Viaduct Fishery Open (Cambell, Cary & Lodge Lake.

It was still raining when I woke this morning & I was hoping it would clear up as I didn't fancy another day like yesterday getting totally soaked" I arrived in plenty of time & it was still doing its best to dampen are sprits but eased off before draw time, A good turn out today with 42 fishing so the match would be spread over the three lakes, I let a fair few go before me today before taking my turn. I ended up with peg 94 on Cary, In the top corner with the wind blowing from the north west, Smack in my face" I didn't really fancy it for carp but can be a good area for silvers so based my day around this, Just two rigs, A 4x14 wire wonder on 0.13-0.10 & a 16 F1 pellet hook & A lighter 0.2g AS2 float on the same line with an 18 F1 pellet hook, I plumbed two lines one at 13mts to the left & 12mts straight out which was slightly shallower by around 6inches but I still had around 4ft or so of water, I also plumed a line around 8mts which I could just feed by hand, I didn't plan to use anything except pellets on the hook, Expanders & hard 4/6mms over G/bait, Hard 4mms & some Micros.

Opposite me I had James Coops" Cooper over on peg 90 but by the look of things he was going to try for carp? & Phil Hardwick on peg 88 who was bound to do the same, I started the day feeding three balls at 13mts to the left with some hard 4mms added, Just one ball on the 12mt line with same & a few micros & a small amount of 4mms & micros on the 8mt line, I had assembled the bomb rod just to have a look at the start so hair rig an 8mm pellet & cast to the end bank feeding a couple of the same over the top, Ten minutes in & I had a drop back which resulted in a carp' All 1lb of it! I gave it another 20mins but with no signs it was time to get my head down to try & catch silvers.

I started at 12mts & had a couple of small skimmers but bites were slow, We had had a bit of rain at the start & the pole was bloody freezing in my hands, onto the 13mt line & again a couple of quick small skimmers & one around 10oz on expander, I switched to hard banded pellet but bites were really iffy & I wasn't putting anything in the net, Back to soft pellet on the hook & I had a few more at 12mts when I fed a few hard 4mms over the top with the catty but they seemed to back off, I wasn't getting very far & felt I had wasted nearly an hour trying to catch on the longer lines. I had a quick look short earlier but it didn't produce so kept feeding it by hand & it was time to give it another go.

I soon started to get bites, Only small skimmers between 3-6oz but it was a lot quicker than trying to do it at 13mts for similar size fish, I re-fed these lines just for when the shorter line faded, I had to keep changing depth from dead depth to a few inches on the deck, I switched to the heavier rig with a double bulk which seemed to work best, I found it best to feed a small ball of G/bait to pin a few fish to the deck each time I felt the were coming off the deck, It wasn't hectic but at least I was putting fish in the net & it was quite enjoyable' I had another couple of looks on the long lines when bites died off but just couldn't catch here. I decided to feed some lose micros off to my left at 8mts & leave it for a while, James had been trying for carp but had switched to silvers & was catching the odd fish but didn't know how the noted silvers pegs on Lodge lake were fishing as usually some good weights come from here.

I kept pugging away adding the odd net size skimmer, I had a look over the new 8mts fed line after 30mins but didn't get any indications so soon back to the original line, Catching a few then topping up after every few fish or when the smaller samples were present, I spent most of the day here but with an hour to go dropped back in were I had fed the micros, I was just about to give up when I had a proper lift bite' The result was a 2lb pus skimmer" Sadly no more followed so fed another small amount & went straight back over it, I had a run of around six fish to 10oz before they backed off again, I spent the last 40mins switching between the two short lines adding the odd fish right up to the all out.

I hadn't a clue what I had weight wise come the end but thought around 20lb' When the scales arrived the best silvers weights I had heard off on Lodge was Steve Jackson with 22lb odd, I was surprized to finish with 27lb exactly which was a hectic but enjoyable days fishing, Back at the results & Roland Lucas won the day from peg 102 on Cary with 123lb odd of carp on the bomb & 8mm pellet ahead of Tony Gilbert from peg 127 of Cambell, It was close in the silvers & Phil Cardwell just nicked it from me by 5oz" from peg 116 of Cambell but at least I picked up £50 along the way, Just the tonic after yesterdays disappointment", That's the great thing about this venue , If you don't draw on some carp theirs always the silvers to target.  Well done to the winners today, Off to Shiplate Farm Main Lake tomorrow for there sell out match, Pegs 1 or 15 would be idea but options open depending where I end up? Owe & a big well done to team mate Craig (Trig) Edmunds who has shown his class yet again to win the Todber Manor winners Final Today". 

Full Results -

1st Roland Lucas (Wiltshire Angling) peg 102 Cary, 123lb 6oz.

2nd Tony Gilbert (P.I.Thatchers) peg 127 Cambell, 115lb 9oz.

3rd Clint Wojtyla (Future Networks) peg 129 Cambell, 88lb 12oz.

4th Tony (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 114 Cambell, 78lb 13oz.

5th Chris Fox (Maesknoll Angling) peg 97 Cary, 76lb 15oz.

6th Adrian Jefferies (Avon Angling) peg 112, 75lb.

Silvers -

1st Phil Cardwell (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 116 Cambell, 27lb 5oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Mosella) peg 94 Cary, 27lb.

3rd Benn Hagg (Guru/Dynamite Baits) peg 119 Cambell, 25lb 14oz.

 

 

              

Summerhayes Fishery Silvers Final (Longs Lake).

I arrived in plenty of time after picking up teaboy Aide on the way, it looked perfect with no wind but the evidence of an over night froze & the forecast for a day of rain would surely make things difficult as far as the fishing goes? Only Eleven of us But not bad payouts as far as the top five went but the bonus peg monies which had accumulated wouldn't be added to the payouts as stated for some reason, Apparently it was last year so why not this time??.

Jeff Sparks was running the show & Chatting to John Fudge before the draw I told him I fancied peg 35, The next thing you know it was draw as todays 'ON Running' Bonus peg". The draw format was done on who qualified first, back to John Who Qualified last week, I was around the 5th to draw & it was still in there, Not for me though as I ended up on peg 12, Quite happy with the draw as a few fish were caught here last week & I had plenty of room as we all did, I joked with John with him last to have a peg he would probably end up on it' And he did!" I would have my money on him to do well as there seemed to be some decent skimmers up here last week & that's what would make the difference today.

I set up two 0.2 pencil floats on 0.13-0.10 one with a PR412 hook for maggot & the other an 18F1 pellet hook for expanders, The depth was pretty uniform around 4ft which was a bit less than I had over the far side last week, I had Jeff next to me on peg 11 & Rodger Russell around from me on peg 15 which was side on towards me, On the all-in I fed a nugget of micros at 7mts with a couple of dead reds, A ball of G/bait/Micros to my right at 13mts & a ball of a different mix the same distance to my right with a few pinkees & dead reds added. I started on the short line with a single maggot just looking for a quick bite, 15mins on this line without a sign even when trying soft pellet on the hook, Onto the left hand line with 2mm expander on the hook to start with but not a sign, Onto the other 13mts line with maggot & pinkee & nothing here! One hour gone & not a sign, Owe dear" I had already seen some fish being caught on the road bank at the top end as I expected, & Jeff next to me had a couple of small skimmers & a bonus 1lb tench.

Things weren't looking good, I kept switching lines & even tried starting a couple of new lines fed a bit differently but I just could not get a bite.." I didn't give up though & after hooking & landing a carp after two hours I went back in the same place at 13mts & had a 3oz skimmer in the fin! Two hours gone & my first fish in the net' The next hour wasn't much better as I added another two small skimmers & a tiny roach. I could not get a sniff on soft pellet, 2mm or 4mm' I decided to stick to maggot on the hook cad-potting small nuggets of F1 G/bait over the top, Eventually I started to get signs of fish but unfortunately most were carp but did have a better 12oz skimmer in between, It hadn't stopped raining since we started & nearly everything was soaked, My hands were freezing & I was having a job to concentrate at times, By 2pm I had had enough, I was just about to call it a day when I hooked what I thought was another carp & shipped straight back but it was a skimmer over 1lb". If I could manage another nine of these in the last 90mins or so I was sure it wouldn't be far off the pace so head back down again then! I would like to say this happened but it wasn't to be, I did manage a couple more skimmers to 12oz & a few more small fish all on either dead of live red maggot but still no signs on my other pellet' lines. I was glad to here the whistle as I couldn't wait to get warmed up" Jeff Had struggled for the rest of the match but hadn't seen me sneak a couple of skimmers so didn't think I had much & Rodger had called it a day with over an hour to go. When the scales arrived John did well on the bonus" peg to finish with 15lb odd with a few 10lb weights below him, Jamie Parkhouse below the motorway was admitting to 12lb but weight 8lb odd" my turn & I finished with 5lb odd which was a result considering the first few hours' & Jeff ended up with 3lb, Back at the results & John Had easily won the day catching on expander mainly & had a couple of good skimmers to 3lb, He picked up £90 on the day for the win but the added bonus of £94 from the bonus peg! so well done John, It was close for the back up weights with ounces separating the framers. Had a disappointing day, Fully expected this to be right up my street but unfortunately it seemed I just wasn't in the right area on the day as the three of us struggled for any bites, That's fishing though so hopefully the next few days improve for me"

Full results -

1st John Fudge (Sedges) peg 35, 15lb 3oz. £90 plus bonus peg £94.

2nd Roy Hudges (Summerhayes) peg 8, 10lb 12oz. £70.

3rd Dan Pither (Royal Marines) peg 33, 10lb 11oz. £50.

4th Bill Hopping (Summerhayes) peg 38, 10lb 8oz. £40.

5th Martin Addicott (Summerhayes) peg 27, 9lb 3oz. £30.           

Shiplate Farm (Westpool Lake).

I heard this week Glyn Wickham Was Running an open match on Westpool Lake so thought I would finish my stint of four days on my doorstep so the wife could join me for company for a change later in the day, When I booked in there were already twelve but a few dropped out leaving just nine of us, I was hoping to avoid the narrows as I always seem to draw here, I even walked my kit past them before the draw" We all drew out of a hat before the start & I found myself on peg 5 at the end of the narrows but with an empty peg either side I fancied it for a few, Nope. Re-Draw as we were a peg short' Glyn Asked me were would be best to add so I said another in the wider water thinking at least we would all have at least an empty peg? back in the hat & I drew peg 10 so at least I was in the wide's this time, But admit I wasn't best pleased to be between pegs 9 & 11 with everyone having at least an empty peg either side if not both" I went to my swim sulking a bit as felt as I was at a real disadvantage as far as fishing the margins went but still had a fair bit of water to play with so soon got my head around it..

It was nearly 16mts across so set a rig to try a bit of dobbing again to start with being a 0,2g float on 0.15-0.13 & an 16 F1 pellet hook, It was around 2ft plus tight across so set the rig to start just off the deck to start the day, Next up was a 0.3g AS3 to fish at 14mts at the bottom of the first shelf in 4ft or so of water on 0.15-0.11 & an 18F1 pellet hook, & finally a 4x12 chanti on the same line with a 16 hook to fish down the track at 9mts in nearly 5ft of water, I had Terry Taylor next to me on peg 9 who had had a few visits with me to the venue through the colder months so was well up for it after doing ok here last time.

At the start I fed a ball of G/bait & dead reds at 13mts to my right slightly" just as a silvers line if needed, And a ball of micros & some 4mms at 13mts slightly" to my left. I decided to have a quick look along the far bank on bread to start without feeding anywhere, I missed a bite quite quickly but after 10mins had a carp around 4lb I missed another bite before landing a 2lb fish in the fin" I tried shallowing up but still foul hooked & lost two more' After 40mins I knew things weren't right. I went across with 4mm expander feeding a small amount of wetted micros with the cad pot, Big mistake! the next 40mins saw me land two small 1lb carp a couple of roach & foul hook and lose another five carp".

Back to the drawing board' I decided to give the far bank a rest & try the 13mt lines, starting over the micro line again with expander on the hook, I had a 10oz skimmer straight off then nothing so over the G/Bait line with two dead reds, Another skimmer here but again nothing followed. This hour was proving a bit non productive , I tried down the track were I had fed corn but nothing here.

There were a few fish showing then self's a few feet of the bank so tried shallow for a while but again only another lost foul hooker, I decided to go back across tight to the far bank with banded 6mm pellet feeding a few of the same via a cad pot, This seemed to work & by mid match I thought I was close to 30lb or so, Not big carp with most averaging around 2-3lb but at least it was fish going in the net, Terry was yet to catch & Geoff Francis next to me on peg 11 had one carp from his edge line but I couldn't see how others were doing?. Things seemed to be ticking over nicely until a chap from the main lake match decided to have a wander past me then back, And back again, he wasn't quiet which I new wouldn't help & yep it killed it dead!.

It gave my time to try my other lines but just a couple of roach & another skimmer were added which came down the track on corn. I went back across when it had settled again & caught the odd fish but it wasn't the same, Someone else followed suit in the next hour so even had an attempt to catch down the edge but it didn't work" Geoff was now catching to his left edge & as I thought most seemed to be hooking a few later in the day down the edge with a bit of room, I had to keep my faith in catching a few late across which I did manage but again smaller stamp but did add a couple of 4lb fish at the bottom of the shelf late in the match. Come the all out I thought I had around 60-70lb but hadn't used my clicker so a pure guess' When the scales arrived Mike Nicholls was leading the way from peg 13 with 54lb odd, Geoff caught some better fish down his left edge to finish with 43lb odd, Before my turn, I wasn't far off as I finished with 61lb odd, This was enough to make it two wins in as many days picking up £48 along the way. Silvers went to Ray Wickham from peg 3 with 14lb odd mainly on the caster, Another enjoyable day once I got my head around it, with the guys walking the far bank didn't help but at least I had good day trying to work out what was best. Hard work at times fishing tight over at 16mts but my margins were only the length of my top-kit so didn't have much chance from here so stuck to catching what I could across. An enjoyable four days at four venues which has proved worth while, Mike Nichols has kindly put some pics on his blog, Haven't been keen to take mine as I took it on the last round of the Viaduct Winter league & that didn't work out well! Every time I seemed to take it I caught nowt really & things have improved again so it can stay at home for the time being"!. Looking forward to Fridays Silvers final At Summerhayes, Don't expect the weights to be high with the forecast for colder weather again but it should work for a close out come so we will see?

Full Results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 10, 61lb 4oz.

2nd Mike Nicholls (Silverfox) peg 13, 54lb 10oz.

3rd Geoff Francis (Bristol) peg 12, 43lb 13oz.

Silvers -

1st Ray Wickham (Tom Thick Baits) peg 3, 14lb 7oz.                  

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open. (Paddock Lake)

I decided to take a trip back to Acorn even though it was tough going through the winter series I was hoping thing had improved a bit' These Saturday matches are run by the on-site tackle shop Cadbury Angling starting a couple of weeks ago held every other week, There are another three planned which dates I will add later, Owe & the entry fee includes the choice of either a pint of maggots or a kilo of fishery pellets which is a good incentive. Twelve of us fishing today with a couple of new faces which is good to see, Mark Walsh organised the pegging & decided to leave the island swims out altogether, I just hoped I could avoid cyanide straight having draw here the last three matches" I let a few go before me before my turn for a ping pong ball' Yep just as I expected, on the straight again peg 17 which I had in the winter series & struggled for 16lb odd! The lake had a tinge more colour so was optimistic but when I saw Walshy on the same peg he had in the last two rounds I thought the writing would be on the wall, They were paying out the top two plus silvers today so at least I had a chance to target them if need be.

I got caught out last match at the start as a few still caught on bread early so first up was a rig to dob across in the shallower water which went from 14mts to 15mts where there was a bit of cover over, I set up a 4x10 float on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 F1 pellet hook rig to fish just off the far bank but was still shallow around 2ft, A 0.3g AS3 float on the same line/hook to fish the slightly deeper water at 13mts around 4ft & finally a 4x12 Chanti on 0.15-0.12 to fish down the edge in-front the next pallet but fished around a metre out from the bank again in around 4ft of water.

On the all-in I fed a nugget of micros & some dead red maggot at 13mts to my right & some hard 4mms & a few same size expanders the same distance to my left, I started on the dobbing rig with bread straight infront at 14mts to start with, I worked my way along the bank towards the slight cover at 15mts before I had my first bite & a fish around 3lb was in the net in the first ten minutes, It wasn't solid but within 45mins I had four carp for around 16lb, Bites soon disappeared so I switched to soft pellet on the hook, I had the bait off the deck a few inches & with a bit of lifting & dropping along different areas of the far bank saw me add a few better fish, After 90mins things really slowed but already I thought I had close to 40lb in the net including a 3lb F1 so a great start & I hadn't really seen that mush being caught at this stage. After a few small fish across it was time to try the deeper water line at 13mts, I started over where I had fed a few 4mms from the start with expander on the hook, I had a small roach straight off followed by a couple of goldfish" another F1 & a couple of skimmers, It seemed most drop-ins I was having signs of fish but no more carp, I had a go on maggot on the other line & just a couple of roach showed up, I had been pinging the odd hard 6mm pellet down the edge so went over it with a 6mm expander but no early signs of fish here, I gave it another try across & had a couple of small pastie carp but no better fish, I remember last time I was on this stretch I went back across late in the match & hooked some better carp & had a feeling the same would happen today,? In this case I chose to catch what I could for a couple of hours off the 13mts lines & keep having the odd look across & down the edge, The fish weren't big but at least I was adding the odd pastie carp small F1's & the odd skimmer to the net & I still couldn't see much being caught?

Finally I had a bite down the edge with 45mins to go which was a 3lb carp but that was it, So struck to my guns & spend the rest of the match back on bread across at 15mts with the rig still set off the deck, I wasn't wrong as I had four more carp across in the last 30mins & the last one saw me add another net just encase I was close to the 70lb limit as this fish was around 8lb", Just one more small pastie carp before the all out but had an enjoyable 5hrs considering I though I would struggle for anything" Really worked hard on trying to induced bites where I though best to through the day & it proved worth while as I won the day with a bit to spare picking up a bonus £70 along the way so well happy with the result. Second place went to Tim Whitchurch from peg 34 next to the bridge with 45lb odd & the silvers went to Martin Leakey on his first visit with 10lb odd catching mainly on the corn short late in the day netting some lovely roach so well done to him. There are a few more Saturday matches coming up, April 14th & 28th and May the 12th so contact Cadbury Angling at the fishery to book-in. Off to Shiplate Farm for a match on Westpool tomorrow which will be final day of a four header" Can it end with another good result??

Full results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 17, 74lb 6oz.

2nd Tim Whitchurch (Acorn) Sorry Forgot what you told me" peg 34, 45lb 6oz

3rd Mike Jones (Over 50's) peg 40, 34lb 7oz.

4th Mike Hill (Un-attached) peg 11, 31lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Martin Leakey (Un-attached) peg 24, 10lb 9oz.

2nd mike Jones (over 50's) peg 40, 9lb 9oz.     

      

Summerhayes Fishery (Silvers Only) Longs Lake.

Off to Summerhayes today to fish this final silvers Qualifier ahead of the all-winners final to be held next Friday, Fortunately I've already Qualified but wanted to use today to try & get a picture of what to expect next week as I cant see the water warming up much between now & then.

Eleven of us fishing today so not a rover match this time around, Gary Butler chose the pegs for today before tea boy Aide drew the bonus peg which turned out to be end peg 35 which is well fancied, Into the draw & I found myself on peg 33 with venue regular bill hopping on the bonus peg 35 & owner Pete next to me on peg 31 as we all had an empty peg minimum, I had one of the widest swims which goes into a bay opposite at 16mts but didn't plan to go right into it as it was a bit carp territory! I set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.10 & an 18 PR\412 hook to fish maggot over G/Bait at 13mts, & set up a 0.3g pencil rig to fish at 9mts left & right on the same line with an 18 F1 pellet hook, I had a simple day planned, expanders over G/Bait/micros, & maggots! Simple?.

On the all-in I fed three balls with dead maggot added at 13mts, fed a nugget of micros at 9mts to the right & with a few red maggots & a decent ball of g/bait with micros added to my left at the same distance. I started on the short right hand line with maggot & had a small roach straight away, soon followed by a 4oz skimmers before I landed a 2lb carp which I told Pete was a Tench" Not long after I had a better fish which turned out to be a near 2lb skimmer so a good start! No more indications so re-fed a small amount & switched to the left hand short line, I had a couple of small skimmers before netting another decent size one' On the hour mark I thought I had around 5lb, Pete was trying to fish the wagg but was yet to catch as was Bill.

Unfortunately it was down hill from here, I could only muster the odd blade skimmer or tiny roach & after 90mins Bill started to catch the odd better skimmer, both my better fish came fishing in his direction & with the wind blowing that direction I had a feeling the fish had followed it", I wont drag on but I spent the next four hours starting a few more lines switching between the maggot & expander on the hook, It was rock hard though with just the odd blade skimmer until I started to get the odd bite on expander over G/bait at 13mts going as far left to next peg as I could, Unfortunately most seemed to be carp but I did get the odd skimmer between 4-6oz & with twenty minutes to go netted another decent skimmer which I first thought was a smaller carp!" Bill had netted the odd skimmer through the day including two better stamp fish late on & I thought he had around 12lb odd come the end, Pete had called it a day before the all out after netting just a couple of small skimmers & I thought I had around 8-9lb come the end? We caught up with the scales Just as John Fudge was about to weigh from peg 11, he had a decent day catching a few smaller stamp skimmers to finish with 11lb 14oz, That was top weight until it was my turn & Wasn't to far of today when I finished with 10lb 4oz, I fully expected Bill to come out on top but was surprized when his fish went 9lb odd. So that was it, John Won the day which saw him take his place in next weeks final so well done to him, I ended up 2nd picking up £36 & hopefully got a good piture on what to expect next week.

Overall results -

1st John Fudge (The Sedges) peg 11, 11lb 14oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 33, 10lb 4oz.

3rd Bill Hoping (Summerhayes) peg 35, 9lb 4oz.

4th Ziggy Slowinski (Garbolino) peg 13, 7lb 12oz.

5th Gary Butler (Summerhayes) Peg 26, 7lb 2oz.          

Viaduct Fishery (Thursday Costcutter) Cambell & Cary Lakes.

Off work for a couple of days whilst my trailer goes for its annual MOT so decided to make the most of today with a trip back to Viaduct, It was supposed to be a touch milder today but didn't feel like it when I first arrived, Not a bad turn out with 26 fishing today, I fancied a crack at Cary lake for some silvers although if I drew the same area I did the weekend I would target carp again, Into the draw around halfway through the queue & ended up on Cambell again only this time I would be at the top end above the spit on the far side peg 125... Not what I hoped for as its been a hard area for some time & the guys who drew here on the weekend packed up & went home" I ruled out having any chance of framing on carp but would have a look to start with with a couple of silvers lines to fall back on. I assembled the normal bomb rod for pellet, Set up a waggler to fish at depth with corn towards the middle off to my left, & just one pole rig being a 0.4g PB2 on 0.13-0.10 & an 16 F1 pellet hook, I brought a few maggots to mainly use as hookers as I planned to fish pellet on the pole so plumbed up two lines at 13mts left & right with the left hand side being around 6inches shallower. For company I had Phil Hardwick again to my left on end peg 123 who didn't fancy his chances much but both him & tony On my right next door set there stool out for carp.

I began the day feeding three balls of G/Bait & hard 4mms at 13mts to my right & just a few 4mms & a helping of damped micros to my left, I began the day on the bomb & hard pellet in the hope I would be wrong but 40mins later I hadn't had so much as a liner, I had began pinging a few bits of corn just short of the middle to my left so switched to fishing the waggler with corn on the hook here. I gave it twenty minutes but still nothing. None of us three had caught a fish nor had pegs 119 & 118 but pegs 114 & 115 were already catching the odd carp as well as a couple of pegs below them. Just over an hour in & time to try the pole with soft pellet on the hook, Thankfully it went under & I netted a 6oz skimmer, I netted a couple more before things died so topped it up with another small ball of G/Bait & switched to the micro line in the slightly shallower water, I expected to get bites here but nothing, Back on the G/Bait line again I had a couple of quick fish then nothing. I tried the wagg again where I had continued to ping some corn & did miss a bite after a few minutes but it was a false dawn as I couldn't get another indication, Phil had finally netted one carp but that was it & Tony had also netted one, Back on the pole I had a couple more skimmers to 10oz after feeding a few hard 4mms over the top, I tried banded hard pellet over the top but couldn't get signs on it, It wasn't a prolific day but I did add the odd smaller skimmer, It wasn't until the last 45mins I finally started to get signs over the micro fed line which proved worth while as I added two skimmers around 2lb & one around a 1lb along with a few more smaller samples, Phil had called it a day with over an hour to go with just the one carp, The pegs opposite were still blanking' Tony had netted the odd carp through the day but couldn't compete with pegs 114-115 who were catching through-out the day, Come the end I thought I may have around 14lb of silvers but expected some better silvers weights to come off Cary? Tony finished the day with 54lb of carp before my silvers went 16lb 10oz come the end, back at the results & as we expected the pegs opposite proved best again, Mark Poppleton has kept his draw hand going from the winter league after finishing the day with 145lb odd from peg 114 ahead of Callum Craig from peg 110 with 134lb odd, As far as the silvers went Nigel Easton won again from peg 94 on Cary with 31lb odd of skimmers on corn, It turned out my weight was top silvers on Cambell but more importantly snuck me into fourth place between a couple of 20lb weights of silvers on Cary meaning I picked up a tenner" Lol, I don't fish these matches for the money just the chance of qualifying for the finals later in the year. Not a bad day come the end, Wasted a bit to much time trying to get the wagg to work but don't think I could of done much more than around 20lb if I had stayed on the pole. Off to Summerhayes silvers match tomorrow as its the silvers final next Friday so try to get an idea what to expect?

Full Results -

1st Mark Poppleton (Colmic S.W) peg 114 Cambell, 145lb 2oz.

2nd Callum Craig (Colmic S.W) peg 110 Cambell, 134lb 11oz.

3rd Martin Lenahan (Avon Angling) peg 115 Cambell, 132lb 7oz.

4th Glen Bailey (Bristol) peg 112 Cambell, 76lb.

5th Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 80 Cary, 67lb 4oz.

6th Colin Dyer (Langport) peg 78, 58lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Nigel Easton (Langport) peg 94 Cary, 31lb 11oz.

2nd Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 80, 24lb 3oz.      

Paul Garratt Memorial Match (Viaduct Fishery) Cambell, Cary & Lodge Lakes.

Well the mini beast from the east was back' As it was bloody cold when I arrived at the fishery with a brisk north west wind blowing" I managed to grab a breakfast roll on route which I was thankful of, With the three lakes in I just didn't want to drawn in the brunt of the wind' There were a few drop outs probably due to the weather but still 36 of us fishing, Taking the kit out the van I realised I picked up the wrong rod case and had two rods with no reels! Thankfully team mate Gabo came to my rescue lending me one of his posh Tournament 11ft lead rods & Posh reel to go with it"...

I intended to be nearer the rear of the draw but found myself near the front when we changed rooms' Phil Hardwick drew before me & ended up on peg 112 Cambell , I went in & drew out two together, Nick Ewers took the top one, I opened up Peg 111 Cambell & Nick Ended up on peg 114 with 113 being empty" That's Three matches in a row that's happened to me on here, Spooky" & I Haven't moved much".

Lately pegs 110 & 132 have been dominant but appears since the use of pellet again this week a few have woke up & spread out a bit so was hoping for a few fish, I had Previous Fisho Winner Steve Jackson on peg 110 who fancied his chances but we had a quid on for the fun of it. With the wind blowing down are end quite strong I ruled out the waggler as I wouldn't be able to present it, I set up another bomb rod after finding a reel in my kit so had one to fish a hair rig band on 0.17 & a 16 hook the other with hair spike for meat. I was going to set a pole rig up to fish around 9mts but didn't fancy kit flying around in the wind so would feed short & try the bomb over it through the day.

I would spend the day mainly fishing pellet & started the match fishing around two thirds from the middle of the lake with banded 8mm pellet, I decided I was going to feed from the off but gave it ten minutes before pinging just a couple of 8mm's over the top, Two minutes later & I soon had a 4lb fish in the net, twenty minutes later I had a slightly bigger fish after going slightly past the feed, I had been pinging a couple of pellets every few minutes & was getting the odd sign of fish so decided to feed another line off to my left just short of the middle feeding around half a dozen pellets & left it while, Ten minutes later I went over it & within seconds I was in' Another fish around 5lb, At this stage Phil was yet to catch & Jacko had netted one smaller carp & after an hour I though I had around 24lb in the net so not a bad start, It seemed a case of getting a few indications I one area then try off the areas I had been feeding. It wasn't hectic & at some points I had to wait ages for signs of fish, I though things were going nicely until Phil went on his pole around 10mts after trying down the edge without success, He missed a bite straight away the hooked a carp seconds later".  

I thought it would be a one off but how wrong could I be' He had four more in the next four dob-ins all on hard 6mm pellet, No Prob, I had been feeding a few 6mms the same distance so plopped the lead in on it. 15mins & not even a liner even though Phil was still hooking the odd fish at the same distance' It appeared Nick Had the same Idea on peg 114 but couldn't catch at this distance, I didn't waste to much time & was back out towards the middle. Jacko had added a few more carp but didn't look to be that big, I did have to keep searching the peg on & off the feed to take the odd fish but Phil Had gone well in-front of me at this stage but I keep pinging a few 6mms on the short line hoping to draw a few over, Ricky Mills opposite me on peg 130 had given up & gone for a wander after being in the worst of the bitter wind which was better for me I hoped" I keep plugging away & with a couple of hours to go started the get the odd small run of fish, At one stage I had four in 15mins for around 25lb, Jacko had gave up with the bomb & had assembled a pole to fish down the edge after seeing a fish roll their but he appeared to be doing a better job of branch clearing most of the time, Phil's peg continued to produce a few carp but I still couldn't get indications on my short line, Going into the last 90mins I began to feed slightly more on the positive area which did the trick for a while before I found some better fish by fishing to the right of the feed. Despite the cold wind I had quite an enjoyable day, the fish seemed to come in spells but finding where the were willing to feed was important, Phil caught right up to the all out & had some decent fish so knew I wouldn't beat him but was confident of my quid of a rather disgruntled Jacko!" Lol, He wasn't happy with the foliage he had cleared so decided to dump it back where he was fishing all day"..?? It looked like being close between Nick & myself as he was admitting to 124lb on his clicker & I had 121 on mine?  I caught up with Steve doing the weigh-in & gave him a hand to do the board, Nick ended up with slightly more than he thought finishing with 133lb odd, Next was Phil who really did the business to finish with 209lb odd all on the shorter pole line & 6mm pellet to easily win the day so a big well done Phil & good company" I was really out with my clicking today as I was surprized to finish with 167lb odd" To be honest I think I forgot to click a couple when I had a burst of Fish" & it didn't help when I spent over 40minutes of the day without a hook-length on after it had slipped the connector Gabo had on his set up, Not something I was keen on but probably should check it hadn't came loose after each fish? Back at the results & as expected Phil took the spoils but thankfully I had enough to finish 2nd picking up £70 along the way, Owe & Jacko's quid as he finished with 95lb odd'  As far as the silvers went Gabo had a nice day on peg 90 in the corner of Cary to finish with 30lb of skimmers on pellet so a good result there as well, Some decent weights considering the harsh conditions & its amazing how much difference the pellet has made again" Really enjoyed the day & nice to see Josh fishing in his dads memory.

Full Results -

1st Phil Hardwick (Burts Baits) peg 112 Cambell, 209lb 8oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Mosella UK) peg 111 Cambell, 167lb 13oz.

3rd Gary O'Shea (P.I.Thatchers) peg 85 Cary, 139lb 2oz.

4th Nick Ewers (P.I.Thatchers) peg 114 Cambell, 133lb 1oz.

5th Dick Bull (Langport) peg 59 Lodge, 130lb 13oz.

6th Mark Wynne (Colmic) peg 100 Cary, 125lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Gabo Skarba (Mosella UK) peg 90 Cary, 31lb 1oz.

2nd Toby Burrell (Team Army) peg 115 Cambell, 28lb 12oz.

3rd Ryan Shipp (Westerleigh) peg 64 Lodge Lake, 25lb 9oz. 

 

 

 

                 

Viaduct Fishery Teams Of Five (Final Rd) All Lakes.

I'll Start by saying a big well done to Gary O'Shea on winning Don's Memorial match at the fishery from peg 3 on spring lake with 39lb of skimmers mainly on the waggler & corn later in the match, Gutted I couldn't attend due to work commitments but Gary had know Don all through his fishing days so fitting he went on to win it. 

Back to today & we were greeted with a pleasant morning weather wise, It was my turn to fish Match Lake today with an overspill of a few pegs on Middle & the Spit on Spring Lake. Really hoped Trig would draw me peg 26 on Spring as its been the most consistent in all the over matches always finishing in the top 3, I had had a wander around Match Lake before the start & fancied it could fish well as it had a tinge of colour in it, It took a while for Trig to get to us with the team sheet but he didn't look to pleased, We hadn't had the best of draws Paul Elms Had peg 12 on Spring & not a carp peg, Vince Brown Had peg 61 on Lodge which again isn't good for carp, Trig Was in the corner of Cary on peg 90 which has been hard the last couple of matches, Shaun Townsend looked to have draw the wrong area on Cambell on peg 125 & I ended up on what they call Crabtree Peg" on Middle Lake peg 38, This used to be the peg some years ago but it seems to be a case of feast or Famine these days but I felt confident I could catch a few carp with plenty of options, We felt we were going to be up against it as The Colmic Side Had drawn the same as they had in the first round & had some decent draws including Mark Poppeton in my section on none other than peg 26..! . I had Bob Giles next to me on peg 37 which I would have preferred as its produce a few carp dobbing under the tree on previous rounds, I had a bay to chuck to around 30mts as well as open water off to my right off the end of the tree so set up the normal bomb rod for hair rigged baits & a waggler to search around at various depths,

Apart from this I had one pole rig to fish on the edge of the channel towards peg 1 from 14-16mts for dobbing being a 0.1 AS4 on 0.19-0.15 & again with a hair rigged 0.17 hook length

. Finally I set up a 4x12 Wire Wonder on 0.13-0.10 & an 18 PR412 hook to fish a couple of silvers lines at 14mts should I need to.

I began the day cupping in three balls of G/Bait with casters & a few dead reds at 14mts to my right in the open water & some casters & a bit of corn the same distance slightly left. I began On the bomb into the bay on hair rigged meat hoping for some early signs, 20mins gone & I had slight bite which turned out to be a carp around 4lb, Not big but a decent start, I gave it another 45mins but nothing followed, In this time I had seen Mark on 26 net a couple of decent fish & Bob next to me had netted three in a row after going further under the tree to his right, I could also see a few fish being netted behind me on Match Lake so hoped things would improve, I hadn't fed anything across but after trying bread corn & meat in the open water off the tree & over to the bay I decided to start pinging some corn to my right had side of the bay to see if this would spur a few fish on whilst I had a look dobbing on the pole towards the gap, I started with meat with the rig set a few inches off the deck, I gave it 20mins even switching to bread but not so much as a liner, Back across this time on the waggler again starting off the deck slightly but still no signs I switched to fishing on the deck with corn & did eventually miss a bite where I had been pinging some corn but put it down to a skimmer as I didn't connect with anything'. Things were looking grim as by now we were approaching the halfway stage & I hadn't netted anything else! I was trying everywhere I could to induce something but it wasn't happening, I even had a look on my silvers lines but it just sat there", I switched back to corn on the bomb to my right in the bay & hooked a decent carp within seconds but it came of shortly after hooking it! Back out & the tip started to tremble this time the result was a near 2lb skimmer' then nothing followed, I began feeding meat off the end of the tree to my right which leads back into the other side of middle lake hoping they would be around the area, Still No signs dobbing between 14-16mts on meat of bread so I also started pinging a few bits of meat here to try & make something happen, Mark had netted around 4-5 carp I could see of it, Bob had added a couple of skimmers on the waggler after his earlier run of fish under the tree & I could still see fish being caught behind me on match lake so things weren't looking good for me... I would like to say it happened late but it didnt' I managed two more skimmers, both on the bomb, One in the bay & one off the end of the tree but no more signs of carp, I never had a sniff on the pole down into the channel. Really disappointed come the all out as I was also doing well on the individual side of things before today so the hope of ending up in the top five had gone well out the window" I Knew I would struggle to beat anyone today in my section as most had caught on match lake so was going to end up with low points for the team so hoped the other had done well?. Back At The results Trig Had Done well & ended up winning his lake with 46b odd & 18pts, Paul had done well to end up with 19lb of silvers for 10pts, Vince had 9pts , Shaun 8pts & Myself a measly 3pts' . It turned out it was closer come the end with Colmic also Having A couple of Low results but they managed to gain 4 more points on us come the end to win the league with 305pts so well done to them, The draw didn't help us today, Andy Power had my peg a couple of matches ago & came last & if he cant catch who will" May have been a different outcome if I had been on match but will never know, Did my best & that's al you can do, thankfully with the other lads doing ok we held on to second spot overall with 298pts ahead of Thatchers Vets in third place on 279pts. Top weight on the day went to Mark Broomsgrove from that fancied peg 110 on Cambell again catching on the bomb towards the end bank in the open water to finish with 108lb ahead of Phil Hardwick opposite on peg 132 with 105lb. Silvers went to Dave Romine with 39lb odd from peg 10 on spring so well done to these guys, The top Individual went to Mark Poppleton  in the end with 74pts so another well done to him, A big thanks to Steve, Matt & Helen on running this popular league which takes a lot of effort & those who helped do the scales & boards Throughout.

To Finish 2nd Overall as a team was still a good result with us each picking up £80 for are efforts so well done lads" & look forward to trying again next year hopefully. I had some decent draws in the earlier rounds which I felt I made the most of come the day just a shame it couldn't finish as well but that's fishing"

Full results -

1st mark Broomsgrove (2nd Time Lucky) peg 110 Cambell, 108lb 12oz.

2nd Phil Hardwick (Moaning Maggots) peg 132 Cambell, 105lb 11oz.

3rd Ben Hagg (Guru Viaduct) peg 15 Spring, 83lb.

4th Matt Parsons (M5 Angling) peg 44 Match lake, 74lb 10oz.

5th Dave White (Team keyford) peg 51 Match Lake, 71lb 14oz.

6th Nigel Easton (Team Amigos) peg 113 Cambell, 67lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Dave Romine (Colmic S.W) peg 10 Spring, 39lb 13oz.

2nd Mark Wynn (Colmic S.W) peg 59 Lodge, 29lb 7oz.

3rd Chris Davis (Moaning Maggots) peg 71 Lodge, 28lb.

Teams on day -

1st Moaning Maggots 62pts,

2nd Guru Viaduct 60pts,

3rd Team Amigos 59pts,

4th M5 Angling 58pts,

5th Balti Boys 56pts,

6th Colmic S.W 52pts.

Final League Standings -

1st Colmic S.W, 305pts. £700.00

2nd Mosella Bathampton, 298pts. £500.00

3rd Thatchers Vets, 279pts £400.00

4th 2nd Time Lucky, 272pts. £300.00

5th M5 Angling, 266pts. £200.00

6th Guru Viaduct, 264pts.

7th Thatchers Gold, 245pts.

8th Team Amigos, 240pts.

9th Balti Boys, 234pts.

10th Moaning maggots, 234pts

11th Wyvern Angling, 231pts.

12th Somerset Angling, 228pts.

13th Thatchers Silvers, 223pts.

14th Future Networks, 205pts.

15th Silverfox, 202pts.

16th Garbolino BVMG, 198pts.

17th Team keyford, 183pts.

18th All Stars, 161pts.

Top Individual - Mark Poppleton £200.00.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

        

Shiplate Farn (Hawthorns Lake).

Didn't really think I would be venturing anywhere this weekend after the aftermath of the beast from the east as they say' I had an enjoyable day with my step son yesterday celebrating his 18th birthday with a few drinks & with the snow quickly melting I managed to book in for a match on hawthorns at the last minute but arriving at the fishery I soon ventured home after being told it was frozen for my ice breaker but needn't had bothered as on my return Mark Thorn was already out on the boat doing his best to clear some swims, I fancied peg 1 would produce a few as it was totally free of ice & usually produces in the cold weather, Into the draw & I ended up on peg 10, I had Glyn Wickham on peg 9 & Jonny Page on peg 12 , Nice to have any empty peg between us, Nope It was froze bank to bank from directly in front of me & I even had to get the boat in to clear the edge of my swim to fish thanks to johns help, I didn't really expect anything to want any real feed so the day would be based on dobbing bread over to the far bank cover at 14mts, I set up a 0.1g hand made float on 0.15-0.12 & an 16 F1 Pellet hook to search along the bank but only had around 8ft to work with as the ice to my right cut me off at this stage, I set up a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 to fish at the bottom of the far shelf in the deep water around 6ft & finally a rig to fish a few feet off the far bank in the slightly deeper water if need be. Before the start Peanut Howell' walked up & told us he had seen two Carp roll in his swim' I ask You!".

I fed the deep line with some corn on the all-in the went straight across on the bread with the rig set a couple of feet deep, It took a few minutes before I had an indication but unfortunately it was foul hooked & we parted company" The next 45minutes were a nightmare' I shallowed up even more but still manage to foul hook & lose another three fish all after getting them back to my top kit", Glynn had had a decent skimmer and a roach down the track but was targeting silvers from the off but apart from this I hadn't heard anything being caught, after 20minutes of waiting a finally hooked a decent fish in the mouth but it brushed against the ice which was now shifting to my left & shed the hook".

I would like to say things got better but the didn't, After the ice had shifted I had more room to fish across but just couldn't catch any carp or get indications of them anywhere in the peg, I managed a 10oz hybrid from where I started the day & caught a 6oz roach right off to my right in the end but that was it! I Kept adding a bit of corn down in the deeper water & did miss two bites on it in the last hour or so but put it down to skimmers as I didn't connect with anything', Glyn had managed to winkle out just over 2lb of silvers, Pagey had a 5lb carp & a few bits & above him Nigel Banked so we all struggled really, Down on peg 8 Alan Healy had a good day catching across on bread later in the match, He admitted to a bit of room but trying to think outside the box did the fish push down past Glyn as the ice all held up on the rope above Alan? Never the less he did well to romp the day with 55lb odd, Just a couple of fish were enough to make the rest of the frame but at least we all had a day on the bank & we couldn't expect to much after melting ice all day.

Back to Viaduct next Sunday for the final round of the winter league & all the lakes will be ice free by then so looking forward to it, Hopefully Trig keeps at the draw arm so peg 26 looks my best bet please'. I'm Totally gutted to be missing my old travelling partner Don Sutherlands Memorial Match at the fishery next Saturday due to being on a course at work I cant get out of but I'm sure it will be well attended in his memory & he will be in my mind. 

Full Results -

1st Alan Healy (PSV) peg 8, 55lb 14oz.

2nd Ray Wickham (Tom Thick Baits) peg 1, 15lb 2oz.

3rd Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 3, 11lb 7oz.

Silvers -

Nigel Wickham 4lb 9oz.