England Ladies Fund Raiser, Barston, Tuesday 23rd July 2019

How time flies, this annual event seems to come round quicker every year....   A match that is keenly contested, but done in a friendly and social manner.

Nice to get a ride up today with Tony, a nice straight forward drive up and a decent breakfast in the Premier Inn.  The draw queue formed and then another formed and it was the secondary queue that got it right and we had to tag on near the back, I could see most of the 50's still undrawn, so was really hopeful of being there, but no, 16 presented itself to me and Tony opposite on 109, reasonably fair sections, but not, we thought likely to win.  That said, you are only fishing for section money, so no real disadvantage.

I was given plenty of advice by the two Mark's (Poppleton & Wynne) and this had me changing my plan of fishing for skimmers, to fishing for carp. So two wagglers set up, one shallow one at depth, a lead rod to fish the bomb on the line I could ping pellets and a method set up at 55 turns.

3 topkits, a shallow rig, a 0.5g homemade diamond float for skimmers and a Malman Roob set up heavier in case the carp moved in.  Starting on the waggler I gave it nearly an hour without a bite, swapping between shallow and full depth, before trying the bomb where I had been pinging 8mm feed pellets.  Chocolate orange 8mm on the hook and it didn't take long to go round, a 3 1/2lb carp was soon netted, but that was it, not so much as another indication.  The guys to my left had had a carp or two on the method, so out to the clipped up 55 turns it went, this was where I had found a harder patch of lake bed, within 2 minutes it went round and a 7/8lber was welcomed into the net. This again on chocolate orange 8mm, with 50/50 chocolate orange micros and GB on the feeder.

I stuck this out for another hour, timing casts at 5 mins and increasing to 10 minutes, but never had so much as a liner.  Back onto the waggler and whilst there was surface tow taking the float from L to R I managed to get the depth waggler to sit reasonably still, by putting 12" of line on the deck along with the 8m pellet, I was switching between plain feed pellets and chocolate orange, both on the hook and feeding, just to try and get a reaction.  The float never moved, to have a waggler sat in the 'pnging zone' and not get so much as a liner would suggest there aren't any fish there.

I finally succumbed to the boredom of not getting any bites and had a look on the pole line, with about 2 hours to go, I'd been feeding chocolate orange micros, 6mm choc orange pellets and corn at 7 joints.  Going in with a 6mm pellet on the hook, I was getting lots of indication, but with nothing to show for it, I then had a roach and after, a razorblade skimmer, so I think the indications were small fish pecking at the pellet.  I switched to corn on the hook and waited longer for a bite, but when it cam there was a better fish on the end.

I had to keep topping up to get bites and had an enjoyable last 90 minutes catching skimmers, although it was too little too late, had I fished 'properly' for them and fished two lines, I am sure I would have been in with a chance of some section coin.  Frustrating, but I would rather understand where I went wrong, unlike some matches earlier this year when I was no wiser after as to why I hadn't caught.  If only this were available in tackle shops....

So 33lb and thanks for coming, that doesn't detract from the enjoyable day, beautiful weather, I find the while Barston experience to be fairly unique and much prefer these big lakes to snake lakes.  The main point of the day was to raise some money to help the England Ladies get to this years World Champs and that was done, there was a match at the Glebe the day before and I believe it was about £1600 over the two days.  Well done to Julie Abbott for the organisation and administration of the event, there was a raffle at the end and my luck - or lack of it - continued in the raffle, although Tony won a tin of hemp and snails....   I guess we had one bit of luck, we managed to get an ice cream from the club shop before they sold out.

Well done to Pete Bailey on taking it out with 242.04 from 54, there was also a 140 and a 132 from the 50's so it appears the fish had followed the wind down the lake.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Penultimate Round, Shiplate, Sunday 21st July 2019

After the torrential rain of Friday and some spells yesterday, it was good to see a weather forecast with no rain for todays trip to this well kept fishery.  A bit of socialising before the draw and I got distracted and instead of being near the front of the queue, I ended up near the back.  6 Hawthorn was to be my home for the day, I will admit, I wasn't too chuffed, as I had brought Burt expanders, corn and Burts Silver Sensation/Expander GB to fish for skimmers, really hoping for a draw on the main lake.

I arrived at the peg and it was shouting out to be fished across with a banded pellet, tight to the far bank, I did set one up and plumbed it up, but had somewhat foolishly decided to 'fish for everything' by fishing expanders short and down the track.  So a rig set up for that, it was the same depth from under my feet to within 6' of the far bank, so one rig for both lines.  A HillBilly chump with the titan wire stem, I have been trying these and they are well suited to this sort of fishing.

A paste rig and a margin rig completed the set up, I wasn't convinced about the margin, it was only a topkit either side and too deep.  Neither of these really featured in the day, nor did they contribute to the weight, so no more to say about them.

I did go across on the all in, but whilst the plummet had gone in ok, the rig was settling on loose fronds of grass and reed.  I then hooked a small roach on the banded pellet and it fell off, then the rig looped over into the bushes.... great start.

I then decided that I was going to make the peg fish the way I wanted it to and would catch silvers and carp on my two lines.  Well, it was a fairly daft idea, after 2 hours I had one 6lb carp, two skimmers and two tiny roach.  I had two options, call it a day and go home, as the day was going nowhere or sort myself out and fish the peg in the manner necessary to catch.

I got out the very handy weed cutter that fits on the end of the pole (screws onto the cupping kit) made by Lee Murphy, cleared out the far side as best I could, picked up the rig I had set up, which was a Drennan clear float, on 0.16, to 0.14 and a 18 LWG hook, with a band.  Started pinging 6mm Burts feed pellets across, with a 6mm in the band and I started catching.  By the time I started this there was 3.5 hours of the match left and I still had 6lb in the net.

Initially I was sat there thinking what am I doing, I am not enjoying this, but I had to keep the feed going in and fed about 3 pints.  It was a bit of a balancing act, too much and it was fouler after fouler, not enough and the bites dried up, so it became interesting and I ended up enjoying it.  The best way to catch was to lay a couple of inches of line on the bottom and wait for a bite, lifting and dropping just incurred more foulers.

I ended up with what I thought was about 115lb, it actually went 129.12 and if I hadn't been so determined to make the peg fish my way and had actually fished it as it needed to be fished for the whole 6 hours, I am sure it was a 200lb peg.  A minor consolation as I got the section by double default and instead of finishing 8th it really should have been a framing place, if not the win.  Being stubborn is a life long trait of mine, sometimes it pays dividends, others times, such as today, its not such a endearing quality.

Oh well, on to the next one, Barston on Tuesday, looking forward to that.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Round 4, Sunday 7th July 2019

Sedges for the fourth round of Tony's popular float only series, a venue I don't fish often, not for any other reason than opportunity, as its a tidy, well maintained fishery with a decent head of fish.

Two lakes in, Tile and Brick, I usually find myself on Brick, but not today, peg 38 was to be my home, sandwiched by the match organiser Tony on 37 and Steve Evans Tony's admin clerk for the series on 39.  Favoured corner peg 40 was drawn by Neil Mercer, who does seem to have a golden arm, winning last weeks Todber round from a corner peg - that said, you still have to catch them and with the pressure on.

I had come with options to fish for carp or silvers, I did fancy a day on the waggler, so set up a shallow and depth waggler, a 4g floats would get to the island which looked inviting.  Next up the topkits, a paste rig as this has been as and far as I am aware a successful method on this lake, a rig to fish banded pellet on the deck, this was plumbed up at 13m - as far as I was going, my back is still painful.  A homemade diamond 0.5g float next onto a topkit, this was matched with a 18 Kaizen hook to 0.14, this was plumbed up at 6 joints. A similar rig, but on 0.20 (rather than the 0.16 of the previous rig), just in case the carp action got hectic.

I also set up a light rig with strung out No11's, again with a 0.14 hooklength, this was plumbed up short, so it was well up the slope and it would also double as a 'deep shallow' rig in open water.  Bait tray was simple, Burts feed pellets in 4mm and 6mm, some 7mm meat, Burts F1 soft hookers, 8mm feed pellets and some 6mm Polony pellets.  I also had a bag of paste, made from soaked feed pellets.

On the all in, I started on the waggler (shallow) and fed 8mm pellets to the island, straight away it was obvious the wind was going to cause havoc and it only lasted 10 minutes before it went up the bank and that's where it stayed.  I fed some dampened 4mm's at 6 joints and went over that with a soft pellet, small skimmer first drop in, 10lb carp the next, so a decent start, but I had by then decided that my best way of picking up was to fish for silvers.

I stuck out the line at 6 joints, the catch rate varied, it was never manic, I came off the bottom by about 6"and caught some skimmers by doing that.  After about 3 hours it had slowed a lot and the fish had got smaller, slipping a bit of meat on the hook I waited to see if that would increase the size of the fish - it didn't, I didn't have a bite on it.  I got off my box and mixed a little GB (Burts Expander and Burts Chocolate Orange) and opened a tin of corn, I fed a ball of GB with orn and 4mm pellet in, put corn on the hook and dropped in, 2 decent skimmers in two chucks, both on corn - sussed it!!…… or not, that was the only two bites I had on corn.

The last half of the match was spent swapping and changing between the 6 joints line and meat up the near shelf, this brought 3 more carp and a few decent skimmers, it was no good leaving the rig still, the meat had to be either dropping through the water or not on the bottom longer than 20 seconds, once it was it had to be lifted out and flicked back in again.

Enjoyable day, my thoughts that I wouldn't beat Neil and then Tony when he started catching shallow/long (too far for me to hold) so my decision to fish for silvers was vindicated as I weighed 44.02 of skimmers for a silvers win.

Acorn Evening Open, Thursday 4th July 2019

I was in two minds as to whether to fish this, but the weather was good, it should have been a straight forward drive down from work - which turned into a diversion, as the motorway was at a standstill at Cribbs Causeway.  I'd also had a chat with Paul (Faiers) who had won the Tuesday match, so I had all the latest info.

Managed to fight my way through the traffic and arrive in time, the plan was to buy 3 pints of maggots and fish them for the whole match, that plan was scuppered by Paul buying the last 2 pints in the shop....

Peg 6, not what I would have chosen, especially with 40 in.

The back up would be pellets, Paul did give me a handful of worms, as they can pick up some margin fish.  Simple bait tray then, 4 and 6mm Burts feed pellets, worms and a I knocked up a bit of paste as it was so warm, I also soaked a few micros..

There is an area across to the bridge that has a flat shelf, but it was so overgrown, I felt it was too much gardening for an evening match, there was an area already cleared out (or so I thought) so I plumbed up there, it was deeper than I would have liked, but I could pull the pellet onto the slop by going in tight.

A paste rig, a shallow rig and a margin rig completed the set up, starting across, I had a fish first put in, second put in I got snagged on the grass which was under the water and lost the rig, elastic (which snapped at the puller bead) and that set the mood for the night.  Another top kit out, duplicate rig and back across, I had a couple more bites, but it was not prolific, none of the lines were, I had a couple out of the margin, a couple on paste and that was it. I fed micros in the margin, just a few at a time, if I tried worm on the hook I got a roach or a perch, telling me there weren't many carp there.

I walked round with the scales doing the board and many others were telling tales of lots of foul hookers, seeing fish in the margins and not being able to catch them, a different world from my peg I must admit.  Still after a shit week and a sad day on Wednesday being involved in some initial investigations into the accident where two fellow railway workers lost their lives in an accident in Wales, I was determined to just enjoy the evening, whilst it was frustrating  struggling for bites, Wednesday had put it all into perspective, well done to Walshy and the framers.

Next up is Tony's Float Only on Sunday, Sedges this week, so lets see what that brings.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Todber Manor, Sunday 30th June 2019

There was a lot of anglers who were really looking forward to this one, myself I haven't fished it since the beginning of January, so no up to date info on it.

I drew peg 87 on Homeground, meant nothing to me, but had a lovely looking island chuck with a waggler, so shallow and depth rods were  the first bit of kit set up.  Then trying to keep it simple, a shallow rig, a banded pellet rig for on the deck - I had planned to fish this at 11m, but that soon changed!  A rig for meat short and a margin rig, although I didn't expect that to work, given the pegging is quite tight.

On the all-in I went out to 11m and saw that Martin Ryatt on 86 was straight onto 2+2 and those to his right were also starting short, as they were catching from the off I dropped back in on that line and with 8mm Burts polony pellet om the hook I had a decent first hour putting just over 50lb in the net. That was on a par, if not ahead of the others on the bank, but then it slowed up and I tried the waggler, going long again and soon started losing ground to those who stuck it out on the short line.

The wind was strong enough to completely ruin the waggler fishing and I did start to lose my way, at one point I was looking at anglers with a 2" lash fishing short catching hungry carp and I was questioning why I was there, is that really fishing?  I am not saying it shouldn't be like that for those that want to do it and there is no doubt that there is ability and skill involved in amassing the weights that were seen on the day, but I just wasn't enjoying it and really had no competitive spirit left.

I did start to catch some better fish towards the end on meat, but knew I was a long way behind those to my right and Neil in the corner who was getting one a bung, after a slow start.  Wwll to him on the win.

I must be either alone, or in a tiny minority that weren't raving and praising the fishery after the match on social media, I can say the fishery is well maintained, a great shop onsite, its welcoming and is very accessible with parking behind many of the pegs, but I just don't think its for me, I was looking somewhat jealously at the posts on social media from the guys who had been fishing the Superleague on the Huntspill.

Time to take stock and maybe have a change of direction, weigh sheets below, the weights are quite unbelievable.

Ivy House Open, Saturday 29th June 2019

Back to this fishery which I enjoy coming to, for a open over both canals, canals and snake lakes aren't usually my favourite, but these do respond to fishing in the open water, rather than tight across.

Arrived in plenty of time to have a breakfast and very nice it was, its not the cheapest especially when you add in the ground coffee, but you get what you pay for and there are no pockets in shrouds.....

Hot and sunny, so not sure what to expect and even less sure when I drew the new canal, as I usually draw the old canal, so even one of my last refuges of being able to draw somewhere I wanted has been got at by the draw gremlins...

Well, it was a lovely day to be sat outside so I intended to make the most of it, although when I got to 24, I found it to be in the shade, would have been nice to get some of that onto the water, but it was full on sun all day.

There were a few carp cruising round, so first rig out was a mugging rig, then a rig to fish across, a rig for down the edge and another for fishing soft pellet down the track, so nothing too complicated.

A good start, a 7lber mugged first put in, then a 5lber and I was starting to think it might be a good day, what I hadn't taken into consideration, was that whilst I was end peg, there were 3 empty pegs to my left and this is where the fish went and stayed sunning themselves all day.  No more muggers, none shallow and I ended up fishing down the track with expanders for anything that would take the bait, which in all honesty, wasn't a lot - a few skimmers, the odd small carp and F1, but it was far from hectic sport and it got worse and worse, the last two hours seeing only two fish landed.

The lake was won from a peg with some shade and the aerator in, looked like Frank fished a tidy match, but we were obliterated by the other canal which as expected produced the best weights. A disappointing day, but given the heat and bright sun, not surprising, hopefully I'll be back soon.