Thursday 21/09/2023 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill - Match Lake

Autumn definitely here. Showers on and off all day. Hungry Horace always a good start to the day. Week day traffic around the Windmill area is awful. Felt for those trying to get to work.

Peg 20 for me - not my favourite, my draw explained with John Smith arriving at the next peg 19 - bloody Jinx.

Silvers it would be - short rig and the waggler - simple. Live red Maggot and GB only baits used.

Had the usual start with small Perch - one a bung. After an hour they usually had enough and started to catch some Ronnie's to 3 oz. The line gradually petered out, so on to the waggler and had a few Rudd but feeding brought the Carp into the peg foul hooking a few - frustrating. Back on the short line, few more Ronnie's until the Carp arrived. The mistake of the day deciding to have a go for them on the paste loosing one, landing one about 10 lb, the margin was far too deep for it really. Last half hour went back on the waggler which produced my only Skimmer and a few more Ronnie's. No sign of the Carp so could feed properly, think the Carp had vacated the far bank in favour of the usual late munch in the margins. Had I switched to waggler instead of chasing Carp would have definitely picked up second silvers as only 1 lb out!

Weighed 9 lb 14 oz and the the Carp 13 lb 1 oz.

On the weigh board today was Jeff "Grunty" Grant, whilst weighing in John Smith there was some banter with John tying Grunty's hood pull strings around his mouth to shut him up - very effected and painful - pictured!

The match was won by Paul "I haven't got much" Haines (pictured) with 100 lb 9 oz from peg 16. Paul was suspected of fishing the method to the far bank. Well done Matey.

Hughie "Not going to fish worm today" Evans pegged next to me on peg 21 fished worm at 14 .5 metres for a great bag of Skimmers (pictured) to 3 lb. Well done Matey nice to see.

Weigh Sheets:

What can be better than a HH breakfast to start the day - a Himalayan curry at the White Hart - Bridgeyate on the way home. Geoff and me have wanted to try it it out and must say didn't disappoint - £15 for a Gurkha Chicken, rice and Nan included so also reasonably priced.

Sunday 16/09/2023 - PSV Club - Charity Match - The Heart Foundation - Acorn Fishery - Paddocks

Booked in with Glenn, Glenn pulled due to family party out so did I, booked in again when Bela offered me a lift. I really wanted to fish it as the club was giving it's respect to anglers who recent passed away, especially friend and neighbour Bob Warren.

We stopped for breakfast good to see that Bela hasn't lost it - eats twice as much as me twice as quick - impressive. Fond memory's returning today. Nice to meet up with a few old faces, nice surprised to see John Bradford fishing - must be some silvers in here then!

Rained more or less all day. Peg 22 for me - happy with that as plenty of silvers - well greens - felt like had my own little pond. Loads of Carp on show though. Set up a 0.3 float to fish up to the bridge with three barrels. Also set up a short Ronnie rig and a paste RJ bullet for the LH edge.

Fed chopped worm, caster and DR's on the Bridge line stayed there until the last hour landing 24 Tench to 4 lb and a couple of Skimmers. Pestered by Carp. Tried the Ronnie rig for small Silvers - not a bite. Last hour had a play with the paste and the feeding. Found little feed produced the most "hooked" Carp.

Weighed 55 lb 10 oz of Tench for the silvers win - the accidental Carp weighed 61 lb most of them caught whilst fishing for the Tench for total of 116 lb 10 oz. Very enjoyable day.

Felt for Matt Williams who weighed 43 lb of lovely Skimmers only to get his net disqualified for going over the 40 lb limit which has no concession - unlike the Carp limits which are much easier to estimate. I wondered if the limit was reduced to say 30 lb with a 10 lb concession before disqualification would have made a difference to Matt's thinking. With these drop dead limits the approach for anglers is to aim for the limit - I know this from experience.

Bela (pictured with the silvers winner) won the match with 173  lb 5 oz from peg 3. Bela caught mainly down his margin on expanders over micro. Well done matey.

So double Bubble van and back to Bar-Garage for a celebratory Pinky Ponk.

Informed the rest of the  Paddock (pictured) will be completed at the end of the month - weather permitting.

A big thanks to Pete Uzz (pictured) for running the match - a great job. However, can't  help thinking it's getting to him 😂.

Don't have the results sheets as soaking wet.

Result:

1. Bela Bakos 173-05-0 peg 3

2. Ross Hartley 161-0-0 

3.Eddie Wynne 151-08-0

4. Darren North 149-02-0 peg 19

4. Mark Walsh `49-02-0

6. Johnny Page 146-06-0

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 55-10-0 peg 22

2. Chris Szakacs 49-04-0 peg 40

3. Maddy Jorden 26-14-0

Thursday 14/09/2023 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Withy Pool - Silvers Only

Perfect early Autumn day. However, the water level was down and flat calm which it has been for a couple of weeks now and would probably effect the fishing.

Peg 49 for me today. I was concerned about the previous state of the peg but need not had worried as Bathampton has down a great job repairing it (pictured) - credit where credit is due.

Found myself between Layton and Barny so stereo moaning. Luckily had some paracetamol with me and found them essential towards the end of the match.

The peg can be a good Ronnie peg so set up a to hand rig and the 4 metre whip. Set up to fish top set and three barrels which was restricted due to the fence behind.

Started after the Ronnie's with caster and could only catch small Perch. After 15 minutes knew they weren't feeding so went on the longer line with caster laced GB with double on the hook and had a couple of hand size Skimmers and more Perch. Hooked two big Skimmers which for unknown reason came off as did two 1 lb Skimmers - now right cheesed off. Put in a large pot of caster and again double caster and first put in hooked a decent Eel which bit through the 0.1 line. Estimated I had now lost 8 lb of fish - that's fishing. The Carp now entered the fray just couldn't feed which out immense fizzing, if fished over meant a new hook length. Waited for the fizz to stop and get a couple of small fish. It was a question for feeding minimal amount around the peg for a couple of small fish, had 6 lines going but still couldn't completely avoid the Carp. Hardly had any Ronnie's which were absent from all of the keepnets today - needed some wind badly.

I weighed 7 lb 4 oz and beaten both sides by Leyton on 6 mm banded pellet fishing a 14 elastic!! Couldn't bear to see him losing the small fish so loaned him one of my top sets with a number 3 in. Barny the other side did is usual humongous worm and micro feeding resulting in in hooking circa 12 Carp braking a top set and loosing rigs and elastic - it's ok his second in section would pay for it all 😁.

The match once again was won by Rob Baker (pictured) with 23 lb 5 oz from peg 57. Rob used the feeder throughout the match, initially with a large cage feeder loaded with GB and micro and later shorter on the method - both with double maggot hook bait. Rob didn't have any Carp problems which was interesting. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects, nice to see Pete Greenslade back complete with his bionic knee.

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 10/09/2023 - PSV Club match - Ivy House - Match Lake

Stepped outside this morning as dawn approached to see a wonderful sky of multiple greys in a strange glorious formation. Wondered at it for a while getting the urge to get a canvas and acrylic's out, wonders of nature.

Travelled with Glenn early enough we thought for breakfast at the fishery we didn't get to eat it until draw time - very nice worth the wait.

A shame only 10 fishing, can't help thinking the club needs to advertised for a few more members. 

Peg 5 for me which I have drawn a few times but have yet only managed second in the silvers each time, beaten by big Skimmers.

Set up long and short silvers rigs. Caught six Skimmers on the worm and caster before feeding the GB which brought the Carp in they seem to love it. After resting it could only catch Ronnie's afterwards. So got my head down for the Ronnie's but loose feed was a no no which the Carp also liked the sound and taste of. So quite cupping in order. Had a lovely days fishing catching Ronnie's from 2 to 4 oz. Two hours to go the heavens opened up with extreme heavy rain - another wonder of nature! This seemed to get the Carp excited as they became a nuisance.

The silvers weighed 25 lb 6 oz for second again from this peg. Had 4 tiny Carp for 1 lb 2 oz!! Nonetheless very enjoyable match.

James (pictured with his catch) won the match from peg 3 with 137 lb. James caught mostly from each margin - one side corn over corn the other maggot over maggot. Well done matey.

The Silvers was won by Matt Taynton (pictured with the winner) from match end peg 8 with 36 lb 11 oz of Skimmers. Matt caught on chopped worm and caster. Well dome matey.

Me, Glenn, Bela and Acorn bagger Gary Bowden with double weekend match wins met up in the White Harte for a pint. Perfect end to the day even though Glenn's underpants were still squelching from the rain 💧😀

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 07/09/2023 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill - Match Lake

Enjoying this warm weather - it won't last, unfortunately.

Peg 22 for me and our love hate relationship. Spent 30 minutes clearing the margin as best I could with a pen knife and my aches and pains, really needed finishing off lake side. Need to get up tight to the bank to improve Carp the catch.

Due to limited time didn't set up the waggler which was possibly a mistake.

Caught Perch short on single LR over GB for about an hour before the Carp arrived. Stupidly stayed on the light rig in search for more silvers, losing 5 Carp and trashing 2 rigs in the reeds before changing to the heavy paste rig landing 6 decent Carp to 10 lb without further losses. The issue was getting in close enough to the bank otherwise resulted in liners. Bites were immediate once tight in.

My mostly Perch weighed 6 lb 2 oz and the 6 Carp 46 lb 14 oz for 53 lb section default win😁 and 6th overall - love this peg!!!

The match was won by Leyton Palmer (pictured) with 117 ln 14 oz from peg 14. Leyton caught down his RH margin using maggot over potted maggot. Well done matey. Some say he can out moan Barny!!

The silvers was won by Gerry Welsh with 14 lb 15 oz from peg 21. Gerry caught on wag and mag shallow, 3/4 over. Most of his skimmers came in the first hour. Well done matey.

A few hot sweaty anglers about today.

Weigh Sheets: (peg numbers are wrong from 24 to 16 - The Banker from Swindon on peg 24!

Sunday 03/09/2023 - Alcove AC - The Clamp

My search for the origins of why the Pool was named The Clamp continues, but have made some progress. It's common knowledge that The Clamp is believed to serve as overflow from Bitterwell lake both believed to be constructed to serve the mining industry in the area, specifically the Serrridge Mine. The Clamp was constructed at the same time as Bitterwell Lake circa 1862. Bitterwell was used to soak the wood for mine construction and most probably The Clamp was used to provide water to the mine engines. Due to this important role Bitterwell lake also served to maintained the water "head" of The Clamp. Guessing "The Clamp" was a mining slang term, slang was often used by the miners, for example the men that carried the explosives were called "Powder Monkeys". Still to get the bottom of the name though, beginning to think it's specific to this mine and it's operation.

Back to the fishing. Arrived to find the Pond completely covered in a thin green film. Most certainly caused by the pollen from the large Ash trees that surround the pool. The pollen is normally dispersed by wind however last few days it has been calm hence landing in the pool. However, it didn't affect the fishing, the pond skaters were finding it hard work though.

Pulled peg 5 which is a decent peg. which is under a large old Ash. Happy with this as it meant shade all day for me.

Fished it the same as last match except I left out the fish meal and just used Sensas Lake and Magic for the GB. Fed it loose as the pool is silted and wanted it to sit on top rather than be swallowed by the silt. Fished Pinkie all day double and single as it got harder and boy did it get hard primarily due to no wind. I caught 7 species of fish, lovely days fishing, suits me. No sign of the 5 lb carp which John Treasure informed me he has caught a few times down the LH margin.

As the weights would be close Tony weighed in kg's my silvers weighed 2.330 kg in Christian units 5 lb 2 oz for second overall being beaten by Tony by 3 oz (pictured with the silvers winner). Well done Matey, well run match, need to brush up on your smiling.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 31/08/2023 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

Nice for the weather to stay true for the last day of summer - rained on and off all day and a tad chilly.

It seems South Gloucestershire has road works everywhere including outside my home - again! Temporary lights and diversions which at best are confusing especially when they leave the signs after finishing work.

Nice to see Pete Tuner back out albeit on two crutches which came in handy to retrieve his keep net which had fallen in.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 8. I was surprised it was in considering numbers reduced to 18. My section ran from 8 to 16 which were all but better Carp pegs so silvers it would be.

Started short down the side with caster which usually brings a few quick Ronnie's and Perch so was surprised I couldn't get a bite. Switch to maggot and had a few tiny Perch and a F1 before it died. I had fed some GB and caster out in front in 7 foot of water and had a few 2 oz Ronnie's all on the drop, leaving it on bottom resulted in tiny Perch, wasn't long before this line also died. So spent the rest of the match on the waggler fished well short of the island as it was impossible to feed with maggot. Picked off a few Ronnie's and five small F1's pulling out of a 10 lb Carp trying to keep it out of the margin reeds. First time for many years I've not enjoyed fishing.

My silvers weighed 6 lb 12 oz was surprised to see it was only 14 oz out of a silvers pick up. The F1's weighed 8 lb 4 oz.

The match was won by a narrow margin by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the silvers winner) with 56 lb 14 oz of mainly F1's from peg 6. Paul fished worm over chopped worm and micro. Well done matey.

The Silvers was won by Haydn Withers (pictured) from peg end peg 31 with 28 lb 12 oz of skimmers. Well done matey.

The pool is suffering from the lack of silvers, particularly Roach which were decimated earlier in the year.

Weigh Sheets: