Thursday 22/12/2022 = Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

Last Over 55's on Bridge Pool until Spring, we now move to Withy for the Silvers series starting 05/01/2023 - 24 booked so currently full.

Had a part walk around hoping to see all the arms removed from the platforms, alas no change. There were a few volunteers today willing to help out.

The Met office forecasting a summer hotter next year than this. Wish they would concentrate on forecasting the next day correctly. Drizzle all day - miserable. 

I was hoping for another go on peg 28 to settle a score with the peg. Tony one in front of me had his peg drawn for him and handed peg 28 handed to him - bugger. Peg 14 for me which I thought would be OK for some F1's. For company Mark Tanner on 15 and Barny with incessant chatter on peg 11, occasionally drowned out by peg 26 coughing, lot of lurgy about.

Peg 14 is the deepest peg at top set at 7 foot, however it was so clear I could see down to the 3 foot margin bottom. Set up a 4x16 Titan to fish three barrels (hampered by the bank behind), a short rig at two barrels and the Waggler with a 7 inch bodied Drake to fish off the island - pictured.

Fed the two pole lines with GB laced with Pinkie short and caster long and fed some LR's over to the island. Started short with Pinkie and had one tiny Ronnie - that was it. So went longer with big Red on the hook and had a run of small Ronnie's with plenty of indications from even smaller one's. Refed and as it was to transpire was to be too much feed and went on the waggler, my banker for F1's with various hook baits mainly single LR's. The upshot it was very disappointing to not get a sniff of one, neither did Mark who fished the method for most of the day. It seems that the F1's have moved away from this end of the pool where they have been since stocking. More being caught in the gap and on the third island. Having buggered the pole lines with too much feed now up shit street. With two hours to go decided to change to caster on the waggler and sit it out for bigger Ronnie's. Have a couple better one's but nothing that would change the result.

No carp with the silvers going 4 lb 2 oz for a par. Looking forward to fishing Withy and hopefully by April we have more fish in Bridge Pool especially Skimmers.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured with the silvers winner) with 34 lb 1 oz form peg 28. Tony aided by his body mass fished 16 metres to the island catching F1's on corn. I noticed his F1's were all smaller than the one's I caught last match, most probably the second stocking (pictured) - interesting. Said then it was a match winner. For further details read his blog.

The silvers was won by Dave Wride with 7 lb 15 oz from peg 26. Dave caught long on maggot over kindered feed - micro, GB and maggot. His catch included an unseasonable 1 lb Tench.

Well done both.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects. Going home me and a the taxi in front got ran off the road on to the pavement by a speeding artic when approaching Keynsham town centre - lucky escape.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 34-01-0 peg 28

2. Phil Morgan 23-10-0 peg 7

3. Chris Ollis 18-07-0 peg 31

4. Andy Greenham 17-11-0 peg 10

5. Dave Wride 12-0-0 peg 26

6. Kev Winstone 11-02-0 peg 8

Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 7-15-0 peg 26

2. Kev Winstone 6-06-0 peg 8

3. Dave Poole 6-03-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 08/12/2022 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

Right cold one this morning with hard frost and temperature -4 degrees. Packed the ice breaker, but didn't think it would be needed - it wasn't. It was with great delight to see BAA have started to remove the arms off the platforms - great move, be wonderful once they're all gone.

Now, if a "Lady" (clue here) loans you their bib and brace, best not tell anyone - Jeff Grant couldn't help himself and had some stick with plenty of quips throughout the day - non are publishable.

The low numbers would see sun most of the day whilst those from 26 to 34 wouldn't see any. I didn't get involved with the pegging today, left it to Tony. Into the draw bag and out comes peg 28 - Brrrr. Wasn't long before the kit became white with frost.

No seat box leg adjusting on this venue, just plonk the box down - certainly makes it easier on the hernia repair. Really fancied the waggler so set that up with a 7 inch bodied Drake, however, with the sun now out and behind me the reflections from the trees meant fishing it to the island made it impossible to see any colour (pictured). I could find some open areas of water to fish it so set the depth at 6 1/2 foot and planned to fish that until the sun moved on from the island. Set up the usual two rigs for the Ronnie's.

Fed some very still and cold Red's out in the open water and a small ball of GB laced with Pinkies on a close line. Had a cast on the waggler but visibility was too poor. Out short on the Ronnie rig and started to catch small fish to 2 oz on single Pinkie. Had a reasonable two hours basically putting 4 lb in the net. Tried out at three barrels over the same feed only catch a couple more ouncers and one F1. It had now become a struggle. Tried the waggler with single LR on the hook in the open water again, very hard, adding just two ouncers. Got a bit preoccupied with this line and it wasn't until the last hour that I switched to the island shallowing up to about 3 foot again with single LR which resulted in landing seven of the bigger F1's, one lost, and two proper carp, one was definitely fouled the other not sure but both broke the hook length. Could have fished this line two hours to go albeit a bit of a strain on the eyes which could have put me in with a chance of a win. 

My silvers weighed 4 lb not unreasonable on the day and my F1's 10 lb 11 oz for a 4th overall weight of 14 lb 11 oz. 

The match and the silvers was won by Tony Rixon (pictured right with his net of fish - spot the chub) with 23 lb 5 oz from peg 16. Tony caught on caster at mainly 10 metres - see his blog for the full details. Well done bubbler.

Back to the Compton with a very warm log fire and the usual suspects.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 23-05-0 peg 16

2. Kev Winstone 21-15-0 peg 31

3. Chris Ollis 16-10-0 peg 30

4. Mike Nicholls 14-11-0 peg 28

5. Phil Morgan 13-09-0 peg 7

6. Shay Gillman 12-03-0 peg 15

Silvers:

1. Tony Rixon 16-08-0 peg 16

2. Shay Gillman 9-02-0 peg 15

3. Tony Ponting 8-04-0 peg 19

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 04/12/2022 - Westerleigh Winter League - Round One - Taylors Pool and Shipp's Canal

Cold damp weather greeted us for the first round of the Westerleigh winter league, feared that my usual winter attire would not keep the cold out from the NE wind, so put on the heated body warmer.

Eight league matches, rotated, so four on each pool. Ten on each pool with one missing today (Bela elsewhere). All the better draws would mean facing the NE wind. Into the car boot selected the nearest disc which was peg 2 on Shipp's canal. Very happy with this and probably best peg on this pool. For company had Scaffolder Ricky on peg 1 and Tony peg 3. The colour had significantly dropped out during the week.

Gold fish now count as silvers. I explained that Goldfish are also brown - but these wont count - they must be gold in colour - all over? So had to put a brown gold fish in with my carp!!

Set up was simple - a 4x12 Roob for down to the margin bush which looked like Ricky would share. The waggler was set up, but didn't fancy it much but would be tried if it was really hard. Finally the 4 x13 MR to fish top set and up to three barrels.

Bait tray micro, 4 and 6 mm Baitec expanders, semi-conscious red maggot,Pinkies and GB.

Started by feeding GB laced with maggot at one barrel and some micro with 4 mm expander down to the bush. Started with single red on the hook and after 10 minutes had a 1 oz Ronnie, after a couple more re-fed and went down to the bush. Had a 2 lb Mirror carp first try. Persevered with this line trying allsorts of hook baits -  went back to maggot and started to feed the same through the Kinder pot, but was foul hooking small F1's landed two 10 oz and one 1 1/2 lb. Ricky had a few down to his side(or mine) of the bush but also foul hooking. I think the water was too clear, got frustrated with the bush and gave it up tried the waggler over to the aerator had 4 Ronnie's and one small F1. Had been feeding the short line and kept trying it but it wasn't happening, so opened a line with the MR at three barrels towards the aerator which is the deepest part of the peg. No indications here, but to be fair didn't give it long. With two hours to go and the pole tip now shivering I switched on the heated body warmer. With an hour and half to go the carp woke up. I had four consecutive 4 lb Common carp all on the drop on either single red or double red Pinkie. The float was dotted right down and because of the clear water it was hard to see the bites. Steady remainder on the match catching  3 to 4 lb carp plus one about 7 lb. Last put-in had another 4 lb Common just as I was netting it the hook pinged out which hit the pole and trashed the rig (pictured - caught a few fish on this one - wonder if its still under warranty - Martin Rayet)? However, did manage to scoop the carp which was just enough to beat Johnny C.

My silvers weigh in at 11 oz and with my carp 35 lb 1 oz for the lake win. So a good start to the league, as did Glenn who also won his lake. All the the lake winners pictured - makes me feel cold just looking at the picture.

Back to the New Inn with a few suspects missing - football, cars breaking down the main cause.

Result:

Taylor's Pool:

1. Mike Nicholls 35-01-0 peg 2

2. Johnny Clark 32-14-0 peg 6 (expanders)

Silvers: Bill Ferries 3-14-0 peg 8 (maggot and GB - fished short)

Taylors Pool:

1. Glenn Bailey 36-08-0 peg 22 (maggot fished long)

2. Lee Waller 36-04-0 peg 20

Silvers: Mark Taylor 2-13-0 peg 14 (maggot long)

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 01/12/2022 - Tony Rixon's Silvers Only - Plantation - Main Lake

Well it didn't take long for Kev Winstone to get "pillared" again adding his familiar white go faster stripe down his new van. Paint the post black?

Glenn back from 30 degree heat and as expected felt the cold of the first day of winter.

Usual 19 fishing. Had a walk around with Shay Gillman the water looked clear and thought is was going to be a lot harder today, especially with it flat calm. Been told by my surgeon that the hernia repair may take up to 2 years to "remodel" so have to be careful what I do and lift. I was hoping for a draw with a platform - not a lot to ask for

from a "commercial" fishery. In to the draw landing net and out comes peg 5. Umm, no platform with addition of tripping holes - pictured. Luckily Tony Rixon arrived on peg 4 and helped me set up the box - thanks matey. RJ Float Guru was on distant peg 7.

The left margin looked like Perch haven, with a reasonable depth, but it was clear. So set up a rig for that. A rig to fish to hand and another to fish top set plus three barrels. The upshot of fishing all these lines was after an hour or so was about 2 lb of bits. I could see Ryan fishing 13 metres and because he was on a point was fishing about 20 metres out from me and catching well. Tony was also struggling fishing short. So out of respect for my hernia didn't get any more barrels out instead elected to fish the waggler. Tony went to 14.5 metres. What I should of done was get 13 metres out and feed with it and fish the waggler over it, but couldn't be assed instead tried to use the catapult which isn't designed for GB and small balls were going everywhere to Tony's amusement. So I balled it, to Glenn's amusement😁. The upshot was I had  couple of decent Skimmers and two stamp Roach, but mostly small Ronnie's. Balled again which was one too many and during the last 30 minutes hooked three carp.

My silvers weighed in at 9 lb 14 oz and was well off being last! A awful drive home in the fog, well done Glenn rather you than me. Aircraft diverted from Bristol Airport.

The match was won once again by Dave Willmott (pictured with his catch) with 28 lb 4 oz from peg 11. Dave caught at various lengths to keep the fish coming to his favourite caster approach. Well done matey certainly got this venue sorted.

Close frame today.

Result:

1. Dave Willmott 28-04-0 peg 11

2. Neil Mercer 27-01-0 peg 8

3. Tony Rixon 26-06-0 peg 4

4. Mark Broomsgrove 24-05-0 peg 31

5. Ryan Jordan 23-14-0 peg 7

6. Matt Tomes 20-15-0n peg 28

Weigh Sheet: