Looking forward to today's match however, it did mean missing my Granddaughters 13th Birthday, I wasn't popular. Bela and I stopped in Lilypool for breakfast but had a short wait until 08:00 for them to open! Joined by Martin Rayet and The Yorkie Bar Kid who both were off to Avalon Silvers League.
The weather forecast was for high winds and persistent rain all day, which proved the case.
Second into the draw Coffee tin and out comes peg 20 on Spring. I must admit I was surprised it was in. Plenty of comments in this regard, however, you never know - keep positive. The only chance of coin from this peg would be a section win, but that was extremely unlikely unless I could catch Ronnies on caster all match. For company I had Steve Rolfe who reminded me that we always struggle when next to each other - both accusing the other of being the jinx.
I automatically set up a waggler which sat in the rain all day as I was unable to decide where to fish it - down the leg - Carp! or out in front which any distance was cut off by peg 24. My banker was the Ronnie rig and a 4x12 Winter Titan to fish at top-set plus four barrels out in front.
I fed the long line with GB laced with DR's and fingers crossed I could catch on the caster and Ronnie rig with single caster. After 15 minutes and one micro Roach the writing was on the wall - the Ronnies weren't feeding - expecting last in section. I switched to the long line with double DR and landed a 12 lb Common Carp first put in (one of four). I then started to catch micro Roach and tiny Skimmers on this line with some falling off so switch the Ronnie line to a short GB and DR's line catching the same small fish but more finding the net. I decided to feed the long line heavily with GB and persevered with the small Ronnies until it settled, it wasn't long before I was over it because the Motherless arrived. I did have three better Skimmers over this line but it was short lived and soon back to the micro Ronnies.
I weighed 11 lb 6 z for last in what proved to be a very close section. I'm not sure what else I could have done. I thought about the feeder which would have been a short chuck or sit on the corn and waggler all day which may have resulted in nothing. Still I enjoyed it especially when I heard Bela had got in the main frame. - Well done matey.
The match was won by Des Shipp (pictured) from the peg 102 that won the Silver League the week before with 50 lb 12 oz. Des caught at 13 metres using DR's on the hook over GB laced with DR's.
The best part of the day was stopping in Winstones on the way back for sit down fish and chips - very nice washed down with a couple of glasses of red.
Result:
1. Des Shipp 50-12-0 peg 102
2. Stu White 44-13-0 peg 130
3. Gabe Skarba 37-02-0 peg 11
4. Pete Ziemniak 32-03-0 peg 96
5. Bela Bakos 28-08-0 peg 77
6. Craig Edmonds 29-01-0 peg 105
Weigh Sheets:
Great to have Dave Gillard back among the Dodgers (pictured right), and two stone lighter - I'm guessing not for long. Geoff and I arrived in plenty of time for our walk around the Lake. I have to say it's the clearest I have ever seen it, I put it down to the amount of Siltex that gets put in every year. Geoff said he didn't fancy any of the pegs. I fancied pegs 17, 21 or 24. I came back from the walk with my fishing mind now in winter mode.
Last into the draw bag and one away from peg 24 which went to organiser Ken Morgan, peg 31 was left for me!! So three times on 30 now peg 31 - the Silver fishing has not been good all year down this end, however, I did have two empty pegs below me which can only be positive.
I set up a Ronnie rig but due to the clarity of the water close in I didn't really expect this to work and did only account for a 1 oz Perch. The other rig was a 4x16 Winter Titan which I chose to fish at 10 metres out in front. I have found some more hard 4's which I can soak to a reasonable hookable standard so choose to fish these over a smidgen of micro. The upshot was I caught 4 oz Skimmers steady for half the match, after which I switched to LR's over GB - all on the same line. First try I had a 2 lb Carp, but it kept the odd small Skimmers coming until the end. I did foul hook a few better ones which wanted to sit above the feed and would only take a moving bait. I did have some of the Skimmers we transferred from the Main Lake which was good to see they are already settled and feeding.
My single Carp weighed in at 2 lb 1 oz and my Silvers catch weighed 14 lb or second in the Silvers happy with this especially from this peg. i might have got it nearly right today.
The match was one by Tony Rixon (pictured right with the Silvers winner) who has decided to return to the Brambles now the Pensioners paste is unlikely to be working with 36 lb 6 oz from peg 19. Tony caught on ....see his blog for the finite details.
The Silvers was won by Ken Morgan (pictured right with his catch) with 16 lb 14 oz from peg 24. Ken caught on worm over chopped worm and caster.
John Smith aka Cliff was setting up his waggler which on first cast came off and caused a lot of amusement whilst being blown around various pegs. That was until Tony Rixon landed it and broke it to pieces and handed it back to Cliff - pictured right not happy.
Result:
1. Tony Rixon 36-05-0 peg 19
2. Harry Muir 35-10-0 peg 11
3. Steve Dawson 34-09-0 peg 27
4. John Fry 33-11-0 peg 10
Silvers:
1. Ken Morgan 16-13-0 peg 24
2. Mike Nicholls 14-0-0 peg 31
3. Paul Barnfield 11-06-0 peg 21
4. Hughie Evans 9-09-0 peg 8
Weigh Sheets:
Back with Bela today so first stop Lilliputt cafe for his large + extras. Martin Ryett and Gordon Cannings joined us with their large breakfasts. All of them beat me eating my small one.
Arrived at the fishery early so the usual chats. Into the draw coffee tin and out comes peg 103 Carey. I had this peg recently in Tony's float only and had 26 lb of Silvers so was happy with this one. For company I had Welshman Richard Ahearn. When he arrived at his peg he was nearly in tears as Wales was being beaten by a 14 man French side. He soon cheered up once Wales scored in the dying minutes to win by one point.
There was a nasty skimming wind blowing at me from 2 o'clock, forcing me to put my jacket on. I set up three rigs one for the Ronnie's, one 4x10 for down under the tree on the left for Perch and hopefully late big Skimmers and a 4x12 Winter Titan to fish at 10 meters. I fed the Ronnie line with GB laced with casters, the long Skimmer line with GB laced with DR's and started to loose feed casters under the tree. I started OK on the Ronnie rig catching small Skimmers, Ronnie's and the odd small Perch, however, the wind was a bloody nuisance. I topped up the Ronnie line and tried the long line with double DR's and had a small Ronnie then a Carp. So fed again and went back on the Ronnie rig with single caster and hooked a big Perch which after a short tussle came off - bugger. Richard was now catching small Skimmers regularly at 14.5 metres - certainty out gunning me on the distance. Thinking Perch I went under the tree with double caster and had a 1 lb Perch first try only to lose two more decent ones. I kept trying the Skimmer line picking up the odd small Skimmer which I thought wasn't as productive as the Ronnie's. So I filled in the long line and left it too settle. Back on the Ronnie rig and was at least putting the ounces regularly in the net. Out on the long line and I hooked a Carp. Back under the tree and another Carp - so only the three this match. I had a Banana walk and pegs 102, 100 and 99 were catching well with the rest of the section also rans.
I weighed 12 lb 3 oz for last but one in the section with those lost Perch costing me two more points. On hindsight I wish I had tried a small GB feeder - now in the learning bank.
The match was won by Richard Ahearn (pictured right with his catch) with 33 lb 15 oz from peg 102. Richard had two lines going both at 14.5 metres - one with GB and caster and the other GB and Maggot. Richards swim got better and better as the match progressed with the size of Skimmers increasing. Maggot was the most productive for him.Well done matey.
Richards 16 metre section fell in the Lake. Luckily he had the learned Nick Chedzoy behind him and retrieved it using a Tulip pole roost connected to his landing net handle (pictured right). Nick got it first attempt. I have one of these in the garage which I will now start carrying. Richard was very impressed.
The match fished better than I thought, although a bit patchy.
Result:
1. Richard Ahearn 33-15-0 peg 102
2. Sam Powell 32-04-0 peg 90
3. Paul Elms 27-12-0 peg 68
4. Gary O'Shea 27-09-0 peg 129
5. Martin Tizard 26-10-0 peg 61
6. Tony Rixon 26-09-0 peg 70
Weigh Sheets:
With Dave Gillard still in hospital it was left to Tony and me to run today's match on the main lake. Tony and I pegged the match - Well Tony pegged it whilst I watched! There was plenty of signs of fish all being chased by Pike!
Jeff Grant had bought a new Bib and Brace - I suppose it must be difficult to buy clothes for a cuboid. Jeff also thought he had bought new boots the same as Cliff's (Pictured right and last picture from my current camera), thinking they were black. Apparently Purple is the new Black.
Based on the previous match results all fourteen fishing knew they weren't going to bag-up. This Lake is over 100 years old so considered natural. So a change back to pre-commercial times.
Into the draw bag and out comes peg 16, which was next to the peg I had last time. So applied the learning from last match and decided to fish the pole at 10 metres for 15 minutes to see if the small fish were going to oblige with Pinkie and GB. If this failed I would fish the remainder of the match on the GB feeder. The peg was narrow and a bit of a parrots cage so was forced to fish a 10 foot Daiwa feeder rod a bit stiff for Skimmer fishing.
Well after 15 minutes without any encouraging indications I spent the rest of the day on the feeder. The lake was particularly clear and flat calm and the Pike on a feeding spree. The upshot was I could catch a couple of Skimmers then had to wait an hour for the next pair. I put this down to the Pike scattering the fish. I was playing a 8 oz Skimmer and just as I was getting the landing net a huge Pike came up and snaffled it including the hook length - I estimated it at 20 lb +. I decided to feed the GB as dry as possible to create some cloud on the drop. This worked for about half hour until again I struck at a bite and felt a bump and the end of another hook length - Pike?
I weighed 8 lb 12 oz for first overall. We transferred about 50 lb of Silvers into Bridge Pool, about half that of last match.
Whilst packing up I accidentally loose fed my camera into the Lake using a pole sock! So have to use my phone camera for awhile which I don't like doing.
The ever growing suspects back to the pub and although the fishing wasn't that good most said they enjoyed it and found it different and nostalgic taking us back to the 80's.
Finally thanks to Bathampton AA for a no peg fee match, weighing in and transferring the fish.
Result:
1. Mike Nicholls 8-12-0 peg 16
2. John Smith 5-03-0 peg 2
3. Paul Clayton 4-09-0 peg 19
4. Ray Bazeley 4-04-0 peg 6
Weigh Sheet:
Steady 10 minute drive in the rain to the fishery. First to arrive and early enough to meet up with Brads friend Mark Keet who has a Harris Hawk (pictured right). The Hawk is being used to keep Cormorants away and is apparently very effective, which must be a plus. Nonetheless, a beautiful looking Bird of Prey.
Because of the rain I didn't bother with a walk. Fourteen fishing would have been more had a van not broken down on the way from Swindon.
I couldn't draw peg 14 as it's currently under water due to all the rain. It was nice to see the water levels right up. Peg 7 drawn as golden peg. With inform peg 8 not in peg 7 and 9 might be the place to draw, so a chance of gold. Last but one onto the draw bag and out comes peg 12. Happy with this because it's a peg I haven't drawn. I have drawn the old peg 11 a few times. Not an area for Silvers at the moment, that said the Silvers have already done there winter disappearing act, hopefully a trick to avoid being eaten by Cormorants. Peg 12 is the longest walk but can be driven to but with the fields sodden I walked.
The nearest company was Junior on peg 10 and Dave Haines on 15. The wind was perfect for the umbrella which could be put up high and what there was, was off my back, making it also perfect for the Ronnie rig. So I set that up and a paste rig for the LH margin top-set only. Simple.
I treated the margin with a pot of wetted micro and the Ronnie rig with GB laced with plenty of DR's. Started on the Ronnie rig with double DR's and immediately started to get indications which I was striking at but not connecting. I knew from this it was Carp so waited for the positive bite which resulted in three quick Common Carp to 4 lb. The Ronnie rig wasn't right for these Carp so set up a 4x14 Winter Titan to fish over the same line at top-set plus two. I had five more in the first hour. The Lake went very still and the bites fell away. So I had a look down the margin with the paste but no indications. The wind then switched 180 degrees into me. Tried the maggot line which I had been topping up and had a couple more and my Silver a 3 lb Skimmer, but it had slowed, so decided to concentrate on the margin with paste for the rest of the match. I started to catch the odd carp but it wasn't manic. The wind gradually increased making the presentation very difficult in fact it was blowing the rig up the margin into the bank. I was surprised I only foul hooked two Carp, One came off the other I spent an age landing it. The fourth hour turned up trumps catching ten very quick Carp to 8 lb. Subsequently I had a bad hour adding the occasional. In the last hour the wind subsided a bit and had two 10 lb Commons. I guess these were in the peg for sometime putting off the smaller Carp - who knows?
I weighed 133 lb 15 oz for second overall. If he winner had put one more Carp in his last net I would have won!!!
The match was won by Ian Barker ( pictured upper right) with 154 lb 7 oz from peg 16. Ian caught on the method fished to the island with banded worm. Ian also loose fed pellet over the top. His last net weighed 78 lb so was 8 lb over the net limit!
The Silvers was won by Dave Britton (pictured right with the match winner) with 4 lb 13 oz from peg 18. Dave caught on double DR's over micro DR's mix. He was going to throw back, lucky he didn't - ALWAYS WEIGH IN I say.
It was back to the Bells with the usual suspects. Nice pint here.
Result:
1. Ian Barker 154-7-0 peg 16
2. Mike Nicholls 133-15-0 peg 12
3. Dave Willmott 127-12-0 peg 9 (nearest you can get to inform empty peg 8)
Silvers:
1. Dave Britton 4-13-0 peg 18
Weigh Sheet:
With Geoff "Working" so no fry up. Arrived in time for a walk around. I must say the Lake looked dour with the only signs was of a few small Roach topping in pegs 17, 18,19 and 20. The far end pegs appeared to be devoid of fish. We were all taken aback when Orris arrived early in fact a whole 10 minutes.
I was fancying peg 17 today but as it happened I couldn't draw it because it was left out.
Nineteen fishing and no Tony Rixon who is still suffering from Brambleitus. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 30 AGAIN! Third time on the trot. I really wasn't looking forward to fishing it today because the water down this end of the Lake was much clearer than the other end and pegs 31 and 32 were in so not an end peg either. I felt for Barny and Jeff who had drawn these pegs as I didn't expect for them to catch much with the same expectation for myself. I wasn't far wrong.
I set up the usual paste rig to fish down the LH side and a 4x16 Winter Titan to fish at top-set plus two out in front over GB and maggot and top-set plus three to fish at 2 o'clock with 4 mm expander over micro. I fed all the lines and started on double DR's over the GB. I was soon rightly worried when the float just sat there for 15 minutes without a sign. I then had a 1 oz Skimmer. Another 15 minutes later a 3 lb Skimmer then one 12 oz before the line completely died - apparently. I tried the pellet line without any signs. It certainly was fishing hard. I kept trying the GB line but no encouragement from the float to stay on it. I tried the margin with the paste but I felt it wasn't going to happen not even the nibblers were in residence. So desperation set in and the waggler was erected. Decided to fish LR's over loose fed same. Had a couple of small Perch. I was expecting to catch some Ronnies but didn't have a sign of them. I did have a 12 oz Hybrid and another Skimmer. I then hooked a right lump which broke me in peg 29! The last fish on the waggler before sitting the rest of the match on the paste was an 8 oz F1. It took awhile before I caught a Carp of about 9 lb I then lost one that was clearly lightly hooked. I sat there for the last hour in hope of a couple more but as half expected it didn't happen. On hindsight I should have fished for some more Silvers as 8 lb got in the money! Hindsight is wonderful.
My Silvers weighed 6 lb and my Carp 10 lb 14 oz for a nowhere total of 16 lb 14 oz. As I expected pegs 31 and 32 which had good anglers on them DNW'd.
The match was won by John Cliff Smith (pictured below with the Silvers winners) with 57 lb 5 oz from Peg 10. John was helped by pegs 9 and 11 not being pegged catching on the Method over to the Bramble free island with pellet and later down his RH margin with corn over corn.
The Silvers was won by Steve Tanner with 20 lb 14 oz from peg 15 with Ken Morgan just behind him with 20 lb on peg 14. Ken was wrongly persuade to put back a 1 lb Skimmer because he hooked it whilst the all out whistle was in his mouth!! Both pictured below.
The drive to the pub was horrendous a farmer had left tons of mud on all the roads around Compton Dando. On the way I went in a sideways slide. Everyone's car was absolutely caked. Everyone driving behind me on the way home from the pub had to use there wipers as the mud was being flung off - my car pictured right.
Result:
1. John Smith 57-05-0 peg 10
2. Steve Dawson 35-14-0 peg 4
3. Pete Greenslade 31-08-0 peg 21
Silvers:
1. Steve Tanner 20-14-0 peg 15
2. Ken Morgan 20-0-0 peg 14
3. Chris Ollis 8-02-0 peg 28
Weigh Sheets:
