Sunday 12/11/2017 - Viaduct Silvers League - Round Four - Campbell, Carey and Lodge Lakes

First stop Canards Well. They say you can tell the quality of a Restaurant/Pub by its toilets, just been refurbished umm!

Had a walk around the three Lakes in today and thought the colour was ok for some Ronnie’s. When I got to peg 113 I could hear a Woodpecker in the tree above the peg and managed to get a picture of a Great Spotted - pictured right – to be verified by Birder Timothy Ford.

A peg facing the NW wind wasn’t a preference for anyone today especially as it was to pick up considerably. In to the draw bag and out comes Carey peg 94. Normally would be happy with this one but once again I would have to contend with a freezing cold wind blowing in at me at 11-o- clock. Plus peg 96 is in this section which has won the section every time so far, framing each time. Then Des Shipp arrives on peg 87 so third place might be the best today, but all that means I will have to try a bit harder, if that’s possible.

The wind was cold and nasty so for survival I decided on fishing to my right at 2-o clock so most of the wind was on my side/back. The RH margin has plenty of depth and would provide more shelter. Two rigs a heavier than would normally be needed, 4x14 and a 4x10 for down the edge. With plenty of time before the start I set up the Normark no 1 feeder rod which never got used.

The plan was caster down the edge and DR’s and GB out at top-set plus two, I had planned to go longer later, but the ever increasing wind was to deter me. Fed negatively with caster down the edge and a small ball of GB laced with maggot went out on the long line. A Ronnie first put in followed by some more very eager Ronnie’s, I then had a 1½ lb Tench – good start. I caught Ronnie’s for the first hour topping up the GB as required. The swim then completely died, umm. I then tried the margin with caster expecting to catch more Ronnie’s and Perch. No indications of fish present. I then had a curry rush to the toilet – just made it. Everyone appeared to be struggling with 6lb being good so far which I thought I had. Back in the saddle, where I started to shiver. I messed around loose feeding etc… trying to catch Ronnie’s but it was very slow. So decided to up the feed putting in two big balls of GB laced with a lot of DR’s which had the desired result catch two big Skimmers, two Hybrids  all during the last hour. Question, was it the time of day or was I being too negative with the feed. I decided it was the latter.

I weighed 11lb 13oz for third in the section and came away wishing I could start again, this time feeding more.

“Some say that he appears on high value stamps in Thailand, and that he can catch fish with his tongue. All I know it’s The Trig.”

The match was won again by The Trig (pictured right in his peg) for the third time out of four. The Trig put 28lb of decent Skimmers on the scales from Lodge peg 59, catching most of his fish late on caster hook bait at 14 metres by upping the feed of caster laced GB. The Trig fed around 1 ½ pints of caster. Upping the feed seemed to have been the order of the day.

Full Result:

1. Craig Edmonds 28-0-0 peg 59
2. Stu White 23-02-0 peg 70
3. Gary O’Shea 22-06-0 peg 73
4. Matt Parsons 18-03-0 peg 98
5. Nigel Easton  18-03-0 peg 100
6. Paul Greenwood 18-02-0 peg 129

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 09/11/2017 - Harescombe Cost Cutter - Match Lake

Trip up to Harescombe Fishery today to pick up some elastic (pictured right) from matey Stuart Graham this should last out the pensioner! Elastic can be purchased direct from Stuart in 3 metre lengths for £4.50 by visiting: wepolefloats.co.uk

I met up with the usual suspects who informed me that the venue was fishing hard, which usually means a close match. Apparently the Skimmers are on the near side coming on maggot over GB and the far side Carp which haven’t been feeding lately.

A good turn out with 19 fishing – just the right number for the venue I think.

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 18, same peg I had last match, some time back now. Reasonably happy with any peg really. I decided to fish 4mm expander over micro at top-set plus two and maggot on the same 4x12 rig at one section less and a 4x10 margin Speedy again with maggot.

After 30 minutes no bites or indications on the pellet so tried the short line with maggot and caught one 8oz Skimmer and a couple of micro Roach, but was missing loads of bites from them. Tried the margin and had one micro Roach and lost a foul hooked Mirror Carp, going nowhere fast. Adrian Clark opposite on peg 14 was by now catching steady fishing over to the piles with maggot. So time to change and got the full set of tubes out and set up a 4x10 Yoof and after potting some DR’s I caught a 2lb Chub first put in. I then spent a frustrating too many hours foul hooking small Mirror Carp altogether nine landing two plus a couple of F1’s – it was indeed fishing hard. Decided to eat the banana and have a pee and whilst peeing a flock of sheep sneaked up on my and scared the living daylights out of me making me let go of the hose pipe which I didn’t switch off, so a warm feeling was quickly followed by a cold one. I persevered far too long at 13 metres because with 20 minutes to go I switched to the short maggot line where the F1’s were waiting for me. I landed four better ones in the last 15 minutes and didn’t want the match to end; bugger should have gone there earlier.

I finished with a dead 18lb but according to Stuart Graham I should have had another 2oz because the scales man was reading the weights short! This won the section and was Jointish third overall!

The match was won by Adrian Clark (pictured right) with 27lb 2oz from peg 14. Adrian caught Barbel and F1’s at 13 metres over to the piles on double red maggot. Adrian fed nothing all match, which is probably what I should have done when fishing over as I might has had less Foulers – who knows.

I enjoyed the match today even though it was hard – a great venue and a great set of guys.

Full Result:

1. Adrian Clark 27-02-0 peg 14
2. Rob Pass 22-04-0 peg 11
3. Mike Nicholls 18-0-0 peg 18
4. Stuart Graham 18-0-0 peg 8 - Dubious
5. Ady Hill 17-02-0 peg 2
6. Tim Hadland 13-06-0 peg 12
7. Phil Auger 13-06-0 peg 29

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 05/11/2017 - Todber Manor Autumn Pairs - Round Three - Ash, Home Ground and Hill View

I thought we would spend half my pension on a Little Chef breakfast which would allow us to travel the quicker route to the venue. Seven hungry Anglers were there on the published opening time of 07:00 only to find it closed, after a lot of door rattling we were told it couldn’t open due to staff shortage. So we were forced to eat some strange plastic looking food next door in Subway – what a strange place I wonder what an American would make of this place.Apparently Kout Food Group has sold its Little Chef roadside portfolio to Euro Garages, a roadside retail company operating brands such as Starbucks, Subway and Greggs. So why am I now not surprised it wasn’t open. Martin Rayet asked if he could have a 2 foot subway roll, the Chef (sorry Microwaver) said he could have 3 foot but needed to book in advance. At least I've got some pension money left for the rest of the week.

No frost up north but one greeted us in Sunny Dorset. Forecast was for sunshine with the wind picking up midday.

My section today was A the low numbers on Hill View. Everyone wanted to avoid the low numbers. In to the draw tub and out comes peg 45. Very happy with it as its got plenty of form plus the wind would be blowing off my back at 1-o-clock. However, there was a down side the sun was directly in my eyes. I set up the usual rigs for the venue as the plan was to fish at top-set plus three to the right of the glistening sun until I was blinded then either switch to the Ronnie rig with caster to my left or hop over the sun glitter.

I started on the 4mm expander over kindered expander and micro. For the next hour I caught small Carp steady until I lost sight of the float in the glitter even though I had the Polaroid’s on. I reckon it would take an hour or so for the sun to move on so on to the Ronnie rig and caster and couldn’t believe that I couldn’t get a bite, switched to the maggot rig, nothing. Blimey better get back out long. So I hopped the Glitter adding another section fishing the same as previous but it took me a hour to pulled the fish back into the new swim. In the meantime the wind had picked up considerably, but at least the rig was doing a good job going against it. However, the downside was once the fish arrived I was towing into them and foul hooking. After some float adjustments I started to settle down again catching small Carp steady again. I missed a bite and not realising I had fouled a Ghost Carp about 5lb which tail walked then again, I was surprised after this that I was still attached to it - in the tail. Unfortunately the fish out lasted my patience bending the hook free near the bank. I lost another Carp of about 6lb which I disgorged with the landing net and found myself playing with myself! First time I’ve done this one.

I weighed 57lb 4oz which included 2lb of tiny Tench. Not one Ronnie today! This gave me section second. Bela drew peg 85 on HG and did well from ther managing to beat both sides.

Hillview Lake as a whole was won by Alan Oram (pictured right) with 72lb 9oz from peg 52. Alan fished something strange called a Bandum Waffter on a pellet method – method.

The match was won by Andy Lloyd from fancied peg 75 on Ash Lake with 114lb 8oz. Not sure how he caught because the weigh in took so long that I couldn’t find anyone in the darkness! Need more scales this time of year one set per section would be good!

Full Result:

1. Andy Lloyd 114-08-0 peg 75
2. Andy Power 106-0-0 peg 74
3. Alex Murry 84-0-0 peg 69
4. Bob Gullick 74-0-0 peg 88
5. Alan Oram 72-09-0 peg 52
6. Ken Rayner 72-06-0 peg 58

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 03/11/2017 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Disabled - Hunstrete - Bridge Pool

The first stop with Geoff Francis has to be a full English which was devoured in the Queens Head Keynsham.

First match for a long time that Carp would count in our matches, which brought matey Terry Bruton out, which was good to see. He hasn’t lost his drawing arm pulling peg 10.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 33, which meant I would be sat in the shade all day under dew dripping trees. In my opinion this peg is probably one of the worse pegs on the venue especially if the sun is reflecting the autumn colours onto the water. I was a bit surprised to find out later that pegs 17,19, 21,22,26 were left out any one I would have gladly swapped with. In fact there were three anglers spread over 10 pegs. I set up a 4x16 black top to fish a yellow top out at 10 metres once I could see it in amongst the trees (see picture left - good one for Spot the Float). A 4x 14 to fish 9 metres down my right as far out as I could into a tiny bit of white water and a 4x10 for the margin.

For company I had Pete Turner. I reckon I need only to fish next to him another four times and I will be able to run a brewery.

I started on the black top fishing Pinkie over GB and had a small Roach and a tiny Perch, after an hour not a sign of another fish. So while I waited for the sun to disappear I went in the margin with caster and caught a Small Chub, a decent Roach and Perch losing one decent Perch – as you do. That was it no further indications so having fed some micro out long and with the sun being clouded over I tried 4mm expander – nothing, double DR’s one Tiny Perch and that was it for the Silvers even though I kept trying all the swims in turn. It was now time for a banana walk mainly to try and warm up. The venue was fishing awful to say the least. Back to 33 and decided to stay in the margin with worm over caster to see if I could catch a Carp (or Perch). I did hook and land a 4lb Carp followed quickly by another that done me in the reads. The final fish of the day was a micro Perch.

My Silvers weighed 1lb 11oz and my one Common Carp 4lb 2oz for a not last weight of 5lb 13oz.

What do you get if a Swan wants to befriend an Irish Man - a right laugh - Harry Muir.

The match was won by Mike Jones (pictured upper right with his catch) with 46lb 15oz from peg 30. Mike caught on his favoured waggler fished four foot deep with maggot hook bait fished over maggot. Impressive weight on the day and well executed that’s why it was so difficult to beat him on the River.

The Silvers was won by Dave Willmott (pictured right) from fancied peg 11 with 18lb 2oz. Dave caught on caster over caster from his margins.

Back to the pub with the usual suspects (some pictured right) to round the day off reminiscing on the hay day of Bridge Pool and how badly the fishing has declined over the past five years. This Pool has been converted from an ochre colour to almost gin clear during this time. Shame, can it recover?

Full Result:

1. Mike Jones 46-15-0 peg 30
2. Paul Haines 18-10-0 peg 29
3. Dave Willmott 18-02-0 peg 11
4. Paul Barnfield 16-08-0 peg 31
5. John Smith 12-02-0 peg 14
6. John Fry 11-07-0 peg 3

Top Silvers:

1. Dave Willmott 18-02-0 peg 11
2. Paul Barnfield 11-12-0 peg 31
3. Paul Haines 6-0-0 peg 29

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 29/10/2017 - Viaduct Silvers League - Round Three - Campbell, Carey and Lodge Lakes

Bit of road rage this morning from Bela. Some kids in their 1000 cc lawn mover tail gating him. We caught up with them at the traffic lights in Shepton Mallet and when they saw Bela they did the sensible thing and drove off through the red lights. Canards breakfast wasn’t that good today. RIP the poor lad that got kill by hit and run driver this morning at Canards Well.

Hung back in the draw queue hoping for a peg on Carey and got my wish with peg 87. Happy with this as there are usually a few Ronnie’s to be caught; however, the water did look a tad clear. For company I had Nigel Bartlett on peg 88 and Geraint Powell on peg 86.

I set up a 4x16 to fish at 10 metres each side of the dark patch where the depth was near enough to need a tiny adjustment, a 4x10 for the RH margin I had cleared of a young Willow and others stuff, next the Ronnie rig and finally the GB feeder in case. I fed the two long lines one with neat GB and the other caster and DR’s, some casters were potted in the margin. I started on the Ronnie rig and caught reasonable well. Geraint was catching small Skimmers so I tested my Skimmers lines and also could catch small Skimmers (hope they grow on) but decided that the Ronnie’s could produce the same weight as I could catch them quicker so fed the Skimmers again and went back on the Ronnie’s. What is it with Carp and casters they definitely prefer them than pellet. The Ronnie’s wanted to feed but they were continually disrupted by Carp. Getting the feed rate right was very difficult. I think tt’s the sound of the casters hitting the water that initially attracts the Carp especially with no Carp slayers feeding pellet. So it was a question of catching a few Ronnie’s until they were backed off and switching to the tiny Skimmers. I did set up the 4 metre whip but after just a couple of fish I would hook a Carp which on a flick-tip can be fun! I think I was holding my own along the end bank until the last hour when the Carp pissed the Ronnie’s right off and Geraint had a great last hour adding about 15lb of decent Skimmers on expander over GB to his catch (pictured right). Another good young angler.

I weighed 17lb 9oz for section 4^th. And for the tenth time this year being ounced out of some coin this time by 2oz! My fault this time because there was a few fish I should have netted but choose to nearly swing. Perhaps I should be more patient with the Skimmers.

 “Some say that his first name really is “The”, and that if he went on Celebrity Love Island they’d all be pregnant, including the camera men. All I know its  The Trig.”

Craig Edmonds won the match with 32lb 14oz from fancied peg 78. Trig caught small Skimmers on pole and some better Skimmers on the waggler on banded hard pellet.

Considering the conditions the venue fished well for Silvers with most anglers catching double figures.

Full Result:

1. Craig Edmonds 32-14-0 peg 78
2. Vince Brown 31-0-0 peg 77
3. Stu White 30-09-0 peg 96
4. Paul Faiers 30-06-0 peg 123
5. Geraint Powell 29-02-0 peg 86
6. Gary O’Shea 28-02-0 peg 56

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 22/10/2017 - Todber Manor Autumn Pairs - Round Two - Ash, Home Ground and Hillview Lakes

Donald T is correct when he says that the UN is nothing more than a talking shop.

First stop for Bela and me was Cannards Well where we met up with Ken Rayner and Mr and Mrs for breakfast (pictured right). I thought the breakfast was a tad cold which is they way Bela likes it otherwise, due to his two chewing burns his throat.

I was really looking forward to fishing Ash Lake for the first time as it holds some big Bream. I know there’s no Silvers pool, but can't help myself. I was reliably told that the two end pegs were the best bets or the middle. I don’t know about this as predicting fish has long passed for me. Into the draw box and out comes peg 74, one off the far end peg, close but not close enough? Arriving at the peg the Lake was flat calm, which fooled us all I think. For company I had Anton Page and Callum Craig who had drawn the favoured end peg.

I set up the Ronnie rig I don’t know why as all it did was get wet and blown around my peg.  I set up two 4x14 rigs one to fish at top-set plus one just up the inside shelf and the other two more sections at full depth. I still had loads of casters left from last weeks donations so they would be my favoured bait today. Well no sooner had the “all in” been shouted the ferrous winds arrived definitely some “Brian” about it, followed by heavy rain. The wind was blowing in at me at 1-o-clock. I started by feeding the long line with caster and micro and the inside line with just caster. Started on the longer line with 4mm expander and caught two tiny Skimmers and one tiny Tench. At his point I noticed I was the only angler on the Lake fishing the pole and within15 minutes the wind became impossible on the pole not from holding it but the float had no choice but to travel at the same speed as the wind. I came on the short line which didn’t give me much better presentation but did add some Ronnie’s and another Tench.  The weather got worse and Anton left his peg and sat in his van. I swivelled around trying to get the rain and wind off my back, I shallowed up the 4x14 close rig and started a margin line in about 3 foot of water 4 foot from the bank and laid this on with double caster and let the wind drag it the margin slope. During Anton’s absence I added two 2lb Skimmers, some more Ronnie’s and the only Ruffe in Dorset. Meanwhile Craig was starting to catch tight into his end margin using the lee of his end bank for float shelter with corn hook bait. I was struggling with the conditions glad I didn’t bring a lead rod as I might have set it up! I like trying to make the float work and whilst sheltering in my margin I put on a worm and let that drag up the margin and it worked better. So I changed the shotting on the long 4x14 (should have gone to a 4x16) putting three number elevens to drag the bottom. The expander wasn’t going to survive long with being dragged along the bottom so on went double caster and even though the wind wasn’t going to give up ruining our day I started to catch some small Carp whose parentage could be debated. I needed to slow it down more so tried the worm trick I tried in the margin and found this presented better and continued to catch small Carp in pairs after each pair I topped the feed with caster and micro combo. My efforts were rewarded with a lovely 3lb Tench. Presentation was still near impossible especially as I didn’t had sufficient line left above the float due to my messing with the depth and couldn’t be bothered to add some more, so tried fishing with a snotty nose but the elastic being hollow floated and was worse in the wind. The wind ruin most anglers’ day hardly anyone could shelter from it. I was very disappointed due to the conditions that I was unable to use the expanders properly.

I finished with 56lb 14oz for fourth in section. Callum Craig fished a tidy match, mostly concentrating on his margin and just sneaking the section and coming second overall. Well done matey.

Some say that he knows two facts about Ducks – both are wrong! He also has invented a waterproof keepnet. All I know its The Trig again winning the match from peg 45 Hillview with 104lb 4oz. Trig caught initially on the feeder and later on the long and short pole. Well done matey.

Full Result:

1. Craig Edmonds 104-04-0 peg 45 HV
2. Callum Craig 89-10-0 peg 75 Ash
3. Steve Tucker 87-06-0 peg 53 HV
4. Scott Russell 81-08-0 peg 69 Ash
5. Alan Oram 81-02-0 peg 48 HV
6. Mark Poppleton 80-12-0 peg 65

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 20/10/2017 - Shiplate Farm Fishery - Cost Cutter - Main Lake

The biggest threat to this world isn’t Kim and Donald but the reducing amount of insect life. It’s been years since I had to scrap dead insects from the windscreen. Many of these insects are pollinators. We need to stop the man made cause sooner rather than later.

My Son has started taking his twin Granddaughters fishing and relieved that he has started them right fishing for Ronnie’s. Both pictured right with a nice net of Roach, naturally all caught on caster. Wish I was there. Half term coming up!

It was back to Shiplate where the weather by the BBC was forecast to be dry until 17:00. I don’t know why they spend so much money on their forecasts, better off with a fir cone! It rained all day start to finish!

A quick walk around and found a lot of Carp around pegs 1 and 2. As with most fisheries at the moment there is a lack of oxygen. Into the daw bag and out comes peg 11 for the second time, drew this peg last match. Happy enough but was hoping to fish a different peg, for a new challenge, however, I was to find this on peg 11. For company on peg 12 was Mike Laird. Dave Wride walked pass with a smile he was on peg 15 again.

Ronnie rig, 4x14 rigs set up and later a 4x10 for the margin. Started on the Ronnie and caster expecting to have some low hanging fruits in the net but after 15 minutes only had the one. Blimey Ronnie’s not feeding what was I going to do? Set up the 4x10 Speedy thinking they might be in the margin. I did have a couple and a welcomed 2lb Hybrid. Not good. So Went on the caster long with the 4x14 and caught some small Skimmers and a Tench. I had a 2lb Carp which I inspected in case it could be re-classed. I kept switching around with the three rigs losing three foul hooked carp in the process, by half way I went on the Banana walk to have a chat with next door neighbour, Mike who reckoned he had over 20lb of Skimmers fishing corn. Back in the saddle where I decided to try for Carp as they seemed to be active, so in went a couple of big pots of casters. With double caster on the hook I had a Tench followed quickly with 9 more from 1 lb to 3lb – happy days. As I had a big donation of casters at the Silvers league I was able to keep them going in, in abundance. I did have five Carp losing four foul hookers with one diving in the bushes trashing my float with me ending up with “elastic knuckle” pulling it free. This pulling in combination of the wet locked the joint on the top-set and number three. I decided to and try and fish with the sections locked because with an hour left and the Skimmers arrived and was catching quickly, but after some frustration got a new top-set and number three out. Unfortunately the wind picked up which made presentation difficult.

It was another great day out at this fishery with my Silvers weighing in at 24lb 10z (No Ronnie’s) and my Carp 34lb 12oz for a total of 59lb 6oz. Sneaking in on a default Silvers.

The match was won by Mark Jones (pictured upper right) with 124lb 6oz from peg 7. Mark caught on pellet.

Another great Silvers weight off pee 15 by Dave Wride (pictured right practicing being tea boy - with one cup – I got a picture of him smiling but saving that one) with 55lb 2oz. Dave caught on pellet catching Skimmers regularly at 10 metres until the last hour when the wind picked up switching his attentions to Carp in his margin taking seven decent Carp again on pellet. Well done Dave.

Result:

1. Mark Jones 124-06-0 peg 7
2. Dave Wride 91-05-0 peg 15
3. Tom Light 88-04-0 peg 1

Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 55-02-0 peg 15
2. Mike Laird 29-06-0 peg 12
3. Mike Nicholls 24-10-0 peg 11

Weigh Sheet: