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.