Acorn Fishery Tuesday Tenner,

With the weather being so nice and the wife being off work having to take a few days holiday herself we chose to spend the day in the sun whilst it lasts, I am one of the lucky ones to have a wife interested in fishing herself ' After having a nice on site breakfast the usual faces for this cheaper match began to turn up until none other than England Ace Des (Smiley) Shipp put in an appearance' You only had to look around the room at some anglers faces that they already had him down as the winner but me for one was pleased to see him as I for sure wasn't going to let him phase me and would see it as a challenge to finish higher than him today so let the draw commence" lol.

Out come peg 11 which I was pleased with as I had a nice inside swim should I need it later in the day, A nice swim across tight to the bank in 12inches of water.

And plenty of room to feed an up in the water swim to my left at about 9mts to catch shallow, Rig wise I had the usual 4x10 chanti on 0.15 and a 4inch 0.13 hook  length an 18 PR478 to fish tight over to the bank, a 4x12 Chanti to use 12mts down the edge in 2ft of water on the same line and a 4x10 PB1 on 4ft of line to use up in the water with an 18 PR36.

Company today I had Simon Price on peg 9 as my closest rival as the pegs further around were left for pleasure anglers to my left, the rest of the pegs were spread around the rest of the lake with Des ending up on peg 38 which can hold some bigger fish so it was all to play for and the £1 side bet was struck (More of that later), At the start I began to feed hard 4mm pellet on the 9mt line by hand and started tight over just touching the deck on a 4mm expander feeding some micro and hemp over the top via a small cad pot, This might seem a bit negative for this time of the year but on these canal type lakes I like to take a softly approach to start and try not to draw to many fish into the swim risking foul hookers and spooking the rest which will soon ruin a peg, after all the bigger fish are a bit wiser . This worked a treat and in the first hour I had put about 35lb in the net by just cad potting small amounts of micro and hemp after every fish, From what I could see it was a good start as a few were struggling and Simon on the next peg  only had a couple of fish by now.

 

 

After a while the fish began to start slurping on the grass and liners were a problem so I rested the swim and switched to where I had been feeding by hand, a few slaps of the rig and the elastic was out, feeding a few pellets by hand whilst playing the fish saw another of 4lb added as soon as I went back in but it didn't last and I had noticed the more often I fed the longer It took me to get a bite, With this being the case I decided to fish of the end of the island at 13mts just plopping the pellet around without feeding anything, It worked well for most of the match to be honest and by pinching the odd fish from tight to the bank when I felt they were getting unsettled it got to the stage where I had to tip my 6lb odd of silvers back as I didn't want to go over in my nets and only had 3 with me' As if I thought I may need more hey". It was quite an enjoyable match today as you couldn't just plonk it and expect it to go under it had to be worked at moved around all the time to induce a take as well as a constant change of depth. I was first to weigh today and after 4 weighs my total went 175lb which I was happy with, Simon went on to catch shallow and ended the day on 97lb before Gabrial Skarba ended up weighing a great 197lb catching short down his inside edge on maggot he told me over groundbait and pellet.

 Gabrial Skarda.

 After a few more it was Mr Shipp's turn to weigh and after added together with his silvers his total went 163lb meaning I was best pleased to show him how it was done as I'm sure it wont happen very often" Back to the subject of the £1 side bet he did his best to blag his way out of it though I had the wife as back up so soon caved in and coughed up lol. Being a cost cutter its not about the money just to beat Des was my target but a welcome £27 paid for the day.

 Part of Des Shipp's Catch

 You can let go Des"

Top silvers went the way of Andy Gard weighing 30lb of mixed fish on the maggot.

 Andy With Des's Silvers as we missed his weigh-in.

 There were a lot of fish caught today and they were happy to have a munch for a change everybody enjoyed the day and I cant go without saying a big well done Rupert who despite suffering from downs syndrome down on holiday joined in the match and ended the day with a great 28lb from peg 40 next Des, I had a chat with him after and he told me he had advised Des what to do at the start and would of had a few more but spent most of the day watching him to make sure he was doing it properly! mint"

 Rupert with Simon at the scales,

 The smile says it all.

Full results -

1st Gabrial Skaba (Un-Attached) peg 7, 197lb 4oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/ Cadbury Angling) peg 11, 175lb.

3rd Des Shipp (Preston Innovations/Dorking) peg 38, 163lb 8oz.

Silvers -

Andy Gard (Acorn) 30lb 4oz.

 Winner Gabrial & myself.

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

    

Shiplate Farm Westpool Lake,

As the weather was nice and Shiplate Farm being on my doorstep a quick Phone call to fishery owner carol saw me booked in for there latest open match, Only 12 fishing today so Steve & Carol were paying the top two plus top silvers which made sense. After a nice free" cuppa and a chat with the rest draw time came seeing  me ending up on peg 13 towards the far end of the lake, Apart from the first 5 pegs the average with tight to the far bank is around 16mts but with no wind I chose to go and clear a swim as tight to the bank as I could get if need be.

 After pluming up I still had 2ft plus tight to the bank where I had cleared a gap so set up two rigs, one being my favourite chanti 4x12 and a Preston 4x10 PB1 to fish as shallow as a few inches as there is no such rule as how shallow you can fish as long as you don't use floating baits I had around 10inches of water tight against the bank towards the empty peg 12,

 

To my right I had the rope for the aerator at 4mts so chose to fish the bottom of the shelf this side in around 4ft of water with 6mm meat over meat and hemp,

Company today I had Andy Light on peg 14 and Andy France on 11 who I had a quid with for the fun of it, at the all in I cupped a palm full of hemp and 6mm meat onto the 4mt deeper swim to my left and threw a few cubes of meat down my right hand swim tight to the bank, I started the match Across on the deck with a cube of 6mm meat but after 45 mins of missed bites and a gugeon?" (Spelt wrong I know) I new things weren't right, By now both Andy's either side had a few fish a piece so I was already playing catch up, To early to try my inside lines I switched to the shallow rig set 6inches deep as tight to the far bank I could get with a 6mm cube of meat and began catapulting the same over the top, to start with I had a few 10oz chub and a couple of 2lb carp so at least I began to put something in the net, The next hour saw me add a couple of 4lb fish along with some more chub and from what I could see nobody was running away with it so all to play for. I did try my inside deeper swim with no luck by now the ducks had switched on to me feeding meat over  and had taken residence in my far bank swim" It wasn't a problem to start with but as the day went on they managed to pull the grass down off the bank meaning it ended up impossible for me to fish across without hooking something and not being able to get the rig in properly" I did manage to catch a few tight down my right hand edge again on the meat fished just off the bottom but after a couple of fish they soon spooked and I was left cursing the fact I couldn't catch a few more over, On the whistle I felt I was a few fish off of Andy who caught most of his fish over doing pretty much the same except for him feeding 6mm pellet over the top with meat on the hook, At the weigh-in I had 6lb odd of chub with 50lb of carp for my 56lb total, Andy was next to weigh and ended the day a couple of fish in front on 67lb and there was a few 50lb weights so a close match where a few fish made a difference,

 Andy France.

 

On the plus side I didn't lose anything today but it was a shame I couldn't use my far swim to pinch a couple more fish as Russ Pecker fresh from his pairs win at Whiteacres where they picked up over a £1000 between them (well done mate) nicked 2nd spot on the day with 59lb.  No coin back this weekend but its been nice to be able to go fishing at the moment and not to worry about the weather for a change, looking forward to spend some time on the River Huntspill in the next couple of months, Back to a bit of proper' fishing as far as my opinion goes, What a difference a bite from a skimmer can be to a hungry carp' For a start you have to hit those bites rather than worrying about losing your rod in the lake if your not looking!..  

 My catch.

Top silvers today went to Carl with 20lb odd of mainly skimmers and roach caught down the track on maggot,

 Carls Silvers Weight.

 Full results -

1st  Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 11, 67lb.

2nd Russ Peck (Thatchers Tackle) peg 7, 59lb.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 13, 56lb

4th Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 2 53lb.

Silvers -

Carl (Shiplate) peg 4, 20lb

 

               

   

Maver Match This Qualifier Viaduct Fishery.

Up early this morning as to try and not forget anything as with all lakes in there's a whole range of methods you can chose meaning it looked like my gear resembled everything but the kitchen sink" These matches are always popular with people traveling from all over the country hoping to grab the elusive spot in the £50,000 final at Larford Lakes.

 It was anybodys guess where the winner would come from but the talk was a corner pegs on any lake could be the place to be today as it was already hot and bright and with no wind the weights were expected to be lower than of late, At the draw I did managed to sneak in front off Fisho Mania Qualifier Kevin Dicks hoping the chances I could have his draw hand today'.

 I ended up on Cary Lake peg 101 which although wasn't the best of draws at least I had a bit of room to play with and the were already signs off fish swimming around towards the middle of the lake.

 After a chat with a few locals before the draw I got an idea as to what people had been catching on and based my attack around the more favoured meat and hard pellet approach, Setting up a straight lead rod and a waggler to fish towards the middle of the lake and a rig to fish at 5mts on the pole with meat in 4ft of water, Having plenty of time before the start all my rigs were made upon the bank today with proper line and floats (No place for a Chanti today) as these fish run to over 20lb in this lake and with 8lb fish being the norm'. Company wise I had local ace Fred Roberts on peg 102 and Polish Lad Ziggy on peg 100, At the all in I Cupped in some hemp and meat on the 5mt line and started on the straight lead and 10mm punched meat on the hook towards the middle of the lake choosing not to feed anything to start with.

It was a slow start for all I could see and it seemed to the lakes population of fish had chose to bask in the sun rather the think of feeding' A switch to punched polony still failed to produce and despite trying the waggler with 8mm pellet for a wile I was soon back on the lead and swapped to 11mm hard pellet on the hook. After 90mins I had my first fish of nearly 10lb but it was a bit of a false dawn as the lake was still fishing slow for most although a few fish were being caught further up the lake on pegs 97 & 98, I did think of getting the stalking rig out but the fish were swimming around much further than 16mts of pole would reach so that was a no go. A smaller fish of 5lb on the lead and pellet came in the next hour but apart from 1 fish foul hooked on the shallow waggler I couldn't seem to get it to produce today, The short 5mt meat line failed to produce a carp and from those I could see nobody seemed to get a bite on any short line, Ziggy had yet to catch a carp and Fred was also on two fish so we weren't setting the world alight but with £70 for every 6 peg section there was still the chance of winning my entry fee back at least, going into the last hour I chose to mould some paste around the pellet and try to keep it on whist casting and after missing a bite first cast I was wishing I had tried it sooner but again I had to sit and wait and it wasn't until the last 10mins I had another fish and being around 15lb I doubled my weight' As expected the section fished hard and with Fred ending with 4 carp to my 3 he was going to be favourite to take it and so it proved with his weight going 38lb to my 32lb.

 My 3 fish.

 

 Top weight on are lake was 115lb but most struggled due to the bright hot day which was not surprising, The Corner pegs everyone was talking about did seem to produce for some as Scott Russell from Tackle UK on corner peg 73 Lodge Lake went into the lead with a good weight on the day of 159lb,

Scott Russell. 

 

            We all had Scott Down as the winner but it wasn't until the last of the days weighs came in that he had been piped at the post be a weight of 170lb from end peg 135 on Cambell, I did feel for Scott as you don't get many chances of fishing a final for £50,000 but at least he had the Consolation of picking up a couple of hundred pounds on the day, I didn't get the guys name who won as it was a lot for fishery owners Steve and Paul to sort out after but well done to you anyway, Well not the best days fishing but the sun had put the fish off today and considering Fred fishes the place regularly I don't think there was much more we could of done to catch a few fish but that's fishing"      

   

Acorn Fishery Saturday Open,

With the weather being so nice for a change it was a last dash over to acorn for the Clevedon A.A open match on paddock lake, 12 fishing today which seems to be the same story on a Saturday at most fishery's which is a shame but never the less it meant the bonus peg was in today and after Andy France chose what peg it would be I told him I would be on it today and low and behold I drew it" peg 7, I drew this peg a few matches ago and had a few fish but today I really fancied it as the wind was blowing into peg 6 and with a nice ripple on the water I fancied to catch shallow and on the deck with hard 6mm pellet, Two rigs were made up to fish shallow at 2 and 3ft and a 4x14 rig for the deck in 5ft of water and another rig to fish at 10mts back towards peg 8 down the margin in 4ft of water, my faith was in hard pellet today so I started the match on the deck rig with a 6mm feeding 4mm over the top by hand, A couple of liners saw a switch to the 2ft rig but only one carp in 40mins and 3 roach" it wasn't looking good, Peg 6 was also struggling tho Glen Calvert on peg 9 was getting a few as was Lee Waller on peg 10 and the pegs on the island were doing well on the feeder to the far bank, I kept swapping between the deck rig and at different depths shallow but I just couldn't string anything together and my inside swim failed to produce a bite so I chose to switch tight over to the far bank at 13mts in 18inches of water with a soft 4mm expander as I couldn't get a bite on hard pellet and although I had the odd fish they didn't want to settle, I did have a disaster after hooking one though as I realised I hadn't put my top 5 on properly and no sooner had I noticed off it popped across the lake with the carp still attached!" Quick thinking saw me grab the landing net and pushed the net over the end section slowly easing it back towards the bank, It was working until I went to reach for it by my keepnet and it took off across the lake again" This time being out off reach I had no choice  but to take the plunge to everyone's delight' so made it worth wile by doing an attempted dive from on top of my seat box! Glen did score me 5/10 as the landing wasn't brill but I did manage to retrieve it along with the fish still attached".  I'm beginning to think I should of been born a mermaid as I seem to spend more time in the lake than on it! By now I had lost all interest to be honest and after last weeks disaster when the wife suggested we go out for the evening I called it a day with an hour to go, Team mate Glen's swim seemed to get better as the day went on and he did really well catching mainly on the deck with a stiff paste and was admitting to 80lb so I had him down as a sure fire winner although Lee Waller was getting a few late fish on peg 10 but I wasn't sure what was caught down the far end of the lake,

 Glen Calvert.

I certainly felt I got it wrong today ending up with around 30lb and felt I would of been better off fishing short into the wind with paste and although I'm not a lover of it I will be taking it to future matches for sure. I Agree with others though its sometimes good to have a bad day and make mistakes as you can learn a lot from it, And by taking an interest in what other anglers are doing to catch well can help you have a future

plan off attack rather than hoping something will happen. Off to Viaduct fishery next Saturday for the Maver Match This qualifier and at £50 a ticket and fishery pools its not a cheap day out Hoping for a good peg but will still attack where ever I draw as you never know what can happen, One things for sure I will be checking my sections are together properly".        

                  

Summerhayes Open.

A trip back to Summerhayes today  and with 25 fishing the match was spread over Sellicks and lily pool, I've only ever been on lily pool once so was hoping for a draw on Sellicks, Draw time was soon upon us and after drawing Sellicks peg 5 it wasn't an area I wanted as its the furthest distance peg on the lake to the far bank around 16mts plus and with the wind picking up I new it was going to be hard to present it properly and on plumming up I had 5ft of water as tight as I could reach to the far bank which I thought would spell trouble as far as foul hookers went so had a rig to fish up in the water should the need arise. Not going to explain the rest of the day as after 90mins my no.4 section had rolled of the platform I was perched on and with my spare being at home meant I was limited  to my top 3 only! I did have a carp of 4lb down the edge and a 1lb plus skimmer just past my keepnets but with a big black cloud on the horizon I chose to count my losses and call it a day before I got soaked, Pete has a lad who is going to have a look for it in the week and I hope he has the pleasure of finding it for me as I offered him a reward should he be lucky enough to retrieve it for me. A bad weekend for myself as I was meant to take a trip to Hillview yesterday but changed my mind as the forcast wasn't good in the area and I didn't fancy risking being lit up like an Christmas tree by the lightening whilst holding the pole"

Sometimes its best to have a weekend off now and again and something was telling me it should of been today" So by 13.30  I was packed up and back in the car to pick the wife up before heading to the pub for a couple of pints, I heard Tom Magnel won the match off peg 14 with 82lb after taking a trip to Viaduct and not drawing well so decided to grab a late draw here which worked out for him today.          

Acorn Individual League Final Round.

All to play for today as the league was very close with those who had a bad start creeping up the leader board after dropping there worst result.

 

After a nice breakfast at the on site café it was time for the draw and after Tuesdays match I was hoping to draw peg 40 again as I felt confident of catching well off of it shallow towards the bridge, As I picked out my peg I gave it a little rub praying it was my wanted number and low and behold it was" GOD is Certainly on my side at the moment! (Or so I thought).

When I arrived I decided to trim some vegetation from the inside bank towards the next pallet but disaster one happened and I didn't realise the bank sloped off and ended up to my knees in water! Owe well at least I new the depth without having to plum up hey".

All I set up today was two rigs to fish at different depths along the bridge being a 4x10 Chanti and a preston PB1 if they on a long line for swinging both on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 wide gape pellet hook. The same rigs could be used tight to my inside bank where I planned to feed caster and fish worm over the top later in the day, And another rig to fish tight to the bank at 14mts around 6mts away from the bridge which happened to be a swim I trimmed out on Tuesday but didn't need to use although Bob Gullick did say I wouldn't need it as I would sack up from next to the bridge??.

 Nick Harvey, Myself, And Mark Broomsgrove on my bridge peg.

At the all in I cupped a palmfull of micro pellet and hemp across to the 14mt line tight to the bank and began in the middle of the bridge around 18inches deep with a banded 6mm pellet on the hook feeding the same, After 15 bite less mins I soon switched to the swinging rig to the far end of the bridge but again it failed to produce but I wasn't to worried as I didn't catch near the bridge to start with on Tuesday. I decided to try my 14mt line with corn on the hook to start as by now Andy France on peg 38 had 3 better fish from his similar line already, 

 Andy France.

   I soon switched to a 4mm expander pellet which gave me 2 carp of 2lb a piece before it slowed up and I re-fed the same before switching back to the bridge, By now we were 90mins into the match and I fully expected to be catching beside the bridge but after a chub, roach and an F1 it was telling me thing weren't the same as the last match and Ken Rayner on the opposite side of the bridge peg 6 was also struggling. I felt I was already falling behind as I could see others in my section had caught fish already so decided to go back on the 14mt line on the expander but cupping in a cadpot full of dampened micro and hemp over the top, This seemed to work and I had 5 better fish to 6lb on the trot before they wised up and I re-fed a larger amount and left it to settle again.

Back to the bridge and I couldn't believe I still couldn't muster a bite at any depth (How things can change in a few days").

Back to the long line rig near the end off the bridge also was a waste of time and I was beginning to wish I had another line trimmed across to my left at 16mts so I could drop in there when the 14mt line slowed but it wasn't to be and I had to make the most of the 14mt line as much as I could for the remainder of the match as my bridge swims gave me one carp all day" and I never had a bite down the edge where I had fed heavy with caster all day! At the all out I didn't have clue what weight I had but thought I might have around 45lb as I don't use a clicker or count my fish as I'd rather be thinking about catching my next one' Mark Broomsgrove on fancied peg 7 after its won two rounds of this series including the last match set the ball rolling with 64lb and after a 50lb and some high 40lbs I was hoping I had more than I thought to get good points and after two weighs I was pleased to end the match with 60lb meaning I finished second in the section behind Mark. My points results for the series read 10,9,9,9,7. and with my worst result 5 being dropped.

Back to the results and the man of the moment young Louis Jones over on peg 17 catch tight to the far bank between the bulrushes with paste on the hook to take the top weight of the series with 100lb picking up an extra £50.

 Winner Louis Jones.

 

It was still going to be close with the overall standings and after a good bit of working out and a well run series by Paul Faires & Chris Fox the final results showed that Mark Broomsgrove had taken the series with a total of 45pts (Although Mark Bartlett stood in for him on the first match and won his section with the points counting for mark!???) Shame Des Shipp was busy today or he could of fished my last match". Anyway 2nd spot went the way of Tom Thick and Myself on 44pts  although tom took it on weight advantage meaning I finished 3rd overall picking up £150 along with £40 for 2nd in the section on the day and another £40 cut from the knock-out which tom won and we agreed to do a 60/40 split on so a nice days result and a great end to the series, Bit disappointed to lose a couple of fish today which meant I lost the series by 4lb" but that's fishing and I will do it again next year if on again.

 Overall winner Mark Broomsgrove.

 Knock-Out Winner Tom Thick.

 Part Of my catch.

 

 

 

 

Full results on day -

1st Louis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 17, 100lb 9oz.

2nd Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 38, 80lb.

3rd Tom Thick (Thathers Tackle) peg 2, 77lb 10oz.

4th Bob Gullick (Blackmore Vale) 68lb 15oz.

Silvers -

Dave Wride  (Sensas Thyers) peg 16lb 6oz.

 

Overall league Results -

1st Mark Broomsgrove 45pts.

2nd Tom Thick 44pts (Weight)

3rd Dom Sullivan 44pts .

4th Louis Jones 43pts (weight)

5th Glen Calvert 43pts.

6th Pete Bartlett 42pts.

7th Andy France 41pts (weight)

8th Bob Gullick 41pts.

 Silvers -

1st Paul Faires 49pts.

2nd Charlie Barns 48pts. 

 Charlie with his envelope"

 

    

   

    

 

Acorn Fishery Tuesday Tenner.

After extending the bank holiday by taking a days hols I decided to make the most of it and return to Acorn for the cost cutter match, The forecast was for rain though-out the day and loading the car it was already showing signs of it but when I got to the fishery it was quite pleasant with know signs of wind so a bit different to the last visit! A good turn out of 17 for a Tuesday meant we were going to be spread around the lake and I wasn't to bothered where I would end up but was praying to avoid peg 17 if possible" God must be looking over me at the moment as Bridge peg 40 was stuck to my mitt which I was happy with as it regularly throws up some weights and although the bridge pegs hold a smaller stamp of fish they can be good holding spots.

 

With the weather being warm I fully expected to catch shallow around the middle of the bridge by feeding hard 6mm pellet by hand and fishing banded hard pellet on the hook anywhere from 10inches to a couple of feet deep I set up two rigs for this, One being a 4x10 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 PR434, And a small inline dibber with the same set up. Normally there are signs of fish sucking along the bridge but It wasn't the case today so both rigs could be used to fish the far end of the bridge should the fish back off.

 Not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket, Except for a rig to fish on the deck on the same line should the need arise, I did a bit of trimming before the match along the far bank further to my right at 13mts to give me a line to get in tight to the bank where I planned to start the match as you can see in pic.

 

After Tackling up I did take some pics of the others and had a visit from what must be a relative of Gary Cross coz last time I saw him he looked just as scruffy"

 

 

At the all-in I fed a palm full of groundbait with some hard 4mm pellet in over to the new 13mt line tight to the bank in 18inches of water and started the day fishing 12inches deep in the middle of the bridge feeding a few hard 6mms and fishing the same on the hook, After 20mins I only had 1 F1 but wasn't to worried as it can take some time for them to respond to the feed so I switched to the 13mt swim I had already fed with a 4mm expander on the hook, I added 3 carp to 3lb before I felt the need to re-feed it and switch back to fishing the bridge.

By feeding a few 6mm all the time by hand I was into a run of fish of all sizes including some more F1s but at least I was catching and on these pegs its best just to keep putting something in the net, I found it best to change depth after every couple of fish which worked for a while but they didn't take kindly to much of a bashing so I chose to add some sections and flick the rig further towards the far side of the bridge, This worked a treat and I added a couple of bigger fish to 5lb without feeding anything"

Halfway through I thought somebody was creeping up behind me only to find Tarquin' The Turkey" having a nose through my net-bag though I don't know if you agree but it some what resembled Charlie Barns??! lol (Only Joking Mate,)

 (Tarquin).

 Most of the remaining match I concentrated switching between the long and shorter lines shallow by the bridge and by feeding shorter and going longer when they slowed up helped me add fish right up to the whistle, One thing I did pick up on was when I fished the in-line dibber rig shallow I did miss a few bites and a switch to fishing the slimmer Chanti with the shot bulked right under the float saw me connect to a lot more which I put down to the fish feeling the resistance more with the dibber style rig.

At the weigh-in a few people were admitting to a few fish and the first big weight went the way of Paul Faires over on peg 4 fishing the feeder and pellet to the far bank taking 92lb, Next to better that was Gabrial Skarba Just missing out on a 100lb from bridge peg 33 catching shallow and later in the day down his inside edge on pellet, I was last to weigh in and my 7lb of silvers added to my carp gave me a total of 104lb for first on the day, so by not worrying so much about the size of the fish worked for me today adding another £34 to the wallet along the way.

 Part of my catch.

 

So a good day all round for myself without having to battle with any wind for a change and with this peg being in my section for the last round of the individual league this coming Sunday if the weather remains the same I'll happily settle for it again" There were some good silvers weights today with Phil (Fabio) Harding ending up with a nice net of F1s, Tench and Skimmers from peg 22 to total 45lb caught over worm and caster.

Phil (Fabio)

 

Full Results-

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 40, 104lb 8oz.

2nd Gabrial Skarba (un-attached) peg 33,  99lb 15oz.

3rd Paul Faries (Sensas Thyers) peg 3,  92lb 4oz.

4th Harry Muir (Over 50's) peg 5, 72lb 2oz.

Silvers -

1st Phil Harding (Avon Angling) peg 22, 45lb 6oz. 

   

 
 

 

 

       

Shiplate Farm Open Hawthorns (Monday)

A later draw time today with it being a bank holiday and after scooting around trying to find somewhere to have breakfast I gave up and had to settle for a Mc'Donalds muffin meal for a change, A welcome change in the weather with hardly a breeze in the air, What a difference a day makes!, with 13 fishing today for some reason I fancied drawing pegs 10 or 11 so wasn't disappointed to find myself on peg 10 with Gordon Jones to my left on peg 9 and John Hawkins on peg 12, I planned to fish as far to the bank as possible to start but plumming up I had over two feet of water and with the carp milling around near the top I had a feeling foul hookers could be a problem?

. Two up in the water rigs were assembled to fish in the open water and down both my inside lines where the depth was around 5ft and last of all a rig to fish on the deck at 5mts with meat.

At the all in I cupped around 15 cubes of meat on the 5mt line and began to feed both my inside lines by hand with a couple of cubes of 6mm meat, Starting across to the far bank  I fished a single cube of meat on an 18 P478 hook just cad potting a few cubes and some ground expander pellet over the top via a cad pot, after 10mins I had a 4lb common hooked in the top fin' and already I was beginning to get liners so new they weren't happy to feed on the deck, I did try fishing around a foot deep but they were more interested in chasing each other around than taking the bait" I decided to take a more positive approach and feed the swim heavier to try and pin them to the deck but when I got half way across with a larger pot full it felt that somebody had stabbed me in the neck and I froze on the spot' I had came home from work Friday with pain in it and after wrestling with the pole all day Sunday had made things worse so for me it was an easy decision to give up trying to fish right over and a change of plan was on the cards.

with fish milling around all over the lake I gave fishing shallow down the middle of the lake with meat but only had 1 Rudd in 30mins, by now the rushes where I had been flicking a few cubes down my inside swims were showing signs of movement so decided to have a go shallow here instead, I did manage one fish from each swim but the spooked easily and I had to wait for signs of fish before trying them again, most of my match was spent fishing down the edge of pinching the odd fish and also taking a few up in the water further along the bank where they had backed of with some nice commons to 8lb, I did manage two carp on the 5mt meat line in the last 30mins but didn't know how the rest of the lake was fishing except for all the splashing going on from Louis Jones on peg 8 so he had caught well all day. At the weigh-in I managed to put 52lb on the scales which was the top weight until we got to young Lewis who put a superb 117lb on the scales for a very easy win catching all of his fish tight over in inches of water first on the pellet and later on paste so well done mate. I also like to see Louis doing well as when he first started out I took him under my wing and showed him a few things as he was keen to learn and its nice to see he took it all in and added to what he has learnt along the way has had some great results along the way. My weight was enough to finish runner up and £45 added to the wallet along the way so despite choosing to give up fishing across making some different decisions paid off in the long run. Sorry but no pics today as the battery went as I tried to get some photos at the end of the match.

Full Results -

1st Louis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 8, 117lb 2oz

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 10, 52lb 11oz.

3rd Tim Lewis (Shiplate) peg 4, 44lb.

4th Lance Tucker (Sensas Thyers) peg 6, 41lb 11oz.

Silvers - 1st Gordon Jones (Shiplate) peg 9, 7lb 12oz.

               

Acorn Series Rd 5.

After 3 weeks it was back to acorn for the penultimate round of this six match series, The forecast today was for the cloud to clear and to leave us with a pleasant day but on arrival at the fishery I was surprized how much wind was around and being my section was mainly along the straight bank I had a wander around to see which pegs would suit the weather more than the angler" last time I drew this section I had peg 16 and looking how the wind was I was praying not to draw here again as pegs 16 and 17 are set back further from the pegs around meaning a further reach to the far bank. Still stuffed from the over size Chinese last night I skipped breakfast and settled for a cuppa instead, Before the draw Glen and Paul had handed out the overall standings so far with your worst result dropped so to find I was sat in second place with a weight advantage ment there was sill all to play for.

 At the draw Bob Gullick did his best to upset the easy pools entry by presenting them with a £50 note' although I did tell them to check it before they accepted it!

 At the draw I joked with Lance Tucker we would probably end up next to each other as we did in the wind swept last match" and low and behold we did' Lance on 16 which I had on the first match and me on 17" B******S!.

On arrival to my peg I decided to venture around the far bank and prune some of the stick-ups allowing me to fish as tight to the bank as I could reach, Swim number one was fine but after a couple of snip's with the scissors on swim two I heard a plop' as I lent over the lake and my first thoughts were, Owe No Not Another Camera' I pulled my sleeve up only to find it was my mobile PHONE!.

Terrific" Owe well there was no chance of me struggling to answer a call from the missis mid match!.

Tackling up I had two 4x10 Chantis to fish in 12inches water where I had trimmed the far bank at around 15mts on 0.13-0.11 and an 18 Wide Gape Pellet, 

 A diamond body 4x12 rig was assembled to fish the bottom of the first shelf in 3ft of water and the rigs I had to fish in the shallow water across would double up to fish tight to my inside bank either side later in the day. I did have two more rigs assembled being one to fish at 5mts on pellet in-front of me and a rig to fish the bottom of the far shelf if need be but both proved point-less so I wont mention them again.

At the start I decided to fish one swim positive across with caster and a few chopped worms fed with a big pot and started on the left hand gap with a 4mm expander on the hook feeding just a few micro and crushed expander via a cad pot, it took me 15mins before I had my first fish being an F1 of a 1lb followed by a carp of 4lb but I was already struggling to hold the rig in the swim let alone present it' By now anglers around were already trying there shorter lines without success so I stuck at it for the first 90mins adding 2 more carp of the same size before I had to give up as I couldn't even get the rig across which was so frustrating as I new the fish were happy to feed in the shallower water as Lance was fishing away from the bank in the deeper water but was only getting skimmers but had to give up trying aswell,

 Despite trying everything I only caught 2 roach and a small skimmer on any of my shorter lines except for 1 more F1 tight into the bank on my left on worm. From what I could see we were all in the same boat struggling to put anything together and in the last 30mins I decided come what may I wrapped myself around the pole across and added another carp and a 4lb Grass carp'.

It un-believable how we can get up in the morning and the weather forecast  has no mention of wind but you fish in a gale" 

Ending the day with 23lb I had a better day than Lance with him ending up with 11lb and John Osborne next door on peg 18 falling to catch, Ken Rayner over on peg 2 won the section with 48lb and I finished up 4th in the section which wasn't a disaster but a shame the wind ruined it yet again"

Owe And just for the record I left my phone in the windscreen of the car all day and when I re-assembled it low and behold it was in perfect working order" bargain these £9.99 Nokia phones! 

Full Results-

1st Kev Lloyd (Clevedon A.A) peg 7, 90lb 4oz.

2nd Pete Bartlett (un-known) peg 12, 82lb 12oz.

3rd Bela Bakos (Avon Angling) peg 40, 65lb 14oz.

4th Lewis Jones (Sensas Thyers) peg 22, 62lb 8oz.

5th Rob Fogg (Clevedon A.A) peg 6, 60lb 14oz.

Silvers -

1st Paul Faires (Sensas Thyers) peg 5, 24lb 2oz.

     

 

  

  

    

Summerhayes Fishery Longs Lake,

Back to Summerhayes longs lake today as the venue has been fishing well of lake which has helped swell the attendance and with 25 booked in it makes for a good match, Travelling with long time friend Darren (Bigbird) Greenwood today and we stopped of for a nice hilltops breakfast on route before arriving at the fishery in plenty of time for a wander around and a free cuppa before the draw. I wasn't to worried were I would end up today but when peg four was in my hand I was having my doubts as this area hasn't been to good for frame weights so far his year but fish have fins and anything can happen. On arriving at my peg I found out pegs 3 and 5 weren't in today and the annoying part was to fish the far bank into the bay was a full 16mts although the pegs either side were a maximum of 14mts tight to the bank! I planned to start the match at 14mts in-front of the rushes where I found just over 3ft of water as I had a feeling the fish would move across into the wider bay area after a while so I set up a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 with an 18 PR478 to fish a 6mm cube of meat and an identical rig but with a hair rig hook length in-case I had trouble missing bites. A smaller 4x10 in-line dibber was set up to fish into the bay at the full 16mts which was only around 18inches deep but already the pollen on top of the lake was beginning to build up here which meant seeing the float was going to be awkward? Another rig to fish in the open water on my top 4 again to fish meat on the deck and finally a rig to fish towards both empty pallets as tight in as I could get which was still around 4ft deep so my shallow rig for across would be used here if the came up in the water. for company I had Ray Wickham on peg 2 who was going to target the lakes silvers and Aide (Puff The Magic Dragon) Bishop on the corner peg 7, Darren had draw peg 16 which also was 16mts to the island.

At the all in I feed some meat and hemp down both my inside swims and a small ball of crushed expander and 6 pieces of meat onto the 13mt line in-front of the rushes. I started the match on the 5mt line with a single cube of meat feeding just half a dozen cubes over the top, With nothing happening after 10mins I was soon on the 13mt line again with meat, Two skimmers and two pastie carp in the next 45mins followed but I was already having trouble with liners and false bites and a try with the shallow dibber and hair rigged meat made no difference so I had no choice but to switch to the 16mt line in the shallower water. I did manage a couple of fish before the pollen blew right in where I was fishing making it impossible to spot the float and I wasn't until I tried to the left of the bay I realised it was snaggy and I couldn't get the float to settle at all and by now Aide had caught a few fish across to the island but was now having foul hookers and Nick Chedzoy on peg 1 was having a few fish as well as Andy Hembrew on end peg 39 to his right.

I tried the 5mt swim again without success so decided to have a look down the edge sooner than I planned but I didn't spoil much with no early indications, I was getting nowhere by now and knowing the fish were over in the shallow water made me switch to a banded 6mm pellet on the hook and take the chance I could hook some fish without seeing the float as such by firing some 4mm hard pellet over the top, again this worked for a couple of fish before they spooked and I had to rest it again. Now this is where the fun began as I decided to have a look down my inside again towards the right hand pallet after a couple of minutes without a bite I decided to pour a cuppa and feed some meat down to my left by hand so I rested the rig on the reeds with the rig still in the water, No sooner had I turned to throw some meat in my pole shoot off the reeds with a fish attached heading for the pallet" I franticly reached out to attempt to grab the end of the pole but completely missed it and fell head first in the lake!!!, After a bit of wading I managed to reach the end of the pole only to find the

fish had gone around the pallet and snapped me as it charged for Rays Inside line" Marvellous!...

I clambered out total wet though to the laughter of all those present and it didn't take long for the news to spread around the whole lake' although I was thankful it was lovely and warm so I had chance to dry out so after putting my boots in the sun and my socks on my seatbox legs" I was ready to try again..

I re-fed the somewhat spoilt inside line but after all the commotion needless to say my inside lines didn't really produce except for a couple of fish going into the last hour, It was a shame with the pollen and poor light I couldn't fish the 16mt line properly and it wasn't until the last 15mins a shadow was cast on the swim and I had two fish in the last two put-ins! A bit of a disaster day for me really but except for my pants I was nearly dry at the end of the match" I did weigh-in though  and ended the day with 21lb odd to take a quid off Birdy and (Trolley Thief) Nick Harvey, Winner on the day went to Andy Hembrew with 50lb catching long and short on his inside swims with a variety of baits ahead of Nick Chedzoy on the next peg also catching down his edge finishing with 40lb, The silvers went the way of Ray Wickham with 13lb catching mainly on the worm over groundbait.

 Winner Andy Hembrew.

 Full Results -

1st Andy Hembrew  (Clevedon A.A?) peg 39, 50lb 15oz.

2nd Nick Chedzoy (Preston Innovations Thatchers) peg 1, 40lb 13oz.

3rd Martin Heard (Summerhayes) peg 9, 40lb 11oz.

4th Jim Jenner (Summerhayes) peg 35, 38lb 5oz.

Silvers -

1st Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 2, 13lb 8oz.

2nd Bruce Hunt (Tiverton) peg 26, 9lb 12oz.

 

The lake fished harder than of late probably due to the fish getting ready to spawn but it was a close match and everybody had a few fish, Back for round 5 of the Acorn league next Sunday and looking forward to it.