Sunday 12/04/2026 - Bela Bakos Open - Westerleigh - Shipp's and Taylor's

After a short break was looking forward to today's match. Usual twenty pegs and hoping for a peg on the far side of Taylor's. Into the draw bag and peg 4 Shipp's again! This peg can throw up a Carp weight once in a while but not of late, so no need to cut up meat or mix paste today. However, it's an OK silvers peg - so that will do. Nice to have fishery manager next door on peg 3.

Simple set up 4x14 winter to fish two barrels, Short Ronnie rig and a 6" slim bodied drake.

Plan was to initially fish the two barrel line for Skimmers then switch to the Ronnie rig and if things got hard onto the waggler for again Ronnie's. Every time I fish this peg the first 30 minutes is spent catching F1's and can guarantee one first put in. So fed a knub of GB laced with Pinkie and yes the Winter rig hadn't settled and a F1 took the double Pinkie and was soon in the net. Kept topping up every fish and after four F1's had two small Skimmers and a couple of Crucians (which don't count as silvers). Had a couple more Skimmers and some Ronnie's before it was time to test for the Ronnie's on the short rig. Had a good couple of hours regularly catching 1 - 2 oz fish. Thought I would rest it and try the waggler with single LR over lose fed same. First couple of cast was getting indications, then the heavens opened with a barrage of hail stones making the waggler invisible, so abandoned that and went back on the Ronnie rig. Last hour thought I would have an experiment on the two barrel line by dumping a big pot of LR's in. With single LR on the hook and had two instant F1's and foul hooked two decent Carp.  Experiment over - thinking paste might have worked today. Spent the remaining time on the Ronnie rig had slowed but did add two better Skimmers.

F1's weighed 12 lb 4 oz and the Silvers 8 lb 13 oz for the lake silvers win. Mission accomplished.

Shipp's and the match was won by Vince Shipp (pictured) - AGAIN - with 90 lb 1 oz from peg 8. Vince struggled early on fishing soft pellet and micro (thought I heard some moaning) . He later switched to corn hook bait over micro fishing short down his right margin and caught decent Carp. Vince had also had a go with meat which didn't produce much - guessing it was due the highly coloured water. Well done matey.

Taylor's was won by Mike Etheridge (pictured) with 74 lb 10 oz from peg 20. Mike tried catching long which didn't produce switching to both his margins fishing meat in both. Well done matey.

Taylors silver's was won by Matt Tainton with a decent weight of 14 lb 12 oz from peg 25. Matt caught mainly Skimmers on either maggot or worm over chopped worm. Well done matey.

Now here's a thing Ricky Mills was on peg 11 which was on my sight line and his yellow topped float was a right distraction. Then relised Ricky must of borrowed some of Geoff Francis special floats also explaining Geoff's absence.

Well done to Bela for running the match today and thanks for putting peg 4 in 😉

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 26/02/2026 - Over 55's - Silvers Pairs League - Round 5 - Acorn - Paddocks

Nice to have Kev Winstone back out after his hospitalisation. Needs to put on a couple of  pounds. Kev was like a kid with a new toy being so excited to be back out fishing.

Driving down with Kev there was something nagging at me. The penny dropped had my Carp pole instead of the silvers pole. Which meant the lightest elastic was the Drennan 9 to 11. My concern soon evaporated realising there are not many small Ronnie's so this elastic would probably do.

Bought my bait at the fishery. Have to say it was high quality 

Into the black bag and and peg 23 for me. It's a strange peg as it's in between to bridges and the middle of three pegs which were not occupied. It's like a small pond all to yourself.

Got to the peg and the SW wind was blowing in to the peg at 11 o clock. and landing in my peg with peg 24 being sheltered by the wind. I would liked to have fished the waggler over to the far bank to the corner but would have been passed peg 24 which was close to be fair. So thought about setting it up but finally decide not. Just two identical rigs 4x14 Winters one to fish caster at top set plus on barrel with a 18 hook and the other to fish two and a bit barrels with a 22 hook for double/single pinkie. Running both rigs through was disappointed to find both were going with the wind - towards me - hate that.

Fed half a pot of casters short and would loose feed a few throughout. Fed the long line with pinkie crammed in GB only enough to get the pinkie near bottom - thinking loose feeding them for full depth would bring up the fish especially the Ide.

Took a while to get my first Ide, after which I had a good half of the match catching decent skimmers, Ide and three Tench, just one coming from the short caster line - a 5 lb Tench on double maggot 😊. The last  2 hours was a struggle. only adding a couple of Ronnie's and Ide. Thought it might have been due to the arrival of Carp but didn't hook any.

I weighed 20 lb 12 oz for second section. Very enjoyable day slightly spoil by more rain late on.

The fishery fished exceptionally well with only one angler under 10 lb, plus one angler on peg 3 would have weighed 73 lb catching short with maggot over maggot had he not gone over in one net - twat.

My pairs partner Tony "Turbo" Ponting (pictured) won the match from peg 5 with 38 lb 5 oz. Tony caught on maggot over loose maggot at 10 metres down wind at 11 o clock initially catching Ide then small Tench. Both the Ide and Tench moving in and out moved in and out. Well done matey.

Back to the Prince of Waterloo for a pint with the usual suspects. Bloody diversion at Chew Magna though.

Weigh Sheet: Bit messy

Pairs Results : One match Left: Pays top 5

Thursday 29/01/2026 - Over 55's Silvers Pairs League - Round Three - Acorn - Paddocks

"Don’t wish for health and wealth — wish for luck. On the Titanic, everyone was healthy and wealthy. Only a few were lucky". Winston Churchill.

With Kev Winston in hospital (now recovering at home) Martin Rayet stood in for him and luckily gave me a lift.

The Bridge Hotel for breakfast, enough said.

Arrived at the fishery to be greeted by a very cold SE wind. They say "Wind from the East fish feed least". I've always found the wind from the SE is worse.

As I was doing the recorded draw Tony Rixon pull peg 16 for me. Feed back was it wasn't the best but shouldn't get Carp trouble. However, I was happy with it for self preservation with the wind off my left shoulder. Plenty of room too. I really fancied the waggler and caster as the wind look perfect for fishing the far bank. So a 7" bodied Drake was erected. Shotting it up a Carp took the bare hook, another hook added! The only other rig was a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus three barrels with one ballast barrel (just short on middle) and top set plus one which required another 3 inches adding to the depth.

Bait wise - casters, Pinkies and GB.

Fed both pole lines with GB laced with Pinkies and tried feeding casters over but  due to the wind was feeding Goats until got the pull back on the catty right - sometimes. Out with single caster and happy with the presentation three casts later had an indication next cast had a decent Skimmer. Way to go then. Next cast foul hooked a Carp. Reloaded a hook and a few casts later had to abandon the waggler due to the wind picking up. So out long with double Pinkie. Initially the float was slightly going with wind, but later with, this due to the increase wind. So had to determine where my GB and Pinkie feed was going - both ways I suspected. It wasn't long before had a Ide. Then on the drop hooked a decent fish and was sure it was a Carp, so pulled hard until I felt the "Mick Jagger" of a Tinca so slowed and carefully got a 3 pounder in the net - bonus today I think. Had a few more Ide cripes can't missed their bites - savage. Wind picked up so opened up the one barrel line which was towing very hard against the wind making easier to determine where the GB/Pinkie feed was going. Had a Ronnie followed by a big Skimmer, after a couple more Ronnie's went back out long for more Ide. So last two hours kept switch between the two lines adding Ide long and three more Skimmers short.

Weighed 15 lb 15 oz for section win and second overall. Learnt a bit for next match here.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured) with 17 lb 9 oz from peg 31. Tony had  few down the middle but caught mostly Ide over tight to the far bank at 14 .5 metres loose feeding maggot and Pinkie with a maggot and Pinkie on the hook. Well done matey

Weigh Sheets:

Pairs Results after three matches:

Tuesday 29/04/2025 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

Had a decent egg and bacon bap at H&H burger van and sat outside eating it on a glorious morning. Down to the fishery to discover Eddie had decided to make it a silvers only match based on the Carp spawning. Many of the anglers weren't equipped with silvers top sets, rigs etc... We were also limited to top set plus three - no margin fishing. My plan of waggler fishing scrapped.

Into the draw bag and found myself on bridge peg 34 again. A good Carp peg  I was told. Umm.

Nice to see Fred Welsh out fishing again who was next peg 36. The other side of the bridge was Gary Bedford.

Set up three rigs one for up to the bridge at full length, one for top set  and a long Ronnie rig. The peg was alive with Carp and whilst shotting up foul hooked a Carp losing a hook length!!

Started feeding up to the bridge with some LR's and a tiny bit of chopped worm hoping for some Tench and out in front on top set with some Pinkies in GB for Skimmers. Had a quick look on the Pinkie for a decent Perch. Then went out for a quick look on the bridge with double LR's and first put in hooked and landed a 10 lb Carp. Unfortunately it rolled over on the rig and trashed it. I spent the next 15 minutes setting up a new rig which needed some extra line the peg is quite deep. Whilst doing this Gary was catching a Ide one a bung. So I was well behind. Out again on the bridge and had a run of 10 Ide and a small Tench. The match was planned for 6 hours but after 2 hours the silvers completely switched off for everyone. Afterwards, I had just the one decent Skimmer on the Ronnie rig. It's clear the Ide refuse to come short. Had a walk around and a few had switched to fishing for Carp to stop the boredom. Went back and after catch 11 accidental Carp packed up 15 minutes to go. Waste of a good Carp peg today.

The match was won by John "Turkey" Thompson (pictured) with 28 lb 10 oz from peg 15. John fed 2 pints of casters and a match pack of worm catching on worm. Well done matey.

Tony Whitcombe was a close second with  27 lb 13 oz from peg 5 with a mainly Ide catch on maggot over heavily fed maggot. Well done matey.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 20/02/2025 - Over 55's Silvers League - Round Four - Acorn Fishery - Paddocks

Stopped at the Bridge Inn for breakfast - not the best.

With some small Ide being stocked we were at last looking forward to catching more than a few ounces.

Really hoping to avoid the bridges. Alas not. Peg 33 for me. I wanted to fish the waggler but was highly disappointed to find the wind hammering into the bridge. So settled for a 4x16 Winter to fish top set plus one and two barrels and up to the bridge at three barrels with 3 inches extra depth. 

Decided on Pinkie and GB on all lines. Caught small Ide well initially short particularly when picking up some trip against, did foul hook four decent Skimmers landing only one, probably due to the rig going with the wind. Tried the bridge for just one small Ide, the wind was causing havoc to the rig with it bouncing, so abandoned. Went to two barrels and had a 1 lb Tench and another foul hooked landed skimmer plus a few more Ide. The last hour was very hard catching just a few small Ide. All on double Pinkie.

Weighed 7 lb 11 oz for last in section. Should have set up the waggler to at least try it - bugger - bloody wind - hate it.

The match was won by Andy Gard (Pictured)who put in a good display of waggler fish fishing  maggot over loose fed same to weigh 20 lb 3 oz from peg 23. His catch was mostly made up of Ide to 1 lb. Well done matey great result.

Clive Feddery (his net of quality fish pictured)was second with 17 lb 1 oz from peg 38. Clive fish top set plus two barrels with single maggot over hand fed maggot and caster. Well done matey.

Mark Tanner (pictured with his catch) was third from peg 31 with 17 lb 1 oz. Mark caught some quality Perch to 2 lb down the first shelf with caster over kindered caster. He added some Skimmers fish three barrels using Pinkie over GB. Well dome Matey nice to watch.

Pairs result still very much open at the top.

Some good fishing was had today, far better than last match here with half the field catching double figure weights, so very much improved result. Think the mild weather contributed.

Back to the Bridge with the usual suspects - great company one and all. Another pub not selling proper beer.

Weigh Sheets:

Pairs Results Round Four:

Thursday 23/01/2025 - Over 55's Silvers Pairs - Round Two - Acorn - Paddocks

Sat in high gusting winds, heavy hailstone storms, freezing and biteless, got me questioning why was I here and not sat home in the warm? Two reasons came to mind - Use it or loose it (important at my age). Otherwise would be sat static at home thinking how the lads were getting on wishing I was there!

Breakfast in the Bridge Inn was OK, only me Kev and Haydn there. Apparently Ginger people are refused entry!

All twenty turned up (fair play) all knowing it was going to be difficult day weather and fishing wise.

Into the draw bag and bridge peg 34 for me. Happy with this as there was some shelter with the wind coming off my right shoulder. For company Tony Rixon on the other side of the bridge peg 33.

Decided on two attacks - 4x16 Winter pole rig and a small cage feeder to chuck around if the wind got too bad. I was threading the eyes up in very poor light so was taking a time. Tony offered his help in the form of creeping up on me and wound the line back in just as I was threading the last two rings 😠.

Plumbed around and found the peg up and down obviously holes the Carp creates whilst sifting the silt which by reckoning was about 3 inches. Peg was about 6 foot. decided on two lines one at two barrels and the starter at three. Only GB and Pinkie. So fed both lines with a bit of both. At three barrels wasn't happy with the presentation. So after a biteless hour came to two barrels and had an indication which added some enthusiasm. Subsequently a very positive bite thinking Carp was delighted to land a decent Skimmer. Tony had one Skimmer slightly smaller than mine. Tried the feeder during a hailstone storm, no bites seen! Tony started to get IBS (Imaginary Bite Syndrome) light was bad for both of us. However, one IBS event lead to Tony foul hooking another Skimmer in the eye he was delighted to show me!! The wind turned around to off the left shoulder making things more difficult for presentation. Come the last 45 minutes both Tony and me had a Tench with mine slightly bigger but wasn't big enough to overcome the fouler. Upped the feed hoping from another Tench which may had been the wrong thing to do as no more bites. Everyone was glad to hear the all out.

My two fish weighed 3 lb 11 oz. This got me 4th!!

The match was won by Andy Greenham (Pictured) from peg 38 with 8 lb 15 oz. Andy had a few early Roach on the waggler and maggot at full depth 3/4 over. However, he came in on three barrels adding two skimmers and two Tench. Well done matey.

Some 2 lb Perch were caught today. Amazingly only one blank, plus no FOE's.

Back to the PoW with the usual suspects. Where that tingling feeling started as I warmed up.

Weigh Sheets:

Pairs Results - So far:

Tuesday 14/05/2024 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

A rare visit to Acorn for their cost cutter with Glenn Bailey. Nice to catch up with some of the regulars. Fancied peg 10 where the wind was blowing into. Into the bag of eyeballs and found myself on peg 31. Before the de-silting I would run to this peg, however, told this end of Paddocks has been fishing hard. Found myself next to Glenn who was on bridge peg 33, fancying his peg.

I gave the peg a good plumbing and had a really good margin to the left - nice depth and wide. So thought I would fish the short Ronnie rig over caster there, was expecting Carp to arrive at some time so set up a 0.3 gram paste rig. My target however, was the Tench so a 4x14 fished at top set which took me up the shelf by a couple of inches adding a barrel later if necessary to target the Skimmers. The far bank is a far far 20 metres so thought I would try the waggler even though the wind would make it very difficult.

Mixing up some GB it was amazing how hot the water was as were the fish.

Loose fed the Ronnie/margin line with caster and the Tench line with a mix of finely chopped worm and caster. Started on the Ronnie rig expecting some Ronnie's, Perch and perhaps a Skimmer or two, had just one bite a bootlace Eel - not looking good so far. Went on the Tench line with a piece of worm and had two 2 lb Tench in two put in's. Interestingly both were caught on the drop. After a bit of a wait and having probably over done the feed had two Skimmers. Subsequently it got hard. Had a quick look on the waggler with double LR's over loose fed same. First cast and the light splash of the waggler sent the Carp bow waving away. Had one liner before binning it, the wind was far too strong, felt that on the right day it could be a good method. Been feeding the margin continuously, so tried the paste - nothing. Time to go to the one barrel line over GB laced with LR's. Put the LR's in some GB to get it down to keep the fish on the bottom. Stayed there for the rest of match catching what looked like 2 lb Skimmers that weighed 1 lb. Seen a swirl in the margin so went over it with paste and after a couple of lost foul hookers and with 30 minutes to go made up a maggot rig up for further along the margin over kindered maggot and had a 11 lb 6 oz Common. Felt this would have been the the way to have fished the margin instead of paste.

The silvers weighed 11 lb 5 oz for a total of 22 lb 11 oz. which was a bit disappointing. However, the venue generally fished hard, probably due to post spawning and the changeable weather.

The match was won by Paul Faiers (pictured with the silvers winner) with 119 lb 11 oz from peg 10. Paul caught on maggot with 50 lb of his weight coming in the last hour from the margin. Well done matey.

The silvers went to Tony Whitcombe (pictured) with an impressive weight of 69 lb 9 oz of Tench. Tony caught at 11 metres fishing three maggots on the hook over 2 pints of loose fed casters. Well done matey not all about paste. Thanks for the pint.

Back to the Prince of Waterloo for a pint.

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 24/10/2023 - Acorn Cost Cutter Open - Paddocks

I don't seem to get the time on Tuesdays to get down to Acorn with Gary and Glenn as much as I would like So today would be only the third time this year. The main attraction for me is the amount of quality silvers. However, with the autumn on us plus plenty of rain around didn't expect the Tench to make much of a showing.

Nice steady ride down with Glenn and it looked like it would stay dry for us. Gary was sorting his Colmic pole but still coming to terms how parallel butt sections work 😏

Drew peg 22 same as last time which I was more than pleased with. Found myself drawn next to Eddie on peg 23. Started to set up when Eddie realised he messed up the pegging and moved me to 21 otherwise a gap of 3 pegs. Very unusual for Eddie as he runs a good match, but can be a bit  grumpy if you don't have the right pools money.

Tench rig for the bridge, short 4x12 rig for 3 foot shelf and 4 x14 for full depth down the middle. Thought about the waggler but that was as far as it got.

Fed the Bridge with a smidgen of chopped worm and caster, starting short on single LR over maggot and had  three decent Skimmers and two decent Perch and an unwelcome 9 lb Carp. Time to try the bridge hoping for some Tench. Unusually foul hooked a Tench (slime on the line) and pulled out another. Landed two before it completely died but could still see activity over the feed which kept me trying the line in vain, whatever it was wouldn't pick up the hook bait. Had a few more skimmers short with the long line producing nothing. Added a 2 lb Perch and a few decent Ronnie's. Hour to go started a new line up to the bridge with the short rig with light feeding of maggot and had another Perch and some more Ronnie's. Put a bit of GB in with the hope for a Skimmer or two which brought a sudden unwanted change of small Carp and F1's adding about 25 lb - unfortunately no more silvers.

Silvers weighed 20 lb 10 oz all quality fish - lovely day's fishing plus second silvers pick up, total weight 53 lb 6 oz. Mid match nearly got off my ass to set up the waggler which I'm sure may have produced some Ronnie's, but can't be sure, here's to next time.

The match was won once again by Gareth Boycott (pictured with some of his catch) with 211 lb 8 oz from island peg 4. Gareth initially caught on pellet long over adding the lion's share later down his edge using maggot over kindered GB. Well done matey got it sorted.

The silvers was won by Joanne (pictured with the winner) with 26 lb 1 oz from peg 9. Joanne had a good few small Tench and Skimmers fishing down the middle with maggot and GB. Well done Jo.

Glenn finished 3rd from peg 5 with 149 lb 6 oz so a double bubble van and worthy of a pint on the way home in the Prince of Waterloo with Bob and Gary. End to another memorial day out with great company.

Weigh Sheets:

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

Tuesday 18/04/2023 - Acorn Cost Cutter - Paddocks

It's 1 year and 4 moths to the day that I last fished Acorn - Paddocks. Since then the venue has been drained down, desilted and refurbished - very pretty too. Some work still to do at the top end which won't be long knowing the Bartlett's - well done to you all. The tackle shop is very well stocked with everything you would need.

Took some advice from a carp slayer and two silver anglers that have been doing well down here since the changes. So today was more of a toe dipping trip. Spoke to Mark Bartlett who thought it would fish hard today but should all have a day's fishing - certainly knows his stuff.

Glenn and me were welcomed by a nasty NE wind, overcast and bloody freezing - can't wait for this global warming thing to come back. Because of no trolley put my self down for a non island draw and pulled peg 16. Spoke to a few anglers about my draw and got what I expected turned up noses. Glenn pulled peg 13 so it was a case of two old gits helping each other unload the kit to the pegs - my knee and his back.

The wind was again going to plague me driving up the leg at 4 o clock. So the toe dipping started by setting up the full armory. No past or feeders.

Spent a while plumbing around and set up a 4 x 14 Titan to fish just down the furthest shelf at one barrel. A 4x13 MR to fish the middle shelf at top set and a 4x14 Roob for the top shelf up to the boards which was about 2 foot deep. Plus short and long Ronnie rig and a 7" red waggler, had doubts about this due to the wind but foul hooked and landed a carp on a practice cast!!

Running the rigs through and the tow against was horrendous, presentation would be poor.

Fed the Titan and MR lines with GB laced with caster and Pinkie fired some LR's over to the far side hoping they would land on the middle tier. Started on the short Ronnie rig with single caster over loose fed caster. Getting indications straight away loads of interest but the rig was going against too fast, only really hungry fish were going to be fooled into taking the hook bait especially as the Ronnie's are of a good stamp. Had an indication every put in netting two decent dumb Ronnie's. Rig roosted picked up the long Ronnie rig and had only one indication. Tried the Titan over the same line trying triple Punkie, single caster and single and double LR's and had one decent Tench and Perch on the latter. Came in on the MR and couldn't believe the number of indications I was getting and occasionally bringing back tiny silver fish scales, think were from small Skimmers. Fouled hooked a few skimmers. Kept topping up with laced GB, adding a few skimmers in the mouth. Decided to have a look down the margin up to the boards with triple maggot and had a carp first try, but no more slipped on a worm and had a another decent Perch - that was it. Due to the wind and the boards the float was rocking, very strange sight. Time to try the waggler but didn't expect much, double LR's on the hook and a few more fed. The waggler was going through with the wind but would hold due to a lot of line on the bottom. Float disappeared from view thinking it was lost in the poor light struck and had another decent Perch. The next six cast produced four skimmers, one Ronnie and a 4 lb Carp. The visibility/wind was so bad abandoned it after 15 minutes without a bite. Spent the remainder of the match being tormented by silver liners adding three small Tench and some decent Skimmers. Three minutes to go hooked a big carp which broke the hook length due to my extreme bullying.

For most of the match Glenn was having an off day breaking his number six section £££ and only catching late on but had some decent size carp on his favored paste.

My silvers weighed 26 lb 4 oz which was joint 4th on the day and my two small carp weighed 9 lb 8 oz. Really enjoyed it today, toe now dipped and please the silvers was only a pound or so off a pick up and more importantly close to Faieresy and Perry the local silver slayers. I'm sure under the right conditions the waggler is going to prove a very usual tool. The silvers are certainly of high quality, no white bait here.

The match was won by Chris Harrison (pictured with the silvers winner) with 109 lb 4 oz from bridge peg 33. Chris caught late on down his right margin on the upper tier on paste. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by John "Turkey" Thompson from peg 1 with 47 lb 7 oz. Turkey caught short fishing worm over caster/chopped worm feeding 2 pints and 1/4 kilo of chopped worm. His catch included 4 tench for 20 lb. Well done matey.

Result:

1. Chris Harrison 109-04-0 peg 33

2. Neil Robins 106-04-0 peg 7

3. Andy Gard 93-09-0 peg 21

Silvers:

1. John Thompson 47-07-0 peg 1

2. Kev Perry 27-14-0 peg 38

3. Paul Faiers 27-05-0 peg 12

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 24/03/2022 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake

This is what happens if you didn't head Ray's advice not to drive around to the back pegs. Bit of car cleaning required - be "whipping" out the hosepipe.

The road to the fishery is nearly impassable for a family car.

With the beautify spring weather staying with us with it was great to get out on the bank amongst the Hawthorne bloom.

With a good few anglers elsewhere today we were down to fifteen. Hoping for pegs 22, 24, 25 and 1. Would have liked pegs 2 and 3 too but not usually in because not considered suitable by the Methodist. Into the draw bag and find peg 5 staring at me - not happy tendency to be a Methodist peg, just cant get away from pegs 4 and 5. For company I had Dave "The Whip" on peg 4.

The lake was flat and bright thought the silvers would be hard to find.

Although it's not a great silvers peg still set up the Ronnie rig and a 4 x14 Winter Titan to fish at three barrels. Thought I better set up a 0.3 gram RJ Slim for the LH margin expectation wasn't high for this though and as it transpired didn't get wetted. I did sneak the section last time on this peg with a couple of decent carp on the waggler so that was the banker today - plus it makes it easier on the shoulders.

Started by feeding a ball of GB laced with Pinkie on both the Ronnie and three barrel lines, pulted some LR's over to the island. First cast on the Ronnie rig with single LR had small Ronnie which slipped the hook and went back. Took a long while to get the next Ronnie, the writing was on the wall so line abandoned and out at three barrels again with single LR and no indications. Line abandoned in favour of the wag and mag. Started to catch a few Ronnie's and  Rudd. Foul hooked a carp which came off about three pegs away!! A few cast later I properly hooked a 5 lb Common which just wouldn't give in - eventually netted. Having problems sinking the line to avoid the nasty skimming wind which wasn't strong enough to cause a ripple to break the surface tension which was holding the line up. The up shot was I landed three Carp losing four - two more were fouled and two broke me they were right beasts.

The silvers weighed 5 lb 7 oz one out of a silvers pick up, adding my carp took me to 24 lb 1 oz with those lost carp costing me - that's fishing and partly why we do it. Very enjoyable day in the sun though. Paste will definitely be in the bag next match here.

The match was won by Paul Haines (pictured with his catch) with 99 lb from peg 8. Paul caught on the method over to the island with expander hook bait. Well done matey

The silvers was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the match winner) with 10 lb 11 oz from peg 12. Paul's catch comprised mainly of two Bream and a Skimmer caught  at 13 metres using maggot.  Well done matey.

Back to the "Ringer" with the usual suspect. Sitting outside at last watching the sun gradually disappear over a beautiful Spring day out with a great  bunch of anglers.

Finally - Top Tip: How to beat glistening from the sun and ripple where no colour float is visible. Use a float with a plastic hollow tip and scrap off any paint so it's transparent. It will also glisten but much brighter than that caused by ripple thus becoming reasonably visible. Wait for the bright light to disappear - hopefully!

Result:

1. Paul Haines 99-0-0 peg 8

2. John Smith 46-12-0 peg 46-12-0 peg 1

3. Ray Bazeley 38-15-0 peg 7

4. Laurie Laing 36-05-0 peg 20

5. Pete Turner 35-07-0 peg 22

6. George Sumsion 26-05-0 peg 17

Silvers:

1. Paul Banfield 10-11-0 peg 12

2. Geoff Francis 7-12-0 peg 19

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 18/01/2022 - Acorn - Cost Cutter - Paddocks

Text from Glenn Bailey asking if I wanted to go to Acorn. I had no plans to do so ,but decided to go even though we had the first full "Wolf" Moon of the year.

The lake was covered with a thin coating of ice.

My shoulders still playing up so no island draw for me which meant a draw more likely on a bridge. Into the draw bag and out comes peg 33 - yep a bridge peg. However, the ice would be easy to clear, my thinking was that the fish may had gone under the bridge for some cover. For company on peg 34 was  Dan Hurley and Jinx Ant P on peg 31.

Decided to fish one line all match which was top set plus two and a bit barrels up to the bridge mid span. So a 4x13 MR red top was set up. Kicked off with a small ball of kindered GB with some loose Pinkies. First put in I was getting some indications and foul hooked a carp which scaled me. Out again and hooked and landed a small carp. I then had a run of four Skimmers loosing one. The line completely died. Dan hooked an 8 lb carp which came under the bridge with my rig catching in his float. Bloody difficult playing a carp and the neighbours  white hydro elastic. I managed to get to my top set and then the elastic and got the break I was after. Dan manged to finally land it, well done to him.

Went for a walk around: 

Graham Smith peg 36 had around 30 lb all caught on crushed corn fished over to the island at about 11 o clock, but was now on the maggot down the track.

Tony Pontin peg 38 was playing a small carp but was struggling but getting the odd fish.

Neil Peg 40 was struggling

Dave Wride on peg 6 was catching the odd small carp and was now fishing down to pallet 7. He was moaning about Beany on peg 5 walking up and down to his bait bag. Dave was thinking of going over and moving the bag closer to his seat box!

Mike Chapman peg 9 (I drew this for him) had just cast his straight lead out with bread flake. Whilst eating a sandwich the tip went straight round and finally landed a double figure carp.

Glenn Bailey peg 11 had just landed a small carp and was getting some liners, so some hope here. Glenn was fishing tight over in 3 foot of water fishing maggot over kinder maggot.

Steve Warren peg 15 was catching well on 8 mm bread tight over 2 inches off bottom.

Kev Perry peg 19 was catching small carp over and moaning about their size!!

Paul Faiers peg 21 was catch Roach and Skimmers fishing Pinkie over loose fed pinkie at 3/4 over.

Ant P peg 31 had one 8 lb foul hooked carp and could only add another 1 oz.

Back to my peg and decided the only was to catch would be to fish over so got the long pole out with 0.3 gram RJ slim and after 5 minutes packed it away as it was too painful to hold. Well and truly beat today. It was clear walking around that fishing long was the key and as I can't do this at the moment will have to give the venue second thoughts until the warmer weather.

My three Skimmers weighed 2 lb 14 oz and my one carp 2 lb 8 oz for last in the match.

Steve Warren (pictured with the silvers winner) won the match with 51 lb 15 oz from peg 15. Paul Faiers won the silvers with 10 lb 9 oz from peg 21. Well done to both.

It appears that the fish have moved unusually into the far leg - pegs 12 to 22.

Result:

1. Steve Warren 51-15-0 peg 15

2. Graham Smith 45-06-0 peg 36

3. Glenn Bailey 30-13-0 peg 11

4. Dave Wride 30-11-0 peg 6

Silvers:

1. Paul Faiers 10-09-0 peg 21

2. John Mills 9-14-0 peg 17

Weigh Sheets: