Viaduct Costcutter, Thursday 29th September 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ivy House Open, Tuesday 27th September 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ivy House Open Tuedsday 13th September 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Avalon Open Sunday 11th September 2016

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

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

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

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

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

Landsend Festival 5th - 9th September 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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