Summerhayes Fishery Open Match.

With good mate Darren (Big Bird) Greenwood picking me up today and the match being a later draw we stopped off for a nice breakfast at hilltops and still arrived an hour early' With 27 fishing today the match was to be spread over both Sellicks & 10 pegs on Lily Pool, After a good chat and some friendly banter it was eventually time for the draw and I was hoping for a peg on Sellicks. 

I did get my choice of lake and with my consistent run of drawing the same area on this lake continued as I found myself on peg 4 again" That now means my last 5 visits to this lake has seen my run go, 4,5,4,5 and 4.! I don't mind this area as there are usually a few fish around but with it being around 15mts to the far bank it can make it hard work if there over that far?

 Peg 4.

      Seeing As I know the depths of this peg quite well by now I know it slopes off along the far bank from right to left quite steeply so after finding just over 3ft on small flat spot inline with the shadow of the tree as tight to the bank as I could get I made up a 4x14 chanti on 0.13 - 0.11 and a size 16 Pr478 hook, I planned to fish 6mm meat over hemp although local John Pear had to help me with this as Pete had sold out in the hut, He Did have a tin I could buy off him and although it wasn't my first choice being CHILLI flavour it would have to do' a lot of people ask me why I use so much hemp but I'm a firm believer it helps keep the fish feeding on the bottom longer reducing foul hookers where as micro can waft around to much when the fish are far more active as they are at this time of the year. With the weather being warm and sunny again there was a good chance the fish would come shallow so 2 x PB1 4x10 Floats were set up on 0.15 to an 18 PR36, One on a longer line to swing around the swim and one set on 2ft of line. My last rig was to fish back down my inside close to the bank near to the lily roots which was still 5ft deep, With a 4x12 chanti on stronger 0.15 - 0.13 line and an 16 PR478 hook.

 My Inside Swim.

For company today I had Roger Russell on peg 3 who was going to target the silvers and Mark Walsh on his first time visit to this lake on peg 5. At the all in I just started to throw the odd cube of meat and a pinch of hemp by hand down my inside swim and started the match over on my far line with a single 6mm cube on the hook and fed about 8 pieces of the same size meat and some hemp over the top via a cadpot, It took me 10 mins to get a bite and a small carp of 2lb was my first fish soon followed one of 3lb but after a couple of missed bites I switched to double meat an hooked one of the lakes bigger fish only for it to come off at the net" Blast!..

Things slowed down after another smaller size carp so not to put all my eggs in one basket began to catapult some meat further along the bank to my left where it went into a small bay for 10mins before trying my long line shallow rig over the top to start with, I began pinging the odd couple of cubes of meat over the top but after another 10mins without a sign I decided just to try the rig set a foot deep where I had been fishing on the deck inline with the tree and within I minute I had a carp of 4lb, Looking around the lake things seemed to be slow for others as well so I wasn't to concerned as we still had over 4hrs to go.

I did manage one more fish of this line but decided just to keep pinging odd cubes to the swim on the left rather than draw the fish further up in the water on this swim. a switch back to the deck rig across saw me add a couple more fish of 2lb before missed bites and liners became a problem so I fed the swim with a larger pole put containing a handful of meat and hemp and switched to my inside swim with double 6mm meat on the hook. After a couple of small lifts and drops the float buried and a 4lb fish was soon in the net, It did cause a bit of commotion so I carried on feeding it by hand and went back over to the far bank on the depth rig.

By feeding it heavier proved to be a bad move as it took ages to get an indication then it was impossible to connect to anything so I left it alone and tried the long shallow rig again, First put-in and I had a 5lb fish but they didn't want to stay in the area, I kept at it and did pinch the odd fish by plopping it around the swim and it seemed to get better as the day went on even missing a bite right on the whistle"

 The far line I had my fish shallow on the long line with 6mm meat. 

 I did add a couple more fish from down the edge but I think with Mark choosing not to fish down the edge towards me as he had an empty pallet to his left meant the fish backed across the inside as it was only a short distance. With Jonny Page not weighing on peg 1, Roger was first to weigh and took the silver lead with 11lb odd meaning I was next up and my fish went 38lb odd.

 My Catch.

 Mark on peg 5 put 23lb on the scales meaning I did manage to take a quid off him as well as pagey, Last peg on my bank was Scott Russell on peg 10 who also put 38lb on the scales but I pipped him by a few ounces. No higher weights came off lily pool and back to sellicks and the more fancied numbers saw Nigel Wickham on peg 13 take the lead with 50lb odd before Nick Harvey took first on the day from peg 14 weighing 66lb catching in-front of the lily's at 8mt shallow on 6mm hard pellet over loose fed 4mm.

 Winner Nick Harvey.

 A harder match today from this lake than of late for most but I did enjoy it as I like to work at my matches to find what's  best on the day. Although I only chose to fish meat today I have the confidence in making it work and all day I never used more than two tins and a tin of hemp so no big bait bills' Roger did manage to take the silvers prize today with 11lb 11oz just ahead of Gary Webber. 

Silvers winner Rodger Russell.

Traveling partner Big bird did have neck ache watching Nick on the next peg ending the day with 29lb but did take the micky when he tried to weigh his lone Rudd which didn't register on the scales"

 Birdy.

I managed to pick up £54 today and added £3 quid in side bets though I had to give Nick one back so I went in my side try and found one of his where I used to keep my plummets! High light of the day was when Martin Addicott on the far bank slipped in to his neck trying to retrieve his pole sections slipping from his roller' (Not just me who goes in then!) He did manage to retrieve them and although I didn't see the incident he told me the worst part was his wooden leg filling up with water! I didn't laugh much"

Can go without saying congratulations to owners Pete & Sally on there 24th wedding anniversary and I think you'll agree they look happy together after all this time... Then again it might of had something to do with the amount of wine they had both consumed through the day! lol.

 Owners Sally & Pete.

Full results -

1st Nick Harvey (Sensas Thyers) peg 14, 66lb 2oz.

2nd Nigel Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 13, 50lb 12oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cabury Angling) peg 4, 38lb 13oz.

4th Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 11, 38lb 8oz.

Silvers -

1st Rodger Russell (Tackle UK) peg 3, 11lb 11oz

 

  

    

      

     

Clevedon A.A Sat Open Acorn Lakes.

Back to Acorn and there cost cutter match on Paddock lake and with a club match over half of the lake we were limited to the pegs left on the day, It seemed a bridge pegs or the higher numbers would me more in are favour but for my draw I had the opposite and ended up on peg 24, Not the best part of the lake but never the less I was going to try my best to make the frame as there was only first and second to pick any coin up today, After arriving at my peg I chose to go and trim two swims as far to the far bank across and after pluming up I had around 18inches of water as tight over as I could get.

The usual 4x10 Chanti  was assembled on 0.15- 0.13 and an 18 PR478 to fish soft 4mm expanders over loose fed micro and hemp, I set two rigs up in the water to fish anything from 10inches to 2ft and a positive rig on 0.17 direct to an 14 478 for my inside swim at the bottom of the near shelf in 3ft of water where I planed to fish worm over groundbait at 9mts, for company today I had Brian Hanley on peg 22 next to the bridge who I had a £1 side bet with just to keep an interest on the day.

 Brian.

At the all in I cupped a palmful of hemp and micro on my far line to my left and began by fishing to my right cad potting the same via a cad pot over a 4mm expander on the hook, The first 30mins gave me five fish for around 14lb but bites already began to get iffy, I had to work out if it was best to feed after every fish or each put-in, But the next 30mins saw me lose 3 foul hookers and have lots of funny bites? I decided to re-plum my swim with just an AA shot on the hook as was amazed to find I was now 3inches of the bottom" The feeding fish must have bored out the bottom because when I reset the depth every bite saw me hook fish cleanly in the top lip! It wasn't fast but I was putting fish in the net and despite trying my shallow rig down the track where I had been feeding 4mm hard pellet by hand the only place I could catch was tight over so I stuck at it pinching the odd fish from each line all on 4mm expander as when I tried hard pellet on the hook I never had a touch" I had an enjoyable days fishing and used it to learn a few things which I felt I did ending the day with a total of 96lb,

part of my catch,

 

First on the day went to lee Pesticcio from peg 32 ending up with 131lb of of peg 32 catching on maggot with his travelling partner Chris Cameron ending up 2nd on the day with 130lb, Brian ended up 3rd with 128lb meaning one fish between them could of made all the diffence, A nice close knock-up for a change and after a chat with lee & Chris afterwards they are keen for there next visit.

 part of lee's winning catch.

 Full Results-

 1st Lee Pesticcio (Mosella) peg 32, 131lb 12oz.

2nd Chris Cameron (Middy/Old Goast) peg 36, 130lb 6oz.

3rd Brian Hadley (Acorn) peg 22, 128lb 8oz.

4th Gabrial Skarba (un-attached) peg 39, 110lb 14oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 24, 96lb 6oz.

  

          

Acorn Fishery Tuesday Tenner,

With the weather being so nice and the wife being off work having to take a few days holiday herself we chose to spend the day in the sun whilst it lasts, I am one of the lucky ones to have a wife interested in fishing herself ' After having a nice on site breakfast the usual faces for this cheaper match began to turn up until none other than England Ace Des (Smiley) Shipp put in an appearance' You only had to look around the room at some anglers faces that they already had him down as the winner but me for one was pleased to see him as I for sure wasn't going to let him phase me and would see it as a challenge to finish higher than him today so let the draw commence" lol.

Out come peg 11 which I was pleased with as I had a nice inside swim should I need it later in the day, A nice swim across tight to the bank in 12inches of water.

And plenty of room to feed an up in the water swim to my left at about 9mts to catch shallow, Rig wise I had the usual 4x10 chanti on 0.15 and a 4inch 0.13 hook  length an 18 PR478 to fish tight over to the bank, a 4x12 Chanti to use 12mts down the edge in 2ft of water on the same line and a 4x10 PB1 on 4ft of line to use up in the water with an 18 PR36.

Company today I had Simon Price on peg 9 as my closest rival as the pegs further around were left for pleasure anglers to my left, the rest of the pegs were spread around the rest of the lake with Des ending up on peg 38 which can hold some bigger fish so it was all to play for and the £1 side bet was struck (More of that later), At the start I began to feed hard 4mm pellet on the 9mt line by hand and started tight over just touching the deck on a 4mm expander feeding some micro and hemp over the top via a small cad pot, This might seem a bit negative for this time of the year but on these canal type lakes I like to take a softly approach to start and try not to draw to many fish into the swim risking foul hookers and spooking the rest which will soon ruin a peg, after all the bigger fish are a bit wiser . This worked a treat and in the first hour I had put about 35lb in the net by just cad potting small amounts of micro and hemp after every fish, From what I could see it was a good start as a few were struggling and Simon on the next peg  only had a couple of fish by now.

 

 

After a while the fish began to start slurping on the grass and liners were a problem so I rested the swim and switched to where I had been feeding by hand, a few slaps of the rig and the elastic was out, feeding a few pellets by hand whilst playing the fish saw another of 4lb added as soon as I went back in but it didn't last and I had noticed the more often I fed the longer It took me to get a bite, With this being the case I decided to fish of the end of the island at 13mts just plopping the pellet around without feeding anything, It worked well for most of the match to be honest and by pinching the odd fish from tight to the bank when I felt they were getting unsettled it got to the stage where I had to tip my 6lb odd of silvers back as I didn't want to go over in my nets and only had 3 with me' As if I thought I may need more hey". It was quite an enjoyable match today as you couldn't just plonk it and expect it to go under it had to be worked at moved around all the time to induce a take as well as a constant change of depth. I was first to weigh today and after 4 weighs my total went 175lb which I was happy with, Simon went on to catch shallow and ended the day on 97lb before Gabrial Skarba ended up weighing a great 197lb catching short down his inside edge on maggot he told me over groundbait and pellet.

 Gabrial Skarda.

 After a few more it was Mr Shipp's turn to weigh and after added together with his silvers his total went 163lb meaning I was best pleased to show him how it was done as I'm sure it wont happen very often" Back to the subject of the £1 side bet he did his best to blag his way out of it though I had the wife as back up so soon caved in and coughed up lol. Being a cost cutter its not about the money just to beat Des was my target but a welcome £27 paid for the day.

 Part of Des Shipp's Catch

 You can let go Des"

Top silvers went the way of Andy Gard weighing 30lb of mixed fish on the maggot.

 Andy With Des's Silvers as we missed his weigh-in.

 There were a lot of fish caught today and they were happy to have a munch for a change everybody enjoyed the day and I cant go without saying a big well done Rupert who despite suffering from downs syndrome down on holiday joined in the match and ended the day with a great 28lb from peg 40 next Des, I had a chat with him after and he told me he had advised Des what to do at the start and would of had a few more but spent most of the day watching him to make sure he was doing it properly! mint"

 Rupert with Simon at the scales,

 The smile says it all.

Full results -

1st Gabrial Skaba (Un-Attached) peg 7, 197lb 4oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/ Cadbury Angling) peg 11, 175lb.

3rd Des Shipp (Preston Innovations/Dorking) peg 38, 163lb 8oz.

Silvers -

Andy Gard (Acorn) 30lb 4oz.

 Winner Gabrial & myself.

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

    

Shiplate Farm Westpool Lake,

As the weather was nice and Shiplate Farm being on my doorstep a quick Phone call to fishery owner carol saw me booked in for there latest open match, Only 12 fishing today so Steve & Carol were paying the top two plus top silvers which made sense. After a nice free" cuppa and a chat with the rest draw time came seeing  me ending up on peg 13 towards the far end of the lake, Apart from the first 5 pegs the average with tight to the far bank is around 16mts but with no wind I chose to go and clear a swim as tight to the bank as I could get if need be.

 After pluming up I still had 2ft plus tight to the bank where I had cleared a gap so set up two rigs, one being my favourite chanti 4x12 and a Preston 4x10 PB1 to fish as shallow as a few inches as there is no such rule as how shallow you can fish as long as you don't use floating baits I had around 10inches of water tight against the bank towards the empty peg 12,

 

To my right I had the rope for the aerator at 4mts so chose to fish the bottom of the shelf this side in around 4ft of water with 6mm meat over meat and hemp,

Company today I had Andy Light on peg 14 and Andy France on 11 who I had a quid with for the fun of it, at the all in I cupped a palm full of hemp and 6mm meat onto the 4mt deeper swim to my left and threw a few cubes of meat down my right hand swim tight to the bank, I started the match Across on the deck with a cube of 6mm meat but after 45 mins of missed bites and a gugeon?" (Spelt wrong I know) I new things weren't right, By now both Andy's either side had a few fish a piece so I was already playing catch up, To early to try my inside lines I switched to the shallow rig set 6inches deep as tight to the far bank I could get with a 6mm cube of meat and began catapulting the same over the top, to start with I had a few 10oz chub and a couple of 2lb carp so at least I began to put something in the net, The next hour saw me add a couple of 4lb fish along with some more chub and from what I could see nobody was running away with it so all to play for. I did try my inside deeper swim with no luck by now the ducks had switched on to me feeding meat over  and had taken residence in my far bank swim" It wasn't a problem to start with but as the day went on they managed to pull the grass down off the bank meaning it ended up impossible for me to fish across without hooking something and not being able to get the rig in properly" I did manage to catch a few tight down my right hand edge again on the meat fished just off the bottom but after a couple of fish they soon spooked and I was left cursing the fact I couldn't catch a few more over, On the whistle I felt I was a few fish off of Andy who caught most of his fish over doing pretty much the same except for him feeding 6mm pellet over the top with meat on the hook, At the weigh-in I had 6lb odd of chub with 50lb of carp for my 56lb total, Andy was next to weigh and ended the day a couple of fish in front on 67lb and there was a few 50lb weights so a close match where a few fish made a difference,

 Andy France.

 

On the plus side I didn't lose anything today but it was a shame I couldn't use my far swim to pinch a couple more fish as Russ Pecker fresh from his pairs win at Whiteacres where they picked up over a £1000 between them (well done mate) nicked 2nd spot on the day with 59lb.  No coin back this weekend but its been nice to be able to go fishing at the moment and not to worry about the weather for a change, looking forward to spend some time on the River Huntspill in the next couple of months, Back to a bit of proper' fishing as far as my opinion goes, What a difference a bite from a skimmer can be to a hungry carp' For a start you have to hit those bites rather than worrying about losing your rod in the lake if your not looking!..  

 My catch.

Top silvers today went to Carl with 20lb odd of mainly skimmers and roach caught down the track on maggot,

 Carls Silvers Weight.

 Full results -

1st  Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 11, 67lb.

2nd Russ Peck (Thatchers Tackle) peg 7, 59lb.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 13, 56lb

4th Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 2 53lb.

Silvers -

Carl (Shiplate) peg 4, 20lb

 

               

   

Maver Match This Qualifier Viaduct Fishery.

Up early this morning as to try and not forget anything as with all lakes in there's a whole range of methods you can chose meaning it looked like my gear resembled everything but the kitchen sink" These matches are always popular with people traveling from all over the country hoping to grab the elusive spot in the £50,000 final at Larford Lakes.

 It was anybodys guess where the winner would come from but the talk was a corner pegs on any lake could be the place to be today as it was already hot and bright and with no wind the weights were expected to be lower than of late, At the draw I did managed to sneak in front off Fisho Mania Qualifier Kevin Dicks hoping the chances I could have his draw hand today'.

 I ended up on Cary Lake peg 101 which although wasn't the best of draws at least I had a bit of room to play with and the were already signs off fish swimming around towards the middle of the lake.

 After a chat with a few locals before the draw I got an idea as to what people had been catching on and based my attack around the more favoured meat and hard pellet approach, Setting up a straight lead rod and a waggler to fish towards the middle of the lake and a rig to fish at 5mts on the pole with meat in 4ft of water, Having plenty of time before the start all my rigs were made upon the bank today with proper line and floats (No place for a Chanti today) as these fish run to over 20lb in this lake and with 8lb fish being the norm'. Company wise I had local ace Fred Roberts on peg 102 and Polish Lad Ziggy on peg 100, At the all in I Cupped in some hemp and meat on the 5mt line and started on the straight lead and 10mm punched meat on the hook towards the middle of the lake choosing not to feed anything to start with.

It was a slow start for all I could see and it seemed to the lakes population of fish had chose to bask in the sun rather the think of feeding' A switch to punched polony still failed to produce and despite trying the waggler with 8mm pellet for a wile I was soon back on the lead and swapped to 11mm hard pellet on the hook. After 90mins I had my first fish of nearly 10lb but it was a bit of a false dawn as the lake was still fishing slow for most although a few fish were being caught further up the lake on pegs 97 & 98, I did think of getting the stalking rig out but the fish were swimming around much further than 16mts of pole would reach so that was a no go. A smaller fish of 5lb on the lead and pellet came in the next hour but apart from 1 fish foul hooked on the shallow waggler I couldn't seem to get it to produce today, The short 5mt meat line failed to produce a carp and from those I could see nobody seemed to get a bite on any short line, Ziggy had yet to catch a carp and Fred was also on two fish so we weren't setting the world alight but with £70 for every 6 peg section there was still the chance of winning my entry fee back at least, going into the last hour I chose to mould some paste around the pellet and try to keep it on whist casting and after missing a bite first cast I was wishing I had tried it sooner but again I had to sit and wait and it wasn't until the last 10mins I had another fish and being around 15lb I doubled my weight' As expected the section fished hard and with Fred ending with 4 carp to my 3 he was going to be favourite to take it and so it proved with his weight going 38lb to my 32lb.

 My 3 fish.

 

 Top weight on are lake was 115lb but most struggled due to the bright hot day which was not surprising, The Corner pegs everyone was talking about did seem to produce for some as Scott Russell from Tackle UK on corner peg 73 Lodge Lake went into the lead with a good weight on the day of 159lb,

Scott Russell. 

 

            We all had Scott Down as the winner but it wasn't until the last of the days weighs came in that he had been piped at the post be a weight of 170lb from end peg 135 on Cambell, I did feel for Scott as you don't get many chances of fishing a final for £50,000 but at least he had the Consolation of picking up a couple of hundred pounds on the day, I didn't get the guys name who won as it was a lot for fishery owners Steve and Paul to sort out after but well done to you anyway, Well not the best days fishing but the sun had put the fish off today and considering Fred fishes the place regularly I don't think there was much more we could of done to catch a few fish but that's fishing"      

   

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open,

With the weather being so nice for a change it was a last dash over to acorn for the Clevedon A.A open match on paddock lake, 12 fishing today which seems to be the same story on a Saturday at most fishery's which is a shame but never the less it meant the bonus peg was in today and after Andy France chose what peg it would be I told him I would be on it today and low and behold I drew it" peg 7, I drew this peg a few matches ago and had a few fish but today I really fancied it as the wind was blowing into peg 6 and with a nice ripple on the water I fancied to catch shallow and on the deck with hard 6mm pellet, Two rigs were made up to fish shallow at 2 and 3ft and a 4x14 rig for the deck in 5ft of water and another rig to fish at 10mts back towards peg 8 down the margin in 4ft of water, my faith was in hard pellet today so I started the match on the deck rig with a 6mm feeding 4mm over the top by hand, A couple of liners saw a switch to the 2ft rig but only one carp in 40mins and 3 roach" it wasn't looking good, Peg 6 was also struggling tho Glen Calvert on peg 9 was getting a few as was Lee Waller on peg 10 and the pegs on the island were doing well on the feeder to the far bank, I kept swapping between the deck rig and at different depths shallow but I just couldn't string anything together and my inside swim failed to produce a bite so I chose to switch tight over to the far bank at 13mts in 18inches of water with a soft 4mm expander as I couldn't get a bite on hard pellet and although I had the odd fish they didn't want to settle, I did have a disaster after hooking one though as I realised I hadn't put my top 5 on properly and no sooner had I noticed off it popped across the lake with the carp still attached!" Quick thinking saw me grab the landing net and pushed the net over the end section slowly easing it back towards the bank, It was working until I went to reach for it by my keepnet and it took off across the lake again" This time being out off reach I had no choice  but to take the plunge to everyone's delight' so made it worth wile by doing an attempted dive from on top of my seat box! Glen did score me 5/10 as the landing wasn't brill but I did manage to retrieve it along with the fish still attached".  I'm beginning to think I should of been born a mermaid as I seem to spend more time in the lake than on it! By now I had lost all interest to be honest and after last weeks disaster when the wife suggested we go out for the evening I called it a day with an hour to go, Team mate Glen's swim seemed to get better as the day went on and he did really well catching mainly on the deck with a stiff paste and was admitting to 80lb so I had him down as a sure fire winner although Lee Waller was getting a few late fish on peg 10 but I wasn't sure what was caught down the far end of the lake,

 Glen Calvert.

I certainly felt I got it wrong today ending up with around 30lb and felt I would of been better off fishing short into the wind with paste and although I'm not a lover of it I will be taking it to future matches for sure. I Agree with others though its sometimes good to have a bad day and make mistakes as you can learn a lot from it, And by taking an interest in what other anglers are doing to catch well can help you have a future

plan off attack rather than hoping something will happen. Off to Viaduct fishery next Saturday for the Maver Match This qualifier and at £50 a ticket and fishery pools its not a cheap day out Hoping for a good peg but will still attack where ever I draw as you never know what can happen, One things for sure I will be checking my sections are together properly".        

                  

Summerhayes Open.

A trip back to Summerhayes today  and with 25 fishing the match was spread over Sellicks and lily pool, I've only ever been on lily pool once so was hoping for a draw on Sellicks, Draw time was soon upon us and after drawing Sellicks peg 5 it wasn't an area I wanted as its the furthest distance peg on the lake to the far bank around 16mts plus and with the wind picking up I new it was going to be hard to present it properly and on plumming up I had 5ft of water as tight as I could reach to the far bank which I thought would spell trouble as far as foul hookers went so had a rig to fish up in the water should the need arise. Not going to explain the rest of the day as after 90mins my no.4 section had rolled of the platform I was perched on and with my spare being at home meant I was limited  to my top 3 only! I did have a carp of 4lb down the edge and a 1lb plus skimmer just past my keepnets but with a big black cloud on the horizon I chose to count my losses and call it a day before I got soaked, Pete has a lad who is going to have a look for it in the week and I hope he has the pleasure of finding it for me as I offered him a reward should he be lucky enough to retrieve it for me. A bad weekend for myself as I was meant to take a trip to Hillview yesterday but changed my mind as the forcast wasn't good in the area and I didn't fancy risking being lit up like an Christmas tree by the lightening whilst holding the pole"

Sometimes its best to have a weekend off now and again and something was telling me it should of been today" So by 13.30  I was packed up and back in the car to pick the wife up before heading to the pub for a couple of pints, I heard Tom Magnel won the match off peg 14 with 82lb after taking a trip to Viaduct and not drawing well so decided to grab a late draw here which worked out for him today.          

Acorn Individual League Final Round.

All to play for today as the league was very close with those who had a bad start creeping up the leader board after dropping there worst result.

 

After a nice breakfast at the on site café it was time for the draw and after Tuesdays match I was hoping to draw peg 40 again as I felt confident of catching well off of it shallow towards the bridge, As I picked out my peg I gave it a little rub praying it was my wanted number and low and behold it was" GOD is Certainly on my side at the moment! (Or so I thought).

When I arrived I decided to trim some vegetation from the inside bank towards the next pallet but disaster one happened and I didn't realise the bank sloped off and ended up to my knees in water! Owe well at least I new the depth without having to plum up hey".

All I set up today was two rigs to fish at different depths along the bridge being a 4x10 Chanti and a preston PB1 if they on a long line for swinging both on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook. The same rigs could be used tight to my inside bank where I planned to feed caster and fish worm over the top later in the day, And another rig to fish tight to the bank at 14mts around 6mts away from the bridge which happened to be a swim I trimmed out on Tuesday but didn't need to use although Bob Gullick did say I wouldn't need it as I would sack up from next to the bridge??.

 Nick Harvey, Myself, And Mark Broomsgrove on my bridge peg.

At the all in I cupped a palmfull of micro pellet and hemp across to the 14mt line tight to the bank and began in the middle of the bridge around 18inches deep with a banded 6mm pellet on the hook feeding the same, After 15 bite less mins I soon switched to the swinging rig to the far end of the bridge but again it failed to produce but I wasn't to worried as I didn't catch near the bridge to start with on Tuesday. I decided to try my 14mt line with corn on the hook to start as by now Andy France on peg 38 had 3 better fish from his similar line already, 

 Andy France.

   I soon switched to a 4mm expander pellet which gave me 2 carp of 2lb a piece before it slowed up and I re-fed the same before switching back to the bridge, By now we were 90mins into the match and I fully expected to be catching beside the bridge but after a chub, roach and an F1 it was telling me thing weren't the same as the last match and Ken Rayner on the opposite side of the bridge peg 6 was also struggling. I felt I was already falling behind as I could see others in my section had caught fish already so decided to go back on the 14mt line on the expander but cupping in a cadpot full of dampened micro and hemp over the top, This seemed to work and I had 5 better fish to 6lb on the trot before they wised up and I re-fed a larger amount and left it to settle again.

Back to the bridge and I couldn't believe I still couldn't muster a bite at any depth (How things can change in a few days").

Back to the long line rig near the end off the bridge also was a waste of time and I was beginning to wish I had another line trimmed across to my left at 16mts so I could drop in there when the 14mt line slowed but it wasn't to be and I had to make the most of the 14mt line as much as I could for the remainder of the match as my bridge swims gave me one carp all day" and I never had a bite down the edge where I had fed heavy with caster all day! At the all out I didn't have clue what weight I had but thought I might have around 45lb as I don't use a clicker or count my fish as I'd rather be thinking about catching my next one' Mark Broomsgrove on fancied peg 7 after its won two rounds of this series including the last match set the ball rolling with 64lb and after a 50lb and some high 40lbs I was hoping I had more than I thought to get good points and after two weighs I was pleased to end the match with 60lb meaning I finished second in the section behind Mark. My points results for the series read 10,9,9,9,7. and with my worst result 5 being dropped.

Back to the results and the man of the moment young Louis Jones over on peg 17 catch tight to the far bank between the bulrushes with paste on the hook to take the top weight of the series with 100lb picking up an extra £50.

 Winner Louis Jones.

 

It was still going to be close with the overall standings and after a good bit of working out and a well run series by Paul Faires & Chris Fox the final results showed that Mark Broomsgrove had taken the series with a total of 45pts (Although Mark Bartlett stood in for him on the first match and won his section with the points counting for mark!???) Shame Des Shipp was busy today or he could of fished my last match". Anyway 2nd spot went the way of Tom Thick and Myself on 44pts  although tom took it on weight advantage meaning I finished 3rd overall picking up £150 along with £40 for 2nd in the section on the day and another £40 cut from the knock-out which tom won and we agreed to do a 60/40 split on so a nice days result and a great end to the series, Bit disappointed to lose a couple of fish today which meant I lost the series by 4lb" but that's fishing and I will do it again next year if on again.

 Overall winner Mark Broomsgrove.

 Knock-Out Winner Tom Thick.

 Part Of my catch.

 

 

 

 

Full results on day -

1st Louis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 17, 100lb 9oz.

2nd Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 38, 80lb.

3rd Tom Thick (Thathers Tackle) peg 2, 77lb 10oz.

4th Bob Gullick (Blackmore Vale) 68lb 15oz.

Silvers -

Dave Wride  (Sensas Thyers) peg 16lb 6oz.

 

Overall league Results -

1st Mark Broomsgrove 45pts.

2nd Tom Thick 44pts (Weight)

3rd Dom Sullivan 44pts .

4th Louis Jones 43pts (weight)

5th Glen Calvert 43pts.

6th Pete Bartlett 42pts.

7th Andy France 41pts (weight)

8th Bob Gullick 41pts.

 Silvers -

1st Paul Faires 49pts.

2nd Charlie Barns 48pts. 

 Charlie with his envelope"