Summerhayes Open Sellicks & Lily Pool.

After missing the open at Viaduct fishery yesterday after spending most of Friday night up with a migraine I was keen to get back on the bank so managed to book in at summerhayes with Nick Harvey, After traveling down together for the later draw of 10am we weren't surprized to see another good turn out of 26 anglers meaning as normal the match would be spread over Sellicks and 9 pegs put on lily pool, And as normal I was praying for a peg on Sellicks as its been the better lake of late, After a few good draws down here I was disappointed to find myself on peg 4 lily pool and Nick didn't fair much better drawing peg 10 on the opposite bank but at least I could keep and eye on him for are usual quid, Having only ever drawn this lake once it was pretty alien to me as I had to cut my last visit short so it was a case of suck it and see, After arriving at my peg I had a bay to fish into on my right (After a case of severe gardening) and just open water in front of me so planed to concentrate on just 3 lines, One at 5mts in-front of me to fish meat where I could feed by hand using a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 12 Pr478 hook in 4ft of water, An identical rig to fish at 13mts into the bay about a metre from the bank at the same depth and an 4x10 chanti on 0.15-0.15 and an 18PR478 hook to fish tighter to the bank on my left at about 7mts in 3ft of water where I planned to fish worm or caster over loose fed casters, at the all in I cupped a whole 250mm pot of casters onto the 13mt line a smaller amount of casters and some dead reds maggots on the 7mt swim and began on the 5mt line with a single cube of meat cad potting around 10 cubes over the top and a few grains of corn, After 20mins I was still without a bite and from what I could see things were slow for most with only the odd fish caught except for Bruce Hunt on next peg 5 having small roach on the whip at regular intervals.

I fed a bit more meat onto the 5mt line and switched to the 13mt line into the bay with half a worm on the hook, Another 20mins and I was still without a fish so had a go on the shorter line nearer the bank with corn on the hook to start with. After an hour of the match gone I still hadn't caught, I wasn't getting worried but I felt I had to try and get something in the net and all the time I had been flicking the odd cubes of meat onto the 5mt line and had seen a few bubbles appear so switched back to it with double meat on the hook, The rig hardly settled before  a carp of 3lb was in the net so at least I was off the mark" Two more fish followed before they disappeared and I had to try my other lines again to let it settle but they just didn't seem to want to be in the bay as I couldn't muster a bite of either line? I had a re-think and decided to feed a good helping of meat and casters onto the 7mt line down the edge as the only thing I had caught on was meat so it made sense to feed some here as I had nothing to loose,

At the halfway point I was up to 6 carp for about 13lb all taken on the 5mt line with meat on the hook but I seemed to get a couple of quick bites then they would move off after you played one, maybe because of the bottom would be stirred up?

 This is how things stayed until the last hour when Harry Muir began to catch a few better fish down his inside on next peg 3 signalled to me to have another look on the swim tighter to the bank with double meat on the hook feeding a cad pot full of meat and slowly lowering the rig in over the top,

 I had a 3lb fish in seconds but missed the next bite and caused a right disturbance so topped it up with another helping of meat and caster, two smaller fish on the 5mt meat line and I had 20mins left and felt if I was going to latch into the some of the lakes larger fish it was going to be closer to the bank and I wasn't wrong with a fish of 7lb first put in and two more slightly smaller before the whistle! (If Only they had turned up earlier") as I had expected nobody on are lake had run away with it and their was 5 of us in are own mini" superpool who could see each other on are lake so it would be close to see who came out on top? When the scales Arrived the top weight was Nick Chedzoy on the fancied peg 2 and despite it being a bit of a rig trashing peg" with all the lily's did well to end up with 53lb odd, My 12 fish totalled 37lb odd before Bob Gullitt over on peg 8 pipped me for are superpool with 45lb. It turned out Sellicks hadn't fishd as well as expected and the were two anglers tying for top spot with 54lb, (Martin Addicott & Steve kedge) so yet again a few fish here and there made all the difference and the results were as close as they could be' 

top silvers went the way off Bruce Hunt with a whip caught 15lb of small roach,

A enjoyable day with the weather staying warm again for this time of the year, I'm on the Sedges brick lake next for an open next Saturday which is another lake I haven't fished for years before the first round of the popular viaduct silvers league starting next Sunday so a lot to look forward too.

Full results -

1st Martin Addicott (Summerhayes) peg 15 Sellicks, 54lb.

1st Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) peg 23 Sellicks, 54lb.

2nd Nick Chedzoy (Thatchers) peg 2 Lily Pool, 53lb 13oz.

3rd John Dursley (Enterprize Angling) peg 14 Sellicks, 52lb 2oz.

4th Bob Gullitt (Miracle Baits) peg 8 Lily pool, 45lb 11oz.

Silvers -

1st Bruce Hunt (Summerhayes) peg 5 Lily pool, 15lb

2nd Charlie Barns (Over 50's) peg 3 Sellicks, 11lb 12oz. 

 Joint Winners Martin & Steve.

 

       

 
                     

Emerald Pool Pleasure Session.

With My Saturday Silvers League On the horizon I Thought I would take a trip to emerald pool in West Huntpill, Somerset, To at least makes some rigs up ready and get a general idea as to how it was fishing, After a trip to Thyer's Tackle on route to pick up a couple of pints of caster and a few maggots and a breakfast with Simon Price Who was also fishing the league we made are way to the fishery, With the weather still being mild it was going to be interesting to see if we could get amongst the silvers through the large head of carp which also inhabit the lake and from the amount swimming around were still very active, We chose to fish two pegs on the far bank next to each other as there were other anglers pitched up on the car park bank, Going back to last years results this was the better area being slightly deeper at around 5ft as the lake shallows up to around half this depth at the far end. 

 

I planned to fish one line with expanders over micro pellet at around 9mts and caster over groundbait to my left on my top kit plus one section, I set up a 0.4g PB1 float on 0.13-0.11 with an 18 PR434 hook for the pellet line at 9mts and a 4x12 Chanti with the same line and hook and last of all a 3x8 Chanti on 0.11-010 to fish shallow with caster with a 20 PR434 hook, I started by cupping in two balls of fishmeal groundbait containing some casters and a small amount of chopped worm on my short line and started by feeding a small amount of micro pellet on the longer line and trying over the top with a 4mm expander, It wasn't long before I had a couple of small hybrids followed by 4 tench to a 1lb but it wasn't quick by any means, I had been flicking casters in by hand on the short line and after seeing a few swirls when I fed after 30mins on the longer line I decided to have a go on the shallow rig where I had been feeding with single caster on the hook, I was into fish straight away which were mainly rudd to 8oz but after a wile I began to catch some nice hybrids and skimmers up to a 1lb, by continually altering the depth I kept in contact with the fish for most of the day mainly catching between 2-3ft, I did try the longer line a few times when things went quiet and although I caught some more small tench and skimmers it was a lot slower so the shallow rig on the short line was the way to go, Interestingly despite trying the deck rig on the short line I couldn't catch on it" Simon had decided to try a meat, pellet and corn approach today and was confident enough after a few practice sessions on here to take me on for a £1, Well all I can say Is I was pretty much laughing after 15mins as he had successfully coxed the carp into playing BALL!" And after an hour of ribbing he proceeded to venture around to my swim and throw the quid into my keepnet which owner Alan Had kindly let us use for my blog" Well I've never seen a grown man throw in the towel so quick! lol. As it turned out I had know chance of retrieving it after taking my nets out as I finished with what we estimated to be around 70lb.

 A Great Day"

  Simon did also end up catching some fish shallow after I gave him some caster and did chuck £2 my way for the lesson" Joking aside he ended with 30lb odd which is still a great weight of just silvers with no F1's, Crusian or fantails" added to are nets,

 Simon not looking".

My good friend Darren Greenwood paid us a visit with his son Declan, Who was soon keen enough to have a go and happily managed a couple of nice skimmers (Much To Simons Disgust") To add to my nets So captured him in action.

 Declan and Dad".

 All in all I cant wait to get the league started and I'm sure we will all enjoy the cracking head of silver fish in this venue. Roll On".

 

 

            

   

Summerhayes Open Longs Lake.

After the usual breakfast at hilltops I made my way to the fishery in plenty of time for the 10am draw, Not surprized to see the numbers had gone up again to 27 anglers booked in, I had a quick look at Sellicks lake where Pete had a hose pipe running into peg 1 to top the level up a bit and saw this carp was happy to be in it!

  With the air temp lower now in the mornings I though the lake maybe a bit different than last time I fished it, I wasn't to worried about the where I would end up but hoped to avoid the lower numbers if possible as Pete the owner calls it cyanide Straight" for some reason? It wasn't to be and back to reality as I ended up on peg 3, Brian Shanks Had draw peg 2 and with peg 1 being empty I thought he would have a few fish,

Last time I was in this area I caught most of my fish tight over to the far bank on worm so made 2 x rigs up on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 PR36 hook using the new Drennan AS4 floats which have a spring eye and a thickish bristle ideal for the worm, my main concern was the water was down more than last time and I only had about 1ft tight to the bank'

 A 4x12 Chanti was used with the same line to fish down towards the pallet peg 4 where I planned to fish and feed meat,

I was even more concerned to find this was the deepest part of my peg so planned to use the same rig to fish in the open water at 13mts with maggot over micro pellet.

At the all in I cupped some meat and hemp a metre in-front the pallet and began with a worm on the hook tight across feeding some micro via a cad pot over the top, 15mins in and I was already getting worried as I hadn't had a sniff so switched to soft 4mm pellet on the hook which saw me have a fish first dob' A 1oz RUDD!'  By Now Brian had had a couple of skimmers and a small carp short on pellet but was also struggling as was everyone else I could see" A try on the 13mt line saw a crucian of 8oz a couple more small rudd so that was a no go, No signs on the meat line so it was back across to the far bank, Out of the blue I had a 3lb carp on the worm then nothing so it was frustrating to say the least' I had been pinging some 4mm hard pellet further across towards peg 4 and after a wile tried a swinging rig set 6inches deep over the top with a hard 6mm on the hook, a fish straight away of 3lb then I bumped one 5mins later and that was the end of that!

I would like to say things improved in the second half of the match but it just didn't happen" I Ended up with 6 carp for 14lb and 1lb of silvers despite trying allsorts though the match just to try and induce a bite! the two anglers below me chose not to trouble the scales and Brian also finished the day with 15lb and that was from a peg I did expect a few so to say it was hard is an understatement" Around the other side of the lake Bob Gullitt on peg 34 had a good day catching 30 small carp for 62lb which nearly doubled the weight of 2nd place Rob Wotton, Silvers went the way of Mark Broomsgrove from peg 32 with 13lb odd so it looks like all the fish were in this area" lol, A disappointing day for me and many others but that's the way it goes sometimes, I have fished this area in the middle of winter and had a few fish but it seemed devoid at times today.

 Winner Bob Gullitt.

 Silvers Winner Mark Broomsgrove.

 

                                                               Full Results -

1st Bob Gullitt (Blackmore Vale M.G) peg 34, 62lb 13oz.

2nd Rod Wotton (Clevedon.A.A) peg 18, 31lb 9oz.

3rd Alvin Jones (Alvin Car Care) peg 27, 26lb 10oz.

4th Kev Perry (Sensas Thyers) peg 9, 26lb 5oz.

5th Andy Hembrow (ClevedonA.A.) peg 8, 25lb 13oz.

                                                                   Silvers -

1st Mark Broomsgrove (Sensas Thyers) peg 32, 13lb 11oz.

2nd Nigel Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 33, 10lb 3oz. 

               

Summerhayes Wednesday Open.

After being able to have the chance of getting to Summerhayes again today for there mid week match I couldn't miss the opportunity so after the usual breakfast at hilltops with Gabriel who also had the chance to fish we made are way there, Again this is proving popular with 23 fishing again which cant be knocked for a Wednesday, The match was to be spread over Sellicks and Lily pool again and as usual I was hoping for a draw on Sellicks, I wasn't at all disappointed to find myself on the lake I wanted and end peg 23" Fabio had draw it last week and caught a few only for his nets to slip back in and him not weighing-in! After a brief chat with him and Carl who had pleasure fished the peg yesterday I had some idea as what to go on although I do like to approach a peg as I see fit on the day to start with.

Tony Rixon had draw the peg I had last weds so I expected him to do well as well as Lee (Peanut) who had managed to draw the same peg on Lily pool as he had on his first visit on Sunday so I had to be on the ball today. It was 14mts to the point of the island were I planned to fish really shallow with hard pellet over loose fed 6mm pellet so had a rig set up on a longer line to swing over so the pole wasn't over there heads so much, being a preston PB1 float on 0.15-0.14 and a hair rig hook set up, I plumed a swim to fish further along the bank towards peg 22 which was empty but with the level down a bit it was only about 6inches deep tight to the bank so I came away a bit and found around a 1ft were I would start with soft pellet on a 4x10 Chanti on 0.14-0.12 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook, My normal 5mt line for the meat with a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 PR478. My last line was the same as above tackle wise but to fish down towards the empty pallet again with meat but the water was really shallow so I was around 4ft in front of it were I found a nice flat spot around 3ft deep.

I cupped a handful of meat and hemp onto the 5mt and pallet (ish) line and began to catty a few 6mm to the point and began in the 1ft deep swim towards the next peg feeding some micros via a cad pot and a 6mm expander on the hook , After 10mins I new it was all wrong as I had fish swirling behind the rig which would be a recipe for foul hookers if I carried on so was soon on the swinging rig off the point of the island with a 6mm hair rigger pellet where I had been feeding and after 5mins I had a 4lb fish so was off the blocks" I had already noticed that the fish were very sly and spooked easily, After the 2hr mark I estimated I had around 28lb and could see Mark Lehay down on peg 15 was catching a few but felt I was doing ok, All the time I was feeding meat on the 5mt line by hand and cupping larger pots down to the pallet swim, Well I was" until the angler next door decided to start feeding around 1mt from were I was with allsorts" Rather than go to the empty pallet below HIM!" Mmmm? I had a try on the 5mt line without success so had to try back towards the point, The problem I had was there was a snag around the point towards peg 1 and the fish seemed happy to lie their picking off the odd pellet that was fired in I found if I didn't keep the bait moving I didn't get a response but I couldn't keep them interested for two long , I had tried at 14mts were I had began cattying some meat and trying shallow over the top and had 1 Rudd so that was pointless and with the 5mt being none productive and the pallet swim  OUT OF BOUNDS" I had noticed signs of fish were I started the match tight into the bank picking off odd pellet I had been flicking over with the catty, I decided to try the swinging rig around 4inches deep over the top.

First put-in I had a 4lb fish then nothing as I was so shallow so continued to flick pellets onto both far lines switching between the two, Going into the last hour the sun had moved around to were I had began the day with more fish showing tight to the bank, With the 5mt line being to slow just resulting in one 5lb fish I finished the match catching the odd fish across of both swims and thought I had around 50-60lb but had no idea what had been caught else where? Tony Was first to way as far as carp went and didn't disappoint putting a great 92lb on the scales catching tight to the far bank with pellet also on long line rig, Elsewhere there were a couple of 70lb weights with Lee gain taking top spot off of lily pool with 76lb, Being the last to weigh I was hoping for a little more than my estimate finishing the day just out of the money in 6th place, Yet again a couple of fish for the placing's made it tight and for me its the 3rd match on the trot its made a difference but that's fishing and that's what this venue always seems to produce which is good knowing it pays never to give up until that final whistle. Fellow Blogger Tony  was top of the weights today so its good to see I primed the peg for him from last week" And If I hadn't forgot the camera again today he would of had a nice pic on here, Well? If my zoom lens went wide enough that is!" lol, Top silvers weight of the day went the way of old timer Charlie Barns with 15lb odd which is great to see so well done mate, Its looking like I going to make my last visit here on Sunday for a while for a match on longs lake as the Viaduct Silvers league starts soon so want to have some time there to begin with.

                                                       Full Results -

1st Tony Rixon  (Avon Angling/Mosella) peg 3 Sellicks, 92lb 15oz.

2nd Andy Hembrow  (Clevedon.A.A) peg 8 Sellicks, 77lb.

3rd Lee Pestico (Mosella) peg 2 Lily pool, 76lb.

4th Mark Lehay (Summerhayes) peg 15 Sellicks, 72lb 11oz.

5th Martin Addicott (Summerhayes) peg 14 Lily pool, 71lb 6oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 23 Sellicks, 69lb 4oz.

                                                            Silvers Results -

1st Charlie Barns (Over 50's) Peg 3 Lily Pool, 15lb 13oz.

2nd Gary Butler (Summerhayes) peg 1 Sellicks, 14lb 7oz.       

                        

Summerhayes Open Sellicks & Lily Pool.

After the usual tasty breakfast at hilltops and a chat with some fellow anglers I was asked the reason why I have been making regular trips to the venue of late is the main fact there are always 20 or so fishing every week which In my eyes is a good turnout considering the amount of single matches spread around the area most Sundays and it makes it a bit more competition which is what its all about isn't it"

Arriving in plenty of time for the 10am draw I had a chat with Giles Cochrane & traveling partner lee who have been cleaning up of late anywhere they have been so its good to have some new faces, Their were 23 fishing today meaning there would be an overspill of 8 pegs on Lily pool and the rest on Sellicks, I was hoping for a peg on Sellicks myself and wasn't disappointed when I pulled Sellicks peg 14 which has been a good area of late, The only trouble is the peg holds so many options" I had a nice far bank at 14mts with a depth of around 2ft where I was to fish two lines one with meat and one with micro,

 rig wise I used a 0.3g rig on 0.15-0.13 and an 18 wide gape pellet, A 4x12 Chanti to fish meat At 5mts on the same line with an 16 PR478 hook, My last rig was to fish shallow towards the Lily's on my left which kited all the way back to the bank between and Carl on peg 15 which could be interesting!

 On the all in I cupped a palmful of hemp and meat onto the 5mt line, fed a small amount of micro on to one far line to fish 4mm expander over the top although I wasn't going to put my faith in them to much today with it still being warm I felt there were still a few fish to catch so put more faith in starting with 6mm meat across cad potting a few cubes over the top. I had my first fish after about 10mins of around 2lb followed by a few of the same size over the space of the next hour and from what I could see that was doing ok apart from Jim Jenner On corner Bonus peg 12 who had 11 empty to help, Carl had began to draw the attention of a few slurpers on his long line by firing pellet over the top but was suffering foul hookers and after a few false bites followed bow waves from my far line I shallowed up to half depth to try and temp some but the spooked to easy so went back to fishing on the deck cupping I larger amounts of meat via the cad pot and waiting for bites. After 2hrs or so I had 10 carp but the last two were only a 1lb each so it was time to change, I had a go on the shallow line to start with near to the lily's and had a 4lb fish first dob followed by a bigger one which I managed to get out of the pads only for it to snag me in open water at 7mts but I did manage to get my rig back'. After all the commotion the carp had said balls to this" and retreated back under the pads in safety..!

I had been flicking a few bits of meat onto the 5mt line and down both edges which were really shallow but already had signs of interest by swirls coming up, I decided to give it a go with the rig set 12inches deep to my right hand edge at 6mts.

 

I had a couple of small carp and a couple of 3lb fish quite quick before I had to rest it being so shallow all the way back to a small island on my left, I had started to see signs of fish tight to the bank between my pallet and the lily's on my right which was mad land" as far as getting them out would go but I couldn't resist!

  

WELL! No sooner had the rig hit the water I didn't have time to react and before I new it the elastic was through the pads resulting in a new hooklengh. At Least I had two inside swims with fish present so began to pinch fish of each when I saw signs except it was like a work of art watching me steer then away from my inside lily swim but ended up with me snapping a no.4 section so just fished my top kit but that was bad enough!  I had been feeding the 5mt line at regular intervals throughout the day and going into the last ninety minutes I managed to catch a couple of 4lb fish but was missing the odd bite so swapped between the 3 short swims up to the whistle catching regular fish off each in the last 30mins. Jim Had Managed to catch some bigger fish through the day so I new from what I could see he was the man to beat although Martin Addicott Had been catching all day from peg 1 on are lake from word on the bank but I had no idea what Lily Pool had Produced. Martin was first to way and put a good 81lb on the scales and after a few more slightly lower weights the scales went on to lily pool and first up was welsh lad Lee (Peanut) on peg 2 who took the lead with 84lb catching down towards the next pallet on worm or dead maggot, Back to are lake and it was still top weight, first up was Jim on peg 12 who put 69lb on the sheet, Ray Wickham Had 9lb of silvers from peg 13 before it was my turn and I was pleased to end up with 81lb piping Martin in to second by 10oz but the weighs were close and yet again a couple of fish made the difference and I only needed one more but I've had a good enjoyable weekend and added another £50 quid to the wallet. Well done to lee for winning on his first visit to the venue which proves fishing to your strengths can work in your favour and try to approach a venue with an open mind rather than put all your eggs in one basket.

 I took a photo of winner Lee but I think he nodded off due his day on the sauce yesterday"?  

Top Silvers went the way of Glyn Wickham with 17lb from peg 3 on Sellicks with fellow blogger Jamie Rich with 13lb from peg 21 Sellicks, Back to Work Tomorrow which is always hard to adjust to but at least we picked the right week weather wise with some good matches and days out along the way.

Full Results -

1st Lee (Peanut) (Mosella) peg 2 Lily Pool, 84lb 9oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 14 Sellicks, 81lb 15oz.

3rd Martin Addicot (Summerhayes) peg 1 Sellicks, 81lb 5oz.

4th Geoff Sparks (Summerhayes) peg 5 Sellicks, 69lb 9oz.

5th Jim Jenner (The Sedges) peg 12 Sellicks, 69lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 3 Sellicks, 17lb 8oz.

2nd Jamie Rich (Against men and fish/ Burt Baits) peg 21 Sellicks, 13lb 2oz.

 

  

   

 

     

         

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open.

I was going to have another day pleasure fishing but with the forecast to be nice I decided to take a trip to acorn to hopefully have another pop at the silvers if the draw was in my favour? Their were 11 fishing today with a few more new welsh lads coming over to have a crack at the venue, The Bonus peg was in today and for a extra quid it was worth the chance, I let Rob Hadley draw for me today as I was holding the bag at the time and I was thankful when I ended up on peg 20 which just so happened to be the BONUS PEG", Change of plan then as I would now fish for the win for the extra cash would be a bonus if results went my way.

Most fish lately have been taken down the edge over lots of groundbait but I didn't have that much with me so straight away my inside option was to feed hard 4mm pellet down the edge to draw some fish in later in the day, With the conditions being ideal my main line off attack was a few swims over to the far bank where I set up an 0.1g AS1 float on 0.15-0.13 and an 18 pellet hook to fish in around 2ft of water, My inside rig was around the same depth were I set up an 0.6 gram rig on 0.15 on a 18 PR478 hook. For company I had Brian Healey and Mark Walsh for company who both wanted to take me on for a nugget' so I couldn't refuse! lol, At the all in I cupped some corn and hemp tight to the bank on my left towards the empty pallet and began feeding my inside right margin by hand with pellet, I fed one of the far lines again with a bit of hemp and a few grains of corn and began the match fishing a 6mm expander over dampend micro fed via a tosspot, I thought this would give me a few fish early and I wasn't wrong having a 4lb carp first put-in, the first hour went to plan and by starting a new pellet swim further along the bank and by swapping between the two I kept the fish coming and on the 2hr mark I estimated to have around 50lb odd, Things were beginning to slow a little but by now others had switched lines but weren't catching much from what I could see so I felt it best to try and keep fish coming off the far bank as long as possible.

A few things I did pick up on was as soon as the fish showed signs of coming up in the water a added a few hard 4mms to the swim which seemed to keep them routing around on the deck, I did try hard pellet on the hook but without success as well as trying the corn line which only produced I fish after 5mins, I managed to catch a couple of fish down the margin I had been feeding by hand but they wouldn't settle and time seemed to be wasted trying to temp them so most of the match was spend over on the far bank on the 6mm expander but I was getting frustrated at the end of the match as yet again I had a job to keep them on the hook" By the end of the match I thought I had around 115lb but could see a few others had been catching well later in the day so it was all to play for, Top weight on the far bank opposite was 114lb from peg 34 before it was my turn, After 3 weighs my total went 138lb odd to take the lead, Brian never bothered the scales meaning I had won a quid and when walshy weighed 52lb odd  I was another nugget better off" Next to trouble the scales was Shaun Wilson on fancied peg 10 who also had 3 carp weighs and added to his silvers ended the day just short with 124lb odd, meaning it was up to Barry Council on peg 7 to upset the apple cart but it wasn't to be and I managed to take top spot on the day adding another £32 from the bonus peg to the £30 winnings not a great deal but a few quid never the less and I bet I didn't use more than £4 quid's worth of bait all day'  A good match all-round for me today and although the fish anywhere near the bridges tend to be of slightly smaller stamp making the decision to catch what I could for as long as possible paid off to good affect. Silvers went the way of Andy Gard  from peg 1 with 21lb odd.

 A few of my Fish.

 Runner-up Shaun Wilson.

 Silvers Winner Andy Gard.

 Barry Council.

High light of the day had to be after the draw when we went to set up it started raining and to make matters worse apart from my bib & brace all I had on was a t-shirt" After rummaging around in the car all I could find was an old dressing gown which was for the dog to lie on but I had no choice but to put it on whilst I tackled up much to the laughter of others with shouts of Steptoe ringing out but thankfully I had stopped before the all in so it gave me chance to dry it out"

 

Full results -

 1st Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) Peg 20, 138lb 8oz.

2nd Shaun Wilson (Cwmbran Nobblers) peg 10, 124lb 12oz.

3rd Craig Challengworth (Wales) peg 34, 114lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Andy Gard (Acorn) peg 1, 21lb 4oz.

 

 

                  

Summerhayes Rover Match All Lakes.

A match with a slight difference for a change and with a preliminary draw to see which choice order you would pick your peg, After a brief visit to Thyers tackle for a few bits ( which is now back under the realm of Jeff reasons which is nice to see ) The wife and myself made are way to the fishery to be greeted with a good turn out again of 25 Anglers so it proves how popular this fishery is becoming and there were some well know names to boot' Before the draw owner Pete said who ever had drawn choice 3 would also be on the bonus peg and you couldn't believe the amazement on my face when it turned out to be me! Not to complicate things I opted for a swim on Sellicks lake, Peg 3"! , Though it wouldn't of been my first choice as I fancied peg 11 on the same lake but Pete said at the draw you have to have an empty peg between each Angler and after venue regular Steve kedge had drawn second choice he went for peg 12 meaning 11 couldn't be fished".. 

Still happy with my choice as a couple of matches ago I had caught well fishing to the far bank on expander from next door peg 2 so that was to be my first line of attack with a 0.1g AS1 float on 0.15-0.13 and an 16 808 hook, I chose 3 different areas across so I could switch between them if need be,

 I wanted to try not to complicate things so made a 4x12 Chanti on the same line with a 16 PR478 hook  to fish down in front of the empty pallet peg 4 in around 4ft of water,

And I would also use this rig to fish 5mts in-front of me were I would feed 6mm meat by hand as the depth was quite similar. 

At the all-in I cupped a good handful of 6mm meat and hemp down to the pallet and cupped a dozen cubes of the same onto one of my far bank swims and some micro onto another far swim, starting with a 6mm expander on the hook I took 5mins to get a sign but the pellets had pumped up to soft and my preferred 4mm had gone to mush" ( why are no two bags the same! ) I was soon onto the other line with a cube of meat but it just wasn't happening and apart from a few dinks followed by a bow wave I had to try something else as 45mins had passed and I was fish less, I decided to get a rig out on a longer line to swing around into the bay, whilst I was setting it up I had noticed a couple of carp under the surface towards peg 2 so had a quick swing here and had a 6lb common seconds after the bait hit the water! Nothing followed so after topping up my pallet swim and continuing to trickle so meat onto the 5mt line I went out into the bay at 16mts where I had been pinging the odd cube of meat, no bite followed were I had been feeding but when I dropped the rig closer into the corner I had a fish of 3lb before I started to get pestered by small rudd" The fish seemed to disappear with the pole over there heads and after 3hrs I was really struggling with 3 carp and a skimmer which was strange as only a couple of weeks ago I had 13 fish in 2hrs in the same area.

I decided if I was going to start catching it would have to be on the shorter lines, I had a look down by the pallet to start with and had a 4lb fish and a 2lb skimmer in ten minutes before I hooked a bigger fish which took me straight under the pallet into a snag' meaning I had to pull for a break losing the whole rig! DAM IT..! I re-fed the swim with another pot and attached a new rig this time trying the 5mt meat line. I was surprized again to catch two nice skimmers on single meat before another 4lb carp was added, Another look back down in-front of the pallet saw me lose ANOTHER RIG" in the same snag so I re-plumed further down the slope around 2ft from the pallet giving me time to steer them way, Apart from trying the far bank without success a few more times though-out the rest of the match I spent the rest of the day fishing the meat on the 5mt line and down to the pallet swim, Going into the last hour I was catching quite well off both lines with more skimmers showing on the 5mt line

 

 

and the odd better carp down the edge, At the weigh-in that man again Giles Cochrane is having a great run at the moment leading the weights from peg 21 Long lake Catching on worm with 76lb, I was first to weigh and after my silvers went 11lb odd and my carp 58lb I had gone into 2nd place for the time being with 68lb after a few more weighs it was close between a few anglers Steve kedge on his chosen peg 12 did well again putting 71lb on the scales, The last to weigh was Phil (Fabio) Harding on peg 23, Or so we thought" It turned out he hadn't secured his nets (JUST WAT GABS DID"!) and they had slipped back into the lake resulting in him losing most of his fish and deciding not to weigh! Another one who wont do that again" So with this case I managed to end the day in 3rd place just a couple of fish short of the BONUS PRIZE" but I didn't quite get it right at the start which cost me dearly so I will make sure I have good 4mm expanders with me next time but still managed to add £44 to the wallet, All in all the match was a close affair though and apart from those on lily pool not having quite so many fish a few anglers could have taken the spoils.

 My Catch.

 

Overall Results -

1st Giles Cochrane (Newport) peg 21 Longs Lake, 76lb.

2nd Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) Peg 12 Sellicks Lake, 71lb.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 3 Sellicks Lake, 68lb 6oz.

4th Stewart B (Summerhayes) peg 2 lilypool, 66lb 4oz.

5th Ron Hardiman (Avon Angling) peg 18 Long lake, 65lb 5oz.

6th Mark Hannon (Somerset Angling) peg 8 Sellicks, 64lb 3oz.

Silvers -

Gary (Summerhayes) peg 6 Willow Pool, 20lb 14oz.

John Bradford (Avon Angling) peg 3 Willow Pool, 13lb 9oz.

(Here's me with a few spare nets!")

 

   

                                                    

         

         

Acorn Fishery Tuesday Tenner.

Having the week free from work the plan was for the wife to have a dabble on this match and fish for the silvers but after having nail extensions added a few days ago I didn't think she would appreciate having them coated in chop worm and caster" So I was down to me to have a try for them as I fancied a change from chasing carp around. With 17 fishing it was a good turn out for a Tuesday so I let the wife draw to see which peg she would of chosen but wasn't best pleased to find out I had managed to end up on bridge peg 33, Another peg I cant seem to get away from' And not rated as an area to target silvers as Paul Faires had drawn it last week and told me it wasn't worth going for them but I had already made my mind up to have a try and see what happens.

Keeping it simple I had a rig to fish straight in-front of me at 10mts being a 0.5g on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 808 hook in 5ft of water, the same rig would be used to fish to my right at the bottom of the near shelf  where the depth was only slightly shallower, I did have another rig to fish close to the bank between myself and the bridge as I had a few big tench last time I was here when I was targeting the carp. Company wise I had Harry Muir on peg 34 the other side of the bridge and Andy Gard who also targets the silvers a couple of pegs to my right.

At the all in I cupped a dampend ball of micro pellets on the 10mt line and fed a couple of nuggets of chop worm and caster in fishmeal groundbait onto the short line, Starting with a 4mm expander on the hook I had a bite first put in from a 6oz skimmer, followed by one of similar size the next try but then it was hard to temp a bite although with the lakes carp looking like they were going to play an active part I wasn't to surprized, After topping up with another ball I tried the shorter line with a small piece of worm, Again a couple of quick fish and the same pattern emerged with signs of carp blowing on both lines, It didn't take me long to start connecting to a few which wasn't planned but couldn't be avoided so I stuck at it and rotated lines pinching the odd skimmer before hooking a carp and swapping lines, I was warned it wasn't the best area to target them but I did enjoy the change.

 My Silvers.

I ended the day with 17lb of all skimmers taken on soft pellet of bits of worm over g.bait and caster but got bullied out totally in the end by carp adding 60lb of them to my total" Though I did have to give harry a ribbing as he had fished for them all-day next to me but my total still beat him" As expected the favoured pegs on the straight were best for the silvers with Dave Wride coming out on top with 27lb of skimmers all on the soft pellet. Overall the Welsh boys dominated proceedings again with the groundbait and maggot approach in the margins and Giles Cochrane came out on top again with 185lb from peg 19.

Full result - 

1st Giles Cochrane, (Newport) peg 19, 185lb.

2nd Lee (Peanut), (Mosella) peg 38, 172lb.

3rd Gabriel Skarba (Un-attached) peg 1, 104lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Dave Wride (Thyers) peg 15, 27lb 4oz.    

     

 Winner Giles Cochrane.

 

Shiplate Farm Hawthorns & Westpool

After a last minute change of plan I ended up on the list for the latest Shiplate Farm open match on the canal lakes, With 21 fishing I was hoping for a draw on hawthorns as I had forgot my trolley and despite managing to borrow an old one off owner Steve but the problem was it had two flat tyres' And after loading my kit on it I couldn't shift it! At the draw I couldn't of ended any further away ending up on peg 11 Westpool, Tich Williams came to my rescue and lent me his trolley after dropping his kit off at an early draw on hawthorns, Which I must say has to be one of the easiest trolleys I have used being the preston shuttle 4 wheeled model,

When I arrived at my peg I new it was a long way over to the far bank which I must admit I wasn't keen on holding all day so was putting my faith in catching tight to the near bank as Steve had done a good job of trimming back through the week and a meat swim around 5 mts. I did plan to fish over to the far bank to start the day and after assembling a 0.03g dibber style rig which I could see easily  on 0.15-0.13 and an 18 where I had about 2ft of water. tight to the bank I planed to fish maggot over groundbait in 12inches of water with a heavier 0.06g rig with the same line and hook so it sat tight to the bank without it being waffed around by feeding fish?? My final meat rig was a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and again an 18 PR478. Company wise I had young Lewis Jones on peg 12 who likes to fish over as tight as he can get and John Hawkins on peg 10 who is known to target silvers.

At the all in I cupped in a pot of meat and hemp onto the 5mt line and two cups of dampened groundbait tight to the bank on my left, I started the match right across at 16mts,

 This is where my first problems occurred as I was soon adding my mini-x extension on the end of the 16mt section to allow me to get tighter still to the far bank as Lewis had already taken around 5 carp on soft pellet touching the far bank although it wasn't quite as far over as my swim and after 10 minutes of trying and a carp of 4oz on meat I was already losing interest, I could see the pegs further down from me seemed to also be catching well so it was change of plan time and I decided to change tack and switch to targeting silvers with what bait I had. Using the same rig I had assembled to fish meat at 5mts I plumed up at the bottom of the far shelf at 13mts and fed a ball of damped micro and a few dead maggots added, with 3 dead red on the hook I had a couple of 6oz skimmers and some small roach before my next problem occurred, What was left of the vegetation which had blow into the lake along with a large film of scum had decided to pitch itself in front of me and Julian meaning neither of us could ship a rig out without catching up on something" Terrific!.. After moving to and throw for the next couple of hours nothing was simple and it was really frustrating, The pegs below me continued to catch carp across and by now Julian was temping a few silvers close in on caster (Which I didn't have") so felt I was on the end of a losing game today so decided to count my loses and switch to fishing meat on the 5mt line for the last 90mins, After a fish first chuck of 4lb closely followed by one of similar size I was thinking perhaps I should of tried it earlier, Ending the match with 42lb odd of carp and just short of silvers it just wasn't to be today but you always learn, Lewis stuck it out right over all day to finish up with 70lb odd but below him Dave Coco on end peg 15 taking top weight of the day with 98lb catching on meat down his edge, closely followed by Andy France on peg 13 with 94lb, Silvers went to Jonny Page On peg 2 Westpool with 13lb odd and the top weight from Hawthorns went the way of Mr venue consistence Steve Howell from another flyer' Peg 1" with 70lb, And Gorden Jones taking the lakes silvers with 10lb odd.

 Winner Dave Coco.