Tuesday 22 October 2013

Viaduct Silvers league Round 2. Sunday 20th October 2013

It was like groundhog day as Tony pulled up and we loaded my kit in the van for the second day running, off to Viaduct for a silvers match again.

I was disappointed to draw peg 59 on Lodge, dead opposite yesterdays peg.  a more cautious approach would surely be needed today?  I set up the same rigs as yesterday and had listened to Matt Tomes who drew the peg the day before and had caught roach, small hybrids and skimmers short.

I fed a line with groundbait and caster at 12m and the distance off to my left just with caster, also fed a 5m caster line to the tree and a margin line. Fir the second day running I caught a snag on the short line and trashed a rig, there are loads of submerged branches in Lodge it would appear. The other lines were slow and whilst Dan squires to my right was catching reasonable skimmers, I was catching skimmers that were 1-2oz, but the odd thing was that they are starting to turn bronze.  No matter what line I fished the fish were tiny, either that or 8lb+........

I persevered, but not matter what I did, I just couldn't get any quality fish, the biggest fish I had with 1 1/2 hours to go was 3oz.  The carp didn't help matters, no matter what line I fished, they were there and eating, whilst Dan and a couple of others, especially Mash on the end peg were getting carp, they were getting the decent stamp of skimmers in between.

With an hour to go I was close to packing up, but then had a roach which was nudging a pound, in perfect condition, is there a more lovely fish? By now I had used 25 hooklengths and landed 4 or 5 carp as well, when all of a sudden, with 25 minutes to go I had 4 decent skimmers on the trot, which just helped my belief that they weren't in front of me earlier. This took my weight from about  5 or 6lb to 12lb or so, before the carp moved back in and polished off another 5 hooklengths in the final 15 minutes. So 30 hooks gone and 4 or 5 carp landed, no wonder the skimmers weren't there.....

So two disappointing days, when I would have expected to do better, I probably fished too positively on Saturday, but that was a go for it day and Sunday, as Dan Squires fed 3 pints of maggot, maybe I fished too negatively. I think it was a hindrance rather than a help being on the same lake two days running.  As for Tony "I never draw a bad peg" Rixon, he mode the most of a good peg and won the match from peg 98 on Cary.

1) Tony Rixon 40.02 peg 98
2) Nick Collins 39.10 peg 111
3) Steve Mayo 37.06 peg 71
4) Mark Brennan 36.02 peg 129
5) Steve Kedge 36.01 peg 128
6) Bob Gullick 35.02 peg 78

Viaduct Silvers All Winners Final. Saturday 19th October 2013

After Wednesdays practice match, I was looking forward to this, a lift down with Tony Rixon and a breakfast at Shipham was a good start to the day, even if it was a squeeze in the van, as we had anglings new body builder, Trigger, sandwiched in between us.

I fancied a draw on Cary, but also thought that a weight from Campbell was well overdue, so where did I draw, Lodge......  in all fairness, it is a peg that has some silvers form, peg 69, so I did think I'd catch a few fish.  I had Tim Pallant on 68 for company and he was end peg, Nick Ewers on the other side on 70, also on 71 was Viaduct silvers specialist, John Green, so some tough competition.

I set up three rigs, one to fish short and two to fish at 11m, one standard rig with a bulk and two droppers, the other with a double bulk. I also set up a waggler and a margin rig, as I had time. the margin rig produced one small perch and the waggler a couple of small rudd, so no more about them.

In fact there isn't much to write about any of it, very slow, the whole lake fished hard and as it was a £750 final. I attacked the peg and fished for 40lb, which I though would be a minimum to win, probably more.

I fed 5 big balls of groundbait with CW&C in at 11m and started short, two decent roach in the first two put ins then I hooked a snag and that trashed the rig and killed the short line.

I only managed 4 proper skimmers the whole match, they came in two spells of two, after about 2 hours and in the last hour, although I did have one well over a pound that jumped over the rope that holds the aerator, the hook, obviously came out and stuck in the rope.

A miserable day and I tipped back just about double figures, not bothering the scalesman.

Winner from Cary, second from Campbell, both over 50lb, highest weight on Lodge was half the winners weight at 28lb.

I didn't get a result sheet so see Tony's blog.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Viaduct Silvers Open, Cary. Wednesday 16th October 2013

In preparation for two 50+ peg silvers matches at Viaduct this weekend coming, the all winners final on Saturday and the 2nd round of the silvers league on Sunday, I decided to fish this and after traveling down with convivial tackle dealer, Tony Rixon, I managed to pull out another peg that I wouldn't have chosen - 85.  What makes it worse is that Matt Tomes pulled 78, the peg he won the 1st round of the silvers from and Tony managed to back 102, one away from where he took 4th place in the silvers league - where do you sell your soul to draw like that!!!

Still, they may have moved and the Bridge Troll, Bobby G, managed 2nd in the silvers league from 86, so hopefully some fish in the area. I set up a cage feeder, in case the weather or more specifically the wind got worse, a rig with a pencil float to fish short, a NG Gimp to fish at 11m and a MW F1 slim to fish a double bulk at 11m, as I had time before the all in, I also set up a rig to fish the margin.

4 big balls of groundbait with caster and a little chopped worm went in at 11m, loose fed caster short, starting short, I had a couple of perch and roach, but the first half an hour soon went by with little to show for it.  Shipping out a worm head to 11m resulted in...... nothing, I was expecting a few bites, there were some pin prick skimmer bubbles out by the float.  A switch to maggot saw a few skimmers in the net, but mainly small ones, 2-3oz with a couple of 12oz fish.  The line was very slow, as was the short line, so a look down the margin was in order, I'd been feeding casters with a catty at about 10m towards 84, this produced a couple of perch and roach, but not the tench or big perch I wanted.

I decided to try the feeder and had clipped it up at 30 turns, first put in, the tip curled round I lifted into what looked like a skimmer bite and carp no1 swam off towards the aerator, relieving the rig of its hook.  Another hook tied on and back out, I tried the feeder for half an hour and missed 3 roach bites, so gave it up as a bad job.

Back on the pole and a large worm section over the 11m line brought a 31/2lb bream to the net, but it appeared to be a lonesome fish, as no more of this stamp were forthcoming. I swapped between the 11m and short line, feeding groundbait on both, taking odd fish, roach, skimmers, chub, eel, ruffe and perch, so a wide variety, but little quality until I had a big hybrid and then 3 skimmers on the short line.  By now the 11m line had the tell tale sign of carp, big circular patches of bubbles erupting over it, so I left it alone and fished out the short line until the end of the match.

It was a close match and my 30 minutes on the feeder might have cost me, as my fish weighed 26.07 for second in section, although I did get the section money by default, as Matt was joint 3rd..  For the 2nd match running, not too much carp trouble, will that continue? I hope so.

1) Steve Kedge 31.10 peg 97
2) Tony Rixon 31.06 peg 102
=3) Gary Etheridge 30.06 peg 105
=3) Matt Tomes 30.06 peg 78
5) Keith Mashedar 29.07 peg 99
6) Chris Fox 26.07 peg 85

Monday 7 October 2013

Viaduct Silvers league Round 1. Sunday 6th October 2013

The unseasonal October weather promised sunshine and the lightest of breezes, hardly ideal conditions to herald the start of a silvers series.  Campbell lake has been particularly tough for silvers lately, although last Wednesdays match did hint that sport was picking up, that said, the consensus was pretty unanimous that to be that for a chance of framing, a draw away from Campbell, on Cary or Lodge would be necessary.

A nice treat this morning, a lift down from Tony (Rixon), especially as the time I got in on Saturday night is a little vague, after a trip into town to see Jimmy Carr, all the good intentions of coming straight home, were destroyed by the temptation of the City Center nightlife.

Into the draw tin and out comes 110 on Campbell........ WTF do I have to do to draw a decent peg!!  Still as its a series and the main thing is to get section points, so after collecting several commiserations (and some smug grins) on the way, I got to 110 and tried to plan out a way to score points from an unfavoured peg. I set up a small feeder and waggler rods, but they were packed away again at the end without either wetting a line.

This left my pole lines to consider, I set up a rig to hopefully catch some Tench down by the stump, although they haven't shown there for a while, a double bulk rig to fish over groundbait, with CW&C, a standard bulk and two dropper rig and a colmic pencil to fish caster close in.  I used an electric drill and groundbait whisk for the first time to mix my groundbait - why have I waited so long!!  A perfect mix that doesn't need riddling and in a fraction of the time, I'm now converted.

My bait tray was caster, worm, maggot as the main baits, I did dampen a few micro's and pump up some expanders and open a tin of corn, but given the conditions I was convinced putting any sort of pellet in would see the carp arrive in numbers.  On the all in I put 5 balls of groundbait on a line at 12m, off to my left, using the opposite corner point of the lake as a marker, loose fed caster short and cupped in some CW&C down by the stump.

Starting short, I managed a few small roach on maggot, as caster was a waste of time, a bite on it everytime, but when I managed to hook something on it, it was of the 3 or 4 to the oz stamp, the reverse of what you'd expect as the maggot fish were 1-3oz. After half an hour, I went out over the groundbait line and sat and waited, watching a motionless float, there was no indication of fish there, so I abandoned that and re-fed it with 2 more balls of groundbait.  I had a look down by the stump and missed a bite first drop in, dropping the rig back in and it shot under, this time a small tench safely netted.

By now I was behind Clayton (Hudson) on peg 111, who had managed to get three  tench so far and my hopes that the tench had re inhabited the stump in great numbers were sadly dashed, as for the rest of the match, the stump produced either a small perch or a carp that disappeared round the back of the stump.

At last, an odd bubble or two over the groundbait, so back out with the double bulk rig and three decent skimmers netted in half an hour or so, not dramatic sport, but clawing back some ground on Clayton and Nigel Bartlett on 112. Then the carp decided that they would muscle in on the skimmers party and either foulers or properly hooked carp made the line a waste of time.

I did try a line fed with micros at about 7m straight in front, first drop in with a 4mm expander saw a carp take it immediately, so that line was abandoned.  By now I was having some amusement, watching Clayton, it was like a well oiled bagging machine, sadly for him, it was carp after carp.  One 'carp' he was tussling with and pulling a bit hard popped up and was a tench, his sudden change of playing style to careful, allowed the tench to go around his platform legs, through his keepnets and provide a couple of minutes of  entertainment, but it was obviously well hooked as he safely netted it.

I found that by staying short, I was avoiding the worst of the carp, if I had set up a shallow rig, I could have caught a roach a chuck, but I stuck at the full depth rig and pieces of worm, as this produced at a slower rate, but with a tench, some skimmers and better roach, it was a better stamp of fish. Towards the end, the best way to get bites was feed a tiny ball of groundbait with CW&C every 10 put ins and a bigger ball of plain groundbait every put in.

So a disappointing draw and I honestly didn't have a clue what weight I had, due to the wide variation in fish sizes and sporadic catch rate, I was last in the section to weigh and had Anton page's 27lb to beat, I knew I didn't have that, but was pleasantly surprised to see the scales pull round to 22.13, which was 3rd in section.  Which given the weights in the section, I wonder now if I abandoned the skimmer line too soon, or if I should have tried starting a new one, but then the time spent doing that would have cost me some of the fish taken short.

Campbell weighboard below.



As predicted, the framers came from Cary and Lodge, maybe Campbell will keep improving and compete as the weather gets colder.


  1. Matt Tomes 41-05-0 peg 78
  2. Bob Gullick 40-03-0 peg 86
  3. Paul Faiers 37-02-0 peg 69
  4. Tony Rixon 36-09-0 peg 101
  5. Andy Neal 35-07-0 peg 97
  6. Ian Didcot 34-03-0 peg 100

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Viaduct Open, Wednesday 2nd October 2013

A choice of two matches today, Landsend or Viaduct.  I've been doing a bit of thinking as regards my recent poor run and the need to try and embrace pellet fishing rather than treat it as a necessary evil, with that in mind, I chose Viaduct.

Todays match saw 12 of us on Campbell, so plenty of room and a few fish would surely grace my nets, the traffic was a nightmare and it took an hour and 20 minutes to do what is usually a 50 minute journey.  I was about 3rd into the draw tin and I can't say I was too pleased when 130 was staring back at me, the peg hasn't had a lot of form this year.  But I was still sure I was going to give it a good go and catch whatever it held.

I had come with the sole intention of fishing for carp, so two baits on the side tray, hard pellet and meat, I set up a rig to fish pellet at 14m, meat at 7m and a margin rig. To compliment this, I set up a full depth waggler and a straight lead.  On the all in I started on the waggler out towards the aerator, it took 40 mins to get a fish and no real indication or gut feeling that they were there.  Dropping onto the 14m pole line I caught a couple straight away where I had potted in some 6mm pellet at the start, but they were small fish and the bites weren't too quick in coming.   I had Paul greenwood on 132 for company and by now he was catching a few on the waggler, up towards 134.

The pole line did offer up a few signs of fish, a few bubbles, not exactly fizzing, the odd swirl and a couple of foul hookers, so into the box and out with a shallow rig, I hadn't set one up as it was flat calm and the colour has dropped out a bit.  I tried the shallow rig, just dropping it in, slapping and varying the depth, it didn't produce a single bite.  I had fed the margins either side and had a look in them, nothing, I wasn't too surprised I hadn't seen any indication of fish down to 129 or under the tree to my right.

The 7m meat line was also devoid of signs of fish, so I did pick up the lead rod and had one fish on it, but another small one (3lb).  With 2 hours gone I was struggling, so back on the 14m line and I managed a couple more fish, lifting and dropping, but the wait for a bite was far too long to compete with the pegs I could see bagging further down the lake.

Finally, with a couple of hours to go, the meat line produced a bubble or two, although the bubbles seemed to becoming slightly short of where I had fed, so I took a section off and dropped in with some meat, kinder potting about half a dozen pieces over the float. In the fifth and sixth hours, my clicker went from 45lb, to 118lb and two tench at the all out, a few better meat fish, but it was a long way behind the pegs further down the lake.

It was an interesting last couple of hours that flew by, as I tried to work out the feeding on the meat line, too little (3 or 4 pieces) and bites were very slow to come, too many (12-15 pieces) and the peg fizzed, the float jigged about and a foul hooker charged off.  I had been dropping it in from 4' and that also seemed to encourage the liners, so I found that 6-8 pieces put on top of the float with no splash, produced hitable bites from bigger fish.  A small consolation was beating Paul on 132, as the honours were reversed when we drew 131(me) and 132 a couple of months ago.

I was reasonably pleased with my performance, given that the fish were obviously shoaled up further down the lake, I'm sure I could have improved on my performance with the pellet, but not to the extent that would have more than doubled my weight.

Everyone who weighed (except Tim Pallant who fished for silvers), weighed over a ton, so I have gone further down the list than normal, to try and show the location of the fish in the middle area of the lake.

1) Scott Russell 280.15 peg 115
2) Dan White 232.06 peg 114
3) Dave Romain 197.02 peg 128
4) Roy Worth 180.13 peg 116
5) John Green 160.12 peg 112
6) M Skyme 145.15 peg 125
7) Chris Fox 128.02 peg 130
8) Colin (Burner or Barker?) 105.01 peg 126
9) Paul Greenwood 101.01 peg 132

Pegs 110 and 118 DNW

Silvers

1) Tim Pallant 34.10 peg 123
2) Scott Russell 13.13 peg 115