Acorn Winter League, R2, Saturday 30th November 2019

No rain for this round, but a cold easterly wind, so wasn't expecting great things, drew 34, a couple or more years ago you'd have skipped to this peg, but the bridges aren't dominant like they used to be.  The other disadvantage id the close proximity of 33, it didn't seem to matter when the bridges were the place to draw, they are by far the tightest pegs on the venue and the lack of space may well be a disadvantage.

It is what it is and I did expect to catch from the peg, but I wasn't quite ready for how tough it was, I'm not going to witter on, I didn't catch across and caught 4 skimmers and 3 small carp don the track next to the bridge on dead maggot, I was bloody frozen and was at one time shivering and shaking, struggling to hold the pole still.

I beat the pegs either side, but not 31 and 38, so well done Lewy and Russ, the weights as expected came from the 'house' bank section and I don't think I could have got near the frame if I'd have fished the peg for a week.  Kev made no mistake from peg 5.

Its amazing that a venue with so many fish in switches off so drastically in winter, apart from a handful of pegs - I guess I should have known that when I signed up to the league.

It was interesting to see the pigs come charging over when you went near their pen, obviously looking for food, I hadn't seen them before, not sure if they are pets or future bacon sandwiches.....

Trinty Waters Open, Sunday 24th November 2019

It was nice to get back to what is one of my favourite venues, don't get down here often enough.  Travelled down with Tony and stopped at new cafe for me, Wooden Spoon in Weston-Super-Mare, very nice too.

Match fishing can be a cruel sport and I fear it dealt me another blow today, I waited for the last peg in the box and was more than happy with peg 7, that would be an end peg and one I was confident of catching a few fish from and with Tony on 9, a nice little head to head.  The dreaded call went up.... redraw, I did the same and took the last in the tub again, this time 16, a peg (and bank) I don't like, its too deep in the edges and whilst I have had some decent results here, I have never troubled the frame from this end bank.  Tony somehow managed to pluck out 9 again.

Peg 16 has plenty of room and options, I am yet to be convinced that too much room is always a good thing, but we'd see.
Waggler set up, just in case they were moving around, 4 topkits, one with a banded B960 16, another rig the same HillBilly Chump with a 18 LWG on 0.14.  A rig for down the edge and another to fish in front of the pallet of peg 15.

It took 30 minutes to get a bite, that was a welcome 8lb common, on maggot, as I'd given hard pellet 20 minutes with no indications. The next couple of hours saw 4 more carp landed and 22lb on the clicker.  I did expect to catch down the edge and for them to have a feed towards the end, but that was before I then went from 13:15 until 15:30 without a bite on any line, at 15:30 I had one last carp, and a couple of skimmers and a decent roach, before the all out at 15:45.

Not much else to write about, as when you cannot get a bite, no matter what you try, it gets a bit wearing trying to consider something to say.

Well when the scales got to me, my 32lb was a about 3lb more than I thought, but it was nowhere near enough to trouble the top 3 who came from pegs 7, 9 & 11, I knew that redraw would cost me, surely my persistently shite drawing must come to an end soon!!

Nice little pick up for the winner, as the golden peg was No11.

Viaduct Silvers League, R4, Sunday 17th November 2019

Travelled down to this one with Tony, I didn't realise at the time, but the eat what you want breakfast in a local pub was the highlight of the day.

I knew after yesterday that today was going to be tough for many, but I was happy with that, I don't mind a days hard work for silvers.  It was interesting before the draw, Trigger had written the 10 best pegs on a piece of paper and bet Tony that Paul Elms and Andrew Cranston would be on one of them, well he was right, how do some people consistently draw good pegs.

Myself, I drew peg 64, had I had my own transport, I may well have not even bothered going to it, its never going to compete with the pegs further down the lake.  Pretty despondent with the way I am drawing lately, this series has been a disaster.  Still, seeing as I was going to the peg, I'd give it my best shot.

Opposite on 66 was Nick Chedzoy, Chedz was also bemoaning his draw - I am of the opinion that 64 shouldn't be in, as you are limited for room and hemmed into the corner with 66 blocking you off.  I don't think this is such an issue when the water is coloured and warmer, but once the colour drops out, its at a huge disadvantage.

I did get a waggler out of the bag, but there was little point, as I could reach the reasonable limits of my peg with the pole.  4 topkits, set up, 2 for open water, one 0.3g bulk and one dropper and a 0.2g with strung shot.  A Chianti for roach at 2+2 and a Chimp style float for down the edge and down to the monk, looking for a perch or tench.

Fed two lines at the all in, one down in front of peg 63 out as far as I could get with 14m and 14m straight across to the tree. Little bit of chopped worm in the line to 63, just dead maggot out to the tree.  Started on the 2+2 for roach and had one soon after the all-in, that was not the signal to start bagging, as bites were hard to come by.  After 30 minutes I had 3 or 4 roach, so switched to the 14m lines and after about an hour had a skimmer just over a lb from out to the tree.  These lines were painfully slow and my mood wasn't improved by seeing pegs 68 & 69 catching decent skimmers.

I did start to get some indications on caster, but couldn't hook whatever it was, same with maggot and I then put a pinkie on, that did the trick and a microscopic little fish was landed, I'm not sure if it was a rudd or a motherless minnow, whichever t was, it wasn't worth catching.  On one rig I dropped to a 24 Gamma Green and 12oz hooklength, it made no difference at all.


It clouded over and with the reduced light I did start to catch roach on the 2+2 line, but far too slowly to make any in roads on the skimmers being caught further down the lake.  Chedz was having the odd better fish, as he could fish further down the lake in front of 67.  With about 40 minutes to go I had a hybrid nudging a lb and a with 20 minutes to go, hooked a decent fish, which I thought was a tench, it then ran straight into a snag and I couldn't get it out - not happy.  10 minutes later, I hooked another, this time I saw it, a tench about 2lb, smaller than the other,  it then dived straight into the same snag and was gone.

That was it, I lost the plot a bit, started packing up with 10 minutes to go and chucked back about 6lb, fed up with the draw and then losing two fish in an unseen snag.  Those two tench (and possibly a couple more roach might have seen me 3rd in the section, as Chedz took those honours and the section money by double default.  3rd was no good, I needed a section win to salvage anything from the league and that was never going to happen from that peg.

Well done to Paddy on the win, I would say it was nice to watch, but I'd be lying, I was pissed right off watching him catching decent fish when I was struggling to get a bite.

Angling Trust Silvers Qualifier, Viaduct, Saturday 16th November 2019

Nice idea to run a silvers national competition along the lines of Fishomania.  With there being a local round at Viaduct, it would have been a shame not to enter.  Fellow silvers enthusiast and long time angling mate Paul Faiers also entered and we had a chat about which pegs we did and didn't fancy before the draw.

Well, into that draw tub and I pulled out 116, not one I would have chosen, as the skimmers have been at the top end of Campbell for  few weeks now and I didn't think the rain, snow and cold weather this week would have persuaded them to move.  Paul drew peg 1 (Spring Lake) one we had on our not desirable list, but with the windless day and it was brightening up, I did say to him that he would be in with a shout if it turned into a roach match.

With two hours to set up, I was ready ages before the start, having set up a waggler, 3lb Preston sinking mono, a great waggler line for silver fishing, a 0.10 hooklength and a 20 red carp maggot hook.  A 3 square cage feeder, on the Cadence 10' wand, 4;b sinking mono and a 0.10 hooklength with a 20 F1 hook. Four topkits, one for down the edge looking for a perch or tench - never had a bite on it. so no more about that, two rigs to fish at 14m for, hopefully, skimmers, both HB Frosties one 2g and the other 4g both with 0.08 hooklengths and a 20 F1 hook.  Finally a Chianti with the same hooklength and hook, to fish at 2 + 2.

On the all-in just one line at 14m fed, there was an area at 14m with a slight drop off and slope to the right, so I fed just at the top of the slope, so I could draw the bait just onto it.  Then started on the 2+2 line loose feeding caster, this did produce a few roach, but wasn't hectic, then a bigger fish gave me a hastening heart rate, a tench 2lb or so, safely netted after giving me the run round on purple Middy elastic.
This line slowed up so I went out on the 14m line, a couple of roach from here, but no quicker, I re-fed and dropped straight on it, two quick roach and then a better fish, a bream about 3lb, that gave me hope and also probably cost me money.  I stuck it out looking for skimmers but no more were forthcoming.  I had a look on the waggler and could catch roach on that, but it was still slow.  I re-fed the 14m line and looked again, it was the same each time, I got a couple of quick roach, then nothing.

This made me pick up the feeder and give this a go, one bite one skimmer in 20 minutes, I thought the roach would be worth going for, so switched to the waggler, feeding caster and I was soon getting a bite a chuck from roach from 1-3oz, as typical with fishing for roach this size, I hit and landed 4 in a row, then missed as many, busy fishing.

I couldn't help stopping now and again, especially the last 45 minutes, to pick up the pole and try for skimmers, this has ultimately cost me second in section and the section money by default, as the skimmers were either not there or would not feed.  The section (and match) was won from the peg most fancied, but well done to Stu White, as you still have to catch them, 36lb, but 15.12 was second and I put 14.02 on the scales, I am sure sticking with the roach on the waggler would have seen me catch at least the 2lb needed.  Experience would suggest that the way to catch up at the end would be to stick it out and wait for skimmers, maybe the earlier finish should have made me think otherwise.

Well done to Paul winning his section from peg 1 and making the final at Hallcroft, with mainly roach.

Matt Culpin's Snake Lake League, Landsend, Sunday 10th November 2019

Last round of Matt's league, the first one I had fished, I was standing in for someone (no idea who), it's been a popular league, but not for me, as I prefer 'proper' lakes, the odd trip to a snake, especially in winter is OK.  Whilst Landsend isn't in the truest sake, a snake lake, it does involve a lot of fishing to the islands.

I fancied a draw on the match lake, but as is the norm when I come to Landsend (such a shame the lakes aren't a bit bigger... as I love the tranquillity of the place) I ended up on lake 3, peg 70.  Peg 70 used to be a good peg for F1's but thy have either moved or gone to the big lake in the sky. 

It is an end peg, with a spit that is within easy reach at 14m, you expect to catch across to the spit, the end bank had eroded and has roots and trees exposed, always looks a little too treacherous for me and given that I could see the bottom a fair way out, I decided that I would leave that alone.   There is a weed bed to the right, its a fair size and at this time of year dies back and is under water, but with the water being very clear, it was easy to see where it started and ended, peg 68 can fish to the other side of it.

No rods (and that may well have been a mistake), so a simple tackle up, with a kit for across, another for off the end of the spit into the open water - would also do for a short line towards the weed bed.  Two rigs for off the end of the weed bed, similar, just one with 0.12 and the other with 0.14 hooklengths.

Started across, but with no sign, I then saw a small ghostie swim into the bay, turn and follow the bank along, towards my float before it buried and the light coloured common of about 3lb was safely netted.  That was the only fish from there all day, the sun didn't get in there and it looked cold and gloomy, I wouldn't have been in there if I was a fish....

The best line was off the end of the weedbed at 13m, feeding a few micros, caster and dead maggots, to try and catch all - it worked to some extent, I had 4 perch and a couple of roach, decent perch, best a touch over 2lb, smallest 1lb and 3 or 4 small carp.  The sun moved round and I could see fish up in the water and swimming over the sunken weedbed, so off the box and a shallow swinging rig set up, I was sure I'd tempt a carp or two, but they weren't having any of it.

I did try meat short to the weedbed and did have a couple of carp from there, the sun put paid to at least 2 hours fishing on the line where the fish were feeding on the maggots, I just could not see the float and in trying ended up with a headache from the sun reflecting off the water.  If I had brought a small lead rod, I could have carried on fishing the same line - missed a trick there, one to bank in the missed opportunity column.

I walked round the lake with the scales and two anglers in the middle of the lake (one on each bank) had 43/44lb, I knew I did't have that so I managed 3rd on lake,  2nd in section for whoever it was I was fishing for.  Some consolation as I had a nice little unexpected pick up for top silvers weight, would have expected more than 8lb as the match was spread over 3 lakes.

As expected the top weights came from the match lake, I didn't get the pictures of the other weigh sheets, so can't remember the exact finishing order, I think Steve Seager won from peg 19.

Next up the AT Silvers qualifier at Viaduct on Saturday, followed by the silvers league the next day.

Acorn Winter League R1, Saturday 9th November 2109

I sometimes think I should have snappy, tempting or comedic titles for the blogs, today's would undoubtedly involve the cold and wet......

Frost on the van, ice on buckets of water at the fishery and the promise of rain, not sure why I had committed to this, but committed I had and I turned up, paid my dues and then drew peg 17 - the straight, which was good..... once upon a time.....

I drove round to the peg, leaving as much gear in the van as I could, as the rain was starting, no wind, so umbrella up and try to stay dry, as wet isn't too bad, cold isn't too bad, but both is bloody miserable.  I did have a method rod in the van, ready made up, I did put it on the roost and then put it away again at the end, here endeth the tale of method fishing.  Topkits comprised of a rig to fish close to the far bank, as the fish still come up there even in the cold, two rigs to fish down the track, one with 0.10 hooklength and the other the same, but with 0.14 - just in case.  A rig to fish down the far and near shelves as well.

Started over on 6mm pellet, had a bite and lost a fish, probably foul hooked, first put in and then had a 3lber next put in, that was as exciting as it got for an hour or so, I fed two lines down the track, one with micros and one with little balls of GB with some dead maggots.  I had one carp over the micros, a couple of skimmers and carp on dead maggots and then 2.5 hours without a bite, hard work with no reward, I did manage one more small carp over and with 10 minutes to go one about 6lb down to the pallet of 16.

Just over 17lb for bang average in section, beat 3, beaten by 3, so an unspectacular start to the league and it would be nice to have that one as the dropper.  I hope the weather is better for the next round.

Well done to Paul Faiers on winning from favoured peg 11 with 80lb+.

Viaduct Silver league R3, Sunday 3rd November 2019

Somehow I ended up first into the draw tin, so all the good 'uns (and bad 'uns) in there.  I was not over impressed with the peg I drew, 113 on Campbell.  I knew there was scant chance of framing from there and it's not a good section peg, so another match of attrition, where every bite would be vital to try and keep from being last in section.

As 113 is set back from the others along that bank, I set up a waggler and a small 3 square cage feeder.  Topkits were assembled for along the edges, hoping for a perch or tench, but suspecting the water was now too cold and too clear for it to work.  A Chianti with strung out 11's for roach and two skimmer rigs, a bulk and single dropper and a double bulk rig.

Started on the roach rig after feeding two lines at 14m one with GB and casters, the other with GB and dead maggots. The roach line did give up 3 small roach in 20 minutes, but it was painfully slow and it wasn't going to give the weight I'd need.  A switch to fishing caster over the GB saw a couple of small skimmers come to the net and a switch to the dead maggot line saw a couple more landed.

I had 8 or 9 small skimmers in the first couple of hours, then spent 2 hours 30 minutes without a bite from anywhere in the peg - apart from carp on the waggler or feeder, single caster, double caster, same with maggot, it didn't take long to get one and I had them from 3lb to low doubles.

I gave up in the end and came back in on the pole line and two better skimmers, one with 40 minutes to go and one with 20 minutes left.  I had been absolutely battered off the next peg by Martin Rayet who paralysed the section from 112 with 27lb odd, 112 is about 5m further into the lake than 113, so not sure why he wasn't carped out, be well done. Second in section was 111 with 11lb odd and my 9lb took an unexpected third in section - luckily Martin framed so I picked up 2nd in section money be default...

Tough day, frustrating with the carp, doubt I'll catch that many again this winter......

Viaduct Silvers All Winners Final, Saturday 26th October 2019

Always nice to turn up for these finals and have the chance to walk away with a decent payday and the prestige of beating some good anglers.

Campbell, Cary and Spring in today, I must admit I fancied Cary or Spring, had some usual banter with Des Shipp before the start and then pulled out Campbell 111 - a great carp peg!!  Des had 102 on Cary, good peg, very good angler had to be a hot favourite.

I set up a small cage feeder, a waggler and 3 topkits, a rig for caster - a Chianti with strung out No11 stotz and two rigs, one 0.2 and another 0.4 for skimmers at 11m.

It stared very slowly, Dan White on 112 started on the feeder and only had a carp to show for it, Alvin on 110 was getting fish down to his left. It took ages to get going and going into the last 2 1/2 hours the skimmers did start to feed, but so did the carp, maggot, single, double or triple, same with caster, short or 11m (and I didn't try the waggler, as the carp were rolling on that line).  Spent much of the last two hours playing carp and retuning them or replacing bust hooklengths, as did Dan on 112.

Alvin to my left on 110 won the section with 29lb, tench, perch and skimmers, I put a touch under 17lb on the scales and the bookies would have been quids in, as Des had over 50lb for the win from his peg on Cary.  Might have been a different tale had there not been so many carp in the area, but they seem to be resident at that end of Campbell at the moment.

Viaduct Silver League, R2, Sunday 20th October 2019

Round 2 of the silvers league, week off last week due to a long weekend in France with the dogs.

Travelled down with Tony again, it makes the journey go by quicker having someone to talk to and bounce a few ideas off.

This isn't going to be a long drawn out blog, I drew 119 and knew it would be a hard job to gain anything from this, with it being a corner and not usually home to the much needed skimmers.  That said, I drew it in my two dayer and it came up trumps, so there is always a bit of hope and in this peg that would hopefully be in the shape of bonus perch and tench.

As 121 on the end bank is in, the feeder rod was left in the van, the waggler rod did come along, as I wasn't intending on getting more than 14.5m out of the bag.  The waggler was set up first, followed by a topkit for down the edge, hoping for perch and tench, this had 0.12 hooklength, a Chianti with spread out 11's for roach and a couple of skimmer rigs of varying weight, to fish at 14m.

There is no pattern to report, no great revelation during the day, just hard work and continually switching lines, staring new ones and nicking the odd fish from all of them.  Small roach and perch made up the numbers and 3 better skimmers, one on the waggler and two on the pole at 14m made up my 11lb odd, which surprisingly was 2nd in section, to 125 who had 20lb.  The weights were better at the other end and I would have gladly taken 2nd from there after the draw.

Next up Silvers All Winners Final

Viaduct Silvers League R1, Sunday 6th October 2019

After missing this popular league last year due to work, it was good to get a place back and see what I could do.

Travelled down with Tony, after a breakfast locally, where we had to wait 20 minutes for them to cook eggs, as they didn't have a gas lighter.....

Three lakes in for this series, Campbell, Cary and Lodge and I wasn't too fussed which I drew, as they can all throw up a decent weight, there are obviously favoured silvers pegs and some you'd like to avoid.  I was into the draw tin early and drew 90 on Cary, not a brilliant skimmer peg usually, but it does hold a mixture of fish, so at least there should be bites to be had.

Bit of a blow on today and it was pushing right into the corner, I've never drawn this peg when the wind has been hacking in here and there were a few signs of carp - not so good.  The video was taken at the end, when the wind had dropped and the blinding sun had finally moved round......

If the wind stayed as it was, I would not be holding the pole at more than 7 or 8m, so set up a feeder to fish at 18/20m, I got a waggler out of the bag, but it went away unused. as the wind didn't die down until the end of the match.

Topkits, a simple Chianti to fish for roach and what ever else wanted to feed up in the water, a homemade 0.5g diamond to fish at 8m, nice stable float in the wind, a double bulk rig to put 6" of line on the deck if necessary.
Two rigs to fish down the edge, similar rigs, but one with 0.12 and one with 0.14 hooklengths.

Well, it turned out to be an eventful day, I had about 30 hooklengths tied up to 0.10 and by the end, they were all gone and I was a good way into the 0.12 hooklengths, the carp really had pushed up into the corner and had a liking for casters, I fed two lines at 8m, one with chocolate orange micros and 4mm feed pellets and one with Burts Expander/Silver Sensation mixed 50/50.

The carp loved the pellets, they weren't too fussed about the worms and GB, but then neither were the skimmers.  I did spend 30 minutes fishing the feeder, ended up with a 2' tail and a single maggot, nothing, never had a bite on it.

The edge did give up a couple of perch, but the wind hacking into it and turning the water over, was causing a big undertow back against the wind, I just don't think the fish wanted to sit there.

I ended up with a mixture of mainly roach and perch, a couple of better roach and a decent hybrid, a small tench and finally, 2 skimmers, 21.13 and third in section, I think that 30 minutes on the feeder and looking for skimmers cost me, but the time spent renewing hooklengths, playing (and landing some) carp was as much to blame.  Shame it was a silvers match....

Well done to my old Team Mate Nick Ewers on winning from peg 105.

Next up, tying loads of hooks and wondering if I will ever draw 90 with the wind into on a normal open....

Paddy's Silvers Open, Viaduct, Saturday 28th September 2019

A nice opportunity to fish an early autumnal silvers match on Spring Lake and a natural bait one at that, so nice and simple, casters, worms maggots and corn, along with some Burts Baits GB, a 50/50 mix of Expander and Silver Sensation.

Peg 2, can't complain about that - well not at the start.  I thought it would be a skimmer match. so set up a waggler to fish corn, a line at 14m and another at 7m, both fed with GB and casters, the long line with some chopped worm as well, finally a short line topkit or topkit +1.Fed the GB lines at the start and then had a go on the short line, a Chianti with a string of No11's, plenty of bites, small roach, so not adding much weight, but it was fine whilst the long lines settled.

I would like to be writing a tale of how the skimmers moved in and I had a great day, but I only had two skimmers and no other indications on the long lines, probably wasted far too long trying for them and feeding corn and looking over it on the waggler - never even had an indication on that!

Quite frustratingly, peg 3 was catching skimmers and I couldn't get an indication on any bait, trying on the deck, off the deck, a bulk rig and putting the strung out rig over it, all to no avail.

So, I ended up sticking it out for roach and putting 21lb on the scales, which was a long way behind the winners, the skimmers just wouldn't come over the feed, not sure why, peg 2 is a fair bit deeper than the ones around it because of the aerator, maybe, after the rain, the fish didn't want to be in the water.

Onto the next one.

Foxy's Two Dayer, Viaduct, Friday/Saturdat 20th/21st September 2019

Well it soon comes around, it doesn't seem a year ago that I was running this match, ended up with 29 booked on, a few late dropouts and a couple that could only fish on the Saturday at late notice, that said it was a nice number to spread over the lakes.

Last year the weather wasn't too clever and I promised to try and organise better weather this time around

Usual format, one day on Campbell, one on Cary, with Campbell being pole only.  I had Jon Darby draw for me on day one and he put me on 102 Cary, maybe not the peg you'd chose, but it isn't the worst peg on the lake.

A waggler to fish at depth was soon assembled, followed by a lead rod, then 3 topkits, one to fish meat short, one for pellet long and a strung out  rig, that would do for either, fishing through the water, I did also set up a margin rig, but it never got used.

Bait tray was as simple as it gets, Burt Baits Polony pellets ( I will admit to being a bit sceptical about flavourings and colours, but these pellets have caught me fish, I have some confidence in them working.)

I started short on meat, but had nothing to show for that, so switched to the lead and 8mm Polony pellets, I had a liner, but that was it for the lead, so onto the waggler, again a 8mm Polony pellet under the waggler.  I had a few indications, but no bites, so I switched to 6mm Polony pellets on the pole at 14.5mm, this brought a burst of action, 3 carp and  few skimmers, but it was fairly short lived, this was 13.15, 2 hours into the match, I reckon both carp and silvers went 30lb.

 My next bite was at 16.15, one hour to go, this was on meat short, it was followed by more bites, skimmers and carp, I tried toss potting the meat, but throwing 15-20 pieces by hand was much more effective. I ended up with 103.14, for second in section and one out of the superpool money.

Day 1 Top 12


1. Rob Street - 132lb 10oz - peg 115
2. Phil Morris - 131lb 9oz - peg 112
3. Clayton Hudson - 123lb 1oz - peg 81
4. Jon Newton - 105lb 7oz - peg 114
5. Chris Fox - 103lb 14oz - peg 102
6. Darren Coates - 101lb - peg 110
7. Steve Hutter - 100lb 5oz - peg 85
8. Roland Lucas - 94lb 5oz - peg 132
9. Matt Chapman - 93lb 14oz - peg 129
10. Martin Rogers - 92lb 14oz - peg 116
11. James Evans - 91lb 11oz - peg 80
12. Keith Deaner - 85lb 15oz - peg 94

Onto day two, the weather still set fair and my turn on Campbell, the separate draws were done and I took the last ticket in the tin, it wasn't what I'd have wanted, 119, but I was determined to give it a go.

Even simpler today, as it was pole only, so 4 topkits set up, the same Roob on 0.20, with a 14 LWG and a 0.18 hooklength for meat short, another Roob for pellet long and a MW float whose name eludes me for a strung out rig.  A HillBilly Grizzly on 0.22 for the edge, as I suspected I'd have to go to the willow tree and Adrian who was on the peg yesterday told me he'd lost a few in there.

Bait tray was simple, 6 & 8mm Polony pellets and 8mm meat, in reserve I had some maggots and worms, but never used them, so no more to say about them.  Cap and skimmers both love these pellets and I have used them to effect to eke out meat where there are meat limits.

On the all-in I started at 2+2 with meat and first drop in had a 13lber - nice, then a skimmer, but that was it nothing else from there, so out long - 14.5m and pinging 6mm pellets over it, a couple of skimmers, but no carp.

I decided to look up the edge into the corner, toss potting 8mm pellets, I had a nice run of 5 or 6 fish averaging about 8lb, before this went quiet, so a switch back to the long line and I then started catching well, at 14:15 I reckon I had a ton, at 15:15 getting on  for 140lb with the skimmers, Jon Darby on 118 said "You're having a bit of a red letter day Foxy", well not sure how words could affect fish, as Jon started catching and I stopped.

 I'd said to Adrian Jeffery before the start, "I need 200lb of here today to win this" and I thought I was on the cards for it, but the last hour and three quarters, I had 4 more carp and a few skimmers, by switching between the long line and short meat line.  I had a bite on the meat line at 2 minutes to 17:00 (the all-out) and that was a 10lb common, that fish was the won that edged me past Phil Morris to take the overall win.  Great feeling to win my own mini-festival after some middle of the road results in it.

On the day results for day 2:

1. Andy Lloyd - 205lb 7oz - peg 132
2. Lewis Ray - 183lb 15oz - peg 110
3. Chris Fox - 179lb 2oz - peg 119
4. Steve Hutter - 172lb 12oz - peg 130
5. Gary O’Shea - 170lb 9oz - peg 116
6. Gareth Lennox - 163lb 13oz - peg 128
7. Matt Chapman - 160lb 14oz - peg 80
8. Phil Morris - 141lb 13oz - peg 81
9. Adrian Jeffery - 109lb 10oz - peg 85
10. Clayton Hudson - 94lb 8oz - peg 114

Below is the overall top 20, it was close at the top and a fish or two could have easily seen places changed round, special mention for Gareth Lennox, at late couldn't fish Friday, but fished Saturday and managed 9th place, also Andy Lloyd, was third from bottom on the first day and ended up last in the money overall, Gary O'Shea was also close in pulling back a huge deficit.  Andy and Gary were on 74 and 105 the first day, pegs that had been throwing up weights all week, but just switched off for this match.  It just goes to prove that a bit of belief and perseverance can pay off.

A big thanks to Steve, Helen & Matt at Viaduct for their help and advice and to all those who fished and make the match what I hope it is and stays, a friendly mini-festival, with the chance to win some decent money.

Next year is booked, 4th and 5th of September, Friday and Saturday, same format, contact me to book on and £20 (non refundable) deposit secures place.

Viaduct Open, Saturday 14th September 2019

This match was planned for Campbell lake, but Campbell was given a rest and the match moved to Lodge.

I had come prepared for carp, so was a bit stumped when I drew a good silvers peg in the shape of 69. I had only brought 6/8mm Burt Baits polony pellets and meat, so an attack on the skimmers was not really on the cards.

I set up a waggler, and 3 topkits, one to fish meat short, and one for pellet at 8m and 14m and an edge rig.  The Carp were reluctant to feed, cruising round in the mid September sunlight, I won't go into the boring details, but I managed 6 for about 60lb, not enough to bother the top two who came from the peags at the river end of the lake.

It was a lovely day and regardless of the result, I enjoyed sitting there in the sun, listening to the Test Match on the radio and making the most of the T shirts weather, as ot won't be long before the windstoppers and thermals come out.

1. Dave Cockayne - 100lb 14oz - peg 66
2. Steve Denmead - 94lb 9oz - peg 64
3. Adam Mitchell - 92lb 2oz - peg 59

Viaduct Open, Sunday 1st September 2019

To Follow

Ivy House Open, Saturday 31st August 2019

To Follow

Ivy House Open, Monday 26th August 2019

To Follow

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Viaduct, Sunday 25th August 2019

To Follow

Ivy House Open, Sunday 18th August 2019

Travelled up to this one with Tony Rixon, so that meant having breakfast in the fishery café, very nice it was too.

I fancied a draw on the old and true to form, drew on the new canal, peg 25, one peg away from where I had struggled a couple of weeks ago, although that was a very hot and sunny day, so different conditions.

Decided on a simple day, a rig for hard pellet across, found a nice flat shelf which I thought would be perfect to catch carp on, this shelved fairly slowly down to full depth, so I set up a second rig to fish down this slope.

Two rigs set up for down the track, one a homemade 0.4g diamond, with a 0.14 hooklength and a 18 Kaizen hook, with a double bulk, second rig a Hillbilly chump, this with a 0.10 hooklength and a 18 F1 hook, this with a standard bulk and two droppers.  I also set up a margin rig, but apart from plumbing up, it never saw the water.

The peg looks nice and calm in the picture, but that was taken before I tackled up and the wind started!!  On the all-in I potted a few pellets onto the shelf and dropped in, had a couple of small carp straight away, but then the wind was making it just far too difficult.  I switched to plan two, which was feed two lines down the track at 8m, GB and maggots on one line, micros and 4mm pellet on the other.  Also maggots short just in front of my keepnets.

Fishery pellets only here, but you can use your own hookers and GB, I had a 50/50 mix of Burts Exander and Silver Sensation GB (this mixes up lovely and skimmers love it), and some F1 hookers.

I was getting odd small carp and roach, over the GB and I had to keep topping up to get bites, the short maggot line was no good, but sometimes it can take a while to get going.  The wind dropped a bit and I went back over, had one on the deeper rig, but the wind soon got up again.  Whilst it had dropped, I saw a few pin prick bubbles over the GB, so went in on the double bulk rig with a piece of worm, I had a couple of skimmers around the pound mark, so chopped up a few worms and fed them in the next GB top up,  I had two bream on worms, but it was slow going, a switch back to maggot saw three or four bream come to the net and frustratingly, a decent fish around the 4lb mark slipped the hook - that proved costly....

The bream went as quickly as they came, not sure if I didn't feed enough GB, but some small carp moved in after the bream vacated the peg.  I also had a few small carp, roach and a lone perch from the short line and a lively carp around the 4lb mark.  I even had a eel, haven't caught one of those for a long time,

Enjoyable days fishing, the lost fish cost me winning the silvers, but I did sneak the section, with second on the lake.  My prediction of the old canal (Kingfisher) being much better than the new canal (Moorhen) was a bit out today, but it was a good match and its not all about catching huge weights.

Norms Bagging Open, Acorn, Saturday 17th August 2019

With the weather forecast set reasonably fair, I was hopeful of a good day at Acorn, Norm's opens have an optional silvers superpool, but I declined that and had come to focus on carp.

Can't complain about my draw, peg 11, it did have the wind pushing fairly hard from right to left, but it's not a long reach across, so it should be OK.  The downside of this peg in the summer, is the depth of both margins, but I was sure I'd catch across, shallow and short, sadly my optimism (yes, optimism) was not to be bourn out.

Plumbing across, where there is a nice shelf, fish were obviously present and I started over there, pinging plain 6mm feed pellets and same in the band.  Two fish for 7lb in the first two put in's and I was thinking it could be a good day.  Well that's optimism for you, I'll be ditching it and going back to my usual pessimistic state, as I never had  another bite for 75 minutes.

Finally had a couple shallow, fishing to the corner of the island, but that was that, another 2 hours passed without a bite, before I finally put 4 or 5 fish together, pinging 6mm Polony pellets down to the tree and slapping over the feed.  This was a short burst of fish and apart from one more which hung itself on a white wafter, when I chucked the method out - in desperation - that was it.

I hooked one fish in the margin down to my left, and before I could react, it was into the tree and snagged solid, disappointing day and around 3 o'clock I did wonder if the day might be better spent, but I did stick it out and ended up with 44lb on my clicker, which went 46.07 on the scales for a resounding nowhere.

Rail Sport National, Makins Fishery, Wednesday 14th August 2019

The Rail Sport National, is unsurprisingly, a national for those employed in the rail industry, it can be entered as a team or as an individual, as a life long Billy-No-Mates, I was one of the lonesome individuals entered.

If I am honest, I am not sure how they work out the draw, as there are two queues, individual and team, there never seems to be many draw cards in the individual tub.  Last time I fished this match, I drew Phase Two, won my lake, but not my section, as that extended to another lake with much higher weights all round.

So hoping to avoid the same this year, I pulled out Phase Three, Avon peg 2, meant nothing to me, so spoke to the guy in the bait shop and he advised fish 6mm pellet across and worms down the RH edge.  Its fishery or green swim stim Dynamite pellets only here, so my Burts choice was limited to Tigernut GB for down the edge.

Fishing this match as an individual, not much point in going too cautious, the guy in the bait shop mentioned throwing a method towards the bridge and I had brought one, but it really would be last resort.  Tackling up I was surprised how shallow it was, 2'6"- 3' anywhere in the peg.  Tackling up it was getting greyer and greyer, I got the method rod set up (it laid in the grass and was packed away unused at the end) and 4 topkits, before the rain started and I fetched an umbrella from the van.  I never used to use an umbrella, but must be getting old, as I now am happy to sit under it when the heavens open.

It was 13.5m across to the far side, I set up two rigs to fish across there, a 4x12 Roob, that takes 3 No 11which were spaced a couple of inches apart, 6" above the hook. This had a 18 LWG on 0.14 with a band.  Next rig was a homemade float, a touch heavier and a 0.16 hooklength to a 16 B960.

A rig for down the track and a margin rig, completed the roost. Started across with the Roob, pinging 6mm pellets with a catapult, had a 5oz skimmer first drop in, then had 40 minutes catching a couple of skimmers, a roach, a feisty little Gudgeon on the banded 6mm pellet, before having a couple of carp.  It seemed like a decent start, but for some 'unknown' reason (the inverted commas will become plain....)

After 40 minutes, the bites dried up, I persevered, fishing two lines across at 10 and 2 O'clock, for over an hour this remained barren and I did try coming closer, down the track over some micro's with a soft pellet, but this was equally barren.  I had a spell of missing bites across, but still no fish, then I started to catch odd fish including a 9lber (most were 2lb).

I committed the ultimate match sin, whilst it wasn't hectic, I came off feeding fish and looked down the edge, where the guy in the shop had said fish.  First drop in with worm over GB, a 4lber, that cost me precious time as I stayed down the edge and ignored the far bank.

Finally sense prevailed and I went back over and picked a couple more fish off, too little too late.

I had 48lb on my clicker and told the scalesman I had 2lb of silvers, after he told me I had 100lb, the scales backed me up and 48.02 of carp and 2.0 of silvers for 50.02.  I could and should have won the lake - that's frustrating, but at least I am now feeling I knew where I'd gone wrong, earlier this year, I was struggling a lot and had no answers at all.  Today wasn't much about feeding, it was more about decision making, I can live with making the wrong call, it helps to learn.  I could and should have won the lake, someone confident and on a roll would have....

Not sure on the overall match result, but I am sure Phase one would have thrown the winner, so I didn't go back for the results as the two hour trip home was a bigger attraction.

No names on the sheet, but that's me on the top, peg 2

Tony Rixons Short Pole Series, Todber Manor, Sunday 11th August 2019

Guested as a stand-in for the final round of Tony's popular short pole series, the round being on Hillview lake, at Todber.  No stress involved in driving down, fastest I have done it so far, bang on an hour.

Fair bit of time to kill before the start, so a look round the well stocked shop, a bit of socialising and the usual discussion of who wanted to draw where - I wasn't too fussed, as I don't know it that well, so when 52 showed itself on the drawcard, I was indifferent.

Being as it's a short pole series, (topkit +3) a nice simple approach, a rig to fish hard pellet at 2+2, this was a homemade diamond 0.5g, with as it was windy and a strong tow back against the wind.  A 4x16 Roob to fish meat at 2+1 1 and a rig to fish down the edge.

Started on 6mm plain feed pellets and was soon into fish 2-3lb, but this didn't last long, after about 20 minutes the bites dried up, I decided to come short on meat and this was steady, but not hectic and I stayed on this until the midway point, when I thought I had 120lb, I then fed the LH edge with GB and it didn't take long for the fish to rock up, I dropped in the edge, but wasted 10 minutes not catching anything, I think it was too soon and they weren't settled.

Back on to the meat line, by now I had switched to feeding 50/50 8mm meat and 8mm Burts Polony Pellets, this saw me have a good 90 minutes and I had to go back to the van to get a couple more nets. I had been feeding the RH edge with pellets and there was no sign of fish, the LH edge where I fed GB and maggots was full of fish and I switched to it, I had a good run of bigger fish, up to 10lb on worms, but the last 15 minutes I kept at it too long, I should have had a look back on the 2+1 meat line, as I only put one fish in the net and that was the smallest from the edge.

Disappointed when the all out was called, this was an enjoyable days fishing, which flew by, I was admitting to 240lb, so when the scales came round and my nets added up to 258lb, I couldn't really be disappointed, but I was, as I was 30lb from winning it, as Martin Rayet had 288lb, the peg was probably worth that and more, but I was a bit rusty on catching that much.  So third on the day and could have done better.

Special mention to Fred on peg 51, Clint Wojtyla's young lad, Clint coached him through, but he was told to go away and leave Fred alone at one point, Fred has weighed 153lb an awesome weight for a youngster and I was impressed with his concentration and perseverance.

Next up, Makins on Wednesday for the Rail Sport National.

Viaduct Open, Sunday 3rd August 2019

Report to follow.

Ivy House Open, Sunday 28th July 2019

Heron for this open, I drew peg two and decided that fishing the method across would be the right approach and it would be a bit of a learning opportunity.

Well, it was a frustrating day, I had plenty of fish across, was getting bites, they were taking the pellet out of the band, if I did hook them I was bumping them, they were coming off and I was pulling my hair out.  I tried different hook sizes, different hook patterns, switch from a method to a pellet feeder and it was the same result every time.

I had persevered for the best part of 4 hours, trying to work it out, I'm sure someone who fishes the method regularly would have worked out how to catch them, but I gave up.

Last 2 hours were spent down the edge to the RH side, fishing maggots over GB and I started catching well, but too late to catch up, maybe I should have just done that all match, well beaten off the next peg by Baggy, who fished paste shallow, one to forget really.

England Ladies Fund Raiser, Barston, Tuesday 23rd July 2019

How time flies, this annual event seems to come round quicker every year....   A match that is keenly contested, but done in a friendly and social manner.

Nice to get a ride up today with Tony, a nice straight forward drive up and a decent breakfast in the Premier Inn.  The draw queue formed and then another formed and it was the secondary queue that got it right and we had to tag on near the back, I could see most of the 50's still undrawn, so was really hopeful of being there, but no, 16 presented itself to me and Tony opposite on 109, reasonably fair sections, but not, we thought likely to win.  That said, you are only fishing for section money, so no real disadvantage.

I was given plenty of advice by the two Mark's (Poppleton & Wynne) and this had me changing my plan of fishing for skimmers, to fishing for carp. So two wagglers set up, one shallow one at depth, a lead rod to fish the bomb on the line I could ping pellets and a method set up at 55 turns.

3 topkits, a shallow rig, a 0.5g homemade diamond float for skimmers and a Malman Roob set up heavier in case the carp moved in.  Starting on the waggler I gave it nearly an hour without a bite, swapping between shallow and full depth, before trying the bomb where I had been pinging 8mm feed pellets.  Chocolate orange 8mm on the hook and it didn't take long to go round, a 3 1/2lb carp was soon netted, but that was it, not so much as another indication.  The guys to my left had had a carp or two on the method, so out to the clipped up 55 turns it went, this was where I had found a harder patch of lake bed, within 2 minutes it went round and a 7/8lber was welcomed into the net. This again on chocolate orange 8mm, with 50/50 chocolate orange micros and GB on the feeder.

I stuck this out for another hour, timing casts at 5 mins and increasing to 10 minutes, but never had so much as a liner.  Back onto the waggler and whilst there was surface tow taking the float from L to R I managed to get the depth waggler to sit reasonably still, by putting 12" of line on the deck along with the 8m pellet, I was switching between plain feed pellets and chocolate orange, both on the hook and feeding, just to try and get a reaction.  The float never moved, to have a waggler sat in the 'pnging zone' and not get so much as a liner would suggest there aren't any fish there.

I finally succumbed to the boredom of not getting any bites and had a look on the pole line, with about 2 hours to go, I'd been feeding chocolate orange micros, 6mm choc orange pellets and corn at 7 joints.  Going in with a 6mm pellet on the hook, I was getting lots of indication, but with nothing to show for it, I then had a roach and after, a razorblade skimmer, so I think the indications were small fish pecking at the pellet.  I switched to corn on the hook and waited longer for a bite, but when it cam there was a better fish on the end.

I had to keep topping up to get bites and had an enjoyable last 90 minutes catching skimmers, although it was too little too late, had I fished 'properly' for them and fished two lines, I am sure I would have been in with a chance of some section coin.  Frustrating, but I would rather understand where I went wrong, unlike some matches earlier this year when I was no wiser after as to why I hadn't caught.  If only this were available in tackle shops....

So 33lb and thanks for coming, that doesn't detract from the enjoyable day, beautiful weather, I find the while Barston experience to be fairly unique and much prefer these big lakes to snake lakes.  The main point of the day was to raise some money to help the England Ladies get to this years World Champs and that was done, there was a match at the Glebe the day before and I believe it was about £1600 over the two days.  Well done to Julie Abbott for the organisation and administration of the event, there was a raffle at the end and my luck - or lack of it - continued in the raffle, although Tony won a tin of hemp and snails....   I guess we had one bit of luck, we managed to get an ice cream from the club shop before they sold out.

Well done to Pete Bailey on taking it out with 242.04 from 54, there was also a 140 and a 132 from the 50's so it appears the fish had followed the wind down the lake.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Penultimate Round, Shiplate, Sunday 21st July 2019

After the torrential rain of Friday and some spells yesterday, it was good to see a weather forecast with no rain for todays trip to this well kept fishery.  A bit of socialising before the draw and I got distracted and instead of being near the front of the queue, I ended up near the back.  6 Hawthorn was to be my home for the day, I will admit, I wasn't too chuffed, as I had brought Burt expanders, corn and Burts Silver Sensation/Expander GB to fish for skimmers, really hoping for a draw on the main lake.

I arrived at the peg and it was shouting out to be fished across with a banded pellet, tight to the far bank, I did set one up and plumbed it up, but had somewhat foolishly decided to 'fish for everything' by fishing expanders short and down the track.  So a rig set up for that, it was the same depth from under my feet to within 6' of the far bank, so one rig for both lines.  A HillBilly chump with the titan wire stem, I have been trying these and they are well suited to this sort of fishing.

A paste rig and a margin rig completed the set up, I wasn't convinced about the margin, it was only a topkit either side and too deep.  Neither of these really featured in the day, nor did they contribute to the weight, so no more to say about them.

I did go across on the all in, but whilst the plummet had gone in ok, the rig was settling on loose fronds of grass and reed.  I then hooked a small roach on the banded pellet and it fell off, then the rig looped over into the bushes.... great start.

I then decided that I was going to make the peg fish the way I wanted it to and would catch silvers and carp on my two lines.  Well, it was a fairly daft idea, after 2 hours I had one 6lb carp, two skimmers and two tiny roach.  I had two options, call it a day and go home, as the day was going nowhere or sort myself out and fish the peg in the manner necessary to catch.

I got out the very handy weed cutter that fits on the end of the pole (screws onto the cupping kit) made by Lee Murphy, cleared out the far side as best I could, picked up the rig I had set up, which was a Drennan clear float, on 0.16, to 0.14 and a 18 LWG hook, with a band.  Started pinging 6mm Burts feed pellets across, with a 6mm in the band and I started catching.  By the time I started this there was 3.5 hours of the match left and I still had 6lb in the net.

Initially I was sat there thinking what am I doing, I am not enjoying this, but I had to keep the feed going in and fed about 3 pints.  It was a bit of a balancing act, too much and it was fouler after fouler, not enough and the bites dried up, so it became interesting and I ended up enjoying it.  The best way to catch was to lay a couple of inches of line on the bottom and wait for a bite, lifting and dropping just incurred more foulers.

I ended up with what I thought was about 115lb, it actually went 129.12 and if I hadn't been so determined to make the peg fish my way and had actually fished it as it needed to be fished for the whole 6 hours, I am sure it was a 200lb peg.  A minor consolation as I got the section by double default and instead of finishing 8th it really should have been a framing place, if not the win.  Being stubborn is a life long trait of mine, sometimes it pays dividends, others times, such as today, its not such a endearing quality.

Oh well, on to the next one, Barston on Tuesday, looking forward to that.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Round 4, Sunday 7th July 2019

Sedges for the fourth round of Tony's popular float only series, a venue I don't fish often, not for any other reason than opportunity, as its a tidy, well maintained fishery with a decent head of fish.

Two lakes in, Tile and Brick, I usually find myself on Brick, but not today, peg 38 was to be my home, sandwiched by the match organiser Tony on 37 and Steve Evans Tony's admin clerk for the series on 39.  Favoured corner peg 40 was drawn by Neil Mercer, who does seem to have a golden arm, winning last weeks Todber round from a corner peg - that said, you still have to catch them and with the pressure on.

I had come with options to fish for carp or silvers, I did fancy a day on the waggler, so set up a shallow and depth waggler, a 4g floats would get to the island which looked inviting.  Next up the topkits, a paste rig as this has been as and far as I am aware a successful method on this lake, a rig to fish banded pellet on the deck, this was plumbed up at 13m - as far as I was going, my back is still painful.  A homemade diamond 0.5g float next onto a topkit, this was matched with a 18 Kaizen hook to 0.14, this was plumbed up at 6 joints. A similar rig, but on 0.20 (rather than the 0.16 of the previous rig), just in case the carp action got hectic.

I also set up a light rig with strung out No11's, again with a 0.14 hooklength, this was plumbed up short, so it was well up the slope and it would also double as a 'deep shallow' rig in open water.  Bait tray was simple, Burts feed pellets in 4mm and 6mm, some 7mm meat, Burts F1 soft hookers, 8mm feed pellets and some 6mm Polony pellets.  I also had a bag of paste, made from soaked feed pellets.

On the all in, I started on the waggler (shallow) and fed 8mm pellets to the island, straight away it was obvious the wind was going to cause havoc and it only lasted 10 minutes before it went up the bank and that's where it stayed.  I fed some dampened 4mm's at 6 joints and went over that with a soft pellet, small skimmer first drop in, 10lb carp the next, so a decent start, but I had by then decided that my best way of picking up was to fish for silvers.

I stuck out the line at 6 joints, the catch rate varied, it was never manic, I came off the bottom by about 6"and caught some skimmers by doing that.  After about 3 hours it had slowed a lot and the fish had got smaller, slipping a bit of meat on the hook I waited to see if that would increase the size of the fish - it didn't, I didn't have a bite on it.  I got off my box and mixed a little GB (Burts Expander and Burts Chocolate Orange) and opened a tin of corn, I fed a ball of GB with orn and 4mm pellet in, put corn on the hook and dropped in, 2 decent skimmers in two chucks, both on corn - sussed it!!…… or not, that was the only two bites I had on corn.

The last half of the match was spent swapping and changing between the 6 joints line and meat up the near shelf, this brought 3 more carp and a few decent skimmers, it was no good leaving the rig still, the meat had to be either dropping through the water or not on the bottom longer than 20 seconds, once it was it had to be lifted out and flicked back in again.

Enjoyable day, my thoughts that I wouldn't beat Neil and then Tony when he started catching shallow/long (too far for me to hold) so my decision to fish for silvers was vindicated as I weighed 44.02 of skimmers for a silvers win.

Acorn Evening Open, Thursday 4th July 2019

I was in two minds as to whether to fish this, but the weather was good, it should have been a straight forward drive down from work - which turned into a diversion, as the motorway was at a standstill at Cribbs Causeway.  I'd also had a chat with Paul (Faiers) who had won the Tuesday match, so I had all the latest info.

Managed to fight my way through the traffic and arrive in time, the plan was to buy 3 pints of maggots and fish them for the whole match, that plan was scuppered by Paul buying the last 2 pints in the shop....

Peg 6, not what I would have chosen, especially with 40 in.

The back up would be pellets, Paul did give me a handful of worms, as they can pick up some margin fish.  Simple bait tray then, 4 and 6mm Burts feed pellets, worms and a I knocked up a bit of paste as it was so warm, I also soaked a few micros..

There is an area across to the bridge that has a flat shelf, but it was so overgrown, I felt it was too much gardening for an evening match, there was an area already cleared out (or so I thought) so I plumbed up there, it was deeper than I would have liked, but I could pull the pellet onto the slop by going in tight.

A paste rig, a shallow rig and a margin rig completed the set up, starting across, I had a fish first put in, second put in I got snagged on the grass which was under the water and lost the rig, elastic (which snapped at the puller bead) and that set the mood for the night.  Another top kit out, duplicate rig and back across, I had a couple more bites, but it was not prolific, none of the lines were, I had a couple out of the margin, a couple on paste and that was it. I fed micros in the margin, just a few at a time, if I tried worm on the hook I got a roach or a perch, telling me there weren't many carp there.

I walked round with the scales doing the board and many others were telling tales of lots of foul hookers, seeing fish in the margins and not being able to catch them, a different world from my peg I must admit.  Still after a shit week and a sad day on Wednesday being involved in some initial investigations into the accident where two fellow railway workers lost their lives in an accident in Wales, I was determined to just enjoy the evening, whilst it was frustrating  struggling for bites, Wednesday had put it all into perspective, well done to Walshy and the framers.

Next up is Tony's Float Only on Sunday, Sedges this week, so lets see what that brings.

Tony Rixon's Float Only, Todber Manor, Sunday 30th June 2019

There was a lot of anglers who were really looking forward to this one, myself I haven't fished it since the beginning of January, so no up to date info on it.

I drew peg 87 on Homeground, meant nothing to me, but had a lovely looking island chuck with a waggler, so shallow and depth rods were  the first bit of kit set up.  Then trying to keep it simple, a shallow rig, a banded pellet rig for on the deck - I had planned to fish this at 11m, but that soon changed!  A rig for meat short and a margin rig, although I didn't expect that to work, given the pegging is quite tight.

On the all-in I went out to 11m and saw that Martin Ryatt on 86 was straight onto 2+2 and those to his right were also starting short, as they were catching from the off I dropped back in on that line and with 8mm Burts polony pellet om the hook I had a decent first hour putting just over 50lb in the net. That was on a par, if not ahead of the others on the bank, but then it slowed up and I tried the waggler, going long again and soon started losing ground to those who stuck it out on the short line.

The wind was strong enough to completely ruin the waggler fishing and I did start to lose my way, at one point I was looking at anglers with a 2" lash fishing short catching hungry carp and I was questioning why I was there, is that really fishing?  I am not saying it shouldn't be like that for those that want to do it and there is no doubt that there is ability and skill involved in amassing the weights that were seen on the day, but I just wasn't enjoying it and really had no competitive spirit left.

I did start to catch some better fish towards the end on meat, but knew I was a long way behind those to my right and Neil in the corner who was getting one a bung, after a slow start.  Wwll to him on the win.

I must be either alone, or in a tiny minority that weren't raving and praising the fishery after the match on social media, I can say the fishery is well maintained, a great shop onsite, its welcoming and is very accessible with parking behind many of the pegs, but I just don't think its for me, I was looking somewhat jealously at the posts on social media from the guys who had been fishing the Superleague on the Huntspill.

Time to take stock and maybe have a change of direction, weigh sheets below, the weights are quite unbelievable.