Sunday 23/11/2025 - Westerleigh Winter League - Round One - Taylor's and Shipp's

Here we go, first round of the winter league and all hopeful of a good start. Weather has been variable in the extreme - weeks worth of rain, three days of hard frost and now back to damp weather. The pools had subsequently lost some colour, Fish sure to be bunched up.

Into the draw bag and peg 23 on Taylor's for me. Glad we got two droppers which was my  immediately thoughts. It's not been good during any of the winter leagues. I have said previously that peg 24 would be a better choice as you can fish along the reedy edge, a holding place for the bigger F1.

However, kept positive and plumbed the RH margin and found it idea - nice and flat. Feeling better about the peg as Lee caught some nice fish down this edge during practice. So a 0.3 RJ Slim to fish down to the bush, a 4x14 Winter Titan to fish top set plus one in 6 foot of water - thought it was a bit deep especially with all the cold water that has gone in, but had little choice as it kept gently sloping off. Finally the short Ronnie rig. 

Mind made up to target Silvers. Fed the Ronnie line with loose fed Pinkie and the Titan line with GB and Pinkie and DR's. Started on the Titan line with a DR and a Pinkie and couldn't get a bite. Meanwhile Dave on peg 22 already had five Carp! Had a look on the Ronnie line, which resulted in one Ronnie. Cripes definitely going to be a struggle for some, John on 25 was also struggling and biteless. Fed the margin with GB and DR's my banker for Carp, but probably not until later. Going to be waiting game today, so back out on the Winter line and some indications which resulted in two small Skimmers and a Ronnie. Perked up as thinking might catch a few more. Next fish was a 5 lb Carp followed quickly by another 5lb fish. Subsequently couldn't get another bite on this line. Pretty sure the Carp chased any remaining silvers away, so fed it with loose GB and DR's to rest it. Down to the bush with double DR's and two bites and two small Perch, umm. Spent a lot of time in the margin to no avail. Water too clear perhaps. Waited until the last 20 minutes to try the Winter line again and first put in hooked a Carp which trashed my rig down by the tree. New rig and next put in a 3 lb Carp netted with 7 minutes to go, back out but no further signs.

Weighed 14 lb 14 oz beating three. So my expectations met with the first dropper. I did enjoy it and surprised I could write so much about my day. Well done to Dave (pictured) on peg 22 catching 66 lb 8 oz during the first have of the match on worm heads over GB coming second on the Pool.

Taylor's pool was won by Ricky Mills (pictured with the Shipp's winner - seen this picture before!) with 73 lb 12 oz from peg 26. Ricky caught along the end bank Reeds with maggot hook bait, over tapped maggot.

Shipp's was won by Bela Bakos with 97 lb 13 oz from fancied peg 8 catching mostly down the track towards empty peg 7 with meat over meat. Well done both.

Good to Ron Hardiman out fishing and coming second on Shipp's. He even put an appearance in at the pub.

Weigh Sheets:

 

Tuesday 18/11/2025 - Harescombe - Hobnobs - Match Lake

Back to Harescombe, just a shame that we don't have a fishery like this closer to home. A bit nippy this morning with some car ice scraping before the off.

Another decent breakfast and into the draw bag and for second time on the trot - peg 5 for me. Couldn't help noticing John Smith aka "Cliff" or "Foggy" on peg 29 again!!

Whilst setting up there was a lot of Roach topping on the crease of the wind. So set up the short Ronnie rig to fish down the right, a 4x10 Roob Wire for down the left margin in-between the reeds and a 4x14 Winter Wire to fish top set plus three barrels.

Loose fed the Ronnie line with Pinkie, the left side some DR's and the long line loose GB and DR's and Pinkie. Had a quick look on the Ronnie rig with single Pinkie 100% certain would result in one first try. Well, after 10 minutes not one indication - cripes. So a quick look down the left in the reeds with double DR's and again not a sign! So out on the long line with various combinations of maggot/pinkie and one indication. Persevered with this line for nothing. Two hours in and nothing. So decided to set up 13 metres to fish tight over.What surprised me it was exactly the same depth as the the shorter line. Not fished 13 metres for about twenty years - in fact the end two sections hadn't been used on this pole. However, I was to severely regret doing this, with a reminder why I don't do long pole fishing. Fed some loose GB and DR's and had indication first try - liners? Well the upshot was five foul hooked Carp lost (probably due to towing into into them with the flow going both ways) and one Skimmer and one F1 in the mouth and netted. The consequences of this frustrating excursion was a painful back and hip - never again. Last hour back on the three barrel line and surprise awaited - four more F1's on the bounce plus a lost decent Skimmer before the line died - still haven't got the feeding right convinced this was the cause.

Weighed 13 lb 9 oz for section win and 5th overall. Yes fished hard as most fisheries are at the moment. Left thinking why I didn't have one Ronnie from a lake that is stuffed full with them. Very enjoyable even though it nearly crippled me. Considered a few times leaving the 13 metre section home but it does give some protection to the rest of the pole.

The previous match fished here John Smith (pictured being photo bombed by head Hobnob) was on peg 29. I went and had a pre- all in chat and recommended he fish the waggler up the leg. It surprised me that an angler of his class didn't have one with him. However, he didn't make that mistakes this match fishing the wag and mag into the leg taking the match quite convincingly with 50 lb 11 oz. His first cast caused a chuckle resulting in a Moorhen which was safely returned. Well done matey can't beat waggler fishing.

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 09/11/2025 - Westerleigh Winter League - Practice Match

We were all looking forward to this nine match series starting again. Great bunch of match anglers to be fishing with.

This match is classed as a practice match, don't know anyone fishing that needed this. Nice to see the water levels up, yet still more rain required.

Met "Six Sheds" (AKA Geoff Francis) at Wetherspoons for a decent breakfast. A 09:00 draw allow us to easily fit this in. Fishing 10:15 to 15:15 mostly -  dependent on Shanksy. BBC 91% chance of rain - going to rain then!! As usual waited until we were packing up.

Didn't have a preference to which peg. Draw bag chose peg 25 on Taylors Pool. Only issue from experience not a very good silvers peg. So today would be mostly Carp.

I have been experimenting making my own soft pellet and thought I would give them a real match try out. So set up a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus two barrels in 5 foot of water for the trial. Also set up a 0.3 gram RJ to fish top set and four barrels which was plumbed down the LH edge and over to the island.

Fed the pellet line with a small amount of micro, over to island a combo of DR's and Micro and down the edge DR's and GB.

Started my trial with a 6 mm round soft pellet and was satisfied that they stayed on shipping out and lifting and dropping. It was soon clear that it was fishing hard our end of the Pool after 10 minutes had a decent F1, but whilst netting it the hook caught in the landing net and pulled out. I spied a carp rise over to the island and satisfied my pellets worked couldn't resist trying the island with double LR on the hook. Having liners straight away with decent Carp bowing waving out towards me. Refed neat DR's and went back on my pellet and had a decent Carp after which the line went quite. So back out to the island and by topping up through the kinder pot had a decent run of small Carp and F1's. Tried the margin and had some small Carp and two Skimmers but was much slower than over. So back on the island and had a run of four decent Carp before it went quite again. So rested it for the margin again and a couple more small Carp. Definitely helped resting the lines. Back on the island had a decent Ghost Carp and lost another Carp though not taking enough care shipping the pole over the roller totally missing it. However, the Gods forgave me landing a decent Carp in the tail.

Weighed 40 lb 3 oz for third on the pool and sixth overall. Really enjoyed today. It was also great to see Ron Hardiman having a walk around who has been through a lot recently - to say the least. He's hoping to be back out with us soon. 

Ricky Mills (pictured with the Shipp's canal winner) won our pool with 76 lb 11 oz from peg 20. Ricky caught most of his fish down his right margin fishing 6 mm over 6 mm's fed moderately.  

Bela Bakos won Shipp's with 58 lb 13 oz from peg 4. Bela fished meat on his top set out in front. Well done to both.

A shout out to Mark Taylor who is retiring for the fifth time this year for winning the silvers with 5 lb 14 oz mostly made of a a quality Perch.

Back to the pub with the usual suspects. Now here's a thing, Bela was trying to explain to Six Shed's why the water in the Canal is not in level end to end. Six Sheds was obvious confused as to what the change in levelness effect the canal corners - all this before they had a full pint.

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 02/11/2025 - Alcove Club - Poppy Match - Whitehouse Farm - Margret's and George's

Today's match was primarily for the British Legion annual appeal. So £10 pools and £10 for the good cause.

Steady drive down the Ring Road as I had a nail go in my tyre at Harescombe and had fitted the 50 mph get you home spare wheel.

19 fishing so 9 on Margret's and 10 on Georges. Hoping for Georges as not hemmed in by trees and bushes.

Into the draw bag and disabled peg 14 on Margret's for me. Great feeder peg albeit a very long chuck. Toyed with setting up the maggot feeder for five seconds, choose to fish for Ronnie's instead - my favourite target and method as it keeps me busy on a colder windy day - get bored very easily.

Next to John Amato on end peg 15 and judging by the expletives throughout the match was having a bit of a frustrating day 😀.

Geoff drew peg Margret's 7 - another feeder peg. Margins not that as good - full of snags.

Long and short Ronnie rig, 0.3 gram RJ Slim for the very short RH margin where I was advised by Bill Knight to fish for Carp, Finally a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus two in 5 1/2 foot of water, hopefully for some Skimmers.

Only tabled live and dead reds. Had some Pinkies curtesy of Fred Welsh, but thought it too early to use them - proved a mistake.

Fed the long line with GB and DR's but started on the short Ronnie rig with single LR over loose fed same. Had an amazing 15 minutes catching a Ronnie or Perch - one a bung. It suddenly went completely dead so had a quick look on the long line which was only producing the same fish as the Ronnie rig but slower loosing a 1 lb Skimmer which may have been fouled. Picked up the long Ronnie rig to fish closer to the bush down the left. Feeling a Carp had disrupted play attracted by the sound of the loose feed and first try on the long rig foul hooked a Carp which halfway across the lake the hook pulled. Subsequent started to feed the LR's in loose GB to silence the feeding. Things picked up but it was slower. About 2 hours to go we had some light rain and the temperature dropped drastically recovering after 30 minutes. Had a short look for a Carp with a bunch on LR's down the right where I had been loose feeding DR's steady all match. Upshot never had a bite. Back on the long Ronnie rig but with Pinkie over potted Pinkie and the response was remarkable catching quicker until the end.

Weighed 8 lb 8 oz and due to Georges fishing really poor this put me 6th overall! It probably looked sacrilege to most that I didn't set the feeder up - perhaps next time!! Definitely should have started on the Pinkie.

Tony Welsby (pictured - smiling!) double bubbled today winning over weight and silvers from peg 8 with 27 lb 15 oz. Tony caught at top set plus 4 barrels fishing various baits over GB, Micro and Corn. Well done matey impressive 

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 28/10/2025 - Hobnobs - Harescombe - Match Lake

That time of year when it takes me two weeks to adjust to the time change. Match now down to 5 hours with weigh-in at 3 pm. Back to the Match Lake this week, looking forward to it -17 fishing.

These matches are great value you can get a decent breakfast and match for £21, but don't expect payouts to boost your pension. Traditional match anglers know it's not about the £ winnings, but the fishing, camaraderie and competition. We soon get weighed in by Gary and Kathryn the excellent fishery management team (pictured).

Peg 5 for me found myself between the two Phil's so expect conversations to get confusing. Unlike many venue's there are no flyer pegs and impossible to predict the best pegs on the day, which is a great attraction.

Looks like a decent days weather wise. All ready for the all-in (picture looking up from peg 1 picture taken from Smithy's end peg 29).

Bait tray today Live Red Maggot (LR's) and a bit of GB.

Three rigs - A 4x12 strung our 4x14 Winter yo fish at top set plus two barrels with double LR's over loose GB and LR's - result one early F1 and a lost fouler, then pestered by small Ronnie's. A  0.3 gram RJ Slim to fish down the left up to the Reeds with the same feed and bait - result one decent F1. A  0.25 short Ronnie rig fished down the left towards the empty peg would have preferred the right side as it was clear of Reeds but too close to peg 6 Phil. Same baits and caught small Ronnie's with the odd 3 to 4 oz ones and one Skimmer plus four small F1's. It was very hard today, but enjoyable with plenty of close weights again.

Weighed 22 lb 1 oz for 4th and section win just piping Phil Auger peg 6 whom I thought had twice my weight. Used 1/2 pint of LR's today 😁. Very enjoyable day's fishing - when is it not?

The match was won by "Stitch" (pictured) with 41 lb 12 oz from peg 19. Stitch caught one metre off the far bank using pellet over loose fed pellet. Well done matey decent weight on a hard day.

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects. Found a pub that doesn't sell Guinness 😕.

Bloody traffic a nightmare around my home at the moment, closed one of the roads I use coming home.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 14/10/2025 - Hobnobs - Harescombe - Doughnut

Last time this year on the Doughnut for me and probably the last time at Harescombe for Glenn until the Spring when the paste starts working again. I'm currently thinking of fishing the silver matches on Thursday's on Field Lake.

Eighteen fishing today. Into the draw bag and peg 28 for me. Not seen this peg in before but explained by the numbers fishing today. Its the last number on the Nut, subsequently next to peg 1 occupied by matey Rich Powell. To my right had a decent gap to Tony Welsby peg 24 who started off like a train and thought it was on the cards for a win. Quite liked the look of the peg, very narrow. Flat calm though but the tow wind effected.

So just the one rig a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock with maggot - simple.

Fed a small pot GB laced with LR's with double LR's on an18 hook to 0.14 GLine in five foot of water. First put in had Carp catching me by surprise - usually got to wait a while for the first bite here, so, is a red letter day on the cards? Four tiny Perch later, the answer was nope! Everyone was struggling. With two hours gone and three Carp in the net faith in my method started to vane. So put on another barrel and added the 6 inches difference reaching full depth, but after five minutes regained my composure and reverted back to the one barrel 😕. Glenn came round with two hours to go who had just the one Carp and by which time my tally was five. Good job the exit gate was locked!! The last hour came and I started to string a few more Carp together and thinking I had another half hour refed the line only to here the all out - 3 o clock finish from now on. 

Finished with ten Carp and four Perch 😁 for 30 lb 15 oz taking 3rd spot. What was interesting the peg tow's in both directions probably due to being on the end on the Nut. Very enjoyable day, love this hard fishing after all I was brought up catching next to nothing on the rivers and canal fishing winter leagues etc...

Phil Auger came out clear winner by miles with a catch of 87 lb 1 0z from peg 14 (pictured with his catch and the mud bank). Phil caught long over the mud bank fishing 12 inches deep with maggot hook bait and feed. Will done matey

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects to end another memorable day.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 07/10/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe Fishery - Doughnut

Travelled on my own today which always makes the journey appear longer. Nice breakfast again with John S, Chris G and Pete G. Jock reminisced the three days he lost after fishing the super league for Swindon on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. Apparently he Disney drink anymore.

Hoping to be over the far side for a change and was rewarded with peg 19. As with last week on the Match Lake found myself next to Mick peg 18 and Richard peg 20 aka Teabag - little less coughing and spitting today.

There are lots of different baits you can take to matches which causes confusing and switching around resulting in reduced catches. I choose a bait and try and make it work. So far that has been paste here but have now switched to maggot, in my opinion the best bait if no silvers around.

At last conditions were good for the waggler so set up a 6" Drake. A 4x16 Winter to fish up the slope in nearly 5 foot of water at top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock and the short Ronnie rig. All to fish maggot.

Fed the inside lines and the far bank. Started on the waggler with double LR's hook bait with the depth set at 3 foot. Soon found that the far bank had collapsed with the depth being just a few inches. Shallowed up to 18 inches and was soon foul hooking Carp. Hooked three in the mouth and had lost five and time to ditch the waggler - at least got that one out of my system - bit ridiculous trying to fish a mud bank with a waggler - but fun. Thanks to Mick for retrieving my waggler 😁.

Had a short go on the Ronnie rig with single LR over loose feed which didn't feel right, so spent the rest on the match on the one barrel line and from there on had a steady day catching some beautiful looking Carp to 4 lb. Played about with the feeding which was informative, get it wrong and foul hooking follows. Can't emphasise enough how important it is to take time plumbing up on this lake.

Weighed 56 lb 8 oz which included a 1/4 oz Perch for second overall. Fed about 3/4 pint so not a lot of bait required. Enjoyed the day but did get a tad cold near the end.

The match was won by Rob Pass (pictured) with 66 lb 5 oz from peg 9. I'm sure paste played a big part for him today. Well done matey.

Chris Gay took our section by default, fishing 16 metres with worm over micro - cripes hard work that. Nice one matey.

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects and another good laugh.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 31/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Another visit to Harescombe with Glenn, just wish we had a fishery like this nearby, but well still, worth the drive.

Into the draw bag and peg 14 again for me. Hopefully the peg will fish a bit better with 28 lb to beat. Will be applying some learning from the last match which might help the cause.

Felt I was in the open end at the Mem facing the Thatcher's end with Pete Greenslade, Glenn Bailey and John Smith (pictured - that's him on the left - The one on the right looked like a Ginger!) opposite me in a line - UTG.

Thought I would try the 7 mm meat today so set up a 4x12 to fish top set plus two barrels. But would start on the paste to see if there was any longevity in the method with a 0.3 gram shotted paste rig to fish top set plus three barrels. Finally a short Ronnie rig for fishing each side with LR's.

Had the usual three early Carp and one F1 on the paste over kindered micro before it died. Didn't try forcing the line as it didn't work last time, so, switched to the meat line at 2 0 clock where I had been regularly loose pieces of meat. Expected initially to get pestered by small silvers. However, no indications but did foul hook a Carp up in the water, patience exhausted after 10 minutes so binned it in favour of the Ronnie rig knowing that I would have to face catching tiny Ronnie's before the Carp arrived. Went through the pain barrier catching Whitebait before the odd Carp arrived and had a decent couple of hours catching Carp to 7 lb. However, had to put up with Whitebait in between each Carp but as the match progressed the silvers were less of a nuisance, netting a a few bigger 3 oz Rudd and Ronnie's, but no Perch today.

Meanwhile John Smith was busy foul hooking and losing his first seven fish. John stayed strong taking the piss take on the chin, it would have broken most men💪.

Weighed 51 lb 8 oz for fourth overall and a section first. Really enjoyed it today, especially as didn't feed too many maggots. Took away from today that the paste on the Match lake will for me be mothballed until next Spring.

The match was won by "Stitch" (pictured) with 66 lb 9 oz from peg 2. Excellent weight on a difficult day.

Back to the Lamb for a pint with fellow GAS Heads. Glenn was pondering at his lucky polo shirt and realising he had it on inside out. 😂

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 25/09/2025 - Over 55's - Bitterwell Lake

Tony Rixon organised this match with 18 of the over 55's including a couple of stragglers. Weather wise it was to be beautiful albeit a cold start.

Nice to see my old City of Bristol team mate Steve Gosling out fishing with us again. He did have a reputation of being late or no show back then. Seems he's got over that 😀. Very welcome.

Into the draw bag and peg 29 for me. Hang on another "Rixon Redraw" (accidentally dropped a peg on the floor). Peg 23 instead for me. Really didn't mind which peg just nice to be out fishing, plus would have been in the Sun either peg.

The peg was flat calm with the little wing blowing towards peg 8. Whilst setting up noticed the reeds moving which wasn't ducks hoping it was Tench rather than Carp. Set up a 0.3 gram rig for the edge of the reeds to the right for double caster over kindered caster. The waggler, a 4x12 Winter for top set plus three barrels for Skimmers on single caster/LR over GB and caster and a long Ronnie rig to fish single LR over GB and LR's.

Fed all the lines, starting on the margin line. It didn't take long to hook and finally net a decent Tench. Two more followed. I then lost one. Had been thinking the elastic was under gunned due to the reeds. So without thinking it through got a heavy elastic top set out and this time slipped on a worm and had a bite straight away and pulled out of it - bugger. Next bad decision was to feed a bit of chopped worm which resulted in a disaster - hooked a Carp which broke the number 3 section and with an old couple stood behind me hindered me getting to the broken section with my landing net before it shot off to the middle. It was my error as I was playing the Carp as if on my Carp pole and not my silvers pole!!!

Now here's a thing in the past 30 years I've never gone to a match without a spare pole. However, today I didn't, as this morning gave one of my silvers poles to Clayton Hudson for repair. So didn't get to fish my skimmer line as no pole. Had to spend the second half of the match on either the waggler or Ronnie rig adding a few small Ronnie's and Perch BUT because of only loose feeding attracted Carp where ever I fished. Hooked 9 lumps, got a few out on the waggler.

Weighed 12 lb 2 oz for 6th overall. I felt I could have done far better with the pole and left wondering about what I may have caught on the Skimmer line. My fault "fail to prepare, prepare to fail". Hope Charlie/Paul get my top set back which will mean the Carp got free, concerned more about the health of the Carp than the top set. Nonetheless, enjoyed the day and thanks to Charlie for weighing in.

Wonder how many times Tony Rixon (pictured) has won the matches he runs? Well today was another. Tony weighed 21 lb 2 oz from peg 13 catching Skimmer's on caster or red maggot hook bait, over caster and GB feed. Well done matey. With his retirement on the horizon expect more of his matches😁.

I didn't go home empty handed, Kev Winston gave me a GAS bucket hat (pictured) which for some reason didn't fit him 😂.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 23/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Glenn couldn't make it today so on my own. It felt cold loading the car, might have been because we had a light frost with the temperature at 2 degrees when leaving home. Had a nice breakfast with John Smith and Pete Greenslade. 

Had a quick look at the Match Lake and as could be expected very little signs of fish movement. With a bright day expected equated to a low weight affair today.

Into the draw bag ad peg 14 for me. Arrived at the peg to find this end of the Lake flat calm with the light breeze giving some cover to the opposite end. Due to being in a valley it doesn't usually matter as the wind varies in direction throughout the matches. However, it appears that with the wind in the NE it tends to stay.

For company on end peg 15 was club treasurer Dave Rugman. Wasn't sure the paste would work today but would be may starter to look see. Set up a 4x12 Winter for corn both fished at three barrels, paste in front and the corn at 2 o clock. As the wind was right set up the waggler.

Started on the paste and had indications straight away and in the first hour had three decent Carp. Subsequently it was a struggle. Had a few casts on the waggler with double LR's over heavily fed same and had some Ronnie's which indicated that here wasn't many Carp over the far bank. So binned it, but sure it will work another day. Set up a shallow paste rig to see if it could work, again nothing. Switched a worm for the paste (beauty of shotting paste rigs) and had an F1 first try didn't have anymore so fed some chopped worm which seemed to make things worse. Tried the corn line to no avail, couldn't sit there with no indications. Started to fidgety so set up the short Ronnie rig to fish the margin with a heavy feed of maggot. Could catch a 2 to 3 oz Ronnie every put in, kept feeding and was rewarded with the bottom colouring up and another and last decent Carp. Did have two decent Roach and a good Perch.

Everyone at our end of the Lake was struggling and with Dave, Jock and Tony in our corner the fishing efforts died down being replaced with banter. Good laugh.

Now here's a thing Dave was fishing the tea bag up to the end bank and blanking until he had his usual delivery of a beef burger and subsequently started to catch. Apparently it was the burger juice on his hands that made the difference. 

My silvers weighed 8 lb 10 and my five Carp 18 lb 14 oz for 27 lb 8oz for second in section.

and beat a couple of tea baggers!!

The match was won by Phil Auger (pictured) with 59 lb 13 oz from peg 9. A decent weight considering the conditions. Well done matey.

Dave said to me best get out of the fishery quick because the Cow's were about to be driven down the lane. Bloody good advice as got to the pub 20 minutes before Pete and John our section winner.

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 21/09/2025 - Alcove Interclub with Silver Bream - Whitehouse Farm - Margret's and George's Lakes

Geoff Francis joined the club this year and today was his first match and visit to Whitehouse Farm. Had a walk around with him before the draw, he was impressed with both lakes.

Was hoping to draw George's lake. Into the draw bag and Margret's 11 for me and surprised to find Geoff had drawn peg 12 next to me!

The water level is still really low nearing 3 foot down on Winter levels.  The light wind was blowing off my back favouring the waggler but the gap in the trees was a little risky so didn't bother. Instead set up three Ronnie rigs and a margin rig for Carp for the last knockings.

Started on the short Ronnie rig down the left side on single LR over loose fed LR's. Had a few expected Perch of various small sizes. Doing ok until caught an over hanging branch trashing the rig. So now down the right side with another heavier short Ronnie rig with the same feed and hook bait, however, it was very slow. Bined that and converted it to a Carp line feeding some corn. Picked up the Long Ronnie rig fishing single caster over caster and GB. I soon had switched back to LR's on the hook and caught Ronnie's steady but interrupted four times by Carp - all lost The last hour arrived with the Sun blinding me out of the long Ronnie rig line. So time to test the Carp line with single corn, had a bite first drop in and thought it was a Carp only to net a hard fighting 8 oz Chub! Didn't have another bite on corn. Tried the long line again for a few more Ronnie's but couldn't really see bites properly.

Meanwhile there was a lot of cussing coming from peg 12 - "ANIMALS" was the cry mostly. Geoff had landed a small Carp and had lost four snapping 0.2 main rig line.

I weighed 10 lb 8 oz for third silvers with Tony Welsby having 10 lb 9 oz but Steve Sewell winning the silvers with 11 lb 12 oz  which included a 3 lb 11 oz Perch. Well done matey a beautiful fish.

Our lake was won by Pete Turner (pictured) with 30 lb from peg 15. Pete caught on the method cast around his peg in ope water. Well done matey.

Georges Lake was won by Don Searle with 44 lb 3 oz from Carp peg 1. Apparently Don lost more Carp than he landed today. Well done matey.

Silver catches were below expectation with Steve Brown taking the honors with 10 lb 8 oz from peg 19. Well done Mr Crabtree.

Alcove, the home team came out in top in the interclub match taking the top 4 places.

Back to the pub with Geoff where, couldn't resist taking the P a tad today's misadventures.

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 16/09/2025 - Harescombe - Hobnob's - The Doughnut

The drive to Harescombe was, well …uneventful 😃.

A decent breakfast devoured and into the draw bag and peg 6 for me and 14 for Glenn. Found myself next to Pete Greenslade on peg 4.

Thirteen fishing today.

Set up the usual paste rig and margin maggot rig, then pondered on the wag and mag, but just felt the wind wasn't quite right, instead choosing to have a pre-start walk around - bad mistake me thinks.

Set up next to the platform as there was a "beach" in front which would have made it difficult to put the fish in the keep net. 

Had a plumb around and although the water level was up a tad found the depth 2 foot less than peg 15. The bottom was up and down - "No theodolite was used in the construction of the Lake". Settled on top set plus two barrels for paste and top set plus one barrel for the maggot rig at 45 degrees in 3 foot of water - deeper than I would have preferred.

Started on the paste over kindered micro whilst feeding up the margin with LR's. It was soon apparent that it was going to be harder for me today. During the first hour had just a few indications and relieved when I carefully landed my first Carp. Tried the margin early and had two quick Carp and  foul hooker before it died. Spent the match switching between the two lines adding the odd Carp, but nothing consistent that was going to threaten the frame. At halfway started to experiment with feeding etc... at this juncture should have set up the waggler but couldn't be assed. Should also have tried adding another barrel. Learnt that plumbing around is important here and should have spent more time on it.

Finished with 13 small Carp in great condition averaging just 2 1/4 lb for 30 lb 5 oz and no where. Still very enjoyable. Still to give the waggler a go, I need to know.

The match was won by Rob Pass (pictured with his catch) with 98 lb 14 oz from peg 22. Rob caught at half way using paste over micro. Well done matey.

Matey Glenn Bailey (pictured) fishing peg 14 was runner up with 75 lb 6 oz. Glenn fished his favoured paste over soaked 4's mostly fishing short.

Back to the Lamb for a pint with Glenn, John and Pete (up the GAS). Had a good few laughs. Great way to end a great days match fishing.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 09/09/2025 - Hobnobs's at Harescombe - Doughnut

Lets be clear Glenn's and my fraught travels to Harescombe today was the complete fault of Geoff Francis. Last match Geoff explained that he found it much quicker to go via Ring Road and M5 rather than the usual of country roads. So off we set to find the Ring road rammed, but that was OK as the traffic dribbled along. Got to the M32 to access the M4 then the M5, only for Glenn to think we were going up the M4 to London, luckily I caught him time so we had to go back to the Hambrook round about to try gain. Second attempt we managed to get on the M4 in the right direction only to miss the M5 turn off and found ourselves on the way to South Wales. The now distraught Glenn suggested we carry on to Redhill for a pleasure session. I got him to turn off at the last turning before the Bridge and weave our way to Thornbury and and onto the M5 North. We were now a tad late so decided to go straight to the Doughnut and a quick called Tony "Hobnob" who agreed to do the draw for us and arrange for Gary to bring us a Bacon and Egg roll (very nice) - thanks both. Phew!

Glenn and me were drawn next to each other peg 15 for me and 13 for Glenn. Water levels were up a tad but not sufficient enough to sit on the platform so set up in the margin again (pictured). Thought the fishing would be OK due to the wind blowing our way.

With no silvers in the Lake maggot would be my choice of bait once the paste slows down. When the conditions are right would be itching to try the waggler and maggot here. But today start with paste then try Maggot in the margin later.

So one 0.4 gram Paul Corbett (PC) paste rig (great for the deeper waters) to fish top set and two barrel in 6 foot of water, and a 0.3 gram Ryan Jordon (RJ) Slim for the margin on the top set.

Started by feeding some Micro - first mistake as the feed was falling too slow causing foul hooking loosing my first five fish - bugger. So for the rest of the match feed nothing just any dissolved paste. Had a steady couple of hours catching some better Carp until it just switched off. The penny dropped the wind had switched direction leaving me becalmed. Had a look in the RH margin with the maggot over loose fed same had a couple of Carp but it was slow, Unfortunately preserved too long on the paste line to no avail. Decided to fish the last 30 minutes out on the maggot but this time down the LH side and was wishing I had switched sides earlier as had a good 30 minutes with one Carp snagging me in something that I thought was my keep net, but was something on the bottom. Had a micro Perch and definitely seen an Eel blow so some silvers in the Lake!!

Weighed 81 lb for third overall. needing another 5 lb for the win and 4 lb for second to Alan Oram's 85 lb. So very close match again. Very enjoyable and can't wait until we see the lake at it's winter level.

Two Pots Glenn Bailey won the match with 86 lb 2 oz from peg 13. Glenn caught on his favourite paste method at various lengths - mainly three barrels. Well done matey. Thanks for the ride today!

Tony Cook had some bad luck arriving to find his car alternator had packed up luckily the AA came and charged his car sufficiently hopefully to get him home.

After a distraught day on the road we were glad to sip our first pint in the Lamb - Iron Acton with section winner John Smith and Pete Greenslade. Driving home Glenn and me had a right laugh over todays events. - lasting memories made.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 02/09/2025 - Harescombe Fishery - Hobnobs on Match Lake

Back to Harescombe with Glenn and Geoff Francis. On arrival noticed Geoff's clean plate that previously held a fat bastard breakfast. Glenn and me had the small breakfast which was excellent and good value.

Nice to see Jock again. Lovely man.

Seems that every year at the beginning of September there is a sudden change in temperature, as it was today, needed fleece and Gore-Tex jacket. Luckily only a few small showers of rain even though Gary and the rest of the fishery managers have been doing rain dances every day. Think their worse worries are over for another year.

As Glenn and Me travel together it would be helpful if we were on the same side of the lake. It hasn't happened yet, but we were opposite today (pictured Glenn and Barry packing up).

Into the draw bag and peg 9 for me and next to Dave peg 8 who years back ran the Bridgewater AA matches on the Huntspill and Sedgemoor Drain with  Geoff Francis on peg 11.

Just the usual set up of two paste rigs. However, with the water cooling down would it be as good? So all my eggs in the one basket. Choose to fish initially at top set plus two then back to one barrel then margin with the bullet rig in the last knockings. Cutting back on the feed was the order of the day. So just a few micros kindered with the paste on the long line and had my usual quick six Carp/F1's before it slowed. Came to the conclusion that it's mainly the F1's who cause the slowing rather than the Carp, this because of how hard they initially speed off scaring the other F1's off. So question of keep a bit of feed going and being patient today. Tried the short line and it felt as if wasn't going to produce so binned that, with the margin producing one F1. Only place producing was the long line and hadn't lost or foul hooked any fish. Five minutes from the end hooked a Carp which was the first fouler of about 2 lb plus which came off with Glenn shouting out that could have been a "Game changer". He was right cost me the match win.

Weighed 55 lb 8 oz for third place only  1 ln 5 oz from first!! Very enjoyable steady days fishing. Great match fishing when it's this close.

The match was won again by Richard Rogers (pictured with his catch) 56 lb 13 oz from peg 12. Richard is well known for setting up the one feeder rod and fishing the tea bag throughout his matches. Well done.

Unlucky Tony Hobnobber.

Now here's a thing. Richard frames most matches here, mostly winning. Other than the odd angler dabbling in the tea bag most fish the pole. So if the tea bag is the winning method why isn't everyone using it? My answer would be; It's not the winning that's the most important thing but having a good day fishing using the methods you enjoy the most - feeder fishing is not for me not busy enough, have never fished the Method.

Back to the White Harte for a pint and a Himalayan curry with Geoff and Glenn. Very nice first time for a Buttered Chicken very tasty.

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