River Huntspill (Practice Match).

Back to a bit of proper fishing today without having to stick anything in a band would make a pleasant change' Travelling on my own I had a hilltops breakfast on route before giving up my seat as it was filling up fast, I stopped off to have a look at the river before getting to Laburnham  house for the draw, I drove into the main carpark before remembering that Don Sutherland used to park around the other side always giving us a swift exit after the draw so with him still in my fond memories that's were I headed. I didn't quite get the space he used to frequent but I was close enough, It turn out the space Don used to have was Taken by Gary Cross as he told me when arriving he also thought the same so parked their" God bless Don still well remembered & Certainly thought of today by a few people.

A good turnout despite a couple of no-shows with over fifty odd fishing which is nice to see on natural venues, I fancied a draw in the area below the motorway where Lewis Jones & myself had fished but so did everybody else after hearing about it" I lay my neck on the line by saying the winner would come from either peg 264 or 265 but knew the chances of me getting near it would prove slim? I was right as I ended up drawing peg 139 in the section above Withygrove, I hadn't been here for years but after my swift exit I was first to arrive in my section, I was soon heading for the area I expected my swim to be but made the wrong choice after realising it wouldn't start until we had passed the electric pylons tipping my trolley over in the process" I arrived at the swim which needed a bit of clearing with the weed cutter attached to my landing net handle but I had plenty of time so made sure I did a good job,

Thatchers lad John Harvey was on the next peg 138 & was that impressed he borrowed it to do his own'. I planned quite a simple days fishing, The Pole at 13mts where I set up two rigs , One being a 0.4g wire stem float on 0.13-0.11 & an 20 B520 hook, & a lighter strung out 0.2g rig on 0.13-0.10 & again an 20 B520 hook to fish just off the deck in nearly 6ft of water.  Organiser Lance Tucker turned up after about 20mins to give me the scales as end peg 140 hadn't been drawn meaning I was so say now the end peg, With that in mind my main plan off attack would be the ground-bait feeder towards the far bank so set up a 20g feeder to a 3ft 0.13 hooklength & a 16 B611 hook.

I started the match by cupping in some casters & white maggots onto the pole line at 13mts just inline with the shadow of the far bank trees,

          Then I had around a dozen chucks with the feeder full of chopped worms, casters & some red squatt before attaching my hooklength & baiting up with three dead red maggots to start with, I the first hour I had put just over a 1lb in the net which included a 6oz hybrid & a few perch on the worm & maggot, It was still quite flat on the surface & it seems to fish better when theirs a ripple on the water so perhaps as the day went on it would improve? I had been feeding maggots on the pole line from the off so after the hour mark I decided to give it a try, starting with white maggot on the hook I was struggling to get the rig through tiny perch of some small blades but they soon disappeared, allowing me to present it properly, My main target was some of the rivers big eels which can grow to a good size & can be a good option should the roach ect not feed. After about 15min I had what looked like a distinctive slow eel bite, I struck to find their was indeed a decent eel attached but I had been a bit early on the strike & after a few second it was off after letting go of the bait". It made a bit of commotion on the bottom & after another ten minutes biteless I was back on the tip.

I managed a couple more small perch & another 4oz skimmer but their didn't appear to be many decent skimmers or bream willing to feed as we had hoped for, I decided to have another half a dozen chucks with the feeder packed with squats to leave some bait in the swim before trying the pole again. I managed a couple more small fish before finding myself attached to another proper' Eel, again I had been a bit early on the strike & again it managed to spit the bait out" I re-fed another amount with the pot before trying the feeder again, It was now motion less & I couldn't get a bite on anything, After another 30min of changing baits I was back on the pole this time determined to let a bite develop should I think it be an eel, After 10mins I had a slow take & waited a few second before setting the hook, I new it was another decent eel & after being attached for a while I new it was hooked this time, It took a while for me to get it off the deck but when I did I new it was a decent size, I managed to get it up enough for me to reach for the landing net but as it surface it touched the pan of it & took off across the surface like a snake possessed' straight at me before shooting in the weed to my left & snapping my hooklength in the process", The problem was it was a right beast" I've had some good ones on here in my time & can safely say it was 3lb plus!". B*****KS'. That killed it so I topped it up again & went back on the tip, Another 3oz skimmers was all I managed in twenty minutes & I was hoping to be lucky enough to eventually catch a decent eel or two off the pole line as things were looking grim & I hadn't heard much being caught? Finally I managed to hook & Land one on the pole, Not as big as the last but over 1lb, Nothing followed & with the match only being 5hrs I had another go on the tip but still nothing, A last try on the pole gave me a few more small rudd & perch & another 12oz eel before the all out, I estimated to have 4lb odd & as I walked up to do the weigh -in most said they had struggled, Liam Bradell on the other end peg put 3kg odd on the scales which I new I didn't have but with all the other weights below him being lower I was hoping for 2nd in the section for a pick-up? It was close but my weight of 2kg 600g was enough to get £30 back on what was quite an enjoyable day really despite the lost snakes". Back at the results & Andy Jane had a great day finishing up with over 40kgs to easily win the day taken on the ground-bait feeder from? Yep" Peg 264 so I predicted that right then". A lot of the fishing was hard with only a few fortunate to latch into some bream but that's down to the lack of feed the venue has seen over the last 12mts"Its the super league their next week & due to me having the last round of the short pole series I cant help the team out which I'm a bit gutted about as I grew up match fishing here when going through the ranks & don't see enough matches on here now, Their are loads of fish present but they just need to see some bait more often, A good turn-out today which is a good sign for the future as it seems people are liking a change from commercials when the opportunity arises.