Cadbury Angling Open, Acorn, Saturday 28th April 2018

Decided to give Acorn a go today, its nice and close and at least you can put all your unused kit back in the van to keep it dry, with the behind peg parking.

Into the drawbag and out comes ping pong ball 11, the same peg I drew on the Clevedon Xmas match, but the weather was a lot colder then, so hopefully the fish will have woken up a bit.  I had pellets and maggots, so rigs based around that, maggots for down the edge, pellets for across and a 5m line.  I'd also brought a couple of 9' feeder rods in case the method or pellet feeder worked.

I could find about 15" of water across, there is a shelf that runs up to and round the point, this was to be the main attack, next were two rigs, one to fish expander, the other banded pellet at 5m.  Plumbing up the margins, there was no nice level area, it was going to be a case of pulling the bait up the slope.

Starting across to the point of the island, I was getting indications straight away, I had several carp in the first two hours, putting just over 30lb in the net, I started by feeding 4mm pellet, but the fish seemed reluctant to settle, so I upped the feed to 6mm, hoping it might pin them down, but they just got more and more spooky.  If a fish touched the line, it would bolt out of the peg, with several others following, then the indications died off and the fish had backed off,

I had a look on the 5m line, this gave up a tiny tench and a 1lb skimmer to expander, but nothing else.  The only way I could catch now was to rotate between the LH margin, the RH margin and going across to the island, it had slowed right down (although it was never hectic) and I spent a long time trying rigs, baits, shotting etc. to try and stop the spooking, I couldn't work it out at all, it may have been a bit better had the wind been giving me the ripple that other areas of the lake had.

I had 33lb on the clicker with 2 hours 15 gone and 47lb at the all out, it was a tough day, I did put 53.10 on the scales, which was beaten by two, so well done to them.  And, we stayed dry.... that was a bonus.

Viaduct Spring League Round 1, Sunday 22nd April 2018

I travelled down to this one with Tony Rixon, no particular pegs to draw or avoid came up in the conversation, the warmer weather hopefully getting the fish spreading out from their winter hidey holes.

Well, I was disappointed with my draw, 124, I (and I'm not alone) think that its the weakest peg in the section (116 round to 126), but I still felt I could get a few fish from it.   The wind was off my back, making the fishing easy, but the fish seem to be following the wind now, so the other bank looked a bit more favourable with the wind pushing into it.

Waggler rod and lead rod were set up, pole rigs were simple and positive, a margin rig, a full depth pellet rig, a shallow rig and two meat rigs, one strung out and one bulk shotted.

On the all in I was confident I would get the usual mug fish or two on meat short, but the only bite I had on meat short was from a near 3lb tench.  By the time I waited for the bite and landed the tench, Dave Romain on 119 had 5 fish....  I swapped to the pellet rig at 14m and had a 7lb carp on that. but it was a bit of a loner, as that was the only fish on the line.  I tried the lead, nothing, the waggler, I had one bite on that, a 3lb carp and it was looking like I was going to get a very embarrassing weight.

I had loads of casters left over from Whiteacres and started dump potting them down the LH edge, going over them with worm brought a succession of fish, Bream, Tench, Perch and the odd Rudd, all decent fish and I was catching well, this was only ever going to be a stop gap though, as I had to get back amongst the carp to ensure I wasn't absolutely hammered into last place in section.  Getting amongst the carp wasn't much of an option as looking round the long and short lines, was a complete waste of time.

With 50 minutes to go I had 10lb on my clicker - the original two carp and 43lb in my head or the silvers net, when finally I had a decent fish about 14lb down the LH edge, then another about 12lb, also a couple on meat short, this gave me 108lb which was last but one in the section, so a dropper already..... Some great weights on the opposite bank, well done to those who had them.

Frenzee Festival, Whiteacres, 16th - 20th April 2018

Even though its been a long tough winter, this seems to have come a round quickly again, just Paul Faiers and myself travelling down this year, our other regular lodge companion was unable to make it this year, shame, as its a good craic with Glenn along, even if I am somewhat off the pace in the bar nowadays....

The draw had put us in a rotation starting on the four small lakes, Bolingey on Tuesday, Pollawyn on Wednesday, Twin Oaks and Trelawny on Thursday and Friday saw us heading for Jennys or Trewaters.

Saturday saw us have a few hours on Trelawny, catching a few, but not really getting amongst the carp or decent F1's, then a few beers and catching up with old friends in the bar.  That led to a fairly late start on Sunday and for some inexplicable reason we decided to go to Trewaters, the weather was awful and we really struggled to catch.

Monday dawned and I did try and talk myself into Canal 19, but it wasn't to be, peg 7 for me and Paul didn't do much better in 11 Canal.  Looking at 4th in the section from here, but you have to be hopeful on the first day, that the fish have moved from their residency.

Peg 7 has no features such as the gorse bushes or trees that many of the other pegs have, I set up a meat rig for short, pellet rig to fish soft pellet over micros, a rig for the edge, which isn't nice either side and a pellet rig to fish tight across.

First two put in's on the meat I was surprised to have a near 2lb F1 and then a 1lb Carassio, but this was a short lived burst of hope, the tone for the rest of the match was set, never taking more than one or occasionally two off the same line. It was a real struggle and the day was capped off by seeing a swirl on the far bank seconds before the all out, I swung the pellet rig with a bit of meat on at the swirl and immediately hooked a small angry carp.  It tore down the bank, tangling the elastic in over hanging brambles, I managed to push the pole right across and free it, only for the carp to change direction, run down the far bank to my left and snag some more brambles.  Got free from them and played it across, about 10' out the fish found a snag and I tried all the usual tricks to get it out, but to no avail.

I had decided that I had to pull for a break, so put the elastic round a keepnet and started pulling, expecting the 0.12 to snap any second, I was surprised to see the carp come free, attached to a bit of rope.  Once I netted it I could see that the rope was tied in a hangmans noose, had I known what the week was to bring, I might have kept it and put it to use.......  The carp didn't affect the result, as predicted pegs 7-13 were the last on the lake, with my 29lb beating two and a long way from the top weight of 70lb+

Tuesday

Bolingey, where I have done OK in the past, so was hopeful of putting the festival back on track, the weather was foul, wind and rain forecast all day, into the tub and out comes peg 20, a look at the results from the day before had me concerned, Vince Brown had been on there the day before and was near the bottom of the section.  Paul was off to peg 2.

The wind was blowing R to L at my peg, so I decided that the Multi Margin would be the only pole out of the bag, as there was no way I could fish longer than its 8m. A pellet rig for 8m. a meat rig for 5m and a margin rig, but on plumbing up the margin, I was very doubtful I'd catch in it, too shallow.

A straight lead and a method, completed the set up, no point in even opening the holdall with the waggler rods in.  Bolingey will usually give up a fish or two (and sometimes more) starting on the meat short, not today, not even a carrasio.  It took me over an hour to get a fish and it was a small carp, in the first 4 hours I managed 2 carp and 4 carassio's for 12lb on the clicker, all on the method, it wasn't exciting and it wasn't frenetic......

At 16.10 with 50 minutes to go I had my first bite and fish on the short meat line, a decent fish, but it wasn't until 16.40 when I had another and then one more at 16.50, terrible, worst day I have had on Bolingey. The results on my bank went:  peg 22 - 37.00, peg 21 - 15.00, peg 20 37.04, peg 19 12.00 and peg 18 6.00, so I won my bank, but for all the value that had in the match, I may as well have blanked.....  Two days gone and festival over by two draws that I certainly couldn't get anymore out of and I am fairly sure that most on the festival would have struggled on.

Wednesday

A chance to redeem myself today, another lake I have picked up on, on several occasions, peg 17 on the high bank, which again hadn't done any good in previous days, not one I'd choose, a bit hemmed in, but I was confident I'd get some fish across and have caught well on the pole in this area before.

Loads of time to tackle up with the 09.00 draw and fishing from 12.00 -17.00, so I had two wagglers, a method and a bomb set up, along with 3 topkits, one to fish meat up the shelf, another for deep shallow and finally one meat at depth.

Once again the wind was looking to spoil the fishing for me, as the waggler was going to be nigh on impossible to fish, unless there were a huge shoal there competing, so the pellet is grabbed as it lands and that was unlikely in this peg.  So having to resort to 8mm pellets to get anywhere near the island with them, in the scare lulls in the virtually incessant wind, I started on the bomb.  This produced on solitary bite from a scruffy looking hybrid that went about a pound and a half.

Pellet and meat on the pole lines were pretty much non starters and I set up a new line and fished worm, this saw 30lb of skimmers netted, in between trying to catch a carp.  I seem to have been on carp avoidance since before Xmas and its wearing a bit thin now.....  This wasn't quite last in section, but it wasn't far off, again, I have no idea, not the foggiest what I could have done to get more from the peg - except to fish 5 hours solid for skimmers......  Just for a change, I could see someone catching steadily, as 27 was catching on the lead into the gap, where the fish had been all week.

Best bit of Wednesday was a trip to The Two Clomes with Paul, Steve Nadin, Chris Albiston, Tom from Whitemoor lakes and Pete, whose second name eludes me.  Nice food, good company and a splendid glass of red......

Thursday

I fancied A section on Twin Oaks, big carp, rather than F1's, but as usual, I couldn't be further from the lake or peg I wanted, 22 on Trelawny, a lake I have won a section on in the past, on a day the carp didn't feed.  Looking at the results from the day before, I had to be reasonably happy, 95lb and a section win from the peg.

It's too far to reach the far bank with the pole, but there was no horrendous side wind to stop me getting tight to the bank with a method, lead or even waggler, which I clipped up all three.  A line to fish expander over micros and the obligatory meat line, a margin rig and a rig to fish worm and GB right in front of my keepnets, the skimmers and bream will come right up the shelf on this lake.

Started on the method, it produced one tiny carrasio in 40 minutes, the wind had swung round since yesterday and was now blowing straight down the lake into pegs 1 and 32.  I was able to feather the waggler in perfectly and couldn't believe that I never had a bite on it, the far bank appeared devoid of fish, although I stuck it out as peg 20 was having a good run fishing the pole to the point of the island (you can reach it with less than 16m from this peg).

I came onto the micros line and fished expander over it, this was fairly slow and it was skimmers I was catching, no sign of an F1, I did get a 2lb carp, but the line was getting slower and slower.  A switch to the worm and GB on topkit, saw a decent run of skimmers and bream netted, but I was never going to compete with the pegs further up the lake, I had one F1 with 20 minutes to go, so am fairly sure that there weren't many in the area, as peg 23 similarly struggled.  The peg that wasn't 'favoured usually, easily won the section with 122lb of F1's, the wind had done for me again, this time taking the fish down the other end of the lake.

Walking up to the club in the evening we saw this on the ground......

So it wasn't me spitting the dummy out, but I was struggling to come to terms with just how badly I was doing this year, my worst ever festival result was on the cards and I didn't think I'd fished too badly, my drawing had done me no favours...

Friday

I fancied Jennys, just because I have a dismal record at Trewaters (Trewaters cost me a top ten finish last year), so fully expected to be driving the 10 miles to Trewaters, but 20 on Jennys came out of the drawbag, Paul Holland had 120lb off it the day before for a section win.

Got to the peg and found Paul's lodge match Andy Bennett on 21, so I kept an eye on what he set up, as he would have all the info from Paul as to how he caught the day before.  Although he did speculate it wouldn't be so good today, as surprise, surprise, the wind had changed......

Its a reasonable chuck to the island, so I set up a 24g Guru Hybrid feeder, a bomb and a 6g pellet waggler.  A rig to fish pellet at 14m, ond for meat at 5m and a rig for worm short.  It transpired that Paul had caught carp on the method the day before, so that had to be my starting ploy, even though its not something I would claim to have any prowess in doing, as I rarely fish it.

I hadn't had a bite and Andy Bennett had 4 or 5 fish, I then saw he was fishing two dead reds on the hook, a switch to this and GB from pellet and micros saw me start to catch, but it was small carassios rather than the proper carp I was looking for.  I switched to the pole and had some skimmers and a small carp on 6mm banded pellet at 14m, but this was slow going as well.  Back on the feeder and a few more small carassios, this was the pattern of the day, with only an odd fish on the short worm line, another small carp on the pole.

Andy Bennett was kind enough to spend some time explaining about fishing the method after the match and I knew he'd beaten, but when the scales arrived, by less than I thought.  My fish went 35lb odd, Andy weighed 47lb odd, I was sure he had a lot more but the stamp of fish were small, over a ton won the section further down and the lake was won from peg 1 with 120+.  If I was a little more practised at casting the method accurately and had some confidence in it, I may have had the couple of pounds more that I needed to be third in section behind Andy, as it was there were a couple of 37's.

So, fishing wise a bloody disaster, memories of last years 19th place finish wiped out by this years embarrassing 151st.  Faierzy managed 71st and it was a good week apart from my miserable endeavours, shame Glenn wasn't there, the service, bar food and on site chippy are all massively improved from the last few years, the lakes have had a lot of work and new fish, so things are looking up.  By the end of Thursday, I was ready to put my tackle on ebay, but now I'm determined to get back and prove to myself, if nothing else, that I'm better than this finishing place portrays.

Viaduct Open, Sunday 8th April 2018

Back to Viaduct this week for a match on Campbell, I had considered fishing for silvers, but decided to fish for carp, as they were spreading out a bit, at last....

Into the tub and out comes 115, a decent peg so not disappointed, to my left was Chris Davis on 114 and Paul Faiers who was fishing for silvers on 116.  Simple today, a lead for fishing pellet, a waggler, and 3 pole rigs, one for pellet on the deck, one for meat and one for down the edge, although I wasn't expecting that to produce.

Set back in 113 was Tony Rixon, who was into fish on the waggler right from the off, whereas it was a bit slow for me, the short meat line which often gives up a mug fish, was a non starter, probably still just too early in the year for that, given the weather we have suffered this winter.  

Paul was catching silvers on a short line and there were odd carp being caught up to my left, I did manage to put the odd fish in the net using the waggler and the long pole, all with 6mm pellet.

Not much more to write about, as it was a slow day, I guess Paul had the most bites as he put a nice 49lb of silvers on the scales, as for me 84lb for 8th on the lake.

Viaduct Open, Saturday 31st March 2018

Some demons to vanquish today, the Winter League, whilst not a disaster team wise, raised a few questions for me, 25 hours without even hooking a carp, was that something I was doing wrong, or was it just the draws?  The pegs I drew didn't exactly throw up plentiful carp weights for anyone else, so I am reasonably happy that it wasn't 25 hours of incompetence, but there is always that nagging doubt.

Driving down to the fishery, at first glance it looked like the there had been several new lakes dug since my last visit, but it was just confirmation of how much rain we've had, as the low lying fields are flooded.

I did have some casters and Devil's spawn in case I drew a skimmer peg, apart from that I had hard pellets and a few punched bits of meat for the hook, none cubed up to feed, it was to be a pellet or bust approach today.  I usually get myself positioned near the front of the draw queue, but today settled for a place at the back, something has to change!!  Ben Hagg was just in front of me and he drew himself and Scott Puddy pegs, 119 and 132 respectively, how is that possible, two corners in one dip!!

I wasn't quite last in the tub and had 97 staring back at me when I opened the draw card, given that the Met Office had forecast a 50% chance of rain and a 20mph NW wind, it was a peg I wouldn't have chosen, the wind (and potential rain) would be blowing into me from my left.  That pretty much settled that I would be fishing for carp, I didn't fancy holding 14m or so of pole for 6 hours in those conditions.  Two lead rods set up, identical except for the attachment on the band, a 0.20 hooklength with a 14 QM1 and a band, the other rod a 0.20 QM1 14 with a plastic spike on a longish hair. A waggler rod taken out of the bag, plumbed up and I was expecting with the forecast and the wind as it was, for it to stay there. This had 4lb sensor mainline, a 0.16 hooklength and a 16 PR36 with a band, my tried and trusted lines and hook for waggler fishing.

I did set up two pole rigs to fish at 11m, the depth was the same at 14m, so there was an option to push out if necessary, using the same rigs.  The rigs were the same, 4x14 floats, just the lines were different, one on 0.20 with a 0.16 hooklength, one on 0.16 with a 0.12 hooklength - just in case there were skimmers to catch.

96 was in, so not much room to my right, 98 wasn't in, so a bit of room to my left and 99 had Chris Davis on, he'd just set up one lead rod and was trying out gloves, to try and alleviate a problem with his hands. With Lodge lake being in, I had Steve Jackson immediately behind me on peg 66, but we had an amicable arrangement for pole shipping, using each other holdalls in lieu of rollers.

I started on the lead and 8mm pellet, couldn't get 6mm's far enough out in the wind and rain, 20 minutes with no indications were enough and I had a look on the pole line, that I had been pinging 4mm and the odd 6mm pellet.  Nothing there either and I could see that Phil Hardwick on 88 had a carp on the lead, so it was back on that. I had a couple of liners, but no bites, I wasn't convinced the 8mm pellet was right, so switched to a 8mm punch of orange meat, this was almost instantaneous in producing a fish, a decent one as well, nigh on 15lb.

I had three more and then Chris on 98 packed up, I am assuming the gloves didn't solve his hand problem, this left an awful lot of water to my left, as Mash on 100 was fishing the pole for silvers, I had one more, but the liners and indications had stopped.  I did try casting down to my left, but that was equally unproductive.  I had been feeding 3 lines, the 11m pole line, 6mm pellets at about 25m and 8mms at 40m or so.  I switched to the waggler over the 6mm pellets and was getting a few indications when the float disappeared, a 8ln mirror put up a spirited fight, before coming to the net.  Next cast I had a bite and missed it, that was it, I persevered for a while longer and tried the waggler again later in the match, but never had another indication or bite on it.

I did try the pole line again, 2 skimmers came from that, but it was slow going and I felt I needed to catch more carp, so back on the lead, I had one more bite on yellow meat, a common that was very reluctant to come to the net, in the way big commons often are, it was shaped more like an F1 than a common and Steve commented on this when he weighed me in.

No further bites, liners or indications, I am sure the fish dropped back into that big area of unfished water, I could see that Steve Tucker over on 81 had a few fish, but they didn't look to be of any great size and I was sure that those on the riverbank hadn't had too much, but I couldn't see what had come from further down the diagonal bank.   My 7 carp went 75.12 and the 2 skimmers 1.03, so 76.15 total, which was enough for 5th on the day and a section win, second on the lake to match winner Roland Lucas who was on 102.

So, the demons banished, I can still catch carp, even if it means resorting to the lead......!!

Charlie Barnes Memorial Match, Friday 30th March 2018

I had taken a couple of weeks off, one enforced by work and one as I just needed a break, far too many matches this winter getting cold, not catching anything was not doing my enthusiasm any good at all.

I had booked into this match as soon as I saw it advertised, some great memories of Charlie over many years and a chance to celebrate his life in a match was nice, as I had to miss his funeral, fittingly it's a silvers only match.

The usual ping pong balls had been replaced in the drawbag today, Cadbury Crème Eggs with numbers on, first time I have ever been able eat my peg number.....

From the information I was given, it seemed likely that munching on the egg would be the highlight of the day, with the top lake being a popular wish for many to draw and the main straight of Paddock lake being the next choice.  I went to my peg determined to give it a go and passed venue regular Mike Chapman on peg 40, who told me we'd both struggle, so not one positive comment about the peg, I was determined to put a few silvers together from it.

 I set up 4 topkits, the depth was pretty even, so they were just different size floats and shotting patterns, as well as one to fish off the bottom looking for roach.  I thought the best to go was positive, so put two balls of 50/50 groundbait and leam with a few pinkies, maggots and casters in at the bottom of the far slope and loose fed caster at the bottom of the near slope.  Starting on the near slope hoping for some indications and small fish to get me going, I fished bronze maggot over the caster.  After 20 minutes I hadn't seen any indication and the rain started, so I put up a bait brolly, put on my coat and was blissfully unaware that I was in for one of the coldest, wettest days of the winter so far.

A switch to the GB line after 25 minutes was equally uneventful with maggot on the hook, I switched to pinkie and over the next 40 minutes I had 4 small skimmers and a tench that was no more than 3" long....  The next 3 hours were painful, both mentally and physically, my hands were seizing up with the cold, the float wouldn't go under, I started a new line up the shelf, wondering if any roach would be in the shallower water.  I was a little apprehensive as there was the odd carp moving along the far bank and the homed straight in on the bait and it quickly became obvious that going up the shelf was a waste of time - although the bites and playing the carp on light gear were a welcome respite from the long blank spell.

I must admit, with 4 hours gone I was very tempted to pack up, the mental image of the gear in the van and me dry and warm, was an appealing one, but there wasn't much being caught that I could see, so a late run of fish could still see a framing place or section win in the bag.  I had some false hope that I'd made the right decision with an hour and a half to go I had a decent skimmer, just over 2lb over the GB on double pinkie, but he was a lonesome soul, next couple of bites were carp.  In fact I think by now I had hooked and landed more carp than in all the matches I have fished since November.... bloody typical, but at least I can still catch them.

Finally the short line produced some fish, a skimmer, a nice roach, then four more carp, the GB line appeared dead, the short line did come back but it was a case of catch a roach, then two carp and another wait, before another roach.  I cannot think how I might have got more from the peg and the scales showed my efforts amounted to 7lb, which given the pegs either side blanked and some decent anglers struggled, I can't complain too much - apart from drawing the wrong lake again.....

After the match, Bev was handing out hotdogs to everyone, there was an Easter egg with your peg number on it and Zoe was dishing out tea and coffee, for those inclined, there was cider or cans of coke, a nice touch and it was very much appreciated.  Confirmation was also made that Charlie's Memorial will be an annual match on Good Friday every year.

There was a shield for the winner and trophies to keep for the top three, they and section winners also had more Easter eggs, again, all nice touches, before they trophies were presented, there was a minutes silence and the Harry Muir said a few words, he did say Charlie would be looking down at us laughing, all sat out in the cold and wet, I must admit, the very same thought had crossed my mind.

Weigh sheets below, it was a clean sweep for the Shipp family, who all drew the top lake, so well done to them.

Viaduct Winter League Final Round, Sunday 11th March 2018

This match was originally scheduled for 4th March, but the Beast from the East arrived and covered most of the country with snow, the decision - and I feel the correct one - was taken to postpone the league and reschedule for this week.  It meant a clash with the Landsend league and that meant I had to pull out, I don't like doing this to organisers and don't do it lightly, but Ken understood the team match had to take precedent.

Thankfully the rest of the team could all make it, so we had to hope for a decent draw and performance to at least hang on to our 4th place and hopefully improve it.  Fred had gentle leverage applied to get him to draw again, as there are a couple of very dodgy drawing arms in the team, he was 2nd in the tub and we ended with a bit of a mixed bag.

Mark - 110 - he wasn't disappointed!
Me - 76 - not running to it, but thought I 'd catch
Paul 103 - thought he'd do OK from here
Glenn - 40 - its not got a huge pedigree, but had chucked up good points in a previous round
Fred - 2 - always a chance of a carp and a few silvers from here, with Fred on it, it should be worth a few points

The last two years I have been on Cary on the last match, it's been a disaster and I haven't caught a carp, which to get reasonable points is a must, hoping not to make it 3 in a row.  So today, I arrived at the peg and the tree that was to the right has been taken out, so no feature and a cold easterly, occasionally swinging to southerly blowing into my bank.  I was pretty certain the waggler would be a waste of time, but set two up anyway, just in case conditions improved.  Two lead rods, both with bombs, one to fish bread, the other meat and 4 topkits, a very optimistic edge rig, a skimmer rig for 11m and another for 14m and a heavier rig in case carp were about.

The match started and sadly for me, soon adopted a familiar pattern to the previous two years, I searched round the peg with bread, then meat, then corn, finally maggots, all to no avail.  A switch to the waggler - more in hope than anything else, as the wind was unfavourable for it - and that was also equally unproductive.

I had fed some GB at 11 and 14m after about 20 minutes, so had a look over it, I had a roach, a small hybrid and a small skimmer.  I had to move and tart a new line and I would get 1or if I was lucky 2 fish from a line before having to abandon it and start another.

Kept trying for a carp as well, but at no time did I feel the tip would go round, peg 74 on my RH side was Paul Greenwood and he was equally struggling, whilst we watched Gabriel on 107 opposite, casting a waggler right down to 109 and catching - how frustrating is this winter fishing!!!

Persevering until the end, I had several looks down the RH edge and I thought it had paid off with 30 seconds to go when the float buried and I lifted into a fish, as nice a fish as it was - 2lb Perch - I was disappointed it wasn't a 20lb carp.

Once again, on the last day my team contribution from Cary was going to be minimal and I'd be relying on the others to pull the rabbit from the hat and thankfully they did, with Mark winning the match overall and Fred returning good points from Spring.  If only I could have snared a carp or two and we'd have risen to 3rd overall, but given the level competition, the comeback after a poor year last year and the harsh winter we have suffered, we had to be happy with the end result.

Thanks to Steve, Helen and Matt for running the league, Bait Tech for the prizes and to my team mates, hopefully we can improve next year.



Individual Overall On The Day:
1. Mark Broomsgrove - 108lb 12oz - peg 110
2. Phil Hardwick - 105lb 11oz - peg 132
3. Ben Hagg - 83lb - peg 15
4. Matt Parsons - 74lb 10oz - peg 44
5. Dave White - 71lb 14oz - peg 51
6. Nigel Easton - 67lb 6oz - peg 113


Team Points On The Day:
1. Moaning Maggots - 62
2. Guru Viaduct - 60
3. Team Amigos - 59
4. M5 Angling - 58
5. Balti Boys - 56
6. Colmic SW - 52
6. Thatchers Vets - 52
6. 2nd Time Lucky - 52

Final Team Positions Of The League:
1. Colmic SW - 305
2. Mosella Bathampton - 298
3. Thatchers Vets - 279
4. 2nd Time Lucky - 272
5. M5 Angling - 266
6. Guru Viaduct - 264

Clevedon Club Match, Plantation, 25th February 2018

Got the chance to fish this match as a guest of Paul Faiers, so as I was due fish another Coffin Dodgers match on the venue on Thursday, I took the opportunity to get some time on the water and with the added bonus its fairly close to home.

Only a knock-up really with 10 fishing, I drew 38, which is on a point, you have an island chuck and plenty of open water to fish, you used to be able to fish back down the RH side of the spit, but now there are brambles and minor arboreal growths that prevent this - used to catch big perch doing it.

Plenty of time to set up, the wind was pushing fairly hard left to right and I left the waggler rods in the bag, as I felt there was little chance of getting any sort of presentation with them.  Two lead rods, one for bomb and brad, one with a small pellet feeder on.

4 topkits, a double bulk rig for skimmers, a more conventional bulk and two droppers rig, a Chianti with strung out No11's for fishing through the water and another bulk and two droppers, a bit heavier in case any carp were about.

Started on the bomb and bread, without any indication of fish, tried tight to the island and off it, but nothing.  I then fed the pole line, with GB and caster/dead maggot, before trying the small pellet feeder with a plain 6mm pellet and a few variations of wafters, dumbells etc. this was also met with a motionless tip.

By now Kev Perry on 39 had a couple from under the tree down the edge and Mark Broomsgrove was catching well on the bomb on 27.  There is only so long I can sit watching a motionless tip and today I lasted a bit longer than usual before picking up the pole.

I started catching  straight away and had a couple of decent skimmers, but they weren't really on a feeding spree and they came and went, when they went I refed and looked for carp again on the bomb or feeder and that was pretty much the course for the rest of the match, apart from when I went for a walk and stood with Paul behind Mark Broomsgrove, watching him get a bite or an indication virtually every chuck.

No silvers payout today, which was a shame, as it would have given a few of us something to fish for, I kept up my recent record of not hooking, let alone landing a carp and even if I had targeted the silvers the whole match and with a couple of lines, as the roach didn't feed, I think 3rd would have been the best I could have done, as it was trying to catch both left me nowhere.

Viaduct Winter League, Penultimate Round, Sunday 18th February 2018

With the team in 4th place going into this league, we were hoping for a decent team draw, as well as individually hoping for a peg that might give some individual glory.  I got to the fishery at just after 08:00 and found that we were in the last 4 or 5 to draw (draw is done in order of paying team pools), some teams must get there bloody early!!

Before the draw, Nick Collins said a few words before a minutes silence for Charlie Barnes, well known match angler, retired maggot farm owner and all round nice guy, who passed away yesterday, he will be sadly missed.  I first met Charlie when I was a junior angler working in the local tackle shop part time and his friendliness, cheerfulness and generosity never waned in all the subsequent years, RIP Charlie.

Fred had been strong armed into drawing for the team again, but I stood with him and watched as the decent draws came out of the tin, leaving him very little hope when he had to dip into the tin, it was a case of trying to pick the best of 5 unwanted draws....  The draw Fred pulled, saw me on 126, a pretty poor draw, the best weight from it in previous rounds has been just over 9lb.  Paul on 94, which can be good, but also, can have its off days, 62 for Glenn, 37 for himself, which gave him a chance if the fish were in there and 13 for Mark, which should see him catch down the edge.

Whilst the air temperature had gone up, the water temperature wouldn't have changed and it was still fairly clear, so I was far from convinced that the fish would move from their winter residences, sadly 126 and the other pegs in the middle of the lake haven't been home to the fish for several months now.  I set up two lead rods, one to fish bread and one for meat/corn, two wagglers, one for corn and another for caster.

4 topkits, although that was somewhat optimistic, as I set up a 0.4 Gimp with a 18 F1 on 0.10, a rig with similar end tackle to fish a double bulk, another rig with heavier elastic and 0.12 and finally another with 0.14 and a 16 LWG - I must have been feeling wildly optimistic, which is not my usual mental state!!

On the all in, I started on popped up bread, no signs of a fish whilst it was in the water, so I switched to waggler and corn, this did give me a bite after about 10 minutes, which was a decent skimmer, but another 20 minutes and the wind which was blowing straight at me, was pushing the waggler back towards me.  A switch to the lead with corn on the hook brought another skimmer to the net, but that again seemed to be a one off.

I had been pinging caster at 14m, dropping in over that with the pole was also pretty frustrating, with no bites forthcoming.  I hadn't fed any GB until now, but decided to cup some in, to try and pull some skimmers into the peg.  Whilst this was settling I tried maggot on the waggler and broke my blank with a 1oz roach.

When I dropped in over the GB, I had a run of 3 or 4 skimmers (3-4oz each) before the bites died off, I replaced the hooklength with a 0.07 and a Gamma Green 20 hook, just to see if the line or hook was putting them off.  I felt I had a few more bites on this, but it was hard going, I had to feed to get bites, but getting the quantity of GB and amount of particles right was very difficult to gauge, as the response was the same when feeding small or large amounts - a couple of bites / fish, then a long barren spell.  This was the pattern right up to the end, I kept trying the waggler and corn, but only had one more bite - that I missed.

I thought I had about 7 or 8lb at the end, but admitted to 5 or 6lb, as its tricky to gauge when the fish come so intermittently.  I was surprised to put 10lb on the scales, but that was no good on the lake, although it was top weight in the middle area of the lake (either side of me and the pegs opposite), but was only worth a meagre 6 points.

Paul had a worse day, putting 11.13 on the scales, but on Cary that was only worth 2 points, Glenn's 11.12 was worth another 6 points, Fred's 19.02 worth 12 points and Mark helped save us from a real disaster by winning Spring lake with 57.14 for 18 points.

So, somehow we remain 4th in the league and gained 2 points on Thatchers Vets in 3rd, it would take a real upset for us to finish any higher than 3rd, but we'll give it a good go in two weeks time when its the last round.

Overall Team Points:
1. Colmic SW - 253
2. Mosella Bathampton - 250
3. Thatchers Vets - 227
4. 2nd Time Lucky - 220
5. M5 Angling - 208
6. Thatchers Gold - 207
7. Guru Viaduct - 204
8. Somerset Angling - 192
9. Thatchers Silver - 186
10. Wyvern Anglers - 184
11. Team Amigos - 181
12. Balti Boys - 178
13. Future Networks - 174
14. Moaning Maggots - 172
15. Garbolino BVMG - 158
16. Silverfox - 156
17. Team Keyford - 133
18. All Stars - 132

Coffin Dodgers Open, Plantation Lakes, Thursday 15th February 2018

Its been over 4 years since I last fished Plantation lakes, where does the time go......

I was lured to this one by the weights in recent matches, only last Sunday it took a ton + to frame and 46lb to win the silvers, also the promise of bites, lots of them from every peg......

Decided to try the Bridge Inn for breakfast, I thought it was OK, with the exception of the sausages, they weren't the best.  A few in there so the usual pre match chat and banter.

I had an early night the night before, strongest drink was cocoa, so that wasn't the cause of me getting to the car park, unloading the van only to find my rods not in the van.  I had my pole, but felt that rods would play a part, so had to arrange to get them brought to Cadbury Garden Centre.  I took my gear to my peg, set up 3 pole rigs and then went off to get my rods.

Getting back to the lakes and my second senior moment of the day, I obviously had my keys in the van when I drove back, I got the stuff out the van and then could not find them to lock the van, searched my pockets 3 times, took my bib and brace off, searched the muddy puddles near the van and was totally bemused where they'd gone.  I had got a new battery for my radio out of the glovebox, so went in there and that's where they were, right at the bottom.......

So back to my peg, which was permanent peg 27 and I had the Silverfox himself, Mike Nicholls on 28.  I set up a small pellet feeder and a waggler and was still sorting my bait when the all-in went round the lake.  Starting on the pellet feeder with micros and a 6mm pellet on the hook, I was expecting some indication, but nothing. 40 minutes later I had tried a chocolate orange wafter, dead maggots and switched to GB in the feeder, all with the same result.  Mike was faring no better not having had a bite.

I switched to a line at 11m where I had been pinging a few casters, great start here, 3 skimmers and a big roach, when the lakes resident Canade Geese decided to have a very vocal, wing flapping and peg disrupting domestic through several of the pegs on this side of the lake.  That put the mockers on any more bites, that and the lack of any ripple on the surface that myself and mike were suffering from.  We were nice and sheltered, but so were our pegs, no so good when the target is skimmers and the sun is out.

I fed some GB and went back out on the pellet feeder to let it settle, this time I did have two bites on dead maggot, but didn't connect with either of them.  A switch to the waggler was equally as barren, although I did mainly fish 6mm pellet on the hook, although I did try a couple of dead maggots in the band.

Back on the pole and a couple of roach and then another skimmer, but that was that again.  Time for plan C, off the box and set up another rod, this time to fish bread along the island, seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was as unproductive as every other cast to the island.  Back onto the pole and I added a section, this brought a couple more fish, but as every other time, they disappeared.  The pegging here is tight, so a line at 10 o'clock and another at 2 o'clock weren't really an option, so lines at different distances straight in front were the only option.   I fed a line at 14.5m with pellet and fished and expander over it, but that only brought one bite and one small skimmer.  I had a Chianti set up with strung No11's, but the best rig was a wire stemmed NG Gimp 0.4g with a bulk and two droppers.

There was a bit of ripple out towards the island, so I changed the bread rig for a small cage feeder, to try and catch some skimmers out a couple of metres short of the island.  Second cast, the tip went round and a decent skimmer was on, halfway back it got entwined in a branch and the branch was all that ended up on the bank.... This was like every other line, a bite or two, maybe a fish or two and then nothing.   I did manage another couple of roach and a skimmer on the pole and then one last skimmer on the feeder before the all-out, but I felt it would not be enough to bother the framers.

The scalesman called 16.08 which was far from the worst weight, but less than half that needed for some coin...... or so I thought, there is a equal split payout on these matches, overall and silvers, this meant that somehow, I picked up joint second in silvers money...... I'm still not sure how!!!

Well done to those who managed to put better weights on the scales, I'm sure we all expected better fishing today after the recent results.  Back there again in a couple of weeks, hopefully the conditions will see more fish caught.

Landsend Winter League R4, Sunday 11th February 2018

Round 4 of this league means going back to a open draw and then rotate the other two lakes, so no preconceived ideas before arriving and drawing - except that it would be tough for some.

I cannot deny its getting harder to write these blogs, as my winter has been dire and the only matches I am enjoying are the Viaduct Winter League matches, I always did enjoy team fishing, as at least it gives you something to fish for, for the full match and even if in the worst section, coming back with points in the bag is satisfying. I have no great desire to go back to the rivers and canals - because of the boats and bank side activity, but that's about the only places to get regular team fishing, shame we don't have a commercial team league in the area.

I am usually as close to the front of the draw queue as possible, but today, was fairly apathetic about actually being here, so hung back and drew what has been a good draw, 13 on Match Lake, can't say I was overjoyed when I heard that the match on Saturday was on this lake and won from this peg with 20lb odd.  I think in the winter that these small commercials don't fish as well two days running, especially for silvers, but I also understand that its a commercial and not likely to be shut before league matches like many natural waters were years ago.  I can recall when many anglers fishing a league (rivers and canals) wouldn't fish it the day before even if it wasn't closed.  

So, at least there had been a couple of fish in the peg and as I was expecting a tough day, with a blustery wind forecast, I had taken a lead rod and a waggler, which I normally leave at home when fishing here.  With plenty of time to set up I put the waggler up and had a cast around, the peg is a fairly even depth apart from a deeper hole in front of the island and as that is nigh on 18m, I choose to use that as the reference point for full depth and marked that on the rod.  Lead rod was a simple 9' rod with a running bomb and a 0.16 hooklength.

4 topkikts out of the bag, one for fishing down to the pallet of 14 and it would also do to fish to the end bank, both sides of the tree that sticks out, just a simple HB margin float and a 16 LWG on 0.16.  A rig to fish through the water, a 4x12 Chianti, with a 18 Kaizen to 0.14 (hoping for an early mug decent fish) another to fish the deeper water this time a HB Chump and a 16 F1 maggot hook on 0.12 and finally a similar rig with a 18 F1 on 0.10 to target silvers.

After 40 minutes of dobbing round the peg with maggots (I wish Mike would allow bread in this league...), I hadn't had a bite, Martin Rayet on 11 was in a similar position and he commented on how tough it was.  Shortly after he was playing a fish from the end bank and then another, whilst I remained biteless. He then lost a fouler and I was getting concerned when the float dipped and I had a welcome carp of about 5lb.  Martin then had a decent double, whilst my float remained motionless.  Both doing the same thing, not feeding, fishing to the end bank.....

I switched to the silvers rig and hoped to put some roach and perch in the net, but nothing, could not get a bite on either line I'd fed, one caster, one micros.  A switch to the waggler over the deep hole and a bite on single maggot, expecting a micro perch or roach, I was surprised when a 4lb carp was attached to the hook.

By now it was fairly obvious the not feeding or very negative feeding wasn't working, Martin had managed one more carp giving him 5, but he was no longer getting indications or bites.  I started pinging a few maggots at the aerator, but to no avail, so a look round the other lines again, none of which gave even the faintest glimmer of hope that there was a fish in the vicinity.  Back to the aerator and I had a bite out of the blue, another 4lb carp, then a 6oz hybrid, I think it was nothing more than the time of day, as there was 40 minutes remaining, I had another carp, another 6oz hybrid and a 2lb skimmer, too little too late sadly.

Against most predictions the top weights both carp and silvers came from the opposite end of the lake, which was the most wind affected and they hadn't been pegged the day before, my carp being of a small stamp weren't enough to trouble the frame, likewise the silvers.  Fair play to Mike and Ade for top two weights on the lake, from pegs which at the start, the regulars weren't fancying and were the windiest pegs - good weights from all three lakes from the windiest ends.  

Still it could have been worse, Nick Duckett weighed 4oz from Match Lake and he's no mug on the venue, so more typical winter fishing and I will be glad to see the back of it......

Viaduct Winter League R3, Sunday 4th February 2018

My turn on Spring Lake today, so was hoping for a decent draw.  The boys in the team were all for Fred to draw for us again, as he hasn't done too badly the last couple of rounds and with faux reluctance, he agreed to do so again - he doesn't take much persuading, as he really can't face sitting on one of the pegs I'd draw and Fairsy doesn't draw much better.....

We were about 2/3 down the pile of team sheets and could see some of the favoured draws disappearing and when Fred went to draw, Ditch who was calling the peg numbers, said to Fred "there's only one or two good ones left", that would have been the kiss of death had it been my hand in the bucket, but Fred managed to locate one of the decent draws, much to our relief.  The draw put Paul on 130, not spot on, but close to the carp ball on Campbell, Glenn on 99, again, not plum in the epicentre, but in with a chance, Fred wasn't disappointed with his own draw of 69, Mark was on 50 on Match lake and expected a few bites and I certainly wasn't disappointed with 18.

I got to the peg to find Bernard Curry on 19 and Dick Bull on 17, with Ron Hardiman not too chuffed with his drawing arm, he'd put himself on 20.  Drawing 18 immediately had me hoping for a good day on the waggler, but first of all I set up two lead rods, one with a straight lead for popped up bread and another for fishing a GB feeder.  Next up the two waggler rods, one to start on, with a 0.15 hooklength, just in case there was a carp lurking, the other with a 0.12 hooklength, with the option to go lower.

3 topkits set up, a 0.4g Hillbilly chump, 0.10 hooklength and a 18 F1 maggot hook, this coupled to Middy 1-5 elastic - perfect for skimmers, a Hillbilly float whose name eludes me, but its one I use for double bulk fishing, this again with a 0.10 hooklength but a 16 F1 this time and No6 elastic, hoping this rig would pick out the bigger skimmers.  Finally, an optimistic rig with a homemade float, 0.14 hooklength, a 16 Kaizen hook and white Avalon hollow elastic, this was just in case there were carp in the peg, or the big skimmers really had a feed....... as I said, an optimistic (wildly so, it turns out) rig.

On the all-in I went straight across to the island with popped up bread, within two minutes I had a gentle bite and I was into what I initially thought was a skimmer, then wasn't sure and even until I saw it I wasn't sure what it was, once it came up for netting I could see it was a decent hybrid, not far off 2lb.  Not the double figure carp I wanted, but a nice start.  Next cast, the tip flew round and a smaller, but feisty cousin of the first fish was netted.  Given that start I stuck at the bread for 30 minutes, but apart from one small knock, that was it. 

I had fed a pole line at 14m, after about 15 minutes and decided to have a look on here, sadly, the wind was getting up and pushing round the island, 18 is the narrowest point of the lake and it was acting as a perfect venturi, with the surface water pushing through the peg at pace.  The rig I was fishing was just enough to counter the wind and I had two roach and a tiny hybrid, before I lifted into a better fish on the 4th bite, a skimmer nearing 2lb.  I was now thinking that I might have a good day, but the size of the fish and the frequency of the bites went rapidly down hill from there.

I topped up the pole line and left it, I picked up the feeder rod and that was almost instant, with a 6oz skimmer coming to double maggot.  But what followed was the pattern for the day, fish a line and get an instant fish (or nothing) then have to swap to another line or method to get a fish.  I was disappointed that the wind didn't abate enough to make fishing the waggler a viable option, I had several attempts, but only small roach were fooled by the moving bait.  First half the match, I couldn't find any trip against the wind, second half the match, the trip was going hard back against the wind near the island, but the wind tow was picking up the line close in, causing a big S in the line and dragging the float towards me.  Shame, as this is a great waggler peg.

One of the feeder chucks saw a spirited bite and I was surprised to see the culprit be a scale and fin perfect F1, that went 2.14 - about sums my luck up, every other carp caught on the lake was touching double figures or bigger.

I thought I had 8 or 9 lb and was surprised to see the scales go to 11.11 for silvers and my 2.14 F1 taking me to 14.09.  That would be decent points I thought and it turned out to be worth 13.  Frustratingly one out of the money in the silvers (one out of the money is a regular theme lately!).

 The corners caught carp 3 each and it was just the size of them that settled the lake, in favour of Tim Ford.

Team wise, we thought we might have done OK, although we hadn't bee quite keen enough to follow the scales round on such a cold day. Paul had 12 points, Glenn 15, Fred made the most of his nice draw and won the lake so 18 points and a silvers pick up for 3rd in silvers, Mark had 7 points, giving us 2nd on the day with 65 points. 

Two rounds to go, currently lying in fourth and hoping we can stay in the hunt for a framing place - I best go nowhere near the draw tin next round.......

Landsend Winter League R3, Sunday 28th January 2018

My turn on lake 3 and having drawn venue expert Tony Rixon in the knock out, I was going to have my work cut out, in fact as I was so far down the league, but with a glimmer of hope in the silvers, I was intending to fish for them.

The draw slightly changed my thinking, as I drew 41 and I would prefer a non corner peg for silvers - unless the F1's feed, but as there had been a match on the lake the day before, I wasn't confident, as whilst the carp at Landsend often respond to being fished for the day before, its usually the kiss of death for silvers.

The margins on 41 are considerably different in depth left and right, so two rigs made up, as I was hopeful of a fish or two from the edges, especially as we were fishing until 16:00. I set up a rig that I hoped would catch a few silvers, but also land any bonus carp, so 0.16 with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 Guru FI maggot hook.

I thought that meat might work, so I set up a rig on 0.20 with a 0.14 hooklength and a 16 Kaizen, this would do for many areas of the peg, as except for the area where the aerator used to be, the peg was the same depth. I also set up a rig for across to the spit that sticks out, as this usually holds a few fish, this was on 0.16 with a 0.12 hooklength and a 18 F1 hook.  There is a shallower area tight across and the rig was plumbed to be just on the bottom on this shelf.

This peg does offer the option of going down to the end bank, but I refuse to do it, the bank is eroded and has trees and other snags in the water, I just won't put myself through what would end in frustration, Tourette's and tears......

Whilst the weather was mild, the water temperature was still very low, so reluctantly I put a pot on the end of my topkit (I'd rather be using a catty) and started across to the spit with a few pellets dripped out of the pot and a 4mm expander on the hook. I had an indication straight away, lifted and dropped it back in and a positive bite saw a 6-7lb fish netted, great start, the next 30 minutes saw 3 more between 3-4lb in the net and I was no thinking of abandoning the silvers and going for carp.

The first half hour was a bit of a golden patch, as the next half hour saw only one more fish in the net.  I fed a ball of GB into the open water on the hour mark and left it 20 minutes before dropping over it with double maggot, this brought another small carp and a couple of roach, a switch to 4mm expander saw a small skimmer come to the net and several more roach.  But the carp seemed to disappear.

Now with the beauty of hindsight, I should have got my head down and fished the rest of the match for silvers, but I was fairly convinced the last hour or so would see the carp come back, I did have a look down the RH margin - which is the deeper of the two and it was barren, I wanted to leave the LH margin to the last 30 minutes before going in there.

I did manage a very small F1 and a carp that would struggle to push the scales to the 1lb mark from across to the spit again, as well as a couple of roach. The margins only produced one carp, probably 2lb, so that was a disappointment and confirmed my poor decision in not fishing for silvers, as the lake silvers was won with 5.04 and I weighed 4.12, I think 7 or 8lb would have been easily obtainable.  My 8 carp went 38lb odd and Rob Watts on 43 had 4 for 39lb odd and his silvers just beat me, the top 3 weights on the lake all came from the opposite bank, so another mediocre day for me, I felt I fished a tidy match, but the size of the fish I caught cost me.

Dreadful winter, really not sure what I am doing wrong as I just can't seem to put any quality in the net, be glad to see the spring arrive and the water temps climb up above 10° or 12°C.

Viaduct Winter League Round Two, Sunday 21st January 2018

Back to Viaduct this week for the second round of the winter league, it was my turn on Match lake, which I like, so hopeful of a few bites.  The draw would be all important, the team protocol was for each member to draw, but as Fred has the golden arm he was cajoled into dipping his hand into the tin again. There were a couple of unflavoured draws in the tin, but thankfully Fred avoided the worst of them and handed us: Glenn on 127, Fred on 96, Mark on 64, myself on 47 and Paul on 15.

127 wasn't likely to throw up a weight, but Glenn would try and catch some silvers there, Fred knew exactly what to do on 96, Mark recalled my time on 64 last year, I was blanking with 3 minutes to go and then had a carp that salvaged a few points, 47 was more favourable than I first thought, when I found out 46 wasn't in and Paul was hopeful of carp down the edge and skimmers on 15.

As the matches are 5 hours, no need to set up too much kit, but with an island chuck I did set up a lead rod, to start on bread across, a Normark Microlight to fish the waggler, 2lb reel line and a 0.10 hooklength with a 20 F1 hook.

Plumbing up the pole lines, I found the deepest part of the peg was at 11m, going further out saw the bottom slightly sloping up and at 14m it was 6" shallower than 11m.  I set three rigs up, one for 11m, two for 14m, one a double bulk rig.  The water was fairly clear and I wasn't convinced that the fish would come to 11m.

The all-in was called and I started on the bomb and bread, I tried tight to the island, short, at various places along the island, all to no avail, I was expecting a bite, but didn't have so much as a liner. I switched to the waggler and put a small roach in the net, then a skimmer, another small roach and then a 6oz roach - I thought that I was going to have a busy day catching, but that was the end of the roach, they disappeared and I never had another the rest of the match.

I did have a better skimmer on the waggler, then a smaller one, then the jagged fight of a perch.  This was spread out of 40 minutes, the action was far from hectic. Next bite was met with a more solid resistance and initially I thought it was a carp, but the fight soon gave away it was a good perch, the fish took the line above the float through a floating bramble branch, with a clump of weed attached to it.  This would not come off the line no matter how hard I tried and in the end I had to try and lift it out of the water to get the fish up to net it.  It then became a dead weight and negated the playing action of the rod and the perch bounced the hook out of its mouth, shame it was 2lb+.

Next cast, another decent fish hooked, but it felt fouled and so it was, halfway in and it came off, a large F1 scale still on the hook.  This saw the start of an hour or so where bites had dried up, I had a look in the pole lines with pinkies, tried the lead again, all to no avail, I kept pinging a few casters in regularly and went back on the waggler, deciding that I had to try closer to the island.

The downside of this was the volume of tree cuttings or wind fallers in the peg, at one stage I hooked one every cast, I had to drop shorter than I wanted and this did see 2 F1's and another couple of skimmers come to the net, but I needed a carp to bump my weight up and for the second week running I did well to avoid one.....

I knew I'd beaten some, but with Matt Tomes on my left having two carp, I knew he'd beaten me, as with a couple of others who had carp.  Also beaten by a couple of the pegs on Spring which were in the section, so my hard won, waggler caught 13.04 was worth 11 points.

Glenn had struggled on Campbell, beating those around him to get 5 points, Fred winkled a couple out for 10 points, Mark had a similar experience to me on 64, a carp in the last 5 minutes giving him 12 points, my 11 and Paul with 13 from peg 15 saw us with a lesser total than last week, but we only dropped a place to 5th and apart from Colmic who are opening up a big lead, its tight and all to fish for over the next 3 rounds.

Viaduct Winter League Round One, Sunday 14th January 2018

Hard to believe that a year has passed since the last winter league, where is the time going.....

I must admit, I haven't been enjoying this winters fishing and am not taking every opportunity to get out on the bank, as I usually would, I'm not sure if the stats would bear me out, but I feel as if the winter fishing is getting worse every year.

But, it was with renewed enthusiasm I got my kit ready for this, I have always liked team fishing and this year sees us with an unchanged team of Myself, Paul Faiers, Freddy Roberts, Glenn Calvert and Mark Broomsgrove.  We are looking to improve on last years finish, hopefully emulating 2016's league win, but there are some good anglers and the draw bag to overcome to get near that aim in the 5 matches.

Its great to see the banter and atmosphere that these big matches generate, something that is missing from todays match scene, along with the social side, when many used to have a pint or two on the way home.  A great sense of anticipation from the 90 anglers in attendance, anticipation and hope that one of the 'shite draws' doesn't come their way.

With renowned poor drawers in the team, we all voted Freddy to pluck our rotation and peg from the draw tubs,  that put him on 132, Mark on 103, Myself on 71, Paul on 52 and Glenn on 20, not the worst draw in the tin, but probably Glenn and myself of the least favoured of the pegs.

Peg 71 on Lodge is a bit hemmed in, but this year with peg 55 not being in, you can cast the waggler a little further. Lodge lake section is float only, so no need to set up a lead rod, I had two wagglers set up, one with 0.12 and a 18 Guru F1 for caster and one with 0.15 and a 18 PR36 for corn or meat.

I did set up a rig to try under the brambles to my right, although I was far from convinced that I would catch short, a rig to fish at 14m and a double bulk rig for the same distance.

Starting on the waggler and meat saw the waggler sitting motionless, a switch to corn was no better, finally a switch to maggot brought 2 missed bites.  I had fed a bit of GB, with dead maggot and caster in at 14m, a look over this saw a roach netted - that was the blank saved, but it was pretty much it, as far as the pole lines went, nothing on caster, maggot or even prawn down to the bushes and nothing else on the 14m line.

I spent most of the match fishing the waggler as far as I dare without encroaching on to peg 56's boundary, this was the only lace I could get bites, corn being the best bait.  I kept persevering as peg 70was getting a few bites doing this and he had 3 decent carp and some skimmers to win the section. I managed 12.01 of skimmers for 7 points, one 10lb carp would have seen my points doubled, that's how tight the lake was.

Teamwise it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a bad day, Fred taking 15 points, Mark with 14, my 7, Paul had 15 and Glenn 9, so 60 points and joint 4th, Colmic were runaway winners on the day with 75 points.

Landsend Winter League Round 2, Sunday 7th January 2018

My turn on match lake and after a pretty disastrous first round I needed a decent draw, the fish have been at one end the lake, so of course, I drew the opposite end.  Peg 22, it can be a good skimmer peg, but with the water so cold and clear, I was unconvinced that they would feed, but silvers had to be my only chance of picking up on the day, although with Tony Rixon on 5, which is home to the lakes F1's (silvers at Landsend) I knew it would be a tough ask.

Not going to try and spin this out, it was cold and tough, the lake fished very tough and Allan Oram was a runaway winner, my silvers quest was unravelled by Tony, although I am led to believe my 5lb of silvers was enough to win them by default, that just about sums it up.

Ivy House Open, Saturday 7th January 2018

First match of the year and back to Ivy House, first visit for a while, not far any other reason than opportunity and the weekday traffic keeping me from attending the midweek matches.

13 of us here today, Andy decided to put everyone on one canal and I was happy with that, sometimes in winter too much room lets the fish back off into gaps.  The draw tin gave up peg 23 to me, an end peg, although it was mentioned it might be the wrong end....  Well, we'll see, so off to the peg and a fairly simple approach, maggots and pellets, a wire stemmed gimp to fish down the track, another slightly smaller to fish just up the far shelf and a rig top fish up the far shelf, although I wasn't convinced it would produce.

I was right about going up the far shelf, not a bite there, I spent the day between 3 lines, one at 2 o'clock which was a maggot line, another at 10 o'clock which I fed pellet and one just dragged 6"up the far shelf which was deeper down to the tree opposite and to my left.

The pellet line was a non starter and didn't give me a bite all day, I was hoping for a few skimmers on maggot, but they were not playing and I kept working away to get small carp from 1oz up to about 8oz, they weren't coming fast and I had a spell of nearly two hours without a bite.  I did have a hybrid about 2lb and was hopeful for more, but the silvers were either not at this end or had shut up shop.

A couple more fish in the last half hour, including the biggest carp of the day at about 2lb saw me weigh 13.12 for 4th on the day and one out of the money, so 2018 starts as 2017 ended.....  As predicted, the other end produced the winner, but it was nice to back out.

Clevedon Xmas Match, Acorn, Sunday 17th December 2017

With work and a new puppy arriving on 22nd December, this was likely to be my last match of 2017, Clevedon FWAC a club I had a long and happy association with, but just don't seem to get to their matches anymore, so it was good to get along and support the 2017 Xmas match.  Tony (Rixon) was also coming along, but as I was on-call, I had too travel down by myself, just in case I had to pack up and deal with any issues at work.

The draw was in the Bridge Inn at Yatton, that pub brings back some memories of Clevedon Veals team meetings, that inevitably turned into full on drinking sessions, given the members at the time and our proclivity to enjoy the genial atmosphere of public houses and partake in regular 'lock-in's'.....

Enough of the memories, even if some of them are a little hazy, all I know is that I could not go fishing now, after some the sessions we used to have and still turn up and fish!!

I drew peg 11, I was fairly indifferent to it, as I haven't been to Acorn for a while, the one thing I thought might not work in my favour (or Mark's) was that Viaduct winter league team mate Mark Broomsgrove drew 12 and with both pegs in you are fishing to the same corner point of the island.  At least having Mark on there meant we both had an idea of the etiquette required, so kept a respectable distance away from the apex of the islands corner.

I had put a method rod in the van, but decided that it could stay there, so 4 topkits onto the roost, one set up to fish the shallow water tight across, more in hope than expectation, given the temperature, which saw the lake covered with cat ice at the start, although it was melting whilst we set up.  Another to fish down on the second shelf, I spent ages plumbing up and it was virtually impossible to find a level, flat area to fish on, so I would have to rely on dragging the bait onto the shelf.

A rig for full depth which would do for short and across and finally a rig for down the LH edge, which at over 2' I did think I would catch there at some stage.  Bait tray was live and dead maggots, and a few pellets, as well as a couple of slices of bread, no need to complicate things.

Starting on bread, tried dobbing it at various depths, both across and down the edge, but not so much as a twitch on the float.  Mark on 12 had lost a couple, so I fed a few maggots and went out onto the 3rd shelf, I had a couple of tiny indications on the float, but it took until nearly 12:00 to get a carp in the net, that was about 4lb, 30 minutes later I had another, a bit bigger, I was now expecting to get a few more, but it took until 15:10 to get another, this was a decent fish and put up a spirited fight on 0.12 and a 18 Guru F1 hook.  A shade over a double I guessed.

Well come the way in, it transpired that my section was the second worst for weights and I missed out on the section money by 2lb, as the shameless :)  Tony Rixon won the section with 23lb which was 5 carp and a skimmer, 2 of the carp he gleefully admitted were foulers.....  My 3 carp went 21lb.

It was back to the Bridge Inn for results, raffle and prizes, good to catch up with some old friends, especially Kev Perry who was having an operation on his back a couple of days before Xmas, hope it went well mate.

Well done to reluctant commercial attendee Ivan Currie for winning the match with 70lb or so.

Roll on better fishing weather and I hope all my angling friends have a good Xmas and New Year, see you in 2018.

Landsend Winter League, Sunday 3rd December 2017

Decided to fish this league as the dates fall OK with work and I planned to treat it as a silvers league, given that Ken pays silvers in the matches and overall (personally I disagree with this, as I believe it can affect the overall league and section points, but its not my league, so I'll go with the rules).

I did chuck some pellets in my bait bag just in case I drew an out and out carp peg and they were having it, although I wasn't convinced the sport would be manic after the cold weather all week.

I never seem to have that knack of mentioning a peg I fancy and then drawing it (how do some people do that so often.....), but I was thinking positive thoughts for 36, 5, 22 or 42, as I thought they'd be good pegs for an all out silvers attack.  Couldn't believe when 33, a favoured winter carp peg came out of the tin.  That meant setting up a pellet rig as well as maggot /caster rigs and as its an end peg, a rig to fish for perch along the end bank, which was only 6" shallower than the main part of the peg and with no island to fish to, I couldn't find any area of shallower water or a shelf, which even with the low water temp, its still nice to have the option, as the water is sometimes warmer over the shallower shelves.

On the 10:00 all-in, I started at 16m to the RH limits of my peg and fedd a few micros and fished an expander on the hook, 15 minutes and nothing.  I then switched to 13m slightly to my left toss potting a few maggots in and double maggot on the hook, I did manage a see through micro perch from here and that was the only bite.

I tried a line at 16m just in fron the aerator, this was equally as dead. Russ Peck on 32 opposite was foul hooking and fairly hooking carp, whilst for all intents, my peg was empty!  At 12:00 I had a look up the edge over some casters with a segment of prawn, I had a perch over 1lb, straight back in, another bite and lost one bigger, back in again and had one over 2lb, Iwas hopeful of a few, but that was it, no more bites from that line the rest of the day.

I managed one more micro perch, one small carp and a small hybrid for the rest of the day, whilst Russ caught carp opposite, I dropped the negative feeding and started pinging casters to see if they would come across, but to no avail.  I did pot some micros and corn in at 16m in fron the aerator and I did hook a fishfrom there on corn with 5 mins to go, but it came off.

My 5 perch (two of which didn't make an ounce combined) went 5lb and the one lonesome carp went 3.15, I think this was next to last in section and no better than halway in the silvers, Tony Rixon had a cracking net of roach from peg 28, I tried desperately to catch one but failed miserably.

I used to enjoy winter fishing, but I can now see the attraction of putting the tackle away from November to March......

Speci Lake
1st 69-12 - Russ Peck - p32
2nd 31- 9 - Steve Sewell - p36
3rd 22- 3 - Adrian Jeffery - p40
Silvers
1st 21- 0 - Tony Rixon - p28

Match Lake
1st 34-15 - Stuart Barnett - p22
2nd 25- 4 - Nickand Sarah Duckett - p14
3rd 22- 6 - Pete Nurse - p24
Silvers
1st 6- 8 - Ken Rayner - p1

Johns Lake
1st 53- 0 - Rod Wootten - p58
2nd 15-15 - Lee Williams - p51
3rd 9- 0 - Martin Rayet - p68
Silvers
1st 5-12 - Gary O'Shea - p70

Silvers Open, Viaduct, Saturday 2nd December 2017

Paddy Curry had advertised this match on Facebook, it seems if you aren't on Facebook at exactly the right time (or glued to it!!) its easy to miss out on matches on there now, as they sell out so quickly.

It had been cold all week and my bait order of 3 pints of caster looked wildly over optimistic when I picked them up before the draw, even considering I was intending to use them on Sunday as well.

Peg 3 came out of the draw tin, can't complain about that and as I was walking passed middle lake to my peg, I wasn't disappointed that I hadn't drawn on there, it was gin clear and I could see the bottom a fair way out.

Once again, plenty of time, so waggler, feeder and 4 topkits set up.  A double bulk rig, a 0.3g rig and a 0.4g rig with 0.10 and a 18 Guru F1 hook, then a 0.3g float with 0.08 and a 20 Gamma Green.

I feda line just short of 16m with 2 balls of GB and came shorter and started at 11m with loose fed caster, I could catch tiny roach and hybrids on this, so felt I needed to put some GB in and leave it, hoping the better skimmers would come over it.

30 minutes on the feeder produced some unhittable roach bites and nothing else and it was looking like another tough day was in the offing.  With hindsight being a wonderful thing, I think I should have carried on fishng a caster line with no GB, as over the GB all I could catch was the occssional 2oz skimmer on pinkie, the bigger fish seeming reluctant to feed.  Even at 16m I could see the fish flashing when striking into them, so I guess each one hooked, scared his mates off for 10 minutes, which is about as long as I was waiting between bites.

If I could fish the match again, I would have stuck to loose feed and have kept catching the tiny roach and hybrids for as long as I could, I ended up with about 4.10, which was mainly small fish......

1. Dave Romain - 13lb 9oz - peg 5
2. Nick Ewers - 11lb 12oz - peg 1
3. Rob Eagle - 10lb 11oz - peg 19
4. Ben Hagg - 9lb 13oz - peg 4

Viaduct Silvers League, Sunday 26th November 2017

Another round fishing this as a stand in, the angler I was deputising for was not in the running for the overall positions, so a positive mood and fishing for a win.  123 came out of the draw tin, the right end was the consensus of 100% of those who enquired as to my location for the day.

Opposite on 119 was travelling partner for the day, Tony Rixon, who was also hopeful of getting a few from there.  Plenty of time, so I set up a waggler, a small cage feeder, a rig for down the edge to hopefully tempt some of Campbells Perch, a couple of rigs to fish at 14m and 10m and a double bulk rig.

I did expect to catch some roach at the start, but it wasn't to be, a look round and it seemed to be fishing hard, I can't pad this out at all, I had 2 roach on the pole and that was it, I swutched to the waggler and had a roach, but that too was bereft of fish, the edge where I was hoping for perch, hybrids and maybe a tench, didn't produce one single bite all match.

A switch back to the waggler brought another roach, then a tench and a skimmer, I thought things were looking up, but no, that was it, my sum total for the day was 2.10, I did lose one fish late on, hooked on a throwawy line at 5m, I think it was a decent skimmer, but it was irrelevant in the scheme of things.

Wrong end of the lake it would seem today, a real struggle.