Shiplate Farm Main Lake (Shiplate v Clevedon A.A).

Back on the main lake today guesting for the Shiplate v Clevedon A.A friendly they have been holding home & away for the last couple of years & with the score standing at Four - Nil in Shiplates Favour so keen to keep the winning going in the teams run." Ten of us from each side would be spread around the lake on alternant pegs, After a wander around & a brew before hand it was nice to see a few old faces, Dave Smart of the old Thyer's Team & Steve Warren who has recently returned to fishing, I even snapped this bunch of fish following the pollen from peg 2'.

 It looked like being a nice day again with little breeze & I was going to ask Carol to do my draw again but being busy with the board I had a dip myself, I shouldn't of done as peg 8 was stuck in my mit' Not the best of pegs but the day was on total team weights so I didn't even bother to try for silvers as I didn't think I would compete for a weight from here so carp all the way for me today, hopefully!.

Having drawn here before I new the peg held a nice margin to my left & a bush in the water on my top-kit to my left which I hoped would produce a few fish,

 

 

 As well as an island chuck but it was really shallow tight over as the geese were stood up in some parts".

As soon as I was setting my box up I noticed a decent fish swirl down my left margin so spend the next hour assembling my kit as quiet as possible, Simple again today a shallow swinging rig for mugging any swimming around further out on the long pole two rigs to fish a shallow & on the deck down the edge but didn't plum this as I didn't want to disturd any fish' & a rig to fish on the deck at 9mts over micro's in 4ft of water as a get out of jail line'.

I cupped a decent amount on this line & went straight down the left margin with a rig set 18inches deep to start with with meat on the hook but didn't feed anything, I gave it 5mins & nothing happened so set the rig around 2ft & switched to banded hard 8mm pellet cad potting just a couple of the same over the top, a few minutes later & I hooked a lump only for the hook to pull as it swam out! B*****K's, I fed the same again & gave it ten minutes but nothing happened, Before the start Steve (Peanut) Howell had wandered around & pointed out a bunch of carp feeding on the surface in Mike Owens peg 7 around half-way across, They were feeding on some sort of pollen & by now they were heading my way & within reach at 16mts' I couldn't resist it so out went the swinging rig with banded 8mm, Wallop' He's on & 8lb soon in the net". I probably shouldn't have dobbed straight on them as they had disappeared but at least I had one in the net.

back down the edge & after a bit of lifting & dropping I was in again, It was a decent fish which soon came in around 12lb so 20lb in the first 45mins was a good start, The problem was all signs of fish down the edge had long gone, I gave it another 20mins but all I added was a skimmer & a crucian around a 1lb each, I had been pinging the odd pellet towards the aerator to my left at 16mts so had another go on the long line rig, I hooked one straight away but again it came off but I checked the hook & it was blunt so my fault' I couldn't get another bite here after as the fish what were present seemed very cagey, I had been feeding the odd 8mm pellet on the top-kit line to the bush & gave it a go after a couple of hours, I did have a fish around 4lb quite quickly but never had another sign here all day, The next few hours were a real struggle, The sun was out but I was totally in the shade as were my margin lines & I'm sure this made a difference to catching more from them as the water still isn't at it warmest yet, I managed a couple more skimmers down the left margin & managed 1 carp on the shallow wagg around 4lb to the island but did miss two bites, The shallow rig near the aerator didn't produce & I even assembled a paste rig to fish on the deck over the top which didn't produce a bite & nor did the 9mt line. A bit disappointing after the good start but I don't know what else I could of done to catch more carp today, At one point I looked at the flat calm swim for any signs of fish but they had all disappeared by the look of it!" It turned out I didn't do to bad finishing with 33lb as peg 9 didn't catch & Kurt Pinkett only managed 4lb odd from 9a so not a lot in are bit then'. Back at the results & Rich Hawkins on 14a had a great day finishing with 141lb on the paste ahead of Golly Jones who took 62lb from peg 1. As far as the winning team went well its now 5 - 0 as we nearly doubled Clevedon's weight with 400lb odd thanks mainly to Rich being on the Shiplate side' but a good bit of fun & banter before & after makes for a good day.

Full Results -

1st Rich Hawkins (Shiplate) peg 14a, 141lb 8oz.

2nd Gordon Jones (Shiplate) peg 1, 62lb 6oz.

3rd Dave Smart (Clevedon) peg 15, 50lb.

4th Andy France (Shiplate) peg 3, 45lb 12oz.

5th John Page (Clevedon) peg 5, 42lb 12oz.

6th Mike Owens (Clevedon) peg 7, 36lb 10oz.

Silvers - 1st Andy Deverant (Clevedon) peg 14, 12lb 6oz.  

        

Sedges Fishery Guru League (Round 3) Saturday.

Out with the wife after yesterdays match so time to catch up on the last two days, Back to the tile lake of this five match series, Not doing to well in the overall standings but still decent monies on offer to the daily winners so all to play for, Greeted with another nice day ahead weather wise, & close to the front of the draw I found myself on peg 39,

Happy with this as theirs been a few fish caught here in the first couple of rounds so fancied it for a few, End peg 40 has been the hot peg so hoping Mike West wouldn't give me neck ache all day'

The rest of my section consisted of team mate Bobby Gullit on 38,

Jamie (Top of the moaners') Parkhouse on 37 with Comic's Ken Raynor on peg 36 to complete are mini section, The wind wasn't really in are favour pushing at us from the other side of the lake but I still fancied catching a few over to the far island on the bomb or shallow waggler, Paul Holmwood drew this on the first round when I was on 38 & suffered with snagging on the bomb so I decided to chuck right up the side of the island hoping any fish I hooked I could steer over it?

Apart from the rods all I assembled was a rig to fish shallow on the long pole for banded pellet & a meat rig at 5mt in close to 5ft of water were I set up a 4x14 chanti on 0.17-0.16 & a 16 PR478 Hook.

On the all-in I fed around 30 pieces of meat at 5mts as wanted to try & force it a bit on this line & just a couple of cubes off to my left at the same distance & started the day on a small cage feeder with pellets in to the island with paste wrapped around the pellet, I was the first to catch in are section but it wasn't an expected carp just a 1lb plus skimmer, I gave it nearly an hour whilst feeding hard 8mms over the top, Mike Had caught one carp but nobody else had in my section so decided to switch to the wagg with banded 8mm, I soon had a fish around 3lb expecting another straight away but the a bit wise to this' The next one I hooked put me in the snag" but I did eventually have another of 5lb Which I got right up over the snag by standing up as soon as it was hooked but getting a bite was proving hard work, Approaching the third hour I had had one more but wanted to try the pole line encase any better fish were around but 15mins later & no early signs I decided to give the conker' another try, I did hook a fish but it was after I fed & I think it was a fouler snapping my hooklength, Mike had added another fish but Bobby had just a skimmer & a decent eel but he managed to let it slip back" & Jamie & Ken appeared to be struggling, I had been pinging a few 6mm at 14mts but after the others had tried these lines without fish I was back  on the wagg.

It wasn't hectic & was proving hard work to feed & fish the distance with the wind not in are favour & my knuckles were getting well & truly wrapped" but it seemed I was the only one getting the odd carp in the section so stuck at it, With a couple of hours to go I seemed to be stuck on 30lb for ages before I had a better fish out of the blue pushing 8lb which helped to keep ahead of the section, I had kept dump potting meat on the 5mt line at regular intervals as well as feeding the other line lightly so gave them another go & at this stage nobody had caught on it but again it didn't happen.

With around an hour to go mike had netted a couple more carp but had lost a few, Bobby had borrowed a waggler rod off Jamie & caught one carp straight away then nothing & Jamie & ken were still struggling, It was hard work to get any indications on the wagg but I had caught a few late fish on it last match, Bobby was putting his faith in the meat on the short pole & it paid off with a fish nearly 18lb followed by another over 13lb minutes later" I did manage a three late fish to add another 11lb or so on the wagg in the last 30mins but bobby had managed to net a couple more 8lb plus fish so I new on the all-out it would be close between us for the section, When the scales arrived 116lb was winning the match with a 115lb weight on are bank further up the lake, Bobby had estimated on having 55-60lb but I didn't quite think I had that as some of my fish were small, He ended up with 68lb odd to my 61lb so just a decent fish in it for the section but fair play to him for having the faith in the meat line to produce, Well done mate, I fed mine to heavy from the off hence no fish of it but I just wanted to try it positively, lesson learnt Lol, I enjoyed the day & had to work hard to get the odd fish but it paid off in the end as Bobby ended up 3rd on the day meaning I picked up the section pools of £35. Winner on the day again was fishery owner Jamie Cook not on peg 40 this time but opposite on the other end peg 21" This man can draw! with 116lb on his favourite method & pellet wagg.

Back again in a few weeks for the fourth round, Out of it in the overall standings but still winning to fish for on the day which proves worthwhile. Forgot to mention the duck with her chicks, All nineteen of them" that must of been a job sitting on that lot!

Full results -

1st Jamie Cook (The Sedges) peg 21, 115lb 14oz.

2nd Mark Bellringer (The Sedges) peg 35, 114lb 2oz.

3rd Bob Gullit (Mosella UK) peg 38, 69lb 4oz.

4th Lee ( The Sedges) peg 26, 65lb 5oz.

5th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 39, 61lb 1oz.

6th Tom Magnul (Mosella UK) peg 29, 55lb 13oz.

Silvers -

1st Vic Bush (Mosella UK) peg 34, 17lb 11oz.

             

Maver S4 Z-Frame Double Cross Draw Seatbox For Sale.

After Purchasing a New Seatbox a few weeks ago I've been meaning to advertise my Maver Box.

This box has been well looked after & is in very good condition & the only reason I wanted to change is I found it just a tad to high to fish the long pole properly which is hardly surprising with my dumpy legs".

I took the time to make separations in the two cross draws to stop things moving around & the box comes with a decent sized unit under the lid,

    

It comes with another unit which fits into the frame above the seat box ideal for winder trays ect, as well as room for over twenty winders under the seat,

 

The only slight issues is the paint chip off the frame on the front you can see in the 3rd pic and the bottom part of the frame you can see here where it's been rubbing on my trolley', These boxes are still selling at the moment for £545.00 but I'm wiling to take £300, Its a box at the high end of the market which I was reluctant to change but needs must. you can contact me on 07967243456.

Shiplate Farm (Main Lake). Sunday.

Bit late with this one as I'm up at 3.30am for work most days at the moment & was shattered after yesterday (Not By Bagging") Lol, No fry-up this morning but I did make sure I ate this week' A sell out again with 20 fishing but conditions looked favourable with a slight wind blowing into the near bank, I've not seen much of this lake for a while after drawing peg 1 on my last four visits" Or should I say The Lovely Wife or Owner Carol have drawn it for me so with the wife working today it was down to Carol to do the honours again'.

It wasn't to be peg 1 this time around but peg 13a on the far bank just off the end of one of the islands but was a long chuck" Happy with the draw & a couple of weeks ago Andy France had a few here & caught some big fish down the edge so was hoping for a bit of the same? With the conditions near perfect on are side I fancied to catch a few on the long pole shallow failing this on the deck with paste" yep Paste! Don't do this often these days' so had a shallow rig for banded pellet & the rig for the deck with a size 12 hook' both to be used around 14mts, A decent rig' for down the edge in 2ft of water at 5mts between myself & Roy Ede on peg 13 but it was a bit tight sharing it' I also assembled the bomb rod & pellet wagg but decided to start the day fishing a small cage feeder with pellet & Conker on the hook (Paste moulded around pellet). I fed a good helping of 6mm pellet at 14mts then chucked the conker in the open water at around 30mts whilst pinging 6mms with the catty on the long pole line & feeding just the odd hard 8mm down my edge, I left the first cast in around 15mins without any liners so chucked slightly further towards the end of the island, Ten minutes later I had a slow pull round which kept going' I soon had a 5lb fish in the net but it came attached to some carpers' set up with a braid hooklength & a lead I would use to hold a keepnet down" What made it worse it wrapped around my small feeder & hook trashing it completely! Ho Hum another day spent tackling up hey"?? I was soon back out but nothing followed so had a quick look on the pellet wagg as a few fish seemed to be near the surface.

This didn't work' as soon as I pinged a few 8mms out the fish were gone" but I had confidence the shallow pole would be ready to plunder as I had been feeding it for an hour or so, Starting with a 6mm hair rigged hard pellet I expected indications straight away but it didn't happen I continued to ping a few & kept the slapping up" but my only sign was a 1lb skimmer'. I thought they just might be on the deck so out with paste on the hook & a bite in seconds saw another 1lb plus skimmer followed by another & another" before I started to see signs of carp nearer the surface, Back on the shallow rig I finally managed one near 7lb but that was it! What was even more frustrating was Kurt Pinkett on peg 14 had taken a couple shallow the same distance but had not fed a thing' I remember being on this swim last year & Russ peck caught shallow on peg 14 but on peg 14a Andy France & myself caught next to nothing" I went further out & to the right where I hadn't fed but still couldn't tempt any, Back on the deck I had a couple more skimmers before things went dead completely, I had a look down the edge after the first 90mins but decided to be positive after no early signs & dump potted bigger amounts of feed down the inside, With an hour to go I saw signs of fish & dropped in with a decent piece of paste, Gone!.

I just couldn't catch a carp" Roy next to me had a carp in the first ten minutes then spent the rest of the day struggling but Kurt had managed a few more late in the day, I did prick one late in the match shallow but that was it I just couldn't get a bite on any method. When the scales got to Kurt 37lb was winning before he finished with 55lb which was good on the day so well done to him, I ended with just two carp & 8lb of skimmers, Roy didn't weight & apart from John Hawkins on peg 12 who won the day with 74lb odd catching down to a tree with hard 8mm he had between himself & Glyn Wickham on peg 11 who chose to fish for silvers & won this with 31lb odd most of us struggled for fish today.

In hindsight I would of been better off fishing the wagg on the deck for silvers today as 15lb was 2nd but hindsight's a wonder thing, I just couldn't get my head around Kurt not feeding but had fish appear on & off through the match in numbers. Well done to those who managed a few & I'm back here next Sunday guesting for Shiplate V Clevedon A.A so hoping for a few next time around.

Full Results -

1st John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 12, 74lb 14oz.

2nd Kurt Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 14, 55lb 2oz.

3rd Pete Sivell (Frys) peg 8, 40lb 5oz.

4th Alan Healey (Frys) peg 15, 36lb 13oz.

5th  Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 11, 31lb 9oz.

6th Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 1, 26lb.

Silvers - 1st Glyn Wickham 31lb 9oz.

          

Avalon Fishery (Teams of Four) Final Round.

I was filling in again today although I'm not quite sure for whom" Lewis Jones offered to pick me up which was handy after a few bevey's yesterday, We stopped off for breakfast in burham which thankfully was ok today, We arrived in plenty of time & I soon got to draw, Peg 6 which thankfully meant the wind which was due to increase was off are backs but just so happened to be the peg I had in the last round I filled in" I caught a few on the bomb & bread that day didn't even had any this time around putting my faith in a total pellet approach, First up I had the bomb rod & waggler rod assembled although I would put most of my faith in the shallow waggler across to the island at 30mts or so. Apart from this I set up a 4x12 F1 pellet float up on 0.15-0.13 & a size 16 F1 pellet hook to fish on the deck in nearly 7ft of water at 14mts & a shallow slapping rig' to fish the same distance off to my right.

For company I had Fishery Owner & Mosella Boss Vic Bush on peg 7 but he was going to concentrate on targeting the lakes silvers, On the all-in I fed three balls of G/Bait at 14mts to my left with micro's & 4mm's added & just fed a few hard 6mms the same distance to my right, Starting on the pellet wagg which I had clipped up before the start to land as close to the island as possible so no issues here then..

Like F**K" First chuck & I Was in the branches of an overhanging tree off the island I hadn't taken into account" & yep I lost the lot! Ok then Ile just chuck the bomb to the island whilst I Re-assemble the wagg, I Hadn't clipped this up before hand as usually I'm not a bad shot, The problem was I had forgot my sun glasses & as I cast it caught me right in the eyes, I was waiting for the plop' but it didn't happen as I had only chucked straight into the island' & yet again Lost the lot..!" Not a bad start to the day then....

I managed to set them both back up quite quickly & was soon back on the wagg, I missed a couple of early indications but it was a slow start, I did manage a carp but by now we were an hour into the match' Vic had netted a few decent skimmers on the long pole but I hadn't seen much being caught, I had a ook over the G/bait with 4mm expander on the hook & did manage two skimmers around 7oz a piece but had to wait for the bites so was soon back on the wagg, I would like to say it was a hectic day but it wasn't, I tried the bomb over to the island a couple of times without so much as a liner, the 14mt line with G/bait didn't produce, I kept pinging a few hard 6mm's to my right which I tried a few times, On the first put-in I pricked' a decent fish but apart from one more bite here later in the day I never took a fish off it, I ended the day with five carp, all taken on the wagg with 8mm pellet as tight to the island as I could get, I did miss a few bites most of which came as soon as the float hit the water & I did lose two but they could of been foul hookers, When the scales arrived 31lb was winning my section, I weighed 29lb odd before Vic managed 32lb of silvers & one carp for 40lb. Back at the results & Luke Pester from corner peg 24 won the day with 116lb ahead of Tom Magnal with 98lb, Vic went on to win the silvers so by default I picked up 2nd place in the section worth £25 so a bonus their' The league was won by the Fu Fighter team so well done to them picking up £300 between then which included the individual winner being Luke Pester so a big well done to him, Sorry again for no pic's as I remembered the camera but not the Sim card & it wouldn't allow me add photos" Off to Shiplate Farm tomorrow on the main lake for there sold out match & I couldn't possibly be on peg 1 for the fifth time in a row.. Could I ??. 

Full Results -

1st Luke Pester (Fu Fighters) peg 24, 116lb.

2nd Tom Magnal (Mosella UK) peg 27, 98lb.

3rd Paul Warton (Thyers) peg 48, 68lb.

Silvers -  1st Vic Bush (Mosella UK) peg 7, 32lb.

Overall Teams

1st Fu Fighters

2nd The Sedges

3rd Thyers.            

Acorn Fishery Friday Open. (Paddock Lake).

I was looking forward to this as well as the long bank holiday weekend, For the first of three matches over the Easter period I was off to Acorn for this open which had sold out but with a couple of no shows their was still 27 of us fishing, I prefer it when their are more than normal fishing as the weights although lower tend to be closer with the fish not having as much room to back off, I estimated between 60-80lb would win with closer back up weights so we would see?.

Into the draw & I found myself on peg 12 which was in the end corner & I only had to reverse the van round the bend, Ideal' happy with this draw as I had plenty of room across & down my right edge with the next guy being on peg 10,

when I arrived it was obvious their were some fish swirling across on the far bank but unfortunately their were around the point of the island towards the next guy but hopefully I would be able to draw a few fish around my side.

Two rigs for fishing across at 14mts tight to the far bank both being 0.1g floats on 0.15-0.13, One with a hair rig band for hard pellet & one for soft pellet, A rig to fish in 3ft of water down the edge at 10mts being a 4x12 chanti on the same line with a size 16 new guru hook, A rig to fish on my top two plus two again down my right edge in slightly shallower water & finally a swinging' rig to fish shallow anywhere.

I started the day potting some 6mm's in one area further along on far bank to my left & started the day on the point of the island in just over 12inches of water with 4mm expander feeding some hard 4mms over the top with the catty, This didn't work' I started to get signs of fish in the swim but they weren't keen on the pellets raining on them' I did try even shallower tight to the bank but just one foul hooker which I did get in was all I could temp at this stage, I had a try on the other far line with banded 6mm which caught me a fish, A 8oz goldfish". what carp were present didn't seem keen to settle at this stage, I managed another off the point cad potting some hard 4mms with a 6mm expander on the hook but after a couple of hours only had a couple of fish.

I had been pinging the odd 6mm down to the tree overhanging the lake at 13mts & at 10mts in the open water, The wind had turned slightly blowing at me from peg 10 & I saw a fish roll on the 10mt line so went in with banded pellet on the swinger rig set around a 1ft deep, Straight under! a fish of 5lb was netted & I thought this was going to be it but no more off this line' I went further & closer to the tree & again had another fish straight away then nothing, It seemed to be as soon as you had a fish they just moved off not really interested at this stage.

I couldn't see much being caught although the chap I didn't know on island peg 5 seemed to be doing well & Glen Calvert on peg 9 had netted a few, Time soon disappeared & before I knew it we only had a couple of hours left, I know from experience the carp on this lake can switch on going into the last couple hour so decided to start dump potting bait tight to the far bank in the hope of getting a few in the swim grubbing around,

After 30mins of trying the inside lines & the swinging rig again with success I started to see fish tight over where I had fed.

I went in with 6mm expander in around 10inches of water & it shot under" I had another as soon as I went back in then nothing so fed another larger amount & left it, I managed another on the other further line along the bank cad potting some 6mms & eventually started to get the odd indication of fish down the edge on the short line. I spend the last 60mins pinching the odd fish over towards the point & managed a couple down the edge again on 6mm expander over hard 6mms, It seemed a few other caught a few late fish but I didn't know how the rest of the lake had fished? I estimated to have between 45-50lb but we would see?.

Only one set of scales today & all the kit was back in the van before they even started so I went around to the early pegs to see the start of the weigh-in Starting with Brian (Anteater) Slipper on peg 1 who finished with 51lb odd before the chap on peg 5 who had been catching well all day, Un-fortunately their was a strict 70lb net limited & he was slightly over with 74lb so this net didn't count & he finished with 26lb odd, He would of easily had enough to win the day & I did feel for him as he doesn't normally fish matches but we all have to follow the rules. Back to the weigh-in & their were a couple of 40b weights before Glen Calvert on peg 9 took the lead with 64lb odd, The guy on peg 10 weighed 48lb with some better fish down his edge before I finished with 55lb odd, A couple more 40lb weights before Kev Hewitt pushed Glen close with 62lb from peg 34 next to the bridge. It was a tight match as expected come the end, With glen winning the day but I was fortunate to pick up 3rd overall collecting £60, an Easter Egg' & a small Trophy" The top silvers went to Mark Bartlett from peg 19 with 9lb odd. A good day all round & well done to Rob Fogg & Mark Bartlett for running it.

Full Results - 

1st Glen Calvert, (Sensas Thyers) peg 9, 64lb 10oz.

2nd Kev Hewitt (Acorn) peg 34, 62lb 15oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 12, 55lb.

4th Brian Slipper (Sensas Thyers) peg 1, 51lb 9oz.

5th Jamie Amier (Acorn) peg 10, 47lb 14oz.

6th Mark Bartlett (Matrix) peg 19, 46lb 7oz.

Silvers - 1st Mark Bartlett peg 19, 9lb 5oz.

              

Shiplate Farm Fishery (Main Lake).

The short trip back to Shiplate for their latest open match which was a sell out capped at eighteen, The lovely wife Yvonne made as some breakfast today before accompanying me to the Fishery for the draw, She has been a dab hand of late so put her forward to do the honours again today, She was close to the front & I don't know who was more shocked when I opened peg 1' Four matches on the trot now I've been fortunate enough to end up here & after winning the last three from it so no reason why I wouldn't have a few today?,

 

 

Quite simple as far as setting up went, A rig to fish shallow on the pole, A rig to fish just over the edge of the bank in 3ft of water where I caught a few last match

& a pellet waggler & bomb rod to fish into the bay area, Whilst we were setting up I noticed a load of fish further across towards John Dursley on peg 15 the top of the lake which were following the breeze but to far across for me to cast to without approaching John's swim.

I began the day cupping in some corn & 6mm pellet down the edge & started on the waggler down into the bay set at dead depth which wasn't much more than 3ft, I missed a bite on hard 8mm pellet then had a small skimmer & a small Tench but no Carp, I had been feeding 6mm's at 14mts in the open water so after 45mins gave this a try, I did miss a couple of bites which I put down to small fish then foul hooked & lost a carp but that was it. over an hour gone I decided to have a chuck on the bomb with a wafter on the hook on the same line I was trying the wagg, I had a drop back which I missed but next chuck finally I had a carp around 5lb, Nothing followed so after another 15min went back shallow on the long pole.

I had a fish around 6lb but just as it seemed I would begin to catch shallow the wind did a complete U-turn & now the wind was straight at me making it nearly impossible to keep slapping the rig without the line going around the end of the pole" Arrrr! After a couple of hours  I decided to have a look down the edge starting with banded 8mm pellet, After a minute or so I spooked a decent fish when lifting the rig slightly, & it seemed they were off the deck here as well, I tried shallow but couldn't get that to work, So decided to start dump potting some 6 & 8mm pellets in to try & get some fish to feed on the deck, I had another on the bomb further out & missed a bite on the shallow wagg but as soon as you fed near some fish they would disappear' I struggled for the next couple of hours, Shallow on the long pole was now a No No' I did take a couple of fish by reeling the bomb back onto my edge line which nearly ripped the rod in being only around 15ft away" I could see Steve Peanut Howell catching shallow on the opposite bank & Andy |France appeared to be having a few next to him but I hadn't seen john have many ooposite me on end peg 15, The last couple of hours were a bit better as I managed a few more on the bomb including a lovely white & orange mirror around 3lb & finally got a few fish to get their heads down on the inside pole line catching on hard 8mm pellet, By the all-out I though I might have 50-60lb but things had been harder than I expected, When the wind turned are way it went a lot colder which I think pushed a few fish down but it was a bit of a strange day trying to get them to have a go.

Back at the results & Russ Pecker kept up his resent good form winning the day with 101lb off peg 4 catching the bulk of his weight shallow on the long pole so well done again, Resident Peanut Howelly came second from peg 13 with 92lb & Andy France finished with 71lb to pinch 3rd place in the money just edging me out with 68lb, On the silvers front Alvin Jones paying his first visit to the venue took 27lb of small skimmers from peg 2, Quite & enjoyable weekends fishing In the tropical weather we've had over the weekend & I made sure my knee's were well & truly covered today as their still glowing"

Full results -

1st Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 4, 101lb 13oz.

2nd Steve Howell (Shiplate Farm) peg 14, 92lb 1oz.

3rd Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 13A, 71lb 13oz.

4th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 1, 68lb 6oz.

5th Lee Philips (Un-known) peg 11, 46lb 2oz.

6th Kurtis Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 12,45lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Alvin Jones (County Gardens) peg 2, 27lb 12oz.

2nd Ron Stark (Weston) peg 13, 17lb 8oz.  

              

 Sedges Fishery (Guru Series) Round 2, Tile Lake.

Back for the second round of this twenty peg series of six matches with the worst result dropped, I didn't have the best of starts even though I was sixth on the day I had three of the top anglers in the main frame in my section so was hoping for a better second round' I stopped off for a bacon sarnie on route & arrived in plenty of time, I had a wander around before the start & it appeared their were a few fish present in a few areas with plenty of bubbles' Close to the front of the draw I ended up on peg 30 which was the top end of the lake in the far corner between the canal lake, Being a corner peg I had no island chuck today but Dave White had won the section in first round fishing the long pole to the end bank & with the wind blowing at us I did fancy catching a few their.

I had a rig to fish close to the stick-ups in 3ft or so of water on 0.17-0.15 & an 16 PR478 Hook, Had a rig to fish meat in the deep water on my top-kit plus two sections & apart from this I had a rig set up to fish shallow with banded pellet, The normal straight lead & a pellet waggler. I had Tom Magnal next to me on peg 29 who did have an island chuck & I new he would also fish the method off his peg. I started by feeding a good amount of hard 4mm's at 13mts to the end bank & a few hard 6mm's at 16mts, By the time I had done this Dave Romaine opposite me of peg 31 was already playing a carp on the shallow wag chucking towards the rope in the middle of the lake, The first problem I had as I couldn't chuck as far this side of it as the breeze was coming across into are bank, I had a tree overhanging at around 30mts so started here hoping for some early fish. Nope" I did miss four bites' but before I new it an hour had passed & I was yet to catch, Tom had a couple of fish on the wagg to the island but had switched to the method & had netted a couple more, Dave opposite had netted a few but I just couldn't get it to happen.

It was time to try the pole down to the end bank, I went in at 16mts with banded 8mm pellet, Nothing.. onto the 13mt line, One skimmer just over a 1lb, not what I was hoping, I had been feeding meat lightly on the short pole line & decided to have a look, Well that was until I realised the meat I had been feeding was floating' I got it out the freezer yesterday being lazy but now I couldn't use it" Whoops. I had another go on the wagg where I had been pinging 8mms but couldn't get a bite, With nearly two hours gone things weren't looking good, I decided to try the bomb over the wagg line with a 6mm wafter on the hook, I just happened to look away after 5mins as the rod flew round but it was to late & snapped my 7lb hook-length" Next chuck I had to wait ten minutes but it went again this time I netted a near 10lb fish, At Last". I had a smaller 3lb fish before it went quite, A look on the pole again only produced another skimmer so I decided to try the wagg again I thought I had sussed it & they had turned up after catching two on the trot but then couldn't get a bite.

Dave had switched to fishing the pole & was sacking catching shallow but I tried & failed with this aswell' I was struggling to get anything & with just a couple of hours to go Had nearly given up hope before I started to get the odd indication on the pellet wagg again, I managed the odd fish but going into the last hour I had a run of five fish in as many casts before they disappeared again, I tried the bomb back over the same line but nothing & another try on the long pole down the end bank gave me a skimmer over 2lb which came off'.

The last 20mins were hard as I missed just one bite, I had Tom down as are section winner for close to a 100lb &, Mark Wynn was first to weigh & finished with 85lb odd, Dave white had 41lb, Dave Cocaine didn't weight, Tom finished with 98lb & Surprisingly I ended up with 77lb odd so wasn't far away come the end after all, I'm sure I would off nicked a few more if I could of cast a bit further towards the rope but was really surprized I didn't catch to the end bank on the pole, There was a bit of an algae bloom down my edge for most of the day so don't know if this had made a difference? Back at the results & Dave had emptied it breaking the lake record with 311lb odd" A back braking days fishing so fair play mate & well done, The weights dropped off from this though as fishery owner Jamie Cook was second on the day with 102lb from end peg 40, The same draw he had in the first round" Jammy Git Lol, Another mistake I made today was to fish in my shorts for the first time this year, Because of the breeze I hadn't noticed just how hot it was, Trust me my now glowing knee caps tell the story!

Forgot the camera today so unfortunately couldn't get a pick of Dave or of my swim ect,

Full Results -

 1st Dave Romine (Frenzee) peg 31, 311lb 15oz.

2nd Jamie Cook (Sedges) peg 40, 102lb 7oz.

3rd Tom Magnel (Mosella UK) peg 29, 98lb 11oz.

4th Martin Bellringer (Sedges) peg 33, 96lb 10oz.

5th Mark Wynne (Colmic) peg 26, 85lb 2oz.

6th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 30, 77lb 7oz.

Silvers -

 1st Bob Gullick (Mosella UK) peg 25, 10lb 8oz. 

 

 

           

Shiplate Farm (Hawthorns Lake) Sunday.

Staying local again today, I arrived in plenty of time as had to drop the wife to work so both skipped breakfast as she gets hers there, It looked like being a pleasant day with the sun already showing & no wind to contend with, I decided to let Carol draw for me again today as she's been a demon hand for me of late but wrote a peg I fancied drawing on my palm but didn't let anyone see, Into the draw & Peanut' Howell got her to grab one at the last minute she had two stuck together so handed him one an me the other, I opened mine to find my usual home here peg 3" & Peanut had peg 9, What did I have wrote on my hand? Yep peg 9..... Unreal!.

I'm not a lover off this draw as I just don't seem to catch much from it unless the water has warmed right up & the last couple of times have resorted to silvers to pick up some coin, I was actually close by on peg 4 last time & managed 2nd with 56lb odd fishing hard pellet or maggot on the hook over hard 6mm's fed with the catty to the far bank so opted for the same approach, Two rigs to fish on the deck & shallow tight over & a rig for the deeper water but I couldn't seem to find a flat spot anywhere as it sloped off quite quick so opted to find something close to 3ft or so. I knew the edges were deep so had a couple of rigs set to fish between a 1ft-3ft as with it being warm expected the fish to be up in the warmer layers.

Russ Pecker had drawn end peg 1 & their looked to be a few present when I walked a few swims before the draw so fancied he would do well, & peanut of course after getting my chosen haunt.."

I started the day tight over with maggot on the hook feeding around twenty 6mms with the catty, I hooked a fish after five minutes but it was in the ass & we parted company' I switched to hard pellet after a couple of roach but already things didn't seem right, I started a new line further along the bank cutting down on the feed, I had one fish before hooking another fouler so nothing to it fish shallower' Nope no joy their, I had noticed Russ had started to get a few slapping a shallow rig so gave this a go but if anything it made things worse, I had been feeding the odd bit of meat down my edges & notice a fish swirl, Straight in with the rig set a 1ft deep I had a 6lb fish straight away but nothing followed, I was sharing my other inside & didn't see fish here so back across where I had continued to feed, One fish then nothing again, I didn't really have the room to try slapping different parts of the swim which by now Russ was doing really well on & it appeared myself & a few above me were struggling, I kept trying different baits ect across but nothing was happening, The deeper rig did produce a couple of 6oz skimmers but I was going nowhere, In four hours of trying it decided to give up with the carp as Russ was bagging so decided to chance trying to catch some silvers although I knew a couple of guys had been fishing for them from the off, I fed ball of micros on the 3ft deep line & A ball of fishmeal groundbait I made up in my large cup quite damp before cupping it in another line at the same distance to the right of me, & dumped a large pot of micros at 6mts in 6ft of water before getting a rig out to fish over it, I went straight in & had a 1lb skimmer then couldn't but a bite, I managed a few more 6-8oz skimmers on the longer lines & a couple of carp" all on 4mm expanders, I lost a fish just over a 1lb right at the depth but expected their to be better weights on the day estimating I had around 6lb come the end, I did have a couple of dobs down the edge with the shallow rig as I continued to feed it & couldn't resist the swirls now & again but landed two & lost two but wasn't going to catch up with Russ who had kept them coming all day. When the scales arrived Peanut was winning the carp with 69lb' & the best silvers weigh was 9lb I wasn't going to match that but did end up with 6lb odd but their was an 8lb weight so missed the coin again today, My fault really as I tried to tempt carp for two long which didn't seem to be here in numbers to begin with, Choosing to give myself just two hours on the silvers wasn't enough as I'm sure I would of caught more, A big well done to Russ, Their was a few fish their but you still have to catch them & I watched him fish a tidy match to finish with 143lb odd to cap a good weekend with a second yesterday,

Winner Russ Peck.

 

The silvers was won by Roy Ede with 9lb.

It turned out to be a warm day & I made a big mistake by only having a flask all day & skipping food so wont be doing that again as felt really de-hydrated come the end so was soon home for some grub"

Full Results -

1st Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 1, 143lb 10oz.

2nd Steve (Peanut) Howell (Shiplate Farm) Peg 9!", 69lb.

3rd Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 52lb.

4th Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 5, 46lb 10oz.

5th Roy Ede (Shiplate Farm) peg 6 29lb.

6th Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 3, 28lb 14oz.

Silvers -

1st Roy Ede, 9lb 4oz.

2nd John Bradford, peg 10.

           

Landsend Fishery Saturday Open (Match Lake).

After having the laptop re-booted hopefully I can get through these blogs without it crashing on me" Saturday saw me take another trip to Landsend fishery, I don't get a chance to go here often but after last weeks match fancied giving it another try, I didn't fancy a full fry-up when I arrived but did manage half of a bacon sarnie' Only 11 of us but at least we would be spread out? Into the draw & out comes peg 22, Arriving at my peg I had Venue expert Rod Wotton on peg 24 in the corner which was my home last week so the pallet between us I would leave to him & planned to fish to peg 21, That was until turned up on it! I wasn't expecting the three of us to be within the four pegs seeing their was only the 11 of us but nowt we could do now.. At least I had the island to concentrate on so set up two rigs, One tight over in 18'inches of water & another slightly off the bank in the deeper water,

I had a rig to fish my top-kit plus two sections in the open water & did have a rig set up to fish towards the pallet between Rod & Myself but kept my side of it a couple of feet.

 You can see Rod Smiling".

 I decided to start short on meat just feeding a few over the top, After 5mins I had a positive bite & thought the fish was foul hooked but when I got it in it wasn't but did go at least 8lb" Good Start! I gave it another 20mins but with just two small roach it was time to try across where I had been feeding a few 6mm's with the catty, I foul hooked two on the trot so went even shallower but that didn't work & after 20mins the fish seemed to have disappeared" I tried further along the bank to my left & off the point but it wasn't happening, Rod had a couple of early carp off the end back & had started to catch the odd silver over his micro's but I hadn't set out for them' I tried off the bank in the deeper water & managed a couple of F1's but that didn't last, It was a hard day for me, I had the odd carp but I just couldn't get them to feed across, I managed some late silvers & a couple of carp short on the meat late but on new fed lines but Matt Tommes on peg 19 had been picking off fish all day & had over 100lb, When the scales got to Matt Russ Pecker was leading the way with 97lb but Matt took the spoils with 114lb so well done to Him, I ended the day with a total of 48lb which wasn't going to get me any coin today but a weight of 64lb made the frame so a few more would of done, I did lose a couple but most were foul hooked I think but then I thought the first fish was" Lol, I expected to much to day before I started & I think my feeding across was a bit to much from the off but this end has been harder than the other end on recent results so who knows, Rod did well making the choice to have a silvers line which perhaps I should of done but I would have a hard job as I didn't take any" As he took 25lb of mainly skimmers as well as 40lb of carp. At least the rain held off & we were out of the wind'

Winner Matt Tommes.

Full Results -

1st Matt Tommes  (Matt Tommes Roofing) Peg 19, 114lb 3oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 11, 97lb 9oz.

3rd Dereck Beard (The Sedges) peg 17, 73lb 10oz.

Silvers -

Rod Wotton (Clevedon A.A) peg 24, 25lb.