Acorn Fishery Tuesday Tenner.

After extending the bank holiday by taking a days hols I decided to make the most of it and return to Acorn for the cost cutter match, The forecast was for rain though-out the day and loading the car it was already showing signs of it but when I got to the fishery it was quite pleasant with know signs of wind so a bit different to the last visit! A good turn out of 17 for a Tuesday meant we were going to be spread around the lake and I wasn't to bothered where I would end up but was praying to avoid peg 17 if possible" God must be looking over me at the moment as Bridge peg 40 was stuck to my mitt which I was happy with as it regularly throws up some weights and although the bridge pegs hold a smaller stamp of fish they can be good holding spots.

 

With the weather being warm I fully expected to catch shallow around the middle of the bridge by feeding hard 6mm pellet by hand and fishing banded hard pellet on the hook anywhere from 10inches to a couple of feet deep I set up two rigs for this, One being a 4x10 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 PR434, And a small inline dibber with the same set up. Normally there are signs of fish sucking along the bridge but It wasn't the case today so both rigs could be used to fish the far end of the bridge should the fish back off.

 Not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket, Except for a rig to fish on the deck on the same line should the need arise, I did a bit of trimming before the match along the far bank further to my right at 13mts to give me a line to get in tight to the bank where I planned to start the match as you can see in pic.

 

After Tackling up I did take some pics of the others and had a visit from what must be a relative of Gary Cross coz last time I saw him he looked just as scruffy"

 

 

At the all-in I fed a palm full of groundbait with some hard 4mm pellet in over to the new 13mt line tight to the bank in 18inches of water and started the day fishing 12inches deep in the middle of the bridge feeding a few hard 6mms and fishing the same on the hook, After 20mins I only had 1 F1 but wasn't to worried as it can take some time for them to respond to the feed so I switched to the 13mt swim I had already fed with a 4mm expander on the hook, I added 3 carp to 3lb before I felt the need to re-feed it and switch back to fishing the bridge.

By feeding a few 6mm all the time by hand I was into a run of fish of all sizes including some more F1s but at least I was catching and on these pegs its best just to keep putting something in the net, I found it best to change depth after every couple of fish which worked for a while but they didn't take kindly to much of a bashing so I chose to add some sections and flick the rig further towards the far side of the bridge, This worked a treat and I added a couple of bigger fish to 5lb without feeding anything"

Halfway through I thought somebody was creeping up behind me only to find Tarquin' The Turkey" having a nose through my net-bag though I don't know if you agree but it some what resembled Charlie Barns??! lol (Only Joking Mate,)

 (Tarquin).

 Most of the remaining match I concentrated switching between the long and shorter lines shallow by the bridge and by feeding shorter and going longer when they slowed up helped me add fish right up to the whistle, One thing I did pick up on was when I fished the in-line dibber rig shallow I did miss a few bites and a switch to fishing the slimmer Chanti with the shot bulked right under the float saw me connect to a lot more which I put down to the fish feeling the resistance more with the dibber style rig.

At the weigh-in a few people were admitting to a few fish and the first big weight went the way of Paul Faires over on peg 4 fishing the feeder and pellet to the far bank taking 92lb, Next to better that was Gabrial Skarba Just missing out on a 100lb from bridge peg 33 catching shallow and later in the day down his inside edge on pellet, I was last to weigh in and my 7lb of silvers added to my carp gave me a total of 104lb for first on the day, so by not worrying so much about the size of the fish worked for me today adding another £34 to the wallet along the way.

 Part of my catch.

 

So a good day all round for myself without having to battle with any wind for a change and with this peg being in my section for the last round of the individual league this coming Sunday if the weather remains the same I'll happily settle for it again" There were some good silvers weights today with Phil (Fabio) Harding ending up with a nice net of F1s, Tench and Skimmers from peg 22 to total 45lb caught over worm and caster.

Phil (Fabio)

 

Full Results-

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 40, 104lb 8oz.

2nd Gabrial Skarba (un-attached) peg 33,  99lb 15oz.

3rd Paul Faries (Sensas Thyers) peg 3,  92lb 4oz.

4th Harry Muir (Over 50's) peg 5, 72lb 2oz.

Silvers -

1st Phil Harding (Avon Angling) peg 22, 45lb 6oz. 

   

 
 

 

 

       

Shiplate Farm Open Hawthorns (Monday)

A later draw time today with it being a bank holiday and after scooting around trying to find somewhere to have breakfast I gave up and had to settle for a Mc'Donalds muffin meal for a change, A welcome change in the weather with hardly a breeze in the air, What a difference a day makes!, with 13 fishing today for some reason I fancied drawing pegs 10 or 11 so wasn't disappointed to find myself on peg 10 with Gordon Jones to my left on peg 9 and John Hawkins on peg 12, I planned to fish as far to the bank as possible to start but plumming up I had over two feet of water and with the carp milling around near the top I had a feeling foul hookers could be a problem?

. Two up in the water rigs were assembled to fish in the open water and down both my inside lines where the depth was around 5ft and last of all a rig to fish on the deck at 5mts with meat.

At the all in I cupped around 15 cubes of meat on the 5mt line and began to feed both my inside lines by hand with a couple of cubes of 6mm meat, Starting across to the far bank  I fished a single cube of meat on an 18 P478 hook just cad potting a few cubes and some ground expander pellet over the top via a cad pot, after 10mins I had a 4lb common hooked in the top fin' and already I was beginning to get liners so new they weren't happy to feed on the deck, I did try fishing around a foot deep but they were more interested in chasing each other around than taking the bait" I decided to take a more positive approach and feed the swim heavier to try and pin them to the deck but when I got half way across with a larger pot full it felt that somebody had stabbed me in the neck and I froze on the spot' I had came home from work Friday with pain in it and after wrestling with the pole all day Sunday had made things worse so for me it was an easy decision to give up trying to fish right over and a change of plan was on the cards.

with fish milling around all over the lake I gave fishing shallow down the middle of the lake with meat but only had 1 Rudd in 30mins, by now the rushes where I had been flicking a few cubes down my inside swims were showing signs of movement so decided to have a go shallow here instead, I did manage one fish from each swim but the spooked easily and I had to wait for signs of fish before trying them again, most of my match was spent fishing down the edge of pinching the odd fish and also taking a few up in the water further along the bank where they had backed of with some nice commons to 8lb, I did manage two carp on the 5mt meat line in the last 30mins but didn't know how the rest of the lake was fishing except for all the splashing going on from Louis Jones on peg 8 so he had caught well all day. At the weigh-in I managed to put 52lb on the scales which was the top weight until we got to young Lewis who put a superb 117lb on the scales for a very easy win catching all of his fish tight over in inches of water first on the pellet and later on paste so well done mate. I also like to see Louis doing well as when he first started out I took him under my wing and showed him a few things as he was keen to learn and its nice to see he took it all in and added to what he has learnt along the way has had some great results along the way. My weight was enough to finish runner up and £45 added to the wallet along the way so despite choosing to give up fishing across making some different decisions paid off in the long run. Sorry but no pics today as the battery went as I tried to get some photos at the end of the match.

Full Results -

1st Louis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 8, 117lb 2oz

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 10, 52lb 11oz.

3rd Tim Lewis (Shiplate) peg 4, 44lb.

4th Lance Tucker (Sensas Thyers) peg 6, 41lb 11oz.

Silvers - 1st Gordon Jones (Shiplate) peg 9, 7lb 12oz.

               

Acorn Series Rd 5.

After 3 weeks it was back to acorn for the penultimate round of this six match series, The forecast today was for the cloud to clear and to leave us with a pleasant day but on arrival at the fishery I was surprized how much wind was around and being my section was mainly along the straight bank I had a wander around to see which pegs would suit the weather more than the angler" last time I drew this section I had peg 16 and looking how the wind was I was praying not to draw here again as pegs 16 and 17 are set back further from the pegs around meaning a further reach to the far bank. Still stuffed from the over size Chinese last night I skipped breakfast and settled for a cuppa instead, Before the draw Glen and Paul had handed out the overall standings so far with your worst result dropped so to find I was sat in second place with a weight advantage ment there was sill all to play for.

 At the draw Bob Gullick did his best to upset the easy pools entry by presenting them with a £50 note' although I did tell them to check it before they accepted it!

 At the draw I joked with Lance Tucker we would probably end up next to each other as we did in the wind swept last match" and low and behold we did' Lance on 16 which I had on the first match and me on 17" B******S!.

On arrival to my peg I decided to venture around the far bank and prune some of the stick-ups allowing me to fish as tight to the bank as I could reach, Swim number one was fine but after a couple of snip's with the scissors on swim two I heard a plop' as I lent over the lake and my first thoughts were, Owe No Not Another Camera' I pulled my sleeve up only to find it was my mobile PHONE!.

Terrific" Owe well there was no chance of me struggling to answer a call from the missis mid match!.

Tackling up I had two 4x10 Chantis to fish in 12inches water where I had trimmed the far bank at around 15mts on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 Wide Gape Pellet, 

 A diamond body 4x12 rig was assembled to fish the bottom of the first shelf in 3ft of water and the rigs I had to fish in the shallow water across would double up to fish tight to my inside bank either side later in the day. I did have two more rigs assembled being one to fish at 5mts on pellet in-front of me and a rig to fish the bottom of the far shelf if need be but both proved point-less so I wont mention them again.

At the start I decided to fish one swim positive across with caster and a few chopped worms fed with a big pot and started on the left hand gap with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding just a few micro and crushed expander via a cad pot, it took me 15mins before I had my first fish being an F1 of a 1lb followed by a carp of 4lb but I was already struggling to hold the rig in the swim let alone present it' By now anglers around were already trying there shorter lines without success so I stuck at it for the first 90mins adding 2 more carp of the same size before I had to give up as I couldn't even get the rig across which was so frustrating as I new the fish were happy to feed in the shallower water as Lance was fishing away from the bank in the deeper water but was only getting skimmers but had to give up trying aswell,

 Despite trying everything I only caught 2 roach and a small skimmer on any of my shorter lines except for 1 more F1 tight into the bank on my left on worm. From what I could see we were all in the same boat struggling to put anything together and in the last 30mins I decided come what may I wrapped myself around the pole across and added another carp and a 4lb Grass carp'.

It un-believable how we can get up in the morning and the weather forecast  has no mention of wind but you fish in a gale" 

Ending the day with 23lb I had a better day than Lance with him ending up with 11lb and John Osborne next door on peg 18 falling to catch, Ken Rayner over on peg 2 won the section with 48lb and I finished up 4th in the section which wasn't a disaster but a shame the wind ruined it yet again"

Owe And just for the record I left my phone in the windscreen of the car all day and when I re-assembled it low and behold it was in perfect working order" bargain these £9.99 Nokia phones! 

Full Results-

1st Kev Lloyd (Clevedon A.A) peg 7, 90lb 4oz.

2nd Pete Bartlett (un-known) peg 12, 82lb 12oz.

3rd Bela Bakos (Avon Angling) peg 40, 65lb 14oz.

4th Lewis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 22, 62lb 8oz.

5th Rob Fogg (Clevedon A.A) peg 6, 60lb 14oz.

Silvers -

1st Paul Faires (Sensas Thyers) peg 5, 24lb 2oz.

     

 

  

  

    

Summerhayes Fishery Longs Lake,

Back to Summerhayes longs lake today as the venue has been fishing well of lake which has helped swell the attendance and with 25 booked in it makes for a good match, Travelling with long time friend Darren (Bigbird) Greenwood today and we stopped of for a nice hilltops breakfast on route before arriving at the fishery in plenty of time for a wander around and a free cuppa before the draw. I wasn't to worried were I would end up today but when peg four was in my hand I was having my doubts as this area hasn't been to good for frame weights so far his year but fish have fins and anything can happen. On arriving at my peg I found out pegs 3 and 5 weren't in today and the annoying part was to fish the far bank into the bay was a full 16mts although the pegs either side were a maximum of 14mts tight to the bank! I planned to start the match at 14mts in-front of the rushes where I found just over 3ft of water as I had a feeling the fish would move across into the wider bay area after a while so I set up a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 with an 18 PR478 to fish a 6mm cube of meat and an identical rig but with a hair rig hook length in-case I had trouble missing bites. A smaller 4x10 in-line dibber was set up to fish into the bay at the full 16mts which was only around 18inches deep but already the pollen on top of the lake was beginning to build up here which meant seeing the float was going to be awkward? Another rig to fish in the open water on my top 4 again to fish meat on the deck and finally a rig to fish towards both empty pallets as tight in as I could get which was still around 4ft deep so my shallow rig for across would be used here if the came up in the water. for company I had Ray Wickham on peg 2 who was going to target the lakes silvers and Aide (Puff The Magic Dragon) Bishop on the corner peg 7, Darren had draw peg 16 which also was 16mts to the island.

At the all in I feed some meat and hemp down both my inside swims and a small ball of crushed expander and 6 pieces of meat onto the 13mt line in-front of the rushes. I started the match on the 5mt line with a single cube of meat feeding just half a dozen cubes over the top, With nothing happening after 10mins I was soon on the 13mt line again with meat, Two skimmers and two pastie carp in the next 45mins followed but I was already having trouble with liners and false bites and a try with the shallow dibber and hair rigged meat made no difference so I had no choice but to switch to the 16mt line in the shallower water. I did manage a couple of fish before the pollen blew right in where I was fishing making it impossible to spot the float and I wasn't until I tried to the left of the bay I realised it was snaggy and I couldn't get the float to settle at all and by now Aide had caught a few fish across to the island but was now having foul hookers and Nick Chedzoy on peg 1 was having a few fish as well as Andy Hembrew on end peg 39 to his right.

I tried the 5mt swim again without success so decided to have a look down the edge sooner than I planned but I didn't spoil much with no early indications, I was getting nowhere by now and knowing the fish were over in the shallow water made me switch to a banded 6mm pellet on the hook and take the chance I could hook some fish without seeing the float as such by firing some 4mm hard pellet over the top, again this worked for a couple of fish before they spooked and I had to rest it again. Now this is where the fun began as I decided to have a look down my inside again towards the right hand pallet after a couple of minutes without a bite I decided to pour a cuppa and feed some meat down to my left by hand so I rested the rig on the reeds with the rig still in the water, No sooner had I turned to throw some meat in my pole shoot off the reeds with a fish attached heading for the pallet" I franticly reached out to attempt to grab the end of the pole but completely missed it and fell head first in the lake!!!, After a bit of wading I managed to reach the end of the pole only to find the

fish had gone around the pallet and snapped me as it charged for Rays Inside line" Marvellous!...

I clambered out total wet though to the laughter of all those present and it didn't take long for the news to spread around the whole lake' although I was thankful it was lovely and warm so I had chance to dry out so after putting my boots in the sun and my socks on my seatbox legs" I was ready to try again..

I re-fed the somewhat spoilt inside line but after all the commotion needless to say my inside lines didn't really produce except for a couple of fish going into the last hour, It was a shame with the pollen and poor light I couldn't fish the 16mt line properly and it wasn't until the last 15mins a shadow was cast on the swim and I had two fish in the last two put-ins! A bit of a disaster day for me really but except for my pants I was nearly dry at the end of the match" I did weigh-in though  and ended the day with 21lb odd to take a quid off Birdy and (Trolley Thief) Nick Harvey, Winner on the day went to Andy Hembrew with 50lb catching long and short on his inside swims with a variety of baits ahead of Nick Chedzoy on the next peg also catching down his edge finishing with 40lb, The silvers went the way of Ray Wickham with 13lb catching mainly on the worm over groundbait.

 Winner Andy Hembrew.

 Full Results -

1st Andy Hembrew  (Clevedon A.A?) peg 39, 50lb 15oz.

2nd Nick Chedzoy (Preston Innovations Thatchers) peg 1, 40lb 13oz.

3rd Martin Heard (Summerhayes) peg 9, 40lb 11oz.

4th Jim Jenner (Summerhayes) peg 35, 38lb 5oz.

Silvers -

1st Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 2, 13lb 8oz.

2nd Bruce Hunt (Tiverton) peg 26, 9lb 12oz.

 

The lake fished harder than of late probably due to the fish getting ready to spawn but it was a close match and everybody had a few fish, Back for round 5 of the Acorn league next Sunday and looking forward to it.

  

   

  

             

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open.

Back to Acorn today hoping for one of the more fancied pegs than I've had of late here and with the forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far at least a sun tan was in order, Only 10 fishing today so the pegging was spread around the lake away from the pegs allocated for pleasure anglers, I had the last peg in the hat as I was still enjoying my breakfast come draw time and ended up on peg 7 for the day.

 When I got to my peg there were already signs of fish over on the far bank amongst the rushes as well as fish slurping along the bridge in peg 6, Not wanting to complicate things I had a rig to fish tight over against the boards on the far bank as you can see in pic with the depth being 2ft.

 The same rig would be used to fish tight into the bank on my left later in the day if the fish ventured in this close, Another rig to fish the bottom of the inside shelf at 6mts in four feet of water and a in-line dibber rig to fish up in the water at 13mts out into the lake as there seemed to be fish milling around out in the middle of the lake. For company I had Brian (Anteater) Slipper on peg 9 who from what I could see was going to base his hopes around fishing shallow on the long pole.

At the start I cupped in some 4mm hard pellet and a few grains of corn at the bottom of the near shelf and started the day with a 4mm expander on the hook over against the boards just cad potting some micros and groundbait over the top. It wasn't long before I was into fish but they were small carp, F1's and skimmers and with no silvers pool today to make things count I had to try and catch some bigger fish, within 40mins I was out on the long pole shallow as Brian had already had 3 bigger fish up in the water. I spent the next hour chasing shadows as I only managed three fish and although Brian was having to wait for fish he was getting far more indications but I couldn't seem to get the fish to come around the point from peg 5 so I made my mind up to catch what I could from the swim tight over as at least I was putting fish in the net. I switched to feeding 4mm hard pellet via the catty and fished a banded 6mm set about a foot deep, It did work for a while and although the fish were smaller I was catching until they started slurping the pellets which had landed in the rushes causing me to foul hook lots of fish along the way trashing three rigs at the end of the day. my inside lines only produced a fish off each so most of the match was spent trying shallow in the open water and on the far line as this seemed to give me a few before I had to rest it, I was never going to catch Anteater and Maria Green And Mark Walsh over on the island pegs 2 and 4 had had good sized fish. At the weigh-in Maria weighed a great 85lb catching on the pellet feeder across to the island giving her hubby another thumping along the way"

 Maria Green.

 Next up was Walshy' on peg 2 who catch well on paste down the inside in the last couple of hours to finish with 93lb Before Brian went on to better that with a final weight of 100lb with most of his fish falling to 6 or 8mm pellet on the long pole shallow.

 Brian (Anteater) Slipper.

I finished the day with 58lb which wasn't going to get me any coin today but at least I had a few fish and the weather was a belter and after wearing my shorts for the first time this year I managed to burn my knee caps"

 My Catch.

Full Results -

 1st Brian Slipper (Sensas Thyers) peg 9, 100lb 15oz.

2nd Mark Walsh (Acorn) peg 2, 93lb 10oz.

3rd Maria Green (Un-Attached) peg 4, 85lb 6oz.

4th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 7, 58lb 8oz.

 

 I couldn't go without mentioning the state of team mate Gary Cross as he looked like he had been kipping on the streets" as you can see him on the right in photo alongside Lee Waller and Kev Perry.

 

 

 

Summerhayes Fishery Longs Lake.

Back to summerhayes today to fish the open on longs lake which reports say its been fishing well of late, with fourteen of us present it wasn't a bad turn out for a Wednesday and at least the sun was out for a change' after a nice free cuppa and a chat with a few others it was time for the draw and for a change I was happy with my peg 35 on the road bank near the hut, The swim was around 14mts to the far side in front of the rushes though as you can see by the pick I had a few hanging out into the swim which could make things awkward? 

 Far bank swim.

Pluming up I found about 4ft in-front of the rushes as tight in as I could manage which was a bit deeper than I wanted as I felt the fish would come up in the water with regular feeding but where it was shallower to my right I couldn't see a float tip of any kind due to sun and light so had to make do with my chosen line for starters using a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 808, An open water swim at 13mts where I would use a 0.3g pencil float to fish 4mm expanders over micro pellet for the silvers, And another 4x12 chanti to fish next to the empty pallet on the same line to a size 16 PR478 hook. This rig would double up to fish to my right at the bottom of the shelf at 5mts to my right with the depth being the same at around 4ft.

   At the all in I cupped two balls of fishmeal groundbait onto the 13mt line as my silvers line, A palmful of hemp and 6mm meat next to the pallet and the same on my short 5mt line, Starting over against the reeds with a single grain of meat and just cad potting a ball of squeezed damped micro pellet over the top I soon had a small carp off 2lb followed by 3 more and a 1lb skimmer in the next four put-ins  before I started getting bites I was missing so I cut out the feed for a while but it took longer to get a bite and by now what a surprize" the wind had picked up and I was struggling to hold the pole still, Fish were taking the bait on drop the after the float settled and I lifted it again but I wasn't connecting with anything so tried a shallower rig at half depth for ten minutes without success, I was going to start firing some 4mm pellet across with the catty but struggling to hold the pole still I felt I would be on a losing battle, I do remember trying this last year and all I did was push the fish back into the rushes so I had a re-think and decided to cup around 15 cubes of meat and a palm size ball of micro and try to pin the fish on the deck and only feed again when I couldn't get a bite, I left it to settle and tried a 4mm expander on the 13mt silver line, Ten minutes later and this line was to be forgotten about as I didn't have a bite, and I would concentrate on the carp which were averaging around 2lb a piece.
By putting a larger amount of bait in seemed to work as I would catch a couple before it went iffy and I re-fed the same again, After a good start it was now over 2hrs in and I had around 12 small carp but the wind now whipping down the lake I just couldn't hold it any longer which was a shame as I'm sure I could of keep um coming and some bigger fish would of turned up so I fed it again and left it.

I decided to try the pallet swim with double meat on the hook where I had been topping the swim up with a small amount of meat and hemp every 40mins and also using the catty to fire a few cubes over the top at regular intervals, No sooner had the rig settled I had a carp of 3lb followed by a 2lb fish 5mins later the nothing so cupped some more feed in and left it, A try on the 5mt line didn't produce and I only managed two fish off it for the rest of the match again both on meat. I did keep trying the far line thinking I could beat the elements but I just couldn't present it and all that was happing was I was bumping fish and getting frustrated so most of the remaining match was spend pinching a couple of fish at a time from the pallet line before trying the other swims, I ended the match with around 28 carp averaging 2lb a piece and a few silvers, From what I could see down from me not that much had been had but I didn't know how the pegs the other side of the lake had fished?
First to weigh was Steve Kedge on peg 1 which also happened to be the bonus peg and after 2 weighs added to his silver his total went 87lb which was going to be very hard to beat catching across to the island at the start then down his inside edge on meat, After a few lower weights Scott Russell on peg 12 put 72lb on the scales followed by Mark Hannon on peg 14 who weighed 57lb, No other weights before I was last to weigh and I was pleased to put 64lb on the scales for 3rd on the day, Only picking up £28 but Pete as I've said before likes to spread the winnings out which can be a good thing, Its a shame the wind ruined it again for most of us but the lake still fished well overall and the good thing here is you always here how many different ways anglers have approached there swims and caught fish. Just a mention Pete has erected a great BBQ area for anglers to use during the summer as well as having an area for junior anglers to be taught how to fish in there own private lake along side with coaching from Steve Jackson among other so I'm sure we wish them the best of luck as there low in numbers on the bank nowadays.

 The New BBQ and Coaching Area.

 

 Winner Steve Kedge.

Part of my catch.

 

Full Results -

1st Steve kedge (Somerset Angling) peg 1, 87lb 9oz.

2nd Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 12, 72lb 10oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 35, 64lb 13oz.

4th Mark Hannon (Summerhayes) peg 14, 57lb.

Silvers -

Gary (Summerhayes) peg 31, 11lb 5oz.

 

 

 

            
   

Summerhayes Open Sellicks Lake,

Back to Summerhayes today after a nice breakfast at hilltops on route and at arriving at the fishery I was informed the match was on sellicks lake although I recon Pete the owner must of been on the red wine when I rang him on Tuesday as he told me todays match was on Longs Lake" with 21 fishing today there was only going to be 2 empty pegs on the complex which suited me as its less room for the fish to back off although Aide Bishop was having a moan before we even got into the draw! Into the bucket  for the draw and I was blessed again with my magic hand' NOT! Ending up on peg 4 which wasn't a peg I fancied after a brief wander around before the start but never the less I had to make do, With no gaps to fish into across I planned to fish as close as I dare to the far reeds as possible where I found 4ft as close in as I could get so had a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 808 hook, Another rig was made up with the same set up to fish at 5mts in 6ft of water where I planned to fish meat and lastly a rig to fish back into my inside swim where it was still quite deep at about 5ft.

 My Far line.

 Inside swim.

Company today was Mark Leahy on peg 3 and Jamie Parkhouse on peg 5 so I wasn't fortunate enough to have an empty peg either, At the all in I cupped around 6 cubes of 6mm meat  mixed to with wetted micro and a pinch of hemp onto the far line at 14mts and a palmful of hemp and meat down to my inside just over the reeds. I started the match at 5mts in the open water with a single cube of meat and just cad potted 5 pieces of the same over the top, I was hoping to snare an early mug fish whilst others targeted the far bank mainly with the method feeder as the wind hadn't relented from yesterday making it nearly impossible to hold a pole at any length' After 20mins on the short line and just one little dip I didn't want to try my edge swim until I had to so out on the long pole I started again with a 6mm cube of meat, and after 5mins I had a 1lb skimmer, Not what I expected but at least I had something in the net. In the next 20mins I had 2 carp of 3lb each before Disaster Struck and I played a much better fish of around 8lb to the net only for it to dive down at the last second snagging my line on the landing net losing the fish and the rig" Prat! Another rig assembled and back over cad potting a few pieces of meat and micro over the top and 2mins later I bumped a fish leaving me snagging the over hanging Vegetation and with the help of the wind ended up totally wrapped up and another rig GONE! A quick burst of turrets and I chose to still make a go of it over so rig three was assembled...

Mark next to me only had a couple of skimmers and Jamie was still fishless on the method and from what I could see others were struggling so I felt despite fighting with the wind to stick at it and after 2hrs I was up to six Carp and a couple of skimmers, Jamie had followed suit and gone out on the long pole shallow and by slapping the pole on the water caught a couple but it was short lived really, I felt that the fish weren't there in numbers so I chose to cadpot full of meat and micro and changed to fishing double meat on a size 16 PR478 and to sit and wait for a fish to turn up. It seemed to work as my total was up to ten carp but with 2hrs to go things where slowing fast and my arms felt like popeye" so it was time to have a look down the edge as Jamie had already taken one better fish down his edge towards me.

No sooner as the rig settled I was in and a fish of 5lb was added followed by a smaller  fish of 3lb before things went quite so I potted in some more hemp on this line and a few cubes of meat and left it to settle again, I spend the next half hour trying the 5mt line and the long pole swim without success due to the gales" so spent the last hour down the edge ending the day with 16 carp and a few skimmers including 1 carp on my top kit to my to my right, from what I could see not much had been caught along my bank but I didn't know how the fancied lily pegs had done down in the Calm water" First to weigh was Ray Wickham on end peg two as one was left out and he 19lb of skimmers in his 40lb total weight.

Ray Wickham Silvers Winner. 

 

Mark on peg 3 had 6lb odd of silvers before my 4lb odd of silvers added with my carp gave me a total of 63lb which I felt was good considering the conditions we all faced, Down to the more fancied pegs and Adam Palmer took the lead with 74lb and after a chat with him he told me he had most of his fish on the meat at 6mt and some late fish down his right hand edge on the same bait.

 Adam Palmer & some of his catch.

 

Nobody was admitting to much after Adam so I went to pack my kit away and back at the results I found I had finished 2nd on the day picking up £50 along the way.

 Part of my catch.

 Sometimes it pays to persevere with something and it paid off for me today and the high light off the day had to be when Jamie's hat blew in the lake for the second time and I joked if he had some hair he might have something for it to grip onto" lol .

Full results -

Adam Palmer (Maver Royal Navy) peg 12, 74lb 9oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 4, 63lb 11oz.

3rd Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 2, 40lb 4oz.

4th Jamie Parkhouse (Team Jinx Exeter) peg 5, 40lb 10z.

5th Phil Densle (Summerhayes) peg 14, 38lb.

Silvers -

1st Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 2, 19lb 14oz.

Ray also had the added prize of £75 as he was on the bonus peg and because he won the silvers he picked up half the pot'.

On a final note I did go to Acorn Fishery for the Clevedon.A.A open but only 6 turned up mainly because nobody with sense would of entertained fishing yesterday and after an hour or so there was only three of us left, Myself, Maria Green and her hubby" I went on to win with 63lb of smallish carp down to the next pallet on hard pellet whilst Maria beat hubby again with 49lb on the pellet feeder across to the island, Being a cost cutter match I only had £30 back but it all helps, Back to Acorn For the Tuesday tenner this week and a better turn out expected and im praying this wind will let up.       

   

                  

Shiplate Farm Hawthorns Pleasure Session.

Not having time last week to right this blog in between matches but the wife and myself had a day together at Shiplate Farm which happens to be right on are doorstep and being as I haven't had much free time for a pleasure session I choose to have a go on the Hawthorns lake for the carp as Owner Steve Oliver let me use keepnets as he could catch up on the condition of the fish, I chose to fish peg 10 which has a nice bit of cover across to start with as I planned to fish meat on the deck at 6mts as the day went on and closer to the inside bank if I couldn't catch on my planned lines.
 

Pluming up I found 18inches of water over towards the far side as tight as I could go so my normal 4x10 chanti rig was assembled on 0.11-0.10 line and an size 18 808, My 6mt meat rig was a 4x12 chanti on 0.13 to an 0.11 4inch hook length and a 18 PR478 hook, The depth here was around 5ft and this was quite a light rig but with the conditions being perfect I like to use the lightest rig I can get away with as I'm convinced it leads to more bites and most time on meat you'll find with the right set up the bites are un-miscible"??.

                                                                          

I decided to just start the day with a small cadpot attached to feed to gauge the swim across to start with and feed around 10 cubes of 6mm meat onto the 6mt swim with a small palm full of hemp added, Starting with a 6mm cube of meat across and filling the cadpot with a mix of micro pellet and hemp it didn't take long for my first carp being a perfect common of around 5lb, With know signs of fish in the shallow water I wasn't afraid to feed the same amount again as a fish that size could of sucked the lot in" I was right with 6 fish in 6 put in's for about 25lb was telling me I would have a few today! Here's the good bit as having the wife sunning it up nearby she was able to take some videos thought the day as well as some pics to show where I fished.

                                                                    

 

 spot the yellow tip'

 fish on!

 

 

I did start to get the odd liner so cut out the feed until I was sure there wasn't any present and this seemed to work as in the next hour I had already had 15 fish. as expected they began to get cagey so I fed a slightly larger amount of hemp and micro and switched to the short line at 6mts.

I had been feeding the swim by flicking 6mm cubes of meat in by hand at regular intervals and after quickly trying my rig from across as there was the odd bubble coming up and they could already be up in the water with it being warm. it didn't seem to be the case because as soon as settled touching the deck it flew under and a mirror of 4lb was added, By now the wind had got up and as I was having a day for myself there was no point battling with it so I spend most of the day on the short meat line including fish to 8lb and a nice orange common,

   Bites on the meat"

 I found it best to catch a couple of fish then top the swim up with a larger amount of meat and hemp whilst catching a few more across in between resting the short line. I ended the day with 42 fish around 16lb of skimmers which all came off the short line for a total of 170lb so a great day, its the first time we have tried to up-load the videos so apologies if there not successful but will look into it for future reference so have added a pick of some of the fish on the day.

 

A couple of tips Ile share if conditions allow don't be afraid to slightly overshot your float when fishing the short meat line then give I a good dip in Vaseline and you'll find it sits perfect in the water and any little dips caused by liners wont pull the float under'.

The simplest way to have your meat on the bank is to have it covered with water after I have let it soak whilst tackling up, this removes the fat content which I drain off  before the start, its best to have some idea of how much your likely to use during a session match and I regularly add a few fresh cubes of meat to the water I keep in my bag and swish it around with the meat I've already prepared simply because if you don't you'll find you meat will go white and if you leave it till you run out adding fresh pink' meat can be the kiss of death!

Good Luck.     

   

 

                    

Acorn Tuesday Tenner.

With an extra day off after the bank holiday and with the forecast to be nice weather wise I decided to return for another try, With the wife also having the day off we had a nice breakfast at the on-site café before the draw which again I had know idea what pegs were to be used although I was none to pleased to pick out peg 17 an area I cant get away from and looking around to see where others had draw I new my chances off framing today were slim with 3 bridge pegs in as well as the top pegs from Sundays match.

I new to have any chance with the overall weights I would hopefully have to find the lakes larger fish which could be in any area of the peg and although I had the option of going for the silvers I'm due to be in this section in the next round of the individual league so at worst I was going to use the day as bit of a practice.

Rig wise a 4x10 Chanti  to fish tight in the gap over on the far bank which I found o be around 18inches deep, a rig to fish down the track over 6mm hard pellet which I would feed by hand through the day and a rig to fish caster at the bottom of the near shelf towards the next peg which would double up as a silvers rig but fished with white hydro would double up as a carp rig should they arrive, I did set another in-line dibber rig which I could use for up in the water over the short swims as well as tight into the edge late in he day.

At the start I cupped in some hard 6mm pellet on the open water swim and a small amount of caster and dead reds at the bottom of the near shelf and started across in the far bank grass with a 4mm expander just feeding a few wetted micros via a small cadpot. It didn't take long for my first fish of around 3lb followed by 3 more in the next 3 put-ins only for the wife to say I was doing well and then they stopped" never the less I new that I was to good to last and they soon wised up with it being so shallow, I tried to start a new line a couple of meters from the first one but with the light going in and out the clouds I had a job to see the float no matter what colour I could change it so most of the first two hours were spend on the original swim across with either a 6mm or 4mm expander on the hook and after feeding after every missed bite or fish I got my tally up to ten fish for around 28lb.

A switch to the open water swim on the deck to start I had two skimmers in ten mins and a try down the near shelf only gave 1 roach on double caster so I gave it 15mins trying to catch through the water on the open water swim, again without success so it was time to go back across to the shallow swims, It wasn't hectic but I was adding the odd fish but by now Dave Wride on bridge peg 21 (For the 3rd match on the trot") was catching as was Andy France on peg 9 who had some bigger fish, I did start a new line closer to the pallet as well as a new line tight to the nearside bank but only had a fish off each all match, At some point somebody threw some casters which were floaters in and they had drifted over my open water swim much to the welcome of the carp who began slurping for them right where I had been priming the swim with loose fed pellet but couldn't get a bite on it! I did snare one which shed the hook at the net and cause all those in proximity to do one!" I was getting know were so spent the remainder of the match over on the long line which did get better towards the end and I even managed 3 fish in the last 5mins" but I new I wasn't going to compete as a few had been catching all day, At The weigh-in Gabriel started the ball rolling over on bridge peg40 Having a S*** day in his words weighing 99lb odd!?, but It wasn't enough to take the spoils as Andy France took the top weight off of peg 9 with 108lb catching across most of the day with pellet before catching down towards peg 8 later in the day, My weight went 75lb so I wasn't to disappointed but there are a few things I have learnt the main one being to set up other rigs to compensate the poor light as along this bank the sun ends up right in your face at the end of the day causing all sorts of shadows.

 Winner - Andy France.

Full Results -

1st Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 9, 108lb 2oz.

2nd Bob Smith (un-Attached) peg 13, 102lb 2oz.

3rd Gabriel Skabba (Acorn) peg40, 99lb 5oz

4th Dave Wride (Sensas Thyers) peg 21, 96lb 12oz

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 17, 75lb 3oz.

Silvers -

Andy Gard (Over 50's) peg 36, 16lb 4oz.

 Andy Gard. (Silvers).

The floating caster slurpers"

And The one I hooked!.