Back to part of my fishing roots today, Clevedon's Xmas match which was traditionally held on the River Kenn, now moved to Plantation Lakes, as it seems unlikely there would be much interest in getting covered in the Kenn's renowned grey mud, even though, by all accounts it's fishing well at the moment. My previous best in this match is a second place, so a good draw today would be needed to try and get the elusive win.
The draw was delayed, it seemed as if there was pegging by general consensus going on, finally the tickets went into the bucket and a ungentlemanly rabble wrestled for the chance to draw one of the coveted flyers. No need for me to get excited, the bay, peg 33 found it's way into my hand, I can't recall it ever winning a match and it used to be a good silvers peg, but even they don't seem to live there in the same numbers now.
The bread I bought on the way down to the match, along with the lead rod was unlikely to get used, although I did set it up, just to try out a rod I bought yesterday, a 10/11' Tournament. Three rigs would suffice, two NG gimps a 0.3g to fish the open water at 11m and a 0.25g pencil for the short line, which used to be very productive on this peg. Lastly, as the wind was forecast to be strong and gusty, I set up a 0.4g MW cane diamond.
I fed two pole lines with a cup, one at 11m of to my right, using Paul Faiers on 38 as my line up marker and one at 11m straight in front, the line in front fed with micro's, the RH line fed with maggot. Caster into the short line and close margins, then a couple of chucks with the lead, not so much as a liner on there, so up the bank with it. It took half an hour or so to get my first bite, a perch about 8oz, this on maggot over the micros. A switch to the RH line and a decent skimmer graced the net, before that went dead. Straight back in front and a small carp gave me the run round as it was hooked just outside of the mouth. That was it, no more bites from either of those lines, I didn't manage a bit from either of the short margins or short line and it was tough going. Kev Perry came round for a walk from Horseshoe lake where he was blanking and he wasn't alone, he must have brought some luck, as I'd got off my box and made up a rig to fish 16m round the margin, just past peg 34, this brought another small carp.
Dobbing 3 white maggots saw me foul another, but it came off straight away, a try with bread was a total waste of time and switching back to maggot brought one more carp. That was to be my last bite, as we then had a wind and hailstorm, tricky to hold the 16m whilst it was going on, a look round the other lines was biteless and the last 20 minutes when it calmed down again, was also devoid of any action.
I guessed that Paul Faiers had just beaten me, as he had 4 carp and two tiny roach, watching him play and land a tail hooked carp on 0.10 and six elastic was the highlight of the day, even though he just edged past me with it.
My perch and skimmer went 2.08 and the 3 carp 13.02, so 15.10 in total, for 6th in the match and on the lake. Gawd knows what prize I'll get as Faierzy and Glenn were propping up the bar as I left, with them getting a a lift home, they'll no doubt have a pint or two........so perhaps asking them to get my prize was a mistake!!! I had to go as the new puppy had been at home a few hours by herself.
Run away winner was John Wolvenscroft from peg 8 with 14 carp on bread/liccy in the feeder. A special mention for Lance Tucker who blanked on the sought after peg 7 - although he was far from alone, I think there were 7 blanks from the 31 fishing and some pretty low weights. There were 20 pegs on the Main lake and 11 on Horseshoe, top six all from main lake, best weight from Horseshoe was Rich Lovering, 15.05.
1. John Wolvenscroft 64.10 peg 8
2. Don Sutherland 25.08 peg 31
3. Paul Nicholls 19.12 peg 1
4. John Page 19.04 peg 18
5. Paul Faiers 16.09 peg 38
6. Chris Fox 15.10 peg 33
Silvers
1. Mike Owens 6.14 peg 12
2. Brian Slipper 5.03 peg 23
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Avon Angling Open, Landsend, Wednesday 18th December 2013
The weather forecast was pretty bad for today, but as I have somehow managed a couple of decent section and silvers results in the first two rounds of the Landsend league, I need the practice, today's match was on Match Lake and that's where I am for the next round.
It seems that the pegs in the teens (including eleventeen) have been the place to draw lately, I managed to avoid that area and drew 21. Plenty of room as there were only 9 hardy souls braving the inclement weather, with Martin Lengahan on peg 18 and John 'Turkey' Thompson on peg 24. I set up 3 rigs, one to fish the edges down to the pallets of 20 and 22, neither side produced a bite, so no more elaboration on that. A MW slim on 0.16 to a banded hooklength on 0.14 for the second shelf right across (that was about 2'6" deep), it was pretty mild, about 10-12°C, so why wouldn't the carp fancy a 6mm pellet. A pencil float on 0.14 with a 0.12 hooklength completed the set up, this would do to fish caster, maggot or devil spawn, close in and down the track.
I fed the far shelf with half a dozen 4mm pellets, before cupping in a few casters and 4 maggots in at 8m, the deepest part of the peg, immediately the float buried and I was connected to a carp, I think it was fouled, but I wasn't to find out, as I manged to get the pole back and break down to the top kit, before the fish took off again and snapped the hooklength. Lesson learned, I think the hooklength was 0.10, I had changed it at Viaduct and not remarked the winder. On with a 0.12 hooklength and that lasted the rest of the match.
I was also feeding a few casters just over my nets, as the water had some colour in it, with a reasonable depth. The 8m line proved to be pretty non productive after the initial lost fish, so after ¾ of an hour, I did have a look over the far shelf with a 6mm pellet, not so much as a liner was forthcoming. Dropping in on the short line saw the float bury after less than 1 minute, double maggot accounting for a carp which was at least 9lb. A couple of micro perch followed, the a solid feel to the next strike and a bream of 3lb or so was netted.
To rest this line I retried the 8m line and swapped the banded hook for a plain spade end on the far shelf rig, the far shelf then produced a couple of decent perch and carp to maggot, before that too went quiet. Back in close and another big skimmer, a couple of roach and then a perch, before it died off again.
The 8m line produced a carp and a small f1, but it was a long wait for bites, the far shelf had responded to loose fed maggot, but in the shape of small roach and rudd, not much point catching them,especially at 16m. One more carp from the close line and I thought I had 27lb of carp and 8 or 9lb of silvers, the 4 carp went 30lb exactly and the silvers 11.06 for what is now becoming a habit, one out of the money!!
1. Tony Rixon 95.10 Peg 16
2. Aaron Britnell 68.06 Peg 11
3. Chris Fox 41.06 Peg 21
4. Alan Oram 36.08 Peg 7
5. John Thompson 31.00 Peg 24
6. John Bradford 25.08 Peg 3
Silvers
Tony Rixon 19.06
It seems that the pegs in the teens (including eleventeen) have been the place to draw lately, I managed to avoid that area and drew 21. Plenty of room as there were only 9 hardy souls braving the inclement weather, with Martin Lengahan on peg 18 and John 'Turkey' Thompson on peg 24. I set up 3 rigs, one to fish the edges down to the pallets of 20 and 22, neither side produced a bite, so no more elaboration on that. A MW slim on 0.16 to a banded hooklength on 0.14 for the second shelf right across (that was about 2'6" deep), it was pretty mild, about 10-12°C, so why wouldn't the carp fancy a 6mm pellet. A pencil float on 0.14 with a 0.12 hooklength completed the set up, this would do to fish caster, maggot or devil spawn, close in and down the track.
I fed the far shelf with half a dozen 4mm pellets, before cupping in a few casters and 4 maggots in at 8m, the deepest part of the peg, immediately the float buried and I was connected to a carp, I think it was fouled, but I wasn't to find out, as I manged to get the pole back and break down to the top kit, before the fish took off again and snapped the hooklength. Lesson learned, I think the hooklength was 0.10, I had changed it at Viaduct and not remarked the winder. On with a 0.12 hooklength and that lasted the rest of the match.
I was also feeding a few casters just over my nets, as the water had some colour in it, with a reasonable depth. The 8m line proved to be pretty non productive after the initial lost fish, so after ¾ of an hour, I did have a look over the far shelf with a 6mm pellet, not so much as a liner was forthcoming. Dropping in on the short line saw the float bury after less than 1 minute, double maggot accounting for a carp which was at least 9lb. A couple of micro perch followed, the a solid feel to the next strike and a bream of 3lb or so was netted.
To rest this line I retried the 8m line and swapped the banded hook for a plain spade end on the far shelf rig, the far shelf then produced a couple of decent perch and carp to maggot, before that too went quiet. Back in close and another big skimmer, a couple of roach and then a perch, before it died off again.
The 8m line produced a carp and a small f1, but it was a long wait for bites, the far shelf had responded to loose fed maggot, but in the shape of small roach and rudd, not much point catching them,especially at 16m. One more carp from the close line and I thought I had 27lb of carp and 8 or 9lb of silvers, the 4 carp went 30lb exactly and the silvers 11.06 for what is now becoming a habit, one out of the money!!
1. Tony Rixon 95.10 Peg 16
2. Aaron Britnell 68.06 Peg 11
3. Chris Fox 41.06 Peg 21
4. Alan Oram 36.08 Peg 7
5. John Thompson 31.00 Peg 24
6. John Bradford 25.08 Peg 3
Silvers
Tony Rixon 19.06
Monday, 16 December 2013
Viaduct Silvers League R6. Sunday 15th December 2013
Last match in the league today, it's been a well run league, albeit one that won't linger too long in the memory for me. League winner Tony Rixon picked me up, nice for him to have it in the bag with one match still to go, proof that a simple approach and confidence in it pays off.
The draw tin wasn't too kind to me, off to peg 81 on Cary, which is usually a bit of a feast or famine peg where silvers are concerned and it's mostly been famine this series looking at the previous weights/points from it.
With the wind blowing into my face and rain forecast to fall all day, the first thing I set up was a small groundbait feeder, to fish out level with the end of the spit. Two pole rigs completed the tackle line up, a MW diamond to fish at 11m, for caster or maggot over groundbait and a rig to fish down to the monk, in the hope that some decent perch or tench were in residence and hungry.
Not much point in fishing negatively today, as a few small roach won't be enough for the section or frame and with Tony Rixon and Tim Pallant in the section on pegs 78 and 79 it would be tough to beat them. I cupped 5 balls of groundbait into the 11m line, some caster down to the monk and then started on the feeder. in 50 minutes I had one bite, which was a skimmer about 10oz. Even with a fluoro maggot on, the tip remained resolutely still, the rain was still holding off so time to switch to the 11m line. This produced a few bites, but instead of the intended skimmers, the pegs occupants seemed to consist of 1-2oz roach. As this was all I could catch, I set up the waggler rod that had lain ready made up in the rodbag, this was effective at catching the roach, but they weren't coming quickly enough to build a double figure weight.
The monk produced a couple of 4oz roach and two perch, one about 12oz, another 8oz, but bites were few and far between. A new line was started at 11m along the spit, this fed just with maggot, as caster had been totally non productive, just one ½oz roach to show for it, this line produced a few hybrids and roach, with the hybrids being of a better stamp than the roach, one of them going just over a lb.
To round off the series, I lost a fish that would have won me the section, a hybrid of at least 3lb, in fairness it was lassoed or fouled, I lifted the rig to lift and drop the bait and it was on, it came to the surface totally inanimately, with it's dorsal fin and a proportion of its back out of the water, one big kick of its tail and it was gone, along with a chance of any sort of redemption for the series.
By rotating the lines and keeping fish, even though small, coming, when they went on the scales the dial pulled round to 10.08, as expected not enough to beat Tony or Tim who both managed to find a couple of better skimmers as they took 1st and 2nd in the section with 12.07 and 12.02.
The trip home was not without event, a dark wet and miserable night and as we pulled away from the traffic lights in Shepton mallet and drove into the dip by the cider factory, a car pulled out of town lane totally oblivious to our presence, Tony nearly managed to stop, but the young lads Audi suffered a crumpled wing as we unavoidably hit him, thankfully at low speed. Then coming out of Clutton and rounding the corner towards Chelwood we came to a halt in a line of stationary traffic with a sight of half a dozen or so blue lights at the top of the hill. Thinking it would be a good idea to turn round and cut through Clutton village and round by the Hunters Rest, we did so, forgetting now that nearly everyone has a sat nav, so many others had the same idea, even if they didn't have that bit of local knowledge. The van got stuck in a soft verge, causing a bit of a jam in the narrow lanes, but with a push from some helping hands we got on our way and at least got home safely.
1. Steve Tucker 21.10 peg 110
2. Bob Gullick 20.13 peg 98
3. Paul Greenwood 17.04 peg 131
4. Keith Mashedar 17.00 peg 119
5. Andy Power 16.12 peg 56
6. Ian Didcote 16.10 peg 98
Overall.
1. Tony Rixon
2. Bob Gullick
The draw tin wasn't too kind to me, off to peg 81 on Cary, which is usually a bit of a feast or famine peg where silvers are concerned and it's mostly been famine this series looking at the previous weights/points from it.
With the wind blowing into my face and rain forecast to fall all day, the first thing I set up was a small groundbait feeder, to fish out level with the end of the spit. Two pole rigs completed the tackle line up, a MW diamond to fish at 11m, for caster or maggot over groundbait and a rig to fish down to the monk, in the hope that some decent perch or tench were in residence and hungry.
Not much point in fishing negatively today, as a few small roach won't be enough for the section or frame and with Tony Rixon and Tim Pallant in the section on pegs 78 and 79 it would be tough to beat them. I cupped 5 balls of groundbait into the 11m line, some caster down to the monk and then started on the feeder. in 50 minutes I had one bite, which was a skimmer about 10oz. Even with a fluoro maggot on, the tip remained resolutely still, the rain was still holding off so time to switch to the 11m line. This produced a few bites, but instead of the intended skimmers, the pegs occupants seemed to consist of 1-2oz roach. As this was all I could catch, I set up the waggler rod that had lain ready made up in the rodbag, this was effective at catching the roach, but they weren't coming quickly enough to build a double figure weight.
The monk produced a couple of 4oz roach and two perch, one about 12oz, another 8oz, but bites were few and far between. A new line was started at 11m along the spit, this fed just with maggot, as caster had been totally non productive, just one ½oz roach to show for it, this line produced a few hybrids and roach, with the hybrids being of a better stamp than the roach, one of them going just over a lb.
To round off the series, I lost a fish that would have won me the section, a hybrid of at least 3lb, in fairness it was lassoed or fouled, I lifted the rig to lift and drop the bait and it was on, it came to the surface totally inanimately, with it's dorsal fin and a proportion of its back out of the water, one big kick of its tail and it was gone, along with a chance of any sort of redemption for the series.
By rotating the lines and keeping fish, even though small, coming, when they went on the scales the dial pulled round to 10.08, as expected not enough to beat Tony or Tim who both managed to find a couple of better skimmers as they took 1st and 2nd in the section with 12.07 and 12.02.
The trip home was not without event, a dark wet and miserable night and as we pulled away from the traffic lights in Shepton mallet and drove into the dip by the cider factory, a car pulled out of town lane totally oblivious to our presence, Tony nearly managed to stop, but the young lads Audi suffered a crumpled wing as we unavoidably hit him, thankfully at low speed. Then coming out of Clutton and rounding the corner towards Chelwood we came to a halt in a line of stationary traffic with a sight of half a dozen or so blue lights at the top of the hill. Thinking it would be a good idea to turn round and cut through Clutton village and round by the Hunters Rest, we did so, forgetting now that nearly everyone has a sat nav, so many others had the same idea, even if they didn't have that bit of local knowledge. The van got stuck in a soft verge, causing a bit of a jam in the narrow lanes, but with a push from some helping hands we got on our way and at least got home safely.
1. Steve Tucker 21.10 peg 110
2. Bob Gullick 20.13 peg 98
3. Paul Greenwood 17.04 peg 131
4. Keith Mashedar 17.00 peg 119
5. Andy Power 16.12 peg 56
6. Ian Didcote 16.10 peg 98
Overall.
1. Tony Rixon
2. Bob Gullick
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Avon Angling Open, Trinity Waters, Wednesday 11th December 2013
A significant date for this match, 11-12-13, that's the last number sequencing any of us will see, as it won't happen again until 2103.
14 on the lake today, so a good spread of pegs, I was hoping to avoid the top bank, as it has been unkind to me, but the cold wind blowing down the lake did suggest that the top end of the lake might be the place to draw. Into the hat, after friendly greeting from Misha, out comes peg 8, 7 and 8 used to be flyers when the tree was in the water, but they have become more on par with the rest of the pegs as the tree has been gone a while now.
Two rigs would suffice today, a 0.6g NG Gimp to fish various baits in the open water and a MW slim to target the margins, particularly under the pallets either side. the water was pretty coloured so no need to fish too light, 0.16 on the margin rig and start on 0.14 on the open water rig. Given the depth of this lake the fish often sit off bottom, so I did have a lead rod with a 2' hooklength, set up to fish popped up bread.
Some micros and a couple of grains of corn went in at 13m, no need to go longer and the wind would have made it too much like hard work to do so. Leaving it to rest I did have a dob under both pallets with bread, but not so much as a tremor on the float. A look over the fed area brought micro roach to maggot, and even dead maggot wouldn't put them off and leave the bait for a decent fish to pick up. A switch to corn brought a skimmer, but that was to be my only bite on corn in the open water, Devils Spawn was completely non productive, so back to maggot and a few small skimmers fell to that, but it was slow and the fish were too small to make it worth while.
At 1pm I went down under the pallet of peg 7, having fed a few grains of corn, this produced 4 fish in a 20 minute period, then it went quiet, so I guess I had taken the resident fish, I refed and tried the pallet of peg 9, but the wind was making it too tricky to get the presentation correct and in the right place.
I decided to make a proper bread dobbing rig for under the pallets, even though the water was probably a bit too coloured for it to work, I chucked the lead whilst I was doing it and before I could pick up the line to start making the rig, the tip was nodding and a carp had taken the bread, a false dawn, as I didn't have another bite on it, nor the dobbing rig.
The open water swim was totally non productive, so I finished the match by taking a couple more fish from the margins and with hindsight, should have concentrated on that, as it was the only area of the peg producing carp. My fish went 33.08, frustratingly one out of the money, by 10oz. As I thought the fish came from the top end of the lake, but that will change, as at the moment different pegs/areas seem to be winning every week.
1. Kev Molten 71.07 peg 15
2. Tony Rixon 62.10 peg 23
3. Martin Lengahan 34.01 peg 31
4. Chris Fox 33.08 peg 8
5. Matt Tomes 28.03 peg 19
6. Tim Pallant 22.07 peg 12 (All silvers, top silvers weight as well).
14 on the lake today, so a good spread of pegs, I was hoping to avoid the top bank, as it has been unkind to me, but the cold wind blowing down the lake did suggest that the top end of the lake might be the place to draw. Into the hat, after friendly greeting from Misha, out comes peg 8, 7 and 8 used to be flyers when the tree was in the water, but they have become more on par with the rest of the pegs as the tree has been gone a while now.
Two rigs would suffice today, a 0.6g NG Gimp to fish various baits in the open water and a MW slim to target the margins, particularly under the pallets either side. the water was pretty coloured so no need to fish too light, 0.16 on the margin rig and start on 0.14 on the open water rig. Given the depth of this lake the fish often sit off bottom, so I did have a lead rod with a 2' hooklength, set up to fish popped up bread.
Some micros and a couple of grains of corn went in at 13m, no need to go longer and the wind would have made it too much like hard work to do so. Leaving it to rest I did have a dob under both pallets with bread, but not so much as a tremor on the float. A look over the fed area brought micro roach to maggot, and even dead maggot wouldn't put them off and leave the bait for a decent fish to pick up. A switch to corn brought a skimmer, but that was to be my only bite on corn in the open water, Devils Spawn was completely non productive, so back to maggot and a few small skimmers fell to that, but it was slow and the fish were too small to make it worth while.
At 1pm I went down under the pallet of peg 7, having fed a few grains of corn, this produced 4 fish in a 20 minute period, then it went quiet, so I guess I had taken the resident fish, I refed and tried the pallet of peg 9, but the wind was making it too tricky to get the presentation correct and in the right place.
I decided to make a proper bread dobbing rig for under the pallets, even though the water was probably a bit too coloured for it to work, I chucked the lead whilst I was doing it and before I could pick up the line to start making the rig, the tip was nodding and a carp had taken the bread, a false dawn, as I didn't have another bite on it, nor the dobbing rig.
The open water swim was totally non productive, so I finished the match by taking a couple more fish from the margins and with hindsight, should have concentrated on that, as it was the only area of the peg producing carp. My fish went 33.08, frustratingly one out of the money, by 10oz. As I thought the fish came from the top end of the lake, but that will change, as at the moment different pegs/areas seem to be winning every week.
1. Kev Molten 71.07 peg 15
2. Tony Rixon 62.10 peg 23
3. Martin Lengahan 34.01 peg 31
4. Chris Fox 33.08 peg 8
5. Matt Tomes 28.03 peg 19
6. Tim Pallant 22.07 peg 12 (All silvers, top silvers weight as well).
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Landsend League, Round Two. Sunday 8th December 2013
After I shocked myself (and a few others no doubt) with a section 2nd and a lake silvers win in the first round, I actually had something to build on in this round. My turn for the specimen lake today, I was a bit disappointed that anglers fishing the league had fished a match on it yesterday, just my personal opinion.
I was only a few back in the queue at the draw, but the favoured pegs 33 and 31 were already gone to a contented looking Mark Poppleton and Trigger (Craig Edmunds). I managed to pick peg 32 the end peg on the far bank, opposite Mark Poppleton, whose peg had won the Saturdays match. Some helpful advice from Ken Rayner, Tony Rixon and Mike Duckett was noted. I was surprised to see just how clear the water is at the moment, so the rigs were all on 0.14 with either 0.12 or 0.10 hooklengths. I set up two rigs, one for the open water that would suffice for Devils Spawn, caster or maggot and one for down the edge to the tree at 16m. The shelf by the tree is only about 6" shallower than the open water, so deep enough to hold fish even in the gin clear conditions.
Plenty of time, so in anticipation of a few carp showing later in the match, I set up another rig with a bait band, to fish 6mm pellet or pull the band into a piece of corn. This was a remarkable piece of optimism, which wasn't rewarded, so little to say about that rig.
On the all in, I fed some softened micros and a couple of maggots via a tosspot at 13.5m, lined up with the bin in John Bradfords peg (34). Starting on the Devils Spawn saw the float remain steady and visible, no indication of life beneath the surface. After 15 minutes, a swap to maggot brought an immediate response and a small F1 graced the net. Trigger on 31 had snared a carp and Mark P on 33 was already showing the rest of the lake how to do it.
That was it for that line, no more bites, no indication of any fish anywhere near it. So an early look down the edge saw me miss a bite, land a perch, bump one and land another, decent perch worth catching, over the lb mark. That too proved to be a false dawn and the line was for all intents and purposes, devoid of fish.
By now, it was becoming frustrating, watching Mark P, bemoaning the sun and the fizzing in his peg, causing light refraction and poor float visibility, mine and Triggers sympathy was unforthcoming, as even with this most terrible of conditions, Mark was still regularly netting, F1's, Skimmers and carp, in short, absolutely pissing the lake.
A rummage in my holdall produced an extension for my pole, so a new line started at 17.5m towards the aerator, this was bloody hardwork, but did result in 3 decent skimmers (one was really a bream) a couple of roach, some missed bites and two lost carp,one of which was definitely fouled, as a huge scale came back when it took umbrage at being hooked. The other carp snapped the 0.12 and the resultant recoil of the elastic broke the float and snapped or cut one strand of the double 5 elastic, summing up a hard day.
I did manage a couple more decent perch from the edge, but by now, was thoroughly pissed off at watching Mark P's elastic flowing from the end of his pole with almost clockwork regularity. Trigger managed a couple of carp towards the end, fishing 17.5m to the end of the island, the rest of our section, was really struggling, when anglers like Alan Oram manage two bites and one carp in 51/2 hours of fishing, you know its tough.
My motley collection of silvers went 12.12, for second in section, behind Triggers 28lb odd, the section had a DNW and a couple of 4lb weights, so pretty poor. As expected Mark Poppletons net won the match, 72lb odd, including nearly 23lb of silvers.
So I keep just about in touch in the league with two section seconds and two section silvers wins, surprising really, as Landsend usually sends me home with my tail between my legs, even though it was pretty humiliating to be so soundly beaten by the peg opposite, I just could not get the fish to move that 4 or 5 metres. With hindsight, maybe a lead rod or waggler would have been worth taking, just to be able to fish to the limits of my peg, as even with the other pole extension (which was home in the garage) 19m wouldn't have been enough and I'm now aching and knackered after fishing 17.5m for so long.
See Ken's blog http://kenrayner-fishing.blogspot.co.uk/ for the results, as I had to dash home for 'puppy duty'.
See previous post for details of Acorn pole only series, 2014.
I was only a few back in the queue at the draw, but the favoured pegs 33 and 31 were already gone to a contented looking Mark Poppleton and Trigger (Craig Edmunds). I managed to pick peg 32 the end peg on the far bank, opposite Mark Poppleton, whose peg had won the Saturdays match. Some helpful advice from Ken Rayner, Tony Rixon and Mike Duckett was noted. I was surprised to see just how clear the water is at the moment, so the rigs were all on 0.14 with either 0.12 or 0.10 hooklengths. I set up two rigs, one for the open water that would suffice for Devils Spawn, caster or maggot and one for down the edge to the tree at 16m. The shelf by the tree is only about 6" shallower than the open water, so deep enough to hold fish even in the gin clear conditions.
Plenty of time, so in anticipation of a few carp showing later in the match, I set up another rig with a bait band, to fish 6mm pellet or pull the band into a piece of corn. This was a remarkable piece of optimism, which wasn't rewarded, so little to say about that rig.
On the all in, I fed some softened micros and a couple of maggots via a tosspot at 13.5m, lined up with the bin in John Bradfords peg (34). Starting on the Devils Spawn saw the float remain steady and visible, no indication of life beneath the surface. After 15 minutes, a swap to maggot brought an immediate response and a small F1 graced the net. Trigger on 31 had snared a carp and Mark P on 33 was already showing the rest of the lake how to do it.
That was it for that line, no more bites, no indication of any fish anywhere near it. So an early look down the edge saw me miss a bite, land a perch, bump one and land another, decent perch worth catching, over the lb mark. That too proved to be a false dawn and the line was for all intents and purposes, devoid of fish.
By now, it was becoming frustrating, watching Mark P, bemoaning the sun and the fizzing in his peg, causing light refraction and poor float visibility, mine and Triggers sympathy was unforthcoming, as even with this most terrible of conditions, Mark was still regularly netting, F1's, Skimmers and carp, in short, absolutely pissing the lake.
A rummage in my holdall produced an extension for my pole, so a new line started at 17.5m towards the aerator, this was bloody hardwork, but did result in 3 decent skimmers (one was really a bream) a couple of roach, some missed bites and two lost carp,one of which was definitely fouled, as a huge scale came back when it took umbrage at being hooked. The other carp snapped the 0.12 and the resultant recoil of the elastic broke the float and snapped or cut one strand of the double 5 elastic, summing up a hard day.
I did manage a couple more decent perch from the edge, but by now, was thoroughly pissed off at watching Mark P's elastic flowing from the end of his pole with almost clockwork regularity. Trigger managed a couple of carp towards the end, fishing 17.5m to the end of the island, the rest of our section, was really struggling, when anglers like Alan Oram manage two bites and one carp in 51/2 hours of fishing, you know its tough.
My motley collection of silvers went 12.12, for second in section, behind Triggers 28lb odd, the section had a DNW and a couple of 4lb weights, so pretty poor. As expected Mark Poppletons net won the match, 72lb odd, including nearly 23lb of silvers.
So I keep just about in touch in the league with two section seconds and two section silvers wins, surprising really, as Landsend usually sends me home with my tail between my legs, even though it was pretty humiliating to be so soundly beaten by the peg opposite, I just could not get the fish to move that 4 or 5 metres. With hindsight, maybe a lead rod or waggler would have been worth taking, just to be able to fish to the limits of my peg, as even with the other pole extension (which was home in the garage) 19m wouldn't have been enough and I'm now aching and knackered after fishing 17.5m for so long.
See Ken's blog http://kenrayner-fishing.blogspot.co.uk/ for the results, as I had to dash home for 'puppy duty'.
See previous post for details of Acorn pole only series, 2014.
Saturday, 7 December 2013
Pole Only Series, Acorn Fishery, 2014
Pole Only Series 2014
Acorn Fishery, Kingston
Seymour, Somerset
Dates:
Sunday 6th April
Sunday
13th April
Sunday
27th April
Sunday
4th May
Sunday
25th May
Sunday
1st June
Draw: 09.15, Fish 10.30 – 16.30
Proposed
Payouts, based on 32 fishing, four sections of eight.
On
the day: Section 1st £60, Section 2nd £50, Section Silvers £40 (by default)
Overall: 1st - £300. 2nd - £200. 3rd - £150. 4th - £100. 5th - £50
Silvers: 1st - £120. 2nd - £80
You
can win in both categories.
Knockout:
Winner £100
Heaviest
Weight of Series £50
Heaviest
Silvers Weight of Series £50
(Payouts
will vary if numbers fishing differ, all monies except peg fees paid out)
If
32 or less fish, all sections will be on Paddock Lake, if 36 – 40 fish, there
will be a section on the top lake. This is due to an increase in peg fees this
year.
£36
Entry fee payable in advance, pools will be £25 per match, with last match
pools being paid up front with entry fee. Please pay this by 1st
April 2014. There will be an optional
superpool on the last match.
To
book a place, please call Paul Faiers: 01275 858984
Monday, 2 December 2013
Viaduct Silvers League Round 5. Sunday 2nd December 2013
Firstly, no blog for the last round, as I didn't have time when I got in and was off to London for a couple of days on the Monday morning, then to France to pick up a puppy, so its been a busy time and there was nothing much to write about, as this series continues in the disastrous vein it started.
Saturday night a few of us from work went out for a beer, so I was grateful to get a lift with Tony (Rixon) , as I doubt if I was under the limit for driving down. After the usual decent brekkie at Shipham, I felt a bit more human and managed to shrug off the hangover that was threatening to take hold.
Tony only had to win his section to sew up the league, with one to go, he managed this and fair play, he has made the most of his draws and stuck to his guns, fishing for skimmers or tench, rather than being side tracked by roach.
I managed to pick out 101, I thought it might be just too far along, but it should produce some fish, 3 rigs set up, a 0.4g rig to fish at 14m, caster/maggot over groundbait, another rig to do the same at 11m, where it was 6" shallower and a rig set up with a 22 on 0.06 as the water looked clear. This would be fished at 8m off to the left. A waggler rod completed the tackle set up. On the all in I put 3 balls in on the 14m line, 2 on the 11m line and fed some caster at 8m, starting on this line. It was tough going, with just a couple of small roach to show for it, Trigger on 102 had an empty peg to his left (down to several no shows, a real pain when you're running a series) and he used this to his advantage, taking a couple of decent skimmers, a perch and a roach nearly 1lb, whilst I struggled to get a bite.
What followed was a frustrating time, as three of us in a row (Chris Davies on 100) hooked and lost decent skimmers, they seemed to be sat up in the water and wouldn't take a caster, maggot meant these lost fish. It was like an outing of the Tourettes society it got that frustrating. If I had the beauty of hindsight, I might well have weighed in a better weight, as in a quiet spell I decided to try the waggler a couple of metres beyond the pole line. Straight away I had a decent hybrid on the drop, then a few roach and a skimmer, all this without feeding...... so thinking there were a few fish there feeding, I picked up the catapult, only fed a few casters and 3 or 4 maggots, but that killed the peg stone dead. I can only assume that the fish were sitting out behind the groundbait and were happy there, until a few casters rained down on them and they disappeared quicker than Mike Nicholls when he has to get his wallet out.
I struggled up until the end then, just with odd small roach and 1 more skimmer for w weight of 8.05, which was 3 oz more than Chris on 100, bit nearly 5lb behind Trigger on 100, who had put 6lb in the net in the first 2 hours, whilst most others struggled. At least I have a good idea that I buggered it up by feeding today, rather than a couple of the other matches, when I haven't been able to get my head round why its been such a struggle. A tough but enjoyable match and now I have to steel myself for next week, R2 of the Landsend league, I'm on Speci lake, apparently the draw will be crucial!!
Saturday night a few of us from work went out for a beer, so I was grateful to get a lift with Tony (Rixon) , as I doubt if I was under the limit for driving down. After the usual decent brekkie at Shipham, I felt a bit more human and managed to shrug off the hangover that was threatening to take hold.
Tony only had to win his section to sew up the league, with one to go, he managed this and fair play, he has made the most of his draws and stuck to his guns, fishing for skimmers or tench, rather than being side tracked by roach.
I managed to pick out 101, I thought it might be just too far along, but it should produce some fish, 3 rigs set up, a 0.4g rig to fish at 14m, caster/maggot over groundbait, another rig to do the same at 11m, where it was 6" shallower and a rig set up with a 22 on 0.06 as the water looked clear. This would be fished at 8m off to the left. A waggler rod completed the tackle set up. On the all in I put 3 balls in on the 14m line, 2 on the 11m line and fed some caster at 8m, starting on this line. It was tough going, with just a couple of small roach to show for it, Trigger on 102 had an empty peg to his left (down to several no shows, a real pain when you're running a series) and he used this to his advantage, taking a couple of decent skimmers, a perch and a roach nearly 1lb, whilst I struggled to get a bite.
What followed was a frustrating time, as three of us in a row (Chris Davies on 100) hooked and lost decent skimmers, they seemed to be sat up in the water and wouldn't take a caster, maggot meant these lost fish. It was like an outing of the Tourettes society it got that frustrating. If I had the beauty of hindsight, I might well have weighed in a better weight, as in a quiet spell I decided to try the waggler a couple of metres beyond the pole line. Straight away I had a decent hybrid on the drop, then a few roach and a skimmer, all this without feeding...... so thinking there were a few fish there feeding, I picked up the catapult, only fed a few casters and 3 or 4 maggots, but that killed the peg stone dead. I can only assume that the fish were sitting out behind the groundbait and were happy there, until a few casters rained down on them and they disappeared quicker than Mike Nicholls when he has to get his wallet out.
I struggled up until the end then, just with odd small roach and 1 more skimmer for w weight of 8.05, which was 3 oz more than Chris on 100, bit nearly 5lb behind Trigger on 100, who had put 6lb in the net in the first 2 hours, whilst most others struggled. At least I have a good idea that I buggered it up by feeding today, rather than a couple of the other matches, when I haven't been able to get my head round why its been such a struggle. A tough but enjoyable match and now I have to steel myself for next week, R2 of the Landsend league, I'm on Speci lake, apparently the draw will be crucial!!
- Gary O’Shea 23-02-0 peg 94
- Lee Werret 20-0-0 peg 59
- An-Ton Page 15-08-0 peg 118
- Mark Brennan 14-09-0 peg 119
- Richard Ahearn 13-02-0 peg 111
- Craig Edmonds 13-0-0 peg 102
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