Viaduct Open, Bank Holiday Monday 27th May 2019

So, back to Viaduct today and try to banish yesterdays embarrassment. I had sorted out my bait and had a selection of pellets, there was a bag of worms and a pint of dead maggots still in the bait bag, I left them in, just in case...

54 fishing today, so Campbell, Cary and Lodge all in, waited and joined the back of the draw queue, just to try and change my luck / routine.  Campbell was my reward, 125, the area had fished hard yesterday, so I had the option of fishing for silvers or carp.

When I got to the peg, it was evident that the guys either side were fishing for carp, mainly on the lead by what they had set up, this swayed me towards the silvers, but did set up the usual lead and waggler rods and a couple of top sets for carp, just in case they had a munch.  The other topkits were two identical Hillbilly floats, new models to me, with Tungsten wire stems, the type that doesn't bend, one with a banded hook and one with plain hook, both 18's on 0.12.

Started short, as this can often throw up a quick carp or decent skimmer, but with no signs in 6 or 7 minutes I binned this line and fed a line at seven joints with plain feed micros, feed No4's in a ball of GB, which was a 50/50 mix of Burt Baits Silvers Sensation and Expander.  I did feed 8mm feed pellets at 25m, to see if the fish would respond and start fizzing.

First put in over the micros/GB with a 4mm Burts soft hooker pellet (sweet F1 flavour) and I hook a carp, about 9lb, it was netted after tussle, the Stroft 0.12 and Guru 18 Kaisen hook doing the business.
After this I did settle into a routine, catching skimmers from 6oz up to 2lb, for the first couple of hours it was best to feed a ball of the GB/pellets and fish it out, gradually the fish backed off and trickling in some pellets without GB brought them back.

I did try worm on the hook, I had a couple on it, but it was nowhere near as effective as the Sweet F1 pellets, I feed some of the GB mix down the edge virtually next to my pallet, over this I had a run of perch, a small tench and a couple of skimmers.  Resting the 7m line seemed to help, as going back over it brought some more skimmers and I did this for the last 90 minutes, taking odd perch and skimmers, as the fishing slowed down.

The scales arrived, I'd tipped back my lonesome carp, couldn't believe I had fished all day with the same 0.12 hooklength, must be a record this time of year.  I thought I might have 40lb and was pleased to see the scales record 49.05 over two weighs, I knew Steve Tucker had a good run of skimmers down the edge on 123 and was relieved to see him weigh a respectable 45lb, so my 49lb won the silvers and qualified for the silvers all winners final.

Well done to Adrian on the win, a tough day for many, hopefully things will start to settle down soon.

Tony Rixon's Float Only League, Sunday 26th May 2019

First match of this enjoyable league, I'd happily fish many more matches as float only.

I am having a nightmare run at the moment, some poor draws, but I seem to be shot of confidence in making a method or bait work, so am getting nowhere near the best from pegs at the moment, hopefully today would be a good chance to reboot and get back on track.  The draw was a good start, 112, narrowly pipped for the section and lake win by Steve Shaw on 110 a few weeks back, an enjoyable day catching on the waggler and then a few short.

There were quite a few fish spawning round the lake, so I was wondering how it would fish, first job was to set up full depth and shallow waggler rods, then full depth and shallow pellet rigs, meat rig, edge rig and in case the sun came out, a mugging rig.  There was time so I set up a paste rig - too much stuff, evidence of my uncertainty and loss of confidence I guess.

Started on meat short and had a 10lb fish first put in, great start, then the wheels came off.   Lost a foul hooker on the meat and then it was getting ragged by shit fish and even a 10mm piece of meat was getting whittled down until a 2oz roach could get it and the hook in its mouth.

A switch to the waggler and I was expecting a few fish, its a method I enjoy and would back myself on, well not today, I didn't have a bite on it.

I spent the rest of the day being well and truly chip-shopped, as I switched from long pole and pellet, meat short, worms down the edge, pellet shallow and failed quite spectacularly to catch, whilst Phil opposite and Paul next to me were catching on pellets, I had a couple on Burts 8mm polony pellets on the deck, had a few liners so picked up the shallow rig, fish first drop in, but that was it, just typical of my matches at the moment, make a change, catch a fish, but then fail to take more off that line.  Had one on paste, but no other bites on it.

Probably last in section, as no one seems to be able to be honest about their weights and I left before the section was finished weighing in. One of those matches where I left thinking, what the **** just happened, I really should have stuck to trying to make something work, rather than chapping and changing.  Well done to those worked it out.

Back to Viaduct tomorrow, going to cut down on my choices by just taking pellets.

Acorn Evening Open, Thursday 23rd May 2019

After a win and a couple of framing places in last years evening matches, I was looking forward to this.
Into the ping pong bag and out comes ball number 40, not the peg I would have chosen, especially tonight as the wind was putting a nice ripple on most pegs, but not 40.  It was flat calm and had some stale looking surface flotsam, along with two dead carp and 5 dead perch floating round in it.  The wind was just enough to skim the surface towards the bridge, where it all stopped as the bridge is in the water.

It's only 13m across and with a nice shelf I expected to catch carp over against the bank, staring on 6mm banded Burt feed pellets, I did have one carp, but no other signs, I was getting bites, but it was from these..

I was fearing the worst and it took until the last 20 minutes before I started catching carp, shallow down the track, I chucked back 30lb and headed straight home, couldn't even face staying for the free cider and hotdogs!

Well done to those who caught and framed.

Viaduct Spring League, Round Three, Sunday 19th May 2019

Back to Viaduct for this keenly fought league, I needed a section win to keep me in with a shout, so a positive approach was planned.  Can't say I was over enamoured with my draw, 99 on Cary, but there is plenty of water to go at here, so hopeful of a few fish.

One lead rod set up, I jokingly said it would go away again unused, but it did, a waggler set at full depth and some top kits, a meat rig for 6m, a pellet rig for 14m, although the depth meant they'd be interchangeable. A shallow rig and as it was sunny a mugging rig, a paste rig (just in case) and finally, not sure why, a margin rig - with 98 and 100 in I didn't expect to catch in the margin.

Bait tray was a simple affair, 8mm meat, 8mm Burt Baits Polony pellets and some plain feed pellets.  I left the dead maggots, GB and worms in the bag.

Starting at 6m with meat I only gave it 10 minutes, as there was no indications and I just had the feeling there was nothing there.  Picked up the waggler and had a 12lb fish first chuck, feeding the 8mm polony pellets with on in the band. I stuck with the waggler for 2 hours and had 3 more fish and had 37lb on the clicker, but then all indications died off, it was fishing hard all around, Roy next to me hadn't had had a bite, Winter League team mate Rich was struggling on 97 and had switched to fishing for skimmers, even that wasn't happening.  I did feed a quarter of a pot of feed pellets on a throwaway line and did try paste over it - no fizzing or signs of fish, so unusual.

I got some 6mm polony pellets out of the bag and fed these with a few cubes of meat at 14m, trying to catch skimmers (anything) I had one about 4oz and that was it.  The waggler seemed the best option, so back on that, but nothing apart from a foul hooker that snapped the main line above the float as I tried to stop it going half a dozen pegs away and a 3lb bream.

I could se the guy on 96 hook one on the pole, so I switched back to the 14m line and hooked and lost one - foul hooker - switched to the shallow rig and gave it a real go, but never had a touch on it, back on the deck and a 13lber with 30 minutes to go and was hopeful of another, but it never happened, it was a real struggle and I thought I had 50lb in the net plus the two skimmers.  The scales confirmed I was nearly right with 49lb odd and the skimmers adding just over 3lb.  Beaten by two further down the section, with just a couple of pounds in it, the lack of skimmers cost me, maybe I should have had some expanders with me, but I had gambled on hard pellets and maybe that cost me the section.

Mark's Two Day Pairs, Trinity Waters, Saturday/Sunday 11th/12th May 2019

When Paul Faiers asked me to partner him for this two dayer, I jumped at the chance to get back to this friendly and well kept fishery.

I haven't had much opportunity to get back down here lately, so not 100% up to speed on what is working, but I really didn't expect it to be much different to previous visits, where pellets and paste normally are the bankers.

First day draw saw me on 27 (I could have predicted that, I always draw the middle of the lake this side...) and Paul on 7. I'd go into a long explanation of the day, but I really don't want to relive it, I had on fish about 10lb on paste after 20 minutes and another down the edge at 15:45 on Belachan paste, over Belachan pellets, that was it, I just could not buy a bite.  I set up a new line feeding micros and fishing soft pellet and had a couple of skimmers, then had to restart a new line to catch two more.  I was getting a battering off the next peg by Dave Romain - who was catching on meat - my meat cutter and tins of meat was 40 miles away in my garage.

I was resoundingly last on the lake, not a great experience and I was not in the best of moods, had I the option to not fish on Sunday, I would have taken it, time for a few beers and a doner kebab to try and wipe that from my memory.

Mindful it was a pairs match - albeit one that was now out of reach baring half the field blanking, I did manage to restrict myself to a couple of beers and was up and away on time, hoping for a draw on some fish.  The weather was slightly warmer and with the promise of sunshine, I did think it might be a day for mugging.

The draw put us on peg 12 for me, which Mark Broomsgrove had struggled on Saturday and Paul on 22, which Kev Perry had 3 late fish for 40lb on Saturday, but not much else.  Still, different day, different conditions.  I had brought meat today, given yesterdays lesson, but still had faith in pellets to kick the peg off.  I did set up a method feeder, along with a waggler rod, as Mark had two on the feeder yesterday, but I was pretty sure that the fish would be down on the deck given the sun.

Topkits to cover paste, pellet on the deck, shallow rig, mugging rig and a margin rig.  I left my phone in the van, so no pics, or I would have illustrated the short margin to my left and the closeness of peg 11 which was in.

11:00 all in and I was confident of getting an early fish, its rare not to on this water, but no matter what I did I could not get a bite, I could see Paul across on 22 catching well, using the same tactics as I was, I had explained to him the way I fish paste on here - it was working for him, but I wasn't even getting liners.

There were some catching, others struggling, I was pulling my hair out, I had been feeding some polony pellets into the margin and it was completely dead, I switched to meat and had a perch about a pound and half, but then the meat was getting ragged by tiny fish.  I had to do something as I was in danger of coming last again on a venue that I have a good record, I just couldn't explain it.

Two big pots of Tiger Nut Method/Margin groundbait and then a whole pot of dead maggot, I left it to settle for 10 minutes and first drop in had a beautiful golden Tench about 4lb.  I had a run of 2 more perch and 4 carp, I was starting to think I might catch up those who had a runaway lead, but as the farthest you can get along this margin is top kit + 1, I feel they fish spooked off, that may have been due to the short margin or I must admit after 10 hours of hardly seeing a bite, I probably overcooked it a bit trying to force the peg.  Between me and peg 11, there was a clump of rushes and the water was a bit shallower here, I had left it alone as the pegs were close and I had an empty peg to my left (even though it was no real advantage, due not being able to get to it).

I fed some meat my side of the rushes and saw a swirl, dropping in I had a fish straight away, what was noticeable, was the size of the fish I was getting were small, plenty of others were landing double figure fish , the biggest I had was 8lb.  Was the peg worth more - definitely, I could have fed and managed the margins better, it was just desperation and trying to force the peg that cost me, as for Saturday, I really have no idea what I could have done differently.  The mugging rig stayed in the roost, I was sure that some would come up on top, I saw a couple when tacking up, but none during the match.

Confirming the old adage fish have fins and swim, Paul won the match from 22, where Kev struggled yesterday, so well done mate, shame I couldn't have added to the pairs tally.  Well done to the pairs that framed.

I'm not sorry to have that weekend behind me to be honest, I love the venue, but I do wonder (as quite a few others speculated) if it could do with an injection of new fish to give it a boost as a match lake.  After a week at work, I do like to have a few bites and I reckon I had 10 bites in 6 hours on Saturday and not many more on Sunday, maybe once the weather settles and spawning is out of the way, the fish will settle down.

Next up, R3 Viaduct Spring League, need a decent draw and a good performance to keep in touch, so fingers crossed.

Ivy House Open, Saturday 4th May 2019

A trip back to Ivy House today, the match was on both canals and I do enjoy the mix of carp and silvers these lakes, especially Kingfisher offers.  My first trip since the fishery only pellet rule was introduced, so I had to go and buy some pellets whilst chatting to Andy before the start.  I fully understand its a business and that Andy and Karen have invested a good deal of time and money into improving  the fishery, but for me, I'd rather pay a higher peg fee than have to use fishery only pellets - that said, it won't put me off returning.

Since I last fished the canals, they have been renumbered, so when I drew 44, it meant little to me, but it was on Kingfisher on the straight, so I was happy with that.  I was surprised how cold it was and maybe I underestimated the effect the low temperature would have on the fishing.  I'd only brought a pole, so just a few top kits to set up.  One for right across at 16m, this is usually a banker for a few carp, its deeper than you'd like, but by pulling the pellet onto the slope, you can usually catch a few. Its nice to fish somewhere that you can ship 16m behind you as well, no need to double ship here. A simple rig with a 18LWG tied with a band on 0.14 was soon set up and plumbed up. Next a maggot rig to fish just up the near shelf, this has been a successful line in the past for me. Then a margin rig, same one wold do for both sides, I planned to fish maggots one side and micros/corn the other.

Two more rigs one 0.2 and one 0.4 to fish lines in the open water, one line fed with micros, one with GB and maggots. Simple bait tray, pellets, maggots and corn.  Starting across, I expected to catch a couple of quick fish, but it took 20 minutes to get the first one, a feisty little mirror about a pound and a half.  After 35 minutes I binned the long line and switched to the very short line, where I had been dripping a few maggots in.  This saw a hybrid and a roach netted, but no sign of the big skimmers which will come in and feed on this line. Back across, but after an hour and a quarter, I was sure I was holding 16m in vain.  I never had another fish from that long line, which is a first for me.

I managed a couple of skimmers and a small carp in the next 3 hours and with 4 hours gone I reckon I had 8lb in the net, the guy on 46 was catching odd carp, but I was rotating lines, started up a new negative line and all to no avail.  With about an hour and a half to go, I did start to get a few bites and had to swap between the GB/maggot line and the micro/soft pellet line to get bites and I did start to claw my way back into the match, but the last 30 minutes it died on me again and I was left scratching my head.  I had gone down to a 20 on 0.10, that didn't make any difference, I fed one line negatively and one positively, both reacted the same.  The margins were devoid of fish, not sure what the answer was - I delayed writing this blog to try and think it through, I just can't work it out, I am not sure what I would do differently.

Its about time we had some proper seasonal weather, warmer and more settled.  Hopefully that will settle the fish down, let them get spawning over and done with and get some normality back.  Well done to the framers today, it was a tough day for all.

Next up, two day pairs match at Trinity.

Viaduct Spring League, Round Two, Sunday 28th April 2019

No fishing since the last round of this league, as I have been away in France at a dog show, it was a successful trip with my Beauceron gaining her Cotation 4, which means she has passed sheep herding, character test, measurement and morphology with excellent and excellent + grades.

I have accepted an offer to join up with Burt Baits, so looking forward to reporting on using their products and working with them.

I was going to fish Acorn on Saturday, but storm Hannah saw all but 3 of us cry off and we decided that a three peg knock up in the extreme conditions would be a little pointless.  It gave me a chance to tie some hooks and get fully prepped for this match...…. I needn't have bothered.

I was second into the draw tub and thought I was fortunate to pull out Campbell again, 126, wouldn't be my peg of choice in the section, but should be worth a few fish.  Lead rod set up, waggler to fish pellet at full depth and onto topkits, which comprised two similar margin rigs, one with a band and one without, as I intended to fish maggots/GB to the RH side and just pellets to the left.  Two meat rigs, one with 4x11 down the line and a 0.4g in case it needed a heavier rig.  Two pellet rigs, again one light and one 0.5g to nail it down.

Starting on meat short was similar to the last round, one skimmer and not another indication, so a switch to the waggler was in order.  The wind was from behind, just slightly over my right shoulder, so feeding and casting was easy, there was a slight tow to the right, it was absolutely perfect for the waggler.  I could get it to sit still by laying 3" of line on the bottom, to go through at half trip speed by just touching bottom and at tow speed by coming off the bottom, ideal, how could I fail to catch.

For half an hour I had a couple of indications, before a proper bite and a 9lb mirror was no match for the 12' Tournament waggler rod, 4lb sensor, 0.18 Stroft hooklength and a 16 PR36, I find this ideal for viaduct once the summer starts.  I fully expected others to follow, but they didn't and I had a frustrating couple of hours when all the indications dried up, I had started feeding tentatively, ping 2/3 pellets, I tried upping the feed, changing lines, casting to an area I hadn't fed, all the things that usually get a fish failed to get even a liner.

By now Steve Denmead on 127, as well as Gay O'Shea on 125 and Tony Gilbert on 124 had gone to 16m with shallow/mugging rigs on, I knew my back, which is really bad at the moment, wouldn't cope with swinging 16m around, so I persevered with trying shorter, after getting of my box and setting up a mugging rig.  I did manage one on it, dropping 3 maggots just in front of it did the trick, but the fish were further out and in a ripple, so I could only make out the odd dark shape and not see which way they were going.

Off my box again and another waggler rod out, 3 maggots 15" deep and 3rd cast I had another carp, but by now I was well behind and apart from crippling myself, could see no way of getting back, unless they rocked up short or down the edge.  Well they didn't come in down the edge, I had some perch, a decent skimmer and a hybrid, but not a sign of a carp.  The short line came to life with some blows, two skimmers, another carp and a lost fouler in the last 15 minutes.

I was fully expecting to be last in section, but did manage to beat two in the section, so that's the dropper, can't afford another day like that, it was disappointing as the waggler presentation was so good, its a shame the quick change from high pressure to low pressure and then back to rising pressure spoiled the fishing, it was tough all over the country, so just have to take it on the chin.  I will have to sort out my back or get stronger pain killers before the next round!!

Weigh sheet below, well done to Sam on a great weight on the day.

1. Sam Powell - 212lb 7oz - peg 129
2. Mark Wynne - 133lb 12oz - peg 121
3. Dan White - 125lb 8oz - peg 88
4. John White - 120lb 6oz - peg 90
5. Jeb Attwood - 119lb - peg 110
6. Gary O'Shea - 113lb 9oz - peg 125
7. Dan Hook - 105lb 15oz - peg 94
8. Tony Gilbert - 105lb 10oz - peg 124

Viaduct Spring League, Round 1, Sunday 14th April 2019

First round of this competitive league, with 54 fishing, sadly, whilst it is the spring league, no one told the weather, the cold nights and SE wind (not sure I can remember the last time I went fishing and it wasn't windy!!) made it feel more like winter.

The main objective is a section win, so I wasn't to bothered where I drew, I dipped into the draw tin and picked up two stuck together, so I dropped them back in and picked up another.... 112, can't complain at that.

I had a pretty simple bait tray, pellets, meat and a couple of pints of dead maggots, so the tackle choice was simple to, a waggler rod, set at depth, with no shot down the line.  A lead rod, not sure why, but it is now just something I set up because other people catch using one.   A topkit to fish down the edge, which means sitting backwards on your box, as 112 is out in the water. A meat rig for fishing at 5m, two pellet rigs a 4x16 because of the wind and a 4x12 in case they wanted a lighter rig.

Given how cold it was, I thought feeling my way in gently would be the best way, so started short just potting a couple of bits of meat in, the water was clearer than I expected, so wasn't 100% confident of getting the usual quick bonus fish and I only gave it 7 minutes.  Switching to the waggler and pinging 2/3 pellets at it saw me put 30lb on the clicker in the first hour.  Hoping the catch rate would stay steady and maybe get better towards the end was on track at the end of the second hour when another 28lb was clicked.

The third hour started better and within 20 minutes I had clicked another 25lb, the bites and indications then virtually dried up for 20 minutes, I then hit into a big fish, which apart from slightly kiting round, came in like an inanimate object - until it got two rod lengths out then it took off towards me and round the platform leg before I could stop it, the reel line between the float and the fish was no match for the platform leg and parted as easily as if the platform leg was a hot knife.

The next hour and 20 minutes were fishless and biteless, I was scratching my head, as others were getting odd fish, Calum on 113 was catching me up and I was drawing a blank on every line/bait.  There had been fish topping and rolling, but most of them were doing so beyond the halfway point, so whilst and extra few yards cast might have paid off, the rules prevented me chasing them across.  I got off my box and set up another waggler rod, to try maggots shallow, I thought it might tempt the fish that were in the upper layers, but not feeding.  It didn't.  I did get one down the edge and a couple of perch, but I was never confident that it was going to come good.

I was hoping the short meat line would come good and with 1 hour 10 minutes to go, I had a carp on the 5m meat line, several more followed and at the all out I had 137lb on my clicker and a couple of decent skimmers on the meat as well.  The scales showed my clicking skills were on reasonable form today, 141lb of carp and 4lb of silvers, the lost fish on the waggler cost me (the only one I lost all day) as my 145lb was 2nd in section and 5th in match, so a very small financial reward and disappointing not to get the section win, being beaten by 5lb, Steve Shaw on 110, who caught on the bomb, he certainly does seem to have that sussed.

Well done to Peanut winning the match from Cary, with 245lb, he had some proper lumps.  Looking forward to the next one now, hopefully the weather will be more in line with the series title.

1. Lee Pesticcio - 245lb 1oz - peg 78
2. Tony Gilbert - 213lb 5oz - peg 102
3. Ricky Mills - 189lb 14oz - peg 100
4. Steve Shaw - 150lb 14oz - peg 110
5. Chris Fox - 145lb 11oz - peg 112
6. Craig Edmunds - 143lb 15oz - peg 125

Frenzee Festival 2019, Whiteacres.

A mini, self imposed close season after a poor finish to the Viaduct Winter League meant I had all my rigs and gear up together, new reel lines, new elastics and whilst not bubbling over with enthusiasm, I was looking forward to the week away.

Paul (Faiers) and Glenn (Calvert) would be my lodge mates for the week, they had gone down on the Friday, but I left early Saturday morning, glad I did as apparently quite a few beers and then Sambuca was consumed on the night.  A nice uneventful drive down and I was there by 09:30, after finding I had been left the tiniest bedroom in the lodge (would have bet my house on it - but I'd have done the same....) we all headed up to Twin Oaks for a days fishing.  It was a decent day, that just got better and better as the evening drew in.  The clocks went forward that night, so we would be finishing the matches an hour earlier in effect, with the miserable cold weather, it was likely to hit the fishing.

No fishing Sunday, Pauls van had a problem on the way down, the RAC guy had told him it was the MAF sensor, I had brought my code reader and it confirmed his diagnosis.  We found a Euro Car Parts in Truro and got a new MAF sensor and fitted, cleared the codes and by then, decided a walk round the lakes would be more beneficial than fishing.  Not sure I learnt too much.

Monday morning dawned and it was off to Bolingey, hopeful of a big weight and a decent days fishing.

Peg 33 - old 45, a decent peg, but I'd rather have 23 the bridge peg, still I was hopeful of a few fish from the peg, it gives plenty of options., the end bank is in pole reach, a LH margin with a reasonable depth and open water.  Started short on meat, as this usually gives up a quick early fish or two, but not today. So a switch to pinging pellets long and this saw a 3lber netted quite quickly, but it was a lone soul. I tried pinging pellets to the end bank, nothing, I did resort to a method feeder further along the bank and had a 6lb fish on that.

With 20 minutes to go, I'd had 5 fish for 25lb and was really scratching my head, when they rocked up on the short meat line, I had 3 and lost one in the last 20 minutes - if only those bloody clocks hadn't changed....  I put 42lb on the scales and that is quite easily my worst weight at Bolingey, a venue that is often good to me.  I beat one in the section, peg 23 opposite, the peg I had fancied!!
Best bit of the day was a pint in the Perranporth Inn and a curry from the Indian.

Tuesday, Pollawyn and a chance to make amends and get back on track, but when peg 9 popped out of the drawbag I wasn't too hopeful, peg 13 is the strong peg in that section, but I had to give it a go. 

Given how cold it was I set up a lead to fish popped up bread, the waggler rods stayed in the b bite ag, the wind was howling down the lake . I was expecting to catch on worms, a meat line and the longest I could realistically fish the pole was 11m. so a pellet line there, an edge rig completed the set up.

I started on the bread, casting just short of the island, after a couple of minutes I had an indication and didn't connect with anything on the strike, back out and within a couple of minutes a very tentative bite saw a fish about 6lb netted, next two chucks saw a 9lb and a 10lb fish netted, then a 2lb F1 and I was wondering if this was going to be a red letter day.  But that was it for the bread, tried other baits across there, but not as much as a liner.  The rest of the match was spent rotating between the 11m pellet line - 3 F1's, the meat line - 2 barbel and a skimmer and the worm line - a few skimmers, for a total of 39lb odd and the much needed section win.

Some renewed enthusiasm for day three, I drew 28 Twin Oaks.

The weights weren't good the day before, but the lake is full of F1's so surely they'd have a feed after having a day off.  Again, it was windy, so the waggler rods had a ride and stayed unused, a lead rod for bread and a method feeder on another lead rod, topkits to fish the margin, down the shelf and at the bottom of the shelf.  I started across on bread and had no indications, I switched to the method, again, nothing, I had been feeding to my right just down the shelf with pellets, a look here was equally barren.  I had been feeding caster to my left and had a drop in with that after nearly an hour biteless, I could get bites here, but it was roach, not the intended F1's.

I had a decision to make, it was fishing rock hard, so I got off my box and set up a roach rig, intending to fish this until anyone near me started catching F1's (or carp), I was catching roach 1-3oz with a couple of 5/6 ouncers.  The guy on my left was sticking it out for carp or F1's and at one stage he had two in two chucks, so I went back out on the method and had an F1 straight away - great, they've arrived I thought, well that was the only bite across there.  Back on the roach and I ending up with 21lb odd, so 20lb of roach and a nice days fishing but not too successful, I bet three pegs to my left, who had 6lb, 8lb and 6lb respectively and I beat one other who had 14lb.  The end pegs beat me, 22 with 60lb, 34 with 25lb 23 beat me with 29lb and the guy on 26 had 59lb on paste - I wouldn't have thought to try it, maybe food for thought.  So if a couple of F1's had shown up in the roach, like I thought they would, I could have had a third, it was a tough day.

On to Thursday, I didn't really want to draw Trewaters, as I have never done any good on there and my back is not up to swinging 16m of pole and 5m of line to the island.  Quite unusually, I got my wish and drew Jennys.

21, I was initially hopeful it was an end peg, but on checking I could see 22 was in.  I drew 20 in the Preston festival a couple of years ago and Andy Bennett gave me a real lesson off 21, fishing the method, afterwards he spent quite a while explaining what he did and why, so hopefully his tips from then would help out today.

Again the wind would make the waggler a waste of time, so yet again they came along for the ride and stayed in the bag.  A lead and bread rod, although I wasn't convinced it would be any good, the water had a bit more colour than Pollawyn.

A method feeder clipped up to the island, 3 topkits, one for pellets long, one for meat and another for worms short.  As predicted, the bread wasn't right and I binned it after 10 minutes, I had a couple of F1's and skimmers on the method, but it wasn't hectic.  Next bite was a carp, a big one, it came in like a heavy wet sack, then went nuts under the rod tip, snapping 0.20 at the hooklength loop - bugger would that be costly.

 I persevered and had a couple of carassios, I cast just to the left, coming about 2m off the island and had a couple more, but it was slow and getting slower. I could see fish coming from the other end of the section, but it was a case of switching between lines and taking odd fish, the last hour I had a few better skimmers on meat, but it was a case of being patient and waiting for a bite.  My 33lb was only enough (by ounces from end peg 22) for third place, the end two pegs winning the section and the carp I lost may have cost me second.

Onto the last day and it was the little lakes, not sure where I wanted to be, so when I pulled out 3 Eery, it meant little to me, Trigger was on peg one, so was going to be hard to beat and peg 13 had won the lake every day so far.

Setting up was a bit of a faff, peg 1 & 3 being disabled pegs, so had to get over the framework, shame they didn't make the front bar removable. I did get the waggler out of the bag, also a method, although its a short chuck.  I suspected it would be a pinging pellet day, I couldn't quite get to the island with 16m, the peg is set back behind peg 1 and the wooden frame pushes you back another half metre.

I had a tree along to the left, which restricted how far I could get down the edge, to set up a rig to fish there, the RH margin was too shallow for the cold weather and the water clarity. The final rig was a meat rig.  Starting on that short was spectacularly ineffective, out with the pellet rig and I soon had a 1lb carassio, which proved to be a false dawn, as apart from a couple of skimmers, that  was it from there for ages, whilst Trigger on peg one was fishing to an aerator and getting one a bung - carp, not carassios and skimmers....

Another tough day, two carp added from the pellet line, two big carp from the meat line in the last hour and a double figure fish smashed me up (0.14) as I was too impatient trying to get it in. The edge line only produced the odd skimmer and a small perch.  Bit of a disheartening day, but I wasn't the only one struggling, the guy to my left never had a carp and the 4 corners beat me and Jon Arthur - if I had got the double figure carp in, then I would have had one more point.

So, a frustrating week, I was well prepped, thought I fished reasonable matches and made the right decisions, the last day particularly disheartening, but I honestly have no idea how I could have got those fish to move.

Thanks to all there, apart from the weather, some draws I would choose and being humiliated on the last day, it was a good week, next up Viaduct Spring League first round.

Viaduct Winter League, Final Round, Sunday 3rd March 2019

Match Fishing has a way of kicking you in the teeth, today was one of those days....

Going into this, the final round, we were sat in seventh place, the blanks in the round where over half the field blanked costing us a top five place, but we were confident that with a half tidy draw we'd claw enough points back to sneak into the money.  I was also confident that I'd do well and be in with a chance of a individual frame place on the day, as I was on Campbell and that was likely to throw up the winner individually, on the day,

Before the draw the rest of the team seemed happy and confident, so all was well, I drew for us and pulled out 7, which gave me 116 on Campbell - about as far away from the fish as you can get!!  Mark was on 85, always in with a chance from this peg, so he was happy.  Rich on 56, the car park bank has been better this year than in previous years, so he was relatively happy.  Paul was a little disappointed to be on 25, Spring instead of match lake, but he should have a few bites, finally Glenn, peg 8 on Spring, a corner peg, with little else to do than fish into the corner all day, but with the chance of big fish if they were there.

I went to my peg, determined to make the best of it and hoping the fish were moving down the lake with the wind.  As Storm Freya was forecast to make an appearance, I doubted a long pole line would be possible.  So a pair of lead rods set up, with different tips to take into account the wind and any tow.  Also a pair of wagglers, one with an insert and one straight waggler, as the visibility was poor and if it worsened, a insert would be difficult to see.

I did get the pole out, having drawn the peg before and got out of jail with a few late fish down the edge, but since then the tree that overhung the RH margin has been cut right back and there is scant shelter there now, doubt it will affect the peg in the summer, but the winter I think it will be detrimental.  That's not a complaint, I think commercial match fisheries should be fairly tree and snag free.

Three top kits, two for the edge, as there is a distinct drop off as you go along the edge, in the summer, I'd be targeting the shallower part, but felt if they would come in to day, the deeper water would be best.  I did set up a rig to fish meat as far as I could, which was 3+2.

I had a few casts with bread popped up, straight after the all in, nothing was forthcoming on that, so switched to the waggler and corn, it took an hour to get a fish, a carp just under 6lb.  Then I couldn't get a bite for the next two hours, Steve Nadin on 115 was catching on the waggler, whilst I couldn't get a bite. I tried the lead, various sizes of meat, corn, maggots on the waggler and didn't have as much as a liner for the next two hours.  I looked down the edge - in fact I tried that several times during the match and never had a single indication, so we can write that off.

After about 3 hours I slightly upped the corn feed and had two skimmers in quick succession on the bomb and corn, by now I knew I was massively behind most on the lake, although Paul Greenwood opposite wasn't catching either.  I switched to the waggler and had 3 more skimmers and that was it, not another bite, no liners, I didn't foul hook any, the peg seemed barren.

At the all out I was pretty pissed off, I thought I was last on the lake and really didn't expect that on the day, as the scales came round and revealed the weights, I really was made to look red faced, I had beaten one - the guy to my right on 118 who DNW, Paul opposite had a good fish near the end, but was still a long way adrift from the big weights, so in my defence, I think there weren't too many fish in the area, as for myself Paul and 118 to be so far adrift, I can think of np other explanation.

I saw Mark, who had a 2nd on lake from 85 and walked back to the van, then saw Rich, who had 15 points, the Paul and Glenn came back and we had lost all chance of gaining ground, as they had 2 and 1 points respectively.  It transpired that dropped us to 10th overall, so there is no way you can have 3 anglers return with 5 points between them and succeed in this league.

Well do to the teams and individuals that topped the leagues, that's me done with fishing for a bit now, just can't justify all the time and effort to get draws like that.  If we regroup and come back next year (hopefully) I know I won't be drawing the pegs out.

Top Weights Today:
1. Nigel Easton - 160lb 1oz - peg 123
2. Glyn Reynolds - 158lb 6oz - peg 119
3. Martin Preston - 150lb 7oz - peg 131
4. Andy Power - 116lb 13oz - peg 97
5. Chris Davis - 107lb 14oz - peg 132
6. Allan Oram - 102lb 13oz - peg 129
7. Alex Murray - 100lb 6oz - peg 128
8. Phil Wilkins - 92lb 5oz - peg 111
9. Mark Broomsgrove - 90lb 5oz - peg 85
10. Dan Squire - 88lb 6oz - peg 90


Top Individuals of the League:
1. Andy Power - 83
2. Craig Edmunds - 74 / 241lb 3oz
3. Paul Elmes - 74 / 193lb 2oz
4. Shaun Townsend - 71
5. Scott Puddy - 68 / 284lb 11oz
6. Chris Davis - 68 / 199lb 1oz
7. Gary O'Shea - 67
8. Ben Hagg - 65
8. Tom Downing - 65
8. John Moody - 65

Ivy House Open, Sunday 24th February 2019

I had been wanting to get back to Ivy House for a while now, especially to get a look at the new lake and the other work that has been going on.  I wasn't bothered which lakes were in, as it turned out, there were 24 fishing, exactly the number of pegs on Heron, the new lake.

A quick look at the lake before the draw and there were odd fish topping and every peg was easily accessible with no issues stopping easy shipping, Andy has even provided an area behind each peg covered in wood chip, to save walking on the bare earth, to set up rollers etc.  I kept meaning to take some pictures, but didn't actually get round to it.

As the lake has been stocked with small carp and F1's, I was going to stick to one simple approach, fish 4mm hard pellet.  I did have a couple of pints of casters, so took it along, but the hard pellet approach was going to be my banker and focus.

Draw time saw me pull out 20, meant nothing to me, but a couple of people suggested it was a decent draw.  I had a pair of waggler rods, set up 3 topkits and as I had time, a pellet feeder.  The waggler rods had 2.5lb maxima on one and I have just started trying the Preston sinking feeder line in 3lb on the other, first couple of matches with it and I am quite impressed with how it fishes, not lets see how it stands up to the rigours of constant casting.  The topkits had a rig to fish banded caster at 2+2 where I could throw them by hand.  another to fish banded pellet hard on the deck at 13m and another with a more strung out rig for the same bait.

I started on the waggler and it soon became obvious that the fish were in quite shallow water, so switched the float to a small Middy Fat boy, this fished about 20" deep.  I had a slow first hour, getting the right waggler and having a look on the 13m pole line, as the waggler was fairly slow.  Round on the other bank, one of the guys had landed 3 decent fish, whilst my fish were 2-3oz apiece.

I had a spell of more bites on the waggler in the 2nd and 3rd hours, but was by now well behind peg 21.  The lake narrows up slightly between 20/21 and the fish seemed to be happier sat slightly further across in 21, whilst my fish were coming and going, giving me spells with far too few indication.

Fourth hour saw things slowing down again and I did have a cast or three with the pellet feeder, I only had one bite on this and it was the best fish of the day for me, a ghostie about 2.5lb.  I had a scrabble round in my bait bag and found a bag with about 1/4 pint of maggots in.  I switched to maggot on the hook and started getting bites again, including some F1's (which are bigger than the carp).

I had a couple more looks over the 11m line and the short caster line, but I didn't have a bite on any pole line, the fish were across by the island and moving around.  My stubborn plan to fish banded pellet was a mistake, I was pegged next to the winner who caught consistently all day, feeding pellet and fish maggot on the hook.  That definitely cost me, as I weighed 33.12, which was 6th on the day and those quiet spells and maybe the chance of a few more F1's on maggot were a lesson to get some local info, as several people said after that maggot has been the best bait on there.  Unusual - in my experience anyway, as new lakes, stocked with new fish are usually pellet dominated for at least a few months.

I'll be back for another go, but it's not something I'd want to do every week, its certainly being developed into a nice fishery, in case anyone hasn't heard, from 1st march there is a new Fishery Pellet Only rule  I can understand its a business, that developing and growing it isn't cheap, luckily its not a venue where huge amounts are needed.

Well done to the framers, its certainly a busy day catching that many fish on the waggler (winner said he had 147 fish on his clicker).

Shiplate Silvers Costcutter, Thursday 21st February 2019

I haven't been to Shiplate since last August, not sure why, as it really is a lovely fishery, well maintained and a great welcome from the owners.  It's obvious that there has been plenty of work going on, with a lot of tree pruning and clearance, the balance between a natural look and the need for a commercial fishery to be angler friendly is being well met here.

Only 9 fishing today, so I am not sure if it is really a match or a knock up?  I would suggest that to really be a match there should be at least double figures fishing and I'd like that to be 20 really.  I guess that there is just too much competition, with the Bathampton matches at Hunstrete, Viaduct, Ivy House and a few other fisheries all within an hours drive hosting Thursday matches, it would be nice to get some decent size matches back on the calendar, as the only way to get this now is to fish leagues and series.

I paid my pools and had a chat with Paul Faiers who had come along, with 10 minutes to draw time I thought it safe to wander off and use the facilities, when I came out, the place was deserted, apart from a smiling Steve (the owner) who had the last ticket in the tub for me, as everyone was there they'd drawn early, peg 10 was left for me.  I wasn't really sure where a good draw was, but nearer the middle is often a decent place to be for silvers on these canal lakes, so not too disappointed and I did have 52lb of silvers off of peg 9 - but that was August 2011, how time flies!!

Roach and skimmers were the likely targets, so I did set up a range of topkits, to rigs to fish for roach, HB Frosties (0.1) with strung out No11's to a 0.09 hooklength and a 20 Gama Green hook, one set at depth and one 6" off bottom.  Another HB Frostie (0.3) to fish a regular bulk and droppers, this with a 0.010 hooklength and a 20 Guru F1 hook, this would do for 3 lines, two down the centre at 10 and 2 o'clock and one across at the bottom of the far shelf.  A lighter NG slim float with the same hook and hooklength and finally a double bulk rig.

The peg plumbed up as being within 2" from the bottom of the near shelf, right across to the bottom of the far shelf, so the rigs would do for all lines with only minor tweaking.  Bait was simple, maggots, pinkies and caster for loose feeding and feeding on the GB line, micros, a few 4mm hard pellets and some expanders to fish the 2 o'clock line, where only pellets would be fed.

On the all in I fed my pellet line, and the 10 o'clock line with two tangerine size balls of GB laced with caster and maggot, one ball on the line right across.  Started on the roach rig fishing caster short, this was a slow start, 4 roach in 15 minutes, so I went out over the pellet line with a 4mm expander, this was instant, but it was a small roach rather than the desired skimmer.  I dropped an expander over the GB line and had a hand sized skimmer, but then couldn't get another bite, I rotated round the lines with a maggot on and had a couple more roach, by now an hour had gone and I had about 1lb in the net.

I refed all the lines and then had another hand sized skimmer over the pellet line, but the bites were few and far between, I tried an expander over the GB line again and had a better skimmer, but nothing was forthcoming after that.  I could see some fish being caught down to my right, but not much off to my left.  I had been feeding the short caster line and looked in on this again, I was getting bites here now and switching from caster to pinkie increased the number of bites, without changing the size of the fish - which were roach 1oz-3oz. I kept the longer lines topped up and had an occasional look over them, but they really weren't productive - I didn't catch at all off the line at the bottom of the far shelf.

I managed to get the fish on the pinkie line to come into topkit range and I even had a bonus chub that must have been nearly 1lb, it wasn't frantic, but steady enough to make it worth staying on, the last hour was a bit torrid, two snapped elastics and a lost rig (double bulk rig, had gone for another look over the GB line with double maggot and immediately hooked a carp).  The carp had certainly woken up and they were actively looking for feed.  Whilst it was a beautiful day to be outside fishing, I wasn't too disappointed to hear the all out after 5 hours, the carp were getting more and more active and I think another hour would have been pretty frustrating.  I wasn't alone, Paul said he had hooked at least 15 carp and a few others were also finding the carp in a hungry mood.

The payout was just two section winners and my 10.14 was enough for a section win and second in the match, beaten by a 13lb, a few more skimmers showed in the pegs to my right.  A lovely day in great countryside and I will make an effort to get to Shiplate a bit more this year.

Not sure how many midweek matches I will get to now, as I am starting a new job next week, after 14 years of shift work and having my weekends disrupted, I am returning to the 'normal' world of Monday-Friday working, at least the series I have missed out on in recent years can get my attention now.

Acorn Costcutter. Tuesday 19th February 2019

Fancied a match today and didn't want to travel too far, so this was the closest and on my second visit this year, I fancied beating my last match fifth place finish.

I was there ridiculously early, apparently its half term, the roads were nigh on deserted, shame the kids aren't on holiday more often....

22 fishing today, so a reasonable turnout for a February Tuesday, I somehow managed to draw a fancied peg, hmmm, this doesn't happen often, pressure on, as peg 9 has thrown up plenty of framing and winning weights.  Luckily, there were a fair few fishing which I didn't know, so none of of the usual banter to create more pressure.  I left the van where it was parked and walked my gear two and a half pegs, proper lazy fishing.

I had put together a Preston 9' Carp Feeder, with a small pellet feeder on it last night, but whilst I got it out of the van and took it to my peg, I couldn't bring myself to take the ties off and assemble it, so it went back in at the end, still strapped up.  Pole it would be then, peg 9 gives you a few options, there is a nice flat area in front of peg 8, the far bank is only 11m away straight across, but as it goes away to the right, you have a decent length  of bank to fish at, the only downside is that there is no farside shelf, it has eroded away all the way along.  I plumbed it very carefully, but just could not find that nice 15-18" of water, that the fish will feed in.  The best I could get was 24-30", so that would have to do.

I set up a dobbing rig to go all along the far bank, initially set 6" off bottom, another to fish banded pellet across (18 LWG on 0.14) and an identical rig with a spade end hook on for pellet or maggot (20 Kaizen on 0.14). The dobbing rig had a Kaizen 16 to 0.14 on, to start on bread.  A catch all rig for down the track, a 0.4 NG Gimp, with a 0.12 hooklength and a 16 Guru F1 maggot hook.  Finally a rig to fish down to the pallet of peg 8, this had a Kaizen 16 to 0.16, in the hope of a bit of action.....

Bait tray was caster, maggot, 4 and 6mm hard pellet, a few micros and some expanders, along with a couple of slices of bread.  I started dobbing bread across, had a couple of indications, but no proper bites, I varied the depth and it was the same, from touching bottom to 15" deep, I did expect to get something on this, but wasn't going to waste too much time on it, so after 25 fruitless minutes, put it back in the roost and picked up the cup.  I fed maggots across at approx. 11 0'clock and micro/4mm at 14m towards the open water, but still close to the farside.

I had a bite over the maggot line and a small roach dropped off, the victim of 12 solid elastic!!  Net drop in a perch the best part of a pound and three quarters was safely netted, then two carp about a pound each.  Then it started, a nightmare that I just couldn't stop - plenty of indications and 'bites' but it was all liners, they all came off, some just shedding the hook, some leaving me with the gift of a shiny scale.  I tried not feeding, drip feeding, dump feeding. this was happening on the maggot and the pellet line, I tried at various depths - bizarrely, coming off the bottom stopped the liners and foulers, but also stopped any indications. I tried another rig, lightly strung out and also bulked all the shot down on the original rig, to no avail.

I was pretty frustrated by now, over an hour gone, fish in the peg, peg 11 had a few over, 11 has a nice shelf, which is where he was catching. I had been feeding a 'throwaway line' caster by hand down the track, I picked up the catch all rig, single flouro maggot on and dropped it in, the float buried and a 3oz roach fell off, I swapped the rig onto one I had sat in the roost with No6 elastic (10 on the original set up) and went back in, looking to catch a few silvers while the carp settled, or  I worked out how to catch then across.

Float eased under in a much slower bite, expecting a silver I lifted into it and a 4lb carp was my reward.  I had a nice hour or so of double feeding about 20/30 casters and then dropping the rig in and within 5-15 minutes getting another carp. Feed too lightly and get liners, too much and the bites dried up. I put about 45lb in the net in 3 hours doing this, with one spell going back over, it was just the same, liners and foulers, except for one F1 one soft pellet.

The last hour was a nailbiter, I thought I had pulled ahead of peg 11, but my fish had disappeared, then he started catching across again, I tried this again, along with my LH edge and up to the pallet of 8 ( I felt this would be no good, as 7 was in and he fed to the pallet of 8 with a big cup, right from the start).

I upped that caster feed down the track and managed 3 more fish in the last 20 minutes, 2 in the last two put ins.  Thankfully my 64.13 was enough to win by just over 2lb...

Viaduct Winter League Round 4, Sunday 17th February 2019

After the last round, when 60% of the field, including me, blanked, today had to be better.  Well you'd have thought so, until I went into the draw tin and pulled out 11 again, the same pegs as last round, this put Mark Broomsgrove on 125, Rich A'Herne on 90, Paul Faiers on 61, Glenn Calvert on 38 and me on 12.

Mark would hopefully get a few silvers on 125, Rich should get some carp up the edge on 90, Paul should catch skimmers and hopefully carp on 61, wasn't sure about Glenn on 38, but I was sure he'd catch, especially when I walked past and was amazed to see how much more colour there was in the water this week .  For me, 12 was going to be a struggle, its in with pegs 6 and 20 as those you don't want to draw on this lake.....

I really wasn't confident of catching a carp, but did set up a waggler for corn and a bomb, to have a chuck round the peg with bread at the start and meat later on.  A silvers waggler and 3 silvers rigs, these being the same rigs s I used last Thursday at Plantation.  I was next to Fred Roberts again, but he was on 13 and had the corner to fish into, so I was sure he'd catch carp.

Not much point rambling on about this match, I had a few on the waggler, but nearly all my fish fell to the light strung out rig fishing pinkie or a single flouro maggot, one perch around the 1lb mark, the rest were roach and rudd from 0.5-1.5oz, just couldn't find any quality.

I beat 10 on the lake to get 11 points from 18 - I can't be too disappointed at that, its the best return of points from that peg so far this league, but it would be nice to get a decent draw next round and catch a few carp.....

Team wise we ended 6th on the day, so really need an outstanding round next time to sneak into the frame.

Team Positions Today:
1. Guru Viaduct - 72
2. Spotted Fin - 70
2. Thatchers Vets - 70
4. Team Amigos - 59
5. PI Thatchers - 56
6. 2nd Time Lucky - 53
7. Moaning Maggots - 52
8. M5 Angling - 49
9. Garbolino BVMG - 46
10. Colmic SW - 45
11. Viaduct All Stars - 43
12. Balti Boys - 42
13. Team Keyford - 41
14. Future Networks - 37
15. Wyvern Anglers - 33
16. Silverfox - 32
17. Fishing Tackle Warehouse - 31
18. PR Floats - 23

Plantation Silvers Open, Thursday 14th February 2019

Third of these matches, unlikely I can make anymore due to work, so had to try and make the most of this opportunity.  Match limited to 16 today, as the lake is a bit of a bugger to peg out, as so many of the pegs interfere with each other.

My dip into the draw tub saw me on peg 3, which is permanent peg 4.  I wasn't disappointed, as it should be good for skimmers and roach.  Three top kits set up, a double bulk rig, a standard bulk and droppers - both these on 0.14 rig line, with 0.10 hooklengths and Guru F1 hooks.  The final rig was a HillBilly Frostie, again on 0.14, this time with a 0.09 hooklength and a 18 Gama Green hook, with strung out shotting.

I did set up a waggler, first time trying the Preston sinking feeder line (3lb) as a waggler line, just looking for a line that sinks quickly, no other reason for trying it.

I plumbed up and settled on 3 lines, two at 14m, 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock and a short line at about 7m.  The 7m line was loose fed with caster, the 10 o'clock 14m line with GB and caster, the 2 o'clock line with micros and a couple of 4mm pellets.  Apart from one tiny roach on 4mm soft pellet, the first half hour was devoid of bites, I finally started to get a couple of small skimmers on the light strung out rig.  The smaller fish had obviously come over the GB, but were sitting off bottom, I tried the double bulk rig and had 4 or 5 skimmers between 6 and 10ozs straight away, that sadly was the end of the easy fishing.

For the rest of the match, I had to keep working the bait and came off bottom to catch a few more, but sadly no quality, wasn't sure what I had in the end, but the scales gave me 19.01, which was not enough to trouble the framers, walking round the lake and looking at the weigh-in, I could see the lack of quality had cost me. It was a nice close match and one where half the field could have, with a couple of better fish or a another run of fish, won it, I enjoy matches like this.

Viaduct Winter League R3, Sunday 3rd February 2019

After the last round team success, we'd been hoping to build on it this round, but the weather was likely to have a say in this, with heavy snow and then a night where the temperatures went down to double figures of minus centigrade in some areas locally.

The van temp gauge was -5° and did briefly drop to -10° near Clutton, so I doubted the carefully prepared wagglers or lead rods would be required.

The lakes were all iced over with a thickness varying from 3/4-1", so I was reasonably happy to be on Match lake, as I was convinced I could get a fish or two from any peg on this lake, talk in the car park before hand, was wanting to avoid peg 38.....

In my experience, the bigger lakes at Viaduct don't respond well to fishing through the ice, as usually at this time of year, the waggler or lead is essential, as the fish rarely venture into the close lines that they avidly feed on in the summer, so there were likely to be a fair few struggle.  After the last round draw I went into the draw tin hopeful and was pretty devastated to see I had plonked myself on 38 - the one peg singled out by quite a few as the peg of doom....  The match lake doesn't quite hold a full section, so two pegs are put on middle and 4 on Spring.  Middle is currently gin clear, as far out as you can see, you can see every leaf and bit of gravel on the bottom.

Rich had 125 - he should catch at least a roach in the last half hour from here, Paul on 90 - not sure, but tried to sound confident for him and encourage him to break out a channel to the end bank, where there would hopefully be a carp.  Glenn on 61 - probably the best draw on the teamsheet, myself on 38 - I would have been off out the car park with wheels spinning had it been an open - and Mark on 12, a waggler peg, so not much hope for him either.

I won't regale details of the match, I set up 3 rigs, all with a 0.08 hooklength and 20 or 22 Gamma green hooks, one just on bottom, one just off and one 6" off bottom. Started on 2 or 3mm punch and a pinch of liquidised bread, swapped to squatt, pinkie, 1/2 a pinkie and at the end switched to caster and pinged a few in with a catapult, but never felt at any time, during the day, there was a fish in the peg.

Really didn't enjoy being sat there, in the 99% certainty that I wouldn't get a bite, Fred on 37 had had one bite against the tree, hooked and lost a carp, but at the end he had the same result as me - DNW.  We were far from alone, 54,  more that half the field failed to weigh in, that's not a fishing match, its a pointless lottery, although it is purely down to the weather - could it have been called off, with hindsight I'd say yes.

The rest of the team faired as expected, Rich catching a couple of fish late to get 10 points, Paul blanking, Glenn weighing 16lb odd of silvers for 17 points and 4th in the Match.  Mark joined me and Paul in the DNW club, all of which put us on 27 points and 12th on the day, one more angler catching would have made a huge difference.  This leaves us in 9th overall and with 2 rounds to go, we need a couple of outstanding results to frame now, shame the weather rather than anglers decisions/ability/mistakes have helped to shape this years league.  When you have some of the quality anglers that failed to catch today, it's a sure thing that it was all weather inflicted.

Here's hoping the next round sees some milder weather!!

Plantation Silvers Open, Thursday 30th January 2019

Another chance to fish this prolific silvers venue, the weather gods were not kind and the van temperature display was gleefully showing -4°C as I set off.  A good tip learnt today, if using the Bridge Inn for breakfast, ask them to swap the sausages for extra bacon, as the sausages aren't the best.

Had a walk round the lake before the draw and the lake was mainly frozen over, I was hoping to draw a peg that was completely frozen, as I am sure the fish prefer to sit under the 'lid' rather than in the unfrozen areas.  A few had cried off because of the weather, so 13 fishing today.

I had brought plenty of caster and waggler rods, the waggler rods weren't likely to be used looking at the thickness of the ice, into the draw bucket and I pulled out 8, which turned out to be permanent peg 19.  I was going to cut out two channels, but as the peg is on a point, I decided that one line straight out in front would be the way to go.  Nice and warm chucking these around...

As there was no point in getting the waggler rods out, I decided on a simple approach, 3 rigs, first one was a 0.1 NG Gimp, with strung out No11 stotz, this was finished off with a 0.09 hooklength and a 20 Gamma Green hook.  The other rigs were a 0.3 float set up with usual bulk and droppers and a double bulk rig - not too much to say about these, as I started on the strung out light rig and stayed on it all day.

On the all in I fed a tangerine sized ball of GB (50/50 Tom Thicks Intelligent and Sonubaits F1 Green) with caster and pinkie in.  Wanting to get a fish of any size to start off, I had a single flouro pinkie on the hook. It took 25 minutes to get a bite and a 8oz skimmer was a nice first fish in the conditions.

Another skimmer shortly after and then a 4lb carp, which wasn't so welcome, but it didn't mess the peg up too much.  I refed after this, as there was obviously fish feeding and I had a little run of 4 skimmers.  This was pretty much the way it panned out for the rest of the day, a couple of fish and then refeed, and a lull, then a couple more, I hooked a couple more carp, one landed and one broke the hook.  What was odd, was that I kept trying caster and fed a caster line a bit shorter, that I never had a bite on a caster, every fish fell to the single flouro pinkie, yet talking to Paul (Faiers) after the match he had caught all his fish on caster.  Given the low temperature and the ice, everyone was surprised that the fish were very responsive to feed, in fact, if you didn't feed regularly, you didn't get bites.

What I had thought would be a tough day, was very enjoyable, a lovely simple days fishing, one rig, one bait and some nice quality skimmers, I had hardly any roach, whereas the other end of the lake they showed.  I didn't have a clue what I had in the net come the all-out, but I was hopeful it would be there or thereabouts.

It wasn't enough to beat match organiser Tony Rixon, who put 32lb on the scales, but my 28lb was enough for second on the day, given the conditions, there were some great weights with 5 over 20lb and everyone except two DNW's in double figures.