Acorn Two Dayer, Day 2, Monday 30th August 2021

 Decided to stop in The Bridge Inn at Yatton for breakfast, it unfortunately turned out to be the best part of the day, even with the sausages that must have spent quite some time in the hotplate, giving them a exterior reminiscent of a Kevlar stab vest..........

I drew myself peg 31, whilst my precious matches on this peg have resulted in DNW, I was fairly confident that the space down to my right would see me catch in the edge or short.

Plumbing up both edges and across, I found more depth than I'd like, near 3' than the 18" I would prefer.  I could find shallower water tight to the far bank so set up a rig for there, rig for the edges and one to fish down the near shelf.  A rig to fish in 3' across in front of the grasses was also put up.  The forecast was for wind, so I did get a method rod set up.

Having caught mostly on hard pellet on Saturday, I had hard pellets, corn and soft pellets, I did have a few maggots but only for hookers.

Started across and had indications. lost a few foulers, I tried dead depth, shallow, over depth, tight to the bank, off the bank, hard pellet. corn, no matter what I could not catch, I had 3 fish in the first 2 hours, not in the plan at all.  I just felt the fish were coming to the noise of the bait (started negatively with a toss pot, the moved onto catapulting and increasing the amount of feed - neither of which improved things..) but not taking it, at least, they weren't taking the hookbait.

I had been feeding a line at 2+1 done the near slope, I fished corn and soft pellet here, had a skimmer, then a carp, but it was short lived, skimmers and roach seemed to be all I could catch from there.  I could see Laurie on 28, which produced a good weight on Saturday from the edges, catching, but he had 16" one side and 22" the other, ideal depths.  My edges stayed apparently void of fish.

Looks like banking on pellets was a big mistake, I dug out the few maggots I had and fed them with GB to my LH side (as Lee on 33 was catching well in his edge), I started to catch on this line, but had to feed my meagre supply of maggots in a short space of time, trying pellets and corn was nowhere near as effective.

Disappointing, but my own fault, the match winner caught on caster, other big weights on maggots, speaking to Rob who won the match on Saturday, he also struggled to catch on pellets.  I was thinking keeping it simple would be the best way, but it doesn't hurt to have four pints of maggots in a bag, they'll keep a week or be frozen, lesson learnt.

The small bag of maggots didn't save me from last but one in the section and all chance framing on the day or over the two, but without them, I would have been a long way behind.  Even thinking about it after, I have no idea how I could have increased my weight without more maggots.

Well done to Darren, catching shallow on caster to win the match on the day and the overall.

Acorn Two Dayer, Day One, Saturday 28th August 2021

 As Acorn isn't available for Sunday bookings, this bank Holiday weekend two dayer is held on Saturday and Monday.  21 Fishing, 3 sections of seven, with section points deciding the placings and weight sorting out the order in the event of drawn points.

Been a few weeks since I have been to Acorn, so no up to date knowledge other than looking at the match results, I didn't think too much would change, although I was hoping they were keener for hard pellets than my last couple of visits.

When bridge pegs were out and out flyers, I could never draw them, now they have lost that lofty position and have become silvers flyers, I wasn't surprised when I drew one, I could never draw when they were king....  peg 34, it isn't a bad peg, I was I thought, up against Rob Wilshire on 29 who had plenty of room and the wind blowing into him, also Mark Broomsgrove on 31 has won the section in league matches a couple of times from there.

Tried to keep it simple and cover a few options, so margin rig set up, one for fishing corn over micros short, a rig for fishing in the deepest part of the peg, which is down the track against the bridge and two similar rigs for over, one with a 6" hooklength and banded hook, one with a plain hook and a 4" hooklength.

Started over, trying to feel my way in, tosspotting  4mm pellets and a 6mm in the band, instant response, small carp, small tench then a bigger carp.  I stuck with this for the first hour, not feeding anywhere else, I had 29lb on the clicker, I then fed some micros on the short line, that started fizzing, but apart from one F1 and one carp, even though it fizzed every time I fed it, I just couldn't get bites over it.

I tried maggots by the bridge, one carp and one tench, but not faster than fishing across, I did try a line across with GB and maggot, that certainly brought fish in, but they were small and I was starting to struggle, I had 80lb in the first 3 hours, which was looking OK on the day, but I was finding it harder to get bites and I started to chase fish - that was a mistake.  Dan on peg 33 was starting to catch down his RH edge, I frustratingly could not get a bite down the edge.

I put a small ball of GB in on my far pellet line, I had switched to feeding 6mm pellets to try and dissuade smaller fish, this did kick start it again, but I was still being tempted by the edge, as others were catching in the margins.  The last 20 minutes I did have a fish every put in down the edge and I somewhat saved my day, putting 126lb on the scales, so a poor last half of the match compared to the first half, some of that was me trying to catch short or down the edge when I should have persevered across.  That gave me second in the section and fourth over all, so some coin for that and some hope of a result overall, if I can get a section win on Monday.

Tony Rixon's Float Only League, Final Round, Landsend, Sunday 22nd August 2021

 5 rounds gone, last round today at Landsend, there were 5 of us sitting in second place with one to go, all reliant on Trigger dropping a couple of points to overtake him, once he drew peg 33, it was unlikely.... with 6 framing places, I felt a section win was going to be absolutely essential, given the standard of anglers at the top.  I knew my weight disadvantage could cost me, but drawing the lowest weight section is nothing new for me, its been happening since the 70's.....

Peg 45 for me, lake three after a decent breakfast in the fishery cafe, didn't mean too much, I just knew I had to go and fish for the section, so there was no point in spending time trying to catch the small stockies (F1's) or silvers.  It was going to be 6 and 8mm pellets, 8mm meat and possibly maggots down the edge.

That meant simple rigs, the lake is shallow, 2' all the way across, so I was distraught at cutting down full length rigs, as they won't do for anywhere else... A slim homemade slim float that takes 2 No8 to fish pellet across to the island, two 4x10 wire stemmed rigs to fish open water, both the same except one with a band, one without.  One rig for meat at 5m and a Hillbilly AK47 for down the RH edge.

For those that don't know Landsend, it has a fair amount of arboreal growth and my peg was a bit of a parrot cage, could have been tricky for the waggler, but I didn't have one, so no issue.  Started pretty negatively and tosspotted some 6mm pellets tight across and fished a banded 6mm over them.  A skimmer a roach and a small F1 was the outcome.  It took me 10 minutes to get a carp, I stuck at this for a while but could see Sean and Martin opposite (through the gap in the island) catching short.

My bank seemed to be fishing hard, we had the sun behind us and it was casting a chilly shadow over us and 3/4 of the water between us and the island, I felt the fish wanted to be the other side in the sun.  A switch to the catapult to make some noise did bring a couple of fish in, often you can see them feeding across to the island, but they didn't seem too interested, so it was a long wait between bites.

I even tried the RH edge after a couple of hours, as soon as I lowered 5 maggots into the water, it was snaffled by a micro perch, so I changed it to GB and corn, that just saw roach nibbling at the corn, so I started feeding 8mm pellets as well, trying to put them off.  I did have one carp on corn in the edge and thought that might be the margin coming to life, but he was a lonesome soul.

The meat line was a non-starter, it was just too cold this side of the lake, so I persevered across where there was some sun on the water, I just kept nicking an odd fish on 6mm pellet, going into the last 15 minutes, I'd trashed my across rig on a bramble, I felt I needed another fish, so I sat it out down the edge and was rewarded with one more carp, the biggest of the day at about 8lb.

I ended up weighing the lake, the far side certainly had fished better than my side, but that didn't matter, as I got the much needed section win (and I'm not bitter, but yet again the lowest weight section in the match..... can't see my luck at the draw bag ever changing).

So, back for the results and the final standing only slightly changed from the pre-match table, Rod missing out, but all the rest of us in second place taking max points, as did Trigger who not surprisingly won the match.  My low total weight knocked me down to 5th place, so a few quid and the section money to take home.  It's hard to be disappointed to come 2nd in a notoriously tricky league, so I might wait until the next time I draw the worst section to post all my kit for sale.....

 

Tony Rixon's Short Pole League, Final Round, Todber Manor, Sunday 15th August

 After catching 8 roach in 10 hours in my last two matches, maybe Todber was just what I needed....  Going into this match I was 3rd in the league and needed a decent result to stay in the framing places.

Drew peg 41, looked OK, had peg 40 vacant to my left, so I was hopeful that would benefit me.  I was basing my approach on pellets, but mindful of my last visit where I had to switch to corn to win the section, I had some tins of corn, along with 8mm meat.

Topkits for pellet at 2+2 and topkit, meat rig for topkit, margin rig for just of the bank on the 'second' shelf and a rig to fish in against the rush roots.  Started at 2+2 and had a fish straight away, but I could see others had started catching on the topkit line, so I soon came in on that, it wasn't hectic and plugging away saw me put 29lb in the net in the first hour, too slow. 

Next hour it improved and I had over 40lb, so I was somewhat surprised when the bites dried up, short long and an early look in the edge - two fish for 11lb in the third hour, I knew I was in trouble and had no idea how to get it back.  Going into the penultimate hour I saw a swirl in the edge and couldn't wait any longer, so in there with 8mm pellet, the fish in the edge were a much better stamp but it was sit and wait for one to come in.

I kept feeding the topkit line, switching this to meat and had a few from there, but I knew I was miles off the pace, that middle hour had done for me.  The weights proved that, with the top two weights in the section being 272lb, only separated by ounces, there was a 183lb and then I was equal weight with young Freddy on the next peg, we both had 176.03...

That cost me a framing place by one point, oh well always next year.  Looking back on the match I think I should have been more aggressive with the feed, I am so used to fishing venues where feeding frugally seems to pay off, I seem to have forgotten how to 'pile' it in - and I used to be a master at that!

 Well done to the framers on the day and overall.  I didn't get a photo of the sheets.

Lance Tucker Memorial, River Kenn, Saturday 14th August.

 Today was a match arranged as a memorial to Lance Tucker, who was sadly taken far too early, 55 fishing, as that was the amount of available pegs on the river.  The draw was at the Bridge Inn, where it was good to see some friends and angling acquaintances I hadn't seen in a long time, just a shame it was in these circumstances.

The organisers (Kev and Brian) , along with many volunteers had done a great job in organising the match, clearing pegs and ensuring everyone had a fishable peg.  I drew 35, 3 pegs above Strode road bridge, not noted for bream, but it has been an area for roach in the past.

I was surprised when I got to the river at how clear it was, absolute tap water, I could see the bottom at 6' or 7' deep.

I had intended not to bring a pole, as there have been instances of dogs and inconsiderate walkers/cyclists causing issues, but I did get an old Tournament out of the loft and made up some rigs.

Also set up two wagglers, one insert peacock and another canal grey to fish off the bottom and on the drop, finally a lead rod.  Just as the match started, the wind got up and was pushing upstream - I say upstream, but the river was penned absolutely still.

I managed a miserable total of 7 roach, all on the waggler, only had one bite on the pole, which I missed and no indications at all on the lead.  I didn't bother the scalesman and unfortunately I couldn't go back to the Blue Flame for the results, so not sure what won my section, but I don't think it was much.... the two pegs to my right also DNW.

Big thanks to Kev for organising, I believe a decent sum of money was raised for the Charity that Craig (Lances son) has supported, hoping to fund research to stop the heath issue that Lance died from.

Rail Sport National, Makins, Wednesday 11th August 2021

 This match was over all tree phases of Makins and can be fished either as a Teams of 4 or individually.  I was just fishing individually today, so a nice positive approach trying to win the match.

I drew A5 on lake 2 Phase 1, not that it meant much to me, so a quick shout out on FB brought the usual jokers and one bit of useful info.

I set up a bomb to fish bomb and pellet, a method to get to the island, a waggler for fish round the peg and a pole line at 14m.

I am not going to try and make this sound interesting, I had one bite all day, a roach on meat at 5m, the guy to my left on peg A4 was likewise, I was out of the carpark soon after the final whistle and didn't stop to get any results.

The epitaph for this one is.... at least it didn't rain!

'Pops Pairs' Sedges, Sunday 9th August 2021

 A charity match in the memory of Jamie's father (Jamie owns Sedges) and some money to a local hospice.  Traveling partner Tony Rixon said he wouldn't mind being on Brick lake, so I happily took Tile lake.  We decided (without much difficulty) that Tony would draw, both being nervous of what my drawing arm might pull out....

Tony got 9 on Brick for himself and 37 for me, not a bad draw as a pair.  I expected that I'd need a ton plus to come back with good points, so had 6 & 8mm pellets and 8mm meat.  I also had some paste, as it can work on here. Set up a method to chuck to the island, a straight lead to try bomb and pellet and topkits for meat, pellet on the deck, a shallow rig and a paste rig.

To my right I had Jamie, the owner, he had one rod set up, a method; to my left Guru backed Ben Hagg, so a tough day in prospect.  Just as last time I fished the venue, it was windy, made it difficult to hold anything over 11m, even plumbing up.

I started at 11m fishing pellet on the deck and in 40 minutes had 2 skimmers, not a lot being caught, so I picked up the method, a 6mm pellet into the band and micros/GB on it, I was pretty shocked when it went round after about 2 minutes and a carp about 4lb was the culprit.  Stuck with it for a bit, but never had another bite on it.  I could see some fish moving in front of the island, so off my box and took the waggler rod out of the bag, but that was a waste of time no bites on that.

I still hadn't seen much caught, so tried the bomb and pellet where I'd been feeding the 8mm pellets, about 5m off the island.  Not as much as a liner.

By now I was wishing I'd brought some worms and skimmer GB, I did knock up some GB and opened a tin of corn, just to try and put something in the net, the GB worked and I had a few decent skimmers, then a carp about 6lb, I was hopeful the feeding skimmers would draw some carp in, well that didn't happen, I tried the short meat line every 15 mins or so, but never had a bite on it.

Next to me Ben had persisted with slapping and did get some carp in the end, enough to win the lake, fair play to him, I just cannot do it, the monotony it of breaks me after 10 minutes or so without a bite. Jamie's single rod approach also paid off as he beat me by 8lb.

Thankfully Tony had a second on lake, my gamble on catching skimmers paid off and we ended up third overall and last in the money, with me winning the silvers as well, so a reasonably happy van on the way back up the M5.  Well done to Ben and Scott who slapped their way to victory.

Overall 1st Scott Puddy and Ben Hagg 5 points 124lb 4oz

Overall 2nd Jamie Parkhouse and Paul Homewood 9 points 147lb 4oz

Overall 3rd Tony Rixon and Chris Fox 9 points 140lb 4oz

Phil's open, Viaduct, Saturday 7th August 2021

 First trip down to Viaduct for a while, some no shows put the number down to 17, I managed to draw myself 132, it's one of those pegs that can be brilliant, or not so good, as it's a corner and the fish do come and go from it.

Two rigs for pellet in open water, one on the deck, one shallow, a meat rig for 2+2 and a margin rig to fish up the edge and to the end bank if necessary.  Also set up a straight lead, didn't bother with the waggler, couldn't really see many fish moving.

Started short on meat, but nothing on that, not even a skimmer, I had pinged a few 8mm pellets out into open water and went over them with the lead, I also fed 8mm pellets to the end of the willow that hangs over the RH side of the peg, from both these lines I caught fish and put 60lb in the net in an hour and 50 minutes, happy with that I was hoping for at least the same in the middle two hours and then a good last two.

Well that didn't work, I had two more fish in the middle two hours, one on the lead and one shallow on the pole, I wasn't getting liners anywhere, it didn't feel like there were many fish there.  I even went up the edge a bit early and had a skimmer on 8mm pellet, same down the LH edge, I never even hooked a carp in the edge, which is unusual even for an off day on the peg.

Last two hours I had a few skimmers on meat and an odd carp, about another 60lb in total and so it proved, I put 122lb on the scales for less than half way up the field, not sure what I could have done differently.  135 didn't weigh in,  so there weren't too many fish up this end.   No picture of the weigh sheet, as I manged to put my phone into a bait tub with meat and water in and it died..... expensive day!!!

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Penultimate Round, Todber Manor, Sunday 1st August 2021

 Everyone was a little shell shocked by the results from the festival the week before this match with anglers catching over 400lb and coming nowhere.  I didn't expect such big weights today, as there were less on the lakes.

Peg 52 for me, I felt there were better pegs in the section, so it would be a case of getting my head down and concentrate for 5 hours.  I had banked on pellets being the bait that would see me through the 5 hours, so my main line of attack was two rigs for straight in front at 2+2 and topkit. Also a margin rig and a shallow rig.  The two open water rigs were glass stemmed to take the pressure of catching short and quickly..... hmmm.

Started at 2+2 and banded 6mm, it took a little while to kick off and never really got going at a rate I felt would see a big weight, I'd been feeding the topkit line and came in on that, had a carp instantly, then a small tench and that was it, nothing.  Back on the 2+2 line and by toss potting a few pellets I could get odd bites, but it was pretty slow going.

I tried the LH margin, even 8mm pellet was getting ragged by small silvers, I wasn't convinced there were too many carp down this arm today, but there was obviously some, I needed a section win to be in with any chance of keeping in touch with the league leaders.

I ended up opening a couple of tins of corn and feeding that short, it was better than pellet and I had a steady run of fish at the end, which thankfully was enough to see me over the line of the section, but a long way from the framers.

I think this is the table going into the last round, but I haven't had all the details of stand-in's this does have the worst result dropped.