Viaduct Costcutter, Thursday 29th September 2016

34 booked in for this one, these Thursday matches have become really popular, 17 on each lake and the lakes paid out as separate matches, I think this is the best way to do it, as the lakes can fish very differently.

Into the tin and 116 comes out, a peg that I like because the fish can come into the short RH margin in numbers.  The weather conditions looked decent so I set up a waggler, I also set up a lead rod - not intending to use it, unless I was chucking it out whilst I sorted a trashed rig...... 

Four topkits, one for meat short, one for the RH edge and two for pellet at 14m, a .2 and a .4 rig, to fish through the water and hard on the bottom.  Simple bait tray, 6 & 8mm pellets, 6mm meat and dead maggots, also some GB.

On the all-in I started on the short meat rig, but with only a couple of small skimmers to show for it in 10 minutes, I went out to 14m and had a carp first put in on a 8mm pellet on the deck, then the bloody wind got up, it was impossible to hold 14m still and the presentation was poor.  A switch to the lead over the 14m line brought four more fish of 10lb, 12lb and two 8lbers. So with 55 minutes gone, I had 45lb in the net and was thinking of a red letter day, another fish about 5lb, just after the hour mark was to be the last for an hour.  I tried coming short, a new line in front of the tree to my right, no matter what i did the peg was to all appearances devoid of fish - it couldn't have been, but I couldn't catch one!

Next hour I had a couple more on the lead, before feeding the margin line at the halfway point in the match, this brought an immediate response and I saw fish, and vortexes in the water as they homed in on the GB.  Given that it was tricky to catch in open water, I went into the margin, too soon really, but I did have a few fish, before it died off coming up the the 5th hour, I had tried two worms on the hook, but that was a waste of time, 10 maggots were best.

As the margin had died off, I refed it quite aggressively with an hour to go and left it, dropping in on the short meat line, this brought a big skimmer and two carp, before the margin was once again a cauldron of fish swirling and feeding.  Back in the edge and a couple of fish before the all out, although I lost a big fish that was headed for the tree branches in the water and as I hung on to stop it, the 0.20 mainline went at the bottom of the loop, I've had this a couple of times now, it seems like the loop to loop way of putting the hooklength on weakens the loop at the stress point.  My own fault for reusing rigs, never had it happen on a fresh one.

So an enjoyable day, those couple of barren spells, especially that 2nd hour costing me the win, as my 171.13 was only good enough for 2nd on the lake and 3rd on the day.

Ivy House Open, Tuesday 27th September 2016

When Tony picked me up I did mention the traffic had been horrific in Bristol the day before, so maybe we should go via Tog Hill,  but as we sailed through town and up the M32 last time, we headed that way.  An hour after leaving home we were sat on Newfoundland road (5 miles!!) with the M32 just a huge car park.  So off at Easton and up through Kingswood and Tog Hill, arriving at the fishery 2 hours 15 minutes after leaving home, this for a journey of approx 36 miles.  Whoever is in charge of Bristol traffic planning should be publicly flogged.

So late for the draw, which they kindly held back 15 minutes, had to race down one of Karen's breakfasts and when the drawbag was brought to our table, there were just two pegs left in, I pulled 23, not a peg I'd chose and Tony managed the much more fancied 44 - so much for the birthday draw gods being kind to me.

23 is the road bank of Willow lake and I have never seen it beat the opposite bank, anytime I have been here, so I guessed I had my work cut out.  I decided to fish GB/worm at 14m and micros/soft pellet at 7m, also a margin down to my RH side.

At the all-in I fed the GB with a little worm and caster in (3 balls) and started on the soft pellet line, this produced a roach, not a great start and nothing much else followed.  Out to the worm line and this was also very slow a 15 minute or so wait for a bite and that was either a tiny perch or a small skimmer, giving me the feeling that not much was out there.  The pegs to my left and right were struggling, whilst the 3 pegs opposite were putting fish in the net, not at any great rate, but better quality and more regularly than us on the road bank.

The match stayed pretty much like that, with an hour to go I started feeding caster on a topkit line and some decent roach started coming in, but the set up was all wrong, I much prefer a whip for fishing short for roach.  By now John Walker on my left had had enough and packed up, it was that tough, although I think pegging a section of 6 with 4 end pegs didn't help, although John's end peg advantage was wiped out when a pleasure angler came and set up to his left. My 15lb of silver and one lone carp was hardly worth weighing and match lake had fished much more consistently.

Tony Rixon's Open, Trinity Waters, Sunday 25th September 2016

After a night out in town I was glad for the lift today from Tony Rixon, as I would have been over the limit for driving, Copper Kettle in WSM for breakfast and very nice it was.

The usual cheery welcome at Trinity from Misha and Tom, even Lily smiled at me, although I wasn't quite so chuffed when I drew peg 6, its not the worse draw on the lake, but I'd rather be further up that bank.  Tackling up I fancied the pellet waggler for a few fish, so set that up, I did consider a straight lead for the waggler line, but I settled on a method feeder.  4 toplkits, a paste rig, a margin rig and two pellet rigs, one for banded pellet and one for soft pellet/corn/worm.

The lake has seen an instant response to pellet feed with paste over the top and today the fizzing stared as usual, but instead of two fish in the first 20 minutes then nothing, it took me the best part of an hour to get the two fish. I had been pinging pellets at 25 yards or so and after an hour went over them with a small pellet waggler set about 4' deep,  after persevering with this for nearly an hour, I gave up and unusually I hadn't had a bite on the wag.

Back on the paste after trying pellet on the pole and I could get a fish if I was patient - never my strong point - but they weren't exactly coming fast and furiously, although they were a decent size.  I was hoping for some fish in the margin, but whilst I was biding my time before going in there, I tried the method down to the end bank, within a couple of minutes, another 10lber was hooked and landed, then a slightly smaller fish and 10 minutes after a third about 5lb.  Then the indication and liners stopped and that was the end of that 'mini' run of fish.

I'd love to describe how the margin kicked in and saved the day, but one lonely 2lber was the sole carp from there, no matter what bait I put on the hook, the float would not stay still, even an 8mm pellet as the roach whittled it down.

Back on the paste and the patient weight for a bite saw another couple of fish, but it was getting longer and longer between bites, the more the match wore on.  In the end I managed to put 79.15 on the scales and that was enough for fourth and one out of the money.  Match won by my Chauffeur Tony Rixon from the opposite corner, with 124lb, close on his heels was Tom Mangnel with 122lb.

Ivy House Open Tuedsday 13th September 2016

I'd been wanting to get back to Ivy House for ages, today was an opportunity to give it a shot.  Word was that the skimmers had been feeding, so I had worm and caster, as well as a few pellets and a bag of paste.  The usual decent breakfast, although with the addition of a fancy coffee machine in the cafe, it pushes the price up, I've spent less entertaining classy ladies than feeding Tony Rixon, whose breakfast I bought in return for him driving.

I was hoping for a decent skimmer peg and 14 came out of the bag, should be OK, so rigs were aimed at Skimmer fishing, the only concerning thing was the bright sun and flat calm conditions.  A 0.4g rig to fish a standard bulk and two droppers, a 0.5g double bulk rig, a paste rig to fish short and as the LH edge down to peg 13 looked inviting, I set up a margin rig.

On the all in, I put 3 balls of GB with chopped worm and caster in, at 14m (used my new worm chopper that Paul Faiers got me - he said watch out, the blade is really sharp - I now have a rather large cut on my thumb......) and some caster and pellet at 5m.

I started on the paste short, just to let the GB line settle, after 20 biteless minutes I gave that up and went out with a bit of worm on the hook, it was another 20 before a small skimmer was netted.  Bit of a worryingly slow start, but no one was catching at any rate.  I then had a tench about 3lb and then another skimmer, but the action was far from hectic.  By now the bright sun was hidden behind the encroaching cloud cover and the air was smelling of rain, rain and thunder to be precise.

A swap to caster brought a couple more fish, including a bream of at least 4lb, I had topped up the GB with another ball and it needed another top up to get a couple more fish, by now the rain had started and the thunder and lightening joined in.  The short line had shown a few bubbles and a switch to this saw 3 more decent skimmers in the net, it was about now - roughly halfway through - that the peg completely died, nothing else of the short line and the 14m line only gave me 2 more fish.

The lovely looking margin held a snaggy root, I hadn't found when plumbing up, this resulted in breaking some perfectly good elastic when it went through the bankside vegetation and got cut.  The day was going downhill fast.....

I managed 28.06 for second in silvers which comprised mainly skimmers/bream, 1 tench, 1 perch and 1 roach, I had lost 3 foul hooked carp, so they weren't much of a nuisance, I am not at all convinced it wouldn't have been better to fish soft pellet over micro's although I believe the silvers winner caught on corn.  Will have to get back there soon, as it's a venue I enjoy fishing.  Just have to hope Tony goes on a diet and has  small breakfast and a glass of water........

Avalon Open Sunday 11th September 2016

After the week at Landsend I fancied a day targeting the skimmers at Avalon, so worms and casters were obtained and some rigs made up to fish for skimmers. I did chuck a few pellets in the bag in case I drew a corner peg, but I left home pellet wagglers etc.

 Peg 42 out of the bag, it looked OK, but there was the bright sun and lack of ripple which had me wondering if I had made the right decision.  A 0.6g rig with a 6313 16 for worm and a 0.4g rig with a 18 hook, also a double bulk rig, also with a 16 hook.

I also set up two whips, one to fish through the water and one with a rig bulk shotted to fish really shallow, as I though the roach and rudd would feed.

I fed two lines at the start, 14m and 8m, both with GB laced with worm, caster and dead maggot and picked up a whip.  this as expected produced a few small fish, once I fiddled around with the depth to find them.  After 1/2 an hour I had a look over the 14m line - I can't wax lyrical or expand on it any other way than to say, I never had a bite over it all match, not on worm, caster, dead maggot or corn.  Apart from a couple of big carp blows, there was absolutely no sign of fish over the bait, same with the 8m line except I did have two skimmers over it, one on worm, one on double caster, abot 3 hours apart.

In between attempting to catch elusive skimmers, I flogged away with the whip and had a selection of roach, rudd, perch and motherless minnows from a couple of drams up to 6oz.  Ended up with 21.07 which was only enough for 3rd in the silvers, it would seem that further up the lake to the windward end, there was a ripple and that was enough to see the skimmers feed.

Landsend Festival 5th - 9th September 2016

A real shame that 60% of those that put their names down dropped out, leaving this as a 10 man festival - more of a knock up really.

Day one saw us on match lake, I drew 7 and  spent some time clearing the RH edge so I could get down to the pallet of 8.  I had planned on catching paste if I could and dead maggots over GB down the edge.  It might be more prudent in future to make up my mind once I see the peg/lake, as the levels were down and the edges were shallow, probably too shallow to catch consistently.

I set up rigs to fish across as well, but the shelf was again pretty shallow, so expecting to catch on the deck at some point, I set up a meat rig, and a rig to fish banded pellet, hopefully a catch all rig down the track.

I started across but fishing pellet in shallow water really isn't my strong point and I was soon falling behind Trigger on peg 5. To cut a long story short, the track produced just one tench to a banded pellet and the fish came in to the edge, but proved very difficult to catch in the shallow water.  I guess the main highlight of the day was watching Trigger and trying to take in what he was doing.  I learnt a bit and felt confident of putting some of it into practise the next day.

I managed a lowly 81.04 to Trig's double ton.

Tuesday and onto lake 3, I had a walk round before the match and thought the fish would come from the far end, as this is where they were most visible, so not too impressed when 41 stuck to my hand. No island to fish to, but there is a spit from the end bank, but it doesn't have a shelf to speak of, so its either fish at depth or shallow against it.  Again I spent ages clearing out the margin vegetation to get down the LH edge, which again was shallower than I'd like.  I set up a shallow rig to fish in the open water, but this only produced two roach, so no more about that.  The day was spent between fishing against the spit and both margins, RH short with paste, LH maggot over GB again.

It was a tough day and rotating round he lines was essential to keep bites coming, albeit none to frequently.  The LH margin had fish coming in over the GB again, but they were nigh on impossible to catch, I managed to tempt only a couple of smaller ones.  he lake fished fairly tough and I think I had more fish than anyone other than lake winner Louis, but I had some real 'squeakers' and weighed 54.13,

Wednesday and onto Speci lake, I was pretty gutted to draw 32 again, that's the third match in a row on this lake I have drawn this peg and whilst its a cracking winter draw, the lack of shallow water means you sit watching 31 and 43 catching all day this summer.  One bit of amusement before the start, Trigger out by the island in the boat, he found a big section of netting fouling his peg, it was a huge snag, but he got it out, it was like a tackle xmas tree, covered in gear.

As expected, Trig caught across to the island and again it was a lesson in shallow water pellet angling, whilst I managed 4 carp a 17.5m under the willow tree.  I can't remember the exact weights, but Trig had a ton+, Nick Duckett on 34 had a good weight and my meagre 4 carp were 3rd in section and the section money by double default.

Thursday and back on match lake, itching to put my new found (after watching and talking to Trig) pellet dangling skills, but another corner peg, 1, this time, put paid to that, as the wind made fishing the full 16m needed to reach the island a no-no for most of the match. I managed to break my spare landing net handle clearing out the bush from the RH side, so I could fish pellet under it, also my stainless steel weed cutter that I have had years also sank into the lake and I couldn't feel it with the landing net, so thats an expensive start.

The end bank is really eroding now and its impossible get in tight, due to undercuts and tree roots, but there was a little bay of shallower water, where I decided to fish.  Once again, I failed to catch anything at all in the open water either shallow or on the deck.  The RH side under the bush produced a few fish to pellet, the end bank produced a couple to maggot over GB and the island a couple when I could hold a pole there.  A better weight today, 90lb odd but that was nowhere again.

Friday, didn't fancy a corner peg today on lake 3 and was rewarded with peg 42 one up from Tuesday, but at least I had an island to fish to, again I cleared out the margin bankside vegetation to the LH side and this time managed to break the No1 section of my main landing net handle, a discontinued Garbolino Netsy, - pissed off about that.

The island didn't produce of nearly an hour and from what I could see the lake was fishing quite hard, so I persevered at it and put a few small carp for about 20lb in the net.  The fish were coming in over the GB in the LH margin and I tried a totally different rig and it seemed to work, as I put 80lb in the net from 2pm to 3.40pm,  then put another net in and changed my topkit as the elastic was looking iffy by the puller.  This had the usual effect and I only managed 27lb in the third net in the last hour and 20 minutes.  This was enough for 130lb and second on the day, behind the unstoppable Trig.

The festival was enjoyable, a few more fishing next year and it will be even better, a couple of observations, it would have been nice not to have to clean out so much bankside vegetation to get down the margins and Mike has said he will top up all the lakes if necessary next year.

Thanks to Mike and Di, putting on a bit of a nosh up after the last match whilst the results were done, they are all on Landsend fishery facebook page.

Short Pole Series, Trinity Waters. Sunday 21st August 2016

I couldn't fish this series this year, which was a shame as I have had a 3rd and 2nd overall in the previous years, so was pleased to stand-in today for someone (no idea who).  It's a nice easy day tackle wise topkits and 3 sections of pole.

Bait wise I had pellet, paste hemp and maggots, with a smattering of corn and some worms. I drew peg 8, wasn't too chuffed, but then found out that 7 and 9 weren't drawn and that cheered me up a bit, although Misha had pulled Tony Rixon another decent peg and he would be on the ample platform of peg 6.  Enough room for Judith to put her sunbed out, although he sun didn't grace us with its presence for too long today.

I did expect to catch straight from the off on paste, either 1, 2 or 3 fish so that was the first rig out of the box, then two similar rgs to fish either soft pellet, corn, maggot, worm etc on the hook and a rig to fish pellet in a band.  I had to set up two edge rigs as the edges were 12" different in depths.

On the all-in I started as planned on paste and had a fish first put in, 5lb in the net, next drop in a chunky 10lb  common and that was, as predicted, the end of the fish on paste, quite why this has happened on this lake I don't know, but the lake has changed and evolved ever since the high bank was removed.

The next 5 hours were a real struggle, I found a bit of meat and set up a deep/shallow rig set about 2' off the bottom, this works a treat at Whiteacres on Match lake, but was totally unproductive today.  Tony had a couple on his shallow rig, so off the box again and a shallow rig set up. Much thrashing of the water later I had managed on solitary carp.

The only chance I had was for the edge to come good, the nice little undercut and shallow water to my left looked ideal, but one 6oz rudd was the sole fish from there, RH side was better and I had several good fish 9-12lb, frustratingly two double figure commons found a snag and both snagged up solid, this wasn't far from the baited area, so as well as seeing 20lb+ lost, it disturbed the peg and cost me time whilst I refed it and it settled.

The two lost fish definitely cost me third and maybe even second, as I weighed 69lb odd,  Tony was 3rd with 80.11  and Clayton was 2nd with 89.03, so I had to settle for a default section pickup and rue the lost fish.  Well done to Mike West who was the only one to break the ton.  Full results on Tony's website.

Angling Trust Masters, The Glebe, Saturday 20th August 2016

A few weeks back I was perusing the MFS website and saw they were in need of an angler for the team in this match.  I offered my services and they were desperate enough to accept.  I was looking forward to this, not having fished it before, teams of 6 spread around all the lakes of the main fishery.

Shame the weather forecast appeared to point towards 40mph+ winds, which given that the Glebe can be a windy place at the best of times, would limit the majority to a couple of sections of pole and a feeder rod.  Still, it would be better than work and a chance to fish a venue I enjoy, although I really didn't shine on my last visit after some reasonable matches previously.   The drive up was uneventful, 2 hours 10 minutes so not too bad at all,

I eventually discovered my team mates at the draw, handed over my pools and waited for the draw, which was some time after the advertised 08.00.  I was handed 24, the windy bit of the main lake, I would have liked a sheltered peg on one of the smaller lakes, but maybe the BBC would be wrong on the wind.........   A rather forlorn hope!!

 Off to my peg and I spy John Arthur on 23, so some competition then..... then low and behold, who rocks up on 22, but Trigger, drive 130 miles and draw a peg away from someone from the same local match circuit.  Nice to see Glen Butler again, he was a bit further up the section and other names from the pages of the magazines graced the section.

I did have my morning brightened by Trigger, he came down and told me that "some bloke, he must be local, told me I'm on the best feeder peg in Europe".  I had to gently break the news that 'some bloke' was Roy Marlow......  These young 'uns what do they know!!

Two lead rods out the bag, both 10/11' Tournaments, one set up at 10' to fish bomb and pellet down the middle, the other at 11' to hit the far bank with a cage feeder.  Both set up fixed as is allowed and with the 20" which is required at the Glebe.  Plenty of chucks to get  the feeder clipped up, after venturing round to trim the far bank rushes.

 I hadn't brought casters, so bait tray had pellet, corn and maggot on it and a bit of GB for the feeder, I had a reasonable RH edge given that both pegs either side were in, so set up a rig for there, intending to fish G/maggot.  I had a couple of rigs (similar, one with a banded hook, one without) to fish at 9m, where I fed 6mm pellet, corn fed at topkit + 2 and the feeder.  I had an early fish on the feeder and then another, but it didn't take off and neither was it for those anglers I could see,

I chopped and changed hookbait and went from micros to GB in the feeder, I hooked and lost a couple, not sure why, maybe foul hooked?  The wind dropped a little and I tried the pole line, a decent skimmer on the soft pellet, before the wind made presentation impossible.  A swap back to the feeder and a change to GB and maggot in the feeder and maggot on the hook, tow decent fish in two chucks had me thinking I'd sussed it, but then it was back to being biteless.  A look round the lines again as the wind allowed, corn line was barren, the pellet line gave up another skimmer and two carp before the wind once again put paid to it.

Back on the feeder and a good fish took me into a snag, I had to pull for a break and lost the lot, new feeder on and back onto a 6mm pellet on the hook with micros in the feeder, I had another odd fish or two, but the wind was making it difficult to get tight, even hitting the clip, it was bowing the line.  I did hook another good fish which fought like mad all the way across and under the rod tip, managing to slip the hook at the net.... why do the bloody do that!!

The edge line looked like it might save the day for me as I had 3 fish in 3 put ins with 3/4 of an hour to go, but he last half hour resulted in 3 missed bites and no more fish.  With hindsight I should have had another feeder chuck or two  and that might have given me a couple more points. Bit of confusion over the weigh in, but it was sorted and I weighed 71.06, those lost fish would have pushed John Arthur for 3rd in the section, that a a bit more perseverance on the feeder.

At the end I had to shoot off as the dogs were at home cross legged, apparently we were 10th as a team and I will hope to fish this match again next year, with better weather conditions.

Tony Rixon's Float Only Round 5, Shiplate Farm, Sunday 14th August 2016

I needed at least two section wins and a miracle from the remaining matches, so not really knowing the venue, I wasn't too fussed where I drew and peg 7 main lake meant nothing when I pulled it out, immediately after Nick Ewers had pulled peg 6 out.  Turns out it was an end peg with a island chuck and a nice long margin........ more of these later.

Being float only, the perfect looking method or lead chuck to the island was a no-no, so two wagglers set up, one 4g pellet waggler and a depth waggler with no shot down the line, as the peg was only about 4-5' deep.

Next up the topkits, a shallow rig looked essential so that was done, a rig to fish meat at 5m, a rig to fish banded pellet at 14m and another to fish soft pellet, maggot, worm etc at the same distance.  Plumbing up the nice looking margin was a disappointment, sloping and covered in boulders and then dropping off to 4' deep, so the groundbait and maggots stayed in the bag and I set up a rig to fish a narrow 6" wide shelf which was at the end of the boulders and about 8" shallower than the drop off.  Also a rig to fish over the boulders, just off them, with a spread of No11's down the line.

The waggler to the island looked a good bet, right up until the whistle, when the wind started and ensured that for the whole 6 hours it pushed a fairly rapid wind lane R to L about 3m off the island, pulling the float away everytime, even unclipping and paying line into the bow to try and gain a few seconds of stability was pointless,  No more about the waggler, as I did try it several times and it was totally fruitless everytime.

Nick Ewers had a couple of carp on paste, whilst I had to make do with a roach and a couple of skimmers, there were no signs of fish in the peg, apart from across tight to the island and now Nicky was struggling as well.

After two hours I went down the margin - much earlier than I'd like, but it was desperate measures needed and I did manage 3 small carp and a crucian on 8mm pellet and one on 8mm meat, but that was it, about 10lb and a couple of decent skimmers.  Rotating the lines, swapping baits and having a bit of banter with Nicky and Adrian Jeffery who was on a stock pond behind us, a 5 peg section, where they were all catching, albeit small fish, passed the next 2, largely fishless hours.

If it hadn't been a league match, I might well have been tempted to have an early finish and a cold beer on the way home, but at 3 o'clock with 2 hours to go, the peg started to show some life, a few bubbles and it didn't look like skimmers.  I got off my box, grabbed another topkit and a paste rig, fishing this at 14m, I had a carp first drop in, then another about 14lb, a short wait for another and then I hooked what I did think might be a very big bream the way it just came in under the topkit as a wallowing dead weight.  That thought was soon gone when I saw a grass carp surface before it exploded into life and gave me a right battle and a struggle to get it in my 20" net.

Grass carp have to be weighed and put back, so off to the scales with it and 12.08 was the weight, general consensus by those that saw it was they thought it was bigger, but they are so much longer and slimmer than commons and mirrors.

Back to the peg and it was now like fishing paste on Cary a few years back, you could watch the bubbles getting nearer and nearer the float and as they surround it, you can almost anticipate the bite, this is when I enjoy paste fishing best.

I had one just before the all out and was shipping back out hoping to get another, when the all out was called, a nice last two hours, but it was just too late to take the section, which was won with 96lb by Joe McMahon, I managed 2nd with 86lb and which 70lb was inside the last two hours.

I didn't get the results, but they are on Tony's blog and Mikes, suffice to say Trigger smashed it again, he really does seem unstoppable at the moment.  It didn't fish too bad at all and is a lovely fishery with friendly owners, another place I must try and get to a bit more.

Acorn Costcutter, Tuesday 9th August 2016

Decided it was time to venture down to Acorn again, another good turnout and I made sure I was into the bag for my ping pong ball nice and early.  the marker pen numbers on the ping pong balls are pretty faded and it took a second or two to register that I had drawn 33, a bridge peg.  The thing that wasn't a surprise, was that Bobby 'Sicknote' Gullick who had struggled along after an operation to fish, was on 34 on the other side of the bridge.  Bob thinks that every peg on Acorn has a bridge, as he is always next to one!!

Since my last visit the islands have had a severe trim, so you no longer have to go round and clear an area to enable getting to the far bank,I did have to do a bit of trimming to be able to get down to the pallet of 32, which was unoccupied and it did look a good prospect for later in the match.

There is a new rule at the venue, the 70lb net limit is now strictly enforced with no tolerance, so over 70lb and lose the net. Best make sure I concentrate today then.

I didn't think down the track would produce so no full depth rig set up today, a rig to fish banded pellet tight over in about 10" of water, another to fish down on the second shelf in about 3' of water, also a paste rig for this depth. A margin rig to fish down to the pallet and a shallow rig to complete the set up.

I started across with a 6mm banded pellet and had a couple of fish in the first 10 minutes or so, but I wasn't catching as fast as Bob on 34, but he was toss potting micro's and fishing soft pellet - not my cup of tea, so I stuck with the banded pellet and started to get a little run of fish, they were definitely bigger than Bobs soft pellet fish and he ended up swapping to a banded pellet.  The fish were spooky though and the little run didn't last long and I was soon trying other lines to get bites.

There was no consistency, a bite or a fish from a line, then nothing, I hadn't gone down the edge yet, determined to leave that and let it settle given the jittery nature of the fish. The best line was tight across and I continued to take odd fish from there, Bob had a good run of fish and pulled away from me, he'd gone back on the micros and soft pellet, I had a look down the edge where I had perfect depth for GB/maggot and this was disappointingly barren.

The last hour the fish did show up in the margin and whilst it wasn't frantic, I was pulling back on Bob who had slowed down, I had to feed after every fish and sometimes again after 5 minutes without a bite to get another, so it was a bit slow, but they were bigger than the far bank fish, just not coming fast enough.

I thought I had 85lb and knew Bob had more, I was surprised when he said all his big carp were in one net and he once again lost a net at Acorn as he had 70.04 in one net - harsh rule, but that knocked him back from about 103lb to 30 odd, thankfully I didn't do the same and my 93.06 was enough for third, thanks Bob!!

1st  Steve Shaw on peg 15 with 107.10
2nd Jake Alden on 27 with 103.14
3rd Chris Fox on 33 with 93.6
4th Chris Ray on 5 with 93.1
5th Glen Bailey on 4 with 84.2
6th Norm Sterry on 18 with 70.3

Since this blog is a bit late, I have since heard a couple of days after Bob's wife has been taken quite poorly, so for all the banter and piss taking, which won't stop, I would like to wish Bob and Angela good luck and hope that they get the best possible outcome.

Float Only Series, Round , Avavlon, Sunday 31st July 2016

For the second day running, I pulled out peg 22, different venue today though, a visit to the peace and tranquility of Avalon, I had fishery owner Vic Bush on end peg23 and Rich Lacey on 21.  Two wagglers set up, one for full depth and one shallow, a rig for skimmers, but as yesterday, the conditions weren't conducive to skimmers feeding. a full depth banded pellet rig, a paste rig and a margin rig, although 22 has no margin to speak of and its 4-5' deep, little confidence in it as I have never caught a carp from the margins here.

I was expecting to catch straight away on the waggler, even if it was only one or two fish, this didn't happen. A look over the pole line I'd fed at 14m with a soft pellet produced a skimmer, this joined a 4oz roach in the net that took a 6mm pellet on the shallow waggler. There was a bit of fizzing, so a look with paste brought my first carp and after a long wait, my second.  A look round all the other lines, deep and shallow waggler were all in vain, Vic was catching, but the pegs to my right were struggling as much, if not more than me.

I decided to give the waggler a prolonged spell and upped the feed, this seemed to draw a few fish in and I had a couple, before hooking a snag - no idea how, I was clipped up and had cast dozens of times to the same spot.  That was the first lost float, next was a better fish that dived into a snag off the end of the island, float two gone. That was the start of 3 more floats biting the dust in snags, two visits and 10 floats light.........

I had a couple more fish on the waggler before ending with one on the paste, 10 carp for 37lb and a couple of pound for my skimmer and roach. Frustratingly Tony said, when he weighed me in,  he had 9 carp for 60lb - no idea if its possible to pick out the better fish or if its pot luck.

I beat a couple of pegs to my right, but not Vic who had 17 carp and the small size of the fish dumped me down the section.  Frustrating day, not sure what I would do differently next time, apart to hope for 6-8lb fish instead of ones less than 3 1/2lb.

Landsend Open, Saturday 30th July 2016

With Viaduct hosting the Supercup and my need to get some practise in at Landsend, I decided to book in for this match, a bonus being that it was going to be on Match lake - I can never seem to draw it in matches spread over two or more lakes.

Into the tin and out comes 22, the murmurings were that it was too far down and 13 seemed to be coveted, we'll see and the peg usually holds a few skimmers, although the bright sun and flat calm lake didn't bode well for a day catching silvers.

Plenty of time to set up, so a rig to fish tight across, a shallow rig on a long line, which could also be swung to the far side in case the pole spooked them, a rig to fish soft pellet and one for banded, both on the deck, a rig to fish meat short and finally a margin rig, to fish down towards the empty pallet of 23, which was a perfect depth for maggot and GB.

Not much to write about the first 4 hours, I had one carp across on meat, no bites on pellet, no liners, nothing down the track, no bites on meat short, it was dire, I toyed with the idea of an early finish and a visit to the pub.  I did have a couple of skimmers short on dead maggot and a couple of perch.  I had been feeding the margin for 45 minutes before dropping in and getting a see through perch on 10 maggots, next put in a bigger perch, before finally, a decent carp. I had a decent run in the penultimate hour, putting 60lb in the net, I put a second next in at 4pm and that was a sign for the fish to bugger off.

I managed 4 more for just over 20lb in that net in the last hour, so smaller fish and less of them - why is it that putting that extra net in so often disrupts things,  I had to feed a full pot of GB and some maggots after every fish, dropping back in without feeding meant no sign of a fish.

In the end I was glad I stuck it out and managed third place and a welcome pickup.  The margin saved me, good job 23 was empty.

England Ladies Team Fundraiser, Barston Lakes, Tuesday 26th July 2016

This was originally planned for the Glebe, but due to KHV and the Glebe being closed, Nigel at Barston stepped in and we had the whole lake for the 60 booked in, so plenty of room.  I have only been a couple of times before, but was keen to return, circumstance and opportunity stopping me getting there rather than choice.

A decent breakfast at the nearby Premier Inn and onto the draw, 53 stuck to my hand, I was advised that this was a good draw, so hopeful of a good days fishing.  We went back to the van discovered that some 'pranksters' had given it a liberal coating of Old Ghost....

Although I wasn't sure that Ken and Tony didn't have the rolled up £20 outs........

53 is a longish walk, but you can't complain about that if it's decent, so after sorting out a rod, reel and some method feeders for Tony, I was on my way.

That's the view I had for the day and the information was that there would be carp to be caught on the bomb and waggler, without chucking too far.  I set up a pellet waggler, a full depth waggler and a bomb.  A couple of topkits, one for down the edge and another with a 4x16 wire stemmed float to fish pellet at 11m.  Bait tray was simple, pellets and corn, dead maggot.  I did mix two groundbaits, one for down the edge and another for putting in with the pellets at 11m.

Starting on the bomb and pellet, I had two liners in the first half an hour (I had fed 3 balls of GB and pellet at 11m), switching to the waggler for another 20 minutes, I remained biteless and fishless - that certainly wasn't the plan.

A switch to the pole and with corn on the hook I had a few skimmers, but it wasn't hectic, a switch to banded 6mm saw the catch rate increase, but after a while I started to lose fish, not just the odd one, i was losing 3 to 1 landed at one stage.  I changed hook size, hook pattern, laid line on the deck, fished dead depth, off bottom and all to no avail.  It wasn't foulers, the fish I was landing were only just hooked in the outside edge of the top lip.

The skimmer line died off a bit and I went back onto the the waggler and had a 2lb F1, but that was a lone bite until I saw a fish roll about 10yards further out, I cast to it and soon had another F1, but that was it, no real sign of fish in the feed area.  Back on the pole and more skimmers, more hair pulling frustration at lost fish.  Going into the last couple of hours, a few carp were being caught and I remained carpless, the edge line gave me 2 perch and two big skimmers, but no carp and now the guy on 55 was catching on the pellet wag, whilst I had struggled.

With an hour to go I went back on the waggler and hooked a big fish, played it for 10 minutes and had it nearly to the net, I estimate it to be 17lb, a proper angry common, I had a few passers-by stop to watch and on the way to the net the hook pulled.........  the torrid time with losing fish continued.

A few more chucks on the waggler and nothing to show for it, when I saw a couple of big vortexes down the edge. Dropping in with 10 maggots on a 12 Guru XS - a hook I have been using for a couple of years with no problems - the float buried and I was attached to another Barston lump, this time a mirror in the high teens, when that shed the hook at the net I was completely numb, why, how?  could I lose so many fish in one match, 3 different hook patterns, two different methods.....

I managed three more from the edge before the all out and put 38lb of skimmers on the scales and 37lb of carp which was 3 F1's and 3 proper carp.  A nice days fishing, but a torrid days match fishing, I have lost enough to frame and with hindsight, I don't think I fed enough on any of my lines, although I am sure that that didn't contribute to the lost fish.  Being too negative has cost me, especially down the edge, I was trying to feed for one fish at a time, but once I upped the amount of bait, I had more fish in the edge, by then I ran out of time......

All in all a good day out, hopefully a few quid raised and I really must get back there before too long.

Avalon Float Only Open, Sunday 17th July 2016

Really struggling lately to get my head round the way lakes are fishing and I must admit I was sat at Avalon today wondering if I would be enjoying the Huntspill more......

Whilst on many venues the winning weights are respectable, the back up weights are down for this time of year, with fish seemingly reluctant to get their heads down and feed, even late in the match, I know I'm not alone in thinking this.

I guess I have been a bit negative in feeding recently because of the lack of bites, but today I decided to go more positive and see what that would bring, as it couldn't be any worse than the dreadful run I've been on since May.

The draw saw me heading to peg 19, I don't know the venue that well, but its not the worst draw on the lake.  Two waggler rods set up, one at full depth with a couple of No8 droppers and a pellet wag to fish tight to the island, trying to cover options I had two full depth rigs set up, one to fish hard pellet and one for soft pellet/corn.  A shallow rig and a paste rig covered the open water options and I did set up, although not too confidently, a margin rig, as the shallowest water I could find close in was nearly 5'.

Bait tray was simple, 4,6 and 8mm pellets, soft pellets, paste and corn, on the all in I cupped 3 balls of GB at 13m with pellets and a few grains of corn in, just pellets in at 5m and then onto the pellet wag.  a great start, two fish in two chucks, before it started to go wrong big style, as always (in my experience) happens at thei venue, the fish move tight against the island, even with the feed deliberately dropped short. The next two chucks saw the float lost in underwater roots, I then hooked a decent fish which kited left and went solid in a snag, another float lost.  In my haste in setting back up and casting back out, I snagged again on the island and lost another float, today was getting expensive.....

I dropped back onto the 13 line with pellet and that was devoid of action, I swapped the pellet for corn and had three decent skimmers in 4 put ins, great, sussed it I thought, but that was to it, I never had another skimmer all match.  I tried the 5m line, but that was completely dead, I never saw as much as a bubble from that all match and never had a bite on it.  I reset up the waggler and switched to fishing the open water at the end of the island, this brought a decent fish to the net, but the activity that was there soon stopped after half a dozen casts.

Back to 13m and a fish on paste, then onto the deep waggler and a hard fighting ghostie fell to an 8mm pellet, I kept the odd fish coming by swapping between paste at 13m and pellet waggler.  I think chasing the crusiers that were off the end of the island has cost me, I should have just persevered with the 13m line and kept the feed going in, as feeding was essentiual to get a bite, even though they were few and far between.

I put 60.14 on the scales, I think that was 7th or 8th, it was one out of the money in the section and whilst that is better that my recent run, another 2 or 3 fish would have put me in second place - decision making has cost me, must stop chasing cruisers that aren't feeding!!!

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Round 2, Landsend, Sunday 12th June 2016

This is going to be another brief line or two.....

I drew 32 which ensured plenty of comments about can't moan about that etc etc.  Its a corner and it's the 'right' end of the lake.  I was fairly optimistic and set up 5 topkits, a shallow rig, a full depth pellet rig, a meat rig for 5m and two margin rigs, one to fish shallow and one to fish the only bit of shelf I could find at 9m along the end bank.  The rest of the peg, even tight to the end bank was all within 6" of full depth, not looking good already.

Starting on the meat yielded nothing but a rudd, out to 14m and I had a fish straight away, that took me straight into the undercut end bank and transferred the hook to some dangling roots.  Next 3 of hours I had 7 carp, one at full depth 14m, one shallow, one short on meat, one down the edge and three in three put ins at 16 just up the slight slope to the end bank.  And that was that, not another bite, fishless for 3 hours, whilst I watched Trigger and Tim Clark on 34 and 31 catching one a bung or in Tim's case, hooking one a bung, not necessarily, landing one a bung.....).  The fish were out by the island, in shallow water, no matter what I did, I was unable to entice them into the deeper, open water of my peg.

50lb weighed in, a long, long way behind, I really can't think I did too much wrong, if you don't get a bite for 3 hours, I reckon there aren't many/any fish there.

Here's hoping for better days at Viaduct this Thursday, the Glebe Fri/Sat and back to Viaduct Sunday.

Viaduct Spring league Round 4, Sunday 4th June2015

This won't be overly long......

If it wasn't a league match and if Tony hadn't been coming round for breakfast, I might have cried off, very rarely I get intense headaches and feeling sick, today was one of those days, so that's the excuse in nice and early.

112 came out of the draw tin, it's been a cracking draw and I wasn't disappointed.  To cut a long story short I struggled to catch, whilst Nick Chedzoy on 111 (who predicted he'd be last in section) caught steadily all day.  Nick did mention that the water was moving, well it might have been on 111, but it wasn't on 112.  The aerator was on all day, not sure if that affected my peg or if I was just crap, I certainly felt crap.

It took me nearly 5 hours to think about fishing up towards Nick and once I did, I started catching - doh.... but too little late, at least by the time I packed up, I started feeling a bit better, I weighed a miserable 75lb, but it wasn't last in section, so saved that fate.

Tony Rixon's Float Only League, Round 1, Viaduct, Sunday 29th May 2016

First round of Tony's popular float only league today, Campbell and Cary in, I wasn't too fussed where I drew as a section win was the aim, although the wind was pushing towards the car park bank again, yesterday in Veals we both thought 109 might be a nice draw.

Into the tin and I was somewhat shocked to draw 135, car park bank of Campbell, now this can be a feast or famine peg and I have drawn it before and struggled, but with the wind blowing in to it and a few fish came off it yesterday, surely it should be worth a section win.  Apparently, so I was advised, the fish yesterday were caught short on meat and 11m down the RH edge.

As the fish have been spawning, I did try and give myself some options, so set up a rig to fish meat short, two pellet rigs to fish 14m, one shallow, one full depth, I also set up a paste rig, to try a target bait over the pellet if necessary.  Two margin rigs, one with 3 No8s bulked and one with 3 No11's spread out, as I had a couple of waggler rods in the ready made case, I got them out - they went away again at the end unused.

Bait tray was simple, 6 and 8mm pellets, 8 and 10mm meat and dead maggots, I did have a bag of paste and some worms in the cool bag. Starting short on meat, it was evident that there were some 'shit' fish in the peg, as the float did the dance that signals small fish attacking the meat.  I persevered for 20 minutes and did have two carp on it, but it wasn't going to be a worthwhile line of attack, at least not early on.

I had fed a throwaway line with softened pellets down to the left, it remained thrown away, I didn't see any indication of a fish there all match, I also pinged pellets down to the pallet of 136.  I went out on the 14m line, in line with the aerator, I had a couple of fish and had some liners, I tried the shallow rig and did not get a touch on it.  Persevering with the full depth rig, was best and I upped the feed, I had 3 No11's down the line and I had several fish on the drop, but mainly I caught by sitting and waiting, lifting and dropping didn't work at all.  I kept at this, apart from a a short spell where I did try paste over the feed, but the wind was making it awkward to fish at this length.

Back on the pellet and fish were coming to the net, not at an amazing rate, nor were they a big stamp of fish, but I could see the lake was fishing reasonably hard for some, so stuck at it.  I had been pinging pellets down to 136 all this time and went in there for a look, but nothing, not a bite, this was exactly the same as last time I drew the peg.  I decided to put GB and maggot in to try and draw the fish that were slurping away under the brambles to the left of 110. 3 big pots and back on the long pellet rig until I saw some indication down the edge.

Dropping two worms in over the GB was more successful than pellet and I did manage a few fish from there, but it was never hectic and the fish size wasn't the expected stamp from the edge.  With 3/4 of an hour to go I put a 4th net in, having clicked 50lb on the three I had in, this was the usual kiss of death, putting just three fish in it in the last 45 minutes.  With hindsight I should have gone back on the pellet, but was kept 'interested' in the margin, by the odd bite, signs of fish and I did lose a double figure fish just before the end - frustratingly it was one of the lazy wallowers, which you expect to draw in and scoop straight away, this one managed to wallow himself off the hook and cost me second place......... Still, lake win and section win, so mission accomplished.

1. Dave White - 204lb 10oz - peg 109
2. Nick Ewers - 182lb 3oz - peg 76
3. Chris Fox - 181lb 7oz - peg 135
4. Chris Davis - 165lb 1oz - peg 131
5. Ken Rayner - 161lb 5oz - peg 94
6. Dan White - 144lb 12oz - peg 123

Acorn Costcutter, Tuesday 24th May 2016

A chance to go fishing today, the closest and easiest option was Acorn, not my favourite venue, nothing against the fishery at all, but I do prefer an open water lake to a snake lake and I have a dreadful record here, apart from the first few times I fished it.

Traveled down with Tony Rixon and we walked round the lake at the start with Mark Bartlett to assess the pegging and state of the pallets, the aging ones Mark is going to repair /replace.  The draw tin gave me 33, a bridge peg, which is not to be sniffed at, although they are more bankers in the winter than the summer months.

I had a loan of Tony's brand new shears to trim the far bank grass, which is necessary to get tight to the bank, glad he had been shopping yesterday, as I think without them I wouldn't have got rid of the dense vegetation.  Once the gardening was done, it was onto rigs, one for pellet against the far bank mudline, this was less than 12" deep, the other area I had cleared had grass clumps stopping me getting tight in and this was about 20" deep.  I also set up a rig for the 'second shelf and a paste rig for full depth against the bridge.  Finally a margin rig to fish down to the pallet of 32, this was a decent depth tight in , but sloped off quite quickly.

I started across against the far bank and this gave me a flying start, as I put 45lb on the clicker in the first two hours and I was starting to think I would be on for a decent weight, I was feeding 4mm and a few 6mm pellets with 6mm in the band.  After two hours the wheels fell off, the bites stopped, signs of fish stopped and catching stopped, I spent the next three hours trying paste, I tried short by the bridge, margins, shallow, maggots,  chopped some worms and tried worm slop shallow, all to no avail apart from a couple of squeakers.

Going into the last hour there were a few signs of fish back on the far bank and this did produce a few more fish, but not hectic sport, frustrating really, as I guessed it wouldn't be enough to do any good, I lost a big fish at the net, but apart from that not too much went wrong, apart from the 3 hour virtually blank spell.

I did put 80.03 on the scales, which was enough for 5th and last in the money, I think this is my best weight from this venue, so maybe I won't leave it so long to come back next time.

Viaduct Spring League, Round 3, Sunday 22nd May 2016

Last weekend was spent in Barcelona, at the Spanish GP, a change, but it was good to be back fishing today.  Traveling down with Tony again, we covered a huge range of subjects, one of which was we were both unsure of exactly where we wanted to draw.

I considered changing my drawing, which usually means getting in ASAP, but decided in the end to get near the front and picked up two stuck together - hmm, I always seem to take the wrong one when that happens - so dropped them back in, took another and it was Cary 86.  Not a peg you'd be disappointed to draw, so hopefully in with a chance of some coin today.

Chatting with Dan White before, he offered the advice that they'd come to the pole at 16m, which would be good, as unless it's going round all the time, I'm not a fan of lead chucking.  I set up two wagglers, one full depth, one shallow, two lead rods and 4 topkits, one for down the LH edge, a .3 float, 0.20 line and a 12 Guru XS spade - I have had some lumps from this edge in previous matches....  A Roob on 0.20 with a 0.18 hooklength and a 14 Guru XS for meat short, this just had 4 strung out No 11's down the line, a similar rig, but a heavier float and bulk and finally, a NG power slim to fish pellet at 14.5m at full depth, this again on 0.20 with a 0.18 hooklength with a 16 B960 and a band.

Bait tray was 6, 8 and 11mm pellets, 8 and 10mm meat and dead reds.  Starting on the waggler, it didn't take long to get a 8lb fish in the net and then another a bit bigger, but then the wind got up, R to L and this made the waggler presentation all wrong.  I did have 5 minutes on the lead, but the tip didn't move.  A look on the short meat line saw the float doing the 'shit fish dance' even with 10mm bacon grill on.  Obviously no carp there yet.  I had a spell at 14.5m and put several fish in the net, the action wasn't frantic and I did wonder if paste might have worked as a stand out bait - but I didn't have any.  I upped the feed and this brought a couple more fish and some liners, so off my box and set up a shallow rig.

Had a bite first slap with the shallow rig, but lost the fish just after breaking down to topkit, didn't feel fouled, a 6lb fish followed shortly after, but it was obvious there weren't loads of fish competing for bait, so I abandoned the shallow rig and went for a look in the margin, where I had been feeding meat and pellet.  First two drop ins with meat produced two perch, both over 1lb, one nearer 2lb.  I then decided to go down the GB and maggot route with this and put 3 full cups of GB and 1/4 pot of maggots.

Back onto the meat line and I had a mid double, before the shit fish returned.  I had been feeding 11mm pellets out towards the middle and tried the lead over this again, to no avail, although my patience with it didn't last more than 5 minutes again.
Down the edge with maggots and a 14lber was my reward, followed by a 2lb+ hybrid and then a common which was 20lb, the edge seemed to be devoid of fish after that, I managed one more from the meat line, but the last hour was fairly quiet.

158.12 was enough to win the section by over 50lb and second on the lake, so an upturn in fortune in this league, sadly it's too late to trouble the frame, but a welcome result none the less.

1. Craig Edmunds - 269lb 1oz - peg 115
2. Ben Hagg - 208lb 7oz - peg 110
3. Mike Williams - 191lb - peg 124
4. Leon Hubbard - 190lb 11oz - peg 128
5. Luke Sorokin - 180lb 9oz - peg 53
6. Dick Bull - 176lb 6oz - peg 90
7. Bob Gullick - 174lb 11oz - peg 129
8. Dan White - 172lb 15oz - peg 127
9. Chris Davis - 170lb 5oz - peg 130
10. Chris Fox - 158lb 12oz - peg 86

Viaduct Spring League R2, Sunday 8th May 2016

Traveling down with Tony, we chatted about the effect the wind blowing to the car park end of the lakes would have, as the fish have certainly followed it.

I decided to stick to getting in the draw tin early and wasn't overjoyed to see 123 staring back at me, whilst Tony drew 109, both feast or famine pegs, but with the wind blowing into 109 for a week, it was likely to be one its better days.  123 had not fared too well on the Saturday open, but there is always a chance that the fish have gone into the corner. 

Enough time to set up a lead rod, which once again went away at the end with the line dry, with Gary Ethridge on 121 there was limited scope to fish long, two waggler rods, one full depth, one shallow - I had a cast or two to get my range for the shallow wag and landed it tight to the end bank, float dipped and fish on, a 4lb common took the pellet band.  That is usually the kiss of death and Gary reminded me, Dave Cockayne on 124 offered a landing net, but i had already set mine up.

4 topkits, shallow, full depth pellet plumbed up at 14.5m, meat short and margin for the LH edge down to the corner. It was a slow start, the waggler to the end bank didn't produce a bite, a few casts with no feed, then light feed, all of which was to no avail, the wind was strong and gusty enough to be a nuisance, it was coming almost straight at me, but slightly L to R.  A couple of fish on the short meat line by feeding negatively saw something go in the net, but it was another day of looking up the lake seeing elastic streaming out and landing nets working overtime.

The 14.5m line did not produce as much as a bite, I set up a paste rig and tried some paste at about 7m off at 11 0'clock, this gave up 1 skimmer and one carp.  The carp were a decent size, just few and far between, Gary was suffering the same fate and 119 was similarly suffering, we were all waiting ages for a bite, there just seemed to be a few resident bigger fish this end, with nothing to stir them up and get some competition going.

I didn't go down the edge for 3 hours, trying to leave it to settle, having fed some pellet and meat, I did venture down there at the halfway point and had a 14lber, then a smaller common before it was as dead as the rest of the lines, I had a two hour spell where I didn't have a bite, I couldn't even raise a small skimmer.....

With an hour to go I mixed up some GB and put this down the edge with maggot, I had two more fish on it, but these were the only bites and indications on the float, the peg certainly wasn't rammed with fish.  With hindsight, it might have paid to fish maggot down the edge from the start, meat short and long, just fished really negatively for one fish in the peg at a time, I do find this difficult to do when the pegs in the opposite quarter of the lake are bagging, I guess I tried to force it slightly and that was wrong on the day.  There was no way, no matter what I did, I would have competed with the weights that framed, but I might have eked out a couple more section points, as I only managed to beat Gary on 121, my 108, just trumping his 103. there were a couple of low 120's in the section, but that's it now. apart from 3 section wins and others having disasters, its series over and look at the next matches as 55 peg opens.

1. Andrew Crocker – 309lb 5oz – peg 77
2. Tony Gilbert – 296 2oz – peg 53
3. Callum Craig – 256lb 12oz – peg 135
4. Rob Giles – 247lb 13oz – peg 112
5. Steve Seager – 220lb 10oz – peg 114
6. Gary O’Shea – 205lb 14oz – peg 103