Viaduct Fishery Thursday Cost-Cutter.

Traveling alone today I gave myself enough time to stop off for breakfast or should I say I would have done had I checked the opening times at the Albion Truckstop as they weren't open till 10am today". It was a case of a Londis cold breakfast roll for me then! Arriving in plenty of time for a brew & a wander around the conditions looked ideal but the forecast of a weather front moving in could change things. A good turn-out of 26 today so the match was to be spread over Cambell with 9 peg on Cary, Into the draw & I found myself on peg 86 Cary which I was happy with as I wanted to fish for the carp today & have a change from the silver's & this can be a good area to target them. The only issue I could see being a problem as the bank between Cambell & Cary was left open to pleasure angler's who can also use pellet's but you cant use them in matches at this time of the year so it would be interesting to see if it made a difference?.

I had a simple plan off attack, One waggler rod set up with a loaded version to fish dead depth if possible with corn over loose fed corn & my Elite 11ft feeder rod to fish a straight lead out into the middle of the lake with either meat or corn hair-rigged. For company I had this years Fisho Mania finalist Roland Lucas next to me on peg 85 who has been doing well of late on the corn & Ben Hagg over on peg 96 who would be casting to the same area as me? I started the day on the bomb with meat on the hook with just a gentle cast to start with but after no signs or liners I put on a bigger lead to cast further out into the lake, The guy on peg 88 had a decent carp after 20mins & soon after Ben Netted one, After 50mins I had my first un-missible" bite & netted a near 9lb fish. Soon after I had a smaller 5lb fish then the next 20mins saw me add two beast' size fish!" All was going well & I was already beginning to think a big weight was on the cards as I estimated on near 50lb in the net in 45mins", Nope! it didn't matter what I put on the hook I just couldn't get a response off of the carp, Roland had netted one & Ben had added another but now everyone was struggling to get a response. The wind as expect had now picked up as the skies blackened which put pay to trying the waggler but I decided to give the bomb & corn over the top where I had been pinging a bit of corn. I had a skimmer over 2lb after 5mins but that was it so was back to chucking further out again.

I Had another 2lb+ skimmer on punched meat but most of the time it was just a case of watching a motionless tip after such a good start" It later turned out that the pleasure angers further down had caught a few so we had it in are heads the fish had responded to their pellet approach, The rest of the match was a real struggle for all of us & it wasn't until the last 5mins I hooked & landed another carp of around 4lb & oddly enough Roland also hooked one with a few minutes remaining, When the scales arrived the top weight on are lake was 44lb odd, My 5 carp went 53lb & my 2 big skimmers gave me another 5lb for a 58lb total to win the Lake but I had heard that a few fish were being caught on Cambell so I would have to wait & see. Back at the results & it turned out Adrian Jefferies on corner peg 110 Cambell had a good day catching on meat down the edge & Corn on the bomb further along the end bank for a total of 132lb odd so well done mate, On the opposite bank to him their were some good back-up weights & just as I was thinking it wouldn't be a day for picking up it turned out Scott Puddy had won the silvers overall so I picked up the 4th place monies by default, It wasn't much being a cost cutter match being £15 but at least I got my money back. Off for a few days holiday in the morning with the lovely wife so wishing you all a happy & prosperous new year & I'le be back on the bank sometime next week.

Full Results -

1st Adrian Jefferies (Avon Angling) peg 110 Cambell, 132lb 3oz.

2nd Rob Eagle (Langport HLS) peg 129 Cambell, 93lb 6oz.

3rd Gary O'Shea (P.I.Thatchers) peg 130, 87lb 1oz.

4th Scott Puddy (Landsend Fishery, peg 116 Cambell, 66lb 2oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 86 Cary, 58lb 4oz.

6th Colin Sandford (Langport) peg 112 Cambell,53lb 4oz.

Silvers - 1st Scott Puddy - Peg 116 Cambell, 13lb 4oz.

                 

Viaduct Silvers Only Pairs (Day 2).

Back to Viaduct for the 2nd day of this two day pairs event & after both Donald & Myself both having section wins Yesterday & sitting joint top after day one we were keen to do are best today. We did manage a nice breakfast at The Albion Truck-stop on route which was a god send after yesterdays dire Mc'Donalds", Just for the record this Truckstop is going to open for breakfast for the Viaduct teams of 5 starting in mid January if there will be a minimum attendance of 10 anglers, you have to pass it if your exiting the motorway from junction 23 to the Fishery following the main road so worth keeping in mind & if anyone would like to use it can you let them or myself know please. It was my turn for Cambell Lake today with the chance of being in the section on lodge lake & Don's turn for spring lake with a section on middle, I was half hoping to draw on lodge lake as I thought the section would be the fairest weight wise?.

Into the draw & I found myself on peg 119 Cambell in the corner of the lake & Don ended up on peg 2 on spring which was a fancied area, Mark Harper drew my peg yesterday & won the section with the bulk of his catch coming down the edge close to the bank at 5mts but today was a lot brighter & after peg producing here yesterday I wasn't so sure it would be as good today?

I had Bobby Gullick next to me on peg 118 Which was the first peg in the section with the rest of it on the opposite bank down to peg 126 so things weren't going to be easy' I started by pluming a line up at 10mts but it didn't seem right as I was only level with bobby's short line being set further back,

 But I planned to start the day here whilst building my other lines up so set up a 0.2g AS1 on 0.10-0.09 and an 18 PR412 hook were it was around 4ft deep, Next up was a 0.3g pencil float on the same line with an 18 PR434 hook to fish two lines left & right at 14mts + where the depth was pretty uniform again at around 4ft.

Last up was a 4x10 & 4x8 Chanti to fish along the inside edge one with an 18 808 & the other an 18 PR412 both on 0.12-0.10.

I started the day feeding One ball of ground-bait & pinkie's at 10mts, Fed 4 balls with casters & a few dead red maggots at 14mts to my right & 2 balls with chopped worm & Red Squatt at 14mts left. Starting on the 10mt line with a dead red maggot on the hook whilst feeding a few casters by hand down the edge I took a couple of blip" roach before bumping off a proper fish after 15mins, It didn't help with bobby already getting the better start buy taking a bonus 3lb tench off his short bits' line' after a couple more blips I was getting nowhere so it was time to try down the edge starting on single caster, First dob-in I was pleased to hook a better fish which turned out to be a 1lb perch' followed by a 6oz fish soon after but then I couldn't buy a bite there so it was time to have a look on the longer lines as we were already over an hour into the match.

I started to the right with double dead red on the hook but only had 2 small roach after 10mins so switched to the left hand swim with a small segment of worm on the hook. I had an 8oz skimmers after a couple of minutes but that was it for now so had another quick look down the edge, A couple of 2oz roach were soon added but then nothing again which seemed to be the pattern & already I was finding things hard'. Bobby had managed a couple of skimmers to a 1lb on the long pole & things weren't going to pan for me at this stage so switched back to the left hand long line with caster on the hook but decided to loose fed some casters over the top with the catty to try & trigger a response. I did seem to work for a while as I took three 8oz skimmers on the trot but it didn't last as I was back to catching next to nothing, I tried the other long line with a segment of worm & netted a 12oz perch straight away before being pestered by small roach again. I decided to re-fed both the longer lines with another couple of balls on each and have another try down the inside.

I just wasn't working for me here as all I manage was a few small roach again with know signs of the better perch I was hoping for, With over half the match gone I thought I had around 4lb or so in the net but estimated bobby had about 7lb so I was still playing catch up & I had seen a few fish netted on the opposite bank. it was looking like I had to rely on my long lines to produce something as the 10mt line was none productive. I did manage the odd 8-10oz skimmer of each of the longer lines but you couldn't catch more than one fish before you had to re-feed it or rest it for a while. I spent the last couple of hours just trying to put anything in the net from the odd roach down the edge to what ever I could off the long lines. With about 45mins of the match remaining and the water being flat calm in-front of me I noticed some small bubbles on the 14mt line I had been topping up with small amounts of chopped worm so said to bobby I would catch it thinking it could be a nice tench but hopefully not a carp". It didn't take long for me to get a bite again on worm but it was a skimmer around a 1lb which I thought would be a good sign but in the last 30mins I managed just one more 8oz fish & missed one more bite off the left hand swim. Bobby had managed a few more skimmers to go with his small fish off his short line & also added another tench over a 1lb so I new he had me beat, The pegs opposite me had struggled all day but seemed to have come alive in the last hour so things weren't looking promising"?. bobby was first to weigh & stuck 12lb odd on the scales, I ended the day with 8lb 13oz before we went over to the rest of the section on the far bank, Dick Bull on end peg 123 had a great last 30mins netting some good skimmers to go on & win the section with 13lb odd, The lad next to him had two bream in the last to put-ins netting one on the all out to finish with a level 9lb pushing me down to 4th in the section by 3oz".. Back at the results & Don had managed another good day with 20lb odd to finish 2nd in his section so we were still hoping for a pick up in the main frame overall. Top weight on the day went to Stu White from Spring Lake peg 15 with a great net of skimmers weighing 44lb with some good back up weights. 

It turned out England star Des Shipp had another good day winning his section with 21lb odd from peg 127 on Cambell & his partner Thatchers Captain Mark Harper who was 3rd in his from peg 16 on Spring was enough to see them win the event with a total of 6pts so well done to them.

 Winners Des & Mark.

 

It turned out we ended up joint second overall with 8pts but after a weight count-back we lost out 64lb -76lb to Roland Lucas & Dick Bull to end up 3rd overall after the two days which happened to be the same position as we finished last year" It turned out that 3oz proved costly" as it cost us that 1pt to go one better than last year but to finish anywhere in the frame is a good result with the standard of anglers fishing, My heads still telling me I should have had another look down the edge as I new I could of had at least a few more roach to perhaps give me a few more ounces but I chose to wait for better fish which didn't happen but that's sometimes the choice you have to make & we don't always get it right" lol. A Good result though never the less as we both picked up £50 each for winning are sections yesterday aswell as collecting £80 between us for 3rd so some penny's already in the money pot for next Xmas..?

Well done to Steve & Helen for another well run event & looking forward to next years. A day off planned tomorrow as the forecast is dire' but hope to be back at Viaduct for the cost-cutter match on Thursday before the wife & I fly to Amsterdam for a few days holiday so roll on". 

Days Result -

1st Stu White (Premier Angling) peg 15 Spring, 44b 12oz.

2nd Roland Lucas (Wiltshire Angling) peg 24 Spring, 38b 4oz.

3rd Gary O'Shea (P.I.Thatchers) peg 3 Spring, 32lb 3oz.

4th Paul Greenwood (Parsigns) peg 19 Spring, 24lb 6oz.

5th Des Shipp (Preston/Daiwa Dorking) peg 127 Cambell, 21lb 10oz.

6th Chris Davis (Frampton Cottrell) peg 111 Cambell, 20lb 12oz.

Overall Pairs -

1st Des Shipp & Mark Harper, 6pts - £130.

2nd Roland Lucas & Dick Bull, 8pts (Weight) - £110.

3rd Dom Sullivan & Don Sutherland, 8pts - £80.

4th Gary O'Shea & Bob Gullick, 9pts  £60.

5th Phil Cardwell & Martin Preston £40.

 

 

 

 

             

                                

Viaduct 2 Day Pairs (Silvers Only) Cambell, Lodge, Spring & Middle Lakes.

Donald & Myself had been looking forward to this 2day event for some time after we managed 3rd overall together last year after a disappointing first day with myself winning the second day outright but that was after smashing the ice before we started!" No chance of that this year with the overnight temperature at 10'c", With Don picking me up we headed off for the normal Hilltops breakfast & I woke up starving' I was gutted when we found it was closed so the best we managed was a Mc'Donalds drive by which we can safely say was SHITE!".

Arriving in plenty of time to mix my ground-bait & have a wander around along with another fresh cuppa to wash down the taste of the foul one I had on route we found their were 21 pairs fishing so a good attendance for the two days, You could decided which Angler fished which lake first So I would fish Spring Lake today which also had a section on middle lake & Don opted for Cambell with a section on lodge lake, I fancied either a draw in the low numbers along the island or a draw on pegs 18 or 19 on the opposite side of it which always seems to produce a few big skimmers?. Into the draw & I found myself on the top bank of the lake peg 11 so nowhere near where I fancied & not an area I've ever drawn before but the section looked to be pretty fair on paper?. I Had plenty of open water to target but wasn't allowed to cast right across the peg as the marker boards on the island dictate peg 16 on the opposite bank can cast to the island as you can see in the picture,

 

For company I had Dave Roper next to me again on end peg of are bank which happens to sit below the Viaduct & I fancied him to catch some big perch down the edge today?

 Dave Hiding behind the bush' 

I did have an inviting inside to my right but would be sharing it with the guy on peg 10 so wasn't so sure it would work?. First up I set up a small Ground-bait Feeder to fish at around 25yrds then plumbed up at 14mts with a 0.3g pencil float on 0.11-0.10 floro carbon to an 18 PR434 hook where I found about 4ft of water which seemed quite flat over a large area, I set up a 4x12 Wire Wonder to fish another line off to my left at 9mts on the same line/hook, A 0.3g AS1 to fish short at 5mts & finally a 4x10 chanti to fish down the edge in 3ft of water on 0.12-0.10 & an 18 PR412 hook. To start the match I fed 4 balls of Ground-bait with casters & a few Dead pinkie's added onto the 14mt line, fed 2 balls with chopped worm & some red Squatt on the 10mt line & began the match on the feeder with dead red maggot on the hook whilst feeding casters by hand at 5mts & down the edge. It was a sow start to say the least, Just 2 roach in the opening 30mins which wasn't good as Dave had already netted a nice perch & another fish off his short line & the chap to my right had a better size skimmer on the feeder' I switched to single caster on the 5mt line but was surprized when it never went under! even a try down the edge produced just one branch" So it was back to the feeder as I still wanted to let my long pole lines settle.
I began to feed a few casters through the feeder & thought I had sussed it when I netted a 10oz fish but nothing followed, I tried various baits but was going nowhere & after an hour or so it was time to try the longer lines. Starting at 10mts I had 2 small roach on a small bit of worm so was soon out to 14mts with maggot on the hook, I had a bite as soon as it settled being a skimmer of 8oz followed by 4 more to 1lb in the next 20mins" I was now back in contention with the guys in around me so things were now settling down. The fish didn't seem to want to settle as I struggled for a bite after so soon decided to add another ball of bait & rest it for 10mins, I tried again on all my other pole lines but couldn't muster anything off them so it was back to the long pole. This time it was a much better result as I netted a near 3lb fish followed by another of 2lb shortly after" I thought I was going to empty the place but it seemed you would get the odd fish the they would disappeared' I kept working at the swim feeding regular amounts when I felt the fish had backed off, on a couple of occasions I went out to 16mts and found a couple more skimmers sat off the feed. I did expect the peg to get better as the match progress but if anything the peg began to fizzle out, The guy to my right had seen how my match was going & also netted some decent size skimmers after following suit but after a change in my feeding slightly I managed to pull a few more better 2lb plus fish back into the swim. I did think that the 10mt line would produce late in the match but it just didn't happen as I never managed a skimmer off it all day' The last hour was slow but I did add another couple of smaller skimmers before the end of the match when others around me struggled to add much so a pleasing match come the end, When the scales arrived 10lb odd was winning the section & I new I had more than that but was pleased to see my total go 21lb odd which was plenty enough for the section so a great start' Walking back Don came to help with the kit & it just so happened Don had fished a good match to win his section on Lodge Lake with 14lb odd so we couldn't ask for a better result" Back at the results it turns out Des Shipp (Peg 18 Spring) I ask Ya" & Mark Harper , (Peg 119 Cambell) had both won their sections as well so were tied on top after the first day with all to play for tomorrow. Top spot on the day went to none other than Andy Power from peg 4 on spring lake catching 42lb of skimmers on the waggler with corn on the hook, A good day around so looking forward to what tomorrow brings for the pair of us.

Full Results -
1st Andy Power (Preston/Barnsley Blacks) Peg 4 Spring. 42lb 13oz.
2nd Des Shipp (Preston/Daiwa Dorking) peg 18 Spring, 33b 9oz.
3rd Paul Cardwell (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 25 Spring, 24lb 24b 5oz.
4th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 11 Spring & Andy Namn (Freenze) Peg 2 Spring 21lb 2oz.
6th Ziggy Slowinski (Garbolino) peg 19 Spring, 20lb 5oz.

Pairs -  Des Shipp & Mark |Harper 2pts.
             Dom Sullivan & Don Sutherland 2pts.

 

 

     

Shiplate Farm Pairs Match (Hawthorn & Westpool) Sunday.

I decided in the week that good friend Darren Greenwood & Myself would have a crack at this pairs match as he doesn't have much chance to get out much with family commitments, I new he was keen as he had been assembling rigs all week & arrived to pick me up over an hour before the draw" We arrived to find their were 9 pairs fishing today & the conditions seemed ideal now the wind had dropped, It was a random draw so neither of us new which lake we would end up on, Darren chose one queue & I was in the other & so realised it would be the furthest of the lakes for me on westpool but I wasn't to thrilled to find myself on peg 4 in the narrows, Its only around 10mts to the far bank here compared to slightly further down the lake which go's over 16mts & I felt I would struggle to match any of these pegs to be honest'. Pegs 3 & 5 were empty which at least gave me a bit more room to have a search around if needed, I decided to fish around a 1ft off the far bank against the far shelf in around 3ft of water to start with so set up a 4x10 Chanti on 0.11-0.10 and an 18 808 hook, To start with I plumbed a line straight in-front of me then found two other lines of similar depth at 12mts left & right, Next up was a 0.3g pencil float to fish down the edge at 10mts toward the empty peg 5, I decided to fish at the bottom of the near shelf which was around 4ft a few feet off the bank.

To start the match I fed a ball of micro with a few dead red maggots and some hard 4mm pellets across to my right at 12mts and just a few micros at 12mts to the left, Fed a half-pot of corn down the edge on the 10mts line & began the match in-front of me with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding tiny amounts of micros via a cad-pot, After 10mins I had my first fish being a carp of 1lb soon followed by a ghost carp of 4lb', As expected it didn't last and over the next 30mins all I had was a few 6oz skimmers, I tried the more positive fed lines but neither of them produced a bite so already I had the picture the fish weren't interested in much feed? I decided to wet some micro down into a slop & began cat-potting more regularly, This seemed to work as I added another carp of 4lb along with a few smaller samples to 2lb, looking around the pegs either side of me were struggling but as I expected the pegs in the wider water seemed to be doing ok?. I kept plugging away adding what I could of the lightly fed line but I did notice the all my bites would come as the rig settled against the shelf rather than being right on the bottom.

As the match progressed things began to get really hard with just odd bites but with the guys either side of me still struggling I was doing well enough, I had been feeding the 10mt inside swim regularly all match & with 90mins to go decided to give it a try, I did miss a bite which was a promising sign but nothing followed so re-fed it & had another look on the longer lines, Oddly I couldn't get bites anywhere other than the line I had odd fish off of but they were getting smaller, I tried corn & maggot on the hook but it still failed to produce so with 45miins left put my faith in some better fish off the inside line. Back in with a single grain of corn on the hook I had a nice 6lb mirror straight away but only added another 2 skimmers off it for the rest of the match, As I though the pegs in the wider water had done ok & when the scales arrived Mark Broomsgrove had the top weight with 64lb odd , My silvers went 6lb odd & my carp went 34lb odd to give me a total of 41lb enough for 3rd on the lake which I was pleased with from where I was so all I was hoping for now was Darren to have had a good day over on Hawthorns as the top pairs would be decided on weight". Um..? Nope' Darren had a mare of a day not connecting with a single carp & his 1lb odd of bits added to my weight wasn't going to be enough for us to end up in the coin today but that's the way it goes & at east he had chance to get out on the bank, With Mark winning Westpool & His partner John Page top weight on Hawthorns with 40b odd they easily won the day so well done to them. Top silvers pair went to John Dursley & Ron Stark who again were both top on their respective lakes.

Off to Viaduct Fishery Over the next two days for the silvers pairs with traveling partner Don Sutherland & with the weather seeming settled it should be a good two days to look forward too. 

 

 

 

                         

My Fishing In 2015.

Well its soon come around to that time of the year again where I sum up just how the year has gone, The start of the year saw most of my time spent fishing Viaduct in the teams of five which didn't pan out to well & I even remember having a blank" in one round but followed it up with a section win & 2nd in the silver's the following round so that restored a bit of faith', Things didn't get to much better elsewhere as a match held at Chiltern Trinity so it closely end in disaster". With a couple of minutes remaining I hadn't had a bite on the bomb & bread so got up to pack my pole rollers, Just as I was folding it away the rod which was perched on top the keepnet's flew round, keeping it short, I slipped when grabbing it & promptly threw it straight in the lake! The worse part it was my brand new bait-runner on it" (YES" I FORGOT TO PUT THE BAIT_RUNNER ON!") A long story but I got it back and you can recall the episode on my Jan 2015 Blog. Things could only get better? And so it proved as I did start to string some results together from both canal shaped lakes on Summerhayes,

 & Shipate farm fisherys,

I do remember one match at Summerhayes I un-hooked a carp as I went to place it in the net dropped it straight back' At the result I only lost by a 1lb or so but Jon Martin was happy as he won it off the bonus peg collecting an extra £200..!

I Did manage to have a days fishing with the wife at Shiplate Farm on are doorstep & After setting her up she settled in & caught some nice carp and over 10lb of silvers all by herself and was dead proud as was I'

 The Wife Yvonne,

When may arrived I had an enjoyable day in one match catching on the rods for a change"

 Before I had a bit of a mishap fracturing my hand which meant no fishing for a while' but I did get out to capture some action on the local matches,

 Gabriel Skarba (Viaduct Cary Lake)

 Titch Williams (Viaduct Lodge Lake)

 

I did manage to get back to fishing after a few weeks and enjoyed a few matches at Viaduct fishery with another few results before it was time for the super-league

back on the River Huntspill, The Matches went ok for me to get the best points for the team as I could, Although I made my mind up then that was the last of team fishing for me as I didn't feel the same was being attempted by some other team mates so it was back to fishing matches where I could find an attendance on the weekends. We had a Good match At Acorn fishery in June (Clevedon.A.A v Shiplate Farm) Which was nearly a full house on the lake, Fishing for Shiplate on the day we romped the head to head & even better I won on the day", This was a good match with a difference but more a bit of fun with nothing in it, Things were going well until I slipped off my truck at work fracturing my hand inches from where I did before" No fishing again for a few weeks! So more time spent watching'.

 Dan Squires (Viaduct Cary).

 Paul Locke (The Sedges Tile Lake).

 Steve (Peanut) Howell, (Shiplake Farm) Westpool.

 

Getting back on the bank and a few more trips around with various results The draw in the Maver Match This Qualifier at Viaduct Fishery drawing on spring lake which didn't produce the weights on the day but Middys Pete Upperton who won the day off peg 112 went on to win the £50,000 final so a good year for him" well done.

 Match This winner" Pete Upperton.

 

With September basically missed due to my hand it was soon time for the Silvers final back at Viaduct as well as the start of this years silvers league, I had a great start to the league this year netting 35lb of skimmers for 2nd on the day from peg 103 on Cary a lake on the first match, a lot of people had wrote off after a fish loss earlier in the year which pleased me as well as a lot of others' On the silvers final I drew the lawn on lodge lake and had an enjoyable day catching 14lb odd on the short pole but was in the wrong area for any bigger skimmers on the day as they were all caught at the opposite end so nowt I could do there".

After a couple more ok' rounds of the silver league it was off to Stafford Moor fishery for the Silvermania" which didn't quite fish as we expected" I had 5lb odd in the practice match which was good" were I was too, Then on the match day I had 3 skimmers for a grand total of just over a 1lb so not a good trip so we cut the short stay retuning to Viaduct  for the Sunday open with most of the bait I purchased for the whole stay" It worked out well as I had top silvers on the day so already in next years final along with traveling partner Don Sutherland.

 

Back to the Silvers league & 2nd overall in the 4th & 5th rounds with two section wins put me near the top of the league with one round to go but after picking the peg I fancied for good points it didn't produce any skimmers on the day for me which is still in the mind' lol, My 3rd in the section on the day was dropped which left me in 4th position in the final standings which I was more than happy with considering the talent of angling with good mixed nets of silver throughout the series as we as picking up £400 along the way'.

Finishing the year off with a 2nd yesterday was a good finish to my year as far as fishing went. (Think I've got Secounditus?"). Its been a bit more of a learning curve for me on hard pellet fishing this year & theirs a lot more to it than slinging one on the hook"  I'm still a lover of my sensas scopex spray especially on expanders and at certain times of the year & Curry' Favoured meat on the hook has produced well in the warmer months. We all have something we like to add weather it be certain Ground-baits added together or like me a couple of additives at certain times. I don't think its a question of them drawing extra fish to you peg more like a stand out bait which had produced on many occasions. The best two items I've purchased this year has to be my seat-box which I've found brilliant when fishing down the edges as you have no legs sticking up or in the way being a 4 leg box. And the other is my Gortex Clothing Which has just arrived, I did manage to use it yesterday when we had a couple of showers & can already tell the difference you pay for in the Quality which was extremely comfortable to wear. Well down to the final totals after going back through the year & I didn't get to fish as many matches as last year (Mainly Due To The Hand!) but my total to date stands at exactly 60, I've managed to frame in 34 of them (Over 50% this year") picking up a total of £1460' (which divided up works out picking up £42.94 per match" lol) Not bad by any means but wishing I had chucked it all in a jar now would of made a nice holiday fund for Xmas? Or towards a new pole perhaps!"? Maybe next year I will hey". Talking of next year now I have a decent van to travel in I plan to venture a bit further afield to venues which will probably best suit me in the Match This Qualifier's as well as hopefully getting my choice of tickets for some of the Fisho' Mania Qualifier's but we will see". I'm at Shiplate this Sunday for a pairs match on the canal lakes with good friend Darren Greenwood, before the 2day Silvers pairs on Viaduct with Donald on Tuesday & Wednesday to finish the year off . Well Wishing All a Merry Xmas & a Prosperous new year (Good job for this spell checker") Tight lines & just remember to enjoy time on the bank.

                  

 

 

 

 

 

              

Shiplate Farm Xmas Match (Hawthorns & Main Lake).

After having a Xmas Booze up with the lads from work yesterday I had know idea what state I would be in when I woke this morning' fortunately I did take it easy & didn't stay out all-hours so was still on the ball, I arrived in plenty of time to have a free cuppa as its only 2mins from my home' Their were 28 of us fishing today so the match would be spread over Hawthorns & the Main Lake & I fancied the main lake to produce the overall winner from either noted pegs 1 or 15 but you never know? I let owner Steve's Helper Roy draw for me today as last time he did it for me I ended up on peg 1 of the main lake & wouldn't be disappointed to have it again. It wasn't to be though as he drew me peg 7 Hawthorns smack in the middle' I didn't mind it to be honest as not having fished here for a while I was looking forward to the change. I left the rods in the car as it would be an out & out pole attack again today, It was just over 14mts to the far bank vegetation and plumbing up found about 4ft of water close to the stick-ups so set up a 4x12 chanti on 0.11-0.10 & an 18 808 hook to fish a couple of different areas across,

 

 

I only had time to set up another rig being a 0.4g AS1 on 0.13-0.11 & an 16 808 hook to fish at 12mts left in the open water which was nearly 6ft deep which would double for down my inside edges which was the same depth.

For company I had snake lake expert young Louis Jones next to me on peg 6 who was the resent overall winner of the teams of 3 event held at the venue would was going to be in-tune with the lake & hard to beat, Behind us on the main lake was venue resident Steve (Peanut) Howell on peg 5 who I offered to place a longer pole roller out for him before I remembered it wouldn't be needed as he never fishes beyond 11mts!".  At the all-in I fed a good pot of corn on the open water 13mt line, Fed a small ball of micros & some dead red maggots at 14mts to my right and began the day with a 4mm expander on the hook just cad potting a few micros over the top. It didn't take long for a bite & after 10mins I had a common over 7lb in the net" Great Start', Expecting a bit more of the same I was surprised to see the next hour produced just one lost flying" fish' another foul hooker & a couple of 8oz skimmers, Louis had also had an early carp across but was also struggling to add anything, I had a look on the 13mt line with corn on the hook but it didn't produce a bite so I continued to keep trying across, I managed another nice fish on two dead reds fished a couple of inches off the deck, but that was out of the blue' I had been feeding the 13mt regularly every 30mins & At the halfway point I gave it another go and after a few seconds the rig flew under & I missed it! That was it as I couldn't get another bite here. Back across I managed a 4lb fish on corn off the left hand 14mt line but as yet couldn't get a bite to the right, I decided to turn this into amore positive line & fed a good amount of micros & a few grains of corn, I had a quick look down the edges but didn't waste to much time here as Louis was already fishing here but had only added a small carp, Going into the last hour things had been a real struggle for most & I couldn't here much being caught, I really expected to have some fish off the 13mt corn line but all it produced was another missed bite' The best line turned out to be the line I had decided to feed more positive as I managed another 2 good carp before the end both on 4mm expander fished at dead depth. Lewis had struggled & only added another small carp & nobody at are end was admitting to much so I was hoping to sneak at section win at least, The main lake was weighed in first & the top weight went to Russ Pecker from peg 15 with 35lb odd, The top weight when the scales arrived on are lake was 24lb odd but my 5 carp went 34lb added to my 3lb odd of silvers gave me a total of 37lb odd, ouis Struggled today finishing the day with 11lb but Rich Hawkins was admitting to over 50lb on the end peg 1 & Proved right to win the day with 64lb odd catching shallow with bread on the hook down in the corner so well done to him. Back at the results I was pleased to find out my weight was enough to take 2nd on the day picking up another £50 along with a £1 off Louis, Peanut & Pagey', Although Owners Steve & Carol did a great job of supplying us with rolls & Mince pies ect after the match but it was a bit disappointing not having anything festive to take home to the wife, You'll be surprised just how pleased they are to see a tin of sweets or a bottle of their favourite tipple land in their lap, I don't think it hurts to give the chance for everyone to go home with something or even arrange a raffle after the match by increasing the pools by £5 or £10 as its better to home with something. A hard days fishing really but those few bites proved worthwhile again, I expect that will be it until after Christmas with the next planned trip on the 28th & 29th of December back to Viaduct for the two day silvers pairs match with Donald, It's time to do my statistics for the year which I will add to the bog this week.

Full Results -
1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 1 Hawthorns, 64lb 8oz.
2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 7 Hawthorns, 37lb 12oz.
3rd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 15 Main lake, 35lb 2oz.
4th Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 7 Main Lake, 32lb 4oz.
5th John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 4 Main Lake, 29lb 14oz.
6th Roy Ede (Shiplate Farm) peg 11 Main Lake, 29lb 4oz.
Silvers -
John Page (Weston Angling Centre) peg 13 Main Lake, 12lb 8oz.

 

 

 
               

 

    

 

       

Viaduct Silvers League (Final Rd) Cambell, Cary & Lodge lakes.

After missing out on a days fishing yesterday with commitments with the Wife prior to Xmas I was keen to get back to Viaduct for the final round of this popular well run league, I was lying in Join 3rd place With fellow blogger Tony Rixon going into this final round & to be realistic I needed a section win & the anglers above to blow out to stand any chance of winning it out-right but was still hoping for a top 6 finish to be in the overall monies. Donald picked me up as normal who was also still in with a shout if things went his way so we were both keen to give it are best shot'. After the normal hilltops breakfast we arrived in plenty of time so after a wander around I decided to have a coffee before the draw, At this point Owner Steve long among others asked me were I fancied drawing? Peg 94 on Cary I Said" as its been consistent through-out the league as if I had any chance of actually drawing it??. I did my usual trick of mingling with others & sneaking in after a few had drawn & were did I end up? Only bloody 94 CARY"! Steve couldn't believe it & to be honest nor could I" So anything I produced off it today would be solely down to my choices after I wanted to be here!.

Arriving at my swim I made the choice straight away it would be an out & out pole day without assembling any rods as I had plenty off room for a few long pole lines as well as some inviting inside lines,

 

 

I decided on two long lines at 13mts, where I set up two different rigs to fish on both lines, A 4x14 wire wonder on 0.11-0.09 and a 0.2g AS1 on the same line both to an 18 PR434 hook were I had around 4ft or so of water,

I also choose a swim at 10mts were I could use the same rigs as the depth was only inches shallower. For the inside swims and a 6mt short line I set up my normal 4x10 & 4x8 Chanti's on 0.10-0.09 & an 18 PR412 hook. Looking around I new I had my work cut out as I had Winner of the All-winners final this year Craig (Trigger) Edmonds next to me on peg 96

& that man again & league leader Dan Squires below him on peg 99' I would be keeping a close eye on them today as I fancied us to finish at the top of the section? I started the day by feeding two balls of ground-bait at 10mts with worm & Dead reds added, fed 3 balls with casters and a few red maggots to in-front of me at 13mts & one ball at 13mts to my left, I started the day at 6mts with caster on the hook were I had been flicking casters in by hand whilst cupping in my long lines & was soon into small roach to 3oz, As expected it didn't last so after 15mins decided to try down my inside edge towards the corner, I had a 4oz roach followed by an 10oz perch & from what I could see was doing ok for the time being?. After 90mins I had thought I had about 3lb in the net by switching between the short lines but it was drying up so it was time to try the long lines.

I had a quick look on the 10mt line with a red maggot on the hook but only had a small roach so was soon on the longer 13mt lines, No matter what I tried on the hook I had to wait for bites & then all I could catch were small roach' Trigger had also switched to his long line & after a slow start to the day was now ahead  of me after taking a couple of near 2lb skimmers,

I decided to re-feed the long lines & try & add some more fish from the short lines hoping some better fish would turn up on the longer line late in the day? I managed to add small roach again swapping around the short lines with caster or bits of worm on the hook but couldn't catch any thing of decent size. I kept trying the longer lines but most of the time I just couldn't get a bite over them which I found odd' It wasn't until about 90mins of the match remaining I had a better fish on red maggot  which turned out to be a tench over a 1lb then 5mins later I bumped a decent skimmer & that was it for the rest of the day on that line! I managed a 12oz skimmer off the 10mt line late in the day and a couple of 8oz roach & 10oz hybrid down the edge in the last 20mins after I decided to try my long line rig on my 6mt line whilst shipping out only to hook a carp over 18lb which came straight to the top' Seeing the opportunity to try & net it pronto I reeled in elastic as quick as possible only for it to wake up & bolt of fsnapping my number 1 section in the process!" I had another attempt to fit it in my small pan net" before it did me trashing the rig to finish things off!.

At the all-out I thought I mite just have double figures but Craig had fished a good match choosing to sit it out for better skimmers netting five better skimmers along with some smaller samples & I new he had more than me & Dan had netted a few below him? I was first to weight and wasn't far off my guess ending the day with 10lb 6oz, Craig put a good 20lb on the scales to win the section with ease & below him Dan had a good finish to end up 2nd in the section with 14lb odd meaning I managed to hold on for 3rd so not a bad result again but would it be enough for me to finish in the main frame would be seen?  I have really enjoyed this league the standard of anglers fishing always makes it a tight frame & more often than not just a 1lb or less can make a difference' My lowest weight of the series has been 10lb odd & each match has been different so you really do have to switch things around, I was fortunate enough to draw each lake twice giving me different options along the way, My final points table went 1,3,3,1,1,3' & with my lowest points dropped meant I finished the league with 9pts. Back at the results And the winner on the day was none other than Tony Rixon from peg 126 on Cambell with 27lb odd catching on red maggot over ground-bait, A good area but not won you want to see him on as he wont cock it up!" So well done to him. As expected it was a very tight finish to the league With Middy backed Sam Powell from newton abbot Came out on top finishing the league with 7pts after dropping his worst result picking up £220 along the way, He fished a great series catching small fish when the case arose to keep his swims ticking over so very well done mate.  Runner-up was Mr Consistent Tony Rixon who again had a good league, & long time leader Dan Squires came out in 3rd, I was well pleased to find myself finishing the league in 4th place picking up another £100 to add to the £300 I've been fortunate enough to pick up along the way with three 2nd place on the day results so a good finish to something I've really enjoyed fishing & Cant wait to try again next year' Don also had a good league just missing out in the main frame finishing on 10pts but also picking up over £300 along the way so were sure we had the richest van home lol"  

 

The Fabulous four" Left, Dan Squires, Winner' Sam Powell, Me' & Tony Rixon

A change of scenery next weekend as I have Shiplate Farms Xmas match on the main lake next Sunday But have my works do the night before so it could be fun"..

Full Results -

1st Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) peg 126 Cambell, 27lb 2oz.

2nd Bob Gullick (BVMG) peg 119 Cambell, 24lb 8oz.

3rd Fred Roberts (Signtech) Peg 62 Lodge, 22lb 2oz.

4th Roland Lucas (Wiltshire Anging) peg 110 Cambell,

5th Craig Edmonds (Flip Flop) peg 96 Cary, 20lb 8oz.

6th Ziggy Slowinki (Garbolino) peg 132 Cambell, 19b 12oz.

Final Overall Standings -

1st Sam Powell (Middy) 7pts.

2nd Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) 8pts (weight).

3rd Dan Squires (Sensas) 8pts.

4th Dom Sullivan (Maver) 9pts (Weight).

5th Bobby Gullick (BVMG) 9pts.

6th Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) 9pts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

   

Viaduct Xmas Match (Cambell, Cary & Lodge Lakes).

Back to Viaduct today for the annual Xmas match hoping for a swim where I could target carp for a change although I did have some bait for silvers just incase I really fancied the draw for them?, Don managed to wangle the day off so picked me up before breakfast at Hilltops first, Arriving at the fishery with it still being unseasonably mild the down side was the strong wind which was blowing from the east slightly but was set to swing around to a south westerly with gales forecast meaning some pegs could be really gruelling" Their were 44 of us fishing today with most peg over Cambell & Cary & 6 on Lodge lakei was just hoping for a comfy days fishing' Sneaking in the front of the draw queue as normal I was pleased to find myself on peg 126 which happened to be next to where the silvers was won off of on Thursday when Gary Etheridge had 37lb short on corn, This can also be a good area for carp so planned to cover both options.

Arriving at my swim at first instance it didn't appear to be to badly effected as far as the wind was concerned as you can see in the picture,

 

Perfect' Nope, Within 10minute of setting up it had already swung around and was gusting down are end of the lake, Well that made my mind up as far as the pole for silvers went, 2 lines as I could only just hold 10mts and hadn't brought my splay bar' I first set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.11-0.10 with an 18 PR434 hook but soon realised that the swim was towing to much to make it work so also set up another heavier 4x14 rig on the same line/hook. Apart from that all I set up was a bomb rod to search the rest of the peg with either corn or meat on the hook as I wouldn't of been able to keep a waggler rig still enough to catch.

At the all in I fed 3 balls of ground-bait with worm & casters added at 10mts left & 1 ball containing a palmful of corn & Casters at 10mts to my right & started the day with 8mm meat o the hook towards the middle of the lake on the straight lead with 8mm meat on the hook. I had a couple of liners in the first 15mins but that was it, I switched to corn on the hook but after nearly an hour of casting around the peg & changing baits I was still to catch' Time to try the pole lines then & started on the left hand swim with a piece of worm on the hook, I soon had two 6oz skimmers but then nothing so switched to the other 10mts line with corn on the hook. After a couple of minutes I missed a bite then soon after bumped a nice fish then again nothing. It was awkward to try & get the rig to stay still against the wind and it wasn't long before I was back on the bomb with corn on the hook as the Dave Roper & Steve Denmead above me had both had a bream on the straight lead, It just wasn't happening for me I kept trying the pole lines but only added a few small skimmers to 8oz on caster or bits of worm & it was past the halfway stage before I had a bite on the tip which turned out to be a 6lb carp on a single grain of corn but the pole line I expected to catch on it never produced another bite' I wont drag on but spent the rest of the day trying to catch the odd fish between watching a near motionless tip all day which produced one more bite and another carp on meat 15mins from the end, we all struggled up are end and any bonus fish were all caught on the tip including a near 4b eel for Dave next to me on corn! The guy to my right landed 5 carp in the last 45mins on the bomb on meat & I think from the weights below the spit today told us they were moving are way late in the day?. Below the spit turned out to be the place you wanted today as Ian Dunlop (Peg 131) & Dan White (Peg 129, Which just so happened to be where his dad won from on Thursday') both drew on weight in the carp stakes with 104lb odd but thanks to a 2lb plus tench in his silvers net Ian won the day with 107lb so well done to him,

 Winner Ian With His Hamper".

 Runner-up Dan White with a couple of his fish.

 

The best weight over on Cary & lodge lake went to Ziggy from on peg 78 with 6 fish for 89b" also winning a hamper and money,

 Cary lake winner Ziggy'.

 

On the silvers it went to Mark Saunders on Cary lake with 17lb odd of mixed fish from peg 74, Most of the better silver fish were caught further out on the lake today and my somewhat positive approach closer-in with the corn certainly didn't pay off today, Although its still mild with the wind lashing the water it has turned it even colder so I think this had something to do with it? Glad I did try the positive approach today though as its gave me a few ideas should I be on this lake for the final round of the silvers league next Sunday. No fishing planned tomorrow as meant to be taking the wife out shopping" but things can change so we'll see'?.

Thanks to owners Steve & Helen for laying on mince pies & a free can of beer afterwards as well as making sure we all walked away with a prize, I had my eye on the small bottle of jack Daniels & was glad I weighed-in as it was still there when my name was called so might be tucking in to a bit of that tonight". Sorry I forgot to get a picture of the weigh sheets today."

 

Full results -

 

1st Ian Dunop (Wessex Tackle & Guns) peg 131 Cambell, 107lb.

2nd Dan White (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 129 Cambell, 104lb.

3rd Ziggy Slowinski (Garbolino) peg 78 Cary, 89lb.

4th Dave Romaine (Bait-Tech Viaduct) 77b 12oz

5th Roy Worth (Bait-Tech Viaduct) 68lb 14oz.

6th Ian Walvin (SRDS) 56lb 9oz.

 

Silvers - 1st Mark Saunders (Newton Abbot) peg 74 Cary , 17lb.