Sunday 25/06/2023 - PSV Club - Todber Manor - Homeground

Planned to avoid all Todber Manor matches - carp races, however, Glenn was going and there was a silvers pool plus wanted to see Guy Manton and have a look at the new poles in the Todber pole alley. I made up some paste in case, but on the way relised I had left my spare nets behind - so definitely silvers.

Met Guy and had a look at the poles. I was most impressed with the Colmic S31 - long top sets, value for money, especially impressed with the handling at 13 metres with the 16 metre section on the back, it was very comfortable for a light weight like me, only negative it's fit your own side pullers, as is with most poles nowdays, Drennan has got his aspect spot on. Definitely the place to go for a new pole, Guy is very knowledgeable on the subject and open minded about manufacturer's - not Diawa blinkered. Great online service too.Thanks Guy have to visit again to see if any of the Colmic top sets fit my Colmic 808.

Draw under way went last to find no pegs left. Ryan did a count and found the missing swim card on the car floor handing the missing peg 90 to me. I didn't think this was fair as it's a known flyer, so wanted a redraw to give everyone a chance to draw it. First in this time and peg 88 it was to be. Glenn had drawn peg 91 so would need all his/our nets - if he bothered to use them!! 88 was the first peg I fished at Todber winning the silvers with 55 lb so, fond memories.

Got to the peg and with silvers in mind was disappointed to find the wind more or less  blowing in to it. Stood on the edge of the platform which the carp must had detected and were looking up at me with a very hungry look. Umm, going to be interesting avoiding them, which helps to explain why the open match on Hillview record was smashed with 800 lb in 5 hours by Mark Wynne - 3 lb a minute - amazing!

Two Ronnie rigs, long to fish caster over GB laced with caster and short for LR's over loose fed LR's. So it went like this, had a few Ronnie's short before hooking a carp so loose feeding stopped. On the long line with caster which produced a few hand size Skimmers, but only if I managed to firstly get through the carp then secondly Ronnie's. Persevered with it landed a few carp and lost many more. Come the second half ended up feeding nothing! Interesting to observe the carp by my keep net taking a single used discharged maggot.

The accidental carp weighed 44 lb 14 oz and the silvers 21 lb 9 oz as expected there was no other sensible angler fishing for silvers. It isn't easy.

Watching James on peg 80 (pictured) whom I thought was winning the match was pondering over his last keep net - what was he thinking?

The match was won by Bagger Ryan Jordan (pictured) with 418 lb 13 oz from peg 84 (better pegs than this one) and a PB. Ryan caught mostly on banded pellet at the end of his keep nets. Well done matey.

Glenn won his section with 260 lb from peg 91 and would had gone over in all 4 nets if it wasn't for an escapee during weighing in. Lol. Still double bubble van which deserved a tinny on the way home.

Result:

1. Ryan 418-13-0 peg 84

2. Jason 362-14-0 peg 90

3. James 350-01-0 peg 80

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 21-09-0 peg 88

Sunday 07/08/2022 - Tony Rixon's Short Pole - Final Round - Todber Manor - Ash and Homeground

After a three month lay-off from fishing I felt I could try again providing I had a short walk. As there were some walks on Homeground Tony agreed I could fish Ash. Until I have seen my surgeon in ten days time I am avoiding heavy lifting. I thought I could fish for silvers and try to avoid the carp - might be a challenge at Todber.

PS: Guy Manton: I know a 73 year old that thinks there are too many carp in Todber match lakes.

I drew peg 71, for company I had matey Vince and Bullseye on 70 and Ginge Dark on 72. Tony warned me that the carp feed close in on Ash. Warning headed. Thanks to Glenn got set up on the listing platform albeit I was a tad rusty, forgetting where my stuff was. The plan was to feed the margin heavy all match to keep the carp occupied and fish the long Ronnie rig out in front with single LR's over lightly feeding the same.

The upshot was I had a Ronnie or a tiny Skimmer one a bung (although a good few wriggled off). I was fascinated by large carp munching on the GB and anything else I wanted to feed - sneaky fish. By four hours in I had managed to avoid the carp and thought I might get a record for the first angler not to catch a carp at Todber fishing a match. Alas I ended up with three, No way I could have fished for them all day, just lifting the three was a challenge!!

My three carp weighed 9 lb 9 oz and my silvers 24 lb 8 oz for the silvers win. A little stiff at the end but better than I thought.

The match was won by Ryan Shipp (pictured with the silvers winner) with 309 lb 11 oz from Homeground peg 80. Ryan started shallow with banded pellet over pellet and soon switched to his margin again with pellet over pellet. Ryan was one of the few anglers that sorted catching from his margin as many had plenty of fish in their margin but couldn't catch.

Ryan also won the knockout and runner up in the over all league with Martin Rayet taking the league and Vince Shipp coming third. All pictured right - looks like Martin is holding in a mighty fart!!

Apologies to Glenn for leaving him out of the picture as I thought Tony only paid three however, Glenn picked up fourth beating Tony on weight count back. Glenn also picked up a default section so happy double bubble van.

Result on the day:

1. Ryan Shipp 309-11-0 peg 80

2. Martin Rayett 261-08-0 peg 88

3. Joe McMahon 256-11-0 peg 83

4. Willy Willmott 215-09-0 peg 89

5. Matt Sheppard 187-03-0 peg 67

6 Glenn Bailey 186-08-0 peg 78 

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 24-08-0npeg 71

2. Matt Dark 10-15-0 peg 64

Weigh Sheets:

Overall Final League Result:

Sunday 22/05/2022 - Tony Rixon's Short Pole League - Round Two - Todber Manor - Hillview

Lighten the kit up as far I dare - just the margin pole and a few top sets, no rods or reels. A pleasant drive down with Glenn on a glorious Spring day. A bacon and egg bun from the Todber van and all set for the draw which Tony had arranged for me to avoid the spit so Glenn could unload my kit straight onto a peg, I couldn't have fished without this help - thanks also to Jason Pitman.

Tony sensibly had two sets of scales this year - pictured - the lads weighing the highest producing area which included a 27 lb carp caught by Mike West from peg 48. - PB apparently.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 58. A good peg I'm told - is there a bad one on this venue? Nope! For company Jason on peg 57 and Rich Major peg 59. Glenn had drawn peg 53 top corner of the LH spit well out the the light breeze!

Finally got set up with some subsequent discomfort. The plan was to fish for silvers and if in the first 30 minutes the carp started to catch me I would start catching them. So the paste Bullet set up for the margin only. Interestingly, over a year the margins have totally changed along this bank. It was nothing to 12 inches 36 inches out from the bank. Now its nearly 24 inches right up to the bank. Natural wind erosion or have the carp been eating the bankside? For the silvers set up the short Ronnie rig and a 4x12 Winter Titan to fish at top set - no barrels involved. Simple.

Fed both lines with neat GB starting in the margin with single LR over loose fed same and was soon battering Ronnie's, Rudd, Gudgeon, Perch, Hybrid's, Skimmers and Tench. Nothing over 3 oz except one Tench of 2 lb. More importantly no sign of carp. Decision made to fish for the small silvers for the remainder of the match. I tried the Titan rig in case there was some better Skimmers about but just found the same size fish, so stayed on the short rig until the end. I did over do the GB in hope for some better Hybrids but attracted the carp and as Rich was fishing for carp I passed the GB to him to prevent me feeding anymore. It worked for him too. I foul hooked 3 and landed 6 carp to 3 lb which was a lot less than last year (100 lb) and that expected. Made the right decision as no way could I have bagged on the carp today - problem with lifting the landing net even with 3 lb fish.

My silvers weighed 26 lb 14 oz and the 6 carp 19 lb 2 oz for 46 lb and not quite last, however, first in the silvers - mission accomplished albeit leaving me with "Ronnie hand" - pictured.

The match was won by Martin Rayet (pictured with the silvers winner) with 241 lb 9 oz from peg 49. Martin caught about 40 lb in the first 30 minutes on pellet shallow. He switched to his LH margin with double large worm over micro feed to land carp to 19 lb. Well done matey - what no meat?

Double bubble van as Glenn picked up his section by double default - a pick up is a pick up.

Result:

1. Martin Rayet 241-09-0 peg 49

2. Bob Gullick 207-14-0 peg 34

3. Freddy Roberts 200-09-0 peg 50

4. Joe McMahon 178-14-0 peg 36

5. Ryan Shipp 177-09-0 peg 47

6. Glenn Bailey 174-04-0 peg 53

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 26-14-0 peg 58

2. Ryan Shipp 14-08-0 peg 47

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 24/04/2022 - Tony Rixon Open - Todber Manor - White Post

Informed that Bob Sheppard passed away last night. Bob was a valued member of our successful Avon Angling team. Will always remember our long chats in the Airbus coffee shop. RIP matey.

A Tony Rixon Open at White Post instead of short pole on Hillview (not Tewkesbury - Why? Won't go into detail leaving it to Tony to explain. Steady drive down with Glenn and a bacon and egg roll from the Todber van, tasty.

Was told that some silvers had been stocked in both upper and lower White Post. However, I had only put carp slaying top sets in the tube plus the faithful Ronnie rig which, because I fish it to hand also has a heavyish elastic.

A case of flying and pick up draw cards, choosing the one that landed closest to me. Opened it to find peg 24. Knew instantly that it would be impossible to beat the two point pegs to my right. Arrived at the peg which is set back in a small bay and spotted a Roach top close into the bank in the bay, so it would be silvers back to front. These pegs are just over 2 foot deep from near to far bank so one 4 x10 Winter Titan set up to fish at two barrels which was a tad light due to the nasty NW wind which was once again blowing directly into me - bugger off. The other rig was the short Ronnie rig.

Fed the both the long and Ronnie line with lose GB and Pinkie. Started on the Ronnie rig and hooked a 8 oz Rudd first cast which fell off on the bank but couldn't rescue it before it went back. Never mind plenty more, nope was to be the biggest silver I caught. Stayed on the Ronnie rig for the first hour catching 1 - 2 oz fish every other cast on single LR missing a few bites. Topped up and tried the long line the wind was a right pest on this light rig but soon had a 4 oz skimmer the next two 4 oz fish came off due to the heavy 14 elastic very frustrating. after one Ronnie and another lost 4 oz skimmer threw the towel in. Staying on the Ronnie rig for the remainder of the match. I was pestered by the occasional accidental carp including a 4 lb F1. Interestingly every time I fed GB and Pinkie could guarantee to catch one. However, the Ronnie's would soon return.

My seven carp weighed 26 lb 6 oz and my circa 250 Ronnie's weighed in at 17 lb 2 oz for second in the silvers silvers losing out to matey Kev Winstone (according to Chris Davis the apprentice corpse) by 6 oz. With what I learned by feeding Pinkie in loose GB and catching carp might have been worth a try out on the long line had the wind been kinder. As predicted the two pegs to my right whom could reach the far bank were first and second on bottom White Post pegs 22 and 21.

The match was won by Matt Sheppard (pictured with the silvers winner) with 168 lb 2 oz from peg 11. Matt caught most of his fish down both margins - one side corn over corn and the other maggot over maggot. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by matey Kev Winstone (pictured with the match winner) with 17 lb 8 oz of mainly small skimmer to 1 lb. Kev caught at top set plus four barrels using maggot over GB. Well done matey and thanks for the poke in the chest!

Steady drive home in the double one out van accompanied by a large San Miguel.

Result:

1. Matt Sheppard 168-02-0 peg 11

2. Ryan Shipp 167-08-0 peg 5 (method)

3. Glenn Bailey 140-04-0 peg (paste 13 metres)

4. Ricky Mills 132-01-0 peg 21 (banded pellet over)

5. Tony Rixon 137-05-0 peg 1

6. Lee Masey 124-12-0 peg 4

Silvers:

1. Kev Winstone 17-08-0 peg 17

2. Mike Nicholls 17-02-0 peg 24

3. Chris Davis 14-13-0 peg 2

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 01/08/2021 - Tony Rixon's Float Only - Round Five - Todber Manor - Homeground and Hillview

Travelled with the second oldest anger fishing today, Martin McMahon. We stopped in Greggs Shaftsbury to be welcomed by an aggressive young girl who made it clear we were 9 minutes too early and had to wait outside the shop - some training required me thinks.

Both Martin and me weren't looking forward to it because of the massive weights that have been coming out - not our preferred type of fishing. I had given the match some thought and had a plan. Fish for Carp on the flyers and Silvers elsewhere, but would prefer a draw on Homeground.

Tony had sensibly reduced the match to 5 hours allowing more time for weighing in, also most anglers only own 6 nets or less!! John Candy's keep net sells have significantly increased.

Into the draw tin and out comes Hillview peg 56 section end peg which went round to the LH side of the spit to peg 51 so I had a good section winning peg. My peg made better by end peg 55 empty so plenty of room. However, there were plenty of Ronnie's topping. So I had a dilemma, Silvers or Carp? After a great deal of thought I decided to let the fish lead me.

The set up was the short Ronnie rig, a 0.4 gram paste float to fish out in front on top set and a RJ paste bullet for the LH margin. In the process dropped a box of paste in the Lake, so wouldn't have enough for the entire match - bugger, but wasn't to matter. 

Fed the paste lines with micro, starting shallow on the Ronnie rig with single caster over half dozen loose fed caster. First try, one Ronnie then one fell off. The Carp had heard the casters going in and landed two decent one's. Now thinking Carp so picked up the bullet with paste which got absolutely hammered by Ronnie's. So now thinking Silvers, so put the casters back in the bag, switching to DR's on the Ronnie rig again over loose fed DR's and was soon getting 1/2 to 2 oz Ronnie or Perch every few seconds. I then had what I initially thought was a Carp but was delighted to see a 2 1/2 Perch in the net. This decided me to totally commit to Silvers. However, the occasional Carp arrived which was very obvious because the Ronnie's disappeared replaced by Perch which stayed. It didn't take long to fish the Carp out, which was usually in pairs and the Ronnie's to reappear. I did loose quite a few Carp including a near 15 lb Common Carp. And that's how my match went. I wish I had brought some GB thinking it would have been less attractive to the Carp and might have attracted some Skimmers which were absent from the keep net today.

My 400 odd Silvers weighed 25 lb 14 oz for the Silvers win and a new personal best of 107 lb 11 oz of Accidental Carp. I fed about 1 pint of DR's including the wet escapees. Definitely a section winning peg if I focused on the Carp, but definitely not an overall framer for me physically, so the fish made the right decision for me.

Very enjoyable day, apart from the monsoon just before the end.

The match was won by Neil Mercer (pictured with some of his catch and the Silvers winner) with a new PB of 400 lb 5 oz from peg 58. Neil caught on 6 mm banded pellet over loose fed 4's, initially at top set plus one barrel and later switching to just his top set, both lines were fished in front. Three Pints of 4's did it for him, well done Matey.

Note for future: Don't let Clint Wojtyla see you using paste next to him, if he asks tell him it's corn he wont know the difference! Joking aside, credit where credit is due Clint has done a great job supporting and bringing his young lad Freddie on who fished a tidy match today. Well done Freddie keep it up.

Result:

Weigh Sheets:

Saturday 12/06/2021 - 17/06/2021 - Viaductors Holiday 2021

This year we were back to our usual June Viaduct Holiday slot, which came round quick because we were there last September due to the Kung Flu. All the usual suspects plus this year Gary "Junior" Bowden, so eleven of us (pictured). Couldn't wish to socialise with a better bunch of lads, plus very knowledgeable anglers all having been through a tough apprenticeship through the early days on both canal and river, none of these new "manufactured" anglers here. A great thanks to Woody and Glenn for the organisation. Slot already booked for next year.

Martin Rayet brought some of his range of MR floats with him "only a few left" the new Topper? MR puts a lot of time into each float and is happy to make floats to your pattern, so if you can no longer get your favourite pattern contact him.

Once again Mandy at M&M café in the Somerton precinct did our breakfast to order and was on the table at 08:00 sharp. Highly recommended. We had dinner at the Unicorn the food was indifferent, however, they were accommodating for the after dinner dinking sessions. We had the usual Indian which is a must do every year and  was OK, but lacked some spices - luckily I was sat next to Lee. A visit to Weatherspoon's and a fight with their bloody App, hate the place everything is wrong about it, hope it's not the future. The best place we ate was the Globe, limited menu but good food and sociable service - recommended. The rest - well - what went on in Somerton stays in Somerton. Then there was three pairs of shoes stayed and one pair of trainers in the bin!!

Saturday 12/06/2021: Viaductors Open - 13 metres Pole Only - Campbell

Our first match and I was handed peg 125 which meant I would be in the hot sun all day. I found Tim Ford who was to have a torrid time with foul hookers and pole breakage on peg 124 and Stu White on peg 126. Had a chat with Stu and agreed that due to the far side pegs being shaded and a light wind blowing into it we were probably on the wrong side. Both of us would be fishing for Silvers Stu for the Skimmers long and me close in with the Ronnie rig and caster. As it happened we were wrong Stu won the the Silvers with 40lb 3oz. Perhaps Stu will give us a few words on how he approached his match. I was second with 24lb 15oz with my catch consisting of five Tench with three of them foul hooked, but did lose two hooked proper in the edge reeds.

The match was won by Glenn Bailey (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 137lb 7oz from peg 127. Glenn caught Carp with his two pots rig and paste.

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 13/06/2021: Viaduct Open: Lodge Lake:

After the usual first night drinking madness I certainly was jaded found Glenn on the couch in the morning appeared to have ate (or drank) something that disagreed with him!

Matt long handed me peg 62 a peg I've have previously struggled on, but would be in the shade until late into the match. Peg 61 was occupied by Junior. I decided to have an easy day fishing the Ronnie rig with caster. I had a good first hour catching small Skimmers, Ronnie's and one Tench for about 10 lb, so all going well. The peg then completely died replaced with foul hooking Carp who appeared to like my GB. I scratched around the margins adding the odd silver and two Carp. With half hour to go and with the umbrella no longer shading me I was so hot I had to wave the white hanky and stand in the shade. I weighed 12lb of Silvers and 27lb 1 oz of Carp for second in the Silvers, but no pay day.

The match and the Silvers was won by Gary Bowden (pictured wrestling with a flipper) with 15ln 1 oz of Silvers and a total of 109lb. Gary caught mainly on paste at 13 metres and unfortunately for me had a couple of accidental Skimmers late on whilst fishing for Carp. well done matey. Double bubble.

Looks like another scorcher tomorrow.

Weigh Sheet:

Monday 14/06/2021: Viaductors Residents Match: Match Lake:

After a night of abstinence I felt good and was looking forward to fishing this Lake as I have not failed to enjoy the fishing albeit it being difficult at times due to it being a very shallow lake circa 3 foot. 

I was handed peg 43 a good F1 peg on the waggler or feeder. However, I was on holiday and decided against both in favour of fishing for Silvers short at either top set, top set plus one barrel or two barrels with maggot over loose GB. Started on the longer line and after feeding loose GB and a six maggots through the kinder pot got lots of fizzing and pestered by big Carp. I did have two small Skimmers before I relised I was on a hiding to nothing loosing a couple of rigs with one right beast of a Carp breaking the main line and the elastic hitting my arm which pissed me right off and my neighbours will testify - some anger management to follow. I fed the shorter line with the same and would watch for any "don't go there fizzing" whilst I fished the top set to the left, again with maggot and GB. I had a good run of Rudd and Ronnie's including another Tench. After catching a small Carp I switch to the short line where no fizzing was showing and had a a very enjoyable remainder of the match catching hand size Skimmers and one big Carp. My Silvers weighed 21lb 9oz for a Silvers win.

The match was won by Martyn "Woody" Woodington (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 105lb 7oz from next peg 42. Woody caught mainly long down to his RH margin with paste over soaked 4's. Well done matey nice to watch.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 15/06/2021: Viaductors Open - Avalon -  Match Lake:

Vic Bush has done a lot of work adding parking behind the far bank pegs which was very welcome by match and pleasure anglers alike. A reasonable turn out for a Tuesday with 15 fishing. I had a plan to fish for Silvers worked out. However, when I drew far end peg 24 all plans went out the window as its really a Carp peg especially now that the tree has been removed and the bank modified to be like a beach with the bank sloping off for about 3 metres to full depth from the end bank. There was a lot of floating flotsam and jetsam along the end bank which Carp were slurping at. So one paste rig set up set to two foot deep to fish the margin pole at the full length of 9.5 metres. Th slope was such that that it necessitated at times some holding back the paste. The upshot was I lost three Carp hooked fairly losing one and a rig in a snag and two for bad rushing angling. Then there were al the foulers which I'm not discussing as it's the fishes fault for coming down the slope and not up!! The sun was again relentless with no shade whatsoever and nearly threw the towel in again. 

I weighed 58lb 10 oz for a match par.

The match was won by Lee Masey (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 75lb from peg 40. Lee caught primarily on the waggler and feeder with pellet.

Chris Ollis won the Silvers with 7lb 4 oz which comprised on two Skimmers (on meat) and 4 lb of whitebait and Motherless. Chris's shoes soles had melted in the car necessitating going to Wetherspoons in his wellies. Glenn as usual came to his rescue loaning him a pair, not that the wellies would be out of place in this establishment.

Back to the Lodges for a debrief and team talk by chip shop Martin "Boris" Rayet.

Weigh Sheet:

Wednesday 16/06/2021: Viaductors Short Pole Open - Viaduct -  Campbell:

This is match limited to top set plus three barrels. Matt long draws me peg 131, which has been winning recent matches on the lead towards the aerator. No concern about this as I would have only fished for Carp if I had drawn a corner peg. So Silvers it would be on the Ronnie rig with casters for the duration - nice and easy. Drawn next to Paul Faiers on 132 and Boris on 130 who would get Chip shopped again.

Caught on and off all match losing the only Tench I hooked. Only a few Skimmers in my net of mainly Ronnie's. very enjoyable for me. I did have a small Carp and a 19 lb Common on single caster which I landed eventually and was scale perfect and looked if it was rarely caught. My Silvers weighed 24lb 12oz for 3rd Silvers and the two Carp 23lb 1oz.

The match was won by Dave Willmott (pictured) with 235lb 5oz from corner peg 119. Dave caught from his RH margin using meat hook bait over potted meat. Dave fed about two tins.

Ryan Jordan (pictured) won the Silvers with 32lb 4oz from peg 111. Ryan caught on hard pellet both 6's and 4's over 4mm feed.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 17/06/2021: Viaductors Away Day - Todber Manor - Homegroundl:

A bad start for us all as the A303 was closed so flying by wire which meant arriving late for the draw so match pushed our for half hour. The match was limited to our group plus Tony Rixon and not just because he had the scales, draw cards and provide us a quick weigh in!!

We decided that all Silver fish would be returned so no Silvers pools and provides that extra keep net which will probably be needed. So a fish race it would be - not my cup of tea but OK for once a year.

Martin Rayet had been chip shopped all week and promised if he happened today he would give his tackle away, I had already made a list. So all would put extra effort in to today match, that is until he drew the best peg in Europe peg 90. For me it was 87. Happy enough with this as there was a bit of wind cover our side. I was sandwiched between Tim Ford and Glenn Bailey.

Two rigs both paste one at top set plus one Barrel set half way up the shelf and a margin rig set to between 12 and 18 inches deep.

Started on the one barrel over potted micro and wetted 4's and caught first put in after a few carp decided to come in on the top set to speed up the catch rate and stop the wetted 4's in favour of hard 4's feed because the Carp were coming up intercepting the particles coming of the wetted. Again caught well but did have a rig break due to pulling too hard and another the elastic pulling thought the stop bead because it slipped out of my wet hands banging on the top set a couple of times. Been lose feeding maggot and micro in the margin until I saw some tails waving at me. So went in there with the 25 elastic on the top set and basically I got caught by the Carp if I held the paste off bottom they would rip the elastic out. I had changed to potting maggots and micro and managed to get too many Carp in the margins which ended in too many liners/false bites. With 30 minutes to go I had enough but managed to hang on to the end playing fish after fish.

I weighed 275lb 14oz for second overall. This is not match fishing.

The match was won by Boris (pictured with some of his catch) with 384lb from peg 90. Martin caught on maggot feeding copious amounts of the same. However, he did have a slow start and after an hour he was looking worried when I started to passing his tackle list along the bank

A well done to Geoff Francis on a personal best of 166lb 9oz. I think he enjoyed himself.

Weigh Sheet:

And finally the picture of the week with all suspects present. It's debatable whether there were more cans of cider drank or fish caught.

Sunday 09/08/2020 - Tony Rixon's Short Pole - Todber Manor - Ash and Homeground

Steady drive down and on arrival bought a black tea from the no so mobile van (pictured right - giving the look of French cuisine). Looks a nice set-up and was popular with the lads, albeit a tad expensive. Joe McMahon aka Yorkie had a problem eating with his hands, dribbling his food - must eat driving his HGV with a knife and fork - pictured.

Tony split the match into two with top four overall  and one Silver on each Lake.

I had a walk around and really fancied a peg on Ash with the wind in the North North West it was perfect for giving some cover to all pegs. I didn't fancy peg 90 on Homeground as not keen to have a Carp fest. As it happened Tony had put Steve Tucker down twice so it wasn't drawn - whats the chances of that!! In I went and picked a peg from the bottom of the tub and had a familiar peg in my hands - 85 Homeground. I have been on this peg a few times now and because the wind would be off my back wasn't that enthused and during my walk had decided that if I drew this side I would fish for Silvers and the other side Carp.

Arriving at the peg I was definitely on the Dark side of the Lake one side young Dark Ginge the other Daddy Dark ex-Ginge. Whilst setting up I found a Sythe in the margin weeds which at my age was worrying (pictured). It was placed well away from my peg. Needless to say I drove home very steadily.

Set up - Long Ronnie rig caster over caster and two paste floats, one for over the Ronnie rig in case I had to fish out nuisance Carp and the other a Bullet to fish in the RH margin - in case. I started on the Ronnie rig with single caster and started catching small Hybrids which were about 4 oz and just too active to swing, in between I caught some Skimmers to 12 oz with plenty of 1 oz Ronnie's. After about 2 1/2 hours I went to the car for a paracetamol and spoke to Clayton who was struggling for Carp with no one catching Silvers I went back and decided to knock up some GB which was laced with caster and caught two quick decent Skimmers and thought I had sorted something - but no I was then pestered by 1 oz Ronnie's, I couldn't get through them. So decided to put the remaining GB down the edge and fished the paste over the caster line and caught 15 Carp in 15 put-ins (interesting that I didn't catch any on the caster). I had been loose feeding 4's over the top which I think brought the Carp up as I stated to foul hooking. I had enough and wasn't going to catch up those opposite on the Carp. So went back to caster over caster and kept a few small fish coming - just enough to keep me occupied. Twenty minutes to go Carp moved in to the margin so dropped the paste in and caught five move before the all out, the Carp certainly know when to feed in the margin so spending the minimum amount of time in a keep net.

My Silver weighed 23 lb 12 oz for the Silvers Lake win and my Carp 70 lb 15 oz for 94 lb 11 oz not quite the ton..

My Lake and the match was won by Clayton Hudson (pictured right) with 260 lb 15 oz from corner Homeground peg 81. Clayton caught all his fish down to his end bank using Tom Thick margin mix with DR's on the hook in 17.547 inches (he is an engineer) of water also feeding three pints of DR's. Clayton caught most of his fish during the second half. Well done matey.

The Silvers overall was won by Ryan Shipp with 35 lb 11 oz from Ash peg 70. Ryan would have caught at full length fishing shallow on caster over loose caster.

Result:

Homeground:

1. Clayton Hudson 260-15-0 peg 81 (Match Winner)

2. Gary Bowden 210-10-0 peg 76

3. Glenn Bailey 189-05-0 peg 78

4. Neil Mercer 179-04-0 peg 82

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 23-12-0 peg 85

Ash:

1. Martin Rayet 245-12-0 peg 72

2. Joe McMahon 236-08-0 peg 66

3. Ryan Shipp 227-14-0 peg 70

4. Tony Rixon 205-11-0 peg 75

Silvers: Ryan Shipp 35-11-0 peg 70

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 28/06/2020 - Tony Rixon's Short Pole - Todber Manor - Hillview

Yobs tearing down monuments and damaging public property and the police standing back and watching, whilst on the way to Todber at 07:00 on a Sunday morning a motorbike policeman can hide behind bushes with a speed camera. Makes my blood boil. Fair play perfectly positioned where a 60 mph drops to a 30 mph.

This was to be one of Tony's float only's but because all 28 pegs were in he sensibly changed it to a short pole - top set plus three.

Again a Corona draw but with a slight difference as can be seen in Tony's office (looks like he's had a tidy up) - the use of a tombola machine. Personally I can't wait to get back to drawing my own peg. First to have the roll and lady of fate gave me peg 40. Arrived at the peg followed by two Shipp's. Ryan was one side of me on peg 41 and Dad Vince on peg 39 so great company - no moaning from these two.

Ryan came and had a chat and said he had been told the Skimmers had mostly died and the way to winning the Silvers would be Roach. Good news for me. Ryan told a few anglers this.

So just top sets to day for me - two paste rigs one for out in front and one for down the RH edge. Two Ronnie rigs - One top and bottom and a small waggler to try and battle the nasty left to right wind. I put four keep nets in and relised I had left two others I planned to take in case at home.

I started on the waggler just off bottom with single caster over loose feed and found I had attracted a hundreds of 1/2 oz Ronnie's. The waggler wasn't right as the caster was getting ragged on the drop. So on to the top and bottom and had a few Ronnie's and micro Perch. I was missing lots of bites and continually changing the damaged caster. Meanwhile the Shipp's were bagging on small Carp. After 30 minutes I reckon I had 2 lb of Silvers. I then had a small Carp. My next decision was a hindsight bad-un as I switched to the paste for Carp. As I did this I noticed Ryan had switched to full length fishing shallow with casters and had a Skimmer first put in!!! My first 22 put-ins produced 22 small Carp and one net filled with about 60 lb. We then had the first of a couple of storms with high gusting winds and horizontal hail and rain - putting the weather back to pre-lock-down conditions. I had been potting micro and loose feeding hard 4's over the top which brought the fish up in the water producing lots of liners and the need to keep re-baiting. The wind was making things very difficult so changed to the Big H Bullet paste float fished round to the right, down wind using the keep nets as a wind shield. Again the feed was potted micro. This worked well resulting in catching much bigger Carp. I had now filled three nets to 60 lb so for the first time ever I emptied my Silvers back and continued adding Carp. I had a beautiful white Ghost Carp and later a Black Carp and out of recognition of current affairs I put them in the same keep net. Nearing the end of the match panic ensued as I was running out of paste and keep nets, with an estimated 60 lb in each - hopefully. Also my ageing hands were finding it hard to hold the top set - please call all out I had enough. Couldn't do this sort of fishing on a regular basis.

My four nets weighed 245 lb 8 oz for 6th overall. However, with 6 lb picking up in the Silvers I should have stayed with them - lesson learnt - but unlikely. Ryan won the Silvers with the only 38 lb in the Lake! In his defence I don;'t think he went long with the caster solely to catch Skimmers as Ryan likes fishing this way for Carp and I think he looked surprised to catch them. Due to the wind Ryan had to feed by catty

The match was won by Neil Mercer (pictured right) with 335 lb 6 oz from peg 50. Neil caught on 6 mm banded pellet over 6 mm loose feed. He fed about 4 pints. Well done matey.

How can someone DNW on this venue?

Result:

1. Neil Mercer 335-06-0 peg 50
2. Martin Rayett 321 06-0 peg 45
3. Paul Elmes 298-06-0 peg 48
4. Bob Gullick 292-15-0 peg 60
5. Joe McMahon 270-07-0 peg 36
6. Mike Nicholls 245-08-0 peg 40
7. P. RICK 243-13-0 peg 54

Silvers:

1. Ryan Shipp 38-04-0 peg 41
2. Gary Bowden 6-08-0 peg 35
3. Freddie Wojtyla 6-05-0 peg 37
Weigh Sheet: Sheet names were added by Mrs Rixon.