27/28/29 July 2016 - Bob Sheppard Three Dayer - Viaduct Fishery - Campbell Lake

Some months back Glenn Bailey and me had an invite from Bob Sheppard to fish his Three Dayer down at Viaduct - 27/28/29 July. We both jumped at the opportunity. It was for me to book accommodation so choose the Unicorn Hotel in Somerton as we both knew the food was good plus a good choice of beers, £80 for two nights B&B each. The rooms were OK but no proper stand up shower. The other down side Two Pots (or is it Two Bellies) has a tendency to play with his tackle in the bed room (pictured right – if you are an untidy angler look away now).

The format was day one Campbell, day two Carey and day tree Campbell. However due to Carey being out of sorts with Algae bloom we were to fish all three on Campbell. The overall result decided on total weight over the three days.

The anglers fishing the series mainly come from Bristol, Southampton, Eastleigh and Isle of Wight

Wednesday 27/07/2016 – Day One:

The Bristol contingent met up in Sally’s café which I haven’t been in for years, good to see nothings changed being served as usual by Sally – proper homely woman.

Arrived at the fishery an hour before the 11 o clock draw, I was surprised to find everyone else all ready there so the draw brought forward 15 minutes. In to the draw coffee tin and out comes peg 124. I had this back in June and hadn’t faired that well with only 112lb. The peg is known to kick up some good Silvers weight, however, no Silvers pool. I set up the two rigs, paste rig to fish top-set plus 4 which when angled just touches the Otter fence and a 4x10 Roob for meat at top-set plus 2. As experience last time on this peg you catch a few mug Carp early then have to wait for later in the match for them to start munching again. Four early Carp on the paste then spent hours messing around with meat for two more Carp. Last hour I could only add another two Carp. I weighed 52lb 14oz for no where.

The match was won by Mark Weldon (pictured right with the runner who was on adjacent peg 115) with 200lb 14oz from peg 116. Mark caught on the straight lead fished at 20 metres using various sizes and combination of hair banded pellet fished over loose fed 8’s. Mark caught steady through out the match.

Back to the Unicorn and couple of pints sunk in double quick time followed by a gut busting carvery (wish I had the OAP – too much meat otherwise)  leaving just enough room for one more pint!

Result:

1. M Weldon 200-14-0 peg 116
2. R Roberts 170- 12-0 peg 115
3. Glenn Bailey 132-13-0 peg 128 (drawn that recently)

 Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 28/07/2016 – Day Two:

Leisurely breakfast at 07:30 and once again everyone had arrived early so again the draw time brought forward. Keeners.

In to the draw coffee tin and out comes peg 130, a bit better than yesterday as the pole has been accounting for a few at this end of the Lake where the aerator is sited. The set-up exactly the same with the catching format slightly better, catching eight decent Carp before the dreaded lull, which coincided with Steve shutting off the Aerator – who knows what goes under beneath. I played around with the meat short to while away the time to no avail whilst watching Ray Hayward (pictured right landing one of his better fish) bag up on peg 132. In the dying moments I added another three decent Carp to 12lb.

I nearly weighed 98lb 13oz but the scales man let the 12 lb Carp slip out back in the drink. It was stunned for a while and nearly netted it back out. My weight reduced to 86lb 13oz for half way.

As we all expected the match was won by Ray Hayward (pictured right with his Catch – Less a one Gull) with 193lb 12oz from peg 135. Ray caught at 13 metres down his right to the empty pallet 136 using hair rig pellet over loose feed. We thought he had much ore than this but surprisingly his carp were small to Campbell standards.

Back to the Unicorn a couple of pints and off to the local Indian – the biggest and best in Somerton.

Result:

1. R Hayward 193-12-0 peg 135
2. B Sheppard 152-09-0 peg 112
3. D Self 146-0-0 peg 127

Weigh Sheet:

Friday 29/07/2016 – Day Three:

Smaller breakfast this morning! Again all the anglers keen to get on with the match (the exception being Bob Sheppard who was still under the influence after fighting a bottle of Vodka to the early hours – pictured right) very early draw with fishing 10 to 4 – interesting. In to the draw Coffee tin and out comes peg 25 – Ugh.

I was offered the loan of a bomb rod but would rather fish the pole in the field behind. Bob Sheppard managed to pour himself into next peg 124 and slowly erected his bomb rod.

Same set-up and similar performance – consistency is key. I hooked two early Carp the first slipping the hook and the other decided to charge off whilst playing it on the top-set when I was preoccupied trying to prevent my pole going in the Lake – Two nil. I then really struggled went for a walk down to “Two Pots” on peg 131 who was also struggling on the paste. Back to the peg and I caught three Carp to 16lb in as many put-ins – sorted – not. Then nothing tried pot feeding heavy to no avail. Meanwhile for some inexplicable reason Bob Sheppard’s hang over disappeared as he caught one a bung on the lead. I thought I would have a try for some Silvers as we know soft pellet doesn’t usually get to the bottom on this venue but thought I would give it a try anyway, so soaked up some expanders. With 4mm expander on the meat rig I shipped out to the long line and the float just sat there – I’m thinking pellet gone so lifted up - pellet still there! Same again float just sat there where were the nuisance Ronnie’s. I then had a 3lb Carp followed by a few small Skimmers and Tench.

 

I weighed 50lb 11oz for no where.

Moody (pictured right) on peg 111 drop his plummet in the lake and went in for it. I didn’t think he find it as I have tried many times in the past.

The match was won by Bob Sheppard (pictured right with his catch) with 201lb 15oz from peg 124. Bob caught on the straight lead fish midway with 8mm hair rigged pellet fished over loose fed 8mm pellet. Bob fed 11 pints throughout the match. Bob caught 34 Carp and one Mallard (see video below on how the Mallard was disqualified because Bob had netting assistance from another angler - Alan Jones - right click to expand video)

Result:

1. B Sheppard 201-15-0 peg 124
2. R Roberts 199-05-0 peg 110
3. G Tappenden168-09-0 peg 116

Weigh Sheet:

Overall Result:

1. R Roberts 541-01-0
2. B Sheppard 483-0-0
3. M Waldon 462-0-0

Full Result will be published once available. Well done the three money earners (pictured right)

Man of the series:

My choice would be Graham “Tappy” Tappenden (pictured right with a typical Campbell Carp). Graham fished three tidy matches catching all his fish on the pole – well done.

I must say the there were some excellent anglers fishing the series and all good company, making some new angling friends over the three days.

My conclusions with regards to the fishing over the three days was unless you were in a feature peg – corners, Spit, 112, 114, 116, 118 etc… you would struggle on the pole whereas the Bomb would do the business. But interestingly those that fished the bomb and did well had fed heavy until the water turned black where they managing to get the Carp competing and feeding on bottom. One thing I didn’t try and wish I had was to blast 8mm pellets over he pole line until it turned black – or not.

Sunday 24/07/2016 - Windmill Fishery Open - Match Lake

It was Beefeater for breakfast with Bela, Geoff and Tim then on to Windmill Fishery. All our nets were put out to dry before the draw.

In to the draw bag and out come wooden counter 13 – unlucky for some. The peg is on the bottom bank which hasn’t been fishing that well recently, so a tad disappointed. However, the optimist was hoping to catch some decent Carp in the last hour or so in the LH margin. The wind was unusually light for this venue but was blowing at me at 11-o-o clock.

I initially set up a 4x16 Jolly to fish the “The Gabe” at top set plus two in five foot of water. A 0.4 gram for top set out in front in three foot of water, plus another paste rig a 0.3 gram Barnett on the top-set for the LH margin in twenty inches of water.

I fed the two paste lines with hard fours and the Jolly line with “the Gabe” mix. I didn’t expect to catch on the paste until the last two hours. Starting on the Gabe with 4mm expander I started catching 3-4oz Skimmers right off. I kept these coming for the first two hours topping up the feed accordingly.

I decided not try the in front paste top-set line and abandoned it. I did however; keep trying the margin with paste and in hindsight wasted far too much time and bait trying to catch Carp which only resulted in one 5lb 8oz Common, so no more on this no hoper. It was back on the tiny Skimmers until two hours to go, when I decided to have a practice with the caster so set up the Ronnie rig with caster over caster. Plenty of tiny Rudd around but very few Ronnie’s but did have the odd tiny Skimmer.

I weighed the one Carp and 16lb 4oz of Silvers for first in the Silver and a poor on the day total of 21lb 12oz (silvers winner pictured right with the match winner sucking on his chemical pipe)

The match was won by Shaun Townsend (pictured right with his some of his catch) with 128lb 8oz from peg 10. Shaun caught short out in front using 8mm meat over cupped 8mm meat and later in his LH margin using meat over meat and pellet combo.

Bela was won out of the money by 2lb but decided to put a 4lb fish back after netting it!!

Full Result:

1. Shaun Townsend 128-08-0 peg 10
2. Tim Ford 98-10-0 peg 6
3. Mark Summerhaze 86-0-0 peg 20
4. Bela Bakos 84-06-0 peg 8
5. Martyn Rayett 82-08-0 peg 25
6. Gerry Walsh 56-07-0 peg 18

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 16-04-0 peg 13
2. Shaun Townsend 10-08-0 peg 10

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 21/07/2016 - Harescombe Fishery - Cost Cutter - Match Lake

It was back to Harescombe and breakfast with the usual suspects, seventeen fishing today – one short of the optimum for the venue.

After the usual ten minute pre-match Pricey ceremony it was into the draw bag and out came peg 17. Very happy with this as it’s an end peg today and on the far bank. For company on peg 18 was newbie Mike Chapman. Whilst we tacked up a sheep nearly fell in the Lake off the bridge, Mike Chapman said we were lucky it didn’t as sheep can’t swim – I didn’t know that.

I predominantly use meat on this venue so I had previously cut up some 6mm spam noticing how hot the tins were due to the recent warm weather finding that the meat was really soft with plenty of grease about (do people actually eat this stuff). It went mushy during cutting – never mind as I was to freeze it. It was duly thawed out on the day of the match and liberally covered with water to aid its non buoyancy. This made it more mushy but hookable plus it looked more enticing for the fish with bits falling off as it sank.

I set up the usually two rigs one in front at full depth and the other in the LH margin, both to be fished on the top-set.

After potting in meat in both swims I started out in front and had a Skimmer first put-in. I started to loose feed the meat over the top and some of the tiny bits of meat were hanging in the surface tension (not much wind today) which the one inch long fry found appetising – finally attracting millions of tiny Roach surrounding my float. By getting the right feeding pattern I started to catch F1’s, but it wasn’t frantic. I kept trying the margin where I had also been loose feeding 6mm meat only to find the meat being snaffled before it hit bottom by Ronnie’s. I kept swapping between the two lines for only the in front line to produce F1’s – plenty of Silvers from the margin though! I then made a mistake expecting to plunder the margin in the last 90 minutes I hooked an early proper Carp and was fooled into staying here to the end only to get thoroughly frustrated by the Ronnie’s. The decision not to stay out on front cost me coin today as I didn't add anything significant during the remainder of my stay in the margin. Plus I must rethink using too soft meat as I think this encouraged the Silvers. Perhaps feeding hard 4’s might have been the way to go in this case.

Halfway through the angler on peg 21 (pictured above right) broke his Diawa pole (yes they do break) and was seen skulking along the island after retrieving it. Everyone was sympathetic! However, he did pick up a tenner for fourth so that will help towards a new number six section.

My Silvers weighed 15lb 4oz and my F1’s 44lb 1oz for a fifth weight of 59lb 5oz.

The match was won by Jason Powell (pictured right with some his catch) with 108lb 7oz from peg 29. Jason caught primarily on the method feeder cast around his peg including the margin. He also caught some on paste.

Runner up was Ray Bazeley (pictured right with his catch) with 88lb 3oz from peg 20. Ray also applied the method feeder fished to the island.

Full Result:

1. Jason Powell 108-07-0 peg 29
2. Ray Bazeley 88-03-0 peg 20
3. Martin Hook 75-02-0 peg 15
4. Paul Haines 64-06-0 peg 21
5. Mike Nicholls 59-05-0 peg 17
6. Roy Lidl 55-07-0 peg 2 (His name is really Liddell but has changed it hoping for discounts – typical Scot)

Weigh Sheet:

Wednesday 20/07.2016 - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake - Shaun Townsend "Just Turn Up" Evening Match

With the temperatures souring time to try the Shaun Townsend “Just turn up” Evening match at the Windmill Fishery. Terry the Fishery Manager had us put out our keep nets before the draw as per Hillview Fishery. Everyone is nervous at the moment due to out breaks of KHV in a number of Midlands fisheries.

It was nice to meet up with Phil Mercer again we reckon that the last time we fished the same match together was on the National Angling Championships on the Witham both fishing for Fry’s AA.

In to the draw bag and out come wooden counter with peg 7 on it. The peg is in open water between the two islands. This didn’t deter me as I can’t reach 95% of the island margins anyway. In any case the wind, as usual, was sever enough to deter the largest of angler!

The draw is at 17:00 with the start at 17:30 so it was amusing to see the other twelve anglers scrabbling to get set up.

Although there was a Silvers pool and because it was an evening match I decided to fish for Carp. I set up two paste rigs one to fish on the top set out in front in  four foot of water, another paste rig for the down wind LH margin in 18” of water.

I thought I would have a bit of an experiment tonight so elected to feed the margin with GB to fish paste over later. I started by potting a half pot of hard 4’s on the longer line!! First put in with paste I had a hard fighting Common Carp – happy days – but that was it as the nibblers arrived to erode the paste hook bait. I started to loose feed hard 4’s over the top which only made things worse. Into the margin early (relatively speaking) and as I half expected it was full of nibblers sat over the GB. It was very bright which wasn’t helping matters. Decision was made to switch to a Ronnie rig which was quickly set up. Luckily I had a pint of one week old caster in the bait bag. Loads of Rudd in the swim but all I was doing is adding ounces to the net whilst waiting for the Carp to come on the feed. I kept feeding the long line with hard fours and maggot, the latter I think worked well as in the last hour or so I had nine more decent Carp to 8lb.

All out 21:30 at which time is was near dark. The pictured above right was taken facing east but that is not the Sun in the picture right but the Moon!!

My few silvers weighed 5lb 8oz (equivalent to one Carp) and my ten Carp 61lb for a total of 66lb 8oz for third and last in the money.

The match was won by Neil Mercer (pictured right with the match runner up) with 114lb from peg 22.Neil caught most of his fish short on his top set using 8mm meat over similar loose feed.

Full Result:

1. Neil Mercer 114-0-0 peg 22
2. Martyn Rayett 93-0-0 peg 5
3. Mike Nicholls 66-08-0 peg 7
4. Joe McMahon 60-13-0 peg 26

Top Silver:

1. Martyn Rayett  11-0-0 peg 5

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 14/07/2016 - Amalgamation Summer League - Round Two - Tockenham Reservior

First stop was Miss Piggy’s for breakfast and a fiver bought a very good one. I was joined by Dave Poole, John Smith, Pete Greenslade and John Osborne who had practiced a far bank leg swim and moaned all through breakfast how bad it fished catching just 2lb. I said he would moan a few on.

Andy Smith had pegged the match the day before only to find someone had taken the pegs out, again, luckily no one was fishing the allocated pegs. Doug Sutton and Dave Poole re-pegged the match length.

Fifteen are fishing today with a couple on holiday and two resignations! Sections reduced from three to two today, everyone was hoping for a low number draw to be out of the leg. Andy had put all 24 pegs in the box and it took me four dips before I got a match length peg which was unlucky for some peg 13. However I was just about first out of the leg. For company I had on peg 14 Hughie Evans and on peg 12 John Osborne. 

I set up a 4x16 Jolly to fish at 10 metres with expanders over wetted micro in 7 foot of water, a Ronnie rig for caster over caster and a 4 metre whip again for Ronnie’s up in the water. As back up I set of the Normark no 1 Feeder.

I started by feeding a ball of GB at 4 metres laced with caters for the Ronnie’s, followed by a big pot of micro at 10 metres. I started with 4mm expander and expecting an immediate bite – but nothing. I came over the caster line with single caster and again no bites. Thirty minutes gone and biteless. So I picked up the feeder and after some deliberation decided against caster and maggot approach instead going for 6mm expander hook bait with GB and wetted micro in the feeder. First cast the bait hadn’t reach bottom when a very willing 4oz Skimmer took the bait. I had a good thirty minutes catching these small Skimmers. Up to the penultimate hour I kept having bursts of Skimmers. In between I kept trying the pole and Ronnie rig which proved to be a complete waste of time I couldn’t believe I didn’t have a bite on anything other than the feeder. One fish in hour five and nothing in hour six cost me a higher placing. But no Carp today The Roach were noticeable by their absence.

My Skimmers weighed 16lb 10oz for fifth overall and a section pick-up by double default.

The match was won by John Smith (pictured above centre with runner up John Osborne) with an amazing weight of 46lb 12oz especially considering it generally fished so poor. John was on peg 10 and fished the feeder with GB laced with caster with triple red maggot on the hook.

Full Result:

1. John Smith 46-12-0 peg 10
2. John Osborne 19-0-0 peg 12
3. Steve Jefferies 18-08-0 peg 8
4. Mark Bellringer 17-0-0 peg 2
5. Mike Nicholls 16-10-0 peg 13
6. Bob Black 12-0-0 peg 11

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 11/07/2016 - Tony Rixon's Short Pole League - Round Two - Chiltern Trinity - Woodlands

It was the usual breakfast stop at the Hilltops café for Trev and me, quite a few there with matches on the Huntspill and Sedges.

Arriving at the fishery I had a walk around and noticed that a lot of maintenance work has been done to the Lake. Peg 15 and 6 had been cleared with a digger, most swims having a hair cut – good job.

I had a chat with Emma Drysdale who yesterday had fished the Ladies Fish o Mania. I was amazed to find out that they didn’t draw for pegs but were placed with the end pegs being favoured. Emma was in the middle. What’s all that about doesn’t seem fair to me.

Tony announced the pairing for the knockout and I had been drawn with Somerset’s best Mike West.

In to the draw box and out comes peg 6. Happy with this as I have won from it the two times I have fished it, from under the tree on the RH side, which was no longer there. The digger had been to work as the pictures right show. Now my biggest mistake of the day was to think that the digger would have

pretty well have cleared out roots and snags. The platform is enormous (pictured right) and with it being a short pole match had to decide which side to fish, obviously the right side was chosen. I plumbed around and couldn’t really find any significant snags. For company I had Blogger Chris Fox on peg 7 and Two Pots round the corner on peg 3.

Three rigs – Ronnie rig which didn’t get a serious outing. A 0.3 gram Barnett paste float for the margin in 3 foot of water at top-set plus 2 ½ sections and a PC 0.4 gram set to 7 foot again for paste at top-set plus one.

I fed the margin with hard 4’s and the deep peg with a large pot of wetted micro, it was soon fizzing like crazy, so this is where I started. First put in I had a bite and struck and didn’t connect with it until half depth. Sure to be foul hooked then, amazingly it wasn’t and after a battle trying to keep it from getting under he platform I netted a beautiful scale perfect double Common Carp. Next put in the same happened and another perfect Common in the net. Fizz had declined so re-fed and the fizz returned. Hooked another Common Carp soon after but this time in the normal way, I had to tap dance around the huge platform a couple of times trying to retrieving it from under the platform twice! Alas the hook pulled due to all this pressure. I re-fed but the fizz had seriously reduced missing one further bite. In to the margin where I had kept up the feeding of hard 4’s, I was soon playing my first margin munter which snagged me but managed to persuade it out and after another tap dance around the platform I lost it around one of the legs – bugger. Things got worse and the next one went into a snag loosing the complete rig. I plumbed around again choosing another margin swim. I did this two more times before I actually found a safe heaven for my rig. However, it cost me, losing eight Carp either in a snag or under the bloody platform. The safe haven produced another four Carp and one Tench before the all out.

 

My Carp weighed 44lb 10 oz and my lonely Tench 3lb 1oz for a total of 47lb 11oz. What was so frustrating for me because I had enough fish on the hook to make the frame and pick up some coin. Whilst waiting for the scales I decided to get my hooked cutter out and clear the swim which I managed to do. If only I did this before hand!!

Two solaces I got through the knockout and I gave Bela and Two Pots a right laugh with my Silverfox platform dance. Had some stick on the way home from Trev.

A full elastic check in the morning suspect some serious dmage.

The match was won by Tom Mangnall (pictured right) with 101lb 80z from peg 17. Tom initially caught shallow at full length with meat hook bait then later plundered his RH margin up to empty platform 16 fish 8mm pellet over 8mm feed.

 

The Silvers was won by Martyn McMahon (pictured right) from peg 24 with 15lb 12oz of Ronnie’s and Rudd all caught short on caster.

Full Result:

1. Tom Mangnall 101-08-0 peg 17
2. Clayton Hudson 96-01-0 peg 26
3. Joe McMahon  77-0-0 peg 13
4. Glenn Bailey 76-05-0 peg 3
5. Martyn Rayett 75-07-0 Peg 10
6. Tony Rixon 75-03-0 peg 15

Top Silvers:

1. Martyn McMahon 15-12-0 peg 24
2. Paul Blake 10-05-0 peg 32

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 07/07/2016 - Bathampton AA Over 55's and Disabled - Dave Crookes Fishery - Bridge Pool

It was another visit to the Dave Crookes Fishery on Bridge Pool with the Coffin Dodgers. However, this match Carp will count, BUT all Carp over 5lb would be transferred to Withy Pool. No democracy here as most of the club anglers and Coffin Dodgers that fish Bridge Pool want the Carp to remain.

Finally I managed to get my mitts in to the travelling draw bag being driven around by Ray Bazeley and I pull disc 26. I was reasonably happy with the peg as it has fond memories for me. For company I had “Laid Back” Norris on peg 24 and the nicest Bailiff around Mike Taylor on peg 27.

Three rigs – A 4x16 jolly to fish at top-set plus two out in front in seven foot of water  and six inches off around to the left at 90 degrees at top-set plus three sections, a Ronnie rig for the caster and finally a Barnett 0.3 Paste rig for each side margin on the top set.

The water was still and very clear compared to other fisheries I had fished recently.

I fed four big balls of neat GB on the in front line and two balls around to the left.  By the time I picked up the Jolly rig both lines were fizzing like mad. Started out in front with double maggot on the hook and – nothing no liners – nothing. Then I had a 1lb Skimmer – then nothing. Switched around to the left swim for a look see and a 3lb Skimmer straight away – that’s better – not. I had nothing more, other than three tiny Skimmers that took an age to take the bait. So switched to the Ronnie rig where I had been loose feeding caster and I hooked a Carp first try which ended in tears and a trashed rig. Bugger it, Carp day it was to be then. So switched to the paste fished over loose fed hard 4’s and caught eight Carp steady from both margins through the remaining five hours to 14 pounds.

My few Silvers weighed 4lb 14oz and my eight Carp 70lb 8oz (some of them pictured right) for a match winning total of 75lb 5oz. I was surprised by the absence of the Roach which I put down to the lack of oxygen.

The Silvers was won matey Steve Dawson (pictured right with the match winner) with 25lb 13 oz from peg 29. Steve started deep on the soft pellet which accounted for a few decent Skimmers. In the meantime Steve feed the fish up in the water with maggot and for the remaining five hours caught small fish regularly combined the occasional decent Skimmer.


The BAA club Committee were at hand at the weigh-in to transfer the Carp to Withy so it wasn’t a question of “Au Revoir“ but so long it was good to know you. Sad day for me – strange fishery management.

Full Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 75-05-0 peg 26
2. Rich Coles 52-12-0 peg 4
3. Steve Dawson 39-01-0 peg 29

Top Silvers:

1. Steve Dawson 25-13-0 peg 29
2. Chris Ollis 25-04-0 peg 8
3. Paul Barnfield 25-0-0 peg 11

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 05/07/2016 - Acorn Open - Paddocks

With son Steve off to Menorca with the family I had the day off from picking the twins up. So I teamed up with matey Glenn Bailey for my second visit in one year. The last time I came I was left thinking I was unlucky on the draw bag. So I left it later into the draw bag and out comes peg 16. No emotion as I had no idea. For company on peg 18 I had Merv Sivell who I haven’t seen for a few years. Nice to see him again as we always have a bit of banter. On the other side peg 15 I had Welshman Steve Shaw. First time I have fished next to him nice mucker I recommend it.

I am not going to bore myself again today with writing about the first five hours which produced two Carp and a few Nemo’s from the far bank with either paste or maggot. I came to the conclusion that fishing over is a waste of time – for me and my neighbours we were also struggling. I went into practice mode setting up allsorts.

Steve Shaw had feed some GB halfway between us but whilst he had his back turned fishing the other way there was Carp tails waving at me. Should I tell him or drop in myself I did neither, instead I had a Banana walk down to Two Pots who was on peg 9 to see if I could scrounge some GB. Alas he kept all of his 2Kg. Back to my peg and I farted about some more and with two hours to go Steve Shaw started to bag down his RH margin on maggot/GB feeding five pints of red maggot. Nonetheless he had a couple of pints left which he bequeathed to me. But it wasn’t until the last hour that I started to catch down to pallet 17 feeding wetted paste as GB substitute and maggot. Initially I was foul hooking Carp on a bunch of maggots on a 4x10 Yoof. I shallowed up 4 inches off bottom and had a good run with the Carp ripping the elastic out, two much too late. I did learn a bit today but I don’t know when I will be there next by which time I guess things will change.

There is always a first time! Two sets of brand new digital scales were being used for the weigh in. By the time one set of scales got to Vince Brown on peg 21 there was some debate as to whether the scales were reading correctly. Vince pulled out his small Carp net where I estimated at least 10lb, the scales recorded 7lb!! We tested the scales against the other set and found that they were reading 25/30% less!! On inspection the scales hook was loose. The decision was made to spilt the match into two sections one with the dodgy scales and the other with the correct scales. The overall results contain some, let’s say estimation.

I weighed a miserable 37lb 15oz with the peg worth double this with hindsight.

The match was won by Gabe Skarba (pictured above right with some of his catch) with 134-09-0 from peg 1. Gabe caught on soft pellet over to the far bank over wetted micro and later on soft pellet over GB in his margins.

Full Resultish:

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 03/07/2016 - Tony Rixon's Float Only - Round Three - Landsend Fishery - Specimen, Match and John Walters Lakes

Bela was a bit miffed about comments - lets say about his body size - made by some of the PSV anglers regarding the photo I took of him at Windmill Fishery. Since then Bela has been on a liquid only diet (Bela thinks draft Vodka is calorie free) and has ask me to post the picture right of his new body. Now please no comments such as "why is he so red" or "Where's his body hair" or "Why is he so shiny, is that baby lotions", otherwise he may get upset again and have to breathe out!

And finally Bela would now like to be referred to as Trev.

So first solids for some weeks for Bela - one of Diana's superb breakfasts. I even went for the large.

I was still in the league knock out and drew Shaun Townsend, beatable if he drew worse than me.

I didn’t mind where I drew today as long as it wasn’t Specimen Lake because the Carp have been educated to live and feed during the day over to the island at 16/17 metres further in some cases. If I were to draw Specimen then one of the four corners would be best as I can usually get close enough with the 13 meters. My preference would be the John Walters Lake (Third Lake) so arriving at the draw tin I guessed the Third Lake would be either at the top or bottom but thought I also risked Specimen Lake, so I went deep and peg drew peg 31 on Specimen Lake, a match winning peg if you are able to thrash 16 ½ metres around for six hours. I have stopped taking 17 metres as I know I might be tempted to try and use it only to regret it next day, as would have been the case today.

For company I had Chris Fox on end peg 32 and somewhere in the dense undergrowth to my left on peg 29 was Dave Evans. At last some dry warmer weather which I was going to enjoy with the surrounding wild life that live on the moors. Alas the fishery neighbour decided to do some serious work on his garden with a chain saw and strimmer for most of the day which was bloody annoying. I couldn’t quite decide which was the worse, the chain saw or Chris Fox continual moaning. We often hear that someone “moaned” a fish on, but for sure Chris moans them off.

As anticipated there were plenty of Carp tight over to the far end island corner. The plan was over the next three hours entice them to 13 metres to my waiting paste by heavy regular feeding of hard 4’s. In the meantime I would fish at 10 metres with the 4x14 Jolly feeding lightly for F1’s and anything else that might be interested in 2mm feed pellet and a 4mm semi-hard hook bait. In case I got bored I set up the Ronnie rig for caster over caster. Finally a 0.3 gram Barnett paste rig for down at 10 metres to platform 30.

I started at 10 metres but soon realised the day was going to be difficult due to the Ronnie’s liking the semi-hard. No fizz or any other signs of fish. So I kept feeding the two paste lines whilst I would play the Ronnie’s at there own game with the caster. I had a good 30 minutes catching Ronnie’s and Perch to 8oz. I even started to do the maths 7lb x 2 = 14lb per hour x 5 = 70lb!! That put the dampers on it I then struggled for the odd fish thinking perhaps a Carp had invaded, but not, it was the fact that the sun had come out and with flat calm conditions the Silvers shied away. So tried the 4x14 Jolly again as the 4mm might now stay on long enough to catch something bigger but it wasn’t to be as the float just sat there. Some fizz had started on the 13 meter line so in went the paste and I had my first Carp, well nearly a 10 pounder which came off at the net – lightly hooked I guessed. More and more feed (beginning to feel a bit “Two Pottish”) some more fizz and my first Carp and an 8 ponder in the net. I thought I had now tempted the Carp from their jungle, but not, as I was soon pestered by small fish nibbling the paste even though I kept feeding. I then spied a tail waving down on the platform so out went the paste and down went the float and I spent the next 20 minutes playing a near 20lb Common it was touch and go who tired first. Needless to say it didn’t fight much in the landing net. The upshot was I had four more decent fish losing one which may have been foul hooked. I should have gone down their earlier instead of waiting for the invitation.

My Silvers weighed 7lb 7oz and my Carp 47lb 11oz for a total of 55lb 2oz which was just good enough to beat Shaun who was on peg 25, so solace in getting through to the next round at Avalon. Shaun did a fair amount of cage fighting today losing 14 Carp!

The match was won once again by The Trig (pictured above with the Silvers winner) with 206lb 6oz from peg 19. The Trig caught at 16 metres ver to the corner of the island using pellet over pellet. As he said he caught enough to be first, second and third – again.

The Silvers was won by Alan Oram from peg 6 with 35lb 10oz of mainly Skimmers caught on various baits but kept a few extras coming using worm over sloppy GB.

The Match Lake was the place to draw today as the results show.

Full Result:

1. Craig Edmonds 206-06-0 peg 19
2. Neil Mercer 144-04-0 peg 1
3. Paul Elmes 127-11-0 peg 18
4. Joe Mc Mahon 126-03-0 peg 11
5. Tony Rixon 113-05-0 peg 24
6. Steve Tucker 108-13-0 peg 16

Top Silvers:

1. Alan Oram 35-10-0 peg 6
2. Ken Rayner 28-10-0 peg 21
3. Matt Tomes 26-06-0 peg 7

Weigh Sheets: