Sunday 03/09/2023 - Alcove AC - The Clamp

My search for the origins of why the Pool was named The Clamp continues, but have made some progress. It's common knowledge that The Clamp is believed to serve as overflow from Bitterwell lake both believed to be constructed to serve the mining industry in the area, specifically the Serrridge Mine. The Clamp was constructed at the same time as Bitterwell Lake circa 1862. Bitterwell was used to soak the wood for mine construction and most probably The Clamp was used to provide water to the mine engines. Due to this important role Bitterwell lake also served to maintained the water "head" of The Clamp. Guessing "The Clamp" was a mining slang term, slang was often used by the miners, for example the men that carried the explosives were called "Powder Monkeys". Still to get the bottom of the name though, beginning to think it's specific to this mine and it's operation.

Back to the fishing. Arrived to find the Pond completely covered in a thin green film. Most certainly caused by the pollen from the large Ash trees that surround the pool. The pollen is normally dispersed by wind however last few days it has been calm hence landing in the pool. However, it didn't affect the fishing, the pond skaters were finding it hard work though.

Pulled peg 5 which is a decent peg. which is under a large old Ash. Happy with this as it meant shade all day for me.

Fished it the same as last match except I left out the fish meal and just used Sensas Lake and Magic for the GB. Fed it loose as the pool is silted and wanted it to sit on top rather than be swallowed by the silt. Fished Pinkie all day double and single as it got harder and boy did it get hard primarily due to no wind. I caught 7 species of fish, lovely days fishing, suits me. No sign of the 5 lb carp which John Treasure informed me he has caught a few times down the LH margin.

As the weights would be close Tony weighed in kg's my silvers weighed 2.330 kg in Christian units 5 lb 2 oz for second overall being beaten by Tony by 3 oz (pictured with the silvers winner). Well done Matey, well run match, need to brush up on your smiling.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 31/08/2023 - Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Bridge Pool

Nice for the weather to stay true for the last day of summer - rained on and off all day and a tad chilly.

It seems South Gloucestershire has road works everywhere including outside my home - again! Temporary lights and diversions which at best are confusing especially when they leave the signs after finishing work.

Nice to see Pete Tuner back out albeit on two crutches which came in handy to retrieve his keep net which had fallen in.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 8. I was surprised it was in considering numbers reduced to 18. My section ran from 8 to 16 which were all but better Carp pegs so silvers it would be.

Started short down the side with caster which usually brings a few quick Ronnie's and Perch so was surprised I couldn't get a bite. Switch to maggot and had a few tiny Perch and a F1 before it died. I had fed some GB and caster out in front in 7 foot of water and had a few 2 oz Ronnie's all on the drop, leaving it on bottom resulted in tiny Perch, wasn't long before this line also died. So spent the rest of the match on the waggler fished well short of the island as it was impossible to feed with maggot. Picked off a few Ronnie's and five small F1's pulling out of a 10 lb Carp trying to keep it out of the margin reeds. First time for many years I've not enjoyed fishing.

My silvers weighed 6 lb 12 oz was surprised to see it was only 14 oz out of a silvers pick up. The F1's weighed 8 lb 4 oz.

The match was won by a narrow margin by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the silvers winner) with 56 lb 14 oz of mainly F1's from peg 6. Paul fished worm over chopped worm and micro. Well done matey.

The Silvers was won by Haydn Withers (pictured) from peg end peg 31 with 28 lb 12 oz of skimmers. Well done matey.

The pool is suffering from the lack of silvers, particularly Roach which were decimated earlier in the year.

Weigh Sheets:

Thursday 17/08/2023 = Bathampton AA - Over 55's and Short Walks - Withy Pool

Most were pleased to be back on Withy Pool which probably accounts for the numbers increasing to 25 today. Since Withy was built we have lost 8 pegs. Not sure why this is perhaps we should enquire - loose rather than repair?. Due to the numbers and with Tony Rixon having dashed home for his GB I had to find thee more pegs since the last match. I walked around and made a decision to put pegs 50, 65 and 36 in. Peg 49 looks it will be next to be lost unless some repairs are done.

Peg 67 stuck to my hand thought I deserved a better one after all the walking. Wrong end of the lake and wrong end of the section. However, did expect to catch small Ronnie's for most of the day for some entertainment. For company on peg 66 was Barny, who for some reason was moaning about his peg!

Weighed 9 lb 10 oz not a bad weight from the peg but disappointed the small Ronnie's didn't really show spending the second half of the match scratching around trying all sorts. Most fish caught on single caster and GB. Lower water levels may have been a reason the peg died. Peg 36 was a success so consider putting 36, 37 and 39 in next time. 

Was amusing watching Hughie Evans and Barny playing many Carp - "and away". I didn't hook any but a few liners and bow waves.

Rob Baker (pictured) won the match from peg 61 with 21 lb 10 oz fo Skimmers. Rob caught on a cage feeder with GB and double reds on the hook fished into the bowl. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton for a beer with the usual suspects. Plus a had a poke in the chest from Kev Winstone.

Weigh Sheets:

Sunday 13/08/2023 - Alcove AC - The Clamp

There's not much in match fishing that gets me more excited than match fishing a new venue. Back in the day the like's of Tony Rixon et el found new venues around the South West and organised matches, these matches brought excitement and great anticipation (from some talking up), always enjoyable even though we often caught very little. So off to The Clamp which brought strange looks from anglers that have fished it when making enquiries. Never seen the place even though have strained my neck driving past it many times trying to get a glimpse.

15 pegs on the Lake with 13 fishing. Had a quick look around, looked OK. Into the daw bag and out comes peg 13 on the 13th Umm. Found my self next to Julie the winning one Carp specialist on the lake.

Told it was very hard venue but plenty of small silvers, unlikely to hook a Carp - yeh right! So bait wise only took mixed Pinkies and GB consisting of Sensas Lake and Magic. Simple. Set two light elasticated top sets and a 4 metre whip. By feeding small nubs of GB and loose fed Pinkie kept small (minute) Ronnie's coming until the last 15 minutes plus a couple of Skimmers to 8 oz. Did foul hook a carp and lost another in the reeds due to  being unable to get to the top set quick enough to pull elastic. Reeds and me are having a number of fall outs at the mo.

Weighed 6 lb 8 oz for the silvers win and third in the match. Very enjoyable albeit siting in a very cold facing wind.

The match was won by Jason Pitman (pictured with the silvers winner) with 9 lb 13 oz from peg 11. Jason caught at 14.5 metres to the island using maggot hook bats over micro. Well done matey.

No doubt a great pleasure venue.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 10/08/2023 - Ray's Rip Off - Windmill Fishery - Match Lake

Weather set fine, but only today, a typical British summer.

Had a non hill climb draw put me on peg 24. Happy with this but think peg 23 is much better which isn't pegged. Got to the peg and found myself next to Cliff on peg 25 and with his crap drawing skills and the light wind blowing down the other end knew it would be a hard day. My peg had become overgrown with sedges on the right so limited to fishing out in front or down the right, but still would be difficult getting Carp out. Was going to ask for half the peg fee back 😁.

Decided to fish for silvers with Gb and LR's, if the carp rallied up switch to paste.

Caught  silvers for most of the day mainly Ronnie's, Perch and four Skimmers, with the odd interruption from Carp mostly foul hooked or lost in the reeds. Did try the paste and foul hooked a couple of Carp landing a beautiful 10 lb Common. Now here's the thing just after catching it rested the top set on the keep net unaware that the rig and bare hook was in the water in the net. Pick up the top set to find the Carp and taken the bare hook and fairly hooked in the lip. Now what does one do, well tried to pull the Carp up far enough to get to the hook, no chance so go for break? No pulled the quick release on the rig to recover the rig later. On weighing in got the rig back, finding the hook had been shed! Good to know as this has worried me.

Managed to keep the small silvers coming to the end which is unusual in this peg which does prove the the Carp were reluctant to come in to the flat calm waters.

The Carp weighed 14 lb 7 oz and the silvers 18 lb 10 oz for the silvers win. Had my usual Dace, which seem to thrive in this lake.

The match was won by Lynol Legg (pictures with his catch and the silvers winner) with 140 lb 13 oz from peg 14. Lynol caught initially over at 16 metres, however, catching the majority down his RH margin. All caught on corn over corn and micro. Well done matey some stunning fin perfect fish in your nets. Can see why this is a popular lake for pleasure anglers.

I hate digital scales.

Weigh Sheets:

 

Sunday 06/08/2023 - Alcove AC - Inter club with RBL - Whitehouse Farm - Margret's and George's Lakes

Inter club between Alcove AC fishing against Royal British Legion today. Looking forward to fishing George's lake for the first time, not seen it yet, so hoped to draw draw there. 

What a surprise to see John Amato at the match fishing for RBL. A bigger surprise was his mode of transport, himself, tackle, and camera shy long Haired Chihuahua, arriving on his 300 cc Motor bike (pictured)! Amazing to watch him pack his gear away in every space he had, plus the Doggy bag. Emanating Topper Haskins! Nice to catch up. John is starting back and had a baptism of fire at Windmill losing 14 carp. Did alright today though on the silvers catching Roach on Hemp. We fished in the Avon Angling team together. John more at home catching river Bream.

Drew peg 18 on George's. What a beautiful looking lake and a very pleasant place to fish. Told there were silvers to target but to expect some interruptions from Carp.

Long line for the Skimmers and short for the Ronnie's. Mainly Ronnie's and a four 12 oz Skimmers short. Caught very little long due to loosing three Skimmers in a snag which was just enough to pull the hook, possibly weed roots. All silvers caught on LR's and GB. Wishing for some casters. Had a blow on the long line and went over it with paste and first try hooked a Carp which initially disguised itself as a Bream and once down on the top set went mad, after a tug of war with both Carp and Lily pads lost the lot. Shouldn't have done this as it killed my short line for a while.

John Treasure impressed me getting a Carp out if his Lily pads. He did loose two I think.

Weighed 10 lb 9 oz for third in silvers. Very enjoyable day's fishing.

Once again the W-S-M bandit John Dursley (pictured) won the match from M5 with 48 lb 7 oz all caught down his margin on Sweet Corn. Well done Matey.

Steve "Enigma" Dawson won the silvers with 13 lb 6 oz. Well done matey. Thanks for the magic bag.

Home team won.

Thanks to Tony Welsby for running the match.

Picked some juicy Blackberries for the Special One's Pie. Just need some cooking apples.

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 03/08/2023 - Over 55's and Short Walks - Hunstrete - Bridge Pool

Due to booking error we were back on Bridge Pool which disappointed most, especially as it never fishes well after rain which we've had over the past few days. My research leads me to believe the cause may well be due to Eutrophication. Worth BAA discussing the possiblity with the EA. 

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 1. Happy with this as always done well from it with both silvers and carp.

Started short and for the first 30 minutes put 4 lb of silvers in the net until landing a F1 killing the silvers line for the rest of the match. Couldn't get a bite anywhere from silvers. Having spent too long chasing silvers had a walk, returning spent the rest of the match fishing long for F1's, landing 7, losing 3 foulers and lost 2 big carp both foul hooked, one making a large bow wave which nearly drowned Tony Rixon who had arrived in his replacement black van complete with a ladder - rumour has it he's starting a window cleaning round.

Weighed 15 lb 8 oz.

Lots of poor overall weights again today which wasn't unexpected. Kev Winstone (pictured) won the match with 29 lb made up of mostly 2 decent carp.

Back to the Compton for a beer, unusually this summer alfresco.

Weigh Sheets: