I was spoilt for choice of matches to fish this week end – Sedges; Tile Lake with Sensas Veal’s – Acorn; with Rixon’s Rip-off – decided against this as the venue doesn’t have any pubic hairs yet – mind you as Charlie Barns said it won’t bother Tom Thick hasn’t seen any yet!!! I decided on Carps AC as I felt I had a score to settle with this venue. This was my second time at Trinity – Woodlands and having learnt a bit from the first visit I was keen to get back. I had a walk round the venue before the draw and noticed a lot of Carp in the corner margins of the furthest end bank pegs 16 to 20. I half expected this, as the wind had been blowing in to the end all week. I fancied all of these pegs.
I drew peg 7 which was at the opposite end of the Lake – becalmed. I set up a Skimmer rig – a 4x18 Jolly to be fished at 10 metres; a Ronnie 3.5 metre elasticated whip to be used with caster and a 0.4 gram paste rig set to 4 foot which suited both RH and LH margins. I started by feeding a 125 ml pot of Micro and 4 mm pellet on the Skimmer line. I followed this up with half a pot of micro and 4mm pellet in to the RH margin. I started on the whip, loose feeding caster. I also started regularly loose feeding 4mm pellet in to the LH margin. I had a run of small Rudd, but was pestered by the Motherless Minnows. My rig was such that I was fishing on the drop, but before the bait got to the better fish it was intercepted by the Motherless (after all they are surface feeders). I messed around with the shotting and feeding which did improve things but the fish were tiny. Rich Coles on next peg 8 was catching decent Skimmer on his chopped worm and had over taken me. So, after two hours I decided to have a look in the LH margin with paste. All I had to show for this was half a tree branch. Out again after the Ronnie’s and I hooked a 4 lb Carp on the whip which fought like crazy. Next cast I foul hooked another Carp. Bugger lets fish for them then!! In to the RH margin and first put in I hook and lost a decent Tench in the marginal brambles – bugger. Back out with a new hook (when fishing straight through as I was today I always leave a little extra line between the top-set and float so I can retie direct again). Back out again with paste and this time a small Carp. I decided to stay with this for the last 2 and half hours adding a 5lb bream and a 1lb F1 to my Silvers in addition to 19 more Carp up to 4lb. My Silvers weighed in at 14lb 12 oz for fourth in the Silvers – much more than I thought I had and the twenty or so Carp weighed in at 74lb 6oz for a total of 89lb 2oz for second overall and a pick up of £55.
The match was won as expected from peg 16 by Bob Sheppard (pictured right with the Silvers winner) with 102lb 10oz. Bob Caught all his fish shallow on banded 8 mm pellet fish over loose fed 6mm pellet. Bob reckons he fed 8 pints of pellet – we all know Bob, so the gallon must have had a large pinch of salt in it!
The Silvers was won by Rich Coles form peg 8 with 24lb of Skimmers. Rich caught on worm fished over GB laced with chopped worm and caster, fished at 11.5 metres.
Full Result:
1. Bob Sheppard 102-10-0 peg 16
2. Mike Nicholls 89-02-0 peg 7
3. Leyton Palmer 86-10-0 peg 11
4. Martin Rayet 62-06-0 peg 28
5. Dave Evans 55-05-0 peg 20
6. Nigel Milkins 40-04-0 peg 13
Top Silvers:
1. Rich Coles 24-0-0 peg 8
2. Dave Tippett 20-10-0 peg 14
3. Darren Gillman 16-08-0 peg 24
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Bloody freezing cold with an Easterly wind blowing in at me all day, it was the coldest I felt all winter! As Colin was away I was entrusted with the pegging out. I fancied the early numbered pegs because I had to put the last two pegs in the start of the leg. So I was disappointed when I pulled peg 14. Even though it was an end peg I didn’t fancy it for the Bream, perhaps some Ronnie’s again as I drew the peg next door last year and had 22lb of Ronnie’s on the pole with caster. I had previously set up my 11ft Normark no1 Feeder rod (the blanks being whipped up by a young Tony Rixon in 1983 his first year in Avon Angling) with 3lb Preston direct mono (a great line for Skimmer fishing once you get use to the directness). On setting up I cast out a bomb to set the line clip and spot on my target distance I had a clip-up, well so I thought. On inspection I was down to the spool knot!! So my preparation was in vain and had to get out a new spool and re-set up. I also set up a Ronnie rig – a 1 gram Jolly (the wind was really gusting so I needed a heavier than normal float). For some strange reason I also set up a paste rig. Both rigs to be fished out in front at 9 metres. I fed a 125ml of wetted micro and 4mm on this line before setting about the feeder. I had added a mixture of caster and wetted micro in my GB (some green stuff I scrounged from Nick Collins on Sunday). I also had a bag of Sensas River to add to the mix if I needed to put it in at distance with the GB catty (I have always found it enjoyable using this catty). However, as the water was so clear I decided to take it steady and put the GB in by the cage feeder only. After about four chucks on the feeder with triple red maggot - not a bite - so on to the 6 mm soft pellet on the pole. Again - nothing. I decided to put a pot of casters over this line for the Ronnie’s. I think this was a mistake and should have moved further out on a different line because I didn’t have a bite on caster either. However, I think I had now made up my mind to stay with the feeder for the rest of the match. Out again on the feeder and had a couple of small Skimmers. It then went quiet then another couple of 1lb Skimmers. I tried corn and soft pellet; neither was productive so stuck with the triple maggot. And that is how my match went catch a couple straight off then long spells without a bite. What I thought was happening was the Skimmers were coming up in the water to feeding off particles falling from the feeder as it descended. So I increased the tail to 3ft and thought I had sorted it out as I had a Bream on the drop first cast. Alas not, I did have more bites on this but I didn't see the bites. It left wondering whether I should have filled it in at the start on the catty and fish the lead over it - we will never know now! I weighed 17lb 8oz of all Skimmers for sixth overall. I am surprised I have written so much about fishing the feeder – Ian Spriggs would have been proud of me today – my casting was fairly accurate - for a change.
The match was won by Steve Dawson (pictured right with a lovely net of Skimmers) from peg 3. Steve caught at 9 metres on the pole using 6 mm expander over micro pellet. Steve caught steady all day and had some shelter from the bitter East wind.
Full Result (All Silvers):
1. Steve Dawson 41-11-0 peg 3
2. Mark Tanner 24-08-0 peg 10
3. Dave Wride 23-13-0 peg 6
4. Tom Thick 20-08-0 peg 5
5. Charlie Barns 19-05-0 peg 4
6. Mike Nicholls 17-08-0 peg 14
The day started us with a light over night frost, clear skies and a light South Westerly wind. Not really the recipe this time of year for catching huge weights of fish.
Unusually I was beaten in to second place at the draw by Dave Bacon, who pull the peg card I was going for, however, I picked the one next to it and out came peg 30. Dave was on 29!! I didn’t expect Bridge Pool to fish very well today because of the weather conditions. So I set up my usual Ronnie rig for the caster and a paste rig at 5 metres (for nearly down the inside shelf). I thought I would start on the paste looking for that early “Mug” Carp, whilst I fed the Ronnie line. I cupped in the paste along with a bit of micro and some 4mm pellet. Straight away I was pestered by small Skimmers in the 2 to 3oz bracket spearing them on my 12 hook. After 15 minutes I gave up on this and set about the Ronnie’s. Looking around the pegs at my end of the Lake no one seemed to have caught much, if anything at all. I could already hear Colin moaning on peg 2. I found the Ronnie’s very difficult to pin down – catch a few then nothing. It’s all in the feeding. I found by feeding heavy then leaving it and coming back over kept the Ronnie’s coming steady, which needed two swims, one in close the other out at 5 metres. I could see Bill Ferris opposite on peg 4 struggling for the Silvers, so decided to forget the Carp entirely and focus on the Ronnie’s. That is unless they came looking for me – which they didn’t. The bright conditions
weren’t conducive for Ronnie fishing; however, I weighed in exactly 16 lb of all Ronnie’s with a smattering of small hybrids. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it especially when you really have to work hard for your fish. This put me third in the Silvers and a pick up of – you guessed it £25 (see last match video). The only Carp weighed at my end of the Lake was by John Wild (pictured right playing his thirteen pounder on his Silvers rig - a good bit of angling if you ask me).
The match was a tight a fair all round, with, as I expected most of the Carp coming from the end the wind had been blowing in to. The top six anglers were being separated by the one “stamp” Carp. Similarly the top three Silvers were separated by just 1lb.
The match was won by Rich Coles with 27lb 13oz from peg 18. Rich had a few decent Skimmers and three Carp.
In third place was Bob Feltham (pictured right with his Carp) who weighed 25lb dead from peg 23. Bobs catch included three Carp and a Roach weighed in at 1lb 6oz.
Mike Jones won the Silvers from in form Silvers peg 24 with 17lb. Mike caught on maggot shallow, adding some decent Skimmers to his net in the last half hour.
Full Result:
1. Rich Coles 27-13-0 peg 18
2. Bob Warren 25-13-0 peg 15
3. Bob Feltham 25-0-0 peg 23
4. Mike Jones 23-04-0 peg 24
5. Pete Phillips 21-02-0 peg 26
6. Terry Bruton 18-0-0 peg 19
Top Silvers:
1. Mike Jones 17-0-0 peg 24
2. Bob Warren 16-04-0 peg 15
3. Mike Nicholls 16-0-0 peg 30
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
My son mark was planning to go camping in the Lake District over the Easter weekend, but because of the atrocious weather he decided to visit home instead. So I cancelled my Sunday Match. But knowing I would need a “fix” before the weekend I booked in to fish the Viaduct Pole only on Good Friday. Well it was my Birthday.
I wasn’t surprised that this match was well attended, with nearly 70 fishing. I believe this was only partly due to it being a bank holiday but primarily because it was pole only – which was the reason I booked in. I know Steve and Paul mix and match a variety of formats on their Lakes – pairs, silvers, etc…but for me today’s format and payouts were spot on.
Bela and I started the morning with a breakfast in the public toilets on the A38. Well it use to be public toilets, now converted in to a small café (12 seats) – It’s been named the Airport Café. We rated the breakfast - below average.
The matches are; draw 10 am fish 11-30 to 17-30. I much rather see a 9 am draw, especially today as my son’s were taking me out for a curry. So it was to be a rush to get home – thanks to Bela I arrived home spot on the planned time of 19-45.
I drew peg 98 on Carey. I wasn’t unhappy about the draw but would have preferred one of the Silvers (Greens) swims on Campbell. At least I had the wind off my back. Peg 98 has some Silvers form – mainly Skimmers/Bream. However, it tends to be a lead/waggler peg for the Carp. On the other hand peg 96 is a very good Skimmer peg, so not far way then. I wanted a Carp slayer to be on the peg really – but that was buggered when Nick Collier arrived and put his kit on it, at least he wasn’t in my section. Two pegs the other way on peg 100 Des Shipp arrives, which was in my section. I set up three rigs; 1 – Ronnie rig for four metres with caster, I thought the water to be a bit clear for this and I was right; 1 – 4x14 Jolly to be fished at 13 metres at 1-o-clock where I had a slim chance of seeing my red topped float in all the changing, reflected background colours. I also set up a paste float to fish over the same line. I started by cupping in 125ml of wetted micro at 13 metres and started loose feed caster at 4 metres by hand. I started on 3 mm expander and started to catch small 3 oz Skimmers – as did most around me. I then caught a “double” Carp, followed quickly by a 3 lb Tench. I had started kinder potting in some wetted 4mm pellet and subsequently foul hooked a Carp which straightened my hook. My swim died for a while, but having stopped feeding I had another run of 3 – 6oz Skimmers. As expected I could see Nick catching bigger Skimmers up to 1lb and so was Des. Both I and Gary O’Shea on next peg 99 had similar weights of Silvers. However my swim had died again. As I didn’t think I would catch Nicky or Des on the Silvers I made the decision to fish paste for Carp and go for a section win or outside chance of a frame, especially as the angler on peg 97 had caught a couple of Carp and no Silvers. The wind made it difficult to present the paste, particularly when the lake towed. However, I soon had a 2lb Skimmer and hooked another Carp which I played for some while, only for the hook to pull free with the landing net in my hand. The fish in Carey are renowned for being big as my next Carp proved; it was getting close to 20lb if not over. I do get bored whilst playing Carp of this size, but I was really careful with this one, having learnt the lesson with the previous one. With half hour to go the Carp had moved over my 4 mm wetted pellet and I landed another two decent Carp, one on the whistle. My four Carp weighed in at 41lb 3oz and the Silvers 13lb 4oz for a total weight of 54lb 7oz. This put me 10th in the match and a section win and a pick up of £50. The Carp I lost cost me a 
framing position. The lesson on Carey is to take your time with these fish as you don’t need many to frame – lesson learnt.
The match was won by Clint Wojtyla (pictured right) with 118lb 3oz from peg 127. Clint caught initially at 5 metres with soft pellet over loose fed 6mm pellet then later switching to 14 metres where caught the loins share, fishing banded 6mm, again fished over 6mm pellet. Clint fed about 2 pints throughout the match.
The Silver weights surprised me as the Greens on Campbell Lake 
didn’t really feed. It only took 38lb 14 oz to win the Silvers, which was again surprising to find it came from peg 70 on Lodge by Dave Campbell (pictured right). Dave fished hard banded pellet for a good net of sizable Skimmers.
Full Result:
1. Clint Wojtyla 118-03-0 peg 127
2. Jamie Smith 98-12-0 peg 126
3. Dan Williams 86-5-0 peg 94
4. Phil Cardwell 83-0-0 peg 85
5. Matt Parsons 74-02-0 peg 77
6. Dave Campbell 64-06-0 peg 70
Top Silvers:
1. Dave Campbell 38-14-0 peg 70
2. Nick Collier 33-02-0 peg 96
3. Des Shipp 31-02-0 peg 100
4. Paul Homewell 28-09-0 peg 119
either a Rudd or Ronnie every put in ranging from 2oz to 1lb. Although at the half way stage I had noticed visitors in my margin, however, I stuck with the whip until the last 20 minutes where in the margin on paste I hooked five Carp landing three – losing two through rushing them. The three Carp weighed in at 21lb 9oz and my Silvers went 44lb 10oz - not bad for half pint casters (my net of Silvers are pictured right) for a total of 66lb 3oz. This put me first in the Silvers and fourth in the match and a pick up of £35. Other than the pole incident it was a very enjoyable and memorable match. Incidentally as I was packing up the fish were still fizzing over the one ball of GB I fed – what on earth was this all about – anyone know?
won by today’s travelling partner Martin Rayet (pictured right with some of his catch) with a fantastic 228lb 4oz - all Carp net from peg 27. Martin caught shallow on the pellet waggler at distance on 8mm banded pellet over loose fed 8mm pellet. Martin rotated three swims – open water, near the island and up close to the island. Martin fed 4 pints of 8mm pellet throughout the match.
5. Dave Bacon 47-03-0 peg 19
