Sunday 22/02/2015 - Hillview Open Canals One and Two

After pole fighting the wind and having the equivalent of buckets of water thrown over me on my Thursday match I wasn’t sorry when Glenn Bailey on Friday cried off Hillview on Sunday due to the horrendous weather forecast. However, come Saturday Glenn must have looked at a forecast in some other country as he called and said the weather would be OK so would I come with him. I never turn down the opportunity to go fishing with someone. I rang Keith Hill and said he had 49 booked in for the Saturday match. He said it was because of his delicious breakfasts!! Everyone except Glenn knew it was because of the horrendous weather on the way for Sunday. I booked us in for two breakfasts.

Not surprising to find only 11 fishing all but one must have the same mobile weather App as Glenn!!

Luckily Keith put us all on Canals 1 and 2. In to the woolly hat and out comes peg 64 on the second Canal. I would have preferred to have been at the other end as that end of all the Canals have been fishing best, plus it would be less wind affected.

Glenn drew peg 42 opposite me on the first Canal – again the wrong end as the match yesterday was won from other end peg 51.

For company I had the venue expert Nev Groves on peg 61 – middle of the Canal, not that I seen much of him as I was facing down wind for the whole match.

I decided on the one rig a 4x12 Jolly to be fished at 5 metres down the track and down wind at 2 o clock. It would be a case of dripping wetted micro (that’s right we can now feed pellet wet providing it’s not fed in squeezed up balls) and fishing soaked 4’s over the top.

As soon as we started the rain and wind also started which was absolutely freezing, my hands all but seized up – my gloves were in my car outside the house! Luckily the rain temperature increased slightly so I was then able to hook the pellet. I immediately started catching small Crucian’s from 2 to 4oz. And that was how the match carried on adding the occasional small Carp to 2lb and small 10oz F1’s. Unfortunately with an hour to go the wind blew my hookers over and by the time I recovered them they had gone mushy – bugger. It was too late to wet more so I had to pick out the best I could with many being blown off the hook before they got near the water. The last hour was miserable to say the least with 3 inch high waves to contend with.

The two anglers next to Glenn packed up at half match with Glenn threatening to do the same, leaving me behind.

I weighed 30lb which was much more than I thought. This left me third overall and third in the section. Other than the weather is was another enjoyable day ay at Hillview.

As I predicted at the start Nev Groves (pictured right) won the match with 46lb 8oz from peg 61. Nev initially caught over to the far bank, switched to the track both lines pellet over pellet then in the last hour came short with maggot hook bait where he had been loose feeding maggot adding a Carp and 7 F1’s to his catch.

Full Result:

1. Nev Groves 46-08-0 peg 61
2. Courtney 32-06-0 peg 58
3. Mike Nicholls 30-0-0 peg 64
4. Pete 21-12-0 peg 56
5. Andy 19-0-0 peg 48
6. Brian Proctor 13-0-0 peg 50
7. Glenn Bailey 11-02-0 peg 42

Thursday 19/02/2015 - Veals/Bathampton AA - Silvers Championship - Round Three - Bridge Pool

When I was working in Port Said (Egypt) I mentioned to my Egyptian colleges over dinner that I was interested in Egyptology. On my next day off they kindly arranged for me to visit Cairo’s Museum where they were exhibiting the full Tutankhamen recent discovery. They also arranged for a one to one English speaking guide. I spent most of the day there; I could have spent a full week. I was particularly interested in the burial artefacts. Why am I mentioning this, well this week my two Granddaughters as part of their home learning needed to visit Bristol Museum, I jumped at the opportunity to take them to see the small Egyptian exhibition. One item that made an impression was the fishing hooks buried with a fisherman (pictured right). These hooks are nearly 4000 years old and as far as I can see are not too different from today’s hooks, the gapes were about 10mm – one eyed hook and one spade end – both hand made!!

The BBC weather forecast was for high winds and heavy rain – I hate it when they get it right nearly as much as I hate high winds.

Arriving early at the draw I couldn’t help noticing the pair of sellotaped trainers (pictured right) being sported by an Acorn Fishery regular.

Today was the draw for the pairs and I was lucky enough to draw Dave Bacon, let’s hope we can keep out of the same section.

In to the draw bag and out comes two peg stuck together, both went back in and went for a single which was end peg 4 (I always wonder if I put back better pegs – will never know). I was reasonably happy with the peg. Charlie Barnes drew it last match had only had 1lb, but that tells me nothing as it was iced over which changes everything. The main worry was the high winds gusting in through the gap into Withy. I wanted to fish to my right but that was a no-no as this meant fishing up wind. I settled for down wind at 6 metres for my one rig a 4x16 Jolly.

I decided to fish two swims the first at 11 o clock where I would feed soft pellet 4’s, Micro and Dead reds. The other about 1 metres further down where I fed GB laced with Pinkie. I did this so that the wind and I could “Stick Float” the Jolly through both swims using double dead red hook bait.

Both the rain and wind gradually worsened. It took an hour to get my first bite over the GB which was a 5lb Tench. I kept topping up both lines. In to the second hour I had my second fish a 2lb Skimmer over the pellet line. The third hour I had another 5lb Tench. For the rest of the match I only landed three Ronnie’s and a tiny Perch. I did lose a foul hooked Carp over the pellet line.

My Silvers weighed 11lb 15oz for a section win and fifth overall.

My pair’s partner also won his section from peg 29 so a good start for us.

The match was won by Dave Wride (pictured right) with 46lb 10oz from peg 19. Dave caught Skimmers and Bream on “The pole in the Lake”.

Full Result:

1. Dave Wride 46-10-0 peg 19
2. Ray Bazeley 29-14-0 peg 18
3. Mike Jones 13-13-0 peg 15
4. Paul Barnfield 13-04-0 peg 21
5. Mike Nicholls 11-15-0 peg 4
6. Mike Owens 10-07-0 peg 11

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 15/02/2015 - Viaduct Winter League - Round Three - Campbell, Carey Lodge, Match and Spring Lakes

First stop Cannards Well for breakfast where were joined by team mate Gordon Cannings. The breakfast was spot on and hot. When I was paying the bill the Chef asked “Two Chews” if he had enough food. Little did the Chef know that Two Chews used half a bottle of brown sauce just to smear half his breakie! I told the Chef Bela’s full once he feels sick.

Bela came back with the draw card which put me on Campbell peg 114. I thought this to be a reasonable draw based on previous results. However, I approach lead fishing half hearted as I find it mentally difficult to sit with a motionless tip with the hope of a few bites. In fact I wasn’t going to set it up but because I had ½ hour before the whistle I decided to. I set up the waggler but found any colour top all most impossible to see. It took some accurate casting to get the float in a narrow band of light water. I also set up a 4x14 Jolly to fish at 11.5 metres with the anticipation of a few Silvers.

After feeding three balls of GB laced with caster, Pinkie and dead reds at 11.5 metres, I started on the waggler with a bunch of dead reds it didn’t take long to catch a ½ Ronnie. The light was so bad I was missing bites coming back on two occasions with no bait on the hook!! The small Ronnie’s became a nuisance and they were too small to be worth fishing for. So I switched to single corn hook bait which resulted in a 3lb Skimmer. I had to rest the waggler as I was going blind trying to see the float. So I tried the GB line with various baits - caster, corn and maggot but could only muster another ½ Ronnie.

There was plenty of Carp coming out particularly the four corner pegs. By half way the writing was on the wall. I wasn't going to win any coin on the Silvers so the only choice was to fish the straight lead for a maximum of 2 points. I started on some of Adrian Jeffery’s red meat, then his yellow meat finally double corn. After 20 minutes and without a sign of a fish or a liner I was bored. So to break monotony I set up a paste rig and gave that a go at 11.5 metres and again I was pestered by small nibbling Ronnie’s. I was well last in the section so decided to try the lead with double corn whilst I packed the pole away. Blimey the tip shot round and I was playing a 10lb Common. After playing it to the landing net the hook pulled, which summed up my day. This is definitely not my type of fishing.

My turn for the 1 section point however, Gordon Cannings came to the teams rescue winning his lake from peg 74 with 60lb taking out total to 48 points – could have been worse and hopefully keeps us in mid table.

The match was won by Stu Woods (pictured right) with 115lb 11oz from peg 132. Stu caught down to his end margin with meat hook bait fished over pinged meat feeding 3 – 4 pieces.

It’s amazing how the Carp on this Lake move around as last match everyone struggled at this end of the Lake.

The Silvers was won by Mark Wynne (pictured lower right) with 24lb 15oz from Lodge peg 69. Mark had a short loose fed cater swim and a 13 metre GB swim catching Skimmers and Roach from both lines proportioned 50-50.

And finally Bela and I stopped in Whetstones Fish Restaurant, which proved the best part on the day for the both of us, especially the Carling Export.

Full Result:

1. Stu Woods 115-11-0 peg 132
2. A Crocker 101-08-0 peg 123
3. Fred Roberts 73-04-0 peg 119
4. Steve Denmead 63-12-0 peg 78
5. Gordon Cannings 60-02-0 peg 74
6. M Jones 57-04-0 peg 115

Top Silvers:

1. Mark Wynne 24-15-0 peg 69
2. Nick Chedzoy 21-10-0 peg 37
3. Kev East 16-01-0 peg 98

Thursday 12/02/2015 - Veals Open - Emerald Fishery - Rudy and Sapphire

The now keen winter match angler Glenn Bailey arrived 15 minutes early. We had a stress free ride around the ring road and down the M5 to Hilltop Café. We were surprised to see Tony Rixon arrive in the café; apparently every other café from Bristol to Bridgwater was closed!

Dave Bacon arrived at the café but had to go back home as he had just heard his Mum had passed away – our condolences matey.

As usual by the time we arrived at the match Mike Jones had pegged everyone on Ruby. I was reasonably happy with this (I had my silvers head on). However, Tony Rixon wanted to re-peg putting three on Sapphire. Mike announced before the draw that “any complaints with the pegging see Nixon and Richolls” – this is why we let Mike run these matches – priceless.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 7 which is the top end last peg on the near side. Second time on this peg so expected to catch Silvers with a few accidental Carp.

I set up a 4x12 Jolly to fish at 6 metres, the Ronnie rig a 4 metres whip with a tiny wagglers. On the bait tray was a pint of casters and the occasional sneaky Robin.

I confidently started on the Ronnie rig with single caster and second cast I lost a foul hooked Carp.  Next I landed a 2lb Common Carp, not what I wanted or expected. After 30 minutes I hadn’t had a Ronnie! However, Mike Jones on the next peg was catching them regularly. I’m too old to panic aren’t I? In to the bait bag and I get out some hard 4’s to feed down the RH side to try and concentrate the Carp away from the Ronnie’s (something I got from the Carp anglers feeding casters to get rid of the Ronnie’s). This coincided with using the 4 metre whip. It all worked well as I started to catch some decent Ronnie’s on the single caster and remained “relatively” Carp free for the remainder of the match. It was hard work to keep the Ronnie’s coming as the bigger they get the harder they are to catch.

I ended the match with six accidentals for 16lb 7oz 9 (pictured upper right) and a very satisfying first in the Silvers net of all Ronnie’s for 19lb giving a total of 35lb 7oz.

Considering the venue had been frozen for the previous 5 days it fish extremely well. An island to fish up to was the most productive areas for Carp.

Travelling partner Glenn Bailey (pictured right with his catch) did it again on the Carp from peg 11 (permanent peg 2), one of the three pegs on Sapphire winning the match with 99lb 10oz. Glenn caught over to the opposite island using 4mm soft pellet over kindered micro and hard 4’s. The average weight of is fish was 1 ½ lb so a busy day.

Full Result:

1. Glenn Bailey 99-10-0 peg 11 (Sapphire)
2. Tony Nixon 88-06-0 peg 3
3. Scott Puddy 69-13-0 peg 9
4. Adrian Jeffrey 66-0-0 peg 10
5. Mike Jones 64-10-0 peg 8
6. Norman Huggett 47-05-0 peg 5

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Richolls 19-0-0 peg 7
2. Andy Smith 8-050 peg 12 (Sapphire)

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 05/02/2015 - Veals/Bathampton AA Silvers Championship - Round Two - Bridge Pool

Glenn Bailey and I had a walk around the various pools at Huntstrete yesterday, for two purposes. Firstly, to see how fishable Bridge Pool was due to the ice covering. Secondly, to encourage Glenn to buy a BAA membership. There was a couple of pleasure anglers there who had earlier broken the ice but by the time they got their gear out it had re-frozen. I explained this to Mike Jones who said John Fry (BAA Bailiff) was going to visit the complex later to decide whether it was fishable or otherwise. As I had not heard to the contrary I arrived at the venue, the match was on.

With thick ice I didn’t want to draw peg 25 which is set well back so it would have taken Jeff Capes to throw a shot far enough. In fact I didn’t want to draw this section again as history tells us that when this area is iced over it can be blanking country!

I was hoping to draw peg 32 (change of heart). This was because of the Bream that has been moved from the Main Lake. My thinking was that these fish lived and fed in 3 to 5 foot of water and with Bridge being generally much deeper their swim bladder would take them to the shallower parts of the Pool – higher and lower peg numbers. I think my theory proved correct

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 21. Umm, the exact section I didn’t want, but one of the better pegs in the section.

Arriving at the peg and having a couple of swings on my ice breaker – a 4lb Lump Hammer (pictured upper right) I realised because of issues with my Rotor Cuff I would only managed to clear enough ice to put a keep net in the water. I did have offers from a couple of very kind anglers – Tony Rixon and Dave Gillard, two anglers you would choose to shot put for you. Luckily matey Dave Wride on the next peg helped me with half his wheel barrow on a piece of rope (action shot pictured right). The further out Dave went the thicker the ice it was 1 inch thick (pictured right – the North east winds blow into this area). We managed to clear to 5 ½ metres – enough for me!!

I started by kindering a knub of GB laced with Pinkie and with Pinkie on the hook I landed a 8oz Skimmer second put in. Within thirty minutes I had three Skimmers and three Ronnie’s – good start. The peg then died. By halfway I hadn’t had another bite. However there were three anglers in the section to still have a bite!!

My body joints started to seize up so I went for a wander. Many were struggling but some were catching big fish with Mike Jones estimated to have four fish for 17lb, plus fish topping in these pegs.

Reluctantly back to my purgatory where I could only add another two Ronnie’s. It didn’t seem to matter what or how I fed the result was the same!! I was laying section second until on the Whistle Paul Barnes landed a big Skimmer – bugger.

I weighed 2lb 10oz for third in section – about right.

The match was won by Mike Jones (pictured right - my pile of shiny ice seen over Mikes shoulder) with 25lb 7oz from peg 31. Mike caught short on his favoured Diawa whip. Mike caught over laced up GB using maggot hook bait. Mikes catch included a 5lb 11oz Tench and a 5lb 1oz Bream.

Finally, Glenn was impressed enough to join BAA.

 Full Result:

1. Mike Jones 25-07-0 peg 31
2. Ade Crawley 17-04-0 peg 32
3. Tony Rixon 15-07-0 peg 30
4. Bob Price 14-11-0 peg 13
5. Pete Greenslade 12-13-0 peg 7
6. Gary Sage 12-13-0 peg 13

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 01/02/2015 - Viaduct Winter League - Round Two - Campbell, Cary, Lodge, Match and Spring Lakes

Bela and I were the first to arrive a Canards Well with Bela first to the buffet. Mark Poppleton arrived shortly after and was horrified to see “Two Chews” Bela ahead of him, obviously worried that there would be nothing left for him. Luckily Bela left sufficient.

After a good start in the first match the team was hoping for another good draw, plus we had super sub Tim Ford standing in for Steve Skelton who was climbing in the Lake District.

Bela came back with the draw – not too bad I thought but who can tell this time of year especially with the temperatures being up and down. As it was my turn on Spring Lake I found myself on peg 19 I was happy with this as historically it has held plenty of Skimmers plus the chance of a Carp over to the end of the island. However, I did have the icy North wind blowing into my face albeit the island giving some shelter.

I decided to set up just three rods – a Carp straight lead rig for over to the island with either bread or corn hook baits, a Silver feeder for Skimmers and finally a waggler. No pole!!

For team sake I started on the straight lead with three pieces of 10mm punched bread slung tight to the island. It sat three for ten minutes. I started to loose feed casters at ¾ distance (as far as the wind would permit). Straight away I got liners. I recast the lead but with double corn this time and again after loose feeding caster I got liners and had a pull round sufficient to strike at and foul hooked a Carp some distance from where I had cast. It didn’t take long for us to part company.

I realised that my reel line must be at about half depth where I was feeding the caster which was attracting the Carp, so I immediately picked up the waggler and with double caster cast it at three quarters loose feeding over the top. I did have one indication but it was a question of after the “Carp” had bolted. That was it after trying the straight lead, Silvers feeder and the waggler I arrived at halfway without a fish. So I decided to set up a 4x14 Jolly to be fished at 11.5 metres, at the same time Dave Romain who also was blanking on next peg 20 went off to the shop for some maggots both of us hoping to save a blank.

I fed some GB laced with Pinkie and with dead red on the hook I had 29 Ronnie’s in 29 put in’s plus a 1lb Skimmer. The sun then made an appearance which totally killed the swim. I decided to stay with the pole until the end adding a couple more 1oz Ronnie’s.

I ended the match with 2lb 11oz for a meagre 6 points. Where are all the Skimmers that use to live on these teen pegs?

I do admire the angler that can sit all match on the lead for two bites and two Carp for good team points – unfortunately, something I just haven’t the mentally to do.

The team didn't fair well with 36 points and Bela blanking, our decline has started!

The match was won by Nicky Ewers (pictured right) with 141lb 2oz from peg 86. Nicky caught on the straight lead casting long with either meat or maggot hook bait. The Carp are tightly packed as proven by the angler each side of Nicky – a blank and a 7lb!!

The Silvers was won by Clint Wojtyle (pictured lower right) with 17lb 15oz from Middle peg 37. Clint caught at 13 metres down to the tree on the left catching big Skimmers and Perch on caster fished over GB laced with caster and maggots.

Finally on the way home Bela and I stopped in Shepton Mallet’s Winstones chip shop for a sit down dinner. Bela went for 8oz burger and fries plus a stack of onion rings that were at least 12 inches high. It was a first today for me, to witness Bela not devouring all his dinner, leaving 3 inches of onion rings – hope he’s not coming down with something.

Full Result:

1. Nicky Ewers 141-02-0 peg 86
2. Gary O’Shea 127-03-0 peg 119
3. Ron Hardiman 70-12-0 peg 90
4. John Howell 67-09-0 peg 96
5. Adrian Jefferies 67-03-0 peg 115
6. Lewis Greenwood 59-04-0 peg 127

Top Silvers:

1. Clint Wojtyle 17-15-0 peg 37
2. A Crocker 14-08-0 peg 2
3. Des Shipp 9-09-0 peg 3