Acorn Fishery Pairs Match. (Paddock Lake).

One last chance for a match in this year before we all start again, I had a phone call from Jonny Page Yesterday to say would I help out & fill in for his partner as he couldn't make it, With him living close to me & we managed a nice breakfast at the Wooden Spoon in Weston before making are way to the fishery.

We Arrived to find their were nine pairs booked in but it would be run a bit different as it would be blind' pairs so you wouldn't know who you were with until after the draw, It turned out I would be on peg 3 paired up with peg 31 who just so happened to be Brian (Anteater) Slipper who knows the venue well so all good then, I was on the island swims in the middle of Andy Hembrow on peg 1 & Kev Perry on peg 3. Its New years eve so not going to drag on as not much I can say about the day to help anybody catch a few if visiting the venue soon' I was biteless for 90mins before having a 5oz perch down the track then with two hours remaining I took two carp & a decent F1 across in the deeper water on 4mm expander over micros all of which came in a 15min spell" Andy ended the day with 8lb odd, I finished with 12lb then Kev weighed 13lb so we all had a good day!. The match was won by Alan Healy from peg 26 with 89lb taking most of his fish on soft pellet & along with his partner Andy Devereux catching one 3oz fish they still managed to win the pairs,

 

Winners Alan (Left) & Andy.

  Ahead of Mark Bromsgrove & Ivan Currie with a weight of 49lb odd,

Runners-up Mark (left) & Ivan.

 

Brain ended up with 27lb so we weren't far off the top two pick up but hard day for most again with some not bothering to weigh.

 Well that's it for this year, Its been quite an eventful one for me, Did a fair bit of traveling after entering a few of the fisho Mania matches in the earlier have of the season, As with any big matches you need the luck of the draw which didn't quite happen for me although one peg further to my left at Woodlands View would of surely seen me qualified as the foreign guy next to me won the day fishing his first match which was fun to watch" Mixed results for me through this season which I wouldn't rate as won of my best, Losing good mate Donald in march really took the wind out of my sails & I couldn't get focused for a while which hasn't help but at the end of the year after entering 99 matches I've managed to pick-up in 41 of them with a total return of £1549.50, A Pole roller & a crate of magners" Lol. Next season looks a bit brighter after just joining the Mosella ranks we will see what the coming months hold & I already have some reviews on some products I'm already using. Already Qualified for next years All-winners & Silvers Finals at Viaduct & Hopefully after a near miss in the main frame of the silvers league at the fishery this year I can do better next year. One thing I have noticed over the last few months is the amount of Sundays I've fished & thier's not been a drop of wind in the air" I remember last year spending most of the time battling with the elements", So a pleasant change their. I'm back in the swing of things tomorrow with a silvers only match at Emerald pool fishery's Speci Lake so a new years eve without the sauce" So it gives me chance to say may we all have a prosperous one & just remember, Its only fishing".

Happy New Year All.                

Viaduct Fishery Two Day Pairs (Silvers Only).

An event I have fished the last couple of years but sadly this time around it wouldn't be with good friend Donald Sutherland after passing away suddenly earlier this year, A real shame not to be fishing with him again this year as we had finished 3rd overall in the last two years & were hoping to improve on it. Things move on as they say & this year I was pairing up with now Mosella team Mate Gabo Skarba both hoping the draw bag would be kind to us? With 22 pairs fishing the match would be spread over Cambell & Spring Lake & a section from each pairing on Lodge Lake, Gado thought it would be a good idea to allow me to draw for the both of us (He Must Be Mad"), You could chose which angler fished which section on day one then rotate for day two. Gabo opted for spring/lodge meaning I would be on cambell/lodge.

Into the draw bag & I handed Gabo peg 5 on spring lake, It doesn't usually produce to well on the silvers front & would find it hard to beat the lower numbers in his section especially with England Ace Des Shipp on peg 3 in his section", As for me' Peg 69 Lodge Lake which I was well happy with, it won the last round of the silvers league with 30lb odd on the waggler & caster & is usually a good area of the Lake along with peg 68 which was occupied by Des's Partner Mark Harper & we both expected a few fish despite the hard frost, quite a simple approach as I didn't expect many, if any, fish to be caught short. I had a line at 16mts towards the rope through the middle of the lake & another at 14mts slightly off to my left, Both lines were the same depth around 4ft so set up two 4x12 Wire Wonders, one on 0.11-0.09 & an 18 F1 pellet hook the other on 0.11-0.08 & an 18 63-13 hook. Apart from this I had a 4x10 chanti on a longer line just encase I had to try short, A finally a 4AAA waggler to fish the middle of the lake.

I started the day feeding five balls of G/bait at 16mts with a few casters & dead pinkees added & fed the 14mt line with just the one ball with a few dead reds in. I started the day on the waggler with caster on the hook hoping we would soon be into some fish, Their were signs of fish topping everywhere in the middle of the lake but despite the two anglers opposite & Mark & myself all on the waggler at various depths we just couldn't muster a bite" The splashing" skimmers disappeared after 30mins or so but I stuck at it as others tried their pole lines. I gave it just over an hour but it wasn't happening with just a couple of small roach so it was time to try the pole lines.

Starting on the negative line I had a skimmer of 4oz straight away followed by a 3oz roach soon after but that was it' I fed another small ball & went straight over it, I didn't have to wait long for a bite which saw me hook a decent fish, Well for two seconds anyway" that totally killed it so after another 15mins without indications I fed another small ball & was hoping the positive line at 16mts would have fish queuing up for me".

First drop-in on the caster saw me net an 6oz skimmer, Then the next hour I added the odd small roach or 4oz skimmer from both lines, from what I could see not much was being caught, I kept trying the waggler but still only managed a few small roach, I really thought the last few hours would produce a few bigger skimmers but I couldn't of been more wrong", The last 90mins were dire, I did bump what felt like a better skimmer on the waggler, Missed a couple of bites on the pole lines & all I added was a 3oz rudd in the whistle! I thought mark had a bit more than me as his few skimmers looked slightly bigger which turned out to be the result as he went on to win the section with a massive 5lb 1oz" with me finishing 2nd in the section with 3lb 8oz! that just proves how hard it was in this area today & the two pegs on the lawn on this lake which don't usually produce had 14lb odd each" luckily they weren't in are section. Back at the results & it turned out Gabo had also struggled for 5lb odd with the lower pegs as expected producing the goods with Des winning the section & the match with 22lb of skimmers on the long pole & casters so fair play to him yet again'. With both Mark & Des winning their sections they already looked like holding onto there crown from last year but all could change at the draw on day two, We still had a shout of making the top 4 payout but would need a section win each so were hoping for a couple of flyers"

Day Two.

Gabo left it for me to draw again today & was a bit happier when I handed him peg 126 on Cambell, The only downside, He had Des in his section again", I ended up on peg 12 of Spring Lake just below the famous Viaduct,

But not a good area normally & to make things worse I had Mark Harper again in my section on the opposite bank peg 17 which most had down to win are section as it tends to hold some decent skimmers, With no island chuck I decided on a waggler approach again at around 25mts, Two pole lines at 16mts again with 4x12 Wire Wonder floats, & one line at 13mts with a 0.2g pencil float on 0.11-0.08 & an 20 F1 Maggot hook.

I decided to be a bit negative to start with today as I felt my match might be more about catching small fish regular with the odd chance of a bonus? I fed two balls at 16mts to my left with just a few casters added, Fed a small amount of loose casters & a few dead reds at 16mts in-front of me & a small ball with some squats & dead pinkie at 13mts. Starting on the waggler at dead depth with caster on the hook just feeding a few casters every few minutes saw me start to catch the odd roach which I stuck at for the first hour or so, I switched to corn on the hook & gave it 30minutes in the hope of catching something decent but it never moved, Mark had switched to fishing the waggler & was soon into a decent skimmer but most of my section seemed to be struggling & the guy to my right on peg 11 was yet to catch. I had a look on the long pole lines after leaving them for 90minutes or so but after spending 10minutes on each without any signs of fish I was soon back on the waggler picking off the odd roach to 3oz. As the day went on I had to forget about the 16mt line off to my left as the sun was straight in are faces on are bank & I could see Nowt" I fed another new line with just one ball at 14mts slightly to the right with a couple of hours to go hoping to see some late signs of fish over it, I spent the match swapping between the waggler & the pole lines I could see, With just over an hour to go I went back on the 13mt line with dead pinkee on the hook & was quite shocked when I had two 5oz skimmers & a 12oz fish in as many dob-ins but then I was back to tiny roach on this line so re-fed another small ball with squats & a few dead pinkies, Still no signs on the longer pole lines so was really hoping of a better fish off the waggler line late in the day. I had changed from feeding just a few casters every few minutes to feeding bigger amounts more often to try & draw some bigger fish into the swim.

Twenty Minutes of the match remaining & I was just pouring a coffee when the float went" I hit the bite but was a bit slow which resulted in me bumping something decent! Typical" I managed a few more small fish off the 13mt line & a few roach on caster on the wagg but still nothing on corn, I had been dripping casters down the edge at 4mts all day in the hope of some perch but it didn't happen, Mark had caught a few decent skimmers among his roach on the waggler so had him down as the section winner again but the rest would be close. Mark went on to weigh 20lb odd which was easily enough, Vince Lunn had 7lb 11oz of small skimmers on the end peg 9 of are section, Shaun Wilson who I thought I had beat went on to weigh a level 5lb next to mark so I ended up with 4lb 13oz for 4th in the section so not the result I wanted, Back at the results & it turned out Gabo had had another mare finishing last in his section with 1lb odd so bad day for both of us this time but that man again Des Shipp showed us all his true talent to win the day again with 33lb catching decent size fish on the waggler & caster to easily win the match again so a massive well done mate & I hope you get to grab an individual gold medal to top things off in your England career as it would be well deserved for sure. Well mark & Des did well to finish on two section wins a piece to retain their title from last year which is an excellent performance.

The fishing was hard for most but we are in the depths of winter with two cold, bright clear days to contend with so well done to those who made up the rest of the frame. That's it as far as matches go for this year & over the next few days I will fill in my yearly summing up how things have gone.

Full results - Day One.

1st Des Shipp, Peg 3 Spring, 22lb 8oz.

2nd Dan Squires, Peg 37 Middle, 20lb 12oz.

3rd Phil Cardwell, Peg 111 Cambell, 16lb 2oz.

4th Matt Parsons, Peg 123 Cambell, 14lb 12oz.

 

 

Day Two -

1st Des Shipp, Peg 128 Cambell, 33lb 10oz.

2nd Ryan Shipp, Peg 119 Cambell, 27lb 12oz.

3rd John Fuidge, Peg 59 Lodge, 23lb 12oz.

4th Mark Harper, Peg 17 Spring, 21lb 7oz.

 

 

Overall Pairs -

1st Des Shipp & Mark Harper 4pts.

2nd Ziggy Slowiski & John Fuidge 7pts.

3rd Martin Preston & Phil Cardwell 9pts.

4th Ryan Shipp & Ricky Mills 10pts (Weight). 

             

           

Avalon Fishery (Teams Of Three) Round 2.

I was asked to stand in today for Shaun Kitteridge who's fishing for the Thyer's team who also has friend Lewis Jones in their team who offered to pick me up which makes a change of traveling on my own, The added bonus was he knew where the Café in Burnham was to meet are third man Tall" Paul So we wouldn't have to spend time looking forward to it like I did last time!, Its run by the old staff of hilltops & the breakfast was just as good so recommend as its open at 7am on a Sunday. Still no change in the weather no wind although it was foggy when we arrived at the fishery & slightly cooler than of late.

It was up to Lew to do the team draw which is run in a rolling format from 8am with the match times being 10-4 so loads of time to assemble things, Last time I was here a couple of weeks ago I managed a couple of carp fishing to the island with a small feeder & was feeling confident of catching on it again if a similar peg was on the cards. Nope, No island as such as Lewis had managed to draw me end peg 1 which is the first peg through the gate by the car park so not far to walk".

Arriving at my peg I heard a few carp can be caught by fishing the long pole to the end bank & to be honest I thought it would be my best chance of a few fish as the rest of the peg was mainly open water although I would set up a small feeder to fish across towards the tree on the end bank at around 30mts but I would have to be careful not to clip the branches". I chose not to cast a bomb there to get the distance before the start as I didn't want to disturb any fish closer to me & didn't plan to start the day on it. My main plan would be along the end bank with the pole, two lines at 16mts in the open water & a line down to my left hand side in the deeper water.

First up a rig to fish at 14mts just past the stump into the bay behind it & further a long at 16mts being 0.2g on 0.15-0.13 & an 16 F1 Guru Pellet hook, I found two spots both around 3ft so the same rig would do for both,

For the 16mt open water lines I used a slightly heavier 0.3g rig on the same lines & hooks in a size 18 in 6ft of water which again would double up to fish down the left edge at 10mts as it was the same depth, Last up I had another 0.2g rig on 0.15 & an 16 808 hook to start the day with dobbing bread.

On the all-in I fed a golf ball size of micro's at 16mts in-front of me & a few hard 4mm pellet to the left. I started the day dobbing bread along the end bank working my way along in the hope of finding some fish. I gave it 20mins or so but despite trying different areas & depths it wasn't happening. I switched to fishing the 14mt line to the end bank with the depth rig with corn on the hook feeding a few micros over the top with a cad pot attached. Five minutes later & I was in' Only a small carp just over 2lb but a good start after I had another 3lb fish minutes later'.

It went quite after this so I moved along the bank to 16mts & started again, I was expecting to pick another fish off here but it didn't happen. after another 40mins switching between the lines with different baits on the hook & just a couple of small roach It was time to try the long lines, Starting over the micros I had a couple of bites straight away which were tiny skimmers which came off" then nothing, Over to the pellet fed line where I had been pinging a few from the off with banded 6mm on the hook saw me prick a carp after a minute or so, I spent the next 15mins on & off the deck but with no more signs I felt my best chances would still be off the end bank, Starting back at 14mts it didn't take long to hook another again on corn which turned out to be slightly bigger at 5lb. I hadn't seen much caught in the first couple of hours apart from some smaller skimmers in my section on the pegs I could see above me, & Derek Beard & Steve Fouracre had managed a carp apiece on the opposite bank. Approaching the halfway mark I decided to try the feeder over to the tree with micros in & bread on the hook, first chuck I landed inches from the tree & end bank, Result" so soon clipped that up!" I was hoping if any carp were present I would be right on them but not so much as a tremble on the tip in 30minutes. I had another try on the open water lines & tried on & off the deck down my left edge but it didn't produce any bites.

With 90minutes to go I felt the best chance would be back on the pole down the end bank, Finally I had a 4lb fish off the 16mt line but it seemed to be out of the blue, in the last hours I rotated all the pole lines but it wasn't until the last 20mins I took a fish off the 16mt & 14mt end bank lines again with corn on the hook to finish the day with six carp & a few bits, I had seen the odd carp caught in my section a couple of pegs up but couldn't see further up. I was first to weigh & finished the day with just over 25lb, Further up there was a 33lb weight from John Fuidge in my section followed by 31lb by Jamie Cook with my weight being good enough for 3rd in the section, Further up are bank Tom Thick Had a good day in Lewis's section winning the day with 54lb including the top silvers weight of 21lb to pick up double bubble in the pools so well done mate. Back at the results it turned out Lewis also finished 3rd in his ten peg section but Paul wasn't so fortunate finishing down in his section but there team is still joint 4th after two rounds so no disaster. The weights were close on the day which makes for a good match, I did lose a foul hooked fish near the net & another which I just pulled out of through the day which may have won me the section but that's fishing & I'm sure others lost fish too. An enjoyable day really, Even though its mild at the moment the water levels are right down so you have to work hard to try & put a few fish together on most pegs.

Full Results -

1st Tom Thick (Thatchers Tackle) 54lb 7oz.

2nd Martin Lenahan (Avon Angling) 5314oz.

3rd Tom Mangell (Mosella UK) 37lb 15oz.

4th Pete Wild (Avalon Fishery) 37lb 10oz.

5th Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyer's) 37lb 3oz.

6th John Fuidge (The Sedges) 33lb 7oz.

               

Viaduct Fishery Xmas Match (Cambell & Cary Lakes).

Another Nice mild morning to wake up too with no wind in the air again, Travelling on my own I stopped off for a bacon sarnie in the burger van on route before arriving in plenty of time, Thirty two of us fishing today so the match would be spread over Cambell & Cary lakes, Most wanted to draw Cambell lake as their seemed to be a lot of fish still holding up in the shallowest end so end pegs 110 or opposite peg 132 would do as I though Cary would also fish hard, Steve was going to pay the winner & top silvers off of each lake as well as two sections on both but everybody would receive a prize come what may. Around halfway in the draw queue I was doing my best to convince myself & others I would draw 132 but no such luck, I ended up on peg 128 above the spit on cambell & when we arrived at are pegs their seemed to be plenty of fish moving through the whole length of the lake so we were all hopeful of a few fish although they do seem to have a habit of waving at you whilst setting up then doing the disappearing act as soon as the all-in is shouted"

I planned an out & out carp attack today so didn't mix any ground-bait to target silvers, Quite a simple set up, The normal straight lead & waggler rod were assembled first before a 0.2g pole rig on 0.15-0.13 & a 16 F1 Pellet hook to fish two lines left & right at 16mts using the rig to double up fishing off the point at 13mts to my right,

 Most of the day would be spent fishing either bread or meat on the hook.

At the All-in I began to cup a small amount of casters & meet off to my left at 16mts but had hardly put the pole together before Ziggy Slowiski Opposite me on peg 114 had hooked a carp on the waggler" Great' I had a quid with him today so he had the best of starts". I decided to have a quick look on the straight lead & bread but after 15mins soon switched to fishing the waggler & maggot off the deck. I missed a bite after 10mins of chucking around but that was it, I kept changing depth to try & find some fish but it wasn't happening, Looking around Matt Parson was catching a few silvers on the waggler with corn on the hook, A tin I happened to give him! Lol, but apart from this I hadn't seen much else caught although I didn't know if the end pegs I predicted were catching? after an hour I was still fishless' I decided to try the long pole lines hoping for some instant signs of fish but still nothing, I had a look off the point at 13mts were I had been pinging some 6mm meat with the catty but even this failed to produce anything at this stage.

I decided to try the bomb again with punched meat on the hook, I gave it another 40mins or so but still nothing, Back on the waggler with maggot & I finally hooked a better fish which turned out to be a decent Perch over 2lb which I got all the way in before sheding the hook at the net". By now we were over two hours in & still nothing in the net, After another fruitless try on the pole lines I was back on the bomb this time with punched meat on the hook, Finally I had a proper bite which turned out to be a decent tench but I had a bit of a scare as it got among the brambles off the spit but thankfully I got it out & safely in the net which was close to 4lb' Nothing followed so it was time for a re-think.

I decided to assemble another pole rig to fish along the inside bank towards the spit against the bramble cover which would be risky if I hooked any but I had to give it a go. I fed a small amount of casters by hand every so often for around 30minutes or so whilst still trying to catch off my other chosen lines, We were now nearly half was through so it was time to try the new short line which was my topkit plus two sections with a 6mm piece of meat on the hook where I had been feeding small amounts of casters.

The float had only been in the water for a few seconds before it shot under, I had a right battle trying to keep it away from the brambles but soon netted a decent carp pushing 10lb, I went straight back in & had another fish a few minutes later around 7lb before the fish seemed to have backed away.

I rested it again just feeding a few casters before hand & had another try on the bomb, !5mins later I was trying the long pole Lines again. Still nothing so back down the edge it was again, I had to wait but after 15mins or so took a 4lb carp but nothing here after, The bomb produced another small tench & I did eventually hook a carp which managed to shed the hook as It swam straight at me" I did expect to catch a few fish off the long pole lines which I was feeding regularly with the odd cubes of meat via the catty but it just didn't happen, I managed three more carp down the edge but a smaller stamp, & did lose another decent fish with 20minutes to go which I managed to get away from the brambles only to shed the hook off the point of the spit" It turned out to be a hard day for most come the end, The chap to my left managed one carp in the first hour on the lead & that was it & Dick Bull the other side of the spit had only managed two roach & a skimmer so it looked like I had done ok considering? When the scales arrived end peg 132 had the top weight as I expected with 91lb odd, I managed just over 40lb in total, Matt did well to take 28lb of silvers mainly on the waggler but before peg 110 came out on top with 109lb odd, I was right then the fish were still playing ball in the shallow end pegs, Back at the results & it turned out Cary Lake had fished harder as I expected with Roland Lucas taking the top weight with 48lb odd, I ended up finishing 4th on the day but missed out in the money stakes as peg 132 was in my section but did go home with a nice case of Magners cider for the festive period, Their were also mince pies & free cans of beer for all afterwards as well as making sure we each went home with a prize so fair play to them. Thankfully it was another nice day weather wise & with winter fishing we had to expect the fish to be shoaled up a bit but I did manage the quid off Ziggy". Off to Avalon Fishery tomorrow to fill in for Shaun Kitteridge on the teams of three with good friend Lewis Jones so lets see what that brings.

Full Results -

1st Jamie Bowden (Un-Attached) peg 110 Cambell, 109lb 11oz.

2nd Tony Mackett (Un-attached) peg 132 Cambell, 91lb 7oz.

3rd Roland Lucas (Wiltshire Angling) peg 99 Cary, 49lb 7oz.

4th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 128 Cambell, 40lb 1oz.

5th Matt Parsons (Parsigns) peg 126 Cambell, 37lb 4oz.

6th Ziggy Slowiski (Garbolino) peg 114 Cambell, 31lb 5oz.

Silvers -

1st Matt Parsons , Peg 126 Cambell, 28lb 3oz.

 

 

                   

Viaduct Fishery Silvers League Final Round, (Cambell, Cary & Lodge Lakes).

I was looking forward to today as I was still in with a chance of a top six finish to pick up in the main frame, I did attempt to find the Café in Burnham but it was a failed effort & I ended up with a costa & Sausage bap from the garage which I can safely say was disgusting & most would be coming home for the dog" Which wasn't a good start to the day as I was starving".

I arrived in plenty of time to mix some Ground-bait with the help of Gabo's drill, It looked to be a pleasant day ahead with little wind & overcast skies to begin with although it was on the chilly side & their was a lot of rain in the area yesterday so didn't expect some areas to fish very well so was hoping for lady luck in the draw? After the normal cuppa & a chin wag I found myself towards the back of the draw, Out comes 97 on Cary which I was happy enough with as I had the chance of some of the lakes bigger skimmers/bream on the long pole, Pegs 99 & 100 have been the pegs to draw in the earlier rounds but fish have fins & these pegs were in the next section anyway. For company I had Nicky Collins on peg 99 who was filling in for someone, If you look hard enough you can see him in the pic as he's probably the only angler smaller than me" Lol,

& that man again, now team mate Craig (Trigger) Edmunds next to me on peg 96 who was in my section & would be seeking revenge from the last round when he drew next to me'.

I planned a quite simple approach today, Three long pole lines at 14mts, Where I set up two 4x12 Wire wonder floats on 0,11-0.09, One with A size 18 F1 maggot hook the other with 18 63-13 hook, Set a 0.2g pencil float on 0.11-0.10 & an 16 F1 pellet hook to fish bigger baits on the hook, Apart from this all I set up was a 4x10 Chanti on a long line to fish along the inside bank towards the empty pallet on my left & at 5mts in-front of me. I began the day feeding two balls at 14mts infront of me with dead pinkie's added, Fed four balls at 14mts to the right with a few dead reds & Casters & fed one ball packed with chopped worn & squatts 14mts off to my left, I started the match down the edge with caster over a few loose fed casters but nothing after 5mins so switched to fishing the same at 5mts, I gave it another 10minutes but still nothing, Trig had started on the wagg & had missed a couple of bites off small fish. Much sooner than I would have liked I was on the long pole lines after just 20minutes, Starting in-front of me with floro pinkie on the hook I had a small roach straight off before I started to catch the odd 4oz skimmer, I did try different baits on the hook but most bites were coming on the pinkee, I took the odd fish for the first 30mins or so & bumped what felt a better fish but with things slowing up I chose to feed another ball with Pinkies added & decided to try the other long lines, I had a quick look on the worm line with a small segment on the hook but it showed no early signs so was onto the positive fed line with dead red maggot on the hook.

I had an 8oz skimmer straight off before another run of 3-4oz skimmers appeared, Trig was now on his long pole lines & was also beginning to catch the odd smaller skimmer but Nick on my left seemed to be getting plagued with small roach, It seemed to be a case of catching the odd fish then topping the swim up before switching lines, As time went on bites seemed to slow right down, The sun had began to stick its head out which seemed to have an affect on the fishing, I had to keep switching lines to try & pinch the odd smaller skimmer as the bigger fish we were hoping for didn't seem keen to feed, The middle part of the match was hard for me But Trig had managed to keep putting the odd fish in the net including a couple to a 1lb so he was now ahead of me but it was still close, I chose to keep feeding the odd ball in the hope of some bigger fish late in the day, I kept trying the worm line & at one point did have a 10oz hybrid on a small piece of worm but apart from the odd small roach this line didn't really produce. The line infront of me where I had been feeding pinkies in the G/Bait really slowed up by the end of the match but going into the last 90mins bubbles appeared on the line I had fed more positively with dead reds & a few casters in the G/Bait, It was really frustrating though as I new their were fish in the swim but were more interested in routing around in the ground-bait than taking the free offerings" I switched to fishing small bunches off dead pinkie on the hook & although I had to wait ages for bites some fish were up to 12oz, I always felt the last 30mins or so would show some signs of better fish but it wasn't until the last 10mins the fish seemed to want to have a go as I took three skimmers approaching a 1lb In three put-in's" To late to try for another which was a shame as I felt although Trig had a quiet last hour he had still done enough to just be in-front of me but Sam Powell on the opposite bank 88 was admitting to 12lb, When the scales got to trig Sam was winning the section with a level 15lb, Trigs turn & he was close with 2oz's short ending up with 14lb 14oz, Before I was last to weigh, I finished with 13lb 14oz so it was close between all of us come the end, One more decent skimmer a bit earlier might of helped but it wasn't to be but Trig & myself had a right battle Which was an enjoyable day. Finishing 3rd in  the section meant I could drop my four pointer to finish with 1,1,2,3,3 for a total of 10pts but I would be lucky to make the final standings as I was losing out on weight count back. back at the results & fellow blogger Mike Nichols had a nice days fishing on lodge lake using the waggler & caster to finish with 30lb of skimmers to win the day ahead of good mate Gabo from peg 78 on Cary, catching a mix of fish including Tench on the worn off the end of the tree to finish with 22lb odd, 16lb odd was third on the day with a lot of close weights there after.

So down to the final standing & it turned out Matt Tomes Who just so happened to draw the peg everyone wanted, peg 68 on lodge finished second in his section which was enough for him to win the league with 8pts dropping a three pointer so well done to him, Runner up went to Stu White also on 8pts dropping a 4 who also fished a good league throughout with last years winner Sam Powell finishing in 3rd place with 8pt dropping a 5, Unfortunately I just missed out in the overall payouts as I tied with Mark Sanders on 10pts but missed out on weight count back, It was a very close run event as always & with 50 anglers fishing to finish in the top ten is a good result & quite often ounces make the difference. Well done to Steve, Helen & Matt for making us all welcome & for running this popular league, Already looking forward to next year.

 Winner Matt Tomes (Centre) Stu White (Right) Sam Powell (Left)

Full Results -

1st Mick Nichols (Silverfox) peg 69, 30lb 3oz.

2nd Gabriel Skarba (Mosella UK) peg 78 Cary. 22lb.

3rd Paddy (Viaduct) peg 62 Lodge, 17lb 5oz.

4th Bob Gullick (Mosella UK) peg 128 Cambell, 16lb 3oz.

5th Kev Newman (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 100 Cary, 16lb.

6th Sam Powell (Preston Innovations) peg 88 Lodge, 15lb.

 Final Overall Standings -

1st Matt Tomes 8pts (Dropping 3pts)

2nd Stu White 8pts (Dropping 4pts)

3rd Sam Powell 8pts (Dropping 5pts)

4th Kev Newman 9pts (Dropping 4pts)

5th Bob Gullick 9pts (Dropping 6pts)

6th Mark Sanders 10pts (Dropping 4pts) 90lb 13oz.

7th Dom Sullivan 10pts (Dropping 4pts) 80lb 15oz. 

 

 

 

 

                        

Avalon Fishery Xmas Match.

With permission from the wife to return for the Xmas match leaving the outside lights on the house until later this week (Gotta keep up with the Jones") Lol,

I woke to find the hardest frost this year by far, Everything outside was white" The Ice Breaker was put in the van with the kit just Encase' I arrived early & it was Baltic" I walked the entire lake before hand just to try & get Warm, Ice wise it wasn't to bad, A couple of the early pegs were ruled out but apart from that their was just a bit of cat ice on one bank, Nineteen fishing today so the pegs would be spread out with plenty of room for everyone but I still expected things to be really hard as it looked likely to be a bright day which wouldn't help things.

I was already in the hut before draw time just trying to keep warm so wasn't far front the front of the draw, Out comes peg 28 which is near the far side top end of the lake, It didn't mean anything to me but at least it was mainly free of ice with just a thin layer to clear.

First up I assembled a bomb rod to fish over to the island with a small cage feeder, Made a 0.3g hand made glass stem pole float on 0.15-0.13 & a size 16 F1 Pellet hook to fish a couple of lines at 14 & 16mts in 6ft of water, A 0.2g same style float to fish down towards the next pallet over the other side of the bale which you can see in the picture which was still 5ft deep,

& finally Decided on one line for silvers at 14mts but didn't put to much faith in it.

For company I had Steve Fouracre on peg 30 & Ray Wickham the other side of me on peg 26 with fishery owner Vic Bush Opposite me on the other bank. On the all-in I fed a small amount of micros at 14mts slightly to the right, Fed four balls of G/Bait with a good helping of dead red maggot & a few Floro Pinkie's at 15mts Infront of me & cupped in a few cubes of meat at 16mts to the left. I wanted to set up a waggler but unfortunately an overhead branch would rule me out casting it anywhere near where I wanted to go. I started the day on the straight lead & bread as close to the island as I could get, I found if I went to close I was coming back with leafs Ect on the hook in the first couple of casts so started to drop it a foot off the bank,

Ray had a couple of small fish on the pole to start with but not much else was being caught from what I could see of it, I had a liner after 10mins but had to wait another 45mins before I had a proper bite, I had the fish on for a couple of seconds before it came off snapping my 6lb hook length" I had it on the rod last time I used it & forgot to check it before starting so my own fault. I gave it another 20mins but nothing followed, I switched to a bunch off maggots & hair rigged corn but it still didn't produce. I had a quick look on the long pole lines, Starting on the meat line which didn't show any signs, Tried maggot over the micros, Nothing, & took two small roach off the positive' silvers line, Back to fishing across this time with a small cage feeder with micros fed through it, Another 20mins passed still with no signs then just as I went to reel in I was attached to a decent fish which turned out to be foul hooked which I got all the way in before it shed the hook" Two Nil!".

Ho Hum" Try again then, I kept trying different baits but nothing happened so stuck to the bread as it already had given me a response, I'm not a lover of sitting it out  on the bomb but with not much happening from what I could see it was my best bet for any fish. It took a while but nearly half way through I had another proper bite which thankfully after a good scrap keeping it away from going under the pallet' I netted & it was a decent fish around 9lb so at least I had something in the net. ten minutes later I had a drop back, hooked the fish but again we parted company as it swam towards me" B***S". I gave it another 20minutes before trying the pole lines again but they just wouldn't produce & all I managed was a 3oz roach on three red maggots over the G/Bait line, I kept topping them up with small amounts through the day just encase they would produce late in the day but I never had a bite on them again, I even tried down the edge a few times in the last hour with corn over an area I had been feeding with small amounts of casters through the day but nothing showed. I managed another late fish on the straight lead & bread around 3lb but that was it, It had fished hard as expected, Steve struggled for a few bits but lost a carp on the long pole under his pallet, Ray had taken just a few silvers, And Vic had managed a carp on the bomb with some silvers fish on the waggler.

When the scales arrived the top weight was Pete Wild on the opposite bank peg 12 with 52lb odd, My total 6oz of silvers" And the two carp went 12lb 13oz. back at the results & Pete Wild easily won the day but the uncanny thing about it was he only fished for two hours as he received some bad new & had to shoot off but at least he has a nice hamper to look forward to & £40 back so well done to him. Apart from the top weight & top silvers taking home some monies Vic makes sure there's a good prize for everybody to take home there after depending on the position you finished, It turned out Rich Coles finished 2nd with 14lb & I ended up 3rd on the day, both had are choice of prize after the days silvers winner Rob? Dodd from end peg 40 with a level 9lb. It turned out I ended up choosing a Mosella 90cm Flat Pole Roller (As if I haven't got enough already") Lol. but a good prize never the less. Talking of Mosella Some good news, Owner Vic Bush approached me with an offer to join the other Guys who have recently took on His sponsorship, Which I'm really pleased about as I tried to sort a few things with Maver on the individual front which never came around due to the recent changes thier so looking forward to a new start under the Mosella Banner. (So the roller will come in handy!" Lol). A really hard day for most but everybody went home happy many with some tipple but a well held match with good prizes not to mention the hot soup & minced pies laid on for everyone after so well done to them. back to Viaduct next Sunday for the final round of the silvers league, All to play for so looking forward to it".

Full Results -

1st Pete Wild (Avalon) peg 12, 52lb 8oz.

2nd Rich Coles (The Sedges) peg 35, 14lb 8oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Mosella) peg 28, 12lb 13oz.

4th Vic Bush (Mosella) peg 20, 9lb 9oz.

5th Eric Fouracre (The Sedges) Peg 23, 9lb 2oz.

6th Rob Dodd (Avalon) peg 40, 9lb.

Top Silvers -

1st Rob Dodd 9lb. 

 

                     

Avalon Fishery (Silvers League).

I had the chance to fill in for somebody in this last round of the silvers league which has been held here for a few months, I haven't every fished here for silvers before & its been a long time since I even visited the venue so was looking forward to the change, With an 8.30 draw & arrived in plenty of time after grabbing a breakfast roll on route, I did expect to be hanging after my birthday yesterday but managed to keep things to a sensible level, I had a quick chat with a few of them who had been fishing the league & the most fancied area was between pegs 37-39 as they had been consistent so far.

Into the draw & I found myself on peg 35, Just off the so say better pegs but when Rich Coles got to the end peg next to me he seemed to think we were still in with a chance of catching a few & with the wind off are backs it looked like conditions were ideal are side of the lake. Rich seemed to think 10lb would be a good weight today after the resent hard frosts so wasn't expecting the day to be to hectic with if this was the case, With plenty of time to set up I set up a 4x16 & 4x14 wire wonder floats on 0.13-0.09 to fish in around 6ft of water, One with a size 16 F1 Pellet hook the other with an 18 63-13 hook, I chose a line at 13mts slightly left where I intended to fish soft pellet over micros & a line at 14mts to fish maggot/caster over G/Bait. Apart from this as I was in one of gaps between the islands I set up a small ground-bait feeder to fish towards the middle of the lake. On the all-in I fed a small ball of micros at 13mts & fed four balls of G/bait with a few casters & pinkie's at 14mts. I started the day on the feeder with dead red maggot on the hook with neat G/bait through the feeder, It was a slow start to say the least with just one small roach in the first 30mins, I switched to the 13mt line with 4mm expander on the hook & missed a decent bite after about ten minutes but twenty minutes later hadn't had another sign even when switching to maggot on the hook, I waited nearly an hour before going on the 14mt line with dead red maggot on the hook, I had a small roach to start with then after 10mins of waiting had a better fish on which turned out to be a skimmer around 1lb, I thought this would be the start of some action but it wasn't happening. The chap to my left had taken just a few small fish on the waggler over to the island with caster but owner Vic Bush had caught a few net fish below him on the waggler, Rich on the end peg next to me had a slow start with just a few bits on the long pole before he switched to fishing off to his right towards the overhanging tree which worked wonders as he netted a decent bream & was getting a few better skimmers soon after, My day was a real struggle, the pellet line produced just one more bite with maggot on the hook which again I missed", I ended up starting another line slightly left at 14mts feeding just one ball with red maggots in, This did produce a few late 8oz skimmers & I managed another 1lb plus fish again on maggot of my first 14mt line, The light was really getting low in the last few minutes & I was struggling to see the float, I lifted it slightly just as some thing went for the bait & I was hooked to a decent size fish but it didn't stay on unfortunately but in the end it wouldn't of mattered, Rich Had a good day with a few early decent fish topped off with some decent skimmers late in the day to take the days top weight with 16lb odd ahead of Pete Neat on the opposite bank end peg with 13lb odd. Vic went on to win are section with 9lb & took the overall league with a weight of 92lb in total, I new the fishing was going to be hard but funnily I really enjoyed working hard to try & induce some bites, In the last 30mins the peg began to show signs of fish so felt I had fed it right but the fish just didn't want to feed here until late in the day. I'm taking another trip back here tomorrow for there Xmas match with  twenty odd fishing, I still think the fishing will be hard but looking forward to it. I have to say I forgot my camera again today but the swims on this lake are done really well with plenty of room & a comfy days fishing which is nice.

Full Results -

1st Rich Coles (The Sedges) peg 34, 16lb 5oz.

2nd Pete Neat (Avalon) 13lb 11oz.

3rd Tony Rixon (Mosella/Veals) 10lb 1oz.

4th Vic Bush (Mosella) 9lb 2oz.

Overall Results -

1st Vic Bush.

2nd John Fudge.

3rd Chris Fox.

4th Ken Rayner.