Thursday 28/10/2021 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill - Match Lake

Third to arrive in the dark. Had a walk around the lake in the gloom. There appeared to be some colour still in the lake but hard to be sure in the light or lack of it.

Rip Off was suffering from a good night out celebrating his 75th, so some confusion with the draw - all soon sorted.

In to the draw plastic bag and out comes peg 1. Happy with this but has been a bit of a carp peg all year with it winning last Sunday.

This peg is very deep with it 3 foot next to the bank steeply sloping off into 9 foot at one barrel. So set up the short Ronnie rig and a 4x14 to fish top set plus one barrel. In case the silvers didn't show I added a 4x14 Roob to the roost to fish down each margin set to 5 foot for the carp.

I started by feeding both the silver lines with GB laced with LP's. Started on the short rig with single LR and had a few tiny fish before I foul hooked a carp, landing a large scale which went in the carp net. New hook and couldn't get a bite. So went out with single LR on the two barrel line and had a 4 lb carp. I then had a 2 lb Skimmer which gave me the encouragement to stick with the silvers. After a long wait I had another 2 lb skimmer, so looking up on what was an hard day. I kept trying the short rig but couldn't get a sniff. Two hours in I had a walk down to Hughie peg 4 who was also struggling on the silvers. So made the decision to fish for the carp. Fed my line at three barrels down to the reeds with the same GB mix and fished single LR over it and had a response straight away landing a 10 lb Common. I had a steady 3 hours feeding LR's through the kinder pot catching carp to 8 lb. During the last hour the wind really got up folding the reeds over my line and dragging the rig up the shelf. I also made the mistake of feeding more GB which lead to a frustrating last hour pricking and foul hooking. This was caused by me feeding the fish up with the GB and the wind dragging the rig into the carp. I fairly hooked a 14 lb Mirror which just circled around in front - as the do - nearly had it in the net once and unusually it decided to storm off at a high rate of knots breaking the line. Soon packed up as it looked like rain plus Hughie and me had to weighed in our side of the lake.

My two skimmers and ballers weighed 4 lb 2 oz and my carp 56 lb 9 oz for a second overall total of 60 lb 11 oz. However, couldn't help thinking would I have had more big skimmers had I stuck it out at two barrels?

The match was won by Dave Willmott (pictured above) with 133 lb 15 oz from peg 24. Dave caught at four barrels down to his right up the shelf using his favourite meat attack. Dave fed three tins mainly through his large kinder pot which takes about 30 pieces of meat. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by Dave Poole (pictured with the match winner) with 9 lb 2 oz from peg 19. Dave caught on his long whip with a waggler rig fishing caster over caster. Dave fished it up wind picking up the against wind tow. Well done matey.

Back to the "Ringer" no sign of Rip Off as we were expecting him to by a birthday round 😏!

Result:

1. Dave Willmott 133-15-0 peg 24

2. Mike Nicholls 60-11-0 peg 1

3. John Smith 37-09-0 peg 20

Silvers:

1. Dave Poole 9-02-0 peg 19

2. Dave Haines 6-05-0 peg 5

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 21/10/2021 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks

Very heavy rain throughout the night with some localised flooding. We were promised a dry breezy day carrying a chill from a North Westerly. Didn't quite get that right, we had a reasonably warm sunny day - except those pegged in the shade all day. Had my usual walk around and found that the colour had dropped out slightly so expected a hard day.

Twenty three of us today, a number which leads to difficult peg choices which can lead to some disagreement. Hopefully we won't limit the numbers until we get to over 34! Think we should give peg 13 a try out?

Second into the draw bag and out came peg 15 - very happy with this one. For company on peg 16 was Pete Turner and Paul Haines on 14.

I set up the waggler and had a few casts and thought it would work well in the conditions. Both short and long Ronnie rigs set up, in addition to a 4x16 to fish top set plus two barrels and a RJ 0.3g Slim to fish the margins.

Fed the long Ronnie rig and the two barrel lines with GB laced with micro and LP's and started to feed the RH margin with LR's. Started over the GB line with single LR and as expected started to catch "Ballers" and not much else. The Ronnie's were noticeable by their absence. I did had four small Skimmers before I had two F1's after which the line dried up. Tried the two barrel line and have one indication - didn't seem to like the GB today. I was now itching to pick up the waggler, so tried it for an hour at various depths with double LR on the hook over loose fed LR's. A bit disappointed to only catch a few small silvers whilst Paul on 14 was catching F1's regularly on the method. Presentation wasn't quite right I think, so sadly the waggler was retired. It was obviously fishing hard for both carp and especially the silvers. Picked up the short Ronnie rig with single LR on the hook over the loose feed and had a reasonable good hour catching silvers including a 1 1/2lb Skimmer and a similar sized Tench, but mostly "Ballers" - its bites. I then had a Carp about 4 lb then another of 5 lb. I switched to the heavier RJ rig with double LR's and could get a bite! So back on the short Ronnie rig with double LR's on a 18- 808 and started to catch some better carp from both margins. Kept trying the heavier rig but couldn't believe it wasn't working. I think the Ronnie rig was presenting the bait how they wanted it - following it down - perhaps. Back on the light Ronnie rig worrying it was too light for the size of fish, started to catch carp again. It then went tits up due to my crap loose feeding, and started to get "loose feeditus". Feed too long then too short then spot on only to bring the carp up in the water leading to foul hooking. Wasn't long before I lost my short Ronnie rig to a fouler - not unexpected. Sat it out on the heavier rig finally catching some better carp but the feeditus was still prevalent. I tried the worm which just got "Ballered". The carp were certainty responding to the loose fed rather than potting.

I overheard Hughie Evans say to Chris Ollis "put some more "pudding" in" an expression often used by Willy. Weeks. His fishery memorial plaque (between pegs 34 and 1) pictured above - Willy did a lot for the club in the form of "fishery management". If you know you know. Topper referred to as "The Doings".

My silvers weighed 7 lb 12 oz and my carp 53 lb 13 oz this gave me a winning total of 61 lb 9 oz and joint third overall in the silvers. Not a completely satisfying day due to the Feeditus.

It was a low weight which took the silvers by John Fry (pictured with the match winner) with 9 lb, mainly Skimmers from peg 7. A peg John knows well.

Back to the Compton with some of the usual suspects - where was birthday boy MD I ask?

Result:

A Section:1. Harry Muir 25-05-0 peg 4

Silvers: Kev Winstone 7-12-0 peg 3

B Section:

1. Paul Haines 39-10-0 peg 15

Silvers: John Fry 9-0-0 peg 7

C Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 61-09-0 peg 15

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 7-12-0 peg 15

D Section:

1. Hughie Evans 44-02-0 peg 26

Silvers: Chris Ollis 8-01-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 17/10/2021 - Windmill Open - Match Lake

Had the usual walk around to find three groups of anglers already fishing. I explained there was a match and displayed on the notice board. Not a pleasant thing to have to do. Most of them took it well. In their defence the notice isn't that clear and needs to be larger and less messy. I saw one of the group on the way out and they said they had a cracking day on the Specimen Lake - good to hear.

Told 17 fishing today, however, Kev Winstone thought there were more and counted 18 twice until he relised he had counted Gerry Walsh twice, I wonder why?😀

Into the draw tub and out comes milk bottle top with what I thought had a French 7 on it, so in my mind I was already setting up the waggler to be fished throughout. However, I was told to turn the top around to find it was peg 4 - no waggler then. This peg loves me, no sure I feelings mutual. For company on peg 3 was Justin Attwood from Cheltenham. He said it takes him longer to negotiate Rocky Road than the rest of his drive - understandable.

I was on peg 5 Thursday (empty today) and won the silvers so naturally set up exactly the same with the same goal in mind. Fed both lines with GB laced with DR's. Started on the Long rig and after a long wait had a "Baller". Couldn't get another bite tried the short rig, again not a sniff. It looked and sounded like everyone was struggling. So I set up a 4x14 Winter Titan and got two barrels out to fish full depth over three lines with single LR tipped with a Pinkie over GB laced with LP's. It was a day where you couldn't go straight over the feed, so worked the three lines accordingly and started to catch small Skimmers plus a couple 1 1/2 lb. As the day went on the harder it got with the last hour being completely dead except for two accidental Carp. However, the weather was kind to us with light winds and some sunshine, plus I saw one of my favourite bankside mammals a Water Vole, rounder face and shorter tail than a Rat.

My two accidental carp weighed 8 lb 2 oz and my silvers 10 lb 12 oz for the silvers win. Need to get the light elastics out for the next match.

The match was won by Leighton Palmer (pictured right with the silvers winner) with 99 lb 3 oz from gap peg 17. Leighton caught slapping 30 inches deep at 14 metres using on 8 mm banded pellet. He fed about one pint including his margin where he also caught a few. Well done matey.

Back to the "Ringer" where they had a band outside playing Irish folk. We sat inside as it was empty so we could talk rubbish.

Result:

1. Leighton Palmer 99-03-0 peg 17

2. Dave Willmott 56-06-0 peg 23

3. Gerry Walsh 50-01-0 peg 8

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 10-12-0 peg 4

2. Dave Poole 6-04-0 peg 20

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 14/10/2021 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill - Match Lake

Thought I would Put up an old pictured of Rip-Off - Titled "The Gangster without a Gang".

The Autumn weather seems to be holding fair to good. 18 booked in with one calling off.

I have drawn on the end bank for the last three matches so was hoping to be elsewhere, preferably pegs 22 to 14. Into the cash bank bag and out comes red milk bottle top 5. An example of being careful what you wish for, rather be on the end bank, no one has picked up from this peg this term - so far. I had Willy Willmott for company on peg 4, who managed to break his 14.5 metre section setting up.

Although I remembered to bring some meat I decided to fish for silvers, but did set up a meat rig. Main attack was the two Ronnie rigs - short and long with single LR on the hook over GB laced with DR's. Fed both line, plus some meat down the second ledge to the left. I started to catch some small Ronnie's. It was clear that the Rudd had shut up shop for now. I did have a few small Skimmers. By switching between the two rigs I regularly added ounces to the net. I did expect to catch the occasional Accidental carp but no signs which confirmed my decision to fish for the Silvers. I did have a couple of minutes on the meat rig with only a nibble from a silver, this was soon abandoned realising that due to the silvers being very small I had to keep putting ounces in the net. I kept switching between the two lines up and down in the water until 15 minutes from the end when the carp arrived, foul hooking one and landing two, thankful that they didn't arrive earlier.

I thought Willy was talking to me only to be told he was talking to himself, this happened a good few times, so I tried to listen to what he was saying and came to the conclusion it was "Well done Dave".

Had a visit from Glenn and Ted Bailey. Both were well behaved.

My two carp weighed 11 lb 3 oz and my silvers 14 lb 9 oz for the silvers win. Definitely the right decision to keep going with the silvers as Hughie Evans was very close behind.

Th match was won by Willy Willmott (pictured with the silvers winner) with 131 lb 8 oz from peg 4. Dave caught a few long over to the island with banded pellet, however, most of his catch came from the RH margin using his favoured meat attack.

Thanks to Mike Chapman for the plaster. 

It looks like John Smith has caught the Jeff Grant disease of catch and release!

Back to the "Ringer" for a pint of Butcombe's for a great end to another great day on the bank. The temperature had drop though.

Food for thought:

Many anglers complain that their shot has moved on the line, incorrectly blaming the shot, when they should be looking at the behaviour of the line. Fishing line is elastic (like all things to a degree). So when line is loaded it stretches and does not always return to its original diameter and length, hence the shot is no longer gripping the line as it was. It may be worth considering pre stretching the line which is often done when elasticating poles.

 Again I hear anglers say when dotting down their floats are taking on water with the need to remove shot. This is true to some degree. However, it is mostly caused by the line characteristics of attracting solids from the water. Just wipe the line with a white cloth after fishing and see how many solids are on it.

Result:

1. Dave Willmott 131-08-0 peg 4

2. Kev Winstone 88-14-0 peg 17

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 14-09-0 peg 5

2. Hughie Evans 12-03-0 peg 20

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 10/10/2021 - Windmill Open - Match Lake

Nearly a full house this week, just a couple short. Nice to see Martin Rayet back out here sporting his new stainless steel trolley with the customised Ape handle bars - lol. Snip at £500!

The wind had switched to the North, hence would be blowing into pegs 24 and 25 which has been my home for the last two matches, so was hoping not to draw it for the third time. Into the draw tub and out comes peg 24! At least a difference view. I planned to fish for carp with meat, unfortunately I had left the meat it in the tackle room, so silvers it would have to be then. For company I had Martin Rayet peg 25 and would be a great help keeping the numbers of accidental carp numbers down.

Having got into our pegs both Martin and me were in the shade and freezing, so soon had fleeces on. During the match I had the need to get out into the shade for a warm. Most of the other anglers were sat in Tee shirts. 

Two rigs - long and short Ronnie rigs, long to fish out in front in 7 foot of water and the short to fish down both sides. GB laced with DR's would be fed on all lines. this done I started on the long line with single LR on the hook, only to be pestered by tiny Perch. So switched to the short rig and found the same from both sides. Just got my head down catching them as I knew they wouldn't feed past the hour. Kept toping up al the lines. Going back on the long line found the Perch had slowed and started to catch Ronnie's to 3 oz and the odd 4 oz Skimmer. I switched around all the three lines but surrendered the left side to the wind as the presentation was too poor. So kept rotating the two lines. With two hours to go Martin was slacking letting three accidentals through, which buggered both lines for a while. I had a good last hour adding a couple of better skimmers. 

There were at least four of us fishing for the silvers and didn't know if they had caught the bigger Skimmers down the far end. Last but one to weigh in with 16 lb 11 oz winning the silvers, so knew it would be close. I weighed 17 lb 15 oz for the win. So mission accomplished. The three accidentals weighed 15 lb 9 oz.

The match was won by Martin Rayet (pictured right with the silvers winner) with 147 lb from peg 25. Martin caught down his LH side at top set plus three with the rig set at 3 foot with 7mm meat over kindered meat. Well done matey, helped each other today.

I have to say well done to the weigh team, quickest I've seen the match weighed in. Well organised and a very neat weigh sheet. Another match next Sunday book in early to avoid disappointment.

Back to the Ringer with the usual suspects to talk fishing gibberish.

Result:

1. Martin Rayet 147-0-0 peg 25

2. Dave "Willy" Willmott 128-15-0 peg 19

3. Glenn Bailey 128-0-0 peg 4 (caught at 16.5 metres using worm and pellet!!)

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 17-15-0 peg 14

2. Dave Haines 16-11-0 peg 20

Result:

Thursday 07/10/2021 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks

Usual walk around and I must say the club volunteers have done a great job tidying up the islands (this might see Tony Rixon back). Top picture is a view from peg 24, it makes the island look further away. The other picture is of the middle main island which now looks very pretty. The trees/bushes on pegs 17, 18 and 21 have been removed - looks like a different fishery. I fancied peg 29 for a day on the silvers.

These matches are well supported with a consistent turnout - 21 today. The weather was perfect for fishing some cloud cover and humid. 

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 21 again happy with this, beginning to think I'm a draw bag. For company I had Tony peg 19 and Hughie peg 24. Tempted to set up the long pole to fish to the island, but thought I would leave it to others to see how much of the removed tree is in the water! So got out top sets from the Carp pole plus number two of the Drennan margin pole. The short and long Ronnie rigs set up, plus a RJ for the margin with either maggot or worm. The plan was to fish for silvers for half the match and F1's/Carp. So three lines - one out in front at 10 o clock using a black top in white water - this combination gives the best visibility for me where I fed GB laced with DR's. I loose fed LR's both sides for the short rig where I would also fish the RJ. Starting on the long rig I started to catch small Skimmers and Ronnie's. It's never long before the F1's bully in and soon had one in the net, creating need to refeed. Whilst the feed settled started on the short rig to the right to fish out the Perch I knew would be there. They are growing and seem only to feed for the first hour or so need to get some early low hanging fruit in the bag. Even these were being disrupted by the F1's. Caught a couple of F1's before going back on the long line where I added a few more silvers, very short lived before the need to top up, so thought I would try the short rig up in the water with loose fed maggot and after missing a fair few bites had a some decent Ronnie's to 8 oz - lovey, plus a bonus 1 lb hybrid. With about 10 lb of silvers I changed my plan and after two hours switched to fishing for the F1's earlier kindering DR's with double LR's on the hook had a great last 4 hours catching 27 F1's plus two carp losing two due to my stupidity of bullying - never learn. The left side was the most productive.

My silver weighed 9 lb 15 oz so 1 oz from my estimate. My carp and F1's weighed 47 lb 8 oz. for second overall weight of 57 lb 7 oz and a double bubble section silvers/overall. Not the highest weight but the best day's fishing this year on Bridge Pool - caught steady all match and the weather was perfect - until!

The match was won by Dave Wride with 66 lb 9 oz from peg 17. Dave caught on the pole in the water.

The silvers was wo n by Dave Haines with 18 lb from peg 11. Dave caught short with either maggot or caster. Well done to both.

I look around to see where anglers have drawn and have to say that John Smith (aka Cliff) draws some very poor pegs as he did again today, an excellent angler in the wrong pegs me thinks.

It was back to the pub with the usual suspects EXCEPT ME. Going down the road something fell off a tractor which I ran over and punctured the front near side tyre. Dave Gillard stopped to help change the wheel having got the wheel nuts off we couldn't get the wheel of the studs. We needed a mallet which we didn't have after kicking the life out of it and concerned that the car would come off the jack I called the AA and after an hour wait they sorted it for me. As it happened the AA man had fished Withy the day before. Thanks Dave.

Result:

A Section:

1. Kev Winstone 33-14-0 peg 33

Silvers: Paul Barnfield 10-12-0 peg 3

B Section:

1. Harry Muir 25-04-0 peg 7

Silvers: Dave Haines 18-0-0 peg 11

C Section:

1. Dave Wride 66-09-0 peg 17

Silvers: Ray Bazeley 12-04-0 peg 16

D Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 57-07-0 peg 21

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 9-15-0 peg 21

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 03/10/2021 - Windmill Open - Match Lake

It was good news that Windmill Fishery open matches are starting again, especially as the winter is on its way and its only 10 minutes from home. Its not much fun travelling an hour each way to matches in the dark. These matches are being run by Gerry Walsh and his wife Mandy (pictured). To book in text Gerry on 07766103846.

With other matches on we only had nine but expect this to increase. I must say the carp, especially the Commons are in excellent condition, very pretty averaging 5 lb. Dave Haines said they were a Scottish strain. 

We were honoured by the appearance of the effervescent Leighton Palmer.

I expected some heavy rain and the wind to pick up so would be happy with the same peg as Thursday - peg 25 and that's what I pulled! As it happened I was glad I did as we had some horrendous down pours, and was sheltered from the driving wind. So taking the learning from Thursday I planned to fish for Silvers so set up the same 4x14 Winter Titan to fish top set plus one, the long Ronnie rig and a RJ for maggot in the margin.

I fed the long line with GB laced with Pinkie and is where I started with double LR's on the hook and started to catch small Perch and Ronnie's, but no Skimmers which I had caught last match, so things' were different. So tried the long Ronnie rig and caught some more Ronnie's - no foul hooked carp or Skimmers. So I set up the short Ronnie rig and set about catching the small fish in the margin. This worked well but had difficult periods - all to do with the feeding I think. I kept trying the long line this time with kindered maggot and micro and started to get liners from carp. I was soon playing one a nice 5 lb Common. Thought I would try the RH margin with maggot over maggot and caught four quick carp. Being well behind Willy Willmott. I gave that up in search of more Silvers. The short line had slowed so again went long in the hope of more silvers, only to find more carp, but at least I wasn't fouling them this time. I did muster a couple of skimmers 4 to 6 oz.

My silvers weighed 12 lb 8 oz - 8 oz more than Thursday! and my nine carp 47 lb 2 oz. for a total of 59 lb 10 oz - 1 oz more than Thursday!!! Second silvers. I was going to say 4th overall but have to say half way.

The match was won by Willy Willmott (pictured with the silvers winner) with 109 lb from peg 22. Willy caught on meat down the RH side in 4 foot of water which is well up the shelf.

The silvers was won by Gerry Walsh with 14 lb 13 oz from peg 9. Gerry admitted that the decent skimmers were accidentally caught on meat whilst trying to catch carp. Well done matey.

Considering the conditions it fished well for carp with most getting over 50 lb. Think I might try meat for the silvers next match, or not.

Back to the "Ringer" for an excellent pint of Butcombe's. Now to sort the wet tackle.

Result:

1. Dave Willmott 109-0-0 peg 22

2. Kev Winstone 95-02-0 peg 20

Silvers:

1. Gerry Walsh 14-13-0 peg 9

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 30/09/2021 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake

So who's is the Phantom Banana skin man?

Every year we have that sudden change over one day from pleasant weather to wintery conditions which happened last Tuesday, so no paste in the bag today. 

Kit all dried out from Tuesday downpour, but expected it to get another soaking today. I had a walk around the lake which had plenty of colour and a bit of wind on it towards the far end. I decided that I wanted either pegs 1, 25 or 24 so would be sheltered from the wind and rain and would sit it out for silvers. Well couldn't believe it when peg 25 stuck to my hand! Happy with this then. For company I had Rip Off Ray on 24 and John "Standing Man" Osbourne on peg 1 (pictured below playing a carp). Peg 25 is the deepest peg on the lake at 10 foot.

Decided not to fish off the platform for obvious reasons (pictured) and spent some time reed cutting to create space for the keep nets. Soon got comfy with brolly up, felt sorry for the lads down the far end - would be difficult for them.

So silvers it would be. Set up short and long Ronnie rigs and a 4x14 Winter Titan to fish top-set plus one, which was up the shelf in 6 foot of water. As an after thought set up a RJ for the corn in the LH margin.

Fed both the long and short lines with GB with LR's on the hook. Started on the short rig and had a micro Perch first put in and that was it, couldn't get any more indications from the shallow water. So out on the long rig and started to catch some 4 to 6 oz Skimmers and the odd Ronnie. I kept topping up through the kinder pot and as soon as the line went quiet I foul hooked a Carp! So switched to the Winter Titan which reduced the fouling and started to land the occasional carp. In between catching Skimmers. I did try the margin with corn but as expected the carp didn't want to come out of the reeds nor the deeper water. I only lost one carp in the mouth due to it thinking it was a trout! I foul hooked seven - all lost. I landed eight so a draw. 

My silvers weighed 12 lb and my carp 47 lb 9 oz for a total of 59 lb 9 oz from second silvers and sixth overall - an a back up default section. So a good day out of the awful weather. I think my decision to fish for silvers was correct as there are plenty there. However, somehow need to avoid the carp for a decent weight.

The match was won by Glenn Bailey (pictured right) with 105 lb 13 oz from peg 14. Glen caught down the middle fishing paste over copious amounts of soaked 4's. Well done Matey, two wins this week 😉

The silvers was won by Dave Haines (pictured with his nice net of Rudd and Roach) with 15 lb 7 oz from peg 17. Dave caught short - up and down with maggot hook bait over loose fed maggot.

Back to the "Ringer" with the usual suspects. Time has come to sit in doors.

Back to Windmill this Sunday - nice and local especially with the current petrol situation.

Result:

Weigh Sheets: