Shiplate Farm Open Match, (Hawthorns Lake).

Only a short trip up the road for me today so made do with a bacon sarnie before leaving, Lewis had also booked in but also living near by I met him their, I had a wander up the lake & what was noticeable was the amount of fish crashing along the far bank in a right spawning mode at the top end of the lake yet no many signs of spawning fish in the low numbers? Into the draw quite early & found myself on peg 11 at the top end, When I arrived at my swim their were penty of spawning fish motoring along the far bank"

It seemed a recipe for disaster with another day of foul hookers looking inevitable but first up I did find around 18'inches tight over as far as I could get at 14mts so set up a 0.2g AS2 on 0.15-0.13 & an 18 PR478 hook, next up was the normal Chanti being 4x14 on 0.15-0.13 & a 18 Wide gape pellet hook to fish at 6mts down the track to my right with meat,

A 0.3g AS1 on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 silver fish hook to fish the same distance to my left with worm & casters as a silvers line, Last of all was a 4x10 chanti to fish shallow over the silvers line & a swinger rig should things be desperate".

I started the day feeding a mix of casters & worm onto the 6mts in-front of me & fed a few cubes of meat to my right the same distance. I started the match here as the wind was skimming down are end making it awkward to fish across but did feed a small amount of riddled meat across to the far bank, I gave the meat line about 20mins whilst feeding a few caster by hand on the silvers line, Not much had been caught across from what I could see of the few pole ends around me but most had foul hooked a few as I expected, With that in mind after 25mins I switched to fishing the haed of a worm on the silvers line. I had a 1lb plus skimmer first drop in then a 10oz fish soon after, It wasn't quick but I was getting the odd indication & on the hour mark I estimated around 4lb of silvers so was hoping for it to continue, It wasn't the case as after a couple more fish in the next 30mins it totally died on me, It was probably due to the bright calm & warm conditions but I had to try something else as I had already made my mind up to fish for the silvers pool? I tried the shallow rig at various depths but only managed a few small fish, I would get the odd bite on the deck but they were few & far between, I began a new line off to my left with micros fishing a bit of worm over the top but al this produced was a carp a day' I had carp showing them self down my margin where I had been trickling in a few casters & did manage two shallow on double caster when hoping for the odd chub' Their seemed to be a few swirling around through the day but they seemed to be chasing the pollen ect down the lake, I managed just a couple of small fish on the deck for the rest of the day until the last 45mins when a few more 1lb plus skimmers were added as well as some smaller samples, It was hard going after the good start but with the conditions being bright & calm it seemed to put the silvers off? I estimated around 9lb of silvers but went on to weigh 11lb odd & a few carp for 16lb odd, It turned out some fish were caught down in the lower numbers where they seemed less active with Rich Hawkins taking another win with 89lb odd catching most of his fish shallow down the track on pellet & a couple down the edge on paste to just edge out Lewis with 86lb odd, My weight was enough to win the silvers picking up £35 Which was the right choice at are end of the lake as most had suffered with foul hookers. High light of the day had to be Titch Williams on peg 9 which has some wooden boarding opposite, When he hooked a flying skimmer which ended up the other side of it", I was in fits of laughter watching him try & drag it back over the boarding but fair play he did manage it'. Off to Viaduct Tomorrow again With Lewis for the bank holiday open match so should be a good day..

Overal results -

1st Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 7, 89lb 2oz.

2nd Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 5, 86lb 2oz.

3rd Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 1, 75lb 4oz.

4th Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 2, 59lb 4oz.

Silvers -

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 11, 11lb 1oz. 

       

        

Lee Williams Series Rd 1, Landsend Fishery.

I was looking forward to the start of this small league held over five venues over the next couple of months, With Lewis & myself both fishing we agreed to travel together as normal only this was altered late yesterday as he was having a few bevey's & I wondered what state he would be in' thankfully a good one & keen for breakfast at the fishery, With a couple of late entry's we were up to 18 & we would all be on match lake which didn't mean their would be many empty pegs so was hoping to the extra bit of room, Into the draw & I found myself on peg 6 on the point of the spit between the two islands, Already their seemed to be signs of fish tight to the island behind the small patch of reeds at nearly 16mts, & the odd fish along the mud line further to my right so it looked like my main line of attack?

 I set up a 0.2g AS1 on 0.17-0.15 & an 18 PR36 hook to fish tight to the mud & at 16mts in just a 18inches of water, A swinger" rig to linger line across, & a 4x12 Chanti on 0.15-0.13 to fish at 7mts slightly right & finally the same float on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 silver fish hook to fish the same distance left to target silver fish over chopped worm & casters. I didn't worry about the inside lines as I didn't have much room with Mosella Boss Vic Bush on peg 5 & old Thyers team mate Mark (Bunt) Broomsgrove on peg 7.  I started the day feeding a chopped mix on this line & fed a small amount of 8mm meat to the left. I was going to start here but it was to temping to miss snaring an earlier fish or to across, I started on a banded 6mm to the mud just feeding a few of the same via a cad pot.

It wasn't long before I connected to a fish, Foul hooked"& we parted company', After another quick spell here it seemed the fish had retreated the other side of the clump tight of the end bank,

I fed the same again slightly off the point but soon hooked & lost 2 more" I had heard lee say at the start it was a minimum of a 12" hooklength which I thought a bit odd & I thought he meant no shallower than 12' inches deep but more of that later, To say I was having a mare of a start was an under statement" I had lost five fish in as many try's & I was convinced if I could of had a rig set inches deep on a longer line I would be bagging??. I switched to feeding just a couple of hard 8mms via the cad pot with the same on the hook & finally I netted a fish of 4lb, In The Fin!". I did manage a couple in the mouth of a decent size but I just couldn't I just couldn't seem to get them to stay on the deck. I decided to have a re-think & have a look on my shorter lines which I had been feeding from the off. Starting on the worm/caster line with the head of a worm, I had a bite right away being an 1oz perch" followed by one not much bigger ten minutes later!, Over to the short meat line where I had been feeding the odd cube of meat from the off but ten minutes later I hadn't had a sign so it was back to fishing across.

This time I switched to cad potting just a couple of cubes of meat with the same on the hook, It took the fish a while to find it but after a disaster in the first 90mins I managed another 3 carp in as many put-ins, Just as I thought I had sussed it was back to nothing as the fish had spooked, I kept trying the mud line but I had to wait ages for a sign but again they turned out to be foul hooked. It seemed the fish were coming into the peg when I was pinging the odd few pellets across but as soon I missed what appeared to be bites I would spook everything, Mark had managed a few skimmers & some early carp off his mud line was now suffering with foul hookers' & Vic had managed some early F1's across in the slightly deeper water. Another look on the shorter lines didn't produce anything, Again back to cad potting a few hard 6mm's with the same on the hook produced a couple more in the but it was more a case of hook three lose two".

Vic had tried with a slapping rig but that didn't produce so had switched to cad potting chopped worm & soil tighter to the mud line & was taking the odd carp so decided to switch to doing the same against my mud line, I did hook one straight away in the wrong place again & soon came off. & with only one small perch in the next ten minutes the fish wouldn't come to this side of the reeds, It was frustrating to say the least with just the odd fish in the mouth but I still managed to lose two near the net in the mouth!. I kept trying the short meat line, but it wasn't until the last hour or so I had my first carp on it after Vic had taken a couple off it including a decent fish in the fin". I lost another 5mins later which seemed to kill it so with time running out I decided to try feeding a good amount of the worm soil mix again against the mud line & went straight over it with half a worm, It was instant & I added a 6lb fish & after cad-potting some more on the next go hooked another only for me to lose it again close in". Nothing followed so with minutes to go tried the meat line again, I missed a bite & was just re-baiting when the all-out sounded'. I new it would be close between Vic & Me but felt his F1's between his carp could make the difference, Mark had only managed a couple more carp across but had a decent fish down the edge losing another under his platform". When the scales arrived 77lb was the top weight from peg 3, Vic had 19lb odd of F1's to go with his 50lb of carp to finish with 67lb odd, my carp went 62lb odd with a massive 3oz of silvers added" & Mark finished with 39lb odd, Nick Harvey was below him on peg 8 & weighed even less so at least my normal £1 side bet was safe, I followed the scales around & it was that lad again my traveling partner Lewis who showed us all how its done from corner peg 13, Ok he did have an empty peg to his right & a nice bit of room but you still got to catch them, fishing over to the islands on commercials Is his forte & he's very good at it so well done mate another good performance,

 Winner Lewis.

 

 Some close back up weights followed so it fished well really. It wasn't until we were packing up & we got talking I asked Lee how shallow I could of fished convinced he would say no shallower than 12inches, As shallow as you wanted to he replied" I was confused until he explained that the 12" hooklength applied to anyone fishing the feeder !!" I was gutted' I'm convinced I could of had some fish really shallow which could of helped my weight but its my fault as I saw lee before the start & I didn't question it, Owe & sorry mark as he also followed suit after I mentioned it to him" I didn't get it clear that it was your combined silver & carp weights which made up your total points so my 3oz wasn't hard to beat". If I had taken it all in before the start I would of fed a micro/expander line to try for some silvers but hey ho". The next round is in two weeks at Chiltern Trinity's Wildmarsh Lake, I haven't fished this for years & when I did the matches were often hard so we will see how things have improved"? Off to Shiplate Farm tomorrow for a match on Hawthorns Lake, I'm Going to try something different tomorrow but if it fails I will resort to fishing for the silvers as I enjoyed it here last time.

Full Results -

1st Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 13, 101lb 4oz.

2nd Paul Nichols (Clevedon A.A) peg 21, 90b 12oz.

3rd Brian Slipper (Sensas Thyers) peg 17, 81lb 14oz.

4th Andy Nadlin (B.V.M.G). peg 3, 77lb 14oz.

5th Mark Hanham (Landsend) peg 16, 71b 4oz.

6th Vic Bush (Mossella) peg 5, 67lb 8oz.

Silvers -  1st, Vic Bush,  19lb 4oz.

                                 

Sedges Top Kit Series Rd 2 (Tile Lake).

Traveling on my own today so the normal stop off at hilltops started the day well, I arrived in time to have a wander around before the draw, Their seemed to be a few fish in the upper layers but much further out so it would be interesting to see if they would come to the maximum distance of 6mts" It looked to me as if some people were further out in the lake for some reason on the last match so when I got home I measured my top kit which turned out to be 2.94mts so within the limit of 3mts by 6cm", So it can be deceiving especially if the pegs around you are slightly further out. Back to the draw and with 19 of us fishing today I was hoping for away from the top end of the lake, Ending up on peg 36 halfway up the causeway which I was happy enough with, Not much to set up really, A PB1 on 0.17-015 & an 18 PR36 hook to use as my swinging rig shallow to the full distance with hard pellets, A 4x14 chanti on 0.17-0.15 & an 16 wide gape pellet hook to fish on the deck which was dropping away at 3mts in 7ft of water, & finally a 0.2g AS2 on 0.19-0.17 & an 16 PR478 hook to fish down the edge either side in 2ft of water which looked inviting for a few late in the day?. I didn't take any pic's as I think we all know what 6mts of open water looks like".

At the all-in I fed a good amount of chopped worm & casters off to my left, Fed a small amount of meat to my right & decided to take a gamble their might be a rouge fish sat close to the bank so decided to start down my right hand margin with an 8mm cube of meat cad potting a few casters & a single cube of meat, After less than a minute I had a small dip before the rig slowly started to sideways, I had to strike & within seconds a common pushing 15lb broke the surface" The problem was it was hooked just under the fin' Well that didn't last long before shedding the hook!" What a dream start that would of been".

I had another look & a quick try to my left but no more early signs, I had been flicking a few hard 4mm pellets at about 4mts & with no wind as such I decided to have a look on the shallow rig with a banded 6mm on the hook, After about 10mins you could tell a change in the weather was imminent, All of a sudden the wind slowly increased as it clouded over, causing the rig to kite back towards me, I gave it another twenty minutes & did draw the attention of one carp which bow waved out the swim quite quickly", It was time to try the worm & caster line on the deck with a segment of worn on the hook, As soon as the rig settled I was in but it turned out to be a 10oz perch' I had another soon after but that was it, I tried down the edges again & had a look on the meat line but neither produced a sign, After a couple of hours the guy to my left had netted a couple of good skimmers & a decent carp which shattered his short section in the process" I kept plugging away but after 4hrs all I had added was another perch & a 1lb skimmer, I did bump off a decent 3lb fish after putting the pole between my leg to pour my flask which came straight to the top but that seemed to put pay to things as I couldn't get a bite their after, Not that I was sacking".

I continued to feed all the lines at regular intervals but by now the wind had increased to much to have any chance of fishing the shallow rig, With the depth slopeing away from me I added a foot to the depth to my deep rig & switched to swinging the rig past the end of the pole & trying to hold it still as long as I could as the trip had also turned in are direction, I foul hooked a carp nearly straight away which again came off but at least it was a sign, I kept taking an inch off the Depth until just finding the depth to hold bottom, This way I soon managed to get indications & put a couple of 4lb fish in the net before it needed resting, I still couldn't get a sign from either inside swim & had resorted to dump potting casters to my left to draw some fish in?. Back on the deck with pellet I netted another two carp to 6lb, I couldn't get the rig to sit properly on the meat line as it was nagging bottom when drifting towards me so in the last hour fed meat a bit more positive to my left with the tow where I had earlier fed the worm & casters, The last hour was the worse as far as the wind when so it was a case of laying the rig out as far as I could get it & hold as tight a line on it as possible for a long as it would allow before repeating the process, It was hard to not attract foul hooker fishing against the slope & I think I lost another four in total, I did miss one bite on the new meat line, But the inside swims just wouldn't produce for some reason, With the wind blowing in it looked a banker for some late fish. I ended the day with 8 carp two fish pushing 9lb & a few smaller samples so felt I had done ok considering the wind not helping us, As the guys either side of me had struggled, When the scales arrived the top weight was 90lb odd with weights in the 40's as back ups, I was hoping the fish I had just before the all-out would push me up a bit so was pleased to finish with 51b odd, The next best weight on are bank was Nigel Garrett with 60lb odd including 10lb of silvers so I had done enough to hold on to 3rd place picking up £30 but more importantly giving me some good points back after struggling in the first round so now in with the chance of finishing in the top ten to make the winner takes all final in August. Winner John was on the opposite bank & was fortunate enough to make the most of the wind off his back to catch the bulk of his fish shallow on pellet. Think the fish were a bit confused today with spawning in mind but it was still nice to be able to work out how best to present it in the conditions & get a few bites, Not back here for a few weeks for the final round so the spawning should be well over by then & I expect some better weights. Starting a Saturday league next weekend run by fellow blogger Lee Williams on 5 different venues so over the next few months so looking forward to that next weekend to start the weekend off on Saturday. Owe & just for the record the foreign chap who drew next to me in fisho' yesterday went on to win the match & Qualify for the semis at Cudmore along with the big boys", He must of been over the moon as he seemed well excited when I told him he had at least won the section!". Every dog has its day as they say & with the aid the other side of him deciding not to fish gave him the room he needed to pick off some fish, Its the little luck we all hope for in these matches, Hopefully one day it will happen to me"....??.       

Full Results -

 1st John Fuidge? ( Sedges Fishery) peg 22, 90lb 1oz.

2nd Nigel Garrett ( Viaduct ) peg 38, 62lb 2oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 36, 51lb 15oz.

4th Steve Fouracre (Sedges Fishery) peg 34, 49lb 6oz.

5th Andy Lord (Sedges Fishery) peg 32, 46lb 9oz.

Silvers - Steve Fouracre, 14b 12oz.

  

                     

         

Woodlands View Fisho' Mania Qualifier.

Lewis Jones & Myself were both fortunate to both get a ticket for the second round of qualifier matches at the fishery having both visited it for the first round, That wasn't very enjoyable for the pair of us both their was a good vibe in the van on route both having a positive attitude to the day ahead, We arrived in plenty of time to sample the on-site breakfast which I must say was very nice & we worth the money. We were joined by venue expert Richey Hull & after drawing a peg apart on the last match on Barley he was praying not to be on their this time around as was I".

We were quite close to the front today & Lewis had told my Bagging legend Andy power plays a game of roulette when he draws to select his number so with the new information I was itching to give it a try'. Into the draw I went & let my hand stop were it felt right, Did it work? Did it F**k", Back to Barley lake peg 17.... God I'm consistent!. I arrived at my peg to find out not only was I the whole one on the lake not to have a vacant peg one side I just so happened to land smack on one of the lakes two aerators which was bubbling away nicely directly in-front of me on my far bank..

 

To say I was really disheartened was as understatement, last time I was here if you were a couple of pegs away from it you caught fish on a small in-line feeder tight to the far bank but if you were in its flow" you caught nowt'. I didn't anticipate today would be much different & without going into the details of my day to inform you of what I didn't catch it was shocking. I had the wind straight in my chops again which was worse for us being higher up & even when I was chucking the feeder tight to the far bank grass I was trying to imagine where my feed was ending up..? I had a chopped worm & caster line at 5mts which I had 3 skimmers off & a few blip perch all day & managed two carp on the in-line feeder across which got lost from the foreign guy next to me on peg 18 who was making the most of the empty peg 19 chucking his feeder between the two pegs to finish the day with 14 carp for 90lb" It wouldn't of been so bad but after a couple of hours hugging the far bank with the feeder on the clip I was trying shorter in the hope of snaring a few away from the flow only for him to tell me I wasn't far enough over" He didn't seem to understand the none existent flow in his peg was aiding his catch rate!" In fact I was quite sure the fishery only pellet your allowed to feed was ending up smack where he was catching..

 His Swim"

I was so glad to here the all-out & was quick enough to get the kit away without troubling the scales before it was due to chuck it down with rain, Lewis had draw on front Deans & although he fancied it for a few the lake didn't really produce & he finished with 37lb odd which was good on the lake but still no coin to collect unfortunately as I was hoping he would at least get the section money to pay for the Burger King in the services on the way home'. We didn't see the final results so I cant as yet tell you who was fortunate to win but the chaps 90lb next to me was looking good, I wil be gutted if he did win as he wasn't even going to bother after the lad below him decided not to fish which would of meant I could of had a field day with plenty of room to chuck to but it wasn't to be & if he did go on to win fair play to him. After Fishing a few of these matches now I'm in the strong believe with the pressure of extra anglers on the lakes & much tighter pegging anywhere you go realistically 90% of the swims you cant win from, You need a bit of room & noted areas to aid having the chance to qualify for the semi's but it the chance you take to draw them for everyone. Back to the Sedges Fishery for the top kit only series which cant exceed 3mts & the same length rig, Hopefully the only back ache I'll suffer from is netting fish".                  

         

Shiplate Farm Open (Main Lake).

After a day out with the wife yesterday I decided to book in for the latest Shiplate open, No fry-up for me today with the fishery being on my doorstep, 18 of us booked-in & apart from peg 1 I was hoping for a draw on the opposite bank, Out comes 13a so I got my wishes, Peg 15 is always the hot peg but with plenty of room I had a few options, With a match behind us on westpool I didn't fancy having to break the pole down so first up was a rig to fish at 6mts with meat on the hook being a 4x14 Chanti on 0-16-0.14 & an 16 wide gape power hook.

Apart from this I had a 0.2g AS1 on 0.17-0.15 With the same hook to fish down the edge in around 10inches of water, but most of my faith would be in either the bomb or pellet waggler shallow at around 30mts. I had Russ Pecker next to me on peg 14 & Rich Hawkins on peg 13 but couldn't see either of them' On the all-in I gave it a good chuck on the bomb to land close to the island with an 8mm banded pellet on the hook looking to mug an early fish but it didn't happen, 10mins later I fed some 8mm meat & Hemp on the 6mt line & a good helping of micro's & 4mm's down the edge at 5mts to my right, back on the bomb this time casting short of the island at 30mts I began feeding hard 8mm's in two's & Three's over the top but after 40mins I still hadn't had a fish, I noticed a nice tail" appear on my edge line so quickly reeled in & went in with a good piece of paste on the hook'. To Late, It had P****D off". I kept my faith in the longer Bomb/Wagg line but I just couldn't get it to produce on either, I switched to feeding 6mm's instead of 8's but it didn't help, Halfway though & I still hadn't caught, Rich had had a couple of carp on the deck with paste further out & a fish shallow, & Russ had started to get the odd fish slapping on the long pole, I decided to get some more sections out & venture out to 13mts starting on the deck with 6mm & 8mms on the hook feeding a few 6mm's over the top, After 20mins & still nothing I was going nowhere.

I decided to try my edge rig with a banded 6mm set around a foot deep on the long pole whist pinging a few of the same over the top. Russ had managed a couple more but seemed to have ripple on the water where as it was calm in-front of Rich & Myself, I kept at it slapping the rig to induce a bite, Eventually I had a bit of ripple which saw me connect with my first carp which turned out to be over 6lb, I added another 15mins later before a 10lb fish soon after then the ripple was gone again & so did the fish' I was back to trying my other swims but I couldn't get a bite off any of them. Back on the long pole I managed a smaller fish after another 15mins but it was few & far between, Russ was still netting a few shallow & Lewis Jones On peg 1 seemed to be catching a few fish, I just couldn't get it to happen, I fully expected my short meat line to produce late in the day but I never so much as had a bite off it" I managed one more on the long pole shallow but after 30 bite less minutes slapping" I decided to fish the bomb over the top & on the longer line I had been feeding all day'. Needless to say I added nothing but as soon as I put my shallow rig back on the winder the breeze picked up" I brought some back shallow as Rich added two late fish on the long pole shallow & Russ had had a good last few hours again shallow on the long pole.

When the scales arrived Russ Plonked 89lb odd on the scales to batter us around him' I finished with five carp for 41lb & Rich finished the day with 43lb, The best place to be turned out to be in the early numbers as Ray Bass who drew peg 1a which he didn't really fancy with Lewis next to him on peg 1 ended up having a great day catching next to the island at 16mts on meat or pellet in 10'inches of water & later on the bomb & meat when the wind made it awkward to finish the day with 123lb to take the win over Lewis who pushed him close with 118lb odd, The lake fished hard for the silvers today with Nigel Evens taking top weight with 12lb odd but their appeared to be a few in the margins which seemed more intent in spawning". Quite a hard day & no doubt if I had fished the long pole slapping" all day I would of possibly added a few more but it was a last resort for me as its not really my cup of tea". Still it was nice to be in the sun again, Three nice Sundays in a row now' It Cant Last! Busy weekend next week with Lewis & myself back at woodlands for another crack at Fisho" before I'm back to the Sedges for the second round of the short pole series, Cant do any worse than the first round??.

Full Results -

1st Ray Bass (Cheddar A.A) peg 1a, 123lb.

2nd Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 1, 118lb 9oz.

3rd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 14, 89lb 14oz.

4th Nigel Webber (Wormheads) peg 8, 76lb 5oz.

5th Jonny Page (Thyers Tackle) peg 9a, 46lb 4oz.

6th Jim Doughty (Weston Angling) peg 15, 45lb 4oz.

Silvers - Nigel Webber, Peg 8, 12lb 3oz.

                      

Acorn Fishery (Clevedon A.A v Shiplate Farm).

It was back to Acorn today for this friendly match, Guesting for Shiplate farm the score stands at 2-0 to us & we were keen to kept a clean sheet' Its all a bit of fun but if nothing else it boosts the attendance up, We had 27 fishing which is a good turnout with the top ten weights from each side deciding who takes the spoils on the day. I was traveling alone today but did manage to find the burger van open today so a nice cuppa n roll was had before arriving in plenty of time to have a good wander around paddock lake, Their were plenty of fish moving in the margins at the top end of the lake & seemed to be a lot of fish moving on the noted bridge pegs up in the water, I fancied peg 9 as I've always done well of it & its only a short distance to the island but with Steve (Peanut) Howell & Timmy Lewis in attendance the chances of them drawing it is very high', Trust me never mention good draws to them".

Into the draw & I was happy to find myself on peg 7 which just so happened to be where I drew on the bank holiday Monday open so not only did I still have the same rigs I fancied it for a few as the breeze was blowing into pegs 7 & 6'.

Same as before I had a 0.2g AS1 on 0.15-0.13 to fish towards the far bank at 13mts in 3ft of water a couple of feet off the bank,

A dibber rig to fish tight in between the stick-ups right over which was very shallow but can produce a few on some days, A 4x12 Chanti to fish in the deeper water on 0.15-0.13 & a 18 wide gape pellet hook which was around 5ft deep & finally what I thought would be my banker rig to fish at 10mts towards the empty pallet on a nice flat spot a metre or so of the bank in 4ft of water between myself & Peg 9",

And guess who was on that? Steve Bloody Howell.." Thiers a surprize...!.

I started the day feeding some hard 4mms & A few 6mm expanders down the inside line, Fed some corn in the deeper water & few a few hard 4mms by hand down both sides of me at top-kit length. I started the day across at 13mts feeding some hard 4mm's & Micro Pellet over the top & missed a bite straight away, But as normal the wind had increased the minute the match started & trying to get the rig to stay still long enough to induce a bite was proving impossible so after 20mins I switched to fishing the dibber rig on a longer line tight to the far bank feeding a few 4mms via a cad-pot with a hard 6mm pellet on the hook. I had a couple of signs of fish but still nothing so switched to paste on the hook but this also failed to produce. 45mins I still hadn't put a fish in the net so sooner than I would have liked I switched to the 10mt inside line with a 6mm expander on the hook.

In the next 30mins I hooked four big fish, All which turned out to foul hooked, I had been potting in then waiting for bites but switched to cad potting smaller amounts of 4mm's with the cad -pot over the top as it was towing back at me in the wind. Finally I managed a 3lb fish just after midday so finally I was off the mark but over 20lb behind Peanut & Brian (Anteater) Slipper opposite me on the point peg 5 both who were catching a few across to the far bank.

I had been feeding my inside topkit lines from the off & had resorted to feeding a good pot of pellets down to my right in the hope some fish would settle their late on? I gave them an early look but never had a sniff, The deeper water line gave me one bite on the corn all day which I still missed', so most of my match was spent swapping between the 10mts line & my top-kit, I managed to snare a few fish here late on but apart from that it was just the odd fish from the 10mt line to keep me interested, I ended up feeding another at 12mts close to the pallet with a pot of micros & tried a worm over the top but it only produced another foul hooker. I was one of the early ones to weigh & was quite pleased to end the day with 51lb odd considering my bad start", Peanut had managed to catch from his far bank most of the day finishing with 71lb odd which was enough to win the section, Their were a few close weights in the end but Brian just managed to finish on top with 89lb odd catching most of his fish down the edge on paste over pellet. Back at the results & Shiplate's top ten weights were enough to make it 3-0 in the friendly stakes so a good result there. It was hard day for me really but when I did manage fish they were of decent size just a shame they didn't seem to want to feed as well here than the last time I fished it but that's the way it go's'.

Not sure what my plans are for next weekend but probably going to spend Saturday with the good wife who never moans about my time on the bank bless her x.

Full Results -

1st Brian Slipper (Sensas Thyers) peg 5, 89lb 2oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 22, 89lb 2oz.

3rd Kev Perry (Sensas Thyers) peg 36, 79lb 4oz.

4th Matt Roden (Clevedon A.A) peg 21, 79lb.

5th Steve Howell (Shiplate Farm) peg 9, 71lb 12oz.

6th John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 13, 71lb.

   

        

  

   

Landsend Fishery Saturday Open.

Lewis Jones & Myself decided to give Landsend another visit today & with a later draw at least we had plenty of time for the on-site breakfast. 15 of us fishing today all on the match lake & with the forecast of a nice day ahead I didn't really mind where I drew as I don't know to much about the venue at this time of the year. Lewis drew peg 7 which he wasn't to happy about but had plenty of room with 6, 8 & 9 empty, & I found myself on the opposite side of the lake peg 19 on the edge of the gap, Arriving at my swim their seemed to be a few fish hugging the far bank between myself & peg 20 which was empty so first up I had an inline dibber swinging rig on 0.17-0.15, Next I had a 0.2g AS4 to fish tight to the far bank at 16mts in just over 2ft of water which would double up to fish down the edge at 7mts to my right & on my topkit down to my left by the bush in the water, And finally a 4x12 Chanti on 0.17-0.15 & a 16 PR478 Hook to fish at 6mts down the track on meat.

At the start I just fed a couple of cubes of 6mm meat down the track by hand & cupped a few hard 6mm's tight to the far bank, I started the day on the swinging rig of to my right with a banded 6mm pellet, After 5mins I had a 3lb fish soon followed by another over 4lb but the soon wised up & disappeared' so after 30mins it was time to try tight to the bank in-front of me, I started with a banded 6mm & soon lost a foul hooker' but it wasn't happening, I began to cad pot a few hard 6mm's over the top & missed to bites? but 20mins later after trying a few baits I was back to the swinging rig, The fish would be showing them self's along the far bank but as soon as the rig hit the water they were gone" After 90mins I was going nowhere, I had been flicking the odd cubes of meat onto the 6mt line so decided to give it a try, I started with a single 6mm cube which produced a 2lb skimmer after 5mins, I tried two cubes & a single 8mm cube but their was no early signs of carp & 15mins later I was back out at 16mts, This time I decided to fish a small bit of paste on the hook again feeding some 6mm's over the top, I had what I thought were two bite but again nothing, 15mins later I re-fed another line along the far bank with some dampened micros & tried a segment of worm over the top but all I had was another foul hooked fish,

Lewis was really motoring catching across to the far bank but it seemed on are side they were very cagey, Rod had managed to snare a couple of fish off his far bank by pinging hard pellets over the top but was also having problems with foul hooked fish & was also having to weight for indications, By halfway I new I wasn't getting anywhere so was hoping the short lines would produce later in the day, I managed to catch two carp in ten minutes when I went back in at 6mts with an 8mm cube of meat but 15mins later hadn't had another bite, I decided to feed a more positive swim with half a pot of 6mm meat at 5mts off to my right before trying my margin swims. I had a look with my top kit by the bush & missed a fly under bite but that was it & hooked a decent fish again on meat at 7mts down to my right but that shed the hook & I never had another bite their all day. I began to get the odd fish from the short lines going into the last two hours but I expected it to produce better in the last hour but it didn't really happen only adding the odd fish, Rod had managed a couple down the edge & a few F1's across on pellet to go with his early silvers so it would be close between us but I already had Lewis down as the winner as he had been catching well all day. I got to him before the scales arrived to watch him when & as I expected he went onto take the top weight on the day with 135lb catching on hard pellet to his left & most shallow with hard pellet in-front the reeds on the far bank so well done mate another good Saturday for you.

 Winner Lewis Jones.

 

 Russ Pecker was 2nd from peg 10 with 121lb odd & Andy Hembrow finished 3rd with 119lb odd, Rod ended up with 58lb but had the bonus of picking up the silvers pools with 18lb odd & I finished the day with 50lb odd, A bit frustrating as the fish just seemed to want to sit where their was a bit of cover & were already showing signs of spawning soon with the warm weather we've had. Off to Acorn tomorrow fishing for Shiplate farm in a friendly against Clevedon.A.A head to head.

Full results

1st Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 7, 135lb 5oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 10, 125lb 12oz.

3rd Andy Hembrow (Clevedon A.A) peg 15, 111lb 4oz.

Silvers - Rod Wotton 18lb 8oz. 

                

Acorn Fishery Tuesday Costcutter.

My Final stint of a four day run at it & it was back to acorn fishery for their Tuesday cost cutter, Traveling on my own today I did manage to find the burger van open to grad some grub before I parked up to eat it on strode road bridge on the river Kenn reminiscing of the days I used to fish it as a junior as keen as mustered to get on the bank every Sunday come rain or shine' No commercials or trolleys in those days". I arrived in plenty of time so made two more new rigs up before expecting a good turn out, Disappointing here as their were only eight of us but we had the whole lake so should be a day of pleasure fishing for all of us?.

Dave (dogging) Wride chose the pegs for us today & I was hoping for peg 7 again as it was in or peg 10 failing that' I was 2nd to draw thinking get in early for more chance of having them but no I ended up on peg 13. It didn't mean much but it was hard here yesterday & with all the room we had I expected us all to catch well? That was until Dave drew peg 15 so we were sharing the pallet to my left then! Not being funny but there's 40 pegs on this lake but we end up a pallet apart? Not going to go into the full detail of my day as totally shattered & I didn't win' Lol, I started the day on the deck at the bottom of the shelf in 4ft of water but only catching some carp from 2-10oz" on soft pellet, Tried to the pallet between  Dave & myself but neither of us caught here, They were probably playing yoyo between are feed!!" So my main lines ended up down to my right hand pallet which is awkward to fish at this angle, & tight over in the shallow water close to the far bank, I'm happy to say after a while I did start to put a few fish together but was always playing catch up to Dave who had started catching down the edge after 30mins' I thought I had a chance of catching well late on until all the debris ended up smack bank in-front of the pallet I was catching against" & to top it off two ducks had managed to find the gap I was fishing in across, Clearing out any bait I had laid as a trap intent for the fish..." I was right peeved off to be honest as it was another one of those days were it all seemed to go wrong' I wasn't going to trouble the scales but still had my nets in when they arrived, I was amazed when I totalled 84lb odd as it seemed I spent the day farting around' Dave went on to win the day with 131lb odd catching the bulk of his fish down the edge on pellet, good job you had 10 pegs empty between you & Tony hey" Well Done. Gabriel Skarba came 2nd off peg 31 with 117lb odd & fellow blogger Tony Rixon pinched 3rd spot from me picking up the £10 for third place, Not that much of an enjoyable day but I used it to try a few new things, SHZZZZ Tony" Cant Let um Know it all until after next Sunday when we've had another Shiplate v Clevedon Battle".

Full Results -

1st Dave Wride (Sensas Thyers) peg 15, 131lb 14oz.

2nd Gabo Skarba (Hillview) peg 31, 117lb 2oz.

3rd Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) peg 24, 86b 7oz.

4th Dom Sullivan (Maver|) peg 13, 84lb 15oz. 

Acorn Fishery (Clevedon A.A Open) Monday.

Travelling With Lewis Jones again today with him driving after I had a few bevey's last night, We did plan to stop off for a breakfast roll at the burger van in Clevedon but were disappointed to find it wasn't their' With food in mind I was starving so it was off to the nearest garage for a sandwich & a costa coffee, I drank the coffee on-route but left me bloody sarnies in his van for the entire day!

A good turn out today with a few coming for a cancelled match elsewhere boosted it up to 24 of us, We had a walk around with match organiser Robb Fogg who was choosing which swims to use, Peg 21 seemed to have a few fish in it judging by the amount of fish slurping along the bridge but I fancied drawing pegs 9 or 10 which have been favourable lately, Into the draw & I found myself on peg 7, Mark Walsh had draw peg 6 & Bobby Gullit had drawn peg 9 for the second time in as many visits so he was going to be beat for a start, I did fancy it for a few of the lakes bigger fish as we had peg 8 empty & with the wind blowing into are bank I could fish to my left with plenty of room

, first up I had a rig to fish across a couple of feet of the bank in around 3ft of water being an 0.2g AS1 on 0.15-0.13 & an 18 808 hook.

Set a rig to fish down towards my side of the pallet just off the bank in 2ft of water, Had a rig to fish in the deepest water at 5mts infront of me being a 4x14 Chanti on 0.15-0.12 & a 16 Wide gape pellet hook, & finally the rig I expected to do the most damage a 0.2g in-line float on 0.17-0.15 & again a size 16 pellet hook, To fish to my left at 10mts around 2mts off the bank where I found a nice flat area about 4ft deep.

I started the match feeding a few hard 4mm pellets onto the 10mt line, fed half a pot of casters down to by the pallet in the shallower water & fed a few 4mms by hand onto the 5mt line, I started the day across towards the far bank with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding just a few hard 4mms & some micros over the top with a cadpot. I had a 4lb fish within seconds but then had signs of fish coming shallower foul hooking the next fish which came off, I cut out feeding the micros just feeding a few 4mms over the top which got me another 2lb fish before I had two hand size carp, Bobby had already netted a few fish off his far line but mark was struggling for the time being, After about 50mins I couldn't get any fish to settle across so it was time to try my 10mt line. Starting with a 6mm expander on the hook I had a fish of 4lb within seconds followed by a 6lb fish 10mins later before things dried up, I re-fed it with another helping of 4mm pellets, re-fed my other lines before dropping back in at 10mts, Again I had a fish straight away so kept topping it up after every fish.

I had a good hour when I must have put 35lb in the net with a couple of fish pushing 7lb, I kept trying my other Lines in between adding another carp from across, but the 10mt line was proving best by far. Although things slowed a little I still added another 25lb or so in the next hour, I had also added a new swim in the deeper water at 10mts in the centre of the lake with corn & did manage a 5lb fish off it. The forecast was for rain & it did arrive for an hour or so but what was noticeable was the wind had changed direction & was now blowing out of my swim, This certainly made a difference as no matter where I tried I just couldn't get a bite" I couldn't believe it as things were going so well' try as I may I just couldn't get anything to work & it turned out in the last two hours I never put a fish in the net which was a bit frustrating as Bob had managed to put some more in his nets when I couldn't & I had him down as the days winner?.

I followed the scales around & the best weight was 87lb from peg 34 before it was Bobs turn, After a few weighs it turned out he had 91lb odd which was enough to take the win on the day so well done mate,

 Winner Bobby G.

 It was closer than I thought between us though as I finished the day with 82lb so just a few fish in the last two hours would of been nice' but my weight was enough to finish 3rd picking up £50.00. Funny how fish can just disappear with a slight change in the weather but back again tomorrow for the cost cutter match so peg 9 or 10 please".

Full results -

1st Bobby Gullit , (B.V.M.G) peg 9, 91lb.

2nd Stuart Barnett (Acorn) peg 34, 87lb.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 7, 82lb 2oz.

4th Mike Owens (Sensas Thyers) peg 38, 80lb

5th Lewis Jones (Drennan S.W) peg 31, 76lb 2oz.

6th Les Williams (Bristol) peg 11, 52lb 2oz.

                  

Shiplate Farm Open (Hawthorns Lake).

I didn't get a chance to write up yesterdays match as we arranged to go out for the evening so here's how the day went. No breakfast stop off to day with the fishery on my doorstep & I was looking forward to the day as I haven't had a chance to fish this lake for a while. Into the draw & I found myself on peg 3 but was hoping for a peg further up the lake to be honest but you never know, For company I had Titch Williams on fancied peg 1 & John Hawkins again on peg 5 but couldn't see either of them so a quite day ahead. I planned to fish a rig tight to the bank at 14mts in 2ft of water so set up an  0.2g AS1 on 0.17-0.15,

Set a 0.3g AS1 on 0.15-0.13 to fish off the far bank in 4ft of water, Set a 4x12 Chanti again on 0.17-0.15 to fish down the edge which was 5ft deep, A rig to fish across & down the edge shallow on a longer line & finally a 4x14 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 to fish down the track at 5mts for silvers in 6ft of water.

I began the day feeding some chopped worm & casters on the 5mt line, Feed some hard 4mm's in the deeper water off the far bank & a handful of micro's tight over against the far bank, This is where I started the match with a banded hard 8mm pellet on the hook, Two minutes in & I had netted a 4lb carp. I foul hooked another soon after but then added a 6lb fish, I switched to a 6mm pellet on the hook but it didn't make much difference as the fish which had show early interest had became very cagey, I gave it nearly an hour but it wasn't happening, I had heard John land a few fish so it was time to try another line. I had been feeding hard 4mm's down the edge tight to the reeds so decided to give it a try with a 6mm expander on the hook. I managed two 1lb plus crucian's which it turned out would count as silvers before it needed resting so things weren't going to well at this stage. I tried the deeper line over but didn't have a sniff so it was back to fishing tight across again. I managed two more in the next 40mins but lost a couple of foul hookers along the way, At this point I was beginning to think it would be a better option to try for the silvers pool so it was time to try down the track starting with a segment of worm on the hook, I had a 2lb chub first dob in followed by a 1lb plus hybrid before it died a bit with just a few small perch to follow so re-fed some more worm & casters whilst trying the other lines.

Back down the edge & I had a 6lb carp straight off the nothing, Back across so me add one more carp & foul hook another' At this point Owner Steve started to walk down from the other end of the lake, Now I don't know why but he just seems to be a jinx when I see him & just as I did I hooked a decent perch' Just as I went to net it at around 2lb the inevitable happened & it shed the hook!" Terrific". At this point the female geese turned up with her chicks who were hunting for free grub but she was very protective hissing like mad at me"

He informed me soon after that they were catching carp at the other end of the lake & I could still here john netting a few so my mind was made up to target silvers for the remainder of the day as we were just over half way through. I managed another decent perch which looked very similar size wise as the one I last ten minutes later' followed by another good chub. I had been loose feeding casters by hand over the top from the off & after a quite spell decided to have a go shallow. I started with a small piece of worm on the hook but only had a couple of Rudd so put a 6mm cube of meat on the hook which got me another 1lb plus chub but that was it so it was back to fishing on the deck. I had another good skimmer & Another perch but after a couple of bite the swim was telling me it needed topping up again with a mix of worm & casters. The rest of the day was really enjoyable, It wasn't hectic but when I did catch it was a mix of chub, skimmers & a couple more perch before the end of the day most of which were taken on worn on the deck. When the scales arrived at john on peg 5 their was already a weight of 120 & 90lb but he showed us how it was done today ending up with 139lb odd mainly taken across on meat & Later in the day corn on the hook so well done to him.

  Winner John Hawkins.

My turn to weigh & I managed 40lb of carp but more importantly 22lb of silvers which was easily enough to pick the silvers pool up so I made the right decision in the end picking up £35 along the way. As a whole the lake fished well considering some cold nights we've had this week & it was nice to make a swim work in my favour for a change.

Full results -

1st John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 5, 139lb 5oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 11, 120lb 12oz.

3rd Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 7, 104b 14oz.

4th Julian Pinkett (Wormhaeds) peg 9, 92lb 9oz.

5th Dom Sullvan (Maver) peg 3, 62lb 2oz.

6th Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 15, 54lb 10oz.

Silvers - Dom Sullivan 22lb 2oz.