Shiplate Farm Open (Hawthorns Lake).

After deciding to give fishing a miss yesterday due to the forecast of strong winds and rain I was beginning to wish I had swapped days as Saturday didn't turn out to bad yet just loading the car today saw me get a soaking' At least with this fishery being on my doorstep I didn't have to rush for the 9am draw, Their were 15 of us booked-in today meaning a full lake although Andy France decided to have a day with the family despite turning up at the draw after he saw the weather that greeted us", With him dropping out I did predict that Steve (Peanut) Howell would end up drawing his swim and having an empty peg to boot' and was I right? Yes..! I don't know why he doesn't do the lottery every week as I'm sure they would come up!. For the 3rd match in a row I still managed to draw next to him on peg 3 with him on 4 and 5 being the vacant swim' so we still had are usual quid side bet although I was sure with the extra room he had I was going to be handing him one back today?.

When we arrived at are pegs we were fortunate enough to have the wind off are backs although it was very strong and circling everywhere which meant presentation was going to hamper things somewhat, first up I did make a rig to fish tight over it nearly 3ft of water being an in-line 4x10 float on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 808 hook, next up was a 4x12 Chanti for down track at 6mts on the same |Line/Hook to fish in 6ft of water which would double up to fish the bottom of the far shelf, and last of a 4x10 strung out rig to fish down the edge but not having to much room I wasn't sure it would work?.

At the al-in I fed a small ball of damp micros on the short line with a few red  maggots and cupped a decent amount of sweet corn at the bottom of far sheaf, Starting the match tight over to the far bank with corn on the hook feeding a few grains and some micro pellet over the top via a cad-pot. after 30mins I was still looking for signs of fish but with the wind gusting I had to try something else as it was nearly impossible to present the rig properly. I switched to fishing down the track with double maggot on the hook were I had been feeding a few by hand and soon had a couple of 8oz skimmers but bites were slow and going into the second hour a I had added were a coupe more smaller skimmers. I re-fed the short line with another nugget of micro pellet and had a quick look on the corn swim but didn't get any indications, switching back to fishing down the track I added a 4lb carp followed by a tench of 2lb again on the maggot but I just couldn't get a run of fish together, I'm not going to rabble on how much the rest of the day went as it didn't improve much, I did take another carp from down the track, had 1 bite on corn at the bottom of the shelf resulting in a 5lb common and managed to take another carp tight over to the far bank in the last 30mins when the wind dropped off a little again on corn but apart from that I struggled to put anything much together apart from some more skimmers down the track, The fishing was hard again today as the carp didn't seem to eager to feed but most of which was down to the conditions we a faced. Young Tom Light went on to win the match from peg one fishing down the edge for a total of 43lb odd and 2nd place came from the opposite end of the lake peg 14 with 41lb, The top silvers weight went to Ron Stark catching skimmers and roach on small bits of worm down the track for a total of 14lb odd, As for peanut on peg 4' Well lets just say its now 3 - 0 to me as far as the quid goes along with another nugget from Jonny page further up the lake. Not a very enjoyable day for anybody really but we cant help what the gods throw at us so lets hope the Easter weekend produces some better conditions for all of us.

Full results -

1st Tom Light (Shiplate) peg 1, 43lb 6oz.

2nd Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 14, 41lb 13oz.

3rd Simon Ryall (Shipate) peg 6, 38lb10oz.

Silvers - Ron Stark (Weston Angling) peg 2, 14lb 4oz.

                              

Summerhayes Fishery Open.

Traveling on my own today I decided to take another trip to Summerhayes for this latest Sunday open, Their was a good turn out today with 31 booked in meaning the match would be spread over Sellicks Lake and 10pegs on Lily Pool, the weather was still rather chilly with the north easterly wind in the air again and It would be hard to tell which lake the winner would come from? into the draw and it was peg 11 on Sellicks for me which I felt would be alright as it was a corner peg giving me a bit of room for me to fish long down the edge as well as it only just being 13mts to the island, Rig wise I set up a 0.3g AS1 float on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 808 hook to fish tight over were I found a flat spot in 3ft of water, a 4x10 Chanti to search along the inside bank in a coupe of places on the same line/hook and finally a 4x12 Chanti to fish down the track with maggots at 6mts in 5ft of water on 0.12-0.10 and an 18 PR434 hook, which would also double up as a line further down the peg in the open water where I planned to feed corn and fish the same on the hook, For company I had yesterdays unlucky loser Paul Homewood on next peg 12 who was around from the point of the island.  

I started by feeding half a pot of corn down the peg in the open at 12mts water and fed a few cubes of meat at 13mts into the corner, whilst I began to feed a few maggots down the track I started the day tight over with double red maggot on the hook just feeding a few micros via a cad pot attached to the pole, after 30mins it was obvious that thing were going to be hard as I hadn't seen a fish caught' a try down the track failed to produce as did a quick look on the corn swim, I didn't want to try down the edge to early in fear of spooking any fish which hadn't settled so just kept switching between my other lines, I did lose two carp across to the far bank both of which were foul hooked but it took me 2hrs before I had my first fish which came down the track on double red maggot being a near 2lb skimmer followed by a 3lb carp next put-in then I couldn't get a bite which was a bit weird? I now had to have a look down the edge but was surprized when I didn't have so much as a liner anywhere, things were looking grim already but apart from the odd fish nothing much was being caught on are lake from those I could see.

My first fish off the far bank came on a 4mm expander but again nothing followed, with over half the match gone I was really struggling to find any fish despite starting a new line across and rotating between the lines I had already started. with 2hrs to go I got my hopes up when I had another look on the corn line in the open water as the float shot under and I soon netted a 5lb common before yet again nothing followed, the last time I fished this lake I had a good run on the maggot in the last 45mins down the track so was hoping for the same thing to happen this time around? one more small carp out of the blue from the far bank was about as best as it got but from my end of the lake it seemed we were a in the same boat. There did seem to be fish present but they weren't interested in feeding as most were being foul hooked , I couldn't believe the inside bank seemed devoid of fish as I never had a sniff there all day and the same applied to Pauls inside line, the hope of a late run on the maggot down the track only produced a couple of chunky roach with no more bites from the corn line all I added was another smaller carp from the far bank before the match was over.

At the results it turned out Lily pool produced the winner on the day with Steve Jackson ending the day with 20 odd small carp from down the edge and on the waggler in the open water for 48lb odd, a few fish were caught from the far bank of Sellicks with a 40lb and a couple of 30lb weights making the frame. A really hard days fishing and apart from beating the pegs around me I don't think there was much more I could of done to induce a few more fish.

             

   

 

    

Paul Garrett Memorial Match (Viaduct Fishery)

It seems to have come around quickly from this time last year for the annual match in memory of Paul Garrett, With team mate Donald picking me up and the normal hilltops breakfast on-route we arrived in plenty of time as the draw wasn't until 9.30am with the fishing times from 11 til 5, A good turn out saw 46 of us line the banks with the match to be spread over Cambell, Cary & Lodge Lake, I fancied Cary or Cambell to produce the winner but you never know so into the draw and I found myself on 116 Cambell which I was more than happy with as there had been a lot of fish up this end of the lake lately, Arriving at my peg the only down side was I had the cold North Easterly wind blowing at me which could make fishing the waggler awkward which was a shame as Tackle UK's Scott Russell had draw here on the Thursday cost cutter and won the match fishing the wagg and pellet.

For company I had Fred Roberts on peg 118 and a Neil Gaffe from Bordon Angling on 115, It was a straight forward plan for me today just to target the carp and hope they would come to the bomb and pellet if I couldn't present the waggler? With the rods both made up in my new double rod case I had plenty of time to set up so as a bit of a throw away line I made up a 4x12 Chanti on 0.15-0.13 and an 12 PR478 hook to fish meat at about 8mts in 4ft of water but didn't expect this to work until towards the end of the match if at all?

At the all-in I feed half a large pot of 6mm cubed meat onto the 8mt line and with the wind being really awkward started the match on the bomb and 8mm hair rigged pellet towards the middle of the lake feeding dampened down 8mm pellets over the top hoping it wouldn't take long for me to get a wrap round on my new maver elite 11ft feeder rod' Fred decided to start on the waggler and had a fish first chuck' but it didn't take to long for me to have a 3lb fish after 5mins, If anything the breeze was getting worse and Fred & the guy on 119 were soon on the bomb as well but they seemed to be getting a better response in the first part of the match, After an hour I had 3 carp of similar size and although the guys above me had a couple more it was still early days, I was casting the bomb to different areas of the open water feeding pellets over the top at regular intervals in the hope of drawing a few more fish into the peg as well as feeding a few shorter at about 20mts where I was hoping to try the waggler should the wind change.

The feeding pattern seemed to work as I was soon putting the odd fish in the net and going into the 3rd hour I was up to 12 fish which was ok from what I could see and the poor lad below me was still waiting for his first bite", Just as I thought things were going to plan the fish decided to move down towards his swim with him taking 4 in as many casts so I began to feed around 6 pellets twice every couple of minutes in the hope of pulling them back towards me. I was pleased to say this did the trick as he stopped catching and although it wasn't hectic I was still pinching the odd fish as it became obvious they wanted some bait fired at them, I did have a couple of attempts to try and make the waggler work on the slightly shorter swim but the wind was playing havoc pushing the float through and back towards me so didn't waste much time trying to get it to work, As the day went on I wasn't getting as many fish but they had increased in size with a coupe of fish over 6lb, It was just a case of feeding regularly and searching around the swim picking off the odd fish, with about 45mins left I had to ask the Neil if I could borrow another keepnet as I was getting concerned I was approaching the 70b limit in a couple of my nets but I never have been that good at guessing, as soon as I had put it in the water I had my biggest fish of the day approaching 10b but it was the kiss of death as I never had another bite on the bomb' I did quickly try the short meat line but after 3mins without a sign I saw the match out on the bomb hoping for a late pull around but it wasn't to be, I finished the day with 24 carp but had know idea what weight I was likely to have? From what I could see I had done ok on my bank although the guy over on the opposite side peg 126 had a few but didn't know how the other lakes had fished? When the scales arrived the top weight was 151lb odd so I new it would be close'. 

 

After totalling up my weights it turned out I had fell just short with 145lb which was a tad disappointing as I had lost a good fish near the net which was my fault and also lost a couple as they swam towards me' but it happens, 

 part of my catch.

Back at the results it turned out to be a very close affair with Chris Davis just taking the win from Paul Homewood by a few ounces with both anglers weighing 151lb although it was painful for Paul as he had gone over in one of his nets and had to have 5lb deducted! Chris drew peg 129 on cambell and caught on the long pole with meat on the hook,

 Winner Chris Davis.

 

 Just to rub salt into my wounds I was piped for 3rd place by 1oz.." but at least I managed to pick up £40 which paid for the day, Top silvers weight went the way of fishery owner Steve long from Cary lake peg 94 with 44lb odd catching on 6mm pellet on the pole. Apart from the wind spoiling things as far as the waggler went I had an enjoyable day, One more fish could have swung it my way but that's fishing, maybe on my next visit it will work in my favour'.

Full Results -
1st Chris Davis (Team Flip Flop) peg 129 Cambell, 151lb 5oz.
2nd Paul Homewood (Sedges Fishery) peg 96 Cary, 151lb.
3rd Dave Romaine (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 64 Lodge, 145lb 11oz.
4th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 116 Cambell, 145b 10oz.
Silvers -
1st Steve Long (Bait-TechViaduct) peg 94 Cary, 44lb 2oz.
2nd Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 78 Cary, 42lb 7oz.

 

 

 

 

        

             

Shiplate Farm Open (Hawthorns Lake).

After Picking up good friend and venue live in regular Steve (Peanut) Howell we arrived in time to eat are breakfast rolls with owner Steve Oliver with a nice free cuppa, the weather hadn't warmed up much from yesterday but at least the wind had eased off somewhat, with 11 of us fishing today I fancied a draw in the first few pegs as they were sheltered from any wind where I thought the fish might rather be? It wasn't to be though as I drew peg 12 at the top end of the lake, but the good thing about it as I had Peanut next to me on peg 10 as 11 was left empty so there would definitely be the normal nugget between us and a keen battle'. As we left for are pegs I couldn't help but laugh at the great northern oldie Jimmy who was down on holiday as his trolley only needed a plank of wood across it after loaded to look more like a home made plane!

    

I didn't fancy the fish to be in the shallower water tight over so set up a 0.03g AS1 float on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 808 to fish at the bottom of the first shelf in 5ft of water, After catching well on my pleasure session here last week down the track on maggot I had to fish it shorter today if I had any chance of feeding it by hand but the depth was the same at 5mts at around 6ft as it was further out so would feed here from the off setting up a 4x14 Chanti on 0.12-0.10 and an 18 silver fish maggot hook. I would also use this rig to feed a positive line with corn off to my left down the centre track at 13mts where to be honest I wouldn't be able to see for a while due to the wind but didn't expect to the fish to be there until late in the day so was hoping it would change. Finally another 4x12 Chanti for down the edge at 9mts in 5ft of water just off the bank on 0.15-0.13 and a 16 808 hook.

I started the match by feeding a good handful of corn down the track and began feeding a few maggots by hand onto the 5mt line before starting at the bottom of the far shelf at 13mt in-front of me. It was slow for everyone from what I could see and approaching the hour mark I was beginning  to get a bit worried as all I had mustered was two ruff on double maggot" before I hooked and landed a 4lb carp on red & white maggot out of the blue, after another 20mins bite-less and having trouble holding the rig still in the skimming breeze it was time to try the short line where I had been feeding maggot by hand. Starting on double red maggot I had a couple more ruff before a chub of 12oz and a 10oz skimmer before it went dead, I felt there may be a larger fish present and wasn't wrong as a 5lb carp came in the next 10mins before I had to rest the swim as it didn't want to give in". I tried all 3 of my other lines and although they didn't produce I kept them topped up at regular intervals as I know any of them could catch me some late fish. I kept rotating though my swims searching for bites, The short line produced a few chunky roach and another smaller carp but then it died again, With less an hour to go I seemed to have had more silver than most but felt I was behind John Hawkins on peg 13 who had managed a couple of larger carp from the aerator in-front of him and although I couldn't see Peanut I had heard some splashing"

With the wind having dropped right off it was time to try the positive corn swim again with a single grain of corn at dead depth, a couple of minutes later a landed a nice 6lb common" With 15mins left I added a smaller mirror, but with 5mins to go and no more signs I quickly fed a palm-full of corn with a large pot and quickly went back in over the top, Bingo" I managed one more just before time netting it after the whistle! It goes to prove never give up on a line as the rewards can be had very late in the day" By the time the scales arrived Peanut was leading the way with 24lb odd before I added 5lb of silvers to my 23lb of carp took the lead, John finished the day with 19lb odd before last to weigh Rich Hawkins on end peg 14 finished with a total of 33lb to take todays spoils,

 Winner Rich Hawkins.

 

I was pleased how my day went really as I made the most of catching some silvers when the carp didn't want to feed but in the end the area I chose to put the most bait proved to be the best option, I fed nearly a whole tin of corn though-out the day so when they did switch on they were hungry" 2nd place gave me £40 back in the wallet along with Peanut's quid & Nick Harveys weekly contribution so a free weekend all-round", Cant ask for more than that'.

 

1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 14, 33lb 8oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 12, 28lb 10oz.

3rd Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 10, 24lb 6oz.

4th John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 13, 19lb 2oz.

Silvers - Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 9, 6lb 14oz.

 

 

              

       

Acorn Fishery (Saturday).

It was a change of scenery for me today as this knock-up was to be held on the smaller top lake which I have never fished before, There are limited pegs on this lake so the numbers were keep down to 9 of us as not to cut each other off, I was told the average depth was around 4ft and the lake contains a good head of skimmers and smaller carp so with this in mind I would mainly be hoping to catch on maggots or soft pellet today. The weather certainly had changed with a bitter easterly wind and a big drop in temperature so I didn't think the weights would be great?

 After a nice breakfast roll from the on-site café it was time for the draw and fortunate for me for a change I managed to draw peg 1 which meant I was on the opposite bank to the others with the wind off my back slightly for which I was thankful as it was so cold just setting up'

I had what looked like a inviting margin for starters in amongst some dead stick-ups and a swim further along my left end bank at 14mts, So my first rig was a 4x12 chanti on 0,15-0.12 and an 16 808 hook were I still had around 4ft of water on both lines tight in as I could get on both lines, keeping it simple my only other rig was a 0.3g PB2 float on 0.13-0.10 to fish at the same depth in the open water at 12mts off to my left and 13mts straight in-front of me, For company I had team mate James Gunter opposite me on peg 2 who was using the new range of Maver keepnets which are rather bright to say the least' and yes I have got some but I'm saving them for when my new seatbox arrives just to brighten things up even more!.

 James.

I started the day by feeding a small ball of micro pellet onto the 13 open water swim and a ball of ground-bait at 12mts with some loose over the top containing some pinkies and dead red maggot. Starting the day looking for some early carp at 14mts against the bank with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding a few red maggots and micros via a cad pot it was a slow start as after an hour I still hadn't managed to put anything in the net off either of the inside lines, James had managed to net a couple of smaller skimmers and a few small fish in the open water so it was time for a change.

Starting on the 13mt line again with a 4mm expander on the hook it took a few minutes but then I had an 8oz skimmer and one of similar size shortly after but it was taking ages for a bite so I began to feed small balls of wetted micro pellets via a cadpot to draw a few fish into the swim, things began to pick up a bit and I found it best to feed then fish it out before topping it up again, catching the odd skimmer which all seemed to be of the same size'.

 

As the day went on the swim was dying right off and word was there were a couple of carp being caught so going into the last couple of hours I was hoping to catch a few carp from my other swims, I did try the 12mt ground-bait swim but all I had were a few blips' on anything I put on the hook. After trying my inside again without a sign I decided to re-plum towards the back of the stick-ups closer to the bank and start again feeding live maggot and fishing the same on the hook were I did manage to catch two small carp but was having trouble hooking debris even off the deck so concentrated switching between both the edge and along the bank at 14mts as my open water swims seemed devoid' which gave me another 2 carp before the all out.

Not taking long to pack up as it was freezing I didn't know what had been caught further down but thought I had more than who I could see at are end, James had managed 3 carp from down the edge but had struggled on his silvers lines and by the time the scales arrived I had 11lb odd to beat, with my 4 carp going 6lb added to my 8lb odd of silvers see me take the spoils with a total of 15lb odd for a hard but quite enjoyable day, the fish certainly didn't want much feed and tiny amounts gave me bites from skimmer's to keep me interested, being a cost cutter match I was never going to get rich but the £35 winnings more than covered the day, Even better it was nice to fish somewhere new and get a result. 

 

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 1, 15lb 9oz.

2nd Rich Heatly (Clevedon A.A) peg 6, 11lb.

3rd James Gunter (Maver) peg 2, 9lb 12oz.

4th Robert Fogg (Clevedon A.A) peg 9, 9lb 5oz.

   
    

         

Shiplate Farm Pleasure Session (Hawthorns Lake)

After My resent trip to Shiplate farm on the outskirts of my home town of Weston super mud" I was keen to pop up the road for a go on the canal lake, Only just finding time after starting a new role in my job to tell how the session went last friday for whom I had the company of my good wife Yvonne who was a tad disappointed not to be fishing herself as I am awaiting the arrival of my new Maver Seatbox and have promised her my present one so she will be fully kitted up and be keen to give me a thrashing know doubt' but was keen to learn as always.

 I chose peg 6 in the middle of the lake,

 And as always it was to be a chanti day" I live by them for this time of the year when the carp are a bit more lefargic, Lefarjick , Lafargic, Owe sod it' you know what I mean!, but after years of use I feel I can get these floats to behave to induce more bites which means more fish in the net, I know they can be prone to breaking and I take my time to re-glue the eye and give them a lick of hardener before I use them, Fiddly I know, But I've lost count how many brown envelopes they have helped me with'.

I had a rig to fish right over at 13mts in 2ft off water which was ditched after 20mins as the wind had picked up, A rig to fish down the track where I had around 6ft of water, and a rig to fish just off the bank in 4ft of water down the edge where I would drip feed meat by hand.

After switching to fishing down the track on maggot where I had been loose feeding maggot by hand starting at dead depth with single maggot I began to catch the odd small fish add the odd skimmer to 12oz, I felt there were some bigger fish in the swim but had to feed off some of the smaller fish to get to the so began to feed more but less often which soon worked and I was catching regular skimmers to a 1lb with some chunky roach in between, As the day went on I managed to draw the attention of some nice commons and mirrors to 8lb again on maggot along with a few chub and a lone tench' I did have a try down the edge on meat but after a couple of liners I was soon back down the track catching mainly on single maggot, It was a really enjoyable day as you never new what the next bite was going to produce and by fish a soft white hydro it landed everything nicely,

 

 

Ending up with 9 carp for around 50lb odd and a good mixed net of silvers for nearly 30lb all for the price of a pint of maggots"

My kinda fishin!'. Booked in for the match on this lake this coming sunday so lets see if it works for me then..?

 

 

             

Viaduct Teams Of 5 Final Rd.

At least we were greeted by a milder day than of late which couls mean an improvement of the fishing if the colder nights hadn't taken there toll, With Don picking me up we sampled the help yourself breakfast for the last time this year at the globe Inn at Somerton which was very nice and has got better as the matches have gone on' before making are way to the fishery to unload the kit before team mate Steve Seager who was doing the team draw for the day arrive to tell us are fate?. His face said it all as on paper it didn't look the best of draws and mine didn't look to favourable being an open water peg on Spring peg 20 with no island chuck which is were most of the carp are hooked on the lake at this time of the year,

 

I was really disappointed to tell the truth as I know most of the match would have to be spent on the pole, For which I had to borrow one off my good friend Steve Howell after snapping my No.6  when pleasure fishing yesterday" and it never feels the same when you borrow someone's kit but I was thankful as my options were limited somewhat.

I set up a small cage feeder to fish towards the end of the over hanging tree off to my left but I would be sharing the area with the guy on peg 25 who also had the end of the tree directly in-front of him which seems a bit daft but that's the way it goes. with mainly silvers in mind A 4x12 wire wonder on 0.11-0.09 to 18 63-13 hook to fish at 14mts and 12mts off to my left at 2'oclock where it was all 4ft deep all over , And finally a 4x8 Chanti to fish along my inside bank with caster over loose fed caster. I had Ron Hardiman to my left on 21 towards the corner on the end peg and Terry Gilbert on the end of the island peg 19 which I was really hoping I had drawn as it get slightly deeper in the pegs to my right and can be a good area for big skimmers. Ron and myself new we were up against it so had a quid between us to keep the interest up'.

At the all-in I fed 4 balls of ground-bait at 14mts with some chopped worms, casters, & Dead red maggots added and a pot of loose ground-bait over the top, and 1 small ball at 12mts and a pot of loose with dead pinkie's in over the top. I began to fed a few casters down the edge by hand before starting on the small ground-bait feeder towards the end of the tree with dead red maggot on the hook, Well Terry had a double figure carp first chuck next to the island" job done! whilst Glynn on peg 25 and myself were sharing about 6ft of water" 45mins later after reeling in most casts to find myself attached to leafs and debris from the tree all I had was two small roach and missed a bite on corn but felt I was going nowhere so it was time for a change. first off I tried down the edge and soon added a few perch to 8oz and some roach about 5oz but with the water being clear they wouldn't stay in the swim to long so soon found myself trying the long pole lines.

Starting at 14mts with dead maggot I had 8oz skimmer followed by a 1lb plus fish on the head of a worm, a switch to the 12mt swim with double dead pinkee on the hook saw me add a 2lb skimmer but then nothing, A top up on each line saw me try the edge again for a few more perch and roach but they just wouldn't stay in the swim for long. With over half the match gone I just kept plugging away between the 3 pole lines pinching the odd fish off each to keep me interested as Terry was now catching some nice skimmers on the feeder just short of the island as was Dan on peg 18 on the long pole but it was expected so just kept at it. Things were at least looking good for the £1 off Ron until 10mins from the end he hooked a carp down his inside infront the empty pallet netting it with 2mins to go", convinced it was enough for him to take beat me I handed it over as we began to pack up, only it turned out his total weight went 15lb wasn't enough to beat my 16lb of silvers so he was gutted when he had to return it with one of his shinny one's!" result cheers mate.. Terry ended up having a good day after his initial Carp Finishing with 28lb of skimmers which was enough to pick up 3rd overall in the silvers pool as well as having the top total weight on the lake.

 Spring lake winnerTerry Gilbert.  

Back at the results and it was Cambell lake which again produced the winner, Mark Brennan taking the top spot with 127lb from peg 115 on the bomb and meat, Rob Jones Took the top silvers with 34lb odd from off spit peg 26 on Spring Lake with a mainly skimmer net caught on dead red maggot on the long pole, team wise It was a case of could Team Flip Flop hold on to there 6pt league but they had a disaster on the day finishing last with 27pts meaning the overall honours went the way of consistent Burts Baits taking the league overall from runners up Thatchers Gold,

 League winners Burt Baits.

 

Individually Ben Hagg Of Burt Baits (Middle of pic) was top overall finishing the league with 79pts so well done to you all. Well That's it for another year and as a team we didn't have the best of starts but the last two rounds have seen improvement finishing 4th on the day today and 15th in the league but at least we got out of last place" lol. My draws have seen me on a couple of duffers and the right pegs wrong time scenario' but it did have a couple that suited so was thankful to pick some money up along the way, A very well run league and popular with the turn out of 95 anglers as there aren't many matches like this around now. 

Full Results-

1st Mark Brennan (Somerset Angling) peg 115 Cambell, 127lb 4oz.

2nd Ben Hagg (Burts Baits) peg 126 Cambell, 120lb 15oz.

3rd Chris Davis (Team Flip Flop) peg 125 Cambell, 109lb 15oz. 

4rd Mark Edwards (Frenzee Black) peg 85 Cary, 99lb 4oz.

Silvers-

1st Rob Jones (Frenzee Orange) peg 26 Spring, 34lb 13oz.

2nd Chris Fox (MFS) peg 43 Match, 30lb 14oz.

3rd Terry Gilbert (Thatchers Gold, peg 19 Spring, 28lb 10oz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

               

Viaduct Fishery Thursday Cost Cutter.

A Sharp over night frost greeted the 19 of us booked in today so I wasn't expecting the world to be set alight with big weights and the main objective of my visit was to hope and draw an area where the fish are balled up and try to qualify for the all winners final later in the year. I was in a bit of a rush this morning, forgetting the camera & leaving myself short of time for a breakfast but I'm sure I would make it through the day' The match was to be split over Cambell & Cary lakes and I fancied a draw on Cary as the fish being somewhat bigger you don't need many for a weight but found myself on the first peg above the spit peg 128 Cambell, This area can be a bit hit and miss at this time of the year and last weekend in the league the fish were sat a few pegs further up and the same on the opposite bank but they do move about so you never know.

Quite simple today a bomb rod to fish hair-rigged baits a loaded waggler on 4lb main line and 0.13 bottom again with a hair-rig and a pole rig on 015-0.13 and a 16 PR434 hook to fish along the spit in just over 3ft of water using the same rig to fish towards the empty pallet on my left, Starting on the bomb with meat it was a slow start for most, I tried the waggler over the same area without a sign and we were 90mins in before I had a 4lb fish on the bomb and punched meat, it was a flash in the pan though as nothing followed, The pole lines failed to produce a sniff so I spent most of the match searching around for any indications between the waggler and the bomb with various baits, It looked as if we were all in the same boat as the two guys opposite hadn't caught a carp and apart from Alan Oram on peg 125 who was catching well towards the end of the match I had only seen odd fish caught. I did get a couple more late carp of similar size on the bomb and an f1 and did manage to get a fish on the pole line at the end of the spit on double 6mm meat, An 8oz perch!". That was as good as my day went and I even chose to throw my fish back and not weigh as I'm sure Cary lake had thrown up a couple of munters' Alan had a great last hour catching on the waggler and corn to finish with 97lb odd and chatting to him afterwards he said he had a right ball of fish in-front of him by the end of the match, they had obviously found an area they wanted to sit in after the hard frost but you just got to be fortunate enough to make the most of them when you do' you still have to catch them though so well done to him as the rest of my lake seemed to have struggled, The next best weight on the day was from peg 96 Cary with 48lb and the top silvers also came from this lake with 15lb odd, I missed getting the full result sheet sorry'. Back to Viaduct for the final round of the league Sunday so lets see how Spring lake goes".        

Summerhayes Fishery Weds Open.

After some un-planned time off work due to time needed for a head clearance but looking forward to a new position in the company on the horizon I was determined to make the most of it and spend some time on the bank, A phone call this morning saw me book-in to the open match at Summerhayes Todays match was to be run as a rover meaning you had a choice of which lake you wanted to fish and with a new induction of Bigger bream added to Longs lake I felt most would  fancy giving it a go as it was the first time a match would be held on this lake since their introduction. The bonus peg worth an extra £100 to the winner was to be who ever drew number 5, And yes much to Tim Ford's disgust know doubt" lol  I drew it!.

Knowing most would head for Longs I chose the option of having a crack on Sellicks lake which holds a bigger head of carp, It was forecast to be quite a steady cold north westerly wind all day so chose to head towards the more sheltered far end peg 10, Not a choice many would have made but owner Pete's rules state that once you have picked a swim there must be a gap of an empty peg between each angler ruling out anybody going on corner peg 11 were I was hoping to tempt some carp in-front of the pallet?

Luckily it wasn't to far to reach far bank at just over 13mts so my first rig was a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 16 808 hook to fish tight into the bank in 3ft of water, An identical rig to fish off to my right at the bottom of the shelf in 5ft of water which would double up as my rig to fish in-front the pallet. finally another 4x12 chanti to fish at 4mts with maggot in 6ft of water and to use the same rig to fish down the peg at 13mts in the centre track with corn. The wind was swirling all over the place at the start of the match and I wasn't ready for the all-in so took the peg pic's at the end off the match.

 

When I did eventually get under way I began by feeding a small ball of fishmeal ground-bait at the bottom of the far shelf , threw a few maggots on the short line by hand and fired a few hard 4mm pellets in-front the empty pallet before cupping in some corn down the channel at 13mts. At the last minute I had a hunch' and decided to feed a few cubes of 6mm meat towards the leg of the other empty pallet on my right as their were only 3 of us in the match on this lake so wanted to make the most of the room. 

 I Started the match right to the far bank with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding just a few micros but after 15mins switched to the deeper far line with double dead red maggot on the hook, Still nothing in the next 45mins so I gave the short maggot swim a go which I had been feeding from the start but still I couldn't get a bite and after finally trying the corn swim, motionless' with two hours gone things weren't looking to good! After putting my faith in snaring a few from the pallet swims it was time to give it a try.

Starting down towards empty peg 11 with double 4mm expander on the hook where I had been flicking a few hard pellets with the catty saw me finally attached to my first fish being around 2lb, I had another of similar size 5mins later but nothing followed so I had another look on the far lines but still couldn't get any indications on anything. I had re-fed towards the other pallet above me a couple of times with meat so decided to give it a quick look, Starting on a single cube I was a bit surprized when it shot under and a 3lb fish was in the net followed by a 2lb fish next put-in' before it went quite so I topped up a small amount and tried again down to my left but after no signs in 5mins I decided to try feeding a few cubes of meat here as well and left it to settle.

I kept rotating swims searching for fish but going into the last hour I had only added two more 2lb fish from both inside lines again on the meat and with 40mins to go I noticed a few small bubbles on the 4mt line which I had continued to feed so gave it another try, Well" from nothing it worked as I added 3 skimmers over a 1lb a nice roach and two carp to 3lb to go with a couple more from the left hand pallet swim.

It was really a day of working to try and find the fish but not giving up faith in the lines I had started, Apart from losing one foul hooked fish I can say I never missed a bite all day which doesn't happen very often' The guy above me had gone by halfway through and venue regular Steve kedge on the opposite bank failed to hook a carp but word on the bank said Longs lake had produced the goods with lots of the new bream being caught, It didn't produce the winner though as Craig Stewart made the right choice by opting to be the only angler to go on Lily Pool peg 2 in the sheltered corner ending the day with 62lb all taken on the pole in the old Lily beds down his edge.

 Winner Craig Stewart.

the rest of the top weights came from Longs lake with Andy Hembrow taking the best silvers weight of 50lb mainly made up of the new fish,

 Part of Andy's Silvers catch.

 

Maybe I did make the wrong choice of lake today but I enjoyed having to work hard to finish up with 33lb odd and certainly learnt a few new things for my next trip to this lake.

Full Results - 

1st Craig Stewart (Summerhayes) peg 2 Lily, 62lb 10oz.

2nd Aide Bishop (Summerhayes) peg 17 Longs, 60lb 7oz.

3rd Andy Hembrow (Clevedon A.A) peg 11 Longs, 59lb 12oz.

4th Gary Butler (Summerhayes) peg 31 Longs, 50lb 13oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 10 Sellicks, 33lb 3oz.

Silvers -

Andy Hembow 50lb.

Gary Butler 44lb 9oz.

 

              

 

        

Viaduct Fishery Teams Of 5 Rd Four.

I was glad Team mate Don Was picking me up as I had a few pints yesterday after are visit to the Maver trade show in Worchester and was feeling well de-hydrated when I woke this morning' It was well worth are trip though and am looking forward to receiving all the kit I managed to purchase on are visit although I don't think the wife was to impressed when she found out how much I had spent! It was a change of Angler for the draw today and after the help yourself breakfast at the globe which we managed to time just right today as it was all available on are arrival giving us plenty of time to get to the fishery and unload the kit before team mate Steve Seager got to us to let us know are fate..? It was my turn to fish match lake today with an overspill of two pegs on Middle lake and four on the spit of spring lake. All week I had been saying to myself I fancied the two pegs on middle lake, 37 & 38 as they have been in good form for silvers though-out the league so far and I had chosen not to enter the carp pool today as I didn't fancy any of the pegs in are 20 section to reach the main frame.

Well I not so sure Steve was to keen on the kiss on the cheek when he told me I was on 37 but I was more than happy" when we arrived at my peg I had a concern with the weather as the Breeze was already blowing directly at us and was meant to increase as the day went on which could cause a few problems if the sun stayed out as I would struggle to see any coloured float tip? The pole was going to be my main line of attack with Skimmers in mind as they tend to average over 2lb so doesn't take long to amass a weight if you are lucky enough to land on a few. My first rig was a 4x12 rig on 0.12-0.09 and an 18 PR434 hook to fish in around 4ft of water at 14mts and another rig of the same to fish off to my left were it was a few inches shallower at 13mts, the only difference was the hook being a 18 63-13.

 

With the concern of sun making things difficult I did think of trying the waggler or a small ground-bait feeder further towards the middle of the lake but with a carp angler opposite me on pegs left for the pleasure anglers with 3 rods out at all directions pinging a few boilies over the top' saw me look elsewhere for any further lines, After a chat to a few before the start I was told you can catch some perch under the branches of the tree at about 4mts so set up a 4x10 chanti on 0.11-0.10 and an 18 63-13 hook where it was about 3ft deep,

 Finally with the tree being a bit carpy" I set up a proper rig to fish at 14mts towards the back end of the tree being a 4x12 chanti on 0.15-0.13 and an 16 63-13 hook if 4ft of water.

 

It Seemed like ages before we started and I was set up in plenty of time along with a few others on match lake directly behind me,

 

 So had plenty of time to grab a brew before we got under way. At the all-in I cupped four balls of ground-bait containing a good helping of casters and dead red maggots an a couple of grains of corn onto the open water 14mt line and a whole pot of loose ground-bait over the top, One ball onto the 13mt line with dead pinkie and dead maggots added and started to loose feed a few casters under the branches at 4mts, Whilst I wanted to let these lines settle I had a look for an early mug fish at 14mts towards the back of the tree fishing dead depth with a single grain of corn on the hook just cad potting a few grains of corn and caster over the top via a cadpot. After about 15mins I had a nice slow bite which I missed! but nothing followed so re-fed the same and switched to the short line with single caster on the hook as I had been feeding a few by hand from the off. It didn't take long for the first fish being a 10oz perch followed buy a few smaller samples before I hooked a proper one which I saw briefly before It snagged me in an underwater branch and shed the hook", A new hook-length added and I had a 1lb perch and a couple of rudd before things went quite so carried on flicking a few casters in and switched to the open 14mt line with double caster on the hook after 10mins all I had was a 6oz skimmer and couldn't get another bite even on maggot so had a look on the 13mt line with dead maggot but only had a small roach so was soon back to the short line as I was already struggling to see the floats. A few more perch and a couple of 6oz hybrids followed before I hooked another big perch which again showed me itself before snagging me in the same place as the first..." A total trashed rig this time after it flew out and wrapped me across my knuckles'. After a new rig was added I rested the swim and attempted to try the open water swims but it soon became pointless as I couldn't see any of the float on either line as the wind had picked right up causing a mirror effect on the water with the sun! owe dear' now I did have a dilemma as we were over a couple of hours into the match and already I had seen the guy on peg 38 land some bigger skimmers on the waggler with corn on the hook but was fortunate enough to have an island if front of him adding to see his float. I had already worked out if I fed to many casters on the short line I would struggle for bites so with not having to many options I began to just feed in two's & three's and keep switching depths to try and add what I could hoping I would be able to see my other lines towards the end of the match.

It wasn't fast but I added a couple more perch to 12oz and a few roach to 8oz before the cloud came over with about a hour of the match remaining so I was soon onto to the open 14mt swim with double caster on the hook. The next 15mins saw me add two better 1lb+ skimmers and a smaller sample, I tried the corn again on the hook but didn't get a bite and the last 30mins were spent switching between both the long and short line adding what I could and after another 1lb perch on the short line I was just waiting to here the shout for all out when one last bite saw me connected to something much larger and after steering it away from the tree 5mins after the all out saw me net a double figure carp!" Bonus.. By now it was raining and didn't take long to pack up and as I had expected John Butcher on peg 38 had had a nice days fishing on the waggler and corn ending the day with the top silvers weight of 26lb catching most of his fish in the channel,

 silvers winner John Butcher.

 

I was pleased to end up with a mixed bag of silvers totalling 19lb odd to add to my 11lb 8oz carp' which boosted my weight up in the section points finishing with 16 out of a possible 20 which would be good for the team. Back at the results and the match was a tie for first place with Fishery Owner Steve Long from Cary lake peg 73 catching on the bomb and various baits and the wonder lad Andy (Baggin) Power from Cambell lake catching most of his carp on the bomb and meat both finishing with 107lb. It turned out my silvers weight was enough to take 3rd overall on the day picking up a nice £80 and even better the late' carp boosted my weight up enough to take my seven peg section adding another £40". Happy days', Team wise we did much better finishing halfway even with captain Chris hook finishing last on spring lake with a 9oz perch which is about all this pegs worth judging by the previous results' Top on the day were team Flip Flops who now take over at the top of the league with the last round to go next week. Spring lake for me for the final round and hoping for one of the areas which showed up a few silvers today as I did well on this lake in the last round last year so hoping for a repeat..?
Full Results -
1st Andy Power (Thatchers P.I. Gold) peg 116 Cambell & Steve Long (Viaduct) peg 73 Cary 107lb.
3rd Colin Craig (MFS) peg 85 Cary, 95lb 8oz.
4th Phil (Fabio) Harding (Team Flip flop) peg 96 Cary, 81lb 4oz.
5th Dan Squires (Viaduct Select) peg 66 lodge, 72lb 5oz.
6th Clayton Hudson (Avon Angling) peg 94 Cary, 70lb 3oz.
Silvers -
1st John Butcher ( Moaning Maggots) peg 38 Middle, 26lb 4oz.
2nd Mark Williams (Thatchers Welsh Wizards) peg 11 Spring, 20lb.
3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 37 Middle, 19lb 6oz.