Sunday 15/08/2010 - Carps AC - Viaduct - Campbell Lake - John Bennett's Birthday Match

This was a specially arranged match for Life President of Carps AC – John Bennett who was Seventy yesterday. John put on some drinks (none alcoholic) and sticky buns - with Bela Bakos eating most of them.

Being a sell out, all the pegs were in, plus two of the end pegs. I decided to wait until the draw before deciding on whether to go for the Silvers, Carp or a bit of both. Out came peg 119 which I was initially happy with. The light wind was blowing in to the opposite end bank so thought it might have been better to draw 110! Apparently the angler on peg 119 the day before had only two Carp, even so I decided on an out and out paste attack. Setting up two paste rigs one for the RH margin and the other for 13 metres towards the far end margin and with an additional inch would also suit for fishing at 11.5 metres at 2 o clock. I marked the two settings on the line with a permanent black marker pen – the shallower setting under the float and the deeper above the float. However, I have found that the depth has to be altered from time to time to adjust to; firstly the silt gouging by the fish plus I have noticed that the float does move down the line when under pressure whilst playing fish.

I fed the two long swims with a 125ml mix of micro and hard 4’s. I then started to loose feed wetted 8’s in to the RH margin. Unusually I started by dropping in to the margin to see if the bubbling was a fish or gas – “Gas Head”. Out on the 2 o clock swim with paste and it was very unusual for this venue, no fizzing, in fact no signs of any fish. The float surprisingly just sat there until I had a proper bite and a Carp in the net, no swirling, nibbling or movement of any kind. It was clear that there wasn’t many Silvers feeding in the swim this was also supported when I had two big Perch on paste, one of them was regurgitating motherless minnows in the landing net. I kept feeding and swapping between the two lines and kept the odd Carp coming. At half way stage I decided to try 16 metres to the top bank with corn, so after preparation and feeding a pot of corn out I went to the “Clump” and had a 2lb Skimmer first put in, I was then pestered by Ronnie’s so decided to close the ball breaking line down. I kept trying the margin which only yielded one Carp and an F1. The most productive swim was the 13 metre line and stayed with it until the end which yielded a good run of Carp in the last half hour. I sensed that the fish were starting to either arrive in the peg or it was the time of day for a munch. Surprisingly I weighed 100lb 10oz for tenth in the match!! That said I did enjoy the match especially as I had good company with Alan Oram on peg 118 and Charlie Barns on peg 121, both quality anglers. "Charlie every time I hear you say Vermin I think you are playing a Rat - now thats Vermin"!!

The match was won by Andy Lloyd (pictured right with the gormless Silvers winner) from peg 128 with 244lb 10oz. Andy had approximately 55 fish with 50 % coming from fishing shallow at 13 metres and the other 50% from the margin of his RH spit using the same rig. Andy fished hair rigged 8mm hard pellet fish over loose fed 8’s, Andy fed 8 pints throughout. I could see Andy from my peg – what a bagger with a very interesting style of playing fish.

The Silvers was won by Charlie Barns with 25lb 4oz using corn over GB from peg 121. Plus some "Vermin"!

Full Result:

1. Andrew Lloyd 244-10-0 peg 128
2. Chris Davis 169-09-0 peg 124
3. John Paige 156-12-0 peg 114
4. Steve Denmead 135-14-0 peg 115
5. Shane Caswell 133-10-0 peg 129
6. Alan Oram 121-14-0 peg 118
….
10. Mike Nicholls 100-10-0 peg 119

Top Silvers:

1. Charlie Barns 25-04-0 peg 121
2. Paul Lock 25-03-0 peg 130
3. Dick Bull 20-0-0 peg 123

Saturday 14/08/2010 - Hillview Open

Today was another of my Son Steve’s Saturday outings to Hillview Fishery. Luckily this time we were on different Lakes and sections. I drew peg 37 on Heron and Steve peg 11 on Moorhen, a peg I would normally fancy, however, this Lake has not been fishing well with 11 lb winning one section. Keith Hill the owner has a rule that the margin reeds must not be damaged, but can be folded or tied back, which I needed to do to get any view of my preferred margin swim. I set up two rigs - 4x14 Jolly to be fished at 5 metres with corn or expander over pellet and the usual margin paste rig to be fished to the LH side in 30 inches of water. As the water looked clear I initially fed a dozen 4mm pellet at five metres with corn on the hook, whilst I lightly fed the margin with 4’s. First four put ins with corn I landed four Carp and lost one foul hooker. I kept some 4’s going in through the kinder pot and it wasn’t until I introduced some micro that I hooked another Carp followed by a 3lb Tench in pristine condition. After three lost foul hookers the Skimmer and Ronnie’s moved in. As the Lake wasn’t fishing that well I tried 3mm expander on the hook and had another couple of small Carp. I then had a run of Skimmers to 1lb with the odd 4oz Ronnie. With two hours to go time to visit the margin. Initially there wasn’t any sign of Carp that was until I introduced some loose fed micro. And the swim came alive with huge tail flapping on the surface! Where do I put the paste in? As I expected a foul hooker resulted, breaking me. I decided to only feed whilst playing a fish. This appeared to work, landing Carp to 18lb, but still managing to loose six further Carp, either fouler’s or through being lightly hooked. Once I had sorted the feeding I didn’t want the match to finish. I weighed 118lb 8oz for third overall.

The match was won by Nev Groves (pictured right) from peg 25 with 141lb 10oz. Nev fished at 3 metres straight out in front using 6mm expander pellet hook bait fished over loose fed 6mm hard pellet (I suppose you have to, as you can’t feed wet pellet). Nev fed 1 ½ of Keith’s scoops of 6 mm pellet (about 1 ½ pint where are weights and measures when you need them). If you put Nev on a peg with plenty of room with plenty of fish then everyone else is fishing for runner up spot. I think Nev should be handicapped similar to golf and made to fish peg 55 every week!! Well done matey your a class act.

Steve did well from his peg weighing 60lb for second on the Lake and sixth overall.

Full Result:

1. Nev Groves 141-10-0 peg 25
2. Nigel Crewe 124-05-0 peg 29
3. Mike Nicholls 118-08-0 peg 37
4. Pete Cole 78-0-0 peg 19
5. Chris Cork 71-11-0 peg 22
6. Steve Nicholls 60-0-0 peg 11

Thursday 29/07/2010 - Carps AC Evening Series - Boyd Valley Lake - Round Six

A different approach was needed here today as there is no Silvers pool. However, that doesn’t mean a Carp only approach will get the most out of your peg. I was hoping for pegs 11, 12, 1, 2 or 3 as the wind was blowing that way. Not to be, as I pulled peg 8, well that will have to do then! With the water so low you now have to fish from the Lake bed. This is OK once you’re settled in the peg, but can be difficult shipping back. It was like being back on the river again. There was little to no sign of any fish feeding, umm. I set up two paste rigs, one for 3 metres half way up the inside shelf and ditto for 7metres down the shelf. I had to set up the usual Ronnie rig – just in case. As I had brought the pre made up small pellet waggler (2 ½ AAA) rod, I assembled it, this time without any tangles! However, the wind was blowing slightly too much for this to be a starter. I started by feeding a full pot of a mix of 4mm pellet and 8mm pellet (I discovered tonight that it takes about six years for pellet to start floating). I started on the Ronnie rig with caster hook bait fished over 4 mm hard pellet and as you would expect on this venue caught small Ronnie’s one a bung. I have learnt how to tell if Carp have infiltrated the swim, but after ½ hour no signs. So out on the longer line with paste expecting a few Skimmer to start with and was surprised to land two small 1 ½ Carp, I was then pestered by Ronnie’s – not recommended when using paste. I came back on the inside to try the paste and no sign of the Carp. Mike Jones on the next peg 7 was fishing the conventional waggler with pellet hook bait and had eight Chub. I decide to get my head down on the Ronnie rig, occasionally testing for Carp on the paste. On the three hour mark and with the wind dropping I grabbed the Waggler and with 8mm hard pellet, banded using the Mosella pellet grabbing thingy I had my first cast - where was the float – too much shot perhaps or something else? Well I was always told by Dad to always strike – just in case – which I did and had a Chub. Just like Mike I had nine chub in a row. I was enjoying this, it felt like being back on the river. I then foul hooked a Carp, landing a reasonable sized scale which went in the Silvers net. I then had a couple of Carp also loosing a decent one for pulling a little bit too hard. I then had a period of missing bites and all though my plan was to fish the last hour and half short on the paste I got preoccupied with the waggler, telling myself “one more cast” this cost me as it happens. It wasn’t until the last ¾ hour that I finally surrendered to the paste at 3 metres only to find the swim full of Carp. I had a torrid time foul hooking, loosing fish due to too much haste, the final straw being an Environment Agency Girl arriving 15 minutes before the end wanting to check my licence. I did manage eight decent Carp during this time – bloody waggler. I weighed 14lb 12oz of Silvers and 30lb 12oz of Carp for a total of 45lb 8oz for fourth overall, but most importantly a section win and 6 points edging out Bill Ferris by 3lb 4oz, so the Silvers made the difference for me again – it’s just a question of when to stop fishing for them.

Kev Dicks won the match again (six in a row) from his usual swim peg 6 with 66lb 8oz. I must give credit where credit is due; Kev caught most of his fish on the waggler. Now with six section wins Kev has won the series, leaving the rest of us to fight it out for the remaining places. Well done matey.

Mark Tanner on peg 5 landed one Mallard and one Moorhen before breaking his “Duck” with one Carp. Well done Donald.

I was talking to John “Turkey” Thompson at Cider Farm on Wednesday and he was telling me how his three close friends that fish the series had asked him to stand in for one of them to show them how to fish it (The Method). Well it looks as if it worked as Bob "MD" Feltham was runner up and John Baker (both pictured right having a cuddle in the dark) a close third. Even more important Phil “Pointless” Coulam managed one more point than usual – two. Better buy Turkey a pint!!

Full Result: (League pacing can be found on Carps AC Website)

1. Kev Dicks 66-08-0 peg 6
2. Bob Feltham 52-01-0 peg 2
3. John Baker 51-02-0 peg 1
4. Mike Nicholls 45-08-0 peg 8
5. Bill Ferris 42-04-0 peg 9
6. Tom Coulson 33-12-0 peg 11

Wednesday 11/08/2010 - Carps AC - Cider Farm - Dabinett Lake

I wasn’t sure which Lake we would be on, but it wasn’t important, however, I was fancying another crack at Dabinett for the Silvers as last time I was on peg 28 where I found laying in waiting were loads of Carp. So I was please that Dabinett was chosen again for today’s match. As everyone was shying away from the draw bag, I dived in first and pulled peg 7. Darn another Carp flyer. In any case I had my Silvers plan in place. I set up two Ronnie rigs one for at full depth just down the inside shelf at 3 metres and the other for up in the water, set to 2 foot. Bearing in mind that we had a lot of cold water go in the Lake yesterday and just in case the Silvers weren’t having it I set up two paste rigs one for the LH margin and the other also for down the inside shelf at 3 metres.

Whilst plumbing up in the LH margin I thought Carp were attacking the plummet – not a good sign. On the whistle I fed a 125ml of maggots with a dash of wetted micro at 3 metres. However, I decided to check if in fact the Carp did attack the Plummet, so on with the paste and in five put-ins I had five Carp pulling out of one. Enough of this nonsense, out on the maggot on the bottom only to find plenty of Carp activity over the maggot, so got the shallow rig out and had a good two hours catching Rudd, Hybrids and Skimmers over loose fed maggot, occasionally topping up the 3 metre line with the pot, containing maggot and micro. Back on the bottom rig and I had a run of decent Hybrids and Skimmers. However, if I over did it with the maggot whether potted or loose fed the Carp would disrupt the Silvers, occasionally a Carp would take the double red maggot hook bait. Once the Carp had moved off I would have a run of Silvers until I was forced to top up. This was how my match went. It can be bloody difficult catching Silvers under these conditions. My twelve Carp weighed 42lb and my Silvers went 26lb 14oz (pictured right – courtesy of Mark Gibson) for a total of 69lb 14oz for first in the Silvers. A new Silvers Lake record – where’s my bottle of pop Mark!!

The match was won by Chris Davis with 157lb 3oz from peg 28. Chris caught over to the far bare bank using banded pellet over loose fed pellet. You need to invest some of your winnings in another keep net matey, it will save you loosing time walking round to borrowing one.

Full Result:

1. Chris Davis 157-03-0 peg 28
2. Pete Sivell 142-09-0 peg12
3. John Thompson 123-10-0 peg 21
4. Paul Lock 93-04-0 peg 20
5. Colin Golding 86-10-0 peg 1
6. Steve Dawson 83-04-0 peg 6

Top Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 26-14-0 peg 7
2. Steve Dawson 20-11-0 peg 6
3. Andy Gard 18-09-0 peg 16

Thursday 05/08/2010 - Bathampton Over 55's - Main Lake

The results will look impressive from the Huntstrete Main Lake today. However, the top six or so weights never tell the whole story. For every good weight today there were three real grullers to go with them. I came to the conclusion that the fish (especially Carp) are not competing for food, hence difficult to catch, as again today no Carp were caught. There are two possible reasons - the Lake is either over fed or under stocked. The other observation is that currently you either catch a 2lb plus Bream or a 1oz Ronnie there doesn’t seem to be anything in between – could this be due to predation? In any case, as I have said before, this Lake needs a stocking policy review. Interestingly enough talking to Clint Elliot at Whiteacres he has found by restocking his Lakes with F1’s and Skimmers that the bigger Carp are now being caught regularly, purely due to the competition for food – food for thought!!

Another new recruit - Paul Haynes - how come we didn't let him win!!

I drew peg 28 and thought I might be in for a chance of some Bream. I set up a 4x12 Jolly as the water depth was a mere 30 inches and had a premade up light feeder rod. I had already planned for a GB attack with my all time favourite for the river - Sensas Bream 3000. As this GB has plenty of corn particles I choose corn for hook bait. I started by cupping in three large balls at 13 metres and fish soft 6 mm expander over the top and caught a 2lb Skimmer first out in – here we go then – not. I fished this line hard for three hours for just another pound of bits. I decided to go for my Banana walk and circled the entire lake. On my return I picked up my Normark no 1 feeder rod as all I needed to do was take off the end covers and hey-presto – not - another tangle which necessitated me to re-tackle the rod again – there must be a knack to this – not enough practice I guess, have to have a chat with Glenn Bailey. First chuck using the same GB with corn on the hook a Skimmer of 2lb. I repeated this on the next six chucks, only for the swim to die, not getting another bite. I weighed 15lb 12oz for sixth in the match.

The match was won by Chris Snow (pictured right with the Martin Alexander – runner up and Dave Gillard coming a close third – both anglers catching on the feeder) from the usual match winning Bream swim peg 13 with 59lb 12oz. Chris fished 6mm expander on the hook loose feeding the same over the top at six metres. Chris caught Bream to 4lb.

Full Result:

1. Chris Snow 59-12-0 peg 13
2. Martin Alexander 39-08-0 peg 26
3. Dave Gillard 35-04-0 peg 32
4. Dave Bacon 21-02-0 peg 31
5. John Smith 21-0-0 peg 5
6. Mike Nicholls 15-12-0 peg 28

Wednesday 04/08/2010 - Viaduct Open - Pole Only

So Wiltshire Police are to close down their Camera Partnership and sack the lot by October 2010 - Great news. This partnership in conjunction with the CPA abuse the law in respect of not adhering to the ACPO SPEED ENFORCEMENT GUIDELINES. In addition the CPS bully motorist in to a guilty plea under the threat of costs of up to £4,000 – bloody good riddance I say – Hoping for some cuts to impact the CPS.

Isn’t it amazing, the Government can track a cloned cow all across the UK on to a dinner plate, yet can find 1,000,000 illegal immigrants!!

The paste has been working well on this venue (as on most venues at present). So my bait bag was full of it. I pulled peg 111 on Campbell. As you do, I asked other anglers about expectations and the first three anglers I consulted were very negative. I didn’t ask anyone else as I thought it was a reasonable draw (to be honest most pegs are). Charlie Barns arrives on peg 112 – the golden peg so another roll over then! I like Charlie, as do most anglers, however, he be a bit distracting at times – Look at what I had to put up with all day (pictured top right of a Kawasaki 750cc bike rack - one for the CPS I think). Nonetheless he gave me a lesson in Silverfish fishing today with his GB and corn attack – it amazes me how he avoided the Carp. I set up three paste rigs one for the RH margin, one for five metres and the last for 11.5 metres. Firstly I fed the 5 metre line then the 11.5 metre line, loose feeding the margin. I started at 5 metres and had a Tench first put in followed by a Skimmer on the next. Then the Carp showed up foul hooking and loosing two Carp. U then had a run of Carp to 8lb until it dried up. So I re-fed and because of the high gusting winds decided to have a quick look in the margin. It is very simple to tell if there are Carp present because as soon as you drop in the paste it is straight away attacked by Motherless Minnows then the all scatter across the surface, then a Carp is on the hook. I had one Tench a four small Carp before the scattering stopped. So out at 11.5 metres and after a few Skimmers decent Carp I re-fed and came back on the 5 metre line and had a couple of Skimmers and three carp to 8lb. This was how the match progressed until the last half hour and in to the margin and I had six more Carp losing one on the whistle. My Silvers weighed in at 15lb 8oz and my fifteen Carp 90lb 14oz making a total of 106lb 6oz for seventh in the Silvers, fourth in the section and fifteenth overall!!! What a match.


The match was won by Miles Levy (pictured right with some of his catch) with 199lb 05oz from peg 76 on Carey. Miles spent the early part of the match fishing hard pellet and it wasn’t until he switched to paste that he started to put decent Carp to 15lb in his net.

The Silvers was won by Dan (Dude) Squires from peg 124 with 73lb 13oz of all Skimmers. Dan fished corn over 4mm hard pellet in the LH margin feeding only one pint – nice to hear.

Runner up in the Silvers was Charlie Barns (pictured right looking surprised - not as surprised as me) with 43lb 10oz from peg 112. Well done matey.

Full Result:

1. Miles Levy 199-05-0 peg 76
2. Alex Murray 195-04-0 peg 131
3. Lee Werrett 172-04-0 peg 85
4. Josh Garrett 171-15-0 peg 129
5. Andy Power 170-15-0 peg 123
6. Andy Neal 170-02-0 peg 88
7. ……
15. Mike Nicholls 106-06-0 peg 111

Top Silvers:

1. Dan Squires 73-13-0 peg 124
2. Charlie Barns 43-10-0 peg 112 (Golden Peg)

Sunday 01/08/2010 - Cider Farm Open

With the radio in the tackle box in readiness to listen to the remainder of the Paki innings in the first test match with England Bela arrived as usual dead on time at 06-30 and off to the Bishopsworth Café. As it happens 15 minutes too early, so we helped Jane by putting out the chairs. After a decent very large breakfast we off to Cider Farm.

With a good turn out both Dabinatt and Yarlington Mill were in the draw bag. Mark Gibson explained that the match was split into three sections of ten anglers – paying the top 3 in each - Yarlington Mill two sections and Dabinett one. I was nearly last to draw which is very unusual for me - bloody chatting again - I like to be first. However, I drew peg 25 which I really fancied. Bela drew peg 48 the peg I had last week so I went round and explained how and where I caught. Back to my peg and I set up a 4x16 Jolly for 6mm expander pellet at five metres for the Silvers that hang out here, plus a 0.5 gram paste rig over the same line. The last rig was a 0.2 gram paste rig for the LH margin. I started by feeding a 125ml pot of 3mm and 4mm pellet and commenced to lightly feed the LH margin. I started quite well taking a few decent Skimmers and a couple of small Carp. However, I had run out of my usual expander and bought some of the new Ringer pellet and found that they were breaking up, needing any slight interest from the fish for the pellet to come off – very frustrating – won’t be buying these again. So I switched to the paste and had a couple more Skimmers and Carp, but the paste was being attacked by 4 oz Skimmers.

Blimey 13-00 already and I had forgotton to switch on the Cricket. So out came the radio only to find the Paki's were skittled out for 80 runs. Great result - will be watching the highlights on channel five tonight.

In the mean time Lee Werrett (picture right - unwinding) was bagging at 11. 5 metres on peg 41 using paste over loose fed 6’s. I dived in to the margin far too early having two Carp before the Ronnie’s arrived. I decided to fish 13 metres in to the opposite Gap starting by putting in two 125ml of 6 mm pellet – at least I might be able to slow down Lee if not picking off some of his fish. I did have four on the paste before it went iffy. Mimicking Lee I fed two pouches of 6’s over the top and had a few more small Carp. However, Lee just carried on catching one a bung. Into the LH margin where I managed to catch Carp to 3lb steady to the end of the match. My Silvers weighed in at about 20lb and the total weigh was 66lb 6oz (666 the sign of the Devil). This put me fourth in my section (one out of the money) and 6th on Yarlington Mill.

The match was won by Pete Sivell (pictured right with runner up Lee Werrett) from Dabinett peg 28 with a new Lake and Match record of 187lb 6oz. Pete initially caught on 10mm hard pellet close in, subsequently switching to the paste fished in his RH margin.

I must mention Lee Werrett (pictured right with Bela’s peg in background - what a wonderful environment to fish in) who I watched most of the day. Lee was 7lb short of a new Lake record with 163lb 2oz. I thought Lee fished a tidy match fishing paste all day over the same line feeding 6 pints of 6 mm pellet over the top. His feeding regime was to hook a fish and whilst playing it feed two pouch full of 6’s over the top – why didn’t the fish come up in the water do I hear – the answer is - I don’t know – well done matey.

Full Result:

1. Pete Sivell 187-06-0 peg 28 Dab (New Match and Lake record) 
2. Lee Werrett 163-02-0 peg 41 Yar
3. Clive Petit 154-09-0 peg 12 Dab
4. Howard Green 154-01-0 peg 22 Dab
5. Steve Howell 132-14-0 peg 18 Dab
6. Gordon Jones 115-07-0 peg 1 Dab
7. Dave Cockayne 106-03-0 peg 19 Yar