Lance Tucker Memorial, River Kenn, Saturday 14th August.

 Today was a match arranged as a memorial to Lance Tucker, who was sadly taken far too early, 55 fishing, as that was the amount of available pegs on the river.  The draw was at the Bridge Inn, where it was good to see some friends and angling acquaintances I hadn't seen in a long time, just a shame it was in these circumstances.

The organisers (Kev and Brian) , along with many volunteers had done a great job in organising the match, clearing pegs and ensuring everyone had a fishable peg.  I drew 35, 3 pegs above Strode road bridge, not noted for bream, but it has been an area for roach in the past.

I was surprised when I got to the river at how clear it was, absolute tap water, I could see the bottom at 6' or 7' deep.

I had intended not to bring a pole, as there have been instances of dogs and inconsiderate walkers/cyclists causing issues, but I did get an old Tournament out of the loft and made up some rigs.

Also set up two wagglers, one insert peacock and another canal grey to fish off the bottom and on the drop, finally a lead rod.  Just as the match started, the wind got up and was pushing upstream - I say upstream, but the river was penned absolutely still.

I managed a miserable total of 7 roach, all on the waggler, only had one bite on the pole, which I missed and no indications at all on the lead.  I didn't bother the scalesman and unfortunately I couldn't go back to the Blue Flame for the results, so not sure what won my section, but I don't think it was much.... the two pegs to my right also DNW.

Big thanks to Kev for organising, I believe a decent sum of money was raised for the Charity that Craig (Lances son) has supported, hoping to fund research to stop the heath issue that Lance died from.

Clevedon FWAC Christmas Match 13/12/09.

Its that time of year again, when we go home feeling chuffed to bits with a 3 quid bottle of wine, a box of biscuits and a case of beer, that actually cost 25 or 30 quid in match ticket and pools, another tenners worth of bait, the fuel to get there and several quid on raffle tickets......

Not that I'm moaning, I quite like the Christmas matches, the banter, the meeting up with old friends and its a reminder of the old days when a sizeable section of the competitors would socialise in the bar after nearly every match.

The last couple of years has seen the Kenn in very patchy form for the Xmas match and sadly this year was no exception, the frost that had been forecast earlier in the week failed to show and the day started off overcast. With the water fairly clear, the grey sky was a blessing, although the fish didn't realise that the conditions were good!!

The draw took place at Warrens caravan park, plenty of familiar faces, including a fair smattering of my team mates from Sensas Thyers. As usual, an end peg was the fervent wish as hands dipped into the draw bucket, as usual, I drew one smack bang in the middle of the section, peg 43. Kev Perry put his hand in and said "this is an end peg", which of course, when he opened it, it was, downstream end peg in my section.....

The river was a fair way down, so I set up on the bank, before clambering down into the clay quagmire. A 6 No6 stick float on 2.5lb line, with a 1.5lb hooklength, to which was attached a size 20 gamma black. A straight lead, with a size 16 B611, to 2.5lb ultima silk and two pole rigs, a 2g flat float, .11 hooklength with an 18 B611 and a 0.6g Jean Francios Desque wire stem, to a 1lb hooklength and a 22 B511. As luck would have it, there was a large slab of concrete in the peg, I managed to slide this into position in the 12" of sludgy clay, so that the front platform legs would sit on it.

Nice simple bait tray, bread (for punch)caster, maggot, pinkie and a few squatts. The clarity of the river (I has taken the dog for a walk along the match length on Friday, so was prepared!!) had made my decision to start on the punch, but I also fed a few casters across. It looked ideal to start on the stick float, a method I love fishing, but sadly get far too little opportunity, so some liquidised bread was fed just short of halfway across and the stick float with a small piece of punch was soon following it through the swim.

The wind was gently pushing across river from behind, even at times across and a degree or two upstream, not hindering and even assisting with the presentation and third trot down saw the float dip, bugger missed bite. Next run through and about 15 yards down the peg, the float eased under and a 2 oz roach was in the net, another bite a few trots later, a couple more trots through and another fish. It wasn't going to be a bad day after all, was it? 25 minutes in with 3 roach and the odd bite, I lifted the rod into a bite and thought I had snagged, the snag then started to move, this was a good fish, determind to get away, it took 10 more yards of line before I could turn it, it then ran upstream and past me. It had to be a tench, I've had them over 5lb from the Kenn and they do put up a hell of a scrap on light gear.

I managed to turn the fish and it was coming towards me after 5 or 6 minutes of gentle pressure, the stick float and shot were rising from the water, like something of Arthurian legend, I was thinking about reaching for the landing net, when the hook pulled......

Not to worry, I'll carry on now and catch a few more roach, was the thought, the reality was that for over four hours I tried, the stick and punch / pinkie / caster and maggot, even a single squatt, both pole rigs and the straight lead, as well as a tiny feeder with liccy and punch - all to no avail. Several bank walkers who were blanking appeared at intervals throughout the match, it was fishing hard. Then someone told me that Kev had a Bream - no surprise there, he must have some hypnotic influence on them.

With the match finishing at 3.15pm, I decided that a straight lead approach for the final ¾ hour was the best chance of getting the elusive bonus fish and so it proved, at 3.08pm the tip curled round and soon after a bream around the 5lb mark was into the keepnet. One red and one white maggot doing the trick. A last cast failed to give me another one, but at least I would be in with a shout of a better prize.

The section was weighed in, Kev's bream and one roach went, 5lb 9oz, mine was 5lb 2oz, I'm sure Kev's arsley bomb box was empty...... The section was won with 7lb 2oz, had it been a serious match there might have been a complaint, as this consisted of one bream and one hybrid, the bream hung its self whilst the rod owner bank walked. So with the payout being top four I missed out by three, the section paid by default so I missed out by one and as not everyone entered the superpool, I missed that by one as well - a bloody expensive tench.

The Clevedon comittee put in some hard work to make it an enjoyable match and Darren Vowles raffle extended over two tables, although I'm sure my tickets weren't in the bucket. Craig Tucker (Son of Lance) wore a threadbare trail in the carpet, as his number seemed to come out every other time. Fair play to him, he's back to Afghanistan in March, hope you have a safe tour. By now the beers were flowing (or Thatchers in Kev's case), I was devastated to have to leave, when it was Pauls (Faiers) round..... but as I was driving and had to be in work early Monday (and we have a drink policy with a limit a third of the drink drive limit) I couldn't take the chance, I'm sure they had a few for me.

1) Simon Carvello 17-11 peg 84
2) P Johnson 13-11 peg 57
3) S Smallwood 7-02 peg 41
4) S Stone 6-05 peg 83
5) Mark Bromsgrove*6-02 peg 9
6) Kev Perry 5-09 peg 39
7) Chris Fox 5-02 peg 43

28 Fished

* Mark fished punch, he was the peg upstream of Paul Faiers, who reports that Mark's liquidised bread hit the water in a ball and stayed in a ball as it floated down river and out of his peg - nice one Mark, you're supposed to defrost it - although it's obviously a decent tactic, as you had nearly 6 times Pauls weight!!

Clevedon Charity Match, River Kenn 18/10/09

The River Kenn keeps luring me back, it can only for the quality of the roach fishing, not the procession of unruly dogs and their owners that provide a constant distraction on the pegs below Kenn road.

I arrived for the draw early, as the ticket price included a breakfast - wasn't too bad actually, although not as substantial as a Bullock feast. General consensus of opinion was that it would fish hard, the water being gin clear, the sunny day forecast and the overnight frost.

I drew peg 14, not a peg I'd have chosen and the fact that Paul 'end peg' Faiers had drawn peg 8, the end peg in the section and the downstream end peg in the match, did nothing to bolster my lack of optimism. Kev Perry had also drawn an end peg in the car park section, it was going to be difficult to frame from my peg, best hope was for it to fish really hard.

When I got to the river, Paul & I had a chat and both thought that double figures would be a good weight, the river was flat calm, the bottom was visible 6' down and there was no sign of any fish moving.

Peg 14 is set into some rushes, these are often home to small perch and can also hold decent roach when the conditions are bright, I'd pretty much made up my mind to fish punch as a main attack and drip caster and pinkie down the edge of the rushes. I set up a 1g wire stemmed float and one in the same pattern at 0.8g, both with 0.08 hooklength and 18 B511, although I did expect to be scaling down from that.

Two rigs for the rushes, one 0.13 straight through to a 14 B611 and another with 0.08 and a 20 B511, one for worm, one for caster & pinkie. I also set a a lead rod and a waggler, intending to feed some caster right across, to hopefully snare an odd chub and any wary roach that backed away from the pole line.

Having to go out to 10m to find over 6' of water, meant that I'd have to unship across the path that the walkers, and dogs take, not ideal, but I didn't think that I'd catch closer in. At the all in I fed two small balls of liccy, one loosely squeezed, one tighter and second put in the float dipped and a 2 ounce roach was in the net - blank saved!!

To cut a long story short, the caster line across, produced not so much as a touch on my occasional look over, the rushes drip fed fed with a meagre amount of caster and pinkie, also failed to see any movement on the float, except for a moorhen (moronhen more like) that dragged the rig into the rushes and snapped the float.

After the first hour or so, I was getting bites on the punch line at 10m, but they weren't coming fast enough to build any sort of weight, I added a pinch of squatt and some hemp to the liccy feed, this seemed to slightly increase the size of the fish, but not the frequency of bites. I tried caster over the punch line, not a touch, red and bronze maggot getting the same response. Pinkie brought a small perch and squatt enticed roach, but at a even slower rate than the punch

No doubt feeding was the key (as it so often is in match fishing), had there been some colour in the water, I'd have balled it in, but not with it so clear and the lack of bites on maggot or caster makes me thihk it was right not to do so. I was topping up the liccy and hemp, when the bites became even less frequent (about ½ hour intervals), then the bites would stop for 5-10 minutes, but then the fish would come back over the feed.

As I was sat in amongst the rushes, I couldn't see any other anglers, so had no idea how the river was fishing, so just kept at the punch line and kept the fish coming, albeit slowly for the whole match. The last hour, saw the size of fish improve, but still the catch rate was slow.

The weigh in saw 'end peg' Faiers weigh in 13.08, on the next peg was James Gunter who weighed 13.13, with me next to weigh, I knew I didn't have that much and was proved correct, my all roach (and one perch) net going 10.03. Next best weight in the section was just over 3lb.

I couldn't go back to the bar for the results, as I had to get home and go to work, (deep joy), but as I was putting the gear in the car I had a phone call from Paul, Kev Perry had 25lb, Glenn (Calvert) had a 21lb odd, Paul is off to Whiteacres next week, so I wished him well and his parting shot was; "I might have known if I was pegged near you it would be crap". Once again I'd drawn 40 pegs away from the fish......

Just had an email from Jan, the Clevedon Club, Treasurer and Secretary. The match raised £904.02 for Help the Heroes and Childrens Hospice (South West), a decent sum and in the end the river didn't fish too badly. (Except my section....)

1st Kev Perry 25lb 14oz All roach on bread punch Peg 55

2nd Brian Hobson 25lb 0oz Bream & Tench Peg 81

3rd Steve Cox 23lb 12oz Bream Peg 53

4th Glen Calvert 21lb 13oz Roach Peg 51

5th Jon Gray 19lb 14oz Roach Peg 72

6th Simon Carvallo 16lb 4oz Roach Peg 42

7th James Gunter 13lb 13oz Roach Peg 12

27 Anglers Fished

Thats it until next Sunday, although I haven't found a match I fancy yet, so if anyone has any suggestions...

River Kenn, 13th September 2009

Clevedon v Frys was the occasion for this visit to this fantastic roach venue, although it can be very temperamental, the roach don't always play ball.

The draw was organised at Warren Farm holiday park, so with the prospect of a breakfast, I got there in plenty of time, Paul Faiers walked in just behind me and we got our breakfast and sat down. There was some fuss behind the counter, apparently you only got three items for your £3.50, we kept quiet as we'd both blagged extras of black pudding & beans from the young girl serving and got away without paying extra. We were joined at the table by an unhappy Ray Bazeley, "bloody £3.50 for beans on toast, robbing bastards, I'm going to say something". He never did, we consoled him with the fact that he had subsidised our grub.

Kev Perry walked in looked at the breakfast counter and didn't bother, one too many pints of that Thatchers appetite suppressant, at the Blue Flame last night, Kev?

The Match was pegged from the outfall to the motorway, every other peg, with a couple of extra peg gaps between the sections, peg 76 revealed its self when I drew and opened the folded ticket, I wasn't too disappointed, but would have preferred to be below Strode road. Paul had drawn 42 and Kev peg 80, Ray had drawn up in the eighties.

The brambles on the opposite bank didn't quite go up far enough, so I had the usual quota of spaniels and fat labs swimming in the peg, not that I think this had any bearing on the outcome. With a strong downstream wind and a clear river, I did have my doubts, but started well, catching several roach and a skimmer in the first 20 minutes, then it died, completely, nothing I did would get a bite. After about 2½ hours, I was on the verge of walking up to Kev, when I saw him coming down towards me, he had one chub!!

Kev stayed for a few minutes chat, then walked on down to see what was happening, he came back clutching 2 slices of bread "scrounged from the Fry's bloke", as Dave Baker was catching on bread. A short while later, Kev's good lady walked up the bank, unbeknown to me with more bread for him - are bait deliveries allowed??.

I decided to stick it out with worm on the hook and picked up a couple of small perch, a proper perch of approx 2lb or so and a bream that was pushing 5lb, to give me 9lb 8oz and the section by default, Dave Baker taking the last frame place with his 12lb odd of bread caught roach. I'd looked at my freezer full of liccy and thought about bringing it, but dismissed it as unnecessary this early in September, big mistake. Kev weighed over 11lb all on bread in the last couple of hours, although Ray pipped him for the section.

24lb odd won from the outfall ( sorry can't remember who), a couple of 16lbs and a 15lb completed the frame, which were, Simon Carvallo, Paul Faiers and Paul Nichols.

A few beers after and the classic line from Kev. " Did you see that blonde that walked up with her dog, I told her if she came back I'd give her a good f*****g," she said "that would be nice,", then Kev says, " but it wouldn't be a new conquest as I already have"

Are there any birds in Clevedon, Kev hasn't serviced??



Just to prove to myself that I wasn't miles away from getting it right, I went back today, fished peg 24 with maggot and caster and had well over 20lb of roach and perch to 1lb, the water had slightly more colour in, than those pegs in the 70's and 80's, is that all the difference was, the wind was still hard downstream and the sun came out and shone as yesterday.

The Kenn is an enjoyable river to fish, but its many moods still catch me out, 35 years since I first fished it.