Summerhayes Open Sellicks & Lily Pool.

Another trip to Summerhayes on the cards today as I was hoping to fish the spring league starting at Viaduct but with commitments coming up for the super league starting in June it meant I would miss a few matches so it was a pointless option really, Traveling on my own today I still managed my hilltops breakfast bumping into a few anglers who were going to other venues, chatting over breky I've been informed that Thyer's Angler Brian (Anteater) Slipper will soon be adding his kit to eBay shortly after taking a battering from the opposite sex from the next peg at yesterdays match on Avalon fishery" Mint! Although I would decline his seatbox as it would be better suited to antiques roadshow..!

Arriving at the fishery see a good turn out as owner Pete told me their were 26 fishing meaning there would be 17 pegged on Sellicks and 9 pegs on Lily pool which is yet to convince me so I was praying for sellicks again. Into the draw and Kev Perry whipped in-front of me, At the café he was moaning the place down about drawing lily pool and I didn't laugh to much when he did along with Nick Harvey who I have my regular quid with so all I had to do was avoid it myself? Bargin" peg 17 Sellicks, The same peg I had last time this lake was in when I had a good day catching 67lb' Result!

Of course I got all the banter, Flyer, Drawbag, Golden balls, ect ect, but its funny when until 2 weeks ago I hardly heard it mentioned! funny that lol. Arriving at my swim the conditions seemed pretty much the same as the last match except the wind was from the north making it feel much cooler so would this make a difference? I new over to the far bank at 15mts there was know flat spots to fish on as it seems to drop straight down to 4ft or so, So again I would put my faith in catching shallow across on a 4x10 chanti on 0.13-0.11 & 18 808,

Next up was a 4x12 Chanti on the same line and an 16 808 hook to fish at the bottom of the far slope and at 7mts off to my left which was the same depth at around 5ft. Last of all another 4x10 rig to fish just past the weed again down the edge towards the empty pallet.

For the fun of it I had a £1 with Mark on the next peg as the last time he took me on for a quid he told me he had done well so I chucked back 25lb only for him to end up having the last laugh by only weighing 13lb" so I wanted my nugget back!

 (Weightwatchers Mark )

I started the match by feeding a small amount of 6mm meat down towards pallet, fed a small amount of corn at 14mts at the bottom of the slope, half a 250mm pot of meat on the 7mt line off to my left & being different a whole pot of hemp" at 5mts off to my left. Starting across with a 6mm hard pellet on the hook with the rig set about 18'inches deep I didn't feed anything to start with which was a good job because as normal the minute the match started the breeze picked up I wasn't expecting a hectic start but it took me 40mins to put my first carp in the net of 4lb after I started to feed hard 4mm over the top with the catty' but had noticed further up the lake Alvin Jones was already catching well fishing tight over with corn on the hook from what I could see, I had a look on the 14mt line with corn but after 5mins I topped it up and went back to fishing over to the island. A couple more fish on 4mm hard pellets at 12inches deep tighter to the island but bites were hard to come by, I couldn't get any indications away from the far bank but was getting the odd fish but as time went on it was getting harder and the fish seemed to shy away from bait being fired at them and after 3 hours it was time to try and get some fish going on my other lines I had been feeding regularly  whilst pinging a few 4mm pellets over to the island to pinch the odd fish when I could. Starting on the 7mt swim with a single cube of meat on the hook I missed a slow bite before having a skimmer on the next put-in but that was it, I tried a big piece of worm over the hemp line but didn't have a sign so new I would have to rely on catching a few more carp from across to the far bank and hopefully my banker swim down to the pallet". It was time to give it a try so starting on a single 6mm cube set at dead depth I didn't have to wait long as another 4lb carp followed by a 2lb fish were added before I rested the swim re-feeding a small amount. Going back across to the far bank I had a fish straight away but again it went dead.' Going into the last hour I had noticed a couple of fish swirling down the edge at bits of meat which had caught up on the weed and was getting liners but no bites so I switched to the shallower rig down the edge around a 1ft deep which saw one quick fish before they spooked again. I really thought the far bank swim would switch on but it just didn't happen and I ended up just taking two more fish closer to me down the edge one shallow the one on the deck.

I ended the day with 10 carp for which I thought would go 30lb odd but had seen Alvin catch all day along with Steve Jackson on the next peg to him who was hooking carp whilst trying to catch silvers' the fish certainly wanted to be out of the wind it seemed as the guy to my left struggled for a couple of fish as did Mark so at least my £1 was safe!. I caught up with the scales on the early pegs of Sellicks where there had been two 40lb weights, Over to lily pool and Steve Kedge did well from peg 7 finishing the day with some bigger carp taken on meat to lead the way with 50b odd, Back around to my lake and Glyn (Wormhead) Wickham did well again on the silvers front with 25lb which took the win before it was my turn to total 38lb, Alvin was now favourite and did well taking most of his fish all from a flat spot about 2ft deep against the far bank on corn over pellet to end up winning the day with 64lb.

 Winner Alvin Jones.

 Silvers Winner Again Glyn Wickham.

 

 

In hindsight it may of paid to take some time out and searched around to see if I could find a similar spot in my swim but there didn't seem to be any numbers of fish wiling to feed in the cooler wind across on the far bank so I'm not sure it would of made much difference? With Glyn taking the silvers prize it meant I snuck into 5th place so got £18 back at least along with Mark and of course Nick's' I had a free day. I've Booked into the bank holiday two-day festival here next week with the first day on Sellicks & Longs the next then it will be a change of scenery for a while leading up to the super league starting on the huntspill.

Full results -

1st Alvin Jones ( Alvin's Car care) peg 20 Sellicks, 64lb 6oz.

2nd Steve Kedge (Somerset Anging) peg 7 Lily, 50lb 12oz.

3rd Aide Bishop (Summerhayes) peg 7 Sellicks, 47b 3oz.

4th Martin Addicott (Summerhayes) peg 5 Sellicks, 45lb 13oz.

5th Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 15 Sellicks, 38lb 11oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 17 Sellicks, 38lb.

Silvers-

1st Glyn Wickham 24lb 5oz.

2nd Nigel Wickham 11lb 7oz

3rd Mark Broomsgrove 10lb 11oz. 

                         

 

 

 

 

                  

Landsend Fishery Saturday Open.

It's been a while since I had chance to return to this fishery and although I'm not familiar of the areas to draw of what to do exactly I was looking forward to the change, A good turn out of 18 fishing and the other a couple of lakes booked out with club matches saw us all on match lake. Into the draw and I found myself on peg 18 which I didn't have a clue about but after a quick chat with Andy Hembrow who knows the venue well told me a lot of fish hold up in the area but having the gap in the island can result in a lot of foul hooked fish so I was in for an interesting day?

 

Having to rely on information from a few regulars I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so chose to fish one rig on the deck over to the far bank at 16mts tight into a gap I happened to have being a 4x10 hand made float on 0.15-0.12 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook in just over 2ft of water, A 0.3g PB1 to use as a swinging rig on a longer line of the same size with an 18 808 hook to search off the point of the island in the open water, a 4x12 chanti to fish at 5mt slightly off to y right in the open water on 0.13-0.11 and an 16 63-13 hook, finally a in-line 0.2g rig to fish down my margin towards the tree stump on 0.17-0.15 and an 18 PR478 hook. For company I had match organiser Mike West on peg 19 and silver fish basher Nigel Garrett on peg 17. When I arrived at the fishery I realised I had forgot my waterproofs as well as some sweetcorn. Venue Expert Rod Wooten kindly lent me a bib n brace and Gary Cross offered to lend me a tin of corn.. The trouble is it looked like it had been in his net bag from the day he ever started fishing' as you can see by the pic it was some what out of date! did I use it? no not that silly I waited for him to go to the draw and swapped it for one of his new tins" ha ha.

 

Being a bit cautious to start with I fed a small amount of 6mm meat onto the 5mt open water swim and started the match on the swinging' rig with 6mm pellet on the hook over towards the island without feeding anything to start with. after 5mins of plopping the rig around I hooked my first fish, Up The Ass" not the start I hoped for but hey. After 3 more foul hookers and nothing in the net after 45mins it was time for a change. I swapped to the rig set up to fish tighter to the far bank on the deck cad potting nuggets of micro pellets over the top along with some 4mm hard pellets and fishing the same on the hook. It didn't take long for my first fish of 5lb followed by a fish of 3lb before I had foul hooking problems again'. I tried to fish up in the water but they just didn't seem to want to know so switched back to the long line rig off the point of the island. A quick fish followed then nothing as they were easily spooked but I stuck at it as apart from the pegs further down to my left I hadn't seen to much caught.

 

I tried all the baits I had available on and off the deck but I just couldn't get the fish to settle and after only adding odd fish and with a couple of hours remaining I had to hope my 5mt meat swim or the edge swim would produce?.

starting on a single 6mm cube on the hook I missed a bite before landing a 6lb carp soon after which got me excited but it wasn't as I expected as the match wore on I found it harder to get bites when I expected it to get better?

 

The last hour was spent plopping around the swim with the longer line rig to the far bank and the meat rig at 5mts but apart from the odd fish things didn't come alive. an interesting day never the less but I didn't expect to get in the money as a few angler had caught well later in the match. managing to get the kit in the car at the end of the match before the rain started I offered to assist with the board for the weigh-in, After a couple of weighs it was time for Rod Wotton on peg 8 who had a few' taking the scales around to 104lb catching across to the far bank on 8mm hard pellets, after two 90lb weights and an 80lb it was my turn and the fish I had were chunky giving me 50lb odd to add to my 5lb of silvers. as expected I never made the money today finishing 5th but it seemed most of the fish came from the lower number's and after a chat with Andy Hembrow after the match he told me there were a lot of fish at his end of the lake. I think my peg was worth a few more fish but after a few more visits hopefully I will get a better picture of what to do and put a few more fish in the net' Rod Wotton on peg8 showed what a class act at this venue he can be taking another win ahead of Jamie Parkhouse on corner peg 12.

Full results-

1st Rod Wotton (Clevedon A.A) peg 8, 104lb 1oz.

2nd Jamie Parkhouse (Burt Baits) peg 12, 99lb 4oz.

3rd Andy Hembrow (Clevedon A.A) peg 16, 96lb 3oz.

4th Rich Lovering (Clevedon A.A) peg 15, 84lb.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 18, 56lb 1oz.

 

Silvers - 1st Nigel Garrett (Thatchers Tackle) peg 16, 27lb 14oz.

2nd Gary Cross (Thyers) peg 20, 16lb 10oz.

 

 

 

 

 

Summerhayes Open (Longs Lake).

After leaving it to late in the week to try and book in at Viaduct fishery with team mate Don Sutherland I persuaded him to have his first trip to Summerhayes, after the normal hilltops breakfast on route we arrived to see another good turn out of 25 fishing, Greeted with a cold easterly wind I just fancied a swim out of the wind with the option of fishing over towards the island, Into the bucket and it turns out I wasn't in for a change of area as I drew peg 34 next to the swim I had last Saturday" And for company? Don on peg 35! owe well at least he could keep an eye on me should I start bagging"? Starting off with 3 lines today the first over to the island as tight in as I could get to the rushes were I found about 3ft of water so assembled the normal 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook, A rig to fish short at 5mts down the track in 5ft of water with the same size float/line and a 16 808 hook and finally a 4x10 chanti on 0.14-0.12 and a 16 63-13 hook to fish down the edge in 4ft of water towards the next pallet on empty peg 33, Having Silver fish basher Glyn Wormhead Wickham on peg 32 I was hoping this would be a bit of a banker line later in the day. I did also set up a rig to fish hard pellets shallow across should there be signs of fish up in the water as the wind had dropped a little as we set up.

At the all-in I fed half a big pot of maggots onto the 5mt open water swim and about a dozen 6mm cubes of meat down the edge. Starting on the deck across with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding a few micros over the top saw my first fish ten minutes later being a 1lb carp, The next 15mins saw me hook 3 more fish but all foul hooked and I lost them all' I switched to feeding some hard 4mm pellet over the top again with the cad pot to try and get the fish on the deck. another 1lb carp followed but more foul hookers were a problem and with Don appearing to have the same problem it was time to get the catty out and switch to the shallow rig. Starting at half depth with a 4mm hard pellet on the hook I had a 2lb fish after 5mins but already the fish seemed keen to avoid my bait and slurp on the ones landing in the reeds" I shallowed right up to about 5inches deep but started having problems getting the rig as close as the fish seemed to be with the reeds over hanging from the disturbance caused by foul hookers. From what I could see apart from Alex Murray on the peg Des won off of last Saturday taking a few early fish not to much had been caught. A quick try on the short line I had been feeding by hand with maggots with a piece of worm on the hook saw no signs of fish so it was time for a re-think.

I decided to try across to the island but further of to my right away from the reeds not feeding and just relying on the sound of the hook pellet drawing the attention of a few fish. within seconds I had a fish of 3lb but soon after hooking another saw me attached to some under-water snag! Great, Rig number one gone". Back out on a new rig and two fish followed in 20mins before another on took me in there and another rig trashed.. It was getting frustrating as I couldn't seem to get any signs further than 2ft from the snag! despite flicking a few pellets further away. by now we were around halfway though and I thought I might have 10lb in the net so things weren't quite going to plan'  It Was then Don happened to mention was I feeding floating pellets as they were Drifting past him, they weren't mine' but as they drifted towards me they began to come right into my inside edge between myself and the empty pallet followed by some hungry mouths! I quickly came back with my rig and with a single cube of meat set about a 1ft deep dropped it in down the edge near the nearside reeds. Seconds later I had a 3lb fish before getting a bigger one close to the net only for it to snap my hook! only me to blame though as when I was in such a rush to get it out my box I noticed the hook had a small rust spot on the bend but didn't bother to change the short hook length..! what carp I did have in my inside soon drifted off with the safe' pellets out of the swim! At this point I decided to try my the line on the deck further towards the pallet where I had been feeding by hand, After a couple of small lifts I thought I was attached but no.. Another Snag and another trashed rig!.

Don was attempting to catch some silvers on his short line but wasn't hooking any carp and was struggling for bites so spent the last two hours switching between the rig set inches deep across on hard pellets and using the same rig to fish around a 1ft deep down my inside edge on meat, The rest of the match was a bit of a disaster to be honest a I could only get the odd fish down the edge and as far as catching across went, We lets just say I had a few more small carp but at the expense of another 4 rigs! I was hardly feeding this line just pinging a few in after each hooked" fish, I was never going to set the world alight to day but at least I managed to put a few fish in the net at the expense of the trashed tackle' At the weigh-in Alex was first and after a last couple of good hours near the end of the match ended the day with 51lb odd, The top weight before we got to peg 12 and last weeks Sunday match winner Jon Martin put 60lb on the scales to take the lead. After another 50lb weight it was around to me finishing the day with a level 30lb which wasn't a total disaster as it was enough to sneak 5th place picking up £18 which will at least pay for some floats... Jon went on to win the match again so well done to him catching at 17mts on 6mm pellets over to the island. Thankful the weather was quite kind to us but a bit of a frustrating day, don't think I made the right decisions from the start which was a bit costly I may of been better off fishing meat on the deck where I started the match but all in hindsight as they say.  

 Winner Again Jon Martin.

 Runner-up Alex Murray.

As far as the silver fish weights went the Wickham's had a total Clean up taking the top 3 places, In form Glyn Came out on top again with a weight of 16lb.

 Silvers Winner Glyn Wormhead Wickham.

 

Full Results -

1st Jon Martin (Summerhayes) peg 12, 60lb 15oz.

2nd Alex Murray (Sign Solutions) peg 37, 54lb 10oz.

3rd Mark Hannon (The Sedges) peg 26, 50lb 8oz.

4th Alvin Jones (Alvin's Car Care) peg 3, 30lb 15oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 34, 30lb.

6th Jess Jordon (Summerhayes) peg 23, 28lb 11oz.

Silvers -

1st Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 32, 16lb 13oz.

2nd Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 20, 10lb 7oz.

3rd Nigel Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 5, 6lb 2oz. 

 

  

 

                            

Summerhayes Open Sellicks & Lily Pool.

After yesterdays fund raiser For the disabled national with not much else on with a decent attendance it was back to summerhayes today traveling with good friend Nick Harvey we stopped off for the normal port of call at hilltops for breakfast. We arrived to find the numbers had swelled to 25 fishing which is a nice turn out anywhere these days, As normal we both wanted to avoid lily pool as it just doesn't seem to compete with the weights Sellicks can produce so we were both happy to draw the right lake with Nick on peg 5 and me on the opposite bank peg 17. Not a swim I had been near before but I liked the look of it and had an empty pallet to my left I would be sharing with Bill (The paste) Hopping on peg 19 although I had a nice clump of weed roots me side of the pallet you can see in the picture which I was sure would produce a few fish?

 

I had about 4ft of water just beside it so set up a 4x10 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 16 63-13 hook, next up was the same size rig to fish over to the far bank at 15mts with hard pellets on the same line and an 18 Maver pellet hook, It was a bit breezy plumbing up and I still had 4ft or so of water close to the bank so it was a change of plan for my usual soft pellet cad potting micro's as I felt I would suffer from foul hookers as it was warm in the air and I felt the fish would feed up in the warmer layers of water. last of al a 4x12 Chanti for down the track on 0.11-0.10 and an 16 808 hook in 5ft of water were I plumbed up a swim at 7mts to my left and 5mts to my right in the same depth of water but would feed them differently, I had Jess Jordan on peg 16 so at least I had good company.

 

I started the day by feeding a few cubes of meat down my margin, cupped about 20 cubes onto the 7mt line and a good handful of maggots on the shorter 5mt line. as always the wind had picked up as the whistle went for the a in but I chose to start with the far bank rig set about 2ft deep and a 6mm hard pellet on the hook. I didn't feed anything and after 5mins I had a 3lb carp which was a good start' not feeding anything I just kept using the pellet I had on the hook to make a fish attracting noise which gave me 3 more fish in the first hour which wasn't great but from the pegs I could see I was doing ok, I think I would of had more but was getting blown around on my box at times so presentation wasn't perfect. Bill was yet to catch and Jess had taken 2 fish on across on the deck but was now getting foul hookers so I persevered whist remembering to top my other lines up at regular intervals. After 90min I was up to 7 carp for about 18lb but started feeding a few hard pellets over the top with the catty when the wind allowed, This seemed to put them off for a while so decided to try my meat line at 7mts with a single cube of meat. I had a 4lb carp and a 1lb skimmer soon after then nothing which didn't surprize me so a bit more feed was added and I switched to the line I had been cupping in maggots with a worm on the hook. It took a while for me to get an indication but a slight dip and a slow bite had me thinking it would be another skimmer but after an eruption of bubbles on the bottom I thought otherwise' it turned out to be a 1lb plus eel hooked in the belly" all was well until I netted it and it began to roll trashing the whole rig right up to my elastic..!

 

With a new one assembled I re-fed the lines and went back over to the island as the wind had dropped slightly. Adding a couple more quick fish before they got spooked we were over half way through and I was itching to try down towards the pallet, With a single cube on the hook it took seconds to get my first fish of 4lb followed by a 3lb fish but didn't want to plunder the swim so rested it after a another try without a fish. It was a good sign though as I knew I had two line to work with now were I felt I could catch a few more fish. Oddly enough I struggled to catch much more than a couple of skimmers from my lines down the track so the last two hours I concentrated on the far line and down the edge still feeding the other lines to fall back on. The wind dropped off in the last hour and this was the best part of my match taking turns to catch a fish or two off each line and swapping swims, The fish weren't big but I began to put a few together, At one point I looked away for a second when down the edge when a found myself attached to a fish which had time to bolt straight under the pallet and out the other side much to the amazement of Bill who had decided to call it a day not long before the all out, After a bit of knit one pearl one I skilfully had it back on my side and soon netted a 5lb fish". I had a chance for one more on the whistle before the all-out from the far bank. I new I had done ok from those around me but couldn't see what had been caught on the opposite side of are lake or Lily Pool, word on the bank was Jon Martin on the end peg 23 on are bank had caught a few and I'm sure he was hoping he had enough to take the spoils as he was also on the bonus peg worth an extra £150. I caught up with the scales as they made their way around Lily Pool and the top weights were in the 40's onto are lake again and it was soon my turn, My carp and a few silvers took the lead with 67lb and after a couple of lower weights it was just Jon to weigh, When he pulled his net out it was going to be close but pleasing for him his few bigger fish pushed the scales around to 70lb to take the win and the bonus peg money to boot seeing him walk away with a tidy sum of £224 for the day so well done mate, Its nice to see it won now and again. I didn't manage to get a photo of Jon's catch as I was doing the board at the time so got his mug shot back at the hut,

 Winner Jon Martin.

On the silvers front yesterdays Silvers winner Glyn (Wormhead) Wickham had another good day taking a top weight of 20lb odd added to his carp saw him finish 3rd on the day overall, A pleasing day again for me as I wouldn't put hard pellet fishing as a forte of mine but I've learnt a lot how it works lately as today proved, I had to keep changing the depth to keep in contact with the fish across to the island catching around 12'inches deep come the end but it was worth it as it added another £60 to the wallet. Owe make that £62" although Nick had a few fish today I still managed to take another nugget added to what he owed from last week! lol.  

 My catch.

full results -

1st Jon Martin (Tackle UK) peg 23 Sellicks, 70lb 4oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 17 Sellicks, 67lb 5oz.

3rd Glynn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 19 Sellicks, 46lb 1oz.

4th Adge Bishop (Summerhayes) peg 7 Sellicks, 45lb 12oz.

5th Alvin Jones (Car Care) peg 12 Sellicks, 43lb 3oz.

Silvers -

Default, 1st  Kev Perry (Thyers) & Rodger Russell (Tackle UK)

12lb 10oz.

 

       

                        
      

Summerhayes Gary Bull Charity Match (All Lakes).

A return visit to Summerhayes  Fishery today for what turned out to be a popular attendance of 58 anglers for this match in aid of the ladies & disabled nationals,

with the attendance well up the match was to be spread over Longs, Sellicks & Lily Pool but there was a difference in the weather from my visit on Wednesday with a strong westerly breeze on most all of the lakes which was sure to effect some good swims, into the draw after purchasing some tickets for the after match raffle I found myself back on longs lake peg 33 which just so happened to be one of the widest parts of the lake with the wind blowing straight through it"

 arriving at my peg all hope of fishing the pole at 16mts to the island were out of the equation so my first line was around 11mts in 5ft of water were I was to feed micro and 4mm pellet for silvers with a 0.06 PB2 float on 0.13-0.11 and a size 16 63-13 hook. next up was a 4x12 chanti on the same line/hook to fish at 5mts in the open water and last of all a 4x10 chanti to fish down towards the empty pallet on my right in 4ft of water on 0.15-0.13 and an 18 808 hook.

with plenty of time before the all-in I managed to borrow a 10ft bomb rod to start the match fishing over to the island of none other than Des Shipp who was in my section peg 37 which happened to be the only peg in are section with the wind off his back! say no more.."

 The back of Shippy"

With my options somewhat limited I fed a ball of fishmeal and some micro & 4mm hard pellet onto the 11mt line and feed some meat down to the pallet, Starting the match on the bomb and red maggot over to the island I had a pull round in the first few mins only to come back with half of my 0.13 hook-length" trying again with one of 0.15 10mins later the same happened! not a good start as by now Des had netted a few fish as well as the Wickham wormheads either side of me in the form of Glynn & Nigel, after 45mins it was time to try something else so I tried a 4mm expander on the hook, My first fish was a 1oz roach followed by a 8oz crucian 20mins later on maggot, I try on the 5mt swim with maggot saw me pestered with blip fish and to be honest I was getting frustrated. I went for a wee and quickly popped over to see Des which didn't make me feel better after he threw some pellets down his edge only to here carp sucking seconds after as he assured me they could wait till later! as I walked off shaking my head I was determined to make my swim work, when I returned I began to feed twice as much loose fee maggot on the short line by hand and fish the heavier rig over the top with a whole worm on the hook. also feeding a few hard 4mm pellets over the top. 10mins later and I found myself attached to a 3lb carp followed by a 4lb bream, a bit of a quite spell followed so decided to try down by the pallet with meat on the hook were I had been feeding some 6mm meat by hand,

 Again I had a fish of 4lb before missing a bite and hooking something on the bottom? a couple more fish on the 4mm line again on worm before I tried the edge again, I couldn't believe it as after another carp I had another bite and again was hooked on something which didn't move???. trying again the rig shot under and this time I had one on' Nope" I had a empty carrier bag attached which more than disturbed the swim! Marvellous..

Back on the 5mt line were I continued to feed maggot and few hard pellets by hand a missed a few fly under bites not connecting with anything so just by chance I tried a cube of corn on the hook, no sooner as it settled I was playing another carp, A Fluke? No as I had a 5lb fish next put-in and I hadn't fed any here" it was getting towards the end of the match now so the last hour managed to tempt some more fish from the pallet swim as well as a few more on meat or worm from the 5mt swim,

I lost a 5lb bream shipping back with 5mins to go which I thought could make a difference but was disappointed not to catch a few fish in the early part of the match, Des had managed to plunder his inside margin in the last coupe of hours and Glynn between us had added a couple more big bream to the ones he had earlier in the day so was on for a good silvers weight. When the scales arrived the top weight on are lake was 65lb from Alex Murray from the bottom end of the lake followed by Giles Cochrane With 49lb, with my 5lb odd of silvers added to my carp gave me a total of 44lb odd before Des went on to win are lake and the match overall with 81lb catching across to the island on worm and down his margins on pellet,

Cant take it away from him given the right area he will catch fish" so well done mate.

It turned out my weight was enough to finish 6th on the day and I managed to pick up some section money of £24 so a bit of a result in the end. Glynn went on to take the top silvers weight on the day with 25lb odd including 5 good bream.

 Silvers winner Glynn Wickham.

 Runner-up Jamie Rich.

 

 

after the results it was time for the raffle, as I egged Des to part with some money and buy some tickets I stated on my return which ever strip he chose has his was bound to come in" was I right? Corse I bloody was as he left Andy Gard to claim his prize! unbelievable lol, I did also manage to win a raffle prize, A bag of leam, a bag of ground-bait, a bottle of bubbly and... 12 marks and spencer's ready meals which I thought at the time was a good choice" until on my departure I went to the freezer to collect then and found every dish to be Indian...! looks like the caught short title could come into play! A very well run match and a big thanks to owners Pete & Sally for laying on a free burger to everyone after the match as well as free drinks. Before the results were announced there was a minutes silence in Memory of Clive Cunningham who sadly pasted away at the fishery on Tuesday which was a fitting tribute to the day. Just to end I've added a picture of my special' Indian Hamper".

 

Back at Sumerhayes tomorrow for the Sunday open match on Sellicks & Lily Pool and just hoping for a day without battling the wind?.

 

Full results -

1st Des (Smiley) Shipp (Preston Innovations) peg 37 Longs, 81lb 1oz.

2nd Vince Brown (Sedges) peg 15 Sellicks, 69lb 4oz.

3rd Alex Murray (Sign Solutions) peg 17 Longs 62lb 10oz.

4th Scott Russell (Tackle UK) peg 23 Sellicks, 52lb 7oz.

5th Giles Cochrane (Mosella) peg 29 Longs, 49lb 2oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 33 Longs, 44lb 9oz.

Silvers -

1st Glynn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 35 longs, 25lb 9oz.

2nd Jamie Rich (Against men and fish/Burt baits) peg 19 Longs, 19lb 13oz. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           

Summerhayes Fishery Weds Open, (Longs Lake).

After A couple of days extended holiday from the Easter period I decided to travel down to Summerhayes from the midweek match, After a breakfast on route at hilltops I arrived in plenty of time. It wasn't the news I was expecting to here, But sadly local angler and venue regular Clive Cunningham suffered a heart attack on the premises yesterday and despite the efforts of owner Pete and the air ambulance he lost his fight for life, Very sad news for everyone.

Back to the match and despite everyone being a bit subdued it was decided to go ahead as Clive would of wished for us to fish I'm sure, There were 18 of us today with a few faces practicing for the big match this coming Saturday but having not fished this lake yet this year I wasn't to bothered were I would end up. into the draw and I found myself on peg 11 which is a swim I've never had before but was looking forward to it. It was a fair distance to the far bank at 15mts but with the sun already out and conditions nearly perfect this would be my starting point.

 

As norm I set up two chanti rigs to fish on the deck were I found about two and a half feet of water on a flat spot near the bank, one being a 4x12 on 0.13-0.11 and an 16 63-13 hook the other being a 4x10 on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 808 hook. I ony set one other rig which was another 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 808 to fish in the open water at 13mts with the main target being silvers as the lake has seen a recent induction of some bream to 6lb so I plumed up at the bottom of the far shelf to find 5ft of water. this rig would double up to fish meat at 6mts of to my left.

I started the match by feeding 2 balls of fishmeal on the 13mt line with micro pellet and 4mm hard pellets added with a few loose offerings over the top, and fed a few cubes of meat by hand onto the 6mt line. Starting over at 15mts with a 4mm expander on the hook, feeding a few 4mm pellets and micros via a cadpot on the end of the pole. It didn't take long before I had a pasty carp of 12oz followed by a few more to 3lb in the first hour, the second hour was a bit slower only adding a few more smaller carp and a bonus 4lb bream when I switched to meat on the hook. I felt things were going ok as those around me were struggling to catch anything although I could see Andy Hembrow over on peg 4 putting a few in the net and noticed he was feeding pellets over to the far bank via a catty and with things slowing right down I chose to try the same route which was ok for 20mins until the breeze picked up meaning holding the pole and feeding was proving difficult and with my catch rate not improving I fed a larger amount with a bigger pot and rested it for a while. A look on the 13mt line saw me take 4 small skimmers on expanders again but it was slow here and felt I had to take the chance to catch some more carp to do any good.

halfway through it was time to have a look on my 6mt line with a cube of meat on the hook were I had been feeding by hand from the off, 10mins later I had a better fish of 4lb then couldn't get a bite, I had been flicking a few 4mm hard pellets by hand down my right hand margin but after having a quick look without any sign I switched to feeding a bigger pot of 6mm meat and leaving it till later in the day. the next coupe of hours I rotated from the far bank and the 6mt line taking odd fish off of each by waiting for bites after feeding, Andy had already gone for another keepnet but apart from people catching the odd fish their didn't appear to be anyone else putting a weight together. Going into the last hour it seemed to be a case of getting a fish off each line before re-feeding a small amount switching swims. I did manage a few fish from both sides on the short swims to 4lb again on meat and a coupe of similar size from the far bank on soft pellet before the all-out.

I was pretty pleased how the day went as I enjoy working around picking fish off different swims, A busy bit of fishing'. As expected Andy went on to take the top weight with 89lb all taken from the far bank on the deck with hard 4mm pellets where he found a shelf of around 2ft so well done mate.

 Winner Andy Hembrow.

 

Working hard at it today did pay off for me as I managed to finish 2nd with just under 10lb of silvers added to my 55lb of carp picking up £44 winnings,

 My Catch.

 

Top silvers on the day went to Janders' On peg 14 with 20lb odd including a few of the lakes new bream,

 Jander's top silvers weight.

Well it made a nice change for the weather to be pleasant and I certainly picked the right couple of days to have off' It was a very quiet match today due to the circumstances as I'm sure as most would agree you start to get a clearer picture in your minds just how cruel times can be when least expected, Clive will be sadly missed as he has been part of the match scene for as long as I ever remember fishing the venue every week, God bless You.

Full Results -

1st Andy Hembrow (Clevedon. A.A) peg 4, 89lb 9oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 11, 65b 9oz.

3rd Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) peg 34, 47lb 10oz.

4th Paul Homewood (Sedges Fishery) peg 2, 38lb 7oz.

Silvers -

1st Jander's  Peg 14, 20lb 8oz.

2nd Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 26, 14lb 5oz.

 

 

I cant go without giving a mention of yesterdays stint at Shiplate Farm hawthorns lake with my wife Yvonne who has been itching to get out on the bank and have a fish herself now she has my old Seatbox, I have to say she did really well as she managed 4 carp to 6lb and around 10lb of silvers all on her own without any help bless her"

 Yvonne's silvers net.

I had a cracking days fishing ending with around 80lb of carp and 30lb of silvers down the track on soft pellet over hard 4mm pellets and the carp coming from the far bank mainly, mostly on hard pellet.

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

     

                

Shiplate Farm Open (main lake).

Their were 22 of us booked in for this match on the main lake, Skipping the normal fry up I got there in plenty time for a free brew with owners Steve & Carol Oliver. There was a match on this lake yesterday with the top weight of 110lb odd coming from fancied peg 1 which has a habit of throwing up good weights along with noted end peg 15 which can also produce the goods so when it came to the draw we were all hoping the draw bag would produce one of these pegs for all of us, Pools money today was £25 as Steve was paying the top 3 and top 2 silvers weights but good pick-ups if you were lucky enough to make the frame, I got into the draw quite early but wasn't best pleased to end up on peg 7 which just so happened to be the same peg I had last time I fished this lake' I don't know what it is but I cant seem to get away from this area after drawing peg 6 last year for most of the matches I fished on it!

With the attendance up it also meant I had Andy France on peg 8 which could make a difference to anything I may have of catching down the edge? but we had a quid on it just to make it interesting'. 

I knew from the last match that I had to fish a good metre or so off the bank as to avoid the rocks so set up a 4x12 Maver Invincible on 015-013 and an 18 PR434 hook in around 4ft of water. Next up was a 0.3g PB2 float on 0.13-0.11 and again a 18 PR434 hook to fish out in the open water at 14mts, There are some big fish in this lake but fished with a white hydro elastic if I hooked a big bonus I had a good chance of landing it. 

 

Last up was a bomb rod to fish over towards the far island with banded hard pellet with an 0.16 hook-length onto a hair rigged size 16 hook. At the start I cupped in four large balls of fishmeal ground-bait with some micros and 4mm pellets added onto the open water swim and fed a small amount of corn and 4mm pellets down the edge. Starting on the bomb and an 8mm hard pellet I had a skimmer around a 1lb after 10mins and despite a liner soon after that was it in the first hour' Andy had managed to snare a carp first chuck to the island so even my £1 was looking bleak' I decided to have a look down the edge with corn on the hook to start with but after 15mins I was soon trying the long pole line again with a single grain of corn on the hook.

Two hours in and things hadn't improved much only adding a small skimmer from the long pole line on a 4mm expander pellet, My inside line was yet to produce a bite and even after trying different baits on the bomb I still couldn't catch. Word on the bank was pegs 1 & 15 were having a fish battle as expected' but apart from that just the odd carp had been caught and a few silvers, I seemed to be just going through the motions to try and get a bite the guy on peg 6 had a carp on the method feeder but from those who know me this is a no-no to me as I don't even own one" Its just a method im not that keen on as I prefer to work a rig and induce bites rather than sit there and let them snare themselves, although it wasn't quite going to plan" With about 90mins to go I had to stretch my legs and it seemed most on are bank were also struggling, it seemed that todays bright conditions had made a difference from yesterdays match which fished better being overcast, still determined to see the match out I returned to the long pole line with an 8mm banded pellet on the hook and had an 8lb common straight away! followed by a smaller carp which was foul hooked and shed the hook by my keepnets" That seemed to be it so I topped it up with a small amount of 4mm pellets and had a try down the edge again on 8mm pellet cad potting 4mm pellets over the top as well as feeding a few with the catty over the top, it wasn't long before I had my first fish from here but I was running out of time, a quick look on the long line again didn't produce so the last few minutes I managed to land my 3rd carp from down the edge just before the all-out, Well a bit of a carbon copy of my last match from this peg to be honest as that day I had a couple of fish from the edge late on. As expected pegs 1 & 15 dominated with Alan Healey from peg 1 ending the day with 106lb of carp ahead of Tim Lewis on peg 15 taking the runner-up spot with 89lb odd, The silvers weights were down with Rich Hawkins taking the top spot with 16lb odd from the far bank. It turned out Steve (Peanut) Howell over on peg 11 managed to end up 3rd in the frame by default with 23lb so the lost carp could of made all the difference for 50 notes'. I did stay on for an hour but could only fish the long pole as the sun was on the water down the edge and with the ripple I couldn't see it but apart from one missed bite that was that. It wasn't a good day as 30mins from the end I dropped my phone In the lake, and to top it off I lost the nut from one of me brand new seatbox leg meaning I have to try and find one before using it next! the only consolation was the late carp saw me take Andy's quid along with Jonny Page and Not forgetting my bank Nick Harvey who failed to pay up but I'm sure he wont forget... 

Full Results -

1st Alan Healey (Bristol) peg 1, 106lb 6oz. £150.00

2nd Tim Lewis (Shiplate) peg 15, 89lb 15oz, £100.00

3rd Steve Howell (DEFAULT!) peg 11, 23lb 1oz, £50.00

Silvers -

1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 13a, 15lb 8oz.

2nd Ron Stark (Weston) peg 5, 14lb 10oz.

            

    

   

Pleasure Session (Bullocks Farm) Rushcombe Lake.

Finding myself with a free day with no match to fish the wife and myself decided to take a trip to bullock farm in Kingston Seymour, after a wander around the match and carp lakes which already seemed pretty full and in need of some extra water' we ventured over to rushcombe lake for a look, last time I fished this lake it was full of tiny 3'inch carp and goldfish but that was a few years ago now, I happened to bump into old friend Derek Coles who is more at home on the rivers but took time out to also try the lake with the close season now in full swing who informed me there were now a larger head of bigger carp resident. We decided to have a full breakfast in the onsite cafe' before setting any kit up which was cooked nice and fresh but was a bit pricey coming in at just under £17 when we added are morning cuppas".

Back at the lake and it was going to be a simple approach today, a 4x10 Chanti on 0.12-0.11 & an 18 808 hook to fish at 12mts at the bottom of the far shelf in around 3ft of water and the same rig to use in the open water off to my left where the depth was much the same. Again this lake seemed to be lacking in depth as pluming around over to the far bank saw just an average of 10'inches of water which was a shame as you could see from the marking on the bank it would be around 2ft tight over with the level back up.

I started the day fishing the 12mt line cad potting a few micro pellets via the cad pot and fishing a 4mm expander on the hook, 20mins later I had my first fish being a 6oz roach' so switched to fishing corn on the hook , it did make a difference as I had my first carp of 5lb which seemed to unsettle things being so shallow, I had noticed the odd boil right over from carp in the really shallow water and with things being slow I assembled a 4x12 chanti to fish inches deep towards some branches I had hanging in the water, The rig was a bit crude with a bulk of shot 4'inches from the hook and the float a couple of inches above it but I didn't want to be lifting into false bites and spooking any fish. feeding just a few micros and fishing a single grain of corn on the hook. it didn't take long for the branches to start moving from signs of fish and I soon was attached to a bigger 8lb common which was safely netted, that set the day up really and I spent a few hours taking the odd fish off each line finishing up with about 10 carp from 3-8lb mostly taken on corn a couple on 4mm expanders.

 

Although Owner Phil Simmons doesn't tend to hold matches here anymore its a good venue to visit if like me you like to see your catch at the end of the day allowing the use of keepnets on a its lakes.  

 

 

     

  

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open. (Saturday)

For the first time this year I had a chance to get back to Acorn fishery to paddock lake which holds a good head of fish and with the weather improving we were all looking forward to getting a few bites, The on-site café was open in plenty of time to savour a full fry up before the draw and with 15 booked in it wasn't to bad a turn out for the first Saturday Clevedon.A.A had a chance to run an open on this lake, The pools money had increased to £20 from £12 which can always be a cause of debate depending how you look at it? My own view happens to be I would rather pay the extra and if lucky enough to reach the frame at least you should have paid for your day, where as a cost cutter so to speak can leave you out of pocket even if your do sneak in the money' We all have to realistic and tell the truth as we all entry matches to get a result otherwise we wouldn't entry in the first place" I remember paying £20 entry fee to the super league 20yrs ago when my earnings were minimal but if you did pick-up it was well worth it' I remember winning a match when I was about 18yrs old and ended up winning more than I could earn in a fortnight!. The only option in my eyes is you have a lower entry fee and have an optional super pool but the chances are most will entry both anyway as were all competitive!. Back to match and we soon had the draw, After a chat with a few others I had in my own head I just wanted to avoid peg 6 as I felt you didn't have as much room as some of the pegs to draw fish from as it was in the corner, what did I get? Yep peg 6! Owe well...

Arriving at my peg it was pleasing to know peg 7 was empty which gave me plenty of room to fish a line at 13mts in the open water which I planned to attack with sweet corn as I've had a few fish doing this lately so set up a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.10 with a 16 808 hook to fish in 5ft or so of water, a 4x12 chanti to fish in 3ft of water at the end of the island by the bridge at 14mts on the same line with an 18 808 hook, and the same size float to fish down my right hand edge and back towards the empty pallet on my left in 4ft of water, with time to spare I assembled 4x10 chanti to fish up in the water in-front of the bridge which would be bit of a gamble but a good starting option whist I watched the response of others swims.

At the start I fed a palmful of corn on the 13mt open water swim towards the next peg, fed a few 4mm hard pellet with the catty towards the empty pallet and fed a nugget of micro pellets on the point of the island, starting the match around 2ft from the bridge straight in-front of me with a 4mm hard banded pellet on the hook with the rig set about 2ft deep I decided not to feed anything and just keep ploping the rig in to make some noise, ten minutes later I had a 3lb carp so stuck at it for the first hour adding 5 more carp of similar size before things started to slow. By now the wind had picked up and was blowing right into my swim' I did try on the deck with the open water swim rig near the bridge but things didn't improve, I managed one carp off the point of the island on a 4mm expander pellet but again it was wind effected making presentation really hard so it wasn't long before I was on my other lines.

The open water swim saw me add a small tench on corn and to my inside right margin I took two 4lb fish before things went quite, The wind was now blowing straight in the peg and with the sun in-front of me I was having a nightmare trying to see the float, I added a few more shallow by the bridge before it was like fishing in a washing machine" so the last few hours I spent scratching around trying to catch from my other lines but this didn't really produce as I hoped, a couple of bigger fish came on the corn line in the open water but the last two hours were hard resulting in just two more fish, both from down the edge towards the empty pallet one of which came on the whistle' it turned out to be a frustrating day weather wise as I'm sure I could have caught more from next to the bridge and was disappointed not to have more from my inside swims as I expected them to produce later in the match. from what I could see a few fish had been caught, by the time the scales arrived Thyer's Captain was leading the way with 65lb odd but I was surprized to end up with 55lb which saw me end up 3rd on the day behind team mate James Gunter from peg 8 who included 13lb of silvers in his 59lb total, Thanks to the higher pool entry it meant I walked away with £40 in the pocket, Along with Nick Harvey's normal quid' so it wasn't a total disaster after all, Top silvers went the way of Mark Bromsgrove & Andy Gard who both finished the day with 21lb odd.

 My catch.

My next panned match is at Shiplate Farm Main lake on Monday so looking forward to that as I haven't fished in in match conditions yet this year and with the lake containing a good head of bigger skimmers and bream there are a few options depending where I draw??.