Thursday 26/08/2021 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

From my walk around I didn't think it was going to fish that well. Fancied peg 1 only because the aerator was running.

Another good turn out of 25 making the pegging different! Dave Gillard called me peg 19. Happy enough with this - shot walk and plenty F1's. For company I had Dave Poole on peg 20 and Tony Ponting on 18.

Plenty of time to set up which leads to inevitable pre-all in conflab - anglers on pegs 14,15,16 and 17 pictured.

I set up two 0.3 gram paste rigs - one for out in front in 6 foot of water and one to fish to my left at three barrels of the Acolyte margin pole. The rig would also have done for the right towards the tree but would have been rig suicide. Also both the short and long Ronnie rigs for the Silvers.

I started by feeding a pot of micro out in front and started over it with the paste. This is always a good tester as to how and what is going to feed. I was expecting a couple decent Skimmers and F1's. However, the paste was getting nibbled by small Silvers. This told me it was going to be hard, especially as the water had gone clear. Meanwhile Dave Poole was catching small Silvers on his long whip. I made the decision to switch to the Silvers. Firstly, on the short Ronnie rig and later out in front on the long Ronnie rig, both with single LR over GB. I was catch small fish regularly and started to catch Dave up, both catch small Skimmers and Perch with a smattering of Ronnie's. I thought I would have a quick look down the left with the paste rig, so fed it with micro and went in with the paste. The problem here was that there was some wind blown silver stuff on the water which reflected the sun light and no matter what float tip colour I tried I couldn't see it very well - settled for red. There was was quite few times when I lost visibility only to see it coming back up leading to foul hookers. I did have eight F1's and one decent Carp but got frustrated with the not being able to see the float and even though there were plenty of Carp about I gave it up to see the match out on the long Ronnie rig.

My Carp weighed 18 lb 12 oz and my Silver 17 lb 10 oz for a silvers section win. The total put me 5th overall. So mission accomplished.

The match was won by Andy Gard (pictured with his catch) with 62 lb 5 oz from peg 25. Andy caught mostly from his margin on pellet over pellet. Andy was helped by having an empty peg each side pegs 26 and 24!

The Silvers was won by Chris Ollis (pictured with his catch of decent Skimmers) with 28 lb 10 oz from peg 28. Chris caught on two lines at 11 metres with worm hook bait over either GB with worm feed or over potted micro.

Weights were better than I had anticipated.

Result:

A Section:

1. Paul Barnfield 59-14-0 peg 8

Silvers: John Fry 15-12-0 peg 4

B Section:

1. Tony Ponting 44-15-0 peg 18

Silvers: Bob Feltham 11-0-0 peg 17

C Section:

1. Andy Gard 62-05-0 peg 25

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 17-10-0  peg 19

D Section:

1. Kev Winstone 35-13-0 peg 32

Silvers: Chris Ollis 28-10-0 peg 28

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 12/08/2021 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

From my walk around it was apparent that the colour had dropped out, most probably due to the heavy recent rain.

Dave Gillard called me peg 14. It may appear that I was running to it, I wasn't my trolley was pulling me down the hill! A good all round peg - Silvers and Carp, but more importantly a great waggler peg especially today with light winds. For company I had "Antique tackle dealer" - Andy Greenham on peg 15 with his Silstar jacket, stinger basher Silstar pole and a double hand boron waggler rod.

Firstly the waggler was set up and a few practice casts showed the conditions were perfect for it. Two paste rigs one 0.4 gram to fish in 7 foot of water out in front and a 0.3 gram to fish both margins in about 4 foot up against the reeds. Lastly the short Ronnie rig to fish to the left down wind.

Fired out some LR's over to the island and a big pot of micro out in front and down the RH margin and hand fed some LR's down the LH side for the Ronnie rig.

Started out in front with paste and had the usual quick accidental Skimmer. I had a few F1's and four small Tench and three more Skimmers before it died. Before picking up the waggler I tried the RH margin with paste and had a great spell catching F1's over the micro and loose fed 4's. The waggler was now put to the back of the mind. Spent the rest of the match switching between each side adding F1's with one going 3 lb. I did have some issues losing F1's and two rigs in the reeds, theses fish are so fast they can catch unawares. As expected in the last 90 minutes the Carp arrived adding five decent Carp. However, the last 20 minutes was slow but was kept amused by Andy playing a decent bum squeaking carp on his waggler on corn hook bait. He did well to land it, but nearly lost it jumping out the net small landing net.

My accidental silvers weighed 13 lb 3oz my 30 F1's weighed 37 lb 14 oz and my Carp 40 lb for a match winning total of 91 lb 1 oz. A really nice day's fishing 0n the paste fished all through. Neither the waggler or the Ronnie rig got wet except from the rain which wasn't forecast.

The Silvers was won by Kev Winstone (pictured with the match winner and his nice catch of Skimmers and Roach - someone needs to clean his phones camera lens) with 36 lb 12 oz from end peg 33. Kev caught on single caster over loose fed caster fishing 5 foot deep at 5 metres along both edges. Kev fed 3 pints of caster. Well done mate a brilliant catch.

Result:

Section A:

1. Rob Baker 59-01-0 peg 8

Silvers: Wayne Storey 9-08-0 peg 7

Section B:

1. Mike Nicholls 91-01-0 peg 14

Silvers: Paul Barnfield 22-08-0 peg 18

Section C:

1. Dave Wride 50-03-0 peg 20

Silvers: Dave Haines 17-04-0 peg 21

Section D

1. Paul Haines 42-08-0 peg 30

Silvers: Kevin Winstone 36-12-0 peg 33

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 08/08/2021 - Sedges - Pops Charity Pairs - Tile and Brick Lakes

Partnered with Glenn Bailey for Pops charity Pairs match. Both Glenn and me had been out to parties the night before and with heavy rain when we set off, neither fancied it. I felt really tired.

Steady drive down and back via the motorway which was a surprise as we usually have to get off at W-S-M coming home. Team tactics discussed for a few seconds - paste it was then.

Steve Segar tossed a coin for us - winner chooses lake. I won and chose Tile, only because it has a better margin than Brick. Apparently, a pair would  have a good peg and a no so good peg. So captain Two Pots did the draw. I was on peg 31 and and Glenn peg 4. We both wondered which was the good peg! My peg had a tree to the left which left very little margin. It wasn't much better the other side due to the Sedges. With an island opposite made the peg designed for the method chucker's me thinks - not for me, but did think about setting up a maggot feeder. However, the wind was blowing into this end and thought it might produce.

I initially set up three paste rigs. A bullet for the right margin (shallow) and a 0.4 gram for the left in three foot of water and a 0.5 gram out in front set to five foot - all on the top set.

I started out in front with paste over a large pot of micro and initially expected nibbling Ronnie's. I didn't! This indicated that the small Silvers wasn't feeding making the paste a good option. It took a while before I had a bite which  was a 2 lb Skimmer. Due to the wind blowing the rig up the shelf it was difficult to keep the paste on station so decided to feed both margins with micro with hard 4's over the top. Because the Nibblers were absent the best bait for Carp is maggot, using either maggot or paste hook baits over them, so got up and set up a 4x14 Titan to fish maggot out in front. I fed a pot of LR's out in front and tried the margins. No signs of Carp or Skimmers just the odd indication from very tiny fish. Went out with triple maggot hook bait and had a couple of flying Skimmers. However, I was having problems holding the hook bait on station again and was towing into Skimmers fouling hooking them, but not landing them. Very frustrating. I had my one and only Carp which weighed a massive 12 oz! I kept adding the odd Skimmer between the foulers. I switched to feeding DR's which resulted in the best part of the day as I started to catch Eels including a fouler!. I had four and last put in lost one about 3 lb which broke me. Size for size they fight harder than Carp.

I weighed 21 lb 2 oz which beat anglers around me which went to prove I was at the wrong end of the lake and only managed 12 points from 20. Steve Segar opposite me actually blanked not having a bite all match. Glenn faired better but was also at the wrong end of his lake weighing 39 lb 12 oz for 7 points giving us a total of 19 for half way position.

The pairs was won by Ben Hagg peg 38 and Scott Puddy peg 8 (pictured) with 5 points. They both caught at 16 metres. Scott staying slapping throughout the match and similarly Ben slapping and catching some on the deck. Well done to both, how nice it must be to be young and fit like these two.

I must say Jamie did a great job weighing in most efficient and fish friendly I've seen.

Last words from Glenn "at least it didn't rain".

Result:

Overall 1st Scott Puddy and Ben Hagg 5 points 124lb 4oz

Overall 2nd Jamie Parkhouse and Paul Homewood 9 points 147lb 4oz

Overall 3rd Tony Rixon and Chris Fox 9 points 140lb 4oz

Brick Lake 1st Jamie Parkhouse 112lb 2oz peg 11

Brick Lake 2nd Tony Rixon 99lb 3oz peg 9

Brick Lake 3rd Russ Peck 66lb 10oz peg 20

Tile Lake 1st Ben Hagg 71lb 15oz peg 38

Tile Lake 2nd Lee Masey 53lb 4oz peg 21

Tile Lake joint 3rd Adrian Bishop 49lb 9oz peg 24

Tile Lake joint 3rd Jamie Cook 49lb 9oz peg 36

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 05/08/2021 - Windmill Fishery - Ray's Rip Off - Match Lake

We have all been enjoying the return to this venue. The Silver fishing has improved immensely and the beautiful Common Carp have grown on significantly ideal for match fishing.

The forecast to be typically UK August holiday weather - wind and rain.

Really didn't mind where I drew so no emotion when I pulled peg 4. I have won the Silvers a few times from this peg in the past, but decided to have a Carp and paste day. So set up just the two paste rigs - a RJ paste bullet for the margin and a 0.4 gram to fish just up the inside shelf out in front. With a strong wind I shortened the line from top set to float as I would have to do a bit of holding back. Plumbing up I set the deep rig to about five foot which was about  a foot or so up the shelf. Plumbing around with the Bullet couldn't really find anywhere I fancied. There is a small bay down to the left with a reasonable depth but didn't fancy the fish would come in there - and they didn't. Couldn't go too far either way because of reeds and overhanging trees, felt hemmed in a bit. Started out in front with paste over potted micro and had a great start with two decent Commons within 10 minutes. The next 10 minutes I lost another two one due to my impatience, the other due to bad angling, you just can't rush these Commons. Basically I caught steady there after losing a few foulers in the process. However, I was very disappointed that I couldn't get the margins to work which is very unusual and spent enough wasted time to have improved my framing position had I stayed out in front.

My two accidental Skimmers weighed 4 lb 14 oz and my Carp 110 lb 15 oz for a third overall total of 115 lb 13 oz just one fish off of second!

The match was won by Dave Willy Willmott (pictured with the Silvers winner - both looking cold and wet) with 150 lb 11 oz from gap peg 7. Dave caught mainly from each margin using meat hook bait over meat.

The Silvers was won by Dave Haines (pictured with his lovely net of Silvers) with 27 lb 6 oz from gap peg 17. Dave caught on maggot hook bait over maggot and GB feed.

Glenn Bailey made a fateful decision to put back an accidental Skimmer, even though he had room for more Carp in his other nets. Lesson learnt.

Back to the Ringer - inside this time!

Result:

1. Dave Willy Willmott 150-11-0 peg 7

2. Chris Gay 120-13-0 peg 1

3. Mike Nicholls 115-13-0 peg 4

4. Glenn Bailey 115-06-0 peg 8

5. Ray Bazeley 95-05-0 peg 20

6. Kev Winstone 81-06-0 peg 11

Silvers:

1. Dave Haines 27-06-0 peg 17

2. Hughie Evans 15-08-0 peg 15

Soggy Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 03/08/2021 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

First time back to Acorn for some weeks, so was looking forward to it, especially as it's starting to settle down and fish more consistently.

Glenn and me had a walk around, I still fancied peg 27, still yet to fish.

Mike Chapman drew me peg 1 first time on this peg, perhaps peg 27 next time. A good peg but comes with the scales. Luckily Bob Smith on peg 3 was to do the heavy work leaving me to do the writing, thanks Bob.

Brand new platform big enough for a barn dance! I had a good plumb around and found a decent flat plateau in the RH margin and even though it's normally a Carp peg I thought I might gets some Silvers there. So set up the short Ronnie rig and a RJ paste bullet both for this margin. Started on the Ronnie rig with single maggot over potted GB and had a decent run of all sorts of Silvers for about an hour at which time the Carp started to take an interest in the GB. Switched to paste but only liners and foulers. Back on the Ronnie rig where things had slowed, but did have a 3 lb Carp. The more GB I fed the more Carp I attracted. Had a bit of a torrid time fouling on both the Ronnie and paste rigs. It's a venue that for unknown reason I don't land foulers, so very frustrating.

Just because by either how or what you feed attracts the fish in to your peg it doesn't necessarily make it the right way to catch them!

I stopped the GB changing to loose feeding 4 to 6 hard 4's over the paste which had a dramatic effect from swirling fish and liners to positive bites which resulted in a good run of decent size Common Carp which fight you in the water, in the landing net and on the land. I had six late on for 45 lb. I was glad to hear the all out as I was nearing the net limits as I was unaware of the new 50 lb rules only took four nets.

My first hour of silvers weighed 16 lb 4 oz (two decent Carp equivalent) and my Carp 129 lb 6 oz for a close fourth overall weight of 145 lb 10 oz.

On the way home Glenn an I discussed our day and Glenn had similar issues to me with the GB.

The match was won by Gary Bowden (pictured very upright) with 188 lb 14 oz from peg 40. Gary caught mainly at top set pus one out in front with paste over potted wetted down 4's. Gary caught steady for most of the match, later catching down his LH margin towards the bridge.

The Silvers was won by Eddie Wynne (pictured with his catch) with 41 lb 3 oz from peg 7 with plenty of room. Eddie caught short using worm, caster and maggot.

Result:

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 01/08/2021 - Tony Rixon's Float Only - Round Five - Todber Manor - Homeground and Hillview

Travelled with the second oldest anger fishing today, Martin McMahon. We stopped in Greggs Shaftsbury to be welcomed by an aggressive young girl who made it clear we were 9 minutes too early and had to wait outside the shop - some training required me thinks.

Both Martin and me weren't looking forward to it because of the massive weights that have been coming out - not our preferred type of fishing. I had given the match some thought and had a plan. Fish for Carp on the flyers and Silvers elsewhere, but would prefer a draw on Homeground.

Tony had sensibly reduced the match to 5 hours allowing more time for weighing in, also most anglers only own 6 nets or less!! John Candy's keep net sells have significantly increased.

Into the draw tin and out comes Hillview peg 56 section end peg which went round to the LH side of the spit to peg 51 so I had a good section winning peg. My peg made better by end peg 55 empty so plenty of room. However, there were plenty of Ronnie's topping. So I had a dilemma, Silvers or Carp? After a great deal of thought I decided to let the fish lead me.

The set up was the short Ronnie rig, a 0.4 gram paste float to fish out in front on top set and a RJ paste bullet for the LH margin. In the process dropped a box of paste in the Lake, so wouldn't have enough for the entire match - bugger, but wasn't to matter. 

Fed the paste lines with micro, starting shallow on the Ronnie rig with single caster over half dozen loose fed caster. First try, one Ronnie then one fell off. The Carp had heard the casters going in and landed two decent one's. Now thinking Carp so picked up the bullet with paste which got absolutely hammered by Ronnie's. So now thinking Silvers, so put the casters back in the bag, switching to DR's on the Ronnie rig again over loose fed DR's and was soon getting 1/2 to 2 oz Ronnie or Perch every few seconds. I then had what I initially thought was a Carp but was delighted to see a 2 1/2 Perch in the net. This decided me to totally commit to Silvers. However, the occasional Carp arrived which was very obvious because the Ronnie's disappeared replaced by Perch which stayed. It didn't take long to fish the Carp out, which was usually in pairs and the Ronnie's to reappear. I did loose quite a few Carp including a near 15 lb Common Carp. And that's how my match went. I wish I had brought some GB thinking it would have been less attractive to the Carp and might have attracted some Skimmers which were absent from the keep net today.

My 400 odd Silvers weighed 25 lb 14 oz for the Silvers win and a new personal best of 107 lb 11 oz of Accidental Carp. I fed about 1 pint of DR's including the wet escapees. Definitely a section winning peg if I focused on the Carp, but definitely not an overall framer for me physically, so the fish made the right decision for me.

Very enjoyable day, apart from the monsoon just before the end.

The match was won by Neil Mercer (pictured with some of his catch and the Silvers winner) with a new PB of 400 lb 5 oz from peg 58. Neil caught on 6 mm banded pellet over loose fed 4's, initially at top set plus one barrel and later switching to just his top set, both lines were fished in front. Three Pints of 4's did it for him, well done Matey.

Note for future: Don't let Clint Wojtyla see you using paste next to him, if he asks tell him it's corn he wont know the difference! Joking aside, credit where credit is due Clint has done a great job supporting and bringing his young lad Freddie on who fished a tidy match today. Well done Freddie keep it up.

Result:

Weigh Sheets: