Wednesday 17/11/2010 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

Whilst eating one of Karen’s OK breakfasts the “Gardener” (Phil’s son) came in to collect the peg fee as Phil was spending a few days in Rome. It’s the first time I have seen him. There was some discussion on which pegs should be in or out. The “Gardener” (sorry don’t know his name) suggested we didn’t put peg 7 in the draw as it is full of rubbish. Someone shouted out “Well get it out then”! Umm.

There were fourteen booked in and with two no-shows which amounted to the ideal no of anglers on Match Lake under present fishing form. In to the draw bag and out comes peg 22. I have drawn this peg a many times and know it well. On arriving at the peg I noticed that the water was very clear – in fact no colour at all, which is very unusual for this venue. Apparently its to do with the weed killer used on the reeds. The other observations were that the water level looked to be up to its winter level, plus I had a new platform. Unfortunately it appears to be built 3 inches below the water level; thankfully I had my boots on. The wind was blowing quite strong from right to left, add the rain and I was in for an uncomfortable day. However, one of the pluses was that the wind would give a bit of cover over the clear water. As the water was so clear I decided not to fish the margins, which can be good on this peg. Particularly the LH side. So I only set up the one rig a 4x12 Jolly to be fished in the open water at 12 o clock. I plumbed around and found the deepest part of the peg was at 1 metre, with it shallowing the further I went out. Obviously this was far too short to fish today and decided on 6.5 metre line. As I thought it would be a hard match I also decided to stay with the one line as I didn’t want to split the fish. I started by feeding a small amount of wetted micro (scrounged from Dave Wride and Steve Dawson as I had left mine home bringing 8’s by mistake). I used both 2 and 3 mm expander on a 16 808 hook. I initially found it very difficult to present the bait primarily due to the wind. I readjusted the back shot many times to try and get the balance right. I soon had four Crucians in the net but found that due to the water clarity the fish would scare off for about 15 minutes before returning. After netting about nine Crucians I had what appeared to be a typical slow Bream bite and I was right as a 3 ½ lb specimen ended up in the net. As planned I stayed on this line all match adding fish in pairs with fishless periods. The last two Crucians were 2 pounders which were in excellent condition. I weighed 18lb 9oz for 1st in the match and 1st in the Silvers. However, I did think Andy Curry (pictured right with a bag of Crucians) on peg 17 had beaten me hands down so I was surprised to find I had piped him by 1lb 7oz. Andy’s weight put him 2nd overall and 2nd in the Silvers – well done matey.

No matter how, lets say “untidy” the fishery is, it still remains for me the best Crucian venue in the South West and that has to be good.

Full Result:
1. Mike Nicholls 18-09-0 peg 22
2. Andy Curry 17-02-0 peg 17
3. Pete Sivell 9-12-0 peg 25
4. Dave Wride 8-08-0 peg 30
5. Paul Lock 5-02-0 peg 27
6. Bill Ferris 3-08-0 peg 18

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 18-09-0 peg 22
2. Andy Curry 13-04-0 peg 17

Sunday 07/11/2010 - South West Teams of Four - Bullocks Farm - Round Five

About eight months ago I asked Bob Gullick to get me a Garbolino fishing cap, which has a hat clip on the back. I am continually losing mine to the wind. Bob promised he would sort one out for me. And today, the first time I have seen him since then was for Bob to hand over that hat - thanks Bob - a man true to his word.

Bela and I were first in the queue for Breakie at Bullocks Farm Café. I must say it was much better than Shipham. With Charlie working, hence not available (I thought he had retired – or was it retarded) Tom Thick stood in as captain, until he had to count the money – that was left to me!

With two sections on Match Lake, one on both North Pool and Rushcombe, it was a complete turn round to the scramble for Match Lake as everyone wanted to be pegged on Rushcombe – including me, but only for the colourful Silvers. Well only 11 could draw here and in our team that was left for Rich Coles which was fancied end peg 22 – I gave him my thoughts on how I would approach the peg which unfortunately for me he followed. I was on North Pool 6 which I was told was good for Carp in the LH margin at 3 metres with caster fished over caster. However, Nick Collins gave me a good tip, which was to start at 5 metres down the track with Maggot over GB.

Having settled in my peg along comes Rip Off who had drawn the peg 12 which was directly behind me. Now I think Left handed anglers should be made to ship left handed at all times and not swap around because it suits them. I lost count the number of times Rip Off’s pole jabbed me in the ribs, at one time I thought of confiscating his butt section as it was technically in my swim. What a bloody untidy angler he is, with tackle strewn everywhere. I got him back by putting my used banana skin in his net bag, that will make things smell a little better!

I set up three rigs: 1x 4x12 Jolly for the Silver for fishing expander pellet, maggot, etc… (I did bring some Pinkies - Chris Fox would be proud - which stayed in the bait bag). A 0.250 gram Drennan Carbo and finally a Drennan wire stem Chop which suited both and far margins. I started as Nick suggest but feeding Micro instead of GB at 5 metres and first put in on the Carbo with single maggot I had an 8lb Carp, followed soon after with a 4lb Carp. I then lost a foul hooked fish followed by an 8oz Crucian. The swim then died. But what I didn’t know was that Matt Tainton on peg 16 had lost a top set complete with a 10lb Carp. This Carp plus top set apparently swam all round the snake lake up to Pete Sivell’s swim who nearly landed both top set and Carp. The fish then swam all the way back, going through my swim twice!! I had been feeding caster in to the LH margin and decided to give that a go, but there was no sign of life there, I did try it from time to time with various baits but to no avail. I must say the far bank looked a banker for some Carp later, especially the Duck run. I opened a new swim at 11.5 metres down the track to my left, in line with empty pallet peg 7. I kinder potted in 2mm expander to fish either 4mm or 2mm expander over this feed. Straight away I knew there were a few Crucians about but they really wanted the hook bait moving on the drop, to which I obliged them catching twenty or so before giving the far bank a try. The upshot was that this hour was completely wasted as I didn’t have bite on any of the baits I tried. I just couldn’t understand why. I spent the last half hour back on the Crucians landing another four plus a 2lb Carp. I now wish I stuck with the Silvers throughout. However, I wouldn't have been saying that if I had one more Carp as I would have picked up in both pools! My Crucians weighed in at 18lb 11oz and my three Carp 14lb 2oz for a total of 32lb 13oz. This put me fourth overall and second in the Silvers by 8oz (one more Crucian) - bugger.

The team came a credible joint third with 28 points. I am sure it wasn't anything to do with Charlie not being there!

The match was won by Pete Sivell (pictured right receiving a shiny £1 coin form runner up Phil Harding who was on next peg North Pool 2) from NP peg 4 with 40lb 15oz. Pete caught nine Carp in his LH margin fished about 1 metre from the bank side edge fishing double red maggot over caster.

The Silvers was won by, you guessed it Rich Coles with 19lb 3oz from Rushcombe peg 22. Rich fished single red over micro alternating between three swims.

Oh, yes Rip Off could only manage 4 points from a possible 11 from peg 12, but believe it or not he won our section by TRIPLE default - how jammy is that!!

Full Result:

1. Pete Sivell 40-15-0 peg 4 NP
2. Phil Harding 37-0-0 peg 2 NP
3. Dean Mallin 35-0-0 peg 30 Match
4. Mike Nicholls 32-13-0 peg 6 NP
5. Matt Tainton 30-09-0 peg 16 NP
6. Dave Roper 26-14-0 peg 15 Rush

Top Silvers:
1. Rich Coles 19-03-0 peg 22 Rush
2. Mike Nicholls 18-11-0 peg 6NP

Wednesday 09/06/2010 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm

By the time I got to Bullocks Farm I was really feeling sorry for myself. It was nothing to do with the fishing - I was driving up Queen Charlton Road in Keynsham I had a small white van right up close behind me. Then at the mini roundabout it drop right back and reduced it’s speed to I guess 25 mph. I started to wonder why. Then I saw it, a Mobil Police camera parked up in the left hand lay-by. Quick look at my speed and I reckon I was travelling at 36 mph. Although I quickly reduced my speed to 33 mph my feeling was that it was far too late. These cameras are accurate up to 2,000 metres! I reckon it’s 50/50 whether or not I get a ticket, lets hope they caught lots more going faster. I will know by the 24 th as they have 14 days to contact you. What on earth is a mobile camera doing out at 07-15 on a Wednesday morning, obviously after the average working man.

Back to the fishing. Phil is apparently is a big follower of my blog and asked me to write something nice about him for a change – so here goes - BRSITOL ROVERS (apparently Phil’s dyslectic)!!

I never worry about which peg I draw on Match Lake as they are all good on their day. I pulled out peg 10 and wasn’t disappointed. I set up two rigs, 1 - 4x12 Jolly for the Silvers and Crucians to fish at 1 o clock with pellet at 9 metres and to fish maggot/caster at 10 o clock at the same distance. The depth was about the same so only a slight adjustment required when switching. The other was a 0.3 gram paste float which suited both margins – Left and Right. I fed both Silvers swims and started on the 3 mm expander pellet whilst lightly hand feeding both margins with 4 mm wetted pellet. I was anticipating a bite immediately, but it didn’t happen. Not a sign of a fish – no fiss – nothing. So on to the caster and nothing, back on the pellet and I had a 2lb Carp. I could see Paul Faiers on peg 15 also struggling but getting a few Crucians. I switched to maggot over the caster line, in conjunction with kindering some maggot. I had a run of Crucians and a couple of tiny Skimmers. Likewise on the pellet line I had another few Crucians, but it was too slow. With a hour gone I decide to it was to be a Carp day for any coin, albeit it being a too early to plunder Margins. But that's what I did. I had already decided that the RH margin would produce the most Carp and all though I had indications that fish were there, I only had one Carp in the net, losing two – one broke my the other snagged me in tree roots to show for two hours of fishing. I switched to the LH margin with the paste and it was much more prodictive, landing 10 Carp up to the whistle. My Silvers weighed in at 10lb 2oz and the Carp 32lb for a total of 42lb 2oz. and third overall. Paul Faiers ouncing me out of second, which he reminded me of at least 5 times!! I think that if I had fished the margins differently I might have won the match. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I blame the Speed Camera for the lapse in my focus.

The match and the Silvers was won by Shaun Kitteridge (pictured right) with 50lb 9oz which included 45lb 2oz of quality Crucians. Shaun caught at 11 metres on 3mm expander pellet over loose fed micro. Shaun caught 17 Crucians in the last 2 hours.

It appeared that the Crucians were all at this end of the lake with the top three Silvers weight coming from pegs 17, 19 and 21

Full Result:

1. Shaun Kitteridge 50-09-0 peg 17
2. Paul Faiers 42-12-0 peg 15
3. Mike Nicholls 42-02-0 peg 10
4. Dave Wride 41-12-0 peg 25
5. Mike Owens 37-10-0 peg 26
6. Colin Golding 36-11-0 peg 19

Top Silvers:

1. Shaun Kitteridge 45-02-0 peg 17
2. Colin Golding 30-10-0 peg 19
3. Steve Dawson 30-03-0 peg 22

Sunday 09/05/2010 - Kev Perry Series - Bullocks Farm - Round Six

I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the five of the six matches (I missed one match) that I have fished in this league. I also must add that when taking into account the venue and quality of angler it’s the strongest league I have fished in since converting to commercial fisheries. There aren’t many Carp Slayers fishing this league – just as well, as you do need the right balance of Silvers and Carp at the weigh in.

I would like to thank Paul and Chris for running it – it’s not easy to run a league as competitive as this and satisfy everyone. I hope they run it again next year which is currently in doubt. Perhaps they will feel different once they have over-wintered and fished some right crap elsewhere.

I was on match Lake today and most anglers fishing the Lake today didn’t mind which peg they drew as they are all worth a few fish. However, because the sun was blazing hot and was unlikely to go in all day, I wasn’t that keen to fish pegs 21 or 22 only because of this as on their day the can be pension contributing pegs. You guessed it I drew peg 21 and had the scales as well! Because of the sun and with no sun cream I sat all day in my long sleeve jumper plus a handkerchief around my neck (a bit Sprigg’s like, really). I have fished this peg a few times now and have always managed to pick up coin.

I started on the 3 mm expander pellet attached to a no 16 - 808 Tubertini hooks attached to a 4x12 Jolly over a few wetted micros. I must say I absolutely sacked up putting around 9 kg of Crucians and Tench in the net within the first hour. I then hooked and landed a 3lb Carp. A foul hooked Carp was next in line, leading me a right merry dance around the swim – not good, it then came off as I was about to snare it. The swim then slowed, I then approached the weed bed to my right and had a run of small Carp to 2lb on paste fished over wetted 4mm pellet. Having fed two lines in to my RH margin I then proceeded to try it out. The upshot was that I didn’t have a bite from either line, so that was given up. I then decided that my best chance of coin would be to persist with the Silvers so I opened up a new line at 11.5 metres towards the 12 o clock weed bed. I did have a couple of more Crucians and some small Carp to 1lb until I foul hooked a Carp which ran in to the weed bed. On unshipping the top set I accidently let go and it ended up at 14 metres speared in the mud. I decided to leave it until half hour later a Carp swam in to it. So out came 14 metres and with a plummet on one of my paste rigs I was able to retrieved the set minus the rig. Good bit of angling if you ask me, plus it saved Tom Thick being thrown in by Bob Gullick to retrieve it. There was now about two whole hours left and I really struggled for bites as all the fish had backed off in to their favourite hid-a-ways the surrounding weed beds. From the Horses mouth Phil said he was going to cull the weeds with some sort of weed killer. Umm let’s see. My Carp weighed in at 7.2Kg (15lb 14oz) and my Silvers 10.5Kg (23lb 3oz) for a total of 17.7Kg (39lb 2oz). This once again left me one out of the money, fourth in the silvers and 7th in the Match (TBC). That bugger Nick Collins did it to me again off same peg 15 with 10.7Kg.

The match was won from peg 8 for the second consecutive week by Sam Johnson (pictured right – by the way he is a dead ringer of his Dad) with a credible 42.6Kg (93lb14oz). Sam caught mainly on sweet corn over pellet, with most of his catch coming from either the “Clump” or from the open water (bay) to his right. Sam did add a few Carp in his RH margin on paste.

The Silvers was won by Shaun Kitteridge from peg 26 with 17.7Kg (38lb 9oz).

Shaun (pictured right with overall runner up Lewis Jones and third overall Dave Wride (Dave also won the overall Silvers) also won the league with a full set of section wins. What’s was remarkable about Shaun’s win was that he had missed a match so was disadvantaged compared with many of the top league anglers who were able to drop their worse result. A number of anglers thought Shaun only managed this result through exceptional draws. However, I don’t always subscribe to this. Yes, you need some luck to win such a league but, you still have to catch them. Well done Shaun a great performance I was well impressed, one to watch for the future. You need may need to promote yourself a bit more.

For the full league result refer to Chris Fox’s blog.

Full result:

1. Sam Johnson 42.600 Kg peg 8
2. Mike Owens 29.970 Kg peg 25
3. Andy Hembrow 29.220 Kg peg D1
4. Shaun Kitteridge 28.00 Kg peg 26
5. Lance Tucker 20.770 Kg peg 24
6. Tom Thick 18.500 Kg peg 17

Top Silvers:

1. Shaun Kitteridge 17.500 Kg peg 26
2. Lance Tucker 11.550 Kg peg 24
3. Nick Collins 10.700 Kg peg 15
4. Mike Nicholls 10.500 Kg peg 21

Sunday 16/05/2010 - Kev Perry Series - Bullocks Farm - Round Five

When it comes to international sport there are only four competitions that are important to win for England:

Beat the Germans at Football
Beat the New Zealander's at Rugby
Beat the French at Angling
Beat the Australians at Cricket

Well I have just finished watching England beat the Ozzie's in the 20/20 World Cup final – Brilliant. Bring on the Germans in July!

It was my turn on Rushcombe Lake this week. Most of the anglers fishing this “Lake” were very apprehensive especially after last week’s poor result. I was the only one on the Lake that did the super pool, so I wasn’t convinced it would fish that bad again – as it happened I was right. I drew peg C5. I was a tad disappointed as I was hoping for a draw near the bridge. However, I wasn’t as down in the mouth as Dave Wride who had drawn behind me in D section – moan, moan, moan – can’t have a flyer every week Dave. I took the piss a bit (probably too much) about his pre-match moans. He said he was sure to beat me whatever – not.

My main disappointment was that I didn’t have any margin swim to talk of. I had about half a metre to a tree to my right and that was it. However, I did set up a rig for this margin and had three early Carp there, but that was it. I also set up a “to hand rig”, a paste right for over and two soft pellet rigs for the Goldfish (Silvers), also for over, which was about 12 metres. As far as I am concerned unless you can catch the Goldfish to hand then you are going to find it very difficult to beat the Silvers pegs on Match Lake. So I started on the to hand rig and had one bite after 15 minutes – that line was quickly dumped. As I said I then fished out the RH margin – that didn’t take long. So over it was to be at 12 metres for the “Carrots”. After catching ten or so to 4 oz the swim slowed. I thought perhaps some bigger fished had moved in, so on to the paste, and I was right I had a run of Carp to 3lb. I then decided to open another swim over and thought that the gap caused by the ducks entering and exiting the Lake would be a good choice. I was right as I caught Carp steady to the end on the match (excluding the hour or so when the sun decided to shine bright). I weighed 2.300Kg (5lb 1oz) of Gold’s and 18Kg (39lb 13oz) of Carp for a total of 20.300Kg (44lb 14oz) for 7th overall but only gaining 4 points. As expected the first three pegs in my section all beat me – just. As it happens I think my decision to enter the super pool was exonerated, as I was only one out of picking up!

I was also amazed that the the Duck traffic in and out of my swim had little to no effect on my catch rate.

The match was won by Chris Fox (pictured right with fellow organiser Paul Faiers, who was came third in the Silvers - I must say they do a good job all considered - hang overs etc...) from match Lake peg 8 with 35.150 Kg (77lb 7oz). Chris caught on… see his blog for all the details and more.

Chris also won the Silvers with 10.95Kg (24lb 3oz)… see his blog I think casters played a big part in his catch.

Full Result:

1. Chris Fox 35.150 Kg (77lb 7oz) Peg 8
2. Shaun Kitteridge 25.300 peg C2
3. Dave Roper 24.300 Kg peg 22
4. Mark Walsh 23.850 Kg peg 18
5. Nick Harvey 22.700 Kg peg C3
6. Mark Bromsgrove 21.800 Kg peg C1
7. Mike Nicholls 20.300 Kg peg C5

Top Silvers:

1. Chris Fox 10.950 Kg (24lb 3oz) Peg 8
2. Andy Hembrow 10.500 Kg Peg 21
3. Paul Faiers 9.150 Kg peg 10

Sunday 09/05/2010 - Kev Perry Series - Bullocks Farm - Round Four

Every Sunday after a hard day’s fishing the Special One always and without fail has a roast beef dinner waiting for me. Today I counted up the vegetables and including the roast potatoes there were nine (eat your heart out Kenny Logan). As usual the dinner was absolutely wonderful, as is the Special One.

I was lifting some furniture yesterday and come Sunday morning my back was in agony. I spent most of the match sat on one cheek to mimimise the pain.

Why is it that when you are weighed in on metric scales (Kilogrammes) that you only seem to have half of what you think you caught!! Perhaps it’s because 1 Kg is equal to 2.204 lb.

Back on the Match Lake – thank God as Rushcombe fish absolutely crap today with quality anglers like Dave Roper catching three small fish and DNW’ing. I drew peg 18 and was a little disappointed as both 19 and 17 were pegged. So, not as much room as most pegs. I set up a paste rig for the RH margin (on good advice from Nick Collins). My usual Silver rig a 4x12 Jolly for the Crucians with use with 3mm expander over the wetted micro pellet at 10 metres, plus the Ronnie rig to use with caster in the LH margin (on advice from Bob Gullick). I started kinder cupping in a bit of micro and caught steady for about 2 hours – Crucians, three small Tench and the odd Skimmer. The Crucian's died off and I started to get the odd 4oz Skimmers. I had been feeding the margins and had a look in the RH with paste and had one small Carp (this was my Carp banker swim). I then tried the caster in the LH margin and didn’t have a bite – so this swim was dumped. On hind sight I then made the wrong decision to fish paste over my Silvers line for Carp, feeding wetted 4mm pellet with my paste. Although I caught another three Crucians, the Carp appeared to be not feeding – or weren't present. I opened up another paste line towards the reed bed and did catch a couple of small Carp. I did try and resurrect the Silvers swims but to no avail – why o why didn’t I stay catching the Silvers as I was one out of the Silvers pool by just 2lb. My Carp weighed in 3.85 Kg (8lb 8zoz) and my Silvers went 11.150 Kg (25lb 9oz) for a total of 15 Kg (33lb 1oz) for 2 section points and fifth in the Silvers.

The match and the Silvers was won by Dave Wride (pictured right – caught him smiling - perhaps - with some of his Carp catch) from peg 24 with 82lb 7oz overall and a great net of Silvers of 44lb 15oz. Dave caught most of the Silvers out in front at 11.5 metres and the Carp from the numerous options his swim presented to him.

As explained Nick Collins (pictured right with half his net of Crucians) came fourth in the Silvers pushing me to one out of the money. Interestingly, Nick caught all his Silvers on single caster over caster from peg 15 fishing at 7 metres. Well done matey. Apparently Nick tells me he has lost two stone since Christmas, through power walking up to twenty miles a week - those legs must be whirling!

Full Result:

1. Dave Wride 37.400 Kg peg 24 (82lb 7oz)
2. Andy Hockin 29.450 Kg peg 12
3. Bob Gullick 24-550 Kg peg 17
4. Tony Goodland 21.750 peg 22
5. Tom Thick 19.800 peg 21
6. Shaun Kitteridge 18.350 Peg 27 (I have only 20lb – on my Mums life”)

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 20.400 Kg peg 24 (44lb 15oz)
2. Shaun Kitteridge 14.300 Kg peg 27
3. Tom Thick 13.600 Kg peg 21
4. Nick Collins 12.350 Kg peg 15
5. Mike Nicholls 11.150 Kg peg 18 (24lb 9oz)

Sunday 24/04/2010 - Kev Perry Series - Bullocks Farm - Round Three

As explained in my previous blog I broke my 7th section on my Colmic 707 at the Plantation Fishery during a Carps AC Wednesday match. So first thing Thursday morning I was down to see Mr Rixon at Avon Angling. Tony got on the phone straight away to Nick the Colmic UK Representative. As the pole was less than two years old they agreed a free replacement was in order. However, a replacement would need to come from Italy and would take two weeks. Because the broken section would not pull through it meant I would have to use my old Preston (that swear word again) 8151. Not so, Nick knowing the urgency kindly agreed to drop off a loan section from a Colmic 307. This he did Friday – even better he has loaned me a complete 13 metre 307 – all the sections interchange with mine, albeit the pole being heavier, it will certainly suffice for a couple of weeks. – That’s what you call service, thank you Tony and Nick. If you are looking for a new pole I am sure you won’t go wrong with Colmic irrespective of your budget and fishing preference, there will be a pole that will suit. The Avon Angling shop run by the man pictured right (making tea, he's not bad at that either), might appear to be a tad untidy (expect some comments on this statement), but it’s the best match fishing shop in the South West whether it be tackle or advice your after – “if you can’t get it here you don’t need it”!!

When I was very small my Dad had two fish ponds in his garden. On the very rare occasion Dad would allow me to fish these ponds. He would give me a short piece of bamboo, a short length of line, a gold Mustad crystal bend hook with the barb crushed down and a "live" red topped match stick with two rubbers attached. I would fish for the Gold fish with either pieces of worm or maggots if Dad had any. I thought of this and Dad for throughout most of this match.

It was decided by Paul and Chris to drop North pool for the next two matches and use Rushcombe instead. It was a free draw for the four sections of seven – two on Match Lake and two on Rushcombe. If Match Lake is the best Crucian fishery in the South West Rushcombe is without doubt the best Goldfish fishery!! Dave Wride, Mark Bromsgrove and I had a walk around Rushcombe before the draw all agreeing that pegs C1 and D7 would be a good draw. Whilst standing on these pegs Mark got out one of his lucky coin and gave it a rub, he kindly let me have a rub too (not that I am superstitious). We agreed we wouldn't let Dave have a rub. I drew peg D3 on Rushcombe Lake, Mark C3 and Dave Wride C1! I assembled three rigs; 1 – 4x14 pb14 for fishing to hand for the GF’s on 3mm soft pellet; 1 – TBF that takes 4xno12’s shot far bank for again for the GB’s and anything else that swims, again with 3mm pellet; plus the usual paste pellet rig for the LH margin. The RH margin was a no-no due to the small trees growing out on the bank (get ‘em out Phil). I started on the “to hand” rig and caught straight off small Carp to 1lb 8oz over hand fed wetted micro. I bumped three in a row and then had a few GF’s before it went dead. Umm. Over to the far bank, where I stayed for most of the match catch GB’s and BG’s (Brown Goldfish) with the occasional small Carp. I did keep trying the LH margin with paste without much joy, that was until the last 30 minutes when I had a run of 2lb Carp, but it slowed towards the end because the sun decided to make an appearance. My GB’s and BG’s weighed in at 4.1 Kg (9lb ½ oz) ad the Carp 8.2 Kg (18lb 1oz) for a total of 27lb 1 ½ oz. This put me fourth in the section (4 points). The pegs to draw in both sections are the two each side of the foot bridge leading over to the island where both sections were pegged, these pegs were first and second in each section. On the whole Rushcombe fished reasonably well with around 10 Kg's being the average.

The match was won by Glen Calvert (pictured right with the worthy Silvers winner) for the second time running with 31.95 Kg (70lb 7oz) from Match peg 22. Glen caught the majority of his fish from the LH margin on paste. Glen fed approximately 1 pint of wetted micro.

The Silvers (sorry Gold’s) was won by Dave Wride from end peg C1 on Rushcombe with 27lb 3oz. Like most of us Dave was forced to fish long/over for his fish and caught GB’s and BG’s steady all day using soft pellet hookers over kinder potted micro pellet. I must say putting a draw to the side this was an excellent catch considering the size of his fish - averaging 4oz. Well done matey.

Full Result:

1. Glen Calvert 31-95 Kg peg Match 22
2. Lewis Jones 27.5 Kg peg Match 10
3. Clive Petitt 25.1 Kg peg Match 26
4. Dave Roper 19.61 Kg peg Match 8
5. Shaun Ketteridge 18.07 Kg peh Rush D6
6. Dave Wride 17.98 Kg peg Rush C1

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 12.32 Kg peg Rush C1
2. Lewis Jones 11 Kg Peg Match 10
3. Dave Roper 10.95 Kg peg match 8

Sunday 11/04/2010 - Kev Perry Series - Bullocks Farm - Round Two

Two prominent Councillors from Peterborough wrote to the three leaders of the three main parties outlining the sever issues they have in this town with immigrants. Apparently as of yesterday none of the leaders have replied. All we are getting from this band of incompetents is “National Insurance job losses” and “£3 per week incentive if you are married”. The full story can be found on:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/election/article-1264966/Migrant-citys-help-Anguished-letter-Brown-Cameron-reveals-devastating-toll-immigration.html

The Councillors should have included the Politician (Nick Collins mate) in the picture on the right. He would have replied and most importantly with the correct answer.

I missed the first round of the KP (Kev Perry) League due to ambitions of picking up £200 in the final round of the Landsend League – however, unlike the Landsend league you can drop one result in the KP league – which I have already done! After breakfast (good job I like beans) I had a little walk round the Match Lake as it was my turn to fish it. The wind direction is very important this time of year, which was blowing from peg 8 to peg 19. I think this was a North Westerly, it was a cold one. Pre-draw my choice was peg 19 as there seemed to be plenty of indications that the fish were in the margin by the Aerator. Walking past peg 17 I could still see the Carp in the distant weed bed – when will they come out?

I drew peg 8. A reasonable draw I thought. Although it was becalmed I was hoping some of the resident carp would still be their. I had Lancer Tucker to my left on peg 9 and Nick Collins on peg 10. As I was tackling up who was to appear but Phil the fishery owner (pictured right chatting to Lance complete with waste bin and tweezers). What I couldn’t understand was how Phil managed to get to peg 9 without picking up a single item! Knowing that corner peg 7 isn’t usually pegged I was expecting to catch a few Carp down that way, however, I was forced to go shorter because of a pleasure angler who persisted in walking up to peg 7 and watching me. I set up a 0.3 Paste float for this margin at 5 metres. I also set up a 4x12 Jolly for over to the “Clump”. In addition I set up a Ronnie rig for the LH margin down the shelf to fish over loose fed caster. After feeding the RH margin with a few wetted 4mm pellets I set about the Crucians on the Jolly with 4mm expander over a few wetted micro. I had a really productive first hour catching most of my Silvers in this time. However, I did lose a 2 lb Bream foul hooked. I then had a run of small Carp on this line before it went quite. It didn’t help when two pesky Canadian Geese decided to sit on the “Clump”. I chased them off with my pole cup – I wish I could have done it with a shot gun. I then had a look on the caster line and had one Crucian and one lost 4oz Ronnie. This line wasn’t going to work. I then fed the “Clump” with wetted 4 mm pellet and set about the RH margin. I had a little run of small Carp on paste until I noticed a blow on the “Clump”. Reset the depth on the paste rig and first put in 3lb Carp. For the rest of the match I kept fishing one line until I saw a blow on the other, which kept the Carp coming to the end. I weighed (this is approximate as KP weighs in Kilogram’s) 15lb 4oz of Silvers and 34lb 3oz of Carp for a total weight of 49lb 7oz. This put me second overall and second in my section for a pick up of £80. I was eighth in the Silvers.


My section and the match was won by Glen Calvert (pictured right with the Silvers winner Mark Broomsgrove) from peg 19 (I told you) with 24.58Kg (54lb 3oz). Glen caught mostly Carp out in front to the weed bed and later in to the LH margin. Glen caught all his fish on 4 mm expander over wetted micro.

The Silver was won by Mark Broomsgrove from peg 22 with a credible 14.35 Kg (31lb 10oz). Mark caught short with caster and longer with 4 mm soft pellet.

Full Result:
1. Glen Calvert 24.580 kg peg 19
2. Mike Nicholls 22.400 kg peg 8
3. Nick Collins 22.070 Kg peg 10
4. Mike Owens 18-410 Kg peg 24
5. Paul Faiers 17.550 Kg peg 14
6. Mark Broomsgrove 15.050 peg 22

Top Silvers:

1. Mark Broomsgrove 14.350 Kg peg 22
2. Nick Collins 9.650 Kg Peg 19
3. Mike Owens 8.560 Kg Peg 24

Wednesday 07/04/2010 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

It wasn’t clear today whether the café would be open, so to be sure I had breakfast at home. However, the café did open, but very late, which delayed the draw a tad.

A quick walk round and I noticed that there is a new bridge and a few new platforms, replacing some that were in disrepair (but not all). However, still no sign of the gardener – still a shit hole. That said, I love the fishing here.

I drew peg 17 another good-un. I spoke to Dave Wride after the draw as he fished it two weeks ago. He said he had won the Silvers (Crucians) fishing at 14.5 metres. As many know I am not known for fishing long especially with the Chicken sheds behind this peg, which would mean un-shipping (I hate doing this). So 10 metres it was to be, which was just clear of the shed. I set up a yellow topped 4x12 Jolly on this line directly out in front. I also set up a paste rig for the RH margin. I started by kinder potting in few wetted micro at 10 metres and started by sparingly loose feeding the margin with wetted 4mm pellet – about 4 at a time. First put in I had a Crucian of about 1lb 8oz. Next put in I had a 2lb carp followed by a small Crucian. At this point something happened to my swim. Looking round, no one was catching. I decided to switch to maggot over some kinder potted dry GB. This sparked the swim and I had a run of Crucians. Then for some reason I started to foul hook Crucians. This frustrated me some what. I decided to put in a big cup of GB with a good helping of red maggot. I noticed a little blow in my margin swim which I had been religiously dripping in 4 mm pellet. First put in and a positive bite on paste resulted in a 2lb Skimmer – not what I was expecting. Next put in and after a short wait I speared a 4 oz Ronnie. Whilst fishing this line I thought the water still looked a bit clear, so I decided to dump this swim. Back out a 10 metres and I had a 1lb Carp. Once again I started to foul hook fish. I tried paste over the line – same again foul hooking fish and plenty of missed bites. Dave Tippett (pictured right with his catch) on next peg 19 was fishing a tidy match catching a Carp regularly, long on pellet. So with an hour to go I knew that I had to catch some Carp to get in to the coin. So out came the 14.5 metres and first put in I had a 3lb Carp. Over the next hour I had eight Carp – loosing eight in the weed bed, plus two rigs – bloody frustrating. The Carp are obviously still hiding in the reeds, probably because the water is still a bit clear. My Silvers weighed in at 13lb 13oz and the carp 28lb 15oz for a total of 42lb 12oz for second overall and a pick up of £30.

The match was won by Dave Wride (pictured right with the Silvers winner - yes that is Dave smiling) with 48lb from peg 26. Dave caught on pellet. Dave said after that he had a long period where he was foul hooking fish and loosing them.

The Silvers was won by Tom Thick with 33lb 2oz from peg 25. Tom caught Crucians where ever he fished using either pellet or maggot over GB.

Full Result:

1. Dave Wride 48-0-0 peg 26
2. Mike Nicholls 42-12-0 peg 17
3. Tom Thick 36-10-0 peg 25
4. Mike Owen 36-03-0 peg 6
5. Dave Tippett 31-12-0 peg 18
6. Martin Rayett 24-12-0 peg 29

Top Silvers:

1. Tom Thick 33-02-0 peg 25
2. Bill Ferris 22-14-0 peg 22

Wednesday 24/02/2010 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm

Phil the fishery owner was at the draw as usual singing the praises of Bristol City. Phil also informed us that tomorrow he is restocking the venue with 10,000 fish. Apparently the split is 60% Roach and 40% Crucian's – great no Carp. Phil is putting 6000 in match Lake and 4000 in North Pool. I still think if Phil took out all of the reed beds in Match Lake he will in effect be re-stocking, as many of the Carp live and stay in these reeds all year round. I took a picture of the "Mallin" Canal which is still visible (pictured top left). Phil is also putting up the peg fee by £1 to pay for a gardener!!!

After a decent breakfast I pulled out peg 25 – one of the better pegs on Match Lake. I noticed that peg 17 wasn’t drawn – WHY ON EARTH DO ORGANISERS PUT MORE PEGS IN THAN THERE ARE ANGLERS!!!! If someone turns up late let them have the pick of the rest I say. Any way back to my flyer (again I hear). As usual there were signs of fish in the reed bed to my left. As the water was so clear (I have never seen it this clear – you can see the rubbish on the bottom) I decided to fish up to the reed bed, so I set up two rigs one for the top side of the reeds and one for about half way up. After scrounging some green ground bait off Leighton Palmer I mixed it very dry and fed this at the further point and fed wetted micro on the shorter line. I started on single white maggot over the GB and had a run of small Crucians, Gold fish and the odd Ronnie. The sun came out and it went a bit quite, so after re-feeding I went in on the shorter line with double red maggot and had a 3lb Carp. I then followed this up with a pounder. Again it went quite so after re-feeding this line with micro I went back out on the long line and had a better run of Crucians. I then had a difficult hour, as did most of the other anglers that I could see Tommy Thick was struggling and walking the bank by now. Come the last hour I decided to fish for carp on the shorter line with corn over corn. This resulted in three lost carp – one was foul hooked. It's now getting personal with these Carp in this weed bed. The next two I managed to get them free from the weed bed only to lose both at the net – to Charlie Barnes amusement. I weighed 12lb 12oz of Silvers and the Two Carp pushed my weight up to 16lb 12oz. This put me second overall and first in the Silvers and a pick up of £35. This also qualified me for the Wednesday Mania Final.

The match was won by Tommy Thick (pictured right with the Silvers winner) landing three good Carp for 15lb all caught in his RH margin this added to his 5lb of Silvers gave Tommy an overall weight of 20lb 10oz.

Runner up in the Silvers was John Bennett - Club Chairman – (pictured bottom right landing one of his Crucians) with 11lb 9oz of Crucians. Unfortunately John shook off his first four fish!!

Full Result:

1. Tom Thick 20-10-0 peg 15
2. Mike Nicholls 16-12 peg 25
3. John Bennett 13-09-0 peg 24
4. Charlie Barnes 8-10-0 peg 26
5. Leighton Palmer 8-04-0 peg 27
6. Mike Owens 7-10-0 peg 21

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 12-12-0 peg 25
2. John Bennett 11-09-0 peg 24

04/10/2009 - Avon Angling Open - Bullocks Farm

I worked for BAe Systems and was glad to do so – why shouldn’t they grease a few palms to get the work back to the UK. In the Middle East his is an expected and normal part of business – we have obviously out palmed the Yanks and pissed them off – bloody good job if you ask me! Gordon Brown stop this ridiculous threat of prosecution!

I drew peg 8 on Match Lake. Luckily Tony Rixon had bought a pair of loppers. He apparently paid £12.50 for them – you wouldn’t have guessed! He leant me them to clear some of the over hanging tree branches. I had found a brown plastic cup on my pallet (along with a load of other rubbish). I could see Phil walking round collecting peg fees from the pleasure anglers. So as an experiment I put the cup upside down in the middle of the path – you guessed it - Phil walked straight passed it!! I was left to put the rubbish in the bin - once again!

I set up four rigs: 1- paste rig for the RH margin (4 metres): 1 - 4x12 Jolly for 4mm pellet (11 metres @ 10 clock): 1 - 4x10 PB14 for 2mm pellet and maggot (as per Jolly) and 1 – 4x10 Drennen Chop (wire stem ones) for maggot in the margin and over to a weed bank (again 11 metres). I started on the 4mm pellet kinder potting 8 pieces of micro pellet. I caught a few small Crucians and Fantails and a small Mirror Carp. However, as I slowly built the swim the fish started moving up in the water, which resulted in four foul hooked Carp. There was a small blow over by the weed bank so rested the pellet line and tried the maggot over. This resulted in another lost foul hooked Carp. I was then getting bites from small Ronnie’s. I decided to give the 2mm pellet a try over the micro. This resulted in three hooked Carp – all on the drop. I then had another run of foul hookers. The fish were coming up in the water – quite near the surface taking the micro, but would not follow them down. After three hours the swim died. So margin and paste time. Unfortunately I couldn’t fish too far up the margin to the corner because of the leaves gathering there. For the last three hours I had a frustrating time catching the odd small Carp and loosing an equal amount of foul hookers on paste (not as many as Gary Wall who lost 17 Carp on peg 21). I finished the match with 6lb of Silvers (Crucians) and the eight Carp went 22lb 1oz for a total of 28lb 1oz for sixth overall and a pick up of £25, which paid for the day.

Bela Bakos (pictured right with half his catch) had his turn on peg 17 and won the match with 66lb 13oz. Bela caught all his fish at 16 metres out to the weed bed fishing paste. He fed one pint of dead maggot and quarter of a pint of micro.

The Silvers was won by Lewis Jones with 16lb 13oz from peg 24

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I have to give “Lottery Ticket” Rixon a mention as he was second overall with 52lb and second in the Silvers with 16lb 8oz. He caught on sweet corn over ground bait – remarkably from peg 2. I am now convinced there is an advantage being left handed – he is able to fish corners that right handed anglers can’t fish!!

Full Result:

1. Bela Bakos 66-13-0 peg 17

2. Tony Rixon 52-0-0 peg 2

3. Lewis Jones 39-11-0 peg 24

4. Tom Thick 32-02-0 peg 26

5. Gary Wall 28-10-0 peg 21

6. Mike Nicholls 28-01-0 peg 8

Top Silvers:

1. Lewis Jones 16-13-0 peg 24

2. Tony Rixon 16-08-0 peg 2

3. John Bradford 12-06-0 peg 22 (again)

And finally - what on earth was Deano doing between pegs 25 and 26 which now has a 1 metre wide canal between the two swims. Perhaps he's after the gardeners job, which is still vacant.

Sunday 27/09/2009 - Chalie Barnes Open - Bullocks Farm

Driving back I decided to have a look at the traffic on the M5 motorway – as expected the traffic was backed up to Clevedon - Junction 20. It has been like this for weeks, there must be a huge hole in the ozone layer just about above the Avon Bridge. I wonder what this is costing in terms of driver’s time and petrol. Why not wait until February to do these sorts of repairs? Anyway I had a good steady drive home using the A38!!

Charlie as you might expect planned for 21 anglers but ended up with 24! This necessitated using four pegs on the North Pool. Having walked round I fancied pegs 12 (if 13 wasn’t in), 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25 and 26 on the match lake. I drew peg 17 and was well pleased with this. Phil came round and said that 40lb of Skimmers had come off the peg in the week. Umm, lovely jubbly!! Because of this I decided to put in some GB 50/50 Gros Gardons/Gimps Gold. I set up my usual paste margin rig and a maggot margin rig. I started on a 4x12 Jolly at 7 metres with single red maggot and quickly landed a Fantail Crucian. I then had a 1lb Carp – then it went tits up, foul hooking the next four fish. Looking round everyone was struggling to catch Silvers – and anything else. With Nicky Collins struggling on peg 21 and Charlie peg 18 for Silvers. On the half hour mark I made a difficult decision – to go out and out for Carp in the margin – far too early really. The next half hour I spent getting the margin sorted as there are lots of tree roots in the margin. I then had a couple of decent Carp on the paste over 4mm pellet. However, I was still foul hooking a few. I changed to feeding micro pellet and after a few more Carp, still foul hooking a few. I now had a choice - feed caster or maggot. Triggers Barber told me he had caught on maggot in his last match in the peg. So maggot it was. This changed things altogether, with Carp moving straight on to the paste (I did try fishing maggot but because the hook was exposed it was prone to catch the tree roots and foul hooking). I had a good run to the end of the match landing 14 Carp for a total of 58lb 8oz. This put me top on the match lake. However, Gary Bedford weighed 75lb 10oz on North Pool. This put me second overall and a pick up of £85.

It wasn’t a day to win both the Silvers and Carp – so a choice had to be made.

Gary Bedford (pictured right) won the match from peg 12 on North Pool fishing 6 and 8mm pellet at the four extremities of his peg – margin to margin. Gary fed very little – in his words “a handful”.

The Silvers result was interesting with Father and Son taking joint top from pegs 26 and 24 with 12lb 5oz each.

Full Result:

1. Gary Bedford 75-10-0 peg North Pool 12

2. Mike Nicholls 58-08-0 peg 17

3. Adrian Jefferies 50-04-0 peg 19

4. Tom Thick 49-07-0 peg 25

5. Jason Radford 40-06-0 peg 22

6. Paul Fairies 36-02-0 peg North Pool 6

Top Silvers:

1. Glyn Wickems 12-05-0 peg 26

2. Ray Wickems 12-05-0 peg 24

3. Nicky Collins 12-04-0 peg 21

Jason Radford dropped his Diawa Pro Half-Ex in the lake on peg 22 and after the match he stripped off and went in for it. The video bottom shows him feeling around with his toes with help from Colin Dyer. What on earth is happening to the front on the platform? The lake is not as silted and I thought! The picture right shows Jason with his retrieved section. Well done Matey.

Sunday 13/09/2009 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

Brenda and I spent the last five days at Bournemouth; we picked a good week for the weather. The hotel Blue Palms was ideally placed for both the town centre and beach – with an excellent breakfast every day. I do a fair bit of walking when at home; however, I was amazed how Brenda kept up with me. We must have done 16 miles over the first four days. Come the end of the week it was me slacking!

England had a bit of bad luck in the Angling World Championships in Holland, coming fifth overall but only by 3 ½ points from top spot, with a couple of England’s anglers losing 3 point fish at the death. However, I couldn’t believe my ears when Marks Downes (joint team manager) explaining that they didn’t take any maggot, caster or pinkie – I would have thought a pint of each per angler would have been essential on a venue that holds big Bream – nothing better than tipping a red maggot with a couple of bloodworm for Bream.

On my walk round the Match Lake I bumped in to Ray Sims and Bob Blackmore fishing South Pool. Ray was fishing Hemp and Tares and Bob trying to get to grips with pellet fishing (only because it’s cheaper than caster). Bob missed three bites whilst I was there. It was nice to see them both on the bank – I have fished in teams with both of these guys over the years and both were hard to beat in their day.

Phil no sign of the Gardener, the rumour is that he's having it off with “Lady Chatterley” (Tom Thick is too young to understand this). As Tim Pallant said taking out the weed bed around pegs 25 and 26 will be the equivalent of restocking, as the fish will have no where to hide.

I drew peg 21 (it’s either this peg or peg 22 I draw these days). I was happy with it until I got to the swim – the sun was blinding and mixed with the varying colours from the surrounding trees etc... It was impossible to see the float, even with my Polaroid’s on! So once again I was forced to fish where I could see my float. I set up a 4x12 Colmic Jolly with a 16 Tubertini 808 hook; this hook is suitable for soft pellet, caster and maggot. I also set up a paste rig. I started by kinder potting in some caster and micro pellet mix and fish 4mm Halibait pellet over the top. This resulted in one 2lb Carp and three Crucians and one Gold fish. My swim slowed, so I switched to caster on the hook but still fed through the kinder pot regularly with caster and micro. I then had a good run of Ronnie’s and Crucian’s and one small Tench. With an hour to go I reckoned I was lying third in the Silvers so decision time. I still had a section place to go for and perhaps an overall placing. So switched to the paste and landed another eight Carp for 30lb 6oz of Carp and 14lb 8oz of Silvers for fourth in the Silvers and second overall with a combined weight of 44lb 14oz and a picked up £40.

The match was won by Tom Thick (pictured right) from peg 18 with 52lb 12oz. Tom caught on maggot fished over a ground bait mix of Gros Gardon and Gimps Gold.

The Silvers was won by John Bradford from peg 15 with 24lb 14oz. John caught a mix of Crucians, Roach and Skimmers on caster and double Pinkie.

I must mention the Silvers runner up Charlie Barnes who weighed 24lb 12oz – 2oz behind John. Well with the crap scales used today (see comments below) I think is would have been fairer to have given the result as a dead heat for first.

Colin Golding’s car broke down so three sets of scales were in his car and with one set of scales in John Bennett’s garage – so no scales for the match! So the Gimp had to borrow a set from a pleasure angler and a large Senses bucket. I was second to weigh and the Gimp was deducting 1lb 6oz for every weigh to allow for the bucket (which would only hold one 5lb Carp without it jumping out). It wasn’t until he got to the next swim that he realised that the scales could be adjusted – Duh - Gump!!

Full Result:

1. Tom Thick 52-12-0 peg 18

2. Mike Nicholls 44-14-0 peg 21

3. Peter Notton 41-14-0 peg 12

4. John Bradford 32-12-0 peg 15

5. Tim Pallant 29-04-0 peg 24

6. John Green 26-12-0 peg 25

Top Silvers:

1. John Bradford 24-14-0 peg 15

2. Charlie Barnes 24-12-0 peg 22

Sunday 02/08/2009 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

Colin “Mr Pastry” Golding (pictured right with his quick release net) had his new Colmic pole ran over and completely written off in Withy Pool car park after last Wednesday’s Carps match (it’s the only way you can break these poles). Apparently, I was the prime suspect. However, I did have a good alibi; I didn’t drive that day as I had a lift from Mark Tanner! Apparently Bob “The Sleuth” Price has taken car tyre prints from Colin’s Preston Hard Case (told you Preston kit is crap they should be able to withstand a 4x4 running over them) and has been comparing it with other suspect’s tyres. Apparently Bob now has enough evidence to stand up in court.

What a change in weather – bright sun all day with light to no wind. After the usual Bullocks Farm breakfast the draw was held and I pulled peg 22 – again. I like this peg and I have not failed to win some coin from it – that is until today. Before setting up I needed to clear loads of rubbish from my peg left by anglers from the previous day. I set up for the Crucians – 4mm pellet over micro pellet – my prime target. I also set a caster rig for the inside as well as the usual margin paste rig. I started after the Crucians at 7 metres and immediately hooked and landed a 4lb Mirror. I soon followed this with two Crucians – so far so good, me thinks. I then struggled on the pellet and swapped to the caster on the same line – a couple more Crucians followed, but it was very slow. I then tried caster in the margin and had a 3lb Common. On to the paste in the RH margin and a 5 lb Mirror found itself in the net. It was very slow. Back on the caster and a huge Eel bite me off! I basically kept catching the odd fish by rotating the swims until the end. I weighed 9lb of Crucians and eight Carp for 19lb 15oz for a total of 28lb 15oz. At least I beat the Gimp off next peg 21, but only just - phew!

The match was won by Tom Thick (pictured right with a slippery Carp – I try to get Tom to look at the camera – but I have just realised he doesn’t know what a camera is) with 69lb 8oz. Tom caught on maggot over potted maggot from the opposite weed bed. Tom fed about three pints of red maggot

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In third place was Keith Firks (pictured lower right) with 44lb 12oz from un fancied peg 12. Keith caught mostly Carp from both his RH and LH margins on corn over corn.

The Silvers was won by the "Archangel" Charlie Barnes from peg 25 with 22lb 4oz. Charlie caught on his usual caster bait fished out in front at 6 metres.

Full Result:

1. Tom Thick 69-08-0 peg 18

2. Gordon Cannings 47-0-0 peg 24

3. Keith Firks 44-12-0 peg 12

4. Shane Caswell 40 -10-0 peg 6

5. Tony Thick 39-12-0 peg 28

6. Steve Jefferies 35-06-0 peg 26

Top Silvers:

1. Charlie Barnes 22-04-0 peg 25

2. Shane Caswell 17-02-0 peg 6

Wednesday 15/07/2009 - Carps AC - Bullocks Farm - Match Lake

So I might have inspired yet another blogger, no other than “long term acquaintance” – Tony Rixon. I have attached a link to his blog (go to "my favouite websites"). From what I have seen so far it could prove to be a very interesting blog!! Oh, Tony's trying to improve his carbon foot print by going Green!!

I travelled again with Mark Tanner and it's the first time Mark has arrived early, in fact ten minutes and nearly catching me out!! I insisted that Mark parked his car in my lucky spot. Mark drew peg 22 (one of my favourite pegs) and I drew peg 25. I have never fished this peg before, but have always fancied it. My first impressions were that the fishery seems to be getting very overgrown. I started after the Crucians in open water at 8 metres with the usual 4mm expander over micro pellet. After five minutes I knew the Silvers might not be the option today. However, I persevered for an hour for about 8lb. I took the decision to go after the Carp up against the rushes to my left with paste. You need to be brave or mad to even attempt this (kids don’t try this at home). I soon had two Small Carp in the net – easy then. I then lost the next three, plus two rigs! I soon realised I was no longer fishing against the other competitors, but the Carp themselves. In fact at five to me and six to the Carp it became personal. I tried all sorts to stop then getting in the rushes. We finished the match on eight all – a draw. However, if there was a referee at least four of the Carp would have been red carded because they were foul hooking themselves!! I now need to tie up three more rigs, to replace the ones I lost. I weighed 33lb 4oz for third overall and with enough fish on the hook to easily win the match – Oh, I wish I could start the match again – things would be different – “I’ll be back”! Mark had one 5lb Carp in the margin, but DNW'd.

The match was won by Dave Wride (pictured right – I like this picture as it very natural) from peg 15 with a total weight 46lb 2oz. Dave also won the Silvers with 28lb 15oz of Crucians. Dave fished 4mm expander over micro pellet.

Mate Rich Coles picked up the Silvers by default with 10lb 5oz from peg 17. Rich fished his peg similar to that of winner Dave.

Full Result:

1. Dave Wride 46-02-0 peg 15

2. Pete Sivell 46-0-0 peg 21

3. Mike Nicholls 33-04-0 peg 25

4. Tony Thick 32-09-0 peg 24

5. Tom Thick 31-02-0 peg 29

6. Andy Curry 30-11-0 peg 8

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 28-15-0 peg 15

2. Rich Coles 20-15-0 peg 17

3. Charlie Barnes 19-0-0 peg 6