Tuesday 14/10/2025 - Hobnobs - Harescombe - Doughnut

Last time this year on the Doughnut for me and probably the last time at Harescombe for Glenn until the Spring when the paste starts working again. I'm currently thinking of fishing the silver matches on Thursday's on Field Lake.

Eighteen fishing today. Into the draw bag and peg 28 for me. Not seen this peg in before but explained by the numbers fishing today. Its the last number on the Nut, subsequently next to peg 1 occupied by matey Rich Powell. To my right had a decent gap to Tony Welsby peg 24 who started off like a train and thought it was on the cards for a win. Quite liked the look of the peg, very narrow. Flat calm though but the tow wind effected.

So just the one rig a 4x14 Winter to fish top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock with maggot - simple.

Fed a small pot GB laced with LR's with double LR's on an18 hook to 0.14 GLine in five foot of water. First put in had Carp catching me by surprise - usually got to wait a while for the first bite here, so, is a red letter day on the cards? Four tiny Perch later, the answer was nope! Everyone was struggling. With two hours gone and three Carp in the net faith in my method started to vane. So put on another barrel and added the 6 inches difference reaching full depth, but after five minutes regained my composure and reverted back to the one barrel 😕. Glenn came round with two hours to go who had just the one Carp and by which time my tally was five. Good job the exit gate was locked!! The last hour came and I started to string a few more Carp together and thinking I had another half hour refed the line only to here the all out - 3 o clock finish from now on. 

Finished with ten Carp and four Perch 😁 for 30 lb 15 oz taking 3rd spot. What was interesting the peg tow's in both directions probably due to being on the end on the Nut. Very enjoyable day, love this hard fishing after all I was brought up catching next to nothing on the rivers and canal fishing winter leagues etc...

Phil Auger came out clear winner by miles with a catch of 87 lb 1 0z from peg 14 (pictured with his catch and the mud bank). Phil caught long over the mud bank fishing 12 inches deep with maggot hook bait and feed. Will done matey

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects to end another memorable day.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 07/10/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe Fishery - Doughnut

Travelled on my own today which always makes the journey appear longer. Nice breakfast again with John S, Chris G and Pete G. Jock reminisced the three days he lost after fishing the super league for Swindon on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. Apparently he Disney drink anymore.

Hoping to be over the far side for a change and was rewarded with peg 19. As with last week on the Match Lake found myself next to Mick peg 18 and Richard peg 20 aka Teabag - little less coughing and spitting today.

There are lots of different baits you can take to matches which causes confusing and switching around resulting in reduced catches. I choose a bait and try and make it work. So far that has been paste here but have now switched to maggot, in my opinion the best bait if no silvers around.

At last conditions were good for the waggler so set up a 6" Drake. A 4x16 Winter to fish up the slope in nearly 5 foot of water at top set plus one barrel at 1 o clock and the short Ronnie rig. All to fish maggot.

Fed the inside lines and the far bank. Started on the waggler with double LR's hook bait with the depth set at 3 foot. Soon found that the far bank had collapsed with the depth being just a few inches. Shallowed up to 18 inches and was soon foul hooking Carp. Hooked three in the mouth and had lost five and time to ditch the waggler - at least got that one out of my system - bit ridiculous trying to fish a mud bank with a waggler - but fun. Thanks to Mick for retrieving my waggler 😁.

Had a short go on the Ronnie rig with single LR over loose feed which didn't feel right, so spent the rest on the match on the one barrel line and from there on had a steady day catching some beautiful looking Carp to 4 lb. Played about with the feeding which was informative, get it wrong and foul hooking follows. Can't emphasise enough how important it is to take time plumbing up on this lake.

Weighed 56 lb 8 oz which included a 1/4 oz Perch for second overall. Fed about 3/4 pint so not a lot of bait required. Enjoyed the day but did get a tad cold near the end.

The match was won by Rob Pass (pictured) with 66 lb 5 oz from peg 9. I'm sure paste played a big part for him today. Well done matey.

Chris Gay took our section by default, fishing 16 metres with worm over micro - cripes hard work that. Nice one matey.

Back to the Lamb with the usual suspects and another good laugh.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 31/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Another visit to Harescombe with Glenn, just wish we had a fishery like this nearby, but well still, worth the drive.

Into the draw bag and peg 14 again for me. Hopefully the peg will fish a bit better with 28 lb to beat. Will be applying some learning from the last match which might help the cause.

Felt I was in the open end at the Mem facing the Thatcher's end with Pete Greenslade, Glenn Bailey and John Smith (pictured - that's him on the left - The one on the right looked like a Ginger!) opposite me in a line - UTG.

Thought I would try the 7 mm meat today so set up a 4x12 to fish top set plus two barrels. But would start on the paste to see if there was any longevity in the method with a 0.3 gram shotted paste rig to fish top set plus three barrels. Finally a short Ronnie rig for fishing each side with LR's.

Had the usual three early Carp and one F1 on the paste over kindered micro before it died. Didn't try forcing the line as it didn't work last time, so, switched to the meat line at 2 0 clock where I had been regularly loose pieces of meat. Expected initially to get pestered by small silvers. However, no indications but did foul hook a Carp up in the water, patience exhausted after 10 minutes so binned it in favour of the Ronnie rig knowing that I would have to face catching tiny Ronnie's before the Carp arrived. Went through the pain barrier catching Whitebait before the odd Carp arrived and had a decent couple of hours catching Carp to 7 lb. However, had to put up with Whitebait in between each Carp but as the match progressed the silvers were less of a nuisance, netting a a few bigger 3 oz Rudd and Ronnie's, but no Perch today.

Meanwhile John Smith was busy foul hooking and losing his first seven fish. John stayed strong taking the piss take on the chin, it would have broken most men💪.

Weighed 51 lb 8 oz for fourth overall and a section first. Really enjoyed it today, especially as didn't feed too many maggots. Took away from today that the paste on the Match lake will for me be mothballed until next Spring.

The match was won by "Stitch" (pictured) with 66 lb 9 oz from peg 2. Excellent weight on a difficult day.

Back to the Lamb for a pint with fellow GAS Heads. Glenn was pondering at his lucky polo shirt and realising he had it on inside out. 😂

Weigh Sheet:

Thursday 25/09/2025 - Over 55's - Bitterwell Lake

Tony Rixon organised this match with 18 of the over 55's including a couple of stragglers. Weather wise it was to be beautiful albeit a cold start.

Nice to see my old City of Bristol team mate Steve Gosling out fishing with us again. He did have a reputation of being late or no show back then. Seems he's got over that 😀. Very welcome.

Into the draw bag and peg 29 for me. Hang on another "Rixon Redraw" (accidentally dropped a peg on the floor). Peg 23 instead for me. Really didn't mind which peg just nice to be out fishing, plus would have been in the Sun either peg.

The peg was flat calm with the little wing blowing towards peg 8. Whilst setting up noticed the reeds moving which wasn't ducks hoping it was Tench rather than Carp. Set up a 0.3 gram rig for the edge of the reeds to the right for double caster over kindered caster. The waggler, a 4x12 Winter for top set plus three barrels for Skimmers on single caster/LR over GB and caster and a long Ronnie rig to fish single LR over GB and LR's.

Fed all the lines, starting on the margin line. It didn't take long to hook and finally net a decent Tench. Two more followed. I then lost one. Had been thinking the elastic was under gunned due to the reeds. So without thinking it through got a heavy elastic top set out and this time slipped on a worm and had a bite straight away and pulled out of it - bugger. Next bad decision was to feed a bit of chopped worm which resulted in a disaster - hooked a Carp which broke the number 3 section and with an old couple stood behind me hindered me getting to the broken section with my landing net before it shot off to the middle. It was my error as I was playing the Carp as if on my Carp pole and not my silvers pole!!!

Now here's a thing in the past 30 years I've never gone to a match without a spare pole. However, today I didn't, as this morning gave one of my silvers poles to Clayton Hudson for repair. So didn't get to fish my skimmer line as no pole. Had to spend the second half of the match on either the waggler or Ronnie rig adding a few small Ronnie's and Perch BUT because of only loose feeding attracted Carp where ever I fished. Hooked 9 lumps, got a few out on the waggler.

Weighed 12 lb 2 oz for 6th overall. I felt I could have done far better with the pole and left wondering about what I may have caught on the Skimmer line. My fault "fail to prepare, prepare to fail". Hope Charlie/Paul get my top set back which will mean the Carp got free, concerned more about the health of the Carp than the top set. Nonetheless, enjoyed the day and thanks to Charlie for weighing in.

Wonder how many times Tony Rixon (pictured) has won the matches he runs? Well today was another. Tony weighed 21 lb 2 oz from peg 13 catching Skimmer's on caster or red maggot hook bait, over caster and GB feed. Well done matey. With his retirement on the horizon expect more of his matches😁.

I didn't go home empty handed, Kev Winston gave me a GAS bucket hat (pictured) which for some reason didn't fit him 😂.

Weigh Sheet:

Tuesday 23/09/2025 - Hobnob's - Harescombe - Match Lake

Glenn couldn't make it today so on my own. It felt cold loading the car, might have been because we had a light frost with the temperature at 2 degrees when leaving home. Had a nice breakfast with John Smith and Pete Greenslade. 

Had a quick look at the Match Lake and as could be expected very little signs of fish movement. With a bright day expected equated to a low weight affair today.

Into the draw bag ad peg 14 for me. Arrived at the peg to find this end of the Lake flat calm with the light breeze giving some cover to the opposite end. Due to being in a valley it doesn't usually matter as the wind varies in direction throughout the matches. However, it appears that with the wind in the NE it tends to stay.

For company on end peg 15 was club treasurer Dave Rugman. Wasn't sure the paste would work today but would be may starter to look see. Set up a 4x12 Winter for corn both fished at three barrels, paste in front and the corn at 2 o clock. As the wind was right set up the waggler.

Started on the paste and had indications straight away and in the first hour had three decent Carp. Subsequently it was a struggle. Had a few casts on the waggler with double LR's over heavily fed same and had some Ronnie's which indicated that here wasn't many Carp over the far bank. So binned it, but sure it will work another day. Set up a shallow paste rig to see if it could work, again nothing. Switched a worm for the paste (beauty of shotting paste rigs) and had an F1 first try didn't have anymore so fed some chopped worm which seemed to make things worse. Tried the corn line to no avail, couldn't sit there with no indications. Started to fidgety so set up the short Ronnie rig to fish the margin with a heavy feed of maggot. Could catch a 2 to 3 oz Ronnie every put in, kept feeding and was rewarded with the bottom colouring up and another and last decent Carp. Did have two decent Roach and a good Perch.

Everyone at our end of the Lake was struggling and with Dave, Jock and Tony in our corner the fishing efforts died down being replaced with banter. Good laugh.

Now here's a thing Dave was fishing the tea bag up to the end bank and blanking until he had his usual delivery of a beef burger and subsequently started to catch. Apparently it was the burger juice on his hands that made the difference. 

My silvers weighed 8 lb 10 and my five Carp 18 lb 14 oz for 27 lb 8oz for second in section.

and beat a couple of tea baggers!!

The match was won by Phil Auger (pictured) with 59 lb 13 oz from peg 9. A decent weight considering the conditions. Well done matey.

Dave said to me best get out of the fishery quick because the Cow's were about to be driven down the lane. Bloody good advice as got to the pub 20 minutes before Pete and John our section winner.

Weigh Sheet:

Sunday 21/09/2025 - Alcove Interclub with Silver Bream - Whitehouse Farm - Margret's and George's Lakes

Geoff Francis joined the club this year and today was his first match and visit to Whitehouse Farm. Had a walk around with him before the draw, he was impressed with both lakes.

Was hoping to draw George's lake. Into the draw bag and Margret's 11 for me and surprised to find Geoff had drawn peg 12 next to me!

The water level is still really low nearing 3 foot down on Winter levels.  The light wind was blowing off my back favouring the waggler but the gap in the trees was a little risky so didn't bother. Instead set up three Ronnie rigs and a margin rig for Carp for the last knockings.

Started on the short Ronnie rig down the left side on single LR over loose fed LR's. Had a few expected Perch of various small sizes. Doing ok until caught an over hanging branch trashing the rig. So now down the right side with another heavier short Ronnie rig with the same feed and hook bait, however, it was very slow. Bined that and converted it to a Carp line feeding some corn. Picked up the Long Ronnie rig fishing single caster over caster and GB. I soon had switched back to LR's on the hook and caught Ronnie's steady but interrupted four times by Carp - all lost The last hour arrived with the Sun blinding me out of the long Ronnie rig line. So time to test the Carp line with single corn, had a bite first drop in and thought it was a Carp only to net a hard fighting 8 oz Chub! Didn't have another bite on corn. Tried the long line again for a few more Ronnie's but couldn't really see bites properly.

Meanwhile there was a lot of cussing coming from peg 12 - "ANIMALS" was the cry mostly. Geoff had landed a small Carp and had lost four snapping 0.2 main rig line.

I weighed 10 lb 8 oz for third silvers with Tony Welsby having 10 lb 9 oz but Steve Sewell winning the silvers with 11 lb 12 oz  which included a 3 lb 11 oz Perch. Well done matey a beautiful fish.

Our lake was won by Pete Turner (pictured) with 30 lb from peg 15. Pete caught on the method cast around his peg in ope water. Well done matey.

Georges Lake was won by Don Searle with 44 lb 3 oz from Carp peg 1. Apparently Don lost more Carp than he landed today. Well done matey.

Silver catches were below expectation with Steve Brown taking the honors with 10 lb 8 oz from peg 19. Well done Mr Crabtree.

Alcove, the home team came out in top in the interclub match taking the top 4 places.

Back to the pub with Geoff where, couldn't resist taking the P a tad today's misadventures.

Weigh Sheets:

Tuesday 16/09/2025 - Harescombe - Hobnob's - The Doughnut

The drive to Harescombe was, well …uneventful 😃.

A decent breakfast devoured and into the draw bag and peg 6 for me and 14 for Glenn. Found myself next to Pete Greenslade on peg 4.

Thirteen fishing today.

Set up the usual paste rig and margin maggot rig, then pondered on the wag and mag, but just felt the wind wasn't quite right, instead choosing to have a pre-start walk around - bad mistake me thinks.

Set up next to the platform as there was a "beach" in front which would have made it difficult to put the fish in the keep net. 

Had a plumb around and although the water level was up a tad found the depth 2 foot less than peg 15. The bottom was up and down - "No theodolite was used in the construction of the Lake". Settled on top set plus two barrels for paste and top set plus one barrel for the maggot rig at 45 degrees in 3 foot of water - deeper than I would have preferred.

Started on the paste over kindered micro whilst feeding up the margin with LR's. It was soon apparent that it was going to be harder for me today. During the first hour had just a few indications and relieved when I carefully landed my first Carp. Tried the margin early and had two quick Carp and  foul hooker before it died. Spent the match switching between the two lines adding the odd Carp, but nothing consistent that was going to threaten the frame. At halfway started to experiment with feeding etc... at this juncture should have set up the waggler but couldn't be assed. Should also have tried adding another barrel. Learnt that plumbing around is important here and should have spent more time on it.

Finished with 13 small Carp in great condition averaging just 2 1/4 lb for 30 lb 5 oz and no where. Still very enjoyable. Still to give the waggler a go, I need to know.

The match was won by Rob Pass (pictured with his catch) with 98 lb 14 oz from peg 22. Rob caught at half way using paste over micro. Well done matey.

Matey Glenn Bailey (pictured) fishing peg 14 was runner up with 75 lb 6 oz. Glenn fished his favoured paste over soaked 4's mostly fishing short.

Back to the Lamb for a pint with Glenn, John and Pete (up the GAS). Had a good few laughs. Great way to end a great days match fishing.

Weigh Sheet: