Those lost fish cost me second spot me thinks.

With the prevailing wind changing around 90 degrees sent the fish down the lake starving the usual flyer end bank pegs of the huge Carp weights

The match was won by Roy Worth (pictured right with some of his catch) with 223lb 12oz from peg 77. Roy caught fishing 11mm pellet on the lead fished over the pole line. Roy fed about ten pints of 8mm pellet throughout the match.

The Silvers was won by Scott Russell (pictured right) with 33lb 3oz from end bank peg 86. Scott caught at 13 metres using banded 10mm hard pellet lifting and dropping over lose fed 6 mm pellet.

Glenn (pictured right with some of his catch) said I should mention his runner up spot with making it three pick ups in a row 177lb 1oz from peg 74. All caught on paste at 13 metres.

Full Result:

1. Roy Worth 223-12-0 peg 77
2. Glenn Bailey 177-1-0 peg 74
3. Martin Lenaghan 112-09-0 peg 109
4. Ashley 97-10-0 peg 97-10-0 peg 96
5. Steve Denmead 95-08-0 peg 88
6. M Hayman 91-11-0 peg 79

Top Silvers:

1. Scott Russell 33-03-0 peg 86
2. James Rock 28-13-0 peg 80

Weigh Sheets:

Wednesday 11/06/2014 - Avon Angling Cost Cutter Open - Landsend Match Lake

After a great family break in Majorca I was persuaded by Glenn Bailey to have another visit to Landsend. Glenn was keen to go as it is Avon Anglings float only league here next Sunday.

As there were only twelve of us fishing (which just about made it a competition) we were all on Match Lake. Not my favourite venue because, unless you can thrash around 16 – 17 metres of pole it can be difficult to compete with Carp. Other than fishing for Silvers the venue is really beyond my capability. The margins on the near bank are so over grown that you are almost fishing full depth with no access to clear away the vegetation and branches. The far bank peg margins are better.

So in to the draw box and out comes peg 3 – near side. Umm, not particularly happy with this with the only hope of coin would be Silvers.

I set up two paste rigs which were almost identical the exception being a foot in depth, one to fish at 10 metres the other down to peg 2 pallet. The third was a 4x14 jolly to fish at 10 metres with semi hard 4’s hookers over potted 4’s.

After putting a pot of hard 4’s down to the pallet and some at 10 metres I started on the Jolly and was getting bites from small Ronnie’s straight away most were falling off. I then had a 2lb Skimmer losing the next two. This was followed by more Ronnie’s. I normally catch a few early Carp on this method but that didn’t happen nor did I get ant fizzing even though I kept topping up the feed. I half heartily tried the paste over the 10 metre line but didn’t even get any small fish nibbling. Back on the pellet and I did finally catch my first Carp a two pounder.

Three hours in to the match and I had a visit from bog runner Tim Ford. Tim by now had had four more visits to the bog than I had Carp.

I always carry a pint of casters and decided to set up the Ronnie rig to see if I could at least get some bites. This resulted in a few small Perch and one lost Carp and another two pound Skimmer. I wasn’t really catching quick enough to make any difference.

I then came over all philosophical. A beautiful summer’s day, birds singing, no traffic noise: “We are all born with nothing and I was so pleased to realise that as a Pensioner I still have most of it left”.

From Bankside chat I knew I was well out of any coin and the thought of packing up passed through my mind. However, I think due to my years fishing matches on the river I just couldn’t do it as, I always try to beat the swim if nothing else. After trying various approaches I decided to stay down on peg 2 pallet even though it meant straining my neck to see round the over growth. In the last 45 minutes I added five Carp and two Skimmers to the net. Perseverance is crucial to match angling – I had gone from wanting to pack up to not wanting the match to end – If only.

My six Skimmers and bits weighed 10b 8oz and my six Carp 24lb 8oz for a not so grand total of 35lb.

Glenn did well sneaking in second beating the local ace into third.

The match was won by Phil Harding (pictured right – glimmer of a smile) with 147lb from peg 15. Phil caught at 16 metres to the far bank using banded hard pellet over lose feed.

The Silvers was won by John Bradford (pictured lower right) with 20lb 8oz from peg 19. John caught at 6 metres using caster over caster, adding one Tench from his margin using the same approach.

The Wednesday match attendances appear to be falling dramatically - worrying me thinks.

Off to Viaduct next week for our annual weeks fishing holiday - can't wait - World Cup and all on.

Full Result:

1. Phil I Am Harding 147-0-0 peg 15
2. Glenn Bailey 140-11-0 peg 20
3. Tony Rixon 132-14-0 peg 13
4. John Dursley 68-4-0 peg 1
5. Martin Alexander 58-04-0 peg 17
6. Ron Hardiman 52-04-0 peg 22

Top Silvers:

1. John Bradford 20-08-0 peg 19
2. Paul Attwood 17-13-0 peg 5

Weigh Sheet (Written by the Gimp on draw cards):