Thursday Costcutter, Viaduct, Thursday 28th January 2016

A rare day off, the forecast said no rain, so a match was the favoured way to spend the day, Viaduct was the best option, as it would give me the chance of fishing for carp or silvers depending where I drew.  As I thought the chance of winning the silvers was restricted to a couple of pegs (at the time I thought the match was Campbell and Cary, it ended up Campbell and Lodge) I didn't bother to take any caster.......... typical that I should then draw 126, a good silvers peg on Campbell.

I believe Tony described Adrian Jeffery as genial, let me add generous to that, as Adrian kindly offered me 1/2 his casters, which I accepted gratefully, thanks Adrian.

I set up a lead rod, this was with the intention of having 20 minutes looking round the peg for bites or liners, also a waggler - this remained unused because as the all-in was shouted, the wind picked up and started blowing straight down the lake towards the river, it did slightly move round to blowing from 110 into 123, but given the bright sunlight I was glad for the ripple it offered. 4 topkits, one for skimmers with a 0.3g wire stemmed float, 0.10 hooklength and a 18 6313.  A double bulk rig with the same line and hook, rig for corn with a 0.2g wire stemmed float with a 0.12 hooklength and finally a margin rig that didn't get used.

Starting as planned with popped up bread on the lead brought no bites or liners, nor did anyone around me or opposite catch on the lead, so up the bank with it, where it stayed until it went back in it's tube. With the bright sunlight limiting my options I had plumbed up off to my left at about 11 o'clock, at 11m and 14m, both lines I sparsely fed with dead maggots and caster, with a couple of grains of corn. I wasn't confident about the 11m line, given the bright sun and remnants of the frost still in the shaded areas, so started on the 14m line.  Double dead maggot tempted a 4oz skimmer first drop in, before the roach, small ones, moved in.

A swap to corn was fruitless and I only had one bite on caster, so back to double dead maggot and I had to endure a few small roach before I got a skimmer, I tried a segment of worm and that was on a par with the corn for a motionless float.  I tried the 11m line and that was just small roach, without the odd skimmer.  As the roach were feeding I tried a short line - topkit to hand - the roach were obliging, but small, although I did hook and lose a decent perch, before landing one about 10oz and a hybrid about 8oz.  Just as I had the fish going, the angler on peg 128 walked down for the third time to tell me how crap it was and the bites dried up......

I decided to try 6mm meat on the 14m line and fed 4 bits in with some caster and dead maggot, the float buried as soon as it settled and a spirited little tench just over 1lb was netted, I stayed on the meat until the end, having one more 8oz tench and a few skimmers up to 2lb.

I was hopeful that I had done enough to win the silvers and qualify for the all-winners final, but that was dashed by Andy Power who pipped me from Lodge lake.  A hard day for many, but I enjoyed having to work at it, maybe I should have gone on the meat 30 minutes or an hour earlier.

Ivy House Winter League, Fifth Round, Sunday 24th January 2016

First mistake of the day was not really paying too much attention to the weather forecast, the thermals I put on were unnecessary, it’s been a strange winter so far, but I wasn’t being lulled into thinking the water would have warmed up much yet.  That said, I did think that the fish wouldn’t be sat on the bottom, with a warm breeze blowing across the lakes.

Into the draw tin after a chat with Leon – conversation wasn’t really possible with Clint, he was busily not eating his breakfast and looking pretty rough, self inflicted I believe – Not sure on the odds of drawing in A section for the third time, whatever they are I managed it. Peg 20, a decent draw with plenty of room, but would the fish be there, or would they have gone with the breeze?

Determined to confuse myself, I set up two lead rods, one with a straight lead for popped up bread and one with small pellet feeder on.  Next, out of the bag came the trusty Normark Microlight, this would be used to fish a waggler out towards the post that marks the limit of your cast on this peg.  A 2AAA Drennan Glowtip waggler would suffice, given the sheltered nature of the peg. This was on 2 1/2lb Maxima, with a 0.12 hooklength and a 18LWG – no point fishing too light, some big fish in these lakes and they all need to be landed.

4 topkits, a rig that was aimed at getting a fish in the net if it proved a struggle, this was a 0.4g Jean Desque on 0.14, 0.08 hooklength and a 20 6313. Same shotting and depth for the next rig, but this time a 0.4 NG Gimp on 0.16 with a 0.12 hooklength and a 18 LWG, this would be fished over the same 14m lines as the light rig, one at 11 o'clock and one at 2 o'clock.

A margin rig, set up to fish about a metre away from the bank, as I wasn't at all convinced the fish would venture right into the margins and finally a rig to fish at 14m to the left and right hand sides about 6m from the bank in 31/2’ of water, this was on 0.20, with a 0.16 hooklength with a 16LWG.

On the all-in I fed a negative line at 2 o'clock with a few micro’s and 4 4mm pellets, the 11 o'clock line was fed with maggot and the two 14m lines 6m from the bank fed with maggot.  I started on the waggler and corn, that was totally unproductive, so a switch to the bomb and bread didn't take long, but with no liners or indications on that, I felt it was a waste of time, so onto the pole.  Firstly onto the negative pellet line with a 4mm expander, this was also totally non-productive, no sign of a fish, so a switch to maggot which I tried on the 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock lines, these too remained seemingly devoid of fish.

An hour and a quarter in and I hadn't had a bite, peg 17 had landed a carp on the lead and one from down towards peg 18, back onto the waggler, this time with a single maggot on the hook and feeding a few maggots via a catapult, to try and draw something into the peg.  It worked, two small roach, at least the blank was avoided, next cast a small carp, then a skimmer about 14oz, but it was a bit of a false dawn and the bites dried up again.

Time to look in on the two lines 6m from the bank, no indications on the LH side, but a bite soon after dropping into the RH line, frustratingly there was carp on and after a few seconds, carp off, not idea if it was fouled or not. Back onto the LH side and this produced a bite and a carp about 4lb.  Back to the RH side, another bite, another fish on, this time I got it down to the topkit before it came off – arrghhh, two lost fish could be costly!!

Thankfully, the RH line had a some fish on it and I managed to get 2 more from there that went in the 5lb and under net and 5 that went into the 5lb+ net.  All taken on triple maggot over maggot loose fed.  I was confident that I had the section won and was also pleased to take the match win, with 73.12, also qualifying for the All-Winners final in September.  With two more matches to go in the league, another couple of section wins might see me sneak in the lower framing positions, but the two matches where I couldn't find a big carp have cost me.

1: Chris Fox 73.12 peg 20

2: Val 64.10 peg 37

3: Clint 45.04 peg 38

4: Steve Hutter 26.10 peg 21

5: Jamie D 26.06 peg 30

6: Dave 24.00 peg 5

Viaduct Teams of Five Winter League - Sunday 17th January 2016

I had been thinking that the teams of 5 winter league might be a bit different this year, given the mild weather, but those thoughts were dashed by the cold snap leading into it, I guessed it would be pretty tough in some areas, as the fish have started to shoal up as the colour drops out of the lakes.

Same team as last year, although as we have no real connection with MFS, a name change was required, so  “2^nd Time Lucky” was the only thing I could come up with on the spur of the moment.  I drew for the team this round and pulled out peg 17 and then the sections which saw me on peg 69, Mike Walker on peg 50, Paul Faiers on peg 19, Genn Calvert on 130 and Fred Roberts on 99.

On paper it wasn’t a disastrous draw,  my peg, 69 has a lot of previous form for skimmers, but they haven’t shown there quite so much lately and in all the sections you need a couple of carp to get reasonable points.  I had spent a couple of hours on Friday evening,  tying hooklengths for the lead, which would stay in the box unused, as on this league, Lodge lake is float only. 

Two waggler rods set up, Normark Microlite II with a Drennan Glowtop waggler on 2 1/2lb Maxima, 0.10 hooklength and a 20LWG. In case it got good…. (hopeful as ever!!) I also set up a Normark Titan 2000 with 4lb reel line, a middy straight waggler and a 16LWG on 0.14.

4 Topkits, a margin rig – really didn’t expect anything on that as with 68 and 70 in, you don’t really have a margin to fish on 69 – the non-expectations were well founded, as I never had a bite on it. I set up two similar rigs for the open water, but on had 0.12 and a 18LWG hook, the other 0.10 and a 20LWG.  Final rig was a double bulk, just in case those big skimmers fed and they wanted it laid on the bottom.

On the all-in I cupped two tangerine sized ball of GB with caster and dead maggot in at 14m, in the deepest part of the swim, then went out on the waggler with a grain of corn. I started getting indication and the odd bite, all of which I missed, before finally connecting with one, it turned out to be a 4oz skimmer. After 40 minutes and another skimmer on the corn, I had a look over the GB, this produced bites, but it was small skimmers and the bites were too spaced out to achieve anything with 2-4oz fish.  I did drop down to a No6 elastic and a 0.08 hooklength with a 20 808 hook on the double bulk rig – first drop in with that I hooked a carp, no idea if it was hooked fair and square or fouled, as it charged off and kept running until the 0.08 parted.

By now, Tony Rixon who was opposite had a carp on the waggler and had lost a couple, so back out on the waggler and after a couple more missed bites, I hit into a carp, took a while to land on the 0.10, just couldn’t put the pressure on to get its head up, just over double figures, so most welcome.  Next cast, float buried again and a decent skimmer was netted, I then hooked and lost a fouler, before the waggler got tangled.   I switched to the heavier waggler rig and this saw the number of indications and liners drop, I shallowed it up, so the corn was 6” off bottom and had another  carp very similar in size to the first, I thought that was the answer, but I didn’t get anymore bites off bottom. 

After a quick and fruitless look in both margins, I went back on the pole line, again the skimmers were small and few and far between, I did think that the bigger skimmers might switch on in the last half an hour, but gambled on going back on the waggler and getting another carp.  With 10 minutes to go, I hooked another on the light waggler gear and all seemed well, but after a short while, just as I thought I had it under control it came off…… I didn’t swear too much!!  I think it cost me three points, which just shows how tight this league is.  My two carp and meagre collection of skimmers going 21.02 and 5.10 respectively for a total of 26.12. Had I fished that last ½ hour for skimmers I am sure I would have had at least 1 more point, maybe more – but that’s hindsight and not much use on the bank in the freezing cold and wet conditions that we endured.

On the team front, we were pleased to have done enough to come 5^th on the day:

I had 11 points, Glenn had 13 points, Paul and Mike had 11 and Fred topped the team score with 14 points.  Fingers crossed for a decent draw next round.

Viaduct Costcutter, Thursday 14th January 2016

Nice coincidence that my first Thursday of the year off work, was the one before the Teams of Five start at Viaduct, so a chance to fish a match and have a practice.

Not so good was the end of the mild weather and a chill wind blowing across Campbell, 20 fishing so Campbell and a few 'wind off your back' pegs in on Cary.  116 stuck to my hand as I dipped into the draw tin, so cold wind in my face and the opposite end to where the fish have been - but would the cold weather have them heading for their winter haunts??

I had bread, meat, maggot and corn in the bait bag and I did have a bit of GB - as it is a costcutter, I'd rather get a few bites than sit on the lead.  So, waggler rod set up - just in case the wind dropped, which it didn't, so one chuck with that and it was towing through,  so no more about that.

Lead rod set up, to start on bread, as the water is quite clear and two pole rigs, one for down the edge towards 117 and one for 14m to fish for whatever comes along.  Starting on the bread, I was hopeful, seeing Adrian Jeffery on 114 get one first chuck. It took the best part of 20 minutes before my tip moved and a double figure fish graced the net after a very spirited tussle given the water temperature.  It was a false dawn, Adrian had a couple more and was getting liners and indications, my tip was mind numbing still, not so much a liner to give hope.  No one else my side of Adrian was catching, so it looked as if they were all in front of the spit.

A look (much more in hope than expectation) down the edge was just as uneventful, so out onto the long pole, where I had been loose feeding a few maggots. The wind had now slightly switched L-R and this made holding 14m a struggle, but I wasn't at all convinced I'd catch closer. Nothing on this, so I fed a bit of GB and went back on the lead, trying meat, various colours, on the deck, popped up and even trying a GB cone with a bit of mushed meat & GB in - this was all fruitless.

An enforced bank walk, to use the facilities and back on the pole over the GB, this produced a 2lb skimmer, another false dawn, as this line then only produced 3 micro roach after this. At 14.20 (15.30 finish) I decided to fish seriously until 15.00 and then chuck the lead and start packing up. At 14.30, I had another look down the edge towards 117, after a couple of minutes the float shot under and an angry double gave the knots a good test as it fully stretched the 12 solid elastic. All held and it was safely netted, dropping back in, a short wait and another one was safely inside the net.

Another one, followed, each time I topped up with a few maggots, a slightly longer wait then three in quick succession, one landed at 15.25 and one hooked seconds before the all-out. If only the match was until 16.00, I am sure I would have overtaken Adrian who had 11 fish, but mine were consistently bigger. My 6 went 62.07 and the skimmer took the total to 64.12, only good enough for 3rd on a tough day for many, Adrian clinched it with...

1: Adrian Jeffery 76.09 peg 114
2: Scott Puddy 70.13 peg 74
3: Chris Fox 64.12 peg 116
4: Kieran Guppy 55.09 peg 128
5: Terry Lenny 38.11 peg 112
6: Steve Kedge 32.09 peg 129

Silvers
1; Rich Coles 10.01 peg 125

Ivy House Winter League Round 4, Ivy House, Sunday 10th January 2016

First match after nearly a month of work enforced lay off, although I admit the first week of the lay off was down to not wanting to drive after an Xmas piss up.

Looking at the forecast, my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered, I had done just enough prep and really didn't fancy sitting in a deluge and thunder, which is what the BBC weather was predicting, thankfully they were wrong, a few showers that came to nothing.

I got chatting to Leon and Clint and missed my usual place near the front of the draw, not such a disaster when I pulled out peg 17, which has been either 1st or 2nd in the section every round so far. I had a plan in my mind, fish a negative pole line, a positive one, the draw gave me decent edge, down in front of peg 18 and a long line pinging a single 6mm pellet every 5-10 minutes.

I set up a margin rig and plumbed about 1-2m in front of peg 18 to get 2 1/2' of water - never had a bite here so no more about it.  The long line pinging the occasional pellet, likewise..... not a bite on either a tiny pellet feeder or the waggler.

I started on the bomb and popped up bread, not even a liner after 20 minutes and that saw the end of my patience with that and I had a look on the 14m line off to 10 o'clock that I had fed with about 8 micros and 6 dead maggots (feeding like this kills me) after a 10 minute wait, lifting and dropping a soft pellet the float dipped and once again I was attached to a small carp, surely it wasn't going to be another day where I catch stockies and others catch lumps......

I refed and went back in, float slowly slid under and the lift of the pole resulted in a small perch hooked 'fairly and squarely' in the anal fin. That was the end of the bites from here, a look over the line I had fed positively with maggot brought nothing.  Time to have a look on the waggler and maggot, fishing this over he negative line a little dip of the float brought a 3lb F1 to the net. Another long wait swapping between lines and methods before a look back on the negative line saw a tiny dip of the bristle, this for the first time in the series brought a double figure fish to the net, double maggot on a 18 tricking it.  Next put in a 8oz perch, then a 6lb carp - off and running......... Not quite, that was it for over two hours, I started a new line at 2 o'clock and manged one more carp from that with about 10 minutes to go.

Tricky day, but thankfully my 30.08 was enough for the section win and 3rd on the day. Just need 2 more section wins, hope the drawbag is kind!!

Viaduct Silvers League Final Round, Sunday 13th December 2015

Travelled down with Tony Rixon today, so the usual stop at Shipham café, which was by its usual standards, very quiet, but the breakfast was very nice, so a good start to the day, sadly for me it just seemed to go downhill after that……

Into the draw tin early and wasn’t over chuffed with my peg, 103. One frustration for me on the day was the no shows, even with the last match paid for in advance.  That meant an end peg with two empty pegs either side in my section for Steve Kedge, who took full advantage of it to win the section. Likewise behind me on Lodge, empty spaces and on Campbell as well.  I appreciate you can’t force people to fish, but it does affect the final match when there are gaps that give an advantage.

Peg 103 has a large tree immediately to the left, with overhanging branches, this meant that I couldn’t actually get to any of the ‘free’ water to my left as 104 is left out. I had Bela for company on 102 and the pegging of these two is quite close, so little option to have different lines.

I decided against setting up a feeder, as the lake isn’t too wide at this point and with it being flat calm, with very little wind forecast, I wasn’t sure it would be right in the fairly shallow water.  So a waggler and 3 topkits to complete the array of options for the day.  One of the topkits for a rig to fish down the LH edge under the tree, in the hope of a bonus perch, tench or hybrid.  This didn’t see a single bite or any sort of indication, so no more about it.

Two lines at about 14m and 10m both the same depth, so same rigs, a 0.3g rig double bulked and a wire stemmed float 0.2 with a standard bulk and two droppers.  The waggler was a 4bb Drennan with two No8’s down the line and a No 24 swivel as the final dropper.

Fed 3 balls of GB with caster on the 14m line and 1 ball with caster and dead maggot on the 10m line, then started short on caster, using the same rig, as the depth was the same.  Nothing on this, the shallow water and the flat calm meant I wasn’t too surprised.  Out to the 10m line, again nothing, so onto the 14m line and finally a tiny skimmer.  The roach were conspicuous by their absence; Bela was getting odd bites on the waggler and corn, which he was mostly missing, although he did have a couple of skimmers.

I gave the waggler a run out, loose feeding caster at about 18m, this gave me a decent skimmer followed by his smaller brother, but that was that for about 25 minutes and so followed the pattern of the day, take a fish, maybe two from one line and have to wait 20 minutes for a another bite.  Had I been able to have another line off to my left, it might have given me enough to push for a section but the conditions and depth were against me.  Section was won by Steve Kedge with 13lb odd and my miserable 10.03 was just enough for joint last (albeit with a no show, who was technically last) with Nige Bartlett.  I seem to have drawn the wrong pegs on the wrong days this series and had a pretty dismal run through it, but as usual it was well run and I look forward to next year. Tony won the match from 126, see his blog for full account and results.

Ivy House Winter league Round Three, Sunday 6th December 2015

I can' believe how mild the weather is still, but I'm not complaining, the gas bill will be greatly reduced and the lack of wear and tear on the winter clothing will help it last another year.

Pretty disappointed to see peg 5 come out of the tin, as I was on peg 6 last match and it wasn't a good area, to make it worse, 5 is in with 20, 2 and 17 which have loads of room and were 1,2 and 3 in the section last time.

With the wind driving straight into my face, it was going to be a tough day, I did get the waggler out of the bag, just in case the wind dropped, two lead rods, one with a bomb, one with a small hybrid feeder. Plumbing up the pole line, I found the slope didn't go out as far or as steeply as it does on peg 6, so at least I could get to the bottom of it, without trying to wield 16m in the gusty conditions.

I set up (rather optimistically) 4 topkits, one for down the edge to my left, towards peg 4, a 0.75g rig to fish overdepth at 9m, a 0.6g rig to fish expander at the same distance and a 0.3g rig to fish through the water, as given the ambient temperature, I didn't think the fish would be rooted to the bottom.

Bait was simply micros, expanders, maggots, pinkies, a few worms and bread.  Starting on bread, second chuck I had a steady pull round and hooked what I thought was a decent fish, when it finally surfaced, it turned out to be a 3lb F1, which had managed to snag a branch about quarter the size of Savernake forest, which had yards and yards of line festooned round it, several pole floats and had obviously accounted for many tales of the one that got away......  That was it for the bread, in fact that was it for any bites on the lead or feeder, not so much as a liner.

After half an hour without feeding I fed two lines, one at 10 o'clock and one about 1o'clock, both at 9m, LH side I fed with GB and maggot, RH line, just with micros, I didn't have as much as a tremor on the bristle with an expander on the hook, but had an odd hand sized skimmer on maggot or maggot and pinkie. I switched to feeding micro and maggot on the RH line and had two small skimmers from here, but it was slow going. I tried the bait was laid on the bottom, just touching, off bottom and the only way to catch was lay line on the bottom and wait.  I didn't have one bite letting the float trip through with the tow (or even dragging slowly against the tow).

With an hour to go, the wind started dropping and I picked up the waggler rod, feeding maggot, it wasn't long before the float buried and a small F1 was netted, followed by a couple of roach and the two biggest skimmers, then a stocky mirror carp about 4lb, but this was too little too late as I could see Andy Lloyd on 17 catching and 20 had two proper lumps for 25lb.  Once again, the small size of the fish I have caught has cost me - not really sure how to change that, I really can't just sit on the tip waiting for a bite.

Viaduct Silvers League, Round Five. Sunday 29th November 2015

It was a tad windy when Tony Rixon picked me up today, with much stronger winds forecast - great!!  The usual Shipham cafe breakfast and then onto the fishery where everyone was evoking all their lucky charms and willpower to try and draw a sheltered, or at least wind off your back peg.  Into the tub fairly early and out comes 130, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was at least offering the wind over my shoulder.

As the wind was forecast to get up to just under 50mph, I set up a feeder, initially a 4 square cage on 3lb Maxima with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 hook. I had a 3 square feeder on the sidetray to swap to if necessary.  Next up was a waggler, I have been trying the Drennan Glowtips and like the way they show each shot registering as they settle. This was on 2.5lb Maxima, with a 0.10 hooklength and a 20 hook.

I only got two topkits out, one with No8 elastic for fishing down the edges - no more about that, as I didn't have so much as a bite either side, not surprised it was a bit shallow.  The other one had No6 elastic and a wire stemmed 0.3g float, again 0.10 and a 18 hook.  Only 4 pole sections out of the bag, as I didn't want to feed a line and then not be able to fish if if the wind got too strong.

Started on the feeder about 3 yards short of the aerator, a couple of liners, a small roach and a skimmer were all I had to show for the first half an hour, when a tentative twitch on the tip had me striking into a lively Tench.  I was putting an odd piece of corn or two through the feeder with caster, so decided to try a kernel on the hook - not one of my better decisions, as it didn't hit the bottom before a 9lb carp grabbed it, I landed it and decided not to pursue using corn on the hook!!

After 40 minutes I switched to the waggler and loose feeding caster, this saw me getting bites and indications every cast, but it was from roach and small ones at that. Upping the loose feed saw me get a couple of skimmers, before the carp moved in and I hooked several on successive casts.  The carp certainly seemed to be coming to the loose feed and pushing out the roach and skimmers.

With a couple of hours to go, I had a look on the pole at topkit+ 4 and this produced a run of skimmers to either worm head or double caster over GB and caster, with 30 minutes to go a large section of willow tree branch appeared underwater, right where I was catching, hooking it and getting it out killed the peg and I didn't have another bite, the results show how costly that willow tree debris was. Maybe I should have switched back to the waggler, but hindsight is the best tactic.......

My net went 18.04 for a default section win and 5th overall, just 3lb off the weight needed to win, nice to keep the envelopes coming, frustrating to be so close.

1: Chris Boulten 21.03  peg 126
2: Dom Sullivan 19.09  peg 112
3: Tony Rixon 19.06  peg53
4: Ziggy Slowinski 18.08 peg 124
5: Chris Fox 18.04  peg 130
6: Gordon Canning 17.05  peg 125

Ivy House Winter League Round Two, Sunday 22nd November 2015

With the drop in temperature and the frost visible on the grass whilst driving to the venue, it was likely to be a tough day, but I needed to significantly better the miserable 5 points I had in round one.

Had a chat with Clint before the draw and we ended up opposite each other in the same section, me drawing peg 6, which Clint didn't think was much good and he drew on 12.  I had two aims today, win the section as the main aim and not blank as the second, I still want that beer from Mark Poppleton for avoiding a blank throughout the series.

I decided that the cold snap would call for a disciplined approach, but still had far too much bait on my side tray, just can't help myself, although I did remain disciplined and brought home 10X the amount I fed into the peg,

First rod out the bag was a waggler, a MKII  Normark Microlight, cracking winter rod, this had a Drennan waggler on, one of the glowtop models, they cast nicely, settle showing every shot and the colour banding on the shows up lift or on the drop bites really clearly.  Next was a lead rod, Tournament 10-11' at 10' to fish bread, popped up at various depths, I was then going to set up a another lead rod with mini hybrid feeder on, but then realised that I'd brought my 12-13' Tournament instead of the other 10-11' so didn't bother with that one. 3 pole rigs, one for a very, very optimistic edge rig - nothing on that so no more about it, a .3 Hillbilly chump on 0.16, with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 808 to fish at 16m.Peg 6 slopes off for a long way and 16m was a distance that felt right, didn't think much would be coming any closer. I did set up a double bulk rig for the same 16m line but that didn't see the water.

For the first 1/2 an hour of the match, I chucked the popped up bread and sat on my hands, a couple of liners, but nothing in the way of a proper bite, I tried from 12" to 5' popped up and 30 minutes was by far long enough.  Onto the 16m line with a 4mm expander, nothing, not a touch, tried a maggot to no avail, so then went right into winter mode and tried double squatt, missed a bite, then had a micro perch, immediately followed by a 8 or 10oz skimmer and then bumped a fish, probably another skimmer.

To cut a long story short, the rest of the match was spent rotating between the lead, the pole and the waggler, the waggler being the only method I got any bites or indications on, resulting in a small carp, a perch and a tiny hybrid, I wasn't alone at this end of the lake, only peg 10 beating me, he managed several small carp getting 9lb odd to my 4lb odd,.

So a second in section and a pick up, as this league is paid out 1st and 2nd in section, no overall, just as well, as I was in the lowest weight section........... just for a change!!!

Weighsheet

Next up for me will be Viaduct Silvers league next Sunday.

Harescombe Costcutter Thursday 19th November 2015

Toss up between Viaduct and trying my hand at a new (to me) venue today, Tony Rixon promised me plenty of bites and he was driving, so Harescombe won, even though it's a bit too snaky for my usual preference.

It's certainly secluded, set up in the hillside in deepest Gloucestershire, the breakfast wasn't too shabby and a reasonable price. The match was £10 including pools, these costcutters seem to be taking over, its a strange thing to my mind, to fish a match that winning doesn't cover your costs, but there was nothing else on.

I had looked at the weather forecast a couple of days ago and it was forecast to be dry, first lesson of the day, check again before setting off, as I left my bait brolly at home and it pissed down for 90% of the match.  I drew peg 14, meaningless to me as a venue newbie and I didn't ask about it, I thought I'd let the plummet and a bit of watercraft suss it out.  It was 13m to the island, which has wooden stakes all round it, this was about 3 1/2' deep tight to the stakes and about 6" deeper 12" off them, so I set just on bottom at 6" off the boards, a wire stemmed float, 0.12 hooklength and a 18LWG with a band completed that rig.  Another wire stemmed float to fish just at the bottom of the near shelf, a nice distance to loose feed caster, this with 0.10 and a 20 LWG.  Final rig was a glass stemmed float to fish the edges, topkit + 1 to the left and 10m to the right,

I did set up a 9' rod with a method on, but this never saw the water (apart from the rain!!).  I had a pint each of micro's, 4mm's and 6mm's, about a pint and a half of caster and 3 pints of maggots, with the most useful thing in match angling - hindsight - I could have left the maggots at home, in fact I think they cost me......

Starting tight across with a 6mm pellet in the band and feeding 4mm's via a toss pot, I started catching F1's straight away, no big ones, but nice to get some bites and see fish going in the net, also a small barbel. Lifting and dropping was essential to get a bite, often the float just dipping as it resettled, typical finicky F1 bites.  after an hour or so the bites started to tail off, so I fed some micro's, this increased the amount of bites, but also liners, so I cut it out again.

Next quiet spell I switched to the short caster line and had a few F1's and skimmers, but it wasn't frantic, I then tried the edges and also started up a maggot line, neither of these were effective and I spent the rest of the match switching between the long pellet line and the short caster line, adding fish, one or two, before having to switch again.

I had no idea what weight i had at the end and was pleasantly surprised to see 60.06 on the scales which was enough for second, behind the wily old Silverfox, who had 63.02.  I think the time I wasted on trying to make maggot work cost me the win, as the fish were smaller and less frequent than the pellet and caster fish.

Nice venue, I'll definitely go back, I reckon a proper F1 angler would have emptied it............

1: Mike Nicholls 63.02 peg 20
2: Chris Fox 60.06 peg 14
3: Tony Rixon 52.10 peg 8
4: Martin hook 46.00 peg 11
5: Stuart Graham 44.14 peg 29
6: Adrian Jeffery 42.04 peg 24

Viaduct Silvers League, Round Four, Sunday 15th November 2015

Well with my stubbornness costing me in the last round, any chance of a frame place in the series is a distant dream, so a positive approach and treat the rest of the series as opens.  Into the draw tin and I managed to pull a peg that was taking the brunt of today's high winds, 119, not a famed silvers peg of late.  For company I had Fabio on 118 to my left and Tim Clark on 121 on the end bank.

The high wind had me reaching for my feeder rod, although having Tim on 121 on the end bank limited where I could chuck it, so I clipped up at about 20m. 4 Pole rigs, a 0.3 wire stemmed float to fish the standard bulk and two droppers, a Hillbilly Shindig to fish a double bulk and a glass stemmed thin float to fish the edge in the hope of tench and/or perch.

The wind wasn't showing any signs of abating, so only 3 sections of pole came out the bag, no point in feeding an area that you can't fish, on the all in 3 balls of GB and caster at the full 3 sections + topkit, a single ball at topkit + 1 this had a little pinch of chopped worm in. I started on the feeder and had 4 small skimmers and a couple of roach in the first half an hour, but I just didn't get the feeling that it was building into a line that would produce for the whole match.

I had a look down the edge and this produced a micro roach to double caster and then another to 1/2 a worm, so that wasn't ready yet.  The short line only produced micro roach, too small to be a viable option, the 'long' pole line produced an odd skimmer, hand sized or smaller.  I had brought some 4mm meat after listening to the 'electronic chatter' in the week on FB, I fed this at the 3 sections + topkit, off at about the 2 o'clock position, just as a throwaway line, bur a look over it raised my hopes for a short while. A 6oz tench was my first fish over it, then a carp, then two skimmers, one of which was near the 1lb mark.  That was it, the line died as quickly as it sparked into life, not sure why.

The rest of the match was spent rotating round the lines, taking an odd fish from all of them, including a welcome 2lb+ stripey, which I initially thought was a carp, I knew Tim had me well beaten as he had managed some proper tench from his margins and the favoured 124 and 125 had beaten Tim in the section, with the bigger skimmers that seem to live in that area showing up for them. I had 14lb odd, Tim had 19lb and 124/125 had low - mid 20lb weights.

I didn't stay to get the results as I had to shoot off and go to work, but I believe Chris Davies won with 29lb.  Next up, a trip to Harescombe on Thursday, a new venue for me, so fingers crossed Abigail, Barney and what ever other storms have subsided by then and don't restrict the fishing.

Ivy House Winter League Round 1, Sunday 7th November 2015

I decided to book in for this league, as I fancied a bit of a change and also the dates mean I only have to use one annual leave day from work to fish all the matches.  I understood that it can be a hard venue in winter, but given how mild the weather has been I assumed that the venue wouldn't have gone into winter mode yet..........

Into the tin, after a very nice breakfast in the fishery cafe, peg 42 was the number that stared back at me, apparently a reasonable draw, but likely to be beaten by the end peg - that was the information offered to me.  It was full on wind in the face and with the forecast for the wind to increase during the day, I set up a waggler, two lead rods, one with a straight lead, the other a small Guru hybrid feeder. The pole I restricted to 13m, as the wind was also gusting from the side occasionally and I felt there was little point in feeding a line I could not then fish.

I had been given to helpful advice by Mark Poppleton regarding preparing expander pellets, after he took pity on me following last week's pellet phobia, self inflicted cock up. So I had in mind to fish expander on the pole over micros and the odd 4mm pellet, pellet on the lead and a variety of baits on the method. I set up 4 topkits, a 0.3g rig to fish expander, a 0.5g rig to fish expander in case the wind warranted it, a double bulk rig to bag up on skimmers (I was unduly optimistic given the mild weather.....) and finally a rig for fishing down to the unoccupied pallet of 43.

There was the odd fish moving before the start, but as the wind got up, the fish moved with it, along towards the aerator and round towards the lower numbers. First drop in I foul hooked a carp and came back with a scale, another 45 minutes without a bite had me coming in to 8m where I had fed a few casters, this line only produced micro perch and small roach and as the guy on 41 had a carp on his first chuck with a feeder, there was little point persevering with catching fish less than 1oz at 8m.

I went back to 13m and had a 8lb carp on the expander, then a small skimmer and that was to be my final action on the pole, the margin appeared devoid of fish, right up to the all-out, I think I overfed the 13m line trying to make something happen - and I barely fed more than a handful of micros and 4mm all day.  I had nothing on the method, one 2lber fancied my 6mm pellet on the straight lead and with hindsight, I should have just fished a pellet line on the pole and a straight lead for the whole match.

It was a tough section and I was a miserable last but one in it, peg 41 had 3 carp for 27lb, peg 40 had 3 for 24lb, peg 44 had one which was 12l, peg 38 had one for 11lb and my two went 10lb - so it could have been better, not sure if there is a way of singling out the bigger fish or if its just pot luck.

One thing is for sure, the next round in two weeks time won't cost a lot in bait, Leon Hubbard had a chat afterwards and confirmed that feeding is a sure way not to catch, which is a bit of a bugger as I find it difficult to keep my hand off the catapult.  I didn't stay for to see the end of the weigh in, not because I am unsociable or sulking, but I had get home and get to Worcester for a nightshift.

Next up for me is the Viaduct Silvers league next Sunday.

Viaduct Silvers League, Round Three, Sunday 1st November 2015

I firmly believe that the more I fish, the better I fish, so the lack of fishing lately due to working nearly all the time is impacting on my results, just can't get my head into the right place to be competitive.  That, and pellets, I bloody hate fishing with soft pellets.......

I wasn't disappointed with my draw, peg 86, not likely to pester the frame places from it, but should be an OK section peg, I intended to keep things simple, but with so much time to set up I did set up an extra rig to fish a 'throwaway' line fed with micro's and softened 4mm's.  I set up a waggler as the conditions were so still, two rigs to fish caster at 13m, one with a bulk and two droppers and a double bulk rig, I set up a 0.1g rig to fish under the bush to my RH side, hoping for perch or hybrids.  The rig to fish soft pellet had a 4" hooklength and I altered the shotting about from double bulk to spread, and back again during the day.

Glenn Calvert was on 85, so the spare time after setting up was passed chatting to him and Nick Chedzoy who was on 88 came down for a chat, we were all expecting a reasonable days fishing given how mild it had been and the foggy overcast weather this morning.  On the all-in I fed 3 balls of GB with caster and a few dead maggots in at 13m, one ball at 6m, this had a pinch of chopped worm in and 1/4 cup of micros and softened 4mm's at 10 o'clock.  Starting on the 6m line I was a little concerned not to get a bite, even on a single maggot, I gave that 20 minutes before going out to the 13m line.

The 13m line was not a great deal more productive, a small skimmer came to a worm head, a little roach to a live maggot and nothing at all to dead maggot, looks like I had misjudged the way it was going to fish.  I switched to the waggler and had a couple of small skimmers and roach, but this wasn't at all consistent, even though it was absolutely perfect conditions for it, the 2.5lb Maxima line was sinking with a small flick of the tip, the 0.10 hooklength wasn't kinking up as I had a tiny swivel joining it to the reel line, it all seemed perfect, but the fish didn't think so.

What I couldn't ignore any longer was the pin prick bubbles coming up from the pellet line, I hadn't been able to pump my pellets as my Ringers pellet pump had 'thrown' the o ring in the pump, so they were soaked and I had to give them a little squeeze to get them to sink. I immediately got bites, but it was from tiny 'razor blades', skimmers that could only just get a 4mm pellet in there mouths.  I could see Nick on 88 was catching regularly, but his fish were small, Glenn had a few smaller fish but i had heard the splash of a bigger skimmer going into his net.

I was getting frustrated by the size of the fish and by the amount of bites I was missing, this led me to come off feeding fish and go looking for a better stamp of fish on caster, but it was a fruitless exercise, the fish only wanted to eat pellet.  I went back on the pellet line and tried a hard pellet, banded, but this didn't produce a bite at all - how do they know the difference between a hard and soft pellet without putting it in their mouths??

I was convinced by now that Nick was well ahead and Glenn said he had two better skimmers, whilst the biggest fish I had was a 8oz tench taken on the waggler, if I had my head in the right place i would have stayed fishing pellet, but I still tried to make 'proper' baits work.  The edge rig under the bush hadn't moved, in the 3 times I tried it during the match, so back onto the pellet line and more 'blades' and frustration at missed bites. I hadn't hooked a carp on the pole, yet Glenn was being pestered by them, it seems that you need to have carp in the peg to catch the bigger skimmers, as Nick didn't get pestered by carp either and he was catching the same stamp of fish as me.

With 15 minutes to go, I had one last, desperate look under the bush and the float buried, suspecting a perch I was surprised to see a 6oz roach pop up, even more surprised next put in to get one nearer 1lb and two more 6ozers after that. I also bumped two fish there as well.

I was expecting to be well beaten in the section, but was pretty pissed off with myself after the scales went round, Leon won the section on 78, with 12.12, Glenn had 12.09, Nick had just over 11lb and I had just over 10lb, the section win was well within my grasp, my poor decision to not stick at the pellet line had cost me valuable points and an envelope.  Nick and Glenn also both caught on pellet, the fish just didn't want anything else it seemed. I do wonder if it would have been better to put the Cary sections of this silvers league onto Spring, giving more anglers the opportunity to catch the bonus big skimmers.

Unless I can sort out soft pellet fishing, I may as well go back on the river, I just get so frustrated at a bait that comes of the bloody hook so often, not so bad if fishing short, but a pain when fishing it at 12m+.

Next up is the Ivy House individual winter league, which starts next Sunday, I have been been warned to expect hard fishing. I don't mind that, I'm looking forward to a pint from Mark Poppleton - he is going to buy me one if I don't blank in at least two of the matches........

Viaduct Costcutter, Thursday 22nd October 2015

Well, I guess it would be remiss of me not to write about this one, even though it should be consigned to room 101......

With getting on for 3 pints of pristine casters left and a few worms and some dead maggots, I fancied another day fishing for silvers and that influenced what I put in the van.  Once I drew, I found 115 stuck to my hand and that had me reconsidering, so much so I put some pellets into my bag and cut up some meat.

I did set up a lead rod, not sure why, I had no intention of seriously using it, unless the tip went round within seconds of casting, every chuck.....  3 rigs for carp, a pellet rig to fish on the deck at 14m, a meat rig for 5m and a margin rig, although with 114 and 116 in, I wasn't convinced that would be anything other than a real long shot.

Starting on the meat short, there was no indication of any fish there, so 10 minutes was enough on that, it then took the nest part of an hour to get a fish on the long line, with a 6mm pellet on the hook.  Either side of me had caught on the lead, but I couldn't bring myself to chuck it out.  After two hours I did chuck the lead, as I had only one more carp, both small ones, as I decided to switch to fishing for silvers - not really a wise decision with some decent anglers already targeting them.  Whilst I was putting up a topkit to fish for skimmers, the lead rod went round and it had managed somehow, with a 12" hooklength and a 8mm pellet, to foul hook a carp that got away.

I fed some GB and caster at 7m, this produced 5 fish in 5 put ins, 4 8oz skimmers and a 3lber, before this went quiet after another 3lber leapt and shed the hook.  2 further hours and I had added a few more skimmers, but was going nowhere fast, by now the guy on 114 was catching at about 18-20m on the waggler, which wasn't much use to me, as mine was 35 miles away in the garage.

I switched back to the long pellet line, as  by now the Rubicon was crossed and I had self inflicted a disaster on myself, I had one more carp on the long line / pellet, not a bite on meat or in the margin and packed up with 20 minutes to go, chucking back about 12lb skimmers and 3 carp, and snuck off with my tail between my legs.

I didn't get the results, but I do know that I should have stuck to one or the other and I should have brought a waggler rod.

Ivy House Costcutter, Tuesday 20th October 2015

Having decided to fish the Ivy House winter league series (they still have some spaces) I thought it best to get some practise in and with plenty of casters left from the weekend I fancied another day fishing for silvers.

I thought the traffic would be bad, but my mood by the time I got to the motorway wasn't the best, Ivy House is about 3 miles further than Viaduct for me, but it took an hour and 50 minutes to get there, its 50 minutes to Viaduct!! Over an hour to get from home to the M4, bloody ridiculous.  Once there I was going to order the regular breakfast, but my will power went at the last minute and I had the large one, very nice, a good way to set up for what I assumed would be a chilly day.

I paid Andy for the league fees and the match, before drawing peg 37, not knowing the venue it didn't mean too much, although Andy told me 40lb of skimmers made up part of a 70lb net on Sunday, so I was hopeful of a good day, Andy did warn it might start off slowly.

As 37 is next to the causeway, I did set up a carp rig, but dropped from my usual 0.20 down to 0.16 and a 16 Guru Super Spade as the water was fairly clear. Two skimmer rigs, 0.4g to fish bulk and two droppers, 0.5g to fish a double bulk and a 4x12 rig to fish caster short, I also set up a waggler as we had loads of time before the 11.15 start. The depth was fairly consistent at 13m so I picked an area of 'dark' water for ease of float visibility and fed this with 3 balls of GB/caster/worm - but not too much worm.

Leaving that to settle I fished for roach short, but they weren't too obliging on the topkit to hand, so I went topkit + 2 and this produced a couple of better roach, one of about 8oz, before this line went 'iffy' as well.  Out to the 13m line and I expected to see some sign of the skimmers, I had Gary Ethridge the other side of the causeway and he reckoned we were both on decent skimmer pegs, but I hadn't seen a single bubble over the GB and the tiny perch taking the worm, caster or dead maggot were far from a good sign.

After 3 hours with about 3lb in the net, I was starting to question my sanity in booking in for the league, as both lakes were fishing hard and there were guys blanking.  There had been carp moving along the far bank (what would be the LH margin of 36) all day, but the venue rules are no fishing further than halfway across the lake.  At this point Andy Lloyd walked round, as even he was struggling, he was pointing at the fish in the margin of 36 and saying how coloured it was - not too frustrating then!!

I had tried the area at 14m along the causeway, where I had fed, about 3' out from the bank to find just over 2' of water and there was the odd waft of the float, but I could not induce a bite.  With about two hours to go, the carp started moving out of the margin of 36, they were up in the water and mouthing leaves etc on the surface.  A pair of them were over my 13m GB line, so I swung the margin rig round and mugged one of them, a fish of about 8 or 9lb, gratefully netted.  It was amazing, an area that seemed devoid of fish now had a large number of carp up in the water and heading round the lake - away from me sadly, the rest of them stayed out of reach, but they did start to come closer as they went through peg 38, not sure that they were so visible to Chris Cotterill on that peg, but I could see it was black with them.

Thankfully a few stayed and ventured along the causeway towards me and I had my first from there shortly after the mug fish.  There weren't loads there, as I had no indications until the float buried and it was fish on, I was feeding after each fish, fishing maggots (6) on the hook and I though I might end up with 10, but Andy Lloyd came and sat behind me, he's obviously not a good luck charm as I didn't catch in the time he was there and ended with 8 carp and my sparse collection of roach and tiny perch.

The 8 carp went 89.06 and the roach 3.06 for 93.00 dead and first on the day.

1: Chris Fox 93.00 peg 37
2: Val 86.12 peg 20
3: Gary Ethridge 34.06 peg 11
4: Baggy 27.12 peg 3
5: Paul 26.06 peg 31
6: Fred 25.14 peg 14

Silvers
1: Gary Ethridge  15.09 peg 11
2: Terry 12.01 peg 6

Viaduct Silvers League Round Two, Sunday October 18th 2015

This is going to be short and sweet.

I missed the first round due to being at the Preston Festival and Steve Tucker stood in for me, doing a decent job with a section second.  So all to fish for, I must admit, when 110 came out of the tin, I wasn't over excited, as 'Tucks' had been 5th the day before, with I was informed, tench and perch - not species that like being caught two days running, I would have preferred a skimmer peg.  I couldn't ring him and get some better info, as my phone had died.

I set up a rig to fish to the stump, for tench and perch, there were some carp splashing along the brambles, so I didn't plumb up there.  I set up similar rigs to yesterday and a waggler rod, hoping to catch some skimmers over GB.  I fed GB and caster at 13m, GB, caster and a little bit of worm at 7m and caster at 4m.

It was a real struggle to get bites and I could see Nick Chedzoy on 112 catching hand sized skimmers steadily, whilst my float was for all intents and purposes, superglued to the surface film!!  I tried the waggler over some loose fed caster at about 20m, this produced a few small roach and one small skimmer.  I then gave in and set up a rig to look for perch and tench along the brambles, but no matter where I fed or fished, the bait I could rely on to get a bite was a caster and when the bite came it would be a micro roach.

With 4 hours to go, I had pretty much exhausted every option I could think of, new lines, well overdepth, shallow, fishing just off the feed, well off the feed, right on top of the feed, etc etc. all with the same result, a long wait for a small roach. I had run out of ideas and was getting somewhat pissed off with the leaves that the wind had gathered into my peg.

In the last 20 minutes I had 4 perch for about 2lb down by the stump, too little too late, so my meagre 13lb odd went 4th in section, that leaves a lot of work to be done in the next four rounds.

All Winners Final (Silvers) Viaduct, Saturday 17th October 2015

It was nice to sit back and relax as a passenger today, Tony Rixon being the chauffeur for the day.  All the talk before the match was that pegs 124-126 and 68-71 would be the ones to draw. I had some banter with Bob Gullick about drawing peg 80, which is definitely one to avoid and luckily, he pulled it from the tin before I stuck my hand in.  64 for me, a classic corner carp peg, which I have never managed to draw in a ‘normal’ match……  Not one you’d normally run to for silvers, but with £750 up for grabs it was still worth going and trying.

As I walked up to the peg, I could see Nicky Ewers on peg 66, he said “Oh, I thought it was bad enough drawing here, now it’s just got worse” my close presence is not seen as much of a good luck charm nowadays, given the regularity that I manage to draw the low weight sections.  Still, it meant that we would have a bit of banter if the fish didn't want to play ball.

I had brought a waggler rod and lead rod, neither of which would see the light of day, as if Nicky and I had fished 16m we would have been pole tip fencing, as we both had an empty peg to one side, I do think it would be better to peg 63 and 66 or 64 and 67 in silvers matches, but that’s just a personal opinion.  4 topkits set up, one to fish the margins either side in search of a perch, a 0.20 Jean Desque to fish for roach short and two skimmer rigs, one with the normal bulk and two droppers, one with a double bulk. All with 0.10 hooklengths and 18 hooks, except the margin rig which had 0.12 and a 16 on.

I could see the regular inhabitants of the peg, porpoising in front of the tree opposite, so I did not intend to fish to my right at all, except the margin, which was fed with caster, I fed a short line with caster, a line about 7m with GB and caster and an line at 13m with GB and caster.  Leaving the GB lines to settle I had a couple of roach on the short line, but it was short lived, as the just pushed out and with £750 to fish for, they were just too small to be worth the effort.  I could get the odd fish on the GB lines, but of no size and the length of time waiting for a bite meant I was unlikely to be threatening the stack of envelopes in the fishery office.

I decided to start a new GB line at 13m at about 1 o’clock to my right, this produced two proper skimmers in the first two drop-in’s much to my surprise, but the water was sheltered here, as there was a chill wind blowing down the lake, coming right through the gap in the trees, straight at me.  The rest of my match was spent concentrating on this line, with an occasional look at the other lines, they remained resolutely biteless, the RH line settled into a regular routine, feed, catch a couple of carp and then a couple of skimmers, it would then go dead, feed gain, more carp, then a couple more skimmers, frustrating to have to get the carp, but there were plenty of them in the peg, it was as they came in over the feed and tore through it, then the skimmers came to see if the carp had left any pickings, when they moved off.

The best bait was a section of worm, about 1” – 1½” long, caster meant the same wait for a bite, but it was more likely to be a roach, I toyed with the idea of putting some corn in, but decided against it, maybe I should have tried it.  As I thought initially, I didn’t trouble the framing positions from that peg, but was pleased to have done enough with the skimmers to take the section win by 7lb, with my 20.09.  As the results show, the pre match predictions of the pegs to draw, weren’t exactly accurate, good thing really.

1: Mark Saunders 35.01 peg 112

2: Gabriel Skarba 32.06 peg 99

3: Steve Denmead 29.01 peg 129

4: Andy Power 28.11 peg 68

5: Steve Tucker 26.04 peg 110

6: Paul Elmes 26.03 peg 78

Preston Festival, Whiteacres Monday 5th - Friday 10th October 2015

After qualifying for the Preston Festival at Whiteacres, I decided to give it a go, Sue Faiers was looking for a week of respite, as she sent her husband along to keep me company.  This would be the first time I had fished the lakes when pellet and method feeders were allowed, as the Bait Tech which I usually fish is a ‘natural’ bait festival.

I had to get everything ready the week before, as I was away in Gran Canaria not getting back until after midnight on the Saturday, this involved buying some of the Guru X-Safefeeders, which are the only elasticated feeders allowed at Whiteacres, as well as tying rigs hooks and generally (with hindsight) packing too much gear and bait.

Leaving Paul to collect the fresh bait from Veals on the Saturday, I was ready before I jetted off and within 7 hours of landing back in Bristol I was packing up the van to head to Nailsea and collect Paul.  On our arrival we decided to fish on Sunday afternoon, a few hours on Pollawyn, where we caught fish, but it wasn’t hectic sport, a sign of things to come…..

We had opted to be in the same section, to make it easier for travelling and I wasn’t disappointed to be on Bolingey for day one, I have picked up money on my last two visits to the lake, so was fairly confident.  That confidence was short lived when I pulled out 21 – the coldest peg in Cornwall – it really is a poor draw and was true to form.  I started on bread tight across to the island and had a carp, which gave me false hope, the next bite was a drop back and that was a 8oz roach, that was the end of the island action.  The information we had been told from the Maver festival the week before, was very frugal feeding was the way to go, so I had put 2-3 bits of meat in on the 5m line every 10 minutes and some 4mm pellet at 14m.

 The peg seemed devoid of fish until I upped the pellet feed with the catty and had a Carussio, then two Carp in fairly quick succession before that line died a very final and total death.  The 5m meat line didn’t produce as much as a quiver on the float bristle and my final three fish came from the margins, one from the RH side down to the pallet of 20 and 2 from the deeper margin to my left.  My 39lb and 4 points was the best of the peg all week, it really did live up to its poor reputation.  Paul had peg 44, a peg we have both drawn in the past and got good points from, but the fish came from the other side of the lake, so he didn’t have a bright start either.  We did keep up the tradition of having an after match pint in the Bolingey Arms, but it appears we are mere shadows of our hard drinking days in the 80’s.

Day two and it was Pollawyn, my luck had obviously changed as peg 13, which is a flyer section peg, found its way into my hand, Paul had 29, so neither of us were too disappointed. I like Pollawyn and have had a couple of second in sections on there, but the pressure was on not to bugger up this flyer.  I set up a waggler to cast to the island, whilst doing this, I was looking to my right and could see carp porpoising in front of the island pegs, about 2/3 the way across, not much activity in front of me, by not much, I mean none!!  The wagglers only venture into the water was before the all-in, so no more about that. I set up two lead rods, one for popped up bread and one for pellet, the pellet one had the same fate as the waggler, the bread didn’t produce as much as a liner.

I set up 6 topkits, more than I would normally, but with Pollawyn being deep, you need to cover the different levels that the fish might be at. One topkit to fish caster down the RH edge, not a bite on that, one to fish over GB, worm and caster just up the near shelf off to the RH side, a meat rig to fish off to the LH side and 3 rigs set at full depth, half depth and 2’ to fish at 14m.  As mentioned, the bread didn’t produce anything, I had been flicking a few bits of 6mm meat on the LH 5m line and dropped in on that, a quick response and a 4lb carp in the net, no other bites there, so I had a look on the 14m line, I could get bites on 6mm meat, but it was small fish and I find fishing the long pole for small fish pretty tedious, so swapped to the worm and GB line. This produced the expected skimmers, but they were up in the water, I couldn’t get them to take a bait off the bottom, but liners and foulers were a problem whilst waiting for a bite.  Its not an uncommon problem now on commercials, I am sure the skimmers don’t want to be near the silt, which is probably unpleasant stuff.

It was fairly slow going, I did try the other lines regularly and had a skimmer from the meat line, but the only way to guarantee bites was to stick on the worm and caster line. I had kept pinging a few bits of 6mm meat out to 14m and with 90 minutes to go had a couple of liners on the full depth rig, so picked up the half depth rig, liners again, so in with the 2’ rig and I managed 3 more carp and a couple of skimmers on this, sticking with it to the end of the match.  The scales registered 40lb odd and a section win, 8lb ahead of peg 1.  Paul had the pegs with the porpoising carp in his section and whilst they were too far to my right, they were too far to his left and he struggled in his section.

Onto day three and I had some optimism before the draw, today was split between Trelawny and Twin Oaks, I had been dreaming positive dreams and will peg 16 Twin Oaks into my hand, but somehow I managed to pull peg 6 Trelawny, another poor draw. Paul had 29 on Twin Oaks – in the right area for the big F1’s. The waggler rod stayed in the bag, two lead rods, one for bread and one with a method on, 4 topkits today, one to fish banded pellet at 14m, one to fish meat at 5m, one to fish worm/caster either side and straight in front short and an edge rig.  Nothing, not even a liner on the bread, not sure that boded well for the method, so I didn’t chuck it out, they tried it either side and didn’t catch on it, so I think I was right.

I concentrated on the L and RH sides short, one side fed with GB one with just caster, these were fairly unproductive, so I stuck another section on and started a fresh line at 5 sections, this fed with GB, worm and caster.  Same problem as the day before, skimmers in the peg, but they were up in the water and causing me liners and foulers, I was getting frustrated by the amount that were jumping ad coming off, but I think they were virtually all either foul hooked or not hooked at all. I couldn’t see too many pegs, but peg 2 had a couple of carp down the edge and I could see the pegs either side were struggling.  Peg 8 then started catching the odd bigger F1 from his margins and I made the mistake of following him, I did not have an indication of any kind from my margins and he beat me by about 6oz, which wouldn’t have been the case had I stuck with the skimmers, although it was of little consequence seeing as, as expected pegs 4, 6 and 8 were the bottom 3 in the section.  4 weighed 18lb, me on 6 24.12 and peg 8 weighed 25.03. Paul had an F1 lesson on Twin Oaks and learnt a lot, whilst being beaten by some good F1 anglers, they are so different than what we usually fish for…..

We had been walking to the nearby Piran holiday park for the evening meal, its much, much better than the food in the Whiteacres restaurant. But tonight we risked fish and chips from the Whiteacres chippy, that was pretty good.

So onto day 4 and we drew next to each other on Trewaters, Paul on 39 and me on 41, which isn’t a bad draw, but probably not the flyer I needed with Des, Johnny Arthur and Andy Leathers also in our section.  The peg is about 20m wide so no need to consider the pole to the island, the usual bread/lead rod set up, a small method feeder and a pole rigs to fish 14m banded pellet, 5m meat and rig to fish caster short and a margin rig for both sides, there was a nice flat area just my side of the pallet of peg 40, I was confident I’d get fish in there.

First chuck into the far bank indentation which looked the obvious place to fish, with bread and within seconds I had a carp about 3lb. Nothing else on bread, but a switch to the method and a 6mm pellet brought two more fish to the net within the first 15 minutes, then it went dead. I swapped the bread hooklength for a banded hooklength and tried this over, but nothing, the fish had gone.

To cut a long boring day short, it fished hard, I set up another rig to fish 16m and 5m of line to swing to the far bank, I could get bites on this, not sure if it was shit fish or F1’s, but whatever it was I didn’t hit a single bite.  I had one skimmer and a small tench on the caster line and what I thought would be a good margin produced nothing. The guy on 43 had one small carp with 45 minutes to go, but he managed 3 more from his RH margin which had some cover, which seemed necessary to catch, where mine were bare. I managed 11lb, which wasn’t last on the lake, but it was last but one, Des had struggled to catch from 45, but he did weigh 35lb, beating Pauls weight by ounces.  Tricky day and I’m not sure what I would do differently if I had to fish it over again, apart from be more negative, but going on the previous weights I thought I was fishing for nearly double the 54lb which won the section.

Last day and off to Porth, this wasn’t in the Bait Tech this year, so its 18 months since I fished it, I decided to just take two feeder rods and fish one at 30 turns of a 3000 reel and one at 55 turns of a 4000 reel, peg 16 had thrown up one decent weight earlier in the week, 48lb which was 8 fish I believe. I obviously fancied peg 16 and was somewhat shell shocked when it revealed itself in my hand. The day before it had produced about 1lb, I guess whoever was on it had fished for bream…..

Arriving at the peg I had Des for company on peg 17, I would say I am a better silvers angler than carp, but I won’t try and kid myself or anyone else that I could beat Des in a roach head to head, so the feeder would be a shit or bust gamble. (which is that when it goes wrong? Shit? Or bust?) Paul avoided the boat ride as he drew 23. So same section again, he too had just feeder rods and quite a few more had the same idea, most of us with no chance of qualifying in the top 24!!

I had a look at the new Preston pole Des is using, it looks a nice bit of kit and he was raving about it, so much better than what Preston have produced before. I then got really frustrated trying to tie a shockleader knot, Des couldn’t help, he never uses one, so up the bank to peg 23 and Faiersy tied it for me, something I must practice.  On the all-in I spent nearly 15 minutes with a big feeder putting GB, pellets and corn at 55 turns, then spent 20 minutes on it, just in case there was an inquisitive fish in the area.  No signs of a decent fish, just a 3oz roach that some how rattled the tip and got hooked when attacking double hair rigged worm. So onto the short feeder line and not long before I had a bite, a small perch, not a good sign, a couple of small skimmers and another perch before this died. Back out to 55 turns and casting every 5 minutes to keep it topped up, at least whilst I was waiting for a bite I had a first hand view of Des’s roach masterclass and his cursing at the pike attacks.

With two hours to go it was looking unlikely anything was going to happen, the conditions weren’t conducive to catching bream, sunny, easterly breeze, so I switched to a method feeder and boilie, this did give me faint hope when I struck into a drop back, but the fish wasn’t the 6lber I hoped for, more like 1lb 4oz. With 20 minutes to go, I had a last cast and determined to leave I there until it either went round or the all-out was called, I had  a couple of flicks on the tip, which I though were liners, but when the all-out was called, I reeled in and had a skimmer about 3oz hooked fair and square in the mouth, I guess he couldn’t lift the 45g method feeder off the deck, I am really surprised he didn’t attract the attentions of a pike.  Des won the section with 17lb, I was about halfway with 3.12, but I knew it would either be glory or nothing.

On the evening Glen Calvert turned up with his misses Liz, nice to see them but they led me and Paul astray, after our week of sensible sobriety, we were last out of the bar and then back to their caravan for more beer, but it was a nice way to round off a disappointing week.

I just managed to not finish in the bottom 3^rd, 119^th, Paul was 138^th, the last two days he had a taster of what it’s like to be me…… I was in the lowest weight section every day, at least he only suffered that fate on the last two days, not sure what the odds of drawing the section that has no chance of framing every day, but I wish I’d put a few quid on it before hand.  All in all it was a decent week for the company, we met up with Scott Russell, Dan White, Scott Cousins and a fair few others, the weather turned from looking dreadful to not too bad, the only let down was the hard fishing and couple of dire draws. 

Lessons learnt, especially that we had far too much bait again, but partly that was caused by us finding a couple of kilo’s of worms left in the storage shed by the previous occupants, I haven’t opened the two kilos I bought.  I didn’t use half the 10 pints of caster and I brought plenty of meat and corn home.

Oh well, next up the Viaduct silvers all-winners final on Saturday and the Viaduct silvers league on Sunday, so the same prep and bait for the two days.

Landsend Open, Sunday 13th September 2015

After the last match I fished at Landsend, I decided to book into this one and fish for silvers, that was after I checked that lake 3 wasn't going to be in as I feel that it cannot compete with Match or Speci lakes for silvers.

On arrival I found out that there had been a 20 peg match on the lake the day before, bugger, this seems to wake up the carp and they often feed better when there has been a match the day before, but in my experience, its the opposite for silvers, as the main weight builders are skimmers and perch, which shut up shop.

Too late to change my mind, especially when I drew peg 5 which has in the past thrown up a few F1's, I don't agree with them counting as silvers, but that's the venue rules, so I was hoping to catch a few.  No carp rigs set up, only 4 topkits to try and cover all the silvers / F1 options, a rig to fish banded caster on the far shelf, a double bulk rig in case the skimmers really went and two similar rigs with wire stemmed floats, one with 0.14 to see if there were any tench or big perch by the lilly pads to my left and one with 0.10 in case it was tough.

Bait tray was simple, caster, a few dead maggots, some micros and softened 4mm pellets, a selection of expanders, although by the end I was thinking B & J might have been a better option......

Before I had finished cupping in on my chosen pellet line, Tony Rixon, who was on peg 3 was playing a carp, I fed some caster short - very short - and at 6m, starting on the 6m line with double caster, after 10 minutes without a bite, I was starting to get a bit concerned as starting on caster here usually brings instant bites from small fish, which then seems to attract the better stamp.

A switch to the expander over the pellet feed brought a couple of 10oz skimmers, but there was very little signs of fish feeding in the peg, I ended up spending the whole match switching between four lines, a caster line at 6m which was pretty barren apart from a roach and a very small rudd, the topkit caster line produced one big skimmer and a decent perch, the far shelf single caster saw four more perch netted and a couple of unwanted carp.   It was very hard going, as it was for Nick Ewers on peg 6 and Rod Wotton on peg 7, Nick fished for carp, Rod for a bit of both, but we did seem to be in a fairly barren area.

It was hard work and my meagre catch tipped the scales at 13.07, that was enough to take 3rd and last payout in the silvers, behind Clint's 36.01 and Paul's 33.02, they both managed a few of the decent skimmers which eluded me and Rod, who fished his usual hard pellet for them.

On the carp side Trigger had a red letter day, he said afterwards he had a 10 minute spell without a bite....... I had about 5 hours 50 minutes of no bites!!

1. Craig Edmunds 311.05 peg 13
2. Tony Rixon 25.09 peg 3
3. Steve Seager 147.01 peg 39
4. Andy Hembrow 141.05 peg 13
5. Paul Elmes 134.01 peg 24
6. Mike Nicholls 90.12 peg 18

Silvers
1. Clint Wojtyla 36.01 peg 37
2. Paul Faiers 33.02 peg 22
3. Chris Fox 13.07 peg 5

Gary Wall Memorial Match, Landsend, Monday 31st August 2015

I decided to go to this match and see if I can't get a result at this venue, where I seem to struggle, unless I fish for silvers.  With that in mind I did have a couple of pints of caster, just in case.....

Into the draw tin and out comes peg 9, match lake, which was my preferred draw, as it seems that lake 3 never competes on silvers, but the considered opinion of the venue experts was that 9 is an out and out carp peg.  Not a problem, as I had brought pellets and meat as well and with Tony Rixon on peg 7 I was sure I would get a few pointers as well as a lesson in catching carp on this lake.

I set up a rig to fish caster, same rig would do for short and down the track, a meat rig for 5m, pellet rig for bottom of the shelf and one for up the shelf and as it was a memorial, I did set up a paste rig, as no doubt Gary would have been on it if he were still here.

Starting at 5m on meat resulted in a worryingly motionless float, Tony was finding the same thing, whilst we could hear splashing from the opposite side. In the first two hours I managed to get two 3lb carp, one on pellet and  did set up a paste rig to fish it tight over, one on that first drop in and then nothing.  Tony was still struggling and I could hear Russ Peck and Ken Rayner discussing catching, which seemed a distant memory to me.

I switched to fishing caster and had a bream on my topkit just in front of my nets, I switched to feeding caster down the track and across to the bottom of the shelf, this produced one tiny roach across and two skimmers along with a 6oz perch down the track.  Thankfully the bream / big skimmers came in on the short line and double caster accounted for every fish I weighed in, all caught short apart from the those previously mentioned.  Nice day in the end putting 30.04 on the scales to win the silvers and complete a weekend of picking up - a nice change from the poor run I have been in.  See Tony's blog for the full result.