Sunday 27/07/2014 - Avon Angling Open - Chiltern Trinity - Woodlands

Coming up to the final week of the house refurbishment with just the rendering/sparing left which Rich “Rog” Lacey (pictured right with Bristol’s finest Roofer Bela “The Cat” Bakos) is doing with matey Ricky.

With Bela otherwise engaged sleeping off a night out with Stella I travelled down with Tim Ford. After breakfast at Hill Tops it was off to the draw where I was surprised to find only 13 booked in, it’s usually a sell out on the excellent venue. It might have been because Tony was otherwise engaged at his eldest sons wedding. Tim Ford showed me Tony’s picture dressed up in full dress tails. I still haven’t stopped laughing. It appears that the hire company only caters for one large size – marquee. Apparently the picture is on Assbook.

The advantage of low turn out is that everyone plenty of room. I drew peg 18 and had the entire end bank to myself. Unfortunately the platform is very high and even though my left shoulder is gradually improving it was going to help me landing Carp with is the species I decided to target.

I plumbed up with the paste float in the margin and was disappointed to find that the shallowest area was 3 ½ foot deep. To make matters worse I had a strong wind blowing directly in to me. So it was a 0.3 gram paste float on the top set and a Ronnie rig just in case, which I started on with caster as a tester. It didn’t last long as the swim was full of ½ ounce Ronnie’s with the hook bait not even reaching bottom. So that went up the bank not to be used again.

On to the paste fished over hard 4’s in to the RH margin and I had a Carp first put in. The same happened next put in except the Carp found a snag high up in the water which broke the line just below the float!! New identical rig (if that is possible) and I had a good first hour catching as soon as the paste hit bottom. It then slowed, finding that the tow away from the bank was a real problem as the bank was very steep and soon dragging the float way in to deeper water that combined with the Ronnie’s playing footy with it became a nightmare having to re-bait in less than a minute. Holding the float back help a tad but wasn’t the whole answer. I did keep a few fish coming but was also foul hooking a lot due to the depth of the margin.

For the first time I fan out of paste before the last hour and luckily matey Paul Lock came to the rescue giving me some of his.

The last hour was a dower affair with the wind picking up I got cold and had to put a jumper on whilst everyone else basked in the warmth.

The venue fished extremely well I was just glad I didn't have to weigh in as those pictured right!!

My 15 Carp weighed 81lb 3oz and by few Perch up to 2lb (mostly foul hooked) went 5lb 12oz for a total of 86lb 15oz.

Because of the low turn out there was big weights however, there was a close finish for the section by double default between me, Tom Mangnel and Adrian Jefferies with Tom just nicking it.

The match was won by Tim Ford (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with a massive 222lb 15oz from peg 32. Tim caught on 10mm pellet …see his blog for further details. Thanks for the larger.

The Silvers was won by Bridgwater’s finest Paul Lock with 48lb 8oz of Skimmers from peg 15. Paul caught t 11.5 metres fishing paste over micro. Paul fed about 2 pints of micro with some paste included. Nice to watch.

Finally I must mention Leon Hubbard who estimated his catch at just over 100lb only 90lb out then!!

Full Result:

1. Tim Ford 222-15-0 peg 32
2. Leon Hubbard 191-13-0 peg 24
3. Rod Wotton 174-04-0 peg 9
4. Ray Cooper 121-12-0 peg 13
5. Paul Lock 92-0-0 peg 15
6. Tom Mangnel 98-11-0 peg 30

Top Silvers:

1. Paul Lock 48-08-0 peg 15
2. John Bradford 39-06-0 peg 26

Sunday 20/07/2014 - Avon Angling Top Six League - Round Two - Chiltern Trinity - Woodlands

I currently have lost most of the strength and movement in my left shoulder, my landing net arm. Having tried the arm out I considered not going, but was swayed by the fact there was the small Silvers to go after where the net would be unnecessary.

It was a diversion away from my favourite Hill Top café to Shipham where Bela can get the bigger breakfast.

The fishery has suffered from a virus closing for a few weeks losing about 200 Carp. I don’t get over worried about these events because I think its nature’s way of ensure a sustainable balance of fish life.  As the results show the fishing hasn’t been affected, in fact I would go as far as to say it may have improved.

On the way to the fishery Bela started on about not wanting to draw the near bank – Dummkopf – and where did he end up on peg 28, his wild talk also influenced me into peg 25. I really didn’t mind as I can catch the small fish from any peg. For company I had Tony Rixon on peg 24 – pictured right praying and making sacrifices to the margin Gods before the start. It is normally beneficial to have Tony in your section as he usually frames in effect reducing the section numbers by one!

Even though it was a short pole match (top set plus three) I only set up two top sets one with paste in the RH down wind (which was very strong) margin and the Ronnie rig for the same margin.

I had another practice with the landing net which confirmed my thinking of targeting the Silvers even though it would mean conceding to Steve Seagar whom I had drawn in the knockout.

So it was single caster over loose fed caster on the Ronnie rig to hand. I normally feed with my left hand so I had to switch to the right which slowed my feeding and catching rate. I was further slowed by the time it took to find a caster that was big enough for the fish to see. It was a small Ronnie’s, Rudd and tiny Skimmers non stop for four hours during which I also had three small Carp and braking on a fouler.

I can tell when Carp arrive as the bites get iffy on the caster and it was at this time that I switched to the paste and had three Carp in three put in again losing a couple of foulers. It was really slow playing the fish as I had to play them until they were laid out on the surface. It was pain full for me and I guess to watch. So it was back on the caster until the last half hour when the Carp arrived in numbers. On to the paste over kindered hard 4’s and I added another three Carp. By the time I landed the last one I had found a way of minimising the shoulder pain and was left thinking that it might had been better for section points and knockout if I found this method before the start. That said if I hadn’t fished for Carp I would have added the few ounces I needed to win the Silvers instead of second spot. Nonetheless I did pick up coin which is one of the main missions. It’s all about making the right decisions.

"Match anglers never get to pass a winning line".

My 300 odd Silvers went 17lb 12oz (Ave; 1 ½ oz) and my nine Carp 38lb 9oz for a total of 56lb 5oz.

The match was by Shaun Townsend (pictured right with some of his catch) with 121lb from peg 9. Shaun caught on meat in both his margins and with spells shallow out in front.

The Silvers was won by Clint “Primark” Wojtyle (pictured right with the match winner - who apparently paid £60 for three pairs of underpants) with 18lb 6oz from peg 11. Clint caught shallow on caster out in front.

Full Result:

1. Shaun Townsend 121-0-0 peg 9
2. Tony Rixon 106-05-0 peg 24
3. Paul Elms 105-06-0 peg 30
4. Chris Fox 87-08-0 peg 29
5. Steve Segar 79-03-0 peg 13
6. Leon Hubbard 73-12-0 peg 14

Top Silvers:

1. Clint Wojtyle 18-06-0 peg 11
2. Mike Nicholls 17-12-0 peg 25 (+1 Ronnie not weighed and +2 dried up in net in morning – still not enough)
3. Tom Mangnel 17-05-0 peg 23

Sunday 06/07/2014 - Avon Angling Float Only - Round Four - Landsend Fishery - Specimen, Match and John's Water

After a week of having the builders in (“Ten Thou” pictured right aka Paul Haines working on my garage roof) I didn’t have any time to prepare for the match and I certainly didn’t have my head in gear either and I still had a nagging cough brought back from the Airplane from Spain. My paste pellets also had cement dust in them. With another bright sunny day promised I lashed on the sun cream, however, the peg I came draw was in the shade all day and I really needed a fleece instead.

Another busy café at Shipham it was also long wait for the draw. I had no pre-thoughts on where I wanted to be, but as I had said many times before my favourite Lake is John’s Water – not everyone’s favourite especially Chris Fox!!

Luckily I pull peg 46 on John’s Water. Where I also found an unhappy Chris fox on my favourite peg 41.

Tony pegs it such that everyone has an end of an island (wasted on me) or a corner peg so plenty of room on peg 46 as it’s the longest island. For company on next peg 45 I had Dave Cockayne who challenged me to a “Paste Off” Glenn Bailey who was on opposite peg 66 over heard and joined in, making it a three way tie. The result – no contest really - see weigh sheet!!

Two paste rigs one 0.2 for the margin and the other a 0.3 gram to be fished at 11-o-clock at 9 metres – simple. Whilst preparing my bait some floating casters went in the water close to my feet and within seconds two large Carp were munching them – Umm.

At the start I fed half a pot of hard 4’s on the long line and loose drip fed the margin where I decided to start because of spotting those earlier Carp feeding on my caster. In 8 put- in I had 8 Crucian’s on the paste. I then speared a few small Rudd and Ronnie’s – the bell for leaving the margin alone and trying the long line even though there wasn’t any signs of life or blowing, so it was a surprised when I had three small Carp about 2lb a piece. It then when dead, not even any Silvers pecking the paste – not a good sign. The Lake was fishing hard.

I decided to give the caster a go in the margin so the Ronnie rig was set up which proved to be worth five Perch for 2oz!

I decided to stay on the paste in the margin comfortably fishing my top set for the last four hours lose feeding soaked 4’s plus kindering in additional feed with the paste. This peg has a great LH margin with a steep slope for the paste to roll down with the feed. The upshot was I would catch two decent Carp to 10lb then another two after a 30 minute or so wait during which I added another nine decent Carp.

I thought I might have 8lb of Crucian’s but was surprised they only went 5lb 15oz these fish really fight above their weight. My twelve Carp weighed 69lb 9oz for a section second weight of 75lb 14oz – happy with this considering the Lake didn’t fish that well.

The match was won by Paul Elmes (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 155lb 10oz from peg 27. Paul fish 16/17 metres to the opposite island with paste hook bait.

The Silvers was won by Paul Faiers with 32lb from peg 31. Paul switched from the non productive CW&C to soft pellet over GB to get the Skimmers feeding.

Full Result:

1. Paul Elmes 155-10-0 peg 27
2. Shaun Townsend 131-14-0 peg 9
3. Martin Rayett 123-10-0 peg 38
4. Tom Mangnall 99-13-0 peg 33
5. Bob Gullick 98-07-0 peg 50
6. Neil Mercer 95-11-0 peg 36

Top Silvers:

1. Paul Faiers 32-0-0 peg 32
2. Neil Mercer 30-0-0 peg 36