Thursday 28/04/2016 - Bitterwell Open

I am always looking for a local match to support so decided to fish the Bitterwell Thursday match. However, having had a look round on the Tuesday Silvers match I was wondering if I made the right decision, it was fishing hard Apparently there has been a spill of what smelt like diesel oil which entered the Lake from the far end inlet. The EA thought it to be heating oil. That said today there was little sign of it on the water surface, but I could still smell it.

I HATE this weather especially the wind, an overnight sharp frost followed by a very bitter cold gusting NW wind.

Good turn out with 16 booked in including Des Shipp who often returns to his roots to pick up a few more tips from the Coffin Dodgers. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 21. Usually a good peg, but I didn’t fancy it a bit because the wind was howling in to the peg. For company I had John Smith on peg 20 and Paul “Happy” Haines on peg 22. All of us were to get blasted all day.

As always on this venue I fish for the Silvers so I set up the pole with 4x16 Jolly at 10 metres where I found four foot of water. I ran it through a few times but presentation was all but impossible with the float going with the wind and on the odd occasion I could hold back the float was laying up at 45 degrees. It was fortuitous that I brought the Normark No1 feeder rod which hasn’t see daylight for a good few years which was resurrected and a new hook length blood knotted on to the main maxima main line.

I fed a ball of GB laced with red maggot on the pole line which accounted for four tiny Skimmers, there were plenty of tiny Skimmers there but I got frustrated by the wind, especially when other anglers are fishing in relative calm water with the wind off their backs. The upshot was I tried fishing a small feeder tight over the pole line with double red maggot and GB  laced with maggot. On hindsight I might have done better if I had laced the GB with micro pellet. I caught around twenty tiny Skimmers for a total of 5lb 5oz. Due to the wind wanging the tip around I missed loads of bites, twice both maggots gone and once the maggots were smashed right up, just seeing the tell end of all these bites. I must admit I was glad when the whistle went. I now feel as if I haven’t been fishing due to not being able to use the pole. It was also notable that hardly any Roach were caught.

The match was won by Des Shipp (pictured right with his Carp catch - wouldn’t have bet on that one) with 55lb 9oz from peg 29. Des explains how he caught in the short video below.

The Silvers was won by Dave Farnham (pictured right with his catch of Bream) with 15lb 14oz from peg 24. Dave caught on the method feeder with micro and double red maggot hook bait.

Full Result:

1. Des Shipp 55-09-0 peg 29
2. Dave Farnham 44-13-0 peg 24
3. Paul Haines 19-15-0 peg 22
4. Marcus Murley 16-0-0 peg 4

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Farnham 15-14-0 peg 24
2. Des Shipp 8-07-0 peg 29

Weigh Sheet:

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Thursday 21/04/2016 - Harescombe Fishery - Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Today is my first attempt at a video blog. Unfortunately, Google limits videos to 100MB so a lot of compression at the determent of quality.

The first part is me stood on the dam at the far end looking up the Lake – sound not that good.

The second part is me trying to explain how my day went – Not easy sat in front of a camera.

The third part is the winners weigh in.

The fourth part is Terry explaining how he fished the match from flyer peg 2 (no peg 1, 30 0r 29 were pegged!!).

Full Result:

1. Terry G 70-14-0 peg 2
2. Stewart Graham 34-09-0 peg 7
3. Mike Nicholls 33-15-0 peg 14
4. Steve 31-05-0 peg 6
5. Ralph Hillier 31-04-0 peg 15
6. Rich Powell 29-09-0 peg 22

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 17/04/2016 - Windmill Fishery Open - Match Lake

Hopefully today was the last frost until next winter. The frost did herald a bright sunny day with little wind which is unusual on this venue. However, when the sun disappeared behind the fluffy clouds the light skimming wind was a bit nippy.

I Breakfasted with Geoff Francis in the Beefeater – scrummy.

Only thirteen were fishing today due to a few being away on holiday down at the Sedges Fishery. With 32 pegs on the Lake there was plenty of room for us. We were all surprised how coloured the water was – not sure why.

In to the draw box and out came peg 22. Happy with this as it’s one of the better Silvers pegs. I set up the usual Ronnie rig followed by a 4x14 Jolly to fish in the margin over the Ronnie line where surprising there was 3 ½ foot of water. I also set up the pole to its full 13 metre length where I also found 3 ½ foot of water the so Jolly would do both lines. In between theses two lines at approximately midway I had 9 ½ foot.

The upshot was that I stayed on the Ronnie rig all match catching small Silvers with a couple of nice Crucian’s to 1 ½ lb. All caught on single live maggot fished over GB laced with a few maggot. I did snare one accidental 8lb 8oz Mirror Carp. My Silvers weighed 19lb (pictured right). I had a very enjoyable day.

The match was won by Shaun Townsend (pictured right with some of his catch) with 113lb 10oz from peg 22. Halfway through the match Shaun lassoed the peg post and had to call out Captain Pugwash to retrieve his rig. The video atb the bottom of the page shows Pugwash and subsequently Shaun explaining how he won the match.

Full Result:

1. Shaun Townsend 113-10-0 peg 22
2. Gerry Walsh 61-14-0 Golden peg 18
3. Kevin Jefferies 56-09-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 19-0-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheet (Those not on the sheet DNW’d):

Thursday 14/04/2016 - Harescombe Cost Cutter - Match Lake

It was only my second visit this year to Harescombe Fishery but will be back again soon. A nice breakfast was soon devoured cooked by affable Andy Price. Andy had closed Field Lake in case the turn out exceeded the pegs on Match Lake. Luckily we had 20 anglers booked in so all on the Match Lake which has 27 useable pegs. Personally I don’t think Field Lake should be used until more than 27 anglers are fishing.

Into the draw bag and out comes aluminium disk peg 12. Having looked around before the draw I did fancy the far end, the question was, is peg 12 far enough up? I did have anglers both sides so I wasn’t sure about the margin as the left side had a land slip, but the other side had some cover but both sides were fairly flat to about one metre out from the bank which doesn’t help presentation.

Choose the RH side for the 4x10 Yoof and the top-set plus two for the 4x14 Jolly in four foot of water. Because I had doubts about the inside I also plumbed up over to the island at 13 metres using the same rig as the margin but adding about three inches, marking both depths with the black marker above and below the float on the G-Line.

I started on the Jolly with semi-hards over kindered pellet. I started well catching five F1’s in about the same number of put-ins. I then had a Skimmer so re-fed, had a couple more F1’s then it went dead getting un-hittable bites from the small fish. I had a quick look in the margin with pellet over the loose feed I had been dribbling in since the start which resulted in a good size F1. I felt it was a bit too early for the margin so fed the 13 metre line with a small pot of pellet/meat mix which resulted in a fish a bung with 6mm meat hook bait for about 30 minutes with most of the time shipping in and playing the F1’s out. This swim went quiet so re-fed which resulted in five lost F1’s on the trot – were they fouled or lightly hooked – I don’t know and never will. The next two middle hours were hard, slowly adding the odd F1 from 13 meters and the RH margin. I started to catch better on the 13 metre line until a horrendous thunder storm arrived complete with hell stones as big as my semi-hards. The thunder/lightening was overhead so I quickly abandoned the long pole and switched to the margin where the fish had switched on. I reckon I added 25lb in the last 45 minutes.

I finished the match (5 hours) with 76lb 11oz for third overall. I was content with this considering the peg and with anglers both sides. But I felt could have done better. I lost the biggest F1 I have seen at this fishery some where between 3 and 4lb which after a decent battle I got it in the landing net for it to bloody jump out and escape – fair play to the fish.

It was another enjoyable day at this fishery – except for the storm.

The match was won by Martin Hook who found himself on peg 17 and made the most of having an empty peg to his right and three empty pegs to his left. See the video below where Martin explains how he caught.

Full Result:

1. Martin Hook 95-04-0 peg 17
2. Ken Rayner 81-10-0 peg 19
3. Mike Nicholls 76-11-0 peg 12
4. Lee Waller 74-09-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 10/04/2016 - Windmill Open - Match Lake

I had breakfast with Bela, Joe and Tim at the Beefeater. The weather forecast wasn’t good for this fishery with high winds up to 20 mph, anything above 14 mph makes fishing difficult on the venue. However, that didn’t prevent a good turn out with 17 fishing.

In to the draw box and out comes peg 29 – Happy with this.

Whist setting up Bob “Medium Slice” Price foul hooked a Carp on peg 32 – so a few in his swim then. See short video below.

I started at top-set plus one with the 4x18 Jolly, 6 inches up the inside shelf with 4mm semi-hard on the hook. As usual it takes a while to get the fish interested. The rig was tripping nicely against the wind. The first fish a 3oz Skimmer with another six quickly followed. I then started to loose feed micro which resulted in a 6oz Carp and a fouler which came off. I went back to potting the feed pellet. I had another run of small Skimmers; the swim went quiet resulting in a 7lb Mirror reaching the landing net. In again and after a longish wait I foul hooked a better Carp which I pulled out of. An hour gone so re-fed micro and tried the margin with triple maggot over the earlier potted maggot. It wasn’t long before I had another decent Carp. Re-red with maggot and tried the Jolly line again with the semi-hard finding the swim had really slowed in conjunction with the wind picking up and the presentation deteriorating, with the rig stuttering along with the wind. I decided to abandon this line to focus on the margin swim with my 4x10 Drennan wire stem chop and triple maggot. The upshot was it was a bit of a waiting game landing a total of eight Carp with one weighing about 1lb. The other seven were a decent size. At no time was it fanatic to say the least. I fed about 1/4 pint of live reds and similar amount of pellet.

My few Silvers weighed 4lb 4oz and my Carp bag 49lb for a total of 53lb 4oz for second overall – again!

The match was won by Nick Saunders (pictured right) with 66lb 4oz from peg 16. Nick caught down to the end margin with 6mm meat hook bait fished over 6mm meat.

The Silvers was won by Bill Ferries (pictured lower right with his catch) with 9lb 8oz from peg 2. Bill caught on his top-set with single maggot fished over GB laced with maggot.

Full Result:

1. Nick Saunders 66-04-0 peg 16
2. Mike Nicholls 53-04-0 peg 28
3. Bob Price 44-08-0 peg 32
4. John Clark 37-03-0 peg 17

Top Silvers:

1. Bill Ferris 9-08-0 peg 2
2. Dave Haines 5-06-0 peg 23

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 07/04/2016 - Coffin Dodgers Silvers League - Final Round Eight - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake

Held up going along the access road by Fishery Manager on a power roller repairing the road. Well done matey, about time.

Match eight and last of the Silvers series. I must say Ray Beazley has done a great job running the league especially as he faced a fair few anglers packing in the league as it progressed, however, Ray kept the league top-up, which isn’t an easy job. Well done matey – pint behind the bar.

I was my turn in D section which so far has been the best section out of the four. So with me laying second overall and in the knockout final it was a good section to be in. That said I had been watching the weather all week but couldn’t get the wind to change from West to North, East or South as the wind was predicted to be 16 MPH for most of the day, not good for the top two pegs 28 and 27 smack in the face.

Time to draw and up comes peg 28, Yippee end peg. It’s also a good Ronnie peg.

 Arriving at the peg I wasn’t surprised to find the wind blasting into the peg that said I wouldn’t have swopped – just yet! Once again I found myself next to Steve Jefferies (six matches out of eight). I set up a 4x16 Ronnie rig and a 4x18 Jolly to fish at top-set plus one and later top-set plus two.

The down wind margin was fed with GB laced with maggot as was the near out in front swim. I started on the Ronnie rig with single maggot and it was soon obvious the Ronnie’s had shut up shop, caching small Rudd and the odd small Skimmers. The swim went iffy and I hooked and landed 1 ½ pound F1 which didn’t count followed by an 8oz Mirror carp which also had to be returned. Re-fed and tried the Jolly line where I caught a couple of small Skimmers again on single maggot. However, the freezing cold wind was making presentation difficult in 9 ½ foot of water. The upshot was I kept rotating the two rigs catching the odd fish, but was rewarded with three Crucian Carp 4oz, 8oz and 1lb. With both swims being inhabited with carp I put on six inches on the rig adding a third section after feeding some more laced GB I hooked a couple more small Skimmers but the feed soon attracted more Carp landing a 5lb Common just before the whistle.

I was disappointed the Ronnie’s had a no show and the bloody wind spoiling the days fishing. I weighed 7lb 1oz for a narrow section win and second overall but felt cheated by the wind. I also narrowly beat Steve Dawson to win the knockout. So triple payout.

The match was won by Tony Rixon …see the attached video showing how Tony caught his fish and Ray Bazeley doing the final result and payout.

Full Result:

A Section: Tony Rixon 10-13-0 peg 2

A Section: John Barker 4-04-0 peg 4

B Section: Eddie Wynne 4-12-0 peg 6

B Section: Dave Wride 4-0-0 peg 7

C Section: Steve Dawson 6-08-0 peg 22

C Section: Dave Willmott 3-0-0 peg 20

D Section: Mike Nicholls 7-01-0 peg 28

D Section: John Smith 6-02-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheet:

Overall League Result:

Sunday 03/04/2016 - Windmill Fishery Open - Match Lake

Beefeater for breakfast purchased for me by matey Geoff Francis as a belated birthday present – 67 yesterday!!

It was a reasonable turn out with 17 anglers in the role call. In to the wooden box and out comes wooden peg 16 which is the far end, near side corner peg. So with the wind coming from the SSE combined with the high bank behind me I would be well sheltered. All the info was that it was Carp or nothing. Arriving at the peg I was relieved to find the bank reasonably free from mud. The wind was blowing more towards the far bank than mine which was a bit disappointing for targeting Carp.

I set up two rigs, 4x10 Drennan Chop to fish in the margin at top-set plus 4 sections of my margin pole and a 4x16 Jolly to fish just down the inside shelf at top-set plus two out in front. The plan was to fish semi-hards on the Jolly over micro and triple maggot over maggot and micro in the margin.

After I fed the margin I started on the semi-hards, even though presentation was good with the float being neutral against and with the wind I didn’t have any indication for the first 30 minutes, so I tried the margin and had a 10 lb Carp first try. I optimistically re-fed but didn’t have any further indications, so back out on the Jolly and foul hooked a small Carp which escaped the net. After a top up with micro in the kinder pot I had a 2lb Carp losing another foul hooker. Back down the margin and I landed a 4lb Carp followed quickly by yet another foul hooker which snapped the hook!! I kept having a look on the Jolly line but abandoned it for the last two hours to focus on the margin. After foul hooking two more lost Carp taking the tally to five, I started to get frustrated. It was difficult to unship due either the close high bank or when shipping along the bank the saplings that have been planted where hampering me some what, so it meant double unshipping which was preventing the steady playing of the fish. The fish did settle for a while due I think to the wind veering towards me giving some wind cover. Altogether I landed eight Carp until the wind disappeared leaving the swim dead clam for the last 30 minutes and all I could catch was Rudd and Ronnie’s. However, because I was elasticated for the Carp most on these Silvers were being bounced off under the double unshipping method, including a near 12oz Roach. At the time I thought this unimportant but the results proved me wrong!

I think the reason for all the foul hooking was due to the margin swim being flat. It may have been better to have fishing nearer the shelf or just down it. Now in the memory bank for next time.

My few Silvers weighed 9oz and my eight Carp 38lb 14oz for a total of 39lb 7oz for second overall by 5oz!! Umm.

The match was won by Magician Dave Willmott with 39lb 12oz from peg 21. Dave fished at 14.5 metres towards the end of his RH island in two foot of water fishing banded pellet over pellet. Dave did have two Carp on the lead.

Apparently Dave is camera shy as shown in the video below doing a disappearing act - exit stage left, which includes John Barker weighing in his 16lb catch of Silvers from peg 29 briefly explaining how he caught – Ronnie Rig!! Umm where have I heard that before?

Full Result:

1. Dave Willmott 39-12-0 peg 21
2. Mike Nicholls 39-07-0 peg 16
3. Nick Sanders 36-12-0 peg 22
4. Mark Summer 32-13-0 peg 2
5. Dave Haines 31-07-0 peg 8
6. Bob Price 27-04-0 peg 26

Top Silvers:

1. John Barker 16-0-0 peg 29
2. Chris Derrick 12-03-0 peg 10

Weigh Sheets: