Avon Angling Open, Shiplate Farm Sunday 30th December 2012

My first time on the Main Lake at Shiplate Farm, the other visits I have made to this venue have been enjoyable and I have picked up something everytime. I didn’t think that was likely to continue today, as it started off pretty disastrously, realising that I’d left my groundbait bowl and riddle on the garage floor, this being compounded by then realising, once I got to my peg that I had left my feeders and floats at home. That’s what you get for working until 10pm for a few nights before the match, no proper preparation.

I drew peg 13, pretty meaningless to me, but at least I had the wind off my back. From the little info I had managed to find out about the lake, meant I had a simple bait tray, caster, maggot, dead maggot and pinkie. My groundbait mixed up in a spare 3 pint bait box completed the bait selection, although I did wonder if soft pellet or corn might work as the water didn’t feel too cold.

Keeping the simple theme, two rods and one topkit were all I set up, it was as I started threading the line through the rings of the tip rod that I realised the feeders and wagglers weren’t in the box ( I took them out for the last match, trying to reduce the amount I carry). Thanks to Fabio, I managed to finish setting up the feeder rod, as he leant me two feeders. The waggler rod was already set up, but with a middy plastic straight waggler, that I wouldn’t normally choose to use with maggot or caster, preferring an insert. Still beggars can’t be choosers, so I took off the banded B960 and replaced it with a 0.12 and a 18 carp match hook. The top kit had a 0.5g float on 0.14, with a 0.10 hooklength with a 18 Drennan silverfish hook.

On the all in I cupped in a couple of tangerine sized balls of groundbait at  11.5m and left it to settle,  picking up the feeder and fishing that at about 30 yards, the response on the feeder was instant, with 3 fish in the first three chucks, small skimmers,  then the bites got finicky and with each cast I had to wait longer for a bite. This set the pattern for the day, on the pole and feeder lines, the waggler produced one skimmer, although I did have a few crushed maggots that didn’t show up as a bite. When the feeder line went quiet, I unclipped and had a look further out, but this just resulted in the odd liner, so I shortened back up to the original line.

With about 2 hours to go, I felt that I was struggling and had switched from feeding groundbait on the pole line to loose fed caster, dropping double pinkie in amongst the caster saw the float bury and a decent bream netted after a nerve wracking few minutes. A few skimmers and roach followed on caster or pinkie before the line died. Reverting to the feeder I managed three more skimmers in the last 3 casts before the all out.

I think with the head of bream and skimmers in the lake it would be interesting to fish bloodworm and joker at this time of year, maybe that would be the answer to stop them backing off so soon after a couple of their mates have been caught.

 My fish went 12.04 for 5^th overall and 3^rd in the silvers, but thanks to the default rule, I pocketed the 1^st silver payout.  Just as well as I lost one of Fabios’s feeders and the other split and had to be held together with insulation tape, they suddenly became top of the range, once I’d asked Tony to replace them and bill me!!

1.      Clint Wojtyle 25-10-0 peg 1

2.      Matt Tomes 23-12-0 peg 14A

3.      Tony Rixon 18-12-0 peg 15

4.      Mike Nicholls 15-07-0 peg 14

5.      Chris Fox 12-04-0 peg 13

6.      Nick Collier 10-02-0 peg 12

Top Silvers:

1.      Tony Rixon 18-12-0 peg 15

2.      Matt Tomes 16-05-0 peg 14A

3.      Chris Fox 12-04-0 peg13

Pole Only Series 2013

Pole Only, Series of Six

Acorn Fishery, Kingston Seymour

Sunday 10^th March 2013

Sunday 31^st March 2013

Sunday 14^th April 2013

Sunday 28^th April 2013

Sunday 12^th May 2013

Sunday 26^th May 2013

Draw 08.45

Fish 10.00 – 16.00

The series will be limited to 40 anglers.

The format will be 4 sections of 10, section points counting towards your overall position in the series, with weight used in the result of a tie. First match will be a free draw, second match free draw, third, fourth and fifth matches will see you rotate sections and the last match will be a free draw. There will be 3 sections of 10 on Paddock Lake and 1 section of 10 on Match Lake.  Best 5 result count (i.e. you can drop your worst result).

Entry fee: £50.

Pools: There will be a £20 pool each match (last match pools of £20 to be paid with entry money).

Payout on the day will be section money only, top two in section and top two silvers in section (silvers by default). The overall money will not be by default, i.e. you can win the overall and silvers.

With a full field of 40 anglers the payout will be:

On the day.  1^st £60,  2^nd £45.    1^st Silver £45,  2^nd Silver £30

Overall: 1^st £250, 2^nd £175, 3^rd £125, 4^th £75 and 5^th £50

Overall  Silvers: 1^st £200, 2^nd £100 and 3^rd £65

Payouts will alter if a full field of 40 does not fish every match.

You will be able nominate a stand in for one match in the series, whose points will count towards your total, the same stand in can fish more than one match, but not for the same person. Organisers must be notified in advance of your stand in.

For further information or to book in:

Paul Faiers:  01275 858984

Trinity Waters Xmas Match, Sunday 9th December

Woodland Lake was the venue for Trinity's Xmas match and with a turnout of 22, given the unsettled weather I though that it might fish a bit hard, looking at the wind blowing down the lake, I commented to Dean Malin that peg 2 would be a nice draw, wind off your back. Before the draw Misha took some good natured banter as she dished out the coffee's and I was shocked and stunned when I drew, opening the swimcard to reveal peg 2. That never happens to me, fancying a peg and drawing it, that's usually reserved for Mike Nicholls and Tony Rixon.

Whilst getting my gear ready on Saturday afternoon, I decided as it was a 5 hour match to dump all of the rods and reels and go with a pole only approach, I made up four rigs to use, two 0.6g NG XT Gimp floats, one on 0.16 with a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 63.13 the other on 0.14 with an 0.12 hooklength and a 18 Drennan Carp Match. Both of these set with the traditional bulk and two droppers. Another NG XT Gimp this time 0.4g on 0.14 with a 0.10 hooklength and a 20 Carp Match, this with a spread out shotting pattern as the fish don't always sit on the bottom in this deep lake. A MW float whose name escapes me completed the set up, this on 0.18 to a 0.16 hooklength and a 16 PR28 (shame they don't make these anymore).

Bait was like wise simplified, casters, which ended up as bird feed, maggots and pinkies, which ended up frozen as all they did was attract micro roach, Devils spawn and corn. This seems to be the one venue where I catch on corn, its been spectatcularly unsuccessful every where else I've tried it.

On the all in I fed some pinkie short to the rushes, as I had set up a 4m whip in the spare time I had, this didn't produce a single bite, I fed at 12m, 3 and 4mm devils spawn with a couple of grains of corn in, straight in front, hoping that John didn't move the cement mixer at the opposite end of the lake, which was my marker. I fed some dark groundbait with pinkie and caster in at 9m slightly off to my left, some corn into the RH margin and onto the flat shelf in front of peg one, I fed this quite heavily with devils spawn, corn and caster - a throwaway line and that what it was, not producing a single bite,

I had my first carp after 20 minutes, on devils spawn at 12m, then I started to get a few bites I couldn't hit, suspecting tiny roach, I switched to corn and the float shot under again, carp No2. I topped up with devils spawn and corn after each fish and had a little run of four or five fish one after the other, so by 12.30 I had 6 carp. I was getting the odd liner as well, foul hooking one that came off as it ran towards the middle of the lake. I then hooked a big fish, one that plodded around, I managed to get it right into the edge, but it took off for the margin brambles and trying to stop it saw the 0.14 hooklength part at the loop knot.

That seemed to slow things down, so into the margin and first drop in the float settled and carried on under, smallest fish of the day about 2lb soon netted, but that was to be my only bite from the margin. Back out onto the 12m and this produced the odd fish until the whistle, I lost one with 2 minutes to go making it 3 lost in total, giving me 10 carp for what I thought would be  a high 30's weight and probably enough to win. I had fed half a small tin of corn and not much more than a handful of mixed devils spawn. The scales gave me 6oz for silvers and 45.11 for the 10 carp, 46.01 total being enough to trouser the winnings and for the second year running take home a big hamper of goodies, I'll be trying hard for the hat trick next Xmas.

Thanks to Misha and Tom, John and Sue, another good day at this fishery, John seems to be tireless in his efforts to improve the fishery and facilities, so I'll be back supporting them again next year. I'm working until Xmas now, so no fishing for me until Sunday 30th, unless anyone knows of a match on Boxing Day, if so, please let me know.

Merry Xmas to anyone whose managed to get this far down my ramblings.

1) Chris Fox 46.01 peg 2
2) Brian Slipper 25.11 peg 20
3) Kev Perry 25.00 peg 32
4) Barry Fowler 21.12 peg 7
5) Nick Harvey 19.09 peg 28
6) Mark Broomsgrove 18.11 peg 6

Silvers were concentrated in one corner.....

1) Mark Broomsgrove 14.14 peg 6 (roach on the waggler)
2) Barry Fowler 9.06 peg 7
3) Phil 'Fabio' Harding 8.04 peg 8