A full house today at this obviously popular venue, the two canal style lakes were in and I fancied drawing Westpool again, after winning the silvers in the last two matches. I'd prepared a couple of rigs and a skimmer mix groundbait, so wasn't too upset when Westpool 10 stuck to my hand. It does have carp form, rather than skimmers, but at least I should catch a few fish. So glad I spent the time blending the groundbait, as when I got to the peg I realised it was still on the garage floor. The fishery owners kindly brought a choice of groundbait over to my peg when I enquired if they sold it, what service!!
I had maggots, casters and worms, with a tin of corn as a swap bait, I set up 4 rigs, a sensas pencil on 0.14 to 0.12 and a 18 for topkit to hand, a Carpa Chimp to fish the deepest part of the peg (11m) on the same lines and hook. A MW slim power on 0.16 with 0.13 and a 18B911 for over and down to the end bank, but as the depth was so variable, I had to set up another, to be able to fish several lines. I also set up a waggler, but that didn't produce a bite either.
At the all-in, I cupped 3 small balls of g/bait at 11m and 1 small ball on the topkit to hand line - no more mention of this, I had 80lb of skimmers over the last two matches on this - not a bite today. I fed the far bank and the end bank with maggot via a catapult, this proved an initial waste of time, as the carper on the main lake who was on my far bank, proceeded to pack away his bivvy and walk around skylining my far bank.
I caught from 2 lines, one to the far bank (a couple of hours after the carper had gone) and one to a ridge on the end bank, it was a bit of a grind, taking a fish or two, then having to swap lines, single maggot being the only bait I could get bites on, 4 skimmers and 12 carp went 47.12 for second on the lake, fourth overall and a section win. The match was won by Dean Malin on Westpool peg 1 with a new venue record of 141.14, well done Dean.
1) Dean Malin 141.14 Westpool 1
2) Andy France 87.08 Hawthorn 1
3) Tony Rixon 53.04 Hawthorn 13
4) Chris Fox 47.12 Westpool 10
5) Pete Sivell 44.14 Westpool 7
6) John Dursley 40.10 Hawthorn 10
Silvers
1) John Bradford 14.07 Westpool 6
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Viaduct/Street Angling Open. Sunday 23rd October 2011
I'd booked into an open on Match Lake, it turned out that Street Angling could muster 9 names for their match on Cary, so the 9 booked into Viaduct were merged into one match on Cary. I knew this on Saturday after the silvers final, but decided to have a day on Cary, perhaps with hindsight, I should have stayed in bed!!
My Viaduct drawbag luck seems to have deserted me, its the one venue I seem to draw some decent pegs, although that fact is currently under threat. Peg 76 thrust it self into my left handed draw - gawd knows why I did a left handed draw, I can never recall doing it before - bugger, the last time I drew it, I didn't have a fish for 4 hours!!
I decided to try 4 lines, a straight lead line at 25-30m, a pole line at 14,5m for 6 or 8mm pellet, a 7m line for caster over groundbait and a margin line for perch. I fed the 7m line with groudbait CW&C at the start, then chucked the lead (unfortunately the wind was making this one of the only serious options - the other being the very short pole). I had a carp after 8 mins on the lead and had hopes that it was my turn to be the one who says at the end of the match "it just kept going round", alas it wasn't to be, that was the only bite I had from a carp all day.
I had a serious attempt to win some money by fishing for silvers and that was a dismal failure - I struggled for bites, although knowing that only 6.14 came off the peg yesterday in the silvers final, I wasn't brimming with confidence. The skimmers just didn't feed, it was hard work to put together 8.07 for second in the silvers, one out of the money!! Looks like the fish are moving to their winter quarters.......
1) Mark Wynne 212.03 peg 86
2)Mark leahy 124.11 peg 85
3) Dave Romain 144.08 peg 97
4) Dick Bull 104.12 peg 78
5) S Denmead 97.12 peg 99
6) R Walters 95.06 peg 103
1) S Denmead 10.05 peg 99
2) Chris Fox 8.07 peg 76
3) Dave White 6.14 peg 88
My Viaduct drawbag luck seems to have deserted me, its the one venue I seem to draw some decent pegs, although that fact is currently under threat. Peg 76 thrust it self into my left handed draw - gawd knows why I did a left handed draw, I can never recall doing it before - bugger, the last time I drew it, I didn't have a fish for 4 hours!!
I decided to try 4 lines, a straight lead line at 25-30m, a pole line at 14,5m for 6 or 8mm pellet, a 7m line for caster over groundbait and a margin line for perch. I fed the 7m line with groudbait CW&C at the start, then chucked the lead (unfortunately the wind was making this one of the only serious options - the other being the very short pole). I had a carp after 8 mins on the lead and had hopes that it was my turn to be the one who says at the end of the match "it just kept going round", alas it wasn't to be, that was the only bite I had from a carp all day.
I had a serious attempt to win some money by fishing for silvers and that was a dismal failure - I struggled for bites, although knowing that only 6.14 came off the peg yesterday in the silvers final, I wasn't brimming with confidence. The skimmers just didn't feed, it was hard work to put together 8.07 for second in the silvers, one out of the money!! Looks like the fish are moving to their winter quarters.......
1) Mark Wynne 212.03 peg 86
2)Mark leahy 124.11 peg 85
3) Dave Romain 144.08 peg 97
4) Dick Bull 104.12 peg 78
5) S Denmead 97.12 peg 99
6) R Walters 95.06 peg 103
1) S Denmead 10.05 peg 99
2) Chris Fox 8.07 peg 76
3) Dave White 6.14 peg 88
Viaduct Silvers All Winners Final, Sat 22nd Oct 20111
I was pleased to qualify for this All Winners Final and was looking forward to a decent days fishing, I know that my commercial carp fishing skills need honing (I'm also a master of understatement) but I'm reasonably confident that I can catch a few silvers if they are there.
The draw saw me sat on 116, with (Cursing) Chris Davies on 115 and Garbolino backed silvers ace and caravan rental specialist, Bob Gullick on 118, with 117 not in. Peg 119 saw genial host and all round piss taker of Avon Angling, Tony Rixon wishing he'd drawn it a couple of Saturdays ago.....
I had plenty of caster, worm & maggot, I even had some devils spawn and a tin of corn. I guessed it would all be to no avail, as I was surely getting a lesson in silver bashing from Bob Gullick, but I remained optimistic. That was sadly misguided as the match panned out.
I set up an insert waggler, on the trusty Normark Microlight, this had a 0.10 hooklength and a 20 hook, 4 pole rigs, a jolly with a 0.008 hooklength and a 20 gamma black hook to fish top four to hand, a KC carpa chimp with a 0.12 hooklength and a 20 hook and a Sensas pencil with 0.10 and a 20.
The rest of it is pretty irrelevant, as I fed some groundbait at 16m and 11m, fed caster at 6m and 2m, as well as in the margins and that was the signal for the carp to come in, at one stage I didn't have a hooklength on any of the rigs or waggler, all gone on carp.....
I stuck it out, joining in the swearing with Cursing Chris, who also suffered with the hungry water pigs, my persistence gaining me 9.07 of silvers, in amongst hooking well over 100lb of carp. I didn't get my silvers lesson from Bob, infact he took a very minor lesson from me, as I took the next peg glory by 4oz.
It was a shame the skimmers didn't feed on Campbell, but then again neither did the tench or perch, it was entertaining seeing so many carp hooked (and landed), especially towards the end when Trigger and Anton on the opposite bank were catching a carp a chuck on worm and having a countdown competition - they both cupped in worm, with worm on the hook and the longest count either of them got to was 54 secs before a greedy water pig grabbed ½ a dendra.
Back to the serious stuff, Nicky Collier trousered the seven hundred and fifty quid, with the top three weights coming from Cary.
1) Nicky Collier 34.07 peg 94
2) Andy Power 28.13 peg100
3) Gary O'Shea 28.04 peg103
4) Vince Brown 27.03 peg 130
5) Matt Tomes 26.15 peg 123
6) S Hutter 26.12 peg 97
The draw saw me sat on 116, with (Cursing) Chris Davies on 115 and Garbolino backed silvers ace and caravan rental specialist, Bob Gullick on 118, with 117 not in. Peg 119 saw genial host and all round piss taker of Avon Angling, Tony Rixon wishing he'd drawn it a couple of Saturdays ago.....
I had plenty of caster, worm & maggot, I even had some devils spawn and a tin of corn. I guessed it would all be to no avail, as I was surely getting a lesson in silver bashing from Bob Gullick, but I remained optimistic. That was sadly misguided as the match panned out.
I set up an insert waggler, on the trusty Normark Microlight, this had a 0.10 hooklength and a 20 hook, 4 pole rigs, a jolly with a 0.008 hooklength and a 20 gamma black hook to fish top four to hand, a KC carpa chimp with a 0.12 hooklength and a 20 hook and a Sensas pencil with 0.10 and a 20.
The rest of it is pretty irrelevant, as I fed some groundbait at 16m and 11m, fed caster at 6m and 2m, as well as in the margins and that was the signal for the carp to come in, at one stage I didn't have a hooklength on any of the rigs or waggler, all gone on carp.....
I stuck it out, joining in the swearing with Cursing Chris, who also suffered with the hungry water pigs, my persistence gaining me 9.07 of silvers, in amongst hooking well over 100lb of carp. I didn't get my silvers lesson from Bob, infact he took a very minor lesson from me, as I took the next peg glory by 4oz.
It was a shame the skimmers didn't feed on Campbell, but then again neither did the tench or perch, it was entertaining seeing so many carp hooked (and landed), especially towards the end when Trigger and Anton on the opposite bank were catching a carp a chuck on worm and having a countdown competition - they both cupped in worm, with worm on the hook and the longest count either of them got to was 54 secs before a greedy water pig grabbed ½ a dendra.
Back to the serious stuff, Nicky Collier trousered the seven hundred and fifty quid, with the top three weights coming from Cary.
1) Nicky Collier 34.07 peg 94
2) Andy Power 28.13 peg100
3) Gary O'Shea 28.04 peg103
4) Vince Brown 27.03 peg 130
5) Matt Tomes 26.15 peg 123
6) S Hutter 26.12 peg 97
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Viaduct Open, Saturday 15th October 2011
23 booked in for this one, with a fair few either having a last attempt to qualify for the silvers final next week or practising for it, I decided that it would be a carp only day. Campbell had two sections with one section on Cary, into the coffee tin and out comes 111. Before the draw, Paul Greenwood said too many people are now going over the 70lb net limit, so they are considering bringing the 90lb disqualification weight down to 80lb - that could be costly.
Quite simple today on the bait tray, 4, 6 & 8mm pellets and 8mm meat. Pole rigs were a shallow rig, a couple of full depth rigs, one with a bulk, one with shot strung out and a meat rig. I also set up a full depth waggler and a lead rod. I fed 3 lines at the start, a short line (5m) for meat, 11m & 16m with pellet. the first 40 minutes were spent on the 16m line, with a look over the 11m line, to no avail, not even a bite. Campbell is not a lake you want to get too far behind, so a switch to the waggler brought 3 quick fish, then the line died. Several anglers had taken fish on the lead, so I tried that, waste of time, so up the bank it went.
Back on the waggler I hooked a fish and it went straight through the aerator, snagging up. By now there were signs of fish up in the water, so I grabbed the made up shallow waggler from the bag, all this seemed to do was push the fish across towards pegs 129 & 130, both of which had anglers fishing short for silvers.
The rest of the match panned out in a similar vein, take two fish and then have to swap lines and wait to get another. I ended up swapping between the waggler, the 16m pole line and the short meat line - which only produced a couple of fish. The fish that moved into the space created by the silvers anglers on the opposite bank stayed put and wouldn't come back over.
I'm not sure what I could have done to make the fish settle on on line, I don't think more feed was the answer, so possible it might have paid to feed Mike Nicholls style, but I just cant do it.....
My one skimmer probably weighed an ounce, but it went straight back, the carp went 88.11 and I knew that would be well short of what was needed.
Qualifying for next years all winners final, for the second time, was Lewis Greenwood-King, with 176.06, caught on a mixture of pole, waggler and lead chucking. Lee Werrit qualified for next weeks Silvers final with 41.11 of skimmers.
1) Lewis Greenwood-King 176.06 peg 132
2) Dick Bull 136.01 peg 78
3) Keith Masheder 131.04 peg 119
4) Roland ? 128.06 peg 131
5) Martin Preston 120.06 peg 114
6) P Cardwell 119.10 peg 128
Silvers
1) Lee Werrit 41.11 peg 118
2) D Squiggly unreadable surname 39.09 peg 130
3) Tim Pallant 36.10 peg 74
4) Charlie Barnes 33.14 peg 129
Quite simple today on the bait tray, 4, 6 & 8mm pellets and 8mm meat. Pole rigs were a shallow rig, a couple of full depth rigs, one with a bulk, one with shot strung out and a meat rig. I also set up a full depth waggler and a lead rod. I fed 3 lines at the start, a short line (5m) for meat, 11m & 16m with pellet. the first 40 minutes were spent on the 16m line, with a look over the 11m line, to no avail, not even a bite. Campbell is not a lake you want to get too far behind, so a switch to the waggler brought 3 quick fish, then the line died. Several anglers had taken fish on the lead, so I tried that, waste of time, so up the bank it went.
Back on the waggler I hooked a fish and it went straight through the aerator, snagging up. By now there were signs of fish up in the water, so I grabbed the made up shallow waggler from the bag, all this seemed to do was push the fish across towards pegs 129 & 130, both of which had anglers fishing short for silvers.
The rest of the match panned out in a similar vein, take two fish and then have to swap lines and wait to get another. I ended up swapping between the waggler, the 16m pole line and the short meat line - which only produced a couple of fish. The fish that moved into the space created by the silvers anglers on the opposite bank stayed put and wouldn't come back over.
I'm not sure what I could have done to make the fish settle on on line, I don't think more feed was the answer, so possible it might have paid to feed Mike Nicholls style, but I just cant do it.....
My one skimmer probably weighed an ounce, but it went straight back, the carp went 88.11 and I knew that would be well short of what was needed.
Qualifying for next years all winners final, for the second time, was Lewis Greenwood-King, with 176.06, caught on a mixture of pole, waggler and lead chucking. Lee Werrit qualified for next weeks Silvers final with 41.11 of skimmers.
1) Lewis Greenwood-King 176.06 peg 132
2) Dick Bull 136.01 peg 78
3) Keith Masheder 131.04 peg 119
4) Roland ? 128.06 peg 131
5) Martin Preston 120.06 peg 114
6) P Cardwell 119.10 peg 128
Silvers
1) Lee Werrit 41.11 peg 118
2) D Squiggly unreadable surname 39.09 peg 130
3) Tim Pallant 36.10 peg 74
4) Charlie Barnes 33.14 peg 129
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Viaduct Match Lake, Friday 7th Oct 2011
Well, the last day of my fortnight off work, so what better way to spend it than fishing. Charlie Barnes has instigated a knock up on Fridays on Viaduct Match Lake, so with 8 others I dipped into the draw tin and pulled out peg 40. Disappointing, as it isn't a peg I'd run to and with the North Westerly wind, it was going to be tough today. Lots of space as the next anglers were Steve Long on 52 and Terry Nibblet on 42.
The weather (or to be more precise) the wind had me setting up a small groundbait feeder on my favourite skimmer lead rod, a Drennan Matchpro Quiver and a waggler on the trusty MK 1 Normark Microlite. Three top kits, a margin rig on 0.16 and No12 elastic, a Carpa Chimp on 0.14 to 0.10 and a 20 Drennan red carp hook and a MW diamond on 0.16 to 0.14 with a 16 808 for soft pellet.
I optimistically fed a line with micro and softend 4mm pellet at 12m, the wind was making it difficult to present here, a line at 5m with caster and tried in vain to get some caster to the 20m line where I wanted to fish the waggler. I started at 12m and had a few small fish on the devils spawn, carp & skimmers, but then started to get roach - 30 to the pound roach - on it.
A switch to the ground bait feeder, I clipped up and managed to get it landing reasonaly accurately, but the tip didn't move, I tried it a couple of other occasions, all to no avail. Trying the waggler was nearly as fruitless, even with 12" of line and a string of No10's on the bottom, it was still dragging through, the bites were coming to a still bait.
Halfway through I dropped into the margins, left and right alternatively at 8m and had a few fish on corn, a varied selection, a couple of perfect little tench (3 or 4 oz), a couple of 10oz roach & rudd and a few F1's and some small carp. Then a fish whose reactions were considerably quicker than mine took me into the rushes, losing the whole rig. Stepping up to 17H elastic and 0.18 line ensured I didn't lose anymore fish, but the margin line did die off - as did Steve Long's.
I had 3 decent size skimmers from the 5m line and then Les 'Chubhead' Williams walked round, that killed that line. I fed a couple of balls of groundbait/caster on the 12m line and fished the waggler over it, taking a couple more skimmers and with 20 minutes to go, the wind relented and I had a run of skimmers up to the whistle, all on double red maggot.
Shame that the wind had spoiled the last day of my holiday, I'm sure if I had been able to present a bait long on the pole, I would have had a decent weight of skimmers. My silvers went 15.09 & carp 16.04, putting my 31.13 near the bottom of the result sheet. Its frustrating when you see other anglers sheltered by the trees, islands etc. able to fish 14m with ease and not a hint of wind - still thats match fishing.
Tom Thick won, fair play, he looked pretty rough when he got out of Charlies van, after a session in a Bath nightclub - I think the days when I could do that are long gone.... Tom certainly has this pellet fishing sussed, I'm going to have to spend some time and effort into improving my understanding of it.
1) Tom Thick 80.13 peg 44
2) Will Bohne 64.12 peg 50
3) John Green 64.01 peg 45
4) Terry Nibblet 50.10 peg 42
5) Colin Dyer 43.10 peg 49
6) Steve Long 38.14 peg 52
Silvers
1) Dan White 25.10 peg 47
2) Tom Thick 24.10 peg 44
3) Will Bohne 21.03 peg 50
4) Chris Fox 15.09 peg 40
The weather (or to be more precise) the wind had me setting up a small groundbait feeder on my favourite skimmer lead rod, a Drennan Matchpro Quiver and a waggler on the trusty MK 1 Normark Microlite. Three top kits, a margin rig on 0.16 and No12 elastic, a Carpa Chimp on 0.14 to 0.10 and a 20 Drennan red carp hook and a MW diamond on 0.16 to 0.14 with a 16 808 for soft pellet.
I optimistically fed a line with micro and softend 4mm pellet at 12m, the wind was making it difficult to present here, a line at 5m with caster and tried in vain to get some caster to the 20m line where I wanted to fish the waggler. I started at 12m and had a few small fish on the devils spawn, carp & skimmers, but then started to get roach - 30 to the pound roach - on it.
A switch to the ground bait feeder, I clipped up and managed to get it landing reasonaly accurately, but the tip didn't move, I tried it a couple of other occasions, all to no avail. Trying the waggler was nearly as fruitless, even with 12" of line and a string of No10's on the bottom, it was still dragging through, the bites were coming to a still bait.
Halfway through I dropped into the margins, left and right alternatively at 8m and had a few fish on corn, a varied selection, a couple of perfect little tench (3 or 4 oz), a couple of 10oz roach & rudd and a few F1's and some small carp. Then a fish whose reactions were considerably quicker than mine took me into the rushes, losing the whole rig. Stepping up to 17H elastic and 0.18 line ensured I didn't lose anymore fish, but the margin line did die off - as did Steve Long's.
I had 3 decent size skimmers from the 5m line and then Les 'Chubhead' Williams walked round, that killed that line. I fed a couple of balls of groundbait/caster on the 12m line and fished the waggler over it, taking a couple more skimmers and with 20 minutes to go, the wind relented and I had a run of skimmers up to the whistle, all on double red maggot.
Shame that the wind had spoiled the last day of my holiday, I'm sure if I had been able to present a bait long on the pole, I would have had a decent weight of skimmers. My silvers went 15.09 & carp 16.04, putting my 31.13 near the bottom of the result sheet. Its frustrating when you see other anglers sheltered by the trees, islands etc. able to fish 14m with ease and not a hint of wind - still thats match fishing.
Tom Thick won, fair play, he looked pretty rough when he got out of Charlies van, after a session in a Bath nightclub - I think the days when I could do that are long gone.... Tom certainly has this pellet fishing sussed, I'm going to have to spend some time and effort into improving my understanding of it.
1) Tom Thick 80.13 peg 44
2) Will Bohne 64.12 peg 50
3) John Green 64.01 peg 45
4) Terry Nibblet 50.10 peg 42
5) Colin Dyer 43.10 peg 49
6) Steve Long 38.14 peg 52
Silvers
1) Dan White 25.10 peg 47
2) Tom Thick 24.10 peg 44
3) Will Bohne 21.03 peg 50
4) Chris Fox 15.09 peg 40
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Costcutter, Viaduct, Thurs 6th Oct 2011
With the All Winners Final (Silvers) coming up soon, I decided to use this as a practise match, going for silvers no matter where I drew. That said, I couldn't help taking some 8mm pellet and a waggler & lead rod to my peg, which was 127. I didn't touch the carp baits or rods, determind to find a away to get past them, especially as my first 2 put ins, resulted in 2 new hook lengths (along with the one I lost fouling a big carp shotting up a float!!) as carp took the caster intended for silvers,
So with Tom (I've discovered women & beer) Thick next to me on 126 and Rich Coles on 128 and either side again on 129 & 124 were Mike Nicholls & John Green, I expected a battle for silvers. I had caster, worm, dead maggot, a handful of live maggot, meat & pellets.
I set up three rigs one on 0.16, with an 0.14 hooklength on the rig to plunder tench from the margin, I also set up two MW diamonds, one 3 No8 and one 6 No8 to cope with the windy conditions, these had 16 63.13 on 0.14 & 0.12. I toyed with the idea of setting up a cage feeder for skimmers, but didn't, I think on reflection, I should have. Thankfully the wind was off my back, it got pretty windy during the match. I mixed up some groundbait, but didn't overdo it at the start, feeding 3 lines, meat on top two +1 to the left, some groundbait with CW&C at 11m and caster at 5m.
First two put ins, as mentioned, carp made off with the hooks, some groundbait introduced on the 5m line put an end to the carp problem and I caught skimmers on caster over the groundbait, it wasn't going mad, so I had a look over the 11m line, I may have well not have bothered, not so much as a bite - likewise with all my attempts to catch tench, short on meat.
Back onto the 5m line and a switch to double maggot brought a burst of decent skimmers and a couple of small perch. Tom had been catching carp, but a switch to a line at around 8m or so, saw him net a run of skimmers, decent ones, he was now overtaking me, the skimmers coming to his pellet approach. I stuck it out with the caster & maggot, earning myself a perch that wasn't far off 2lb. Tom's run of decent skimmers continueed and I walked down to sneak a look at his bait tray and rig.
I decided to try the pellet approach with 40 mins to go, so started a new line at 8m, it worked, I caught skimmers, but inevitably, carp as well - although I can't complain, apart from the two that took hooks at the start, I only hooked (and landed) two more throughout the day, they went back at the end without troubling the scales.
The scales gave me 34.11, but I knew Tom's pellet approach had beaten me on silvers, as well as giving him a decent carp weight, his silvers went 50.10 and caro 121.02. Would I risk emulating Tom in the silvers final? In honesty I'm not sure, I'd be concerned the pellet would attract and hold carp.
Temperature was 10°C on the way down in the car, same on the way back, with a dip to 8.5°C around Shepton Mallet. Looks like autumn is coming with a vengance.
1) Josh Garrett 215.07 peg 130 (On the lead)
2) Tom Thick 171.12 peg 126
3) Charlie Barnes 141.01 peg 132
4) Tica Williams 137.04 peg 118
5) John Green 120.13 peg 124
6) Dan Pither 117.01 peg 80
Silvers
1) Tom Thick 50.10 peg 126
2) John Bradford 34.12 peg 96
3) Chris Fox 34.11 peg 127
4)
So with Tom (I've discovered women & beer) Thick next to me on 126 and Rich Coles on 128 and either side again on 129 & 124 were Mike Nicholls & John Green, I expected a battle for silvers. I had caster, worm, dead maggot, a handful of live maggot, meat & pellets.
I set up three rigs one on 0.16, with an 0.14 hooklength on the rig to plunder tench from the margin, I also set up two MW diamonds, one 3 No8 and one 6 No8 to cope with the windy conditions, these had 16 63.13 on 0.14 & 0.12. I toyed with the idea of setting up a cage feeder for skimmers, but didn't, I think on reflection, I should have. Thankfully the wind was off my back, it got pretty windy during the match. I mixed up some groundbait, but didn't overdo it at the start, feeding 3 lines, meat on top two +1 to the left, some groundbait with CW&C at 11m and caster at 5m.
First two put ins, as mentioned, carp made off with the hooks, some groundbait introduced on the 5m line put an end to the carp problem and I caught skimmers on caster over the groundbait, it wasn't going mad, so I had a look over the 11m line, I may have well not have bothered, not so much as a bite - likewise with all my attempts to catch tench, short on meat.
Back onto the 5m line and a switch to double maggot brought a burst of decent skimmers and a couple of small perch. Tom had been catching carp, but a switch to a line at around 8m or so, saw him net a run of skimmers, decent ones, he was now overtaking me, the skimmers coming to his pellet approach. I stuck it out with the caster & maggot, earning myself a perch that wasn't far off 2lb. Tom's run of decent skimmers continueed and I walked down to sneak a look at his bait tray and rig.
I decided to try the pellet approach with 40 mins to go, so started a new line at 8m, it worked, I caught skimmers, but inevitably, carp as well - although I can't complain, apart from the two that took hooks at the start, I only hooked (and landed) two more throughout the day, they went back at the end without troubling the scales.
The scales gave me 34.11, but I knew Tom's pellet approach had beaten me on silvers, as well as giving him a decent carp weight, his silvers went 50.10 and caro 121.02. Would I risk emulating Tom in the silvers final? In honesty I'm not sure, I'd be concerned the pellet would attract and hold carp.
Temperature was 10°C on the way down in the car, same on the way back, with a dip to 8.5°C around Shepton Mallet. Looks like autumn is coming with a vengance.
1) Josh Garrett 215.07 peg 130 (On the lead)
2) Tom Thick 171.12 peg 126
3) Charlie Barnes 141.01 peg 132
4) Tica Williams 137.04 peg 118
5) John Green 120.13 peg 124
6) Dan Pither 117.01 peg 80
Silvers
1) Tom Thick 50.10 peg 126
2) John Bradford 34.12 peg 96
3) Chris Fox 34.11 peg 127
4)
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Viaduct Open, Weds 5th Oct 2011
Choice of Viaduct or contribute to Tony Rixon's pension fund at Landsend, given my dismal failures at Landsend, Viaduct was the obvious choice. With the All Winners Silvers final coming up, I did consider fishing for silvers, but decided to leave that for the Thursday costcutter. So an all out carp attack was planned for today, I drew 110, a good draw, but today I thought that the lack of ripple (which most of the rest of the lake had) might make it tricky.
I set up a waggler rod, I also set up a lead rod both with 0.17 hooklengths and 16 PR36 hooks. The pole rigs were one for meat short on 0.18 with a 0.16 hooklength and a 18 TXR7 hook. A MW pea for shallow and a MW slim power for full depth. I also set up a MW dinky for the margin, which remained unused, so no more to say about it.
I started on the waggler, feeding towards the middle of the lake and towards peg 135, I also fed meat at 6m and some 6mm pellet at 12m. I had a couple of fish on the waggler straight in front, but it was slow going and the fish that usually show in front of 135, weren't. I had a look over the 6mm pellet and had one fish and a few liners, that saw the shallow rig put to use, but to no avail, not a bite. An early look over the meat line at 6m produced one 8oz skimmer and one carp.
Back on the waggler and a sideways flick was required to get the float to the brambles next to 135 (because the tree to the left of 110 is now overhanging the natural line to get straight cast ) a run of a few fish showed that the cast needed to be tight to the bank, but the wind was frustratingly pulling the float away from the bank. This slowed down the catch rate, so with an hour or so to go, I dropped back in on the meat line and had 3 fish in 3 put ins - sussed it, well no, that was the end of that action. Back on the waggler and a couple more fish in the net. I'm pretty sure the lack of ripple, combined with the skim pulling the waggler cast me, as I didn't think my 23 fish would be enough - so it proved, missed out on a pick up (section money) by one (yet again). The lack of silvers didn't help, one 8oz skimmer, most others had 8 or 10lb at least to go with their carp. At least it was a good days fishing and some food for thought - did I not swap between lines soon enough, should I have fed more? Many questions to ponder.
1) Will Bohne 163.15 peg 123
2) Keith Masheder 154.10 peg 125
3) Andy Neal 148.13 peg 129
4) Charlie Barnes 145.11 peg 116 (Not a silver in sight)
5) Jamie Dyte 139.13 peg 131
6) Chris Fox 136.01 peg 110
Silvers
1) Jim Baines 40.01 peg 127
2) Tim Pallant 37.07 peg 118
3) Keith Masheder 30.13 peg 125
I set up a waggler rod, I also set up a lead rod both with 0.17 hooklengths and 16 PR36 hooks. The pole rigs were one for meat short on 0.18 with a 0.16 hooklength and a 18 TXR7 hook. A MW pea for shallow and a MW slim power for full depth. I also set up a MW dinky for the margin, which remained unused, so no more to say about it.
I started on the waggler, feeding towards the middle of the lake and towards peg 135, I also fed meat at 6m and some 6mm pellet at 12m. I had a couple of fish on the waggler straight in front, but it was slow going and the fish that usually show in front of 135, weren't. I had a look over the 6mm pellet and had one fish and a few liners, that saw the shallow rig put to use, but to no avail, not a bite. An early look over the meat line at 6m produced one 8oz skimmer and one carp.
Back on the waggler and a sideways flick was required to get the float to the brambles next to 135 (because the tree to the left of 110 is now overhanging the natural line to get straight cast ) a run of a few fish showed that the cast needed to be tight to the bank, but the wind was frustratingly pulling the float away from the bank. This slowed down the catch rate, so with an hour or so to go, I dropped back in on the meat line and had 3 fish in 3 put ins - sussed it, well no, that was the end of that action. Back on the waggler and a couple more fish in the net. I'm pretty sure the lack of ripple, combined with the skim pulling the waggler cast me, as I didn't think my 23 fish would be enough - so it proved, missed out on a pick up (section money) by one (yet again). The lack of silvers didn't help, one 8oz skimmer, most others had 8 or 10lb at least to go with their carp. At least it was a good days fishing and some food for thought - did I not swap between lines soon enough, should I have fed more? Many questions to ponder.
1) Will Bohne 163.15 peg 123
2) Keith Masheder 154.10 peg 125
3) Andy Neal 148.13 peg 129
4) Charlie Barnes 145.11 peg 116 (Not a silver in sight)
5) Jamie Dyte 139.13 peg 131
6) Chris Fox 136.01 peg 110
Silvers
1) Jim Baines 40.01 peg 127
2) Tim Pallant 37.07 peg 118
3) Keith Masheder 30.13 peg 125
Monday, 3 October 2011
Two Day Festival, Plantation Lakes. 1st & 2nd Oct 2011
Firstly, thanks to Glenn Calvert for pointing out in the comment section of my last blog entry, that I'd draw in a bay - as expected I did, but then after a good result on Saturday Glenn drew the same bay on Sunday - what goes round, comes round, eh Faitheeey. And theres me thinking you were a real man, hard drinking egg chasing fan, but your blogger ID is some sort of weekend and evening femmine alter ego....
Anyway onto the fishing, the festival was depeletd in numbers due to the clash with the winter league and the Teams of Four, so Darren 'Noddy' Vowles original plan of 20 on each lake and rotate, was abandoned and 30 different plans from a rover, to island chucks and non island chucks were discussed and ripped to shreds by various participants. It was quite simply, an open draw both days, with the overall result based on weight.
'Noddy' asked for an orderly queue at the draw, it was like sale day at Lidil's in Hartcliffe, a free for all, I came out unscathed and with a disappointing peg 18 to show for it. I had brought waggler & lead rods, they were to remain unused, as 10 & 12 opposite me in the bay. Practising on Thursday had seen some decent skimmers come to the meat, so my approach was to be pellet and meat. I set up a shallow and depth rig for pellet and meat, a caster rig and a margin rig. There isn't too much to say about the match, it was a struggle to get a bite, even on single caster on 0.10 and a 20. At 3pm, with an hour and a half to go, I started to catch roach and the odd bonus perch, at least it was something after watching Glenn 'Faitheeey'Calvert catching on peg 8 and John Wolvenscroft doing likewise on peg 7. I ended Saturdays match with 4 carp for 10lb and 14lb 12oz of hard won caster fish.
1) John Wolvenscroft 91.06 peg 7
2) Darren 'Noddy' Vowles 81.02 peg 38
3) Paul Faiers 78.00 peg 27
4) Glen 'Faitheeey' Calvert 68.04 peg 8
5) Rod Wootten 61.00 peg ?
Silvers
1) Paul Faiers 18.06 peg 27
2) Craig Tucker 15.06 peg 3
3) Chris Fox 14.12 peg 18
With no chance (barring some miracle) of framing in the overall, Sunday had to be a silvers day, so I joined the darkside and took some micro pellet and devils spawn, to complement the caster and meat that was to be my main attack. the draw bag once again wasn't kind and I managed 29, which is set back further than all the other pegs on that bank, which doesn't favour any of my fishing short plans. Silvers were also going to be competed for by Paul and Craig, Paul drew peg4, a decent draw and Craig peg 1 - but with peg 3 having been left out due to a no show on the day - Craig had plenty of room.
I planned to feed micros and fish expander at 13m, caster short to the left and meat at 7m, I also added a short micro fed line at 6m to the right, as Simon Carvello on peg 28 was method lobbing into the island gap.
I fed the lines at the all in and then had a couple of half hearted chucks at the island with a pellet waggler, had it gone under and kept going under, I might have stayed with it, but it didn't and whilst there was very little wind, there was a right to left skim which made presentation tight to the island impossible.
Once again, the meat was totally unsuccessful, not a bite on it - yet I caught on it two days practising and Paul Faiers caught on it both days, after seeing me do it on Monday and a phone conversation Thursday- I think you needed the big skimmers in the peg for it to work. I caught a few on devils spawn, but they were only a 1/3 the size of the meat fish, but my usual frustration with devils spawn of it coming off the hook or being taken by tiny roach continued.
I could see some big roach and rudd flashing for the caster, so set up a greased loop rig, this produced a 12oz rudd and a 8oz roach, along with a few 3-4oz roach, before they backed off, this seemed to be the pattern for the day, take a fish or 2, then having to change to another line to catch again. Rod Wootten was steadily catching on 31, fishing towards a tree he spent nearly an hour pruning before the match, I reckon if you look on ebay, he'll have some brushwood and kindling for sale......
Without any bonus big skimmers, crucians or fantails, I thought I'd be struggling to beat my weight of Saturday, I did but only just. 16lb of silvers and 4 water pigs for 12lb odds. Not enough.
1) Paul Nicholls 95.01 peg 7
2) Rod 'Tree Surgeon' Wootten 89.04 peg 31
3) Paul Faiers 71.15 peg 4
4) Andy France 67.00 peg 38
5) Simon Carvello 60.00 peg 28
Silvers
1) Paul Faiers 24.04 peg 4
2) Craig Tucker 21.08 peg 1
3) Chris Fox 16.00 peg 29
Overall
1) Rod Wootten 150.04
2) Paul Faiers 149.15
3) Paul Nicholls 144.01
4) John Wolvenscroft 140.07
5) Darren 'Noddy' Vowles 131.03
Overall silvers
1) Paul Faiers 42.10
2) Craig Tucker 36.14
3) Chris Fox 30.12
Thanks to 'Noddy' and Paul Nicholls for running the match, thanks to Plantation for hosting the match and the pork rolls afterwards - very nice and a few bob was raised for a charity. Thanks to Paul Faiers for the beer, he had so many brown envelopes that he needed a trolley to carry them!!
Thanks to Cadbury Angling, who donated a Shimano Aerotech waggler rod, this was a prize in a raffle drawn from Sundays swimcards, Faierzy won it, now he'll have to buy a reel and some wagglers!!
Special mention for Andy Hembrow, he drew the same peg both days, 12 in the top bay which fished poorly both days, he must have upset the same drawing gods as me, but whatever Andy did was obviously worse....
Right, I'm off to buy some micro pellets, devils spawn and 4mm pellets and get my head round winter style fishing in the summer!!
Anyway onto the fishing, the festival was depeletd in numbers due to the clash with the winter league and the Teams of Four, so Darren 'Noddy' Vowles original plan of 20 on each lake and rotate, was abandoned and 30 different plans from a rover, to island chucks and non island chucks were discussed and ripped to shreds by various participants. It was quite simply, an open draw both days, with the overall result based on weight.
'Noddy' asked for an orderly queue at the draw, it was like sale day at Lidil's in Hartcliffe, a free for all, I came out unscathed and with a disappointing peg 18 to show for it. I had brought waggler & lead rods, they were to remain unused, as 10 & 12 opposite me in the bay. Practising on Thursday had seen some decent skimmers come to the meat, so my approach was to be pellet and meat. I set up a shallow and depth rig for pellet and meat, a caster rig and a margin rig. There isn't too much to say about the match, it was a struggle to get a bite, even on single caster on 0.10 and a 20. At 3pm, with an hour and a half to go, I started to catch roach and the odd bonus perch, at least it was something after watching Glenn 'Faitheeey'Calvert catching on peg 8 and John Wolvenscroft doing likewise on peg 7. I ended Saturdays match with 4 carp for 10lb and 14lb 12oz of hard won caster fish.
1) John Wolvenscroft 91.06 peg 7
2) Darren 'Noddy' Vowles 81.02 peg 38
3) Paul Faiers 78.00 peg 27
4) Glen 'Faitheeey' Calvert 68.04 peg 8
5) Rod Wootten 61.00 peg ?
Silvers
1) Paul Faiers 18.06 peg 27
2) Craig Tucker 15.06 peg 3
3) Chris Fox 14.12 peg 18
With no chance (barring some miracle) of framing in the overall, Sunday had to be a silvers day, so I joined the darkside and took some micro pellet and devils spawn, to complement the caster and meat that was to be my main attack. the draw bag once again wasn't kind and I managed 29, which is set back further than all the other pegs on that bank, which doesn't favour any of my fishing short plans. Silvers were also going to be competed for by Paul and Craig, Paul drew peg4, a decent draw and Craig peg 1 - but with peg 3 having been left out due to a no show on the day - Craig had plenty of room.
I planned to feed micros and fish expander at 13m, caster short to the left and meat at 7m, I also added a short micro fed line at 6m to the right, as Simon Carvello on peg 28 was method lobbing into the island gap.
I fed the lines at the all in and then had a couple of half hearted chucks at the island with a pellet waggler, had it gone under and kept going under, I might have stayed with it, but it didn't and whilst there was very little wind, there was a right to left skim which made presentation tight to the island impossible.
Once again, the meat was totally unsuccessful, not a bite on it - yet I caught on it two days practising and Paul Faiers caught on it both days, after seeing me do it on Monday and a phone conversation Thursday- I think you needed the big skimmers in the peg for it to work. I caught a few on devils spawn, but they were only a 1/3 the size of the meat fish, but my usual frustration with devils spawn of it coming off the hook or being taken by tiny roach continued.
I could see some big roach and rudd flashing for the caster, so set up a greased loop rig, this produced a 12oz rudd and a 8oz roach, along with a few 3-4oz roach, before they backed off, this seemed to be the pattern for the day, take a fish or 2, then having to change to another line to catch again. Rod Wootten was steadily catching on 31, fishing towards a tree he spent nearly an hour pruning before the match, I reckon if you look on ebay, he'll have some brushwood and kindling for sale......
Without any bonus big skimmers, crucians or fantails, I thought I'd be struggling to beat my weight of Saturday, I did but only just. 16lb of silvers and 4 water pigs for 12lb odds. Not enough.
1) Paul Nicholls 95.01 peg 7
2) Rod 'Tree Surgeon' Wootten 89.04 peg 31
3) Paul Faiers 71.15 peg 4
4) Andy France 67.00 peg 38
5) Simon Carvello 60.00 peg 28
Silvers
1) Paul Faiers 24.04 peg 4
2) Craig Tucker 21.08 peg 1
3) Chris Fox 16.00 peg 29
Overall
1) Rod Wootten 150.04
2) Paul Faiers 149.15
3) Paul Nicholls 144.01
4) John Wolvenscroft 140.07
5) Darren 'Noddy' Vowles 131.03
Overall silvers
1) Paul Faiers 42.10
2) Craig Tucker 36.14
3) Chris Fox 30.12
Thanks to 'Noddy' and Paul Nicholls for running the match, thanks to Plantation for hosting the match and the pork rolls afterwards - very nice and a few bob was raised for a charity. Thanks to Paul Faiers for the beer, he had so many brown envelopes that he needed a trolley to carry them!!
Thanks to Cadbury Angling, who donated a Shimano Aerotech waggler rod, this was a prize in a raffle drawn from Sundays swimcards, Faierzy won it, now he'll have to buy a reel and some wagglers!!
Special mention for Andy Hembrow, he drew the same peg both days, 12 in the top bay which fished poorly both days, he must have upset the same drawing gods as me, but whatever Andy did was obviously worse....
Right, I'm off to buy some micro pellets, devils spawn and 4mm pellets and get my head round winter style fishing in the summer!!
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