Shiplate Farm Xmas Match (All Lakes)

After The works Xmas knees-up last night I was fearing the worst thinking I would be in no fit state with a banging hangover but I wasn't to bad, must be something to do with age as I called it time at 10pm but after 5hrs I must have consumed well over the weekly recommendation! With the match held over both canal lakes & the main lake I would wait and see where I was before thinking what I would do. I was hoping for the noted pegs 1 & 15 on the main lake or the lower numbers on Hawthorns as it was the most productive at this time last year, I ended up on peg 15 hawthorns which wasn't where I wanted to be due to the fact Owners Steve & Carol recently had a leek repaired as well as extending a new lake right where I was pegged so I felt the fish would pushed into the lower numbers with the disturbance but we would see? With peg 14 empty I had a bit of room to fish down the edge at 11mts but it was deep at around 7ft so set up a 4x16 chanti on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 808 hook,

 

I set up a 4x10 & 4x12 chanti to fish across to the far bank vegetation both on 0.11-0.10 and 18 63-13 hooks in around 4ft of water where I plumed up a few lines to find the same depth but only planned to feed one area to start with to gauge a response.

For company I had Fishery resident Steve (Peanut) Howell on peg 13, I say resident as I recon all the work going on is making way for him to have a mud hut built to save him having to go home! He keenly challenged me to a quid, Before informing me he drew the same peg last match!" Great..'
At the all-in fed a few 4mm hard pellet down the inside swim and started the match close to the far bank reeds feeding just a few dead maggots via the cad pot on the pole and fished two dead red maggots on the hook. It took me 10mins to get my first proper indication, A half ounce perch" and the first hour wasn't much better as I added a chub of 3oz and a carp of 8oz! Peanut was already admitting to 3 carp so taking the quid looked grim' My head wasn't quite on it as last nights session was catching up with me and as well as feeling a bit peaky I had a banging head so took ten minutes out to take some tablets and have a cuppa. I decided to start a new swim off to my left by feeding some micro and maggot together but again all I had were a few missed bites and some tiny perch so things were looking disappointing? It wasn't until we were over two hours in I hooked my first carp which was somewhere in the wrong place as it took off" and I had the same happen shortly after but at the 3rd attempt I had a 3lb fish in the chops! At Last".

With over half the match gone I decided it was time to try my inside swim so started with corn on the hook feeding a few grains of corn over the top with a small ball of micro pellet, I had been feeding the odd few pellets with the catty though-out the match but was hoping to draw the fish right into my bait. It didn't take long and 10mins later had a carp of 4lb but nothing followed so gave my far lines another try but only had another carp and a 6oz roach off the new far bank swim. going into the last hour I expected to catch a few more fish down my inside but was disappointed to finish up with just 2 more and nothing from my far lines.
it turned out Peanuts flying start was short lived as he only added a few silvers for the rest off the match" so when my total went 20lb odd to his 10lb I was soon keen to pick up my nugget! as expected the lower end of the lake threw up the best weights with the top 3 only separated by one fish with Matt Tainton coming out on top from peg 4 with 50lb mainly catching down the edge with maggot closely followed by Russ Pecker with another 50lb weigh so a good close frame to end the match, I don't think there was much else I could of done to catch any more as they just didn't seem to be there in any numbers but the weather held up and it was still an enjoyable day with carol laying on free food afterwards back at the hut before the results which was golly good of them.
Well that's all the fishing I plan to do this side of Christmas but have a two day pairs silvers only match on Viaduct next Sunday & Monday with team mate Don Sutherland so looking forward to having some time off work over the festive period. Merry Xmas to you all and thanks for the support as the blog has been running a year now so Ile do that stats for the soon  to see how I got on??.
Final Results -
1st Matt Tayton (Bristol) peg 4 Hawthorns, 50lb 14oz.
2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 9 Hawthorns, 50lb 12oz.
3rd Des (Smiley) Shipp (Preston Innovations) peg 3 Hawthorns, 49lb 8oz.
4th Rich Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 10 Hawthorns, 41lb 4oz.

 

 

            

 

  

     

Emerald Silvers League, Final Round (Saturday)

Back to Emerald pool for the final league of the silvers league and although I was lucky enough to already have won the league I still wanted to do my best in the last round so was well prepared, Barry Fitchew couldn't make it today leaving just 7 of us so it was decided best to leave out the two pegs facing the wind on fairy island, I let John Barker draw for me today and was pleased to find myself in the deeper water on peg 5 for a change an area I had happened to avoid through-out the series' I was confident the way I had approached the previous rounds was working so didn't see the need to change things much so made up a 4x14 wire wonder on 0.11-0.09 hook-length and an 18 63-13 hook to fish into the open water at 13mts were I had around 5ft of water, And 4x10 chanti to fish on a longer line at 5mts with the same line/hook.

For company I had Andy Gard next to me again on peg 4 and Kev Jeffries on peg 6 where I drew last time, at the all in I began to by feeding on ball of ground-bait laced with casters at 11mts off to my right which would be a bit off a throw-away line as I didn't expect to catch over much feed and started to feed a few casters by hand onto the 5mt line. Starting on the 13mt swim with single maggot on the hook all I fed was a nugget of ground-bait and a couple of maggots over the top via a tosspot attached to the pole, It took me less than 5mins to catch my first fish being a 10oz hybrid followed by a tench of similar size, After this I managed to pick the odd fish off this line for an hour and estimated to have around 5lb in the net, I had a look on the short swim and had a tiny roach and no signs over the ground-bait and caster swim so was soon back on the long line.

From what I could see not that much had been caught but traveling partner Darren on end peg 3 was admitting to 5lb in the first hour so decided to catch as much as I could over small amounts of feed hoping the other swims would produce later in the day, By the half way stage I was up to about 12lb being a mixture of hybrids and a few tench but those who were catching had slowed up a little so just kept plugging away taking the odd fish but what I did notice was I had to keep moving the rig to induce bites. Most of my fish were coming to red or white maggot on the hook although I did have a couple of bonus 2lb skimmers on expander pellet, Going into the last hour Andy next door was having a good run of tench on his short line and did manage a couple of hybrids before losing two tench in a snag I wasn't aware of". The last hour was slow but still added a few more smaller fish to the net and thought I had around 20lb most of which were caught over as much feed as I could fit in my hand", A total contrast to last year were you could throw 3 pints of caster at them just on the short line! Starting the weigh-in at the far end of the lake first to weigh was Ken Rayner on peg 9 who put 17lb odd of mainly tench on the scales followed by Tim Lewis on peg 8 with 19lb odd, I was hoping I hadn't guessed wrong' but was pleased to end up taking the win on the day with 23lb as well as the series with 3 wins and 2 seconds dropping a 3rd to finish on 7pts picking up £145 for the league as well as another £42 for the day so its been a profitable result for me managing to pick up money in each round.

 My catch.

The final placing were very close and with Timmy taking 2nd spot on the day finished runner-up in the series picking up £100 with 17pts followed by Kev Jeffries taking third after drawing with Ken Rayner on 19pts but taking the result on weight count back by 4lbs" picking up £76. I really enjoyed this small series and by keeping things simple I managed to catch well though-out and having the faith without over feeding I would get bites. Thanks to those who fished though-out and although the fishing was harder than last years opens the weather was kind to us.

Match Result -

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 5, 23lb 4oz.

2nd Tim Lewis (Shiplate Farm) peg 8, 19lb 9oz.

3rd Andy Gard (Alcove Angling) peg 4, 18lb 6oz.

4th Ken Rayner (S.W.M.G) peg 9, 17lb 9oz.

 

Final Overall Standings -

(Worst result dropped) 

1st Dom Sullivan, 7pts - £145.

2nd Tim Lewis, 17pts - £100.

3rd Kev Jeffries, 19pts - £76. (weight)

4th Ken Rayner, 19pts.

5th Andy Gard, 22.5pts.

6th Barry Fitchew 26pts

7th Darren Greenwood 26.5pts

8th John Barker 27pts 

9th Simon Price N/A.         

                     

Viaduct Silvers League Rd 6 (Final Round).

After the normal Hilltops Breakfast with traveling partner & team mate Don we arrived at the fishery in plenty of time for me to mix up some ground-bait and have a cuppa before the draw, The match today was to be on Cary, Cambell & Lodge Lakes but with the signs of an overnight frost the fishing was expected to be hard. I did my usual trick of using my height to my advantage sneaking near the front of the draw queue but happen to draw to tickets stuck together' I was short lived for choice though as Gary Webber grabbed the top one ending up on 131 Cambell so I was left on peg 98 Cary which I would of preferred and just so happened to be the peg I drew in the first round"

News on the bank was the match held on here yesterday produced just 5lb as the top silvers weight on are side of the lake so with this in mind I didn't expect to catch any fish short so opted to fish the long pole further than those around me at 16mts and a waggler line into the middle of the lake. I made up two rigs being a 4x14 & 4x12 wire wonder on 0.11-0.09, one with a 18 63-13 hook and the other with an 18 PR434. I also set up a 4x10 rig on a long line to have a look short to begin with. Company wise I had Viaducts Tallest" angler Martin Preston on peg 99 and Sensas Thyers Paul Faires on peg 97 but he was in the next section up and Don happened to draw the other side of him on 96 so at least it was good company.

At the all-in I cupped 4 balls of ground-bait at 16mts with a small amount of casters and chopped' red maggots added (Something Different hey") and 2 balls off to my right with just casters at 12mts where on plumbing up had nearly the same depth but wasn't confident the skimmers would feed this close? Starting with single caster on the short long line rig hoping for a few early small fish didn't see me waste much time and after 5mins I was soon on the waggler with single caster on the hook feeding a few casters and odd grain of corn over the top via the catty, After an hour to say the fishing was hard was an under statement as the only fish caught were a tiny roach each by Don & Paul and me and Martin were still blanking! I did have two bites on the waggler with maggot on the hook which I missed but think it was again small roach grabbing the bait?

After just over an hour I decided to have a look on the long pole with dead maggot on the hook, Well I was amazed when the float went under within seconds and soon netted a 10oz skimmer followed by one of similar size the next put-in so at least I was avoiding the blank" things were slow but I managed to add 2 more in the next 30mins but had to rest the swim so switched back to the waggler. By now Paul had added a few better skimmers also on the waggler and caster but I was struggling to get a bite on it as was Martin mainly I put down to the fact we weren't feeding it regularly enough? I was up to about 6 smaller skimmers by the halfway stage all taken on the long pole line as the short 12mt line didn't produce a bite. The problem was I couldn't feed the waggler line as much as would have liked and with Martin and Paul putting the faith in it by feeding more I struggled to get any indications on it, Martin had managed to add a couple of bigger 2lb fish on corn and Paul was still catching the odd skimmer including one of 3lb on caster so I was hoping my long pole line would produce some late fish?

The rest of the match spent on the waggler with corn on the hook which produced just 1 fish, A 1lb perch!, and the long pole line, A couple more small skimmers on the pole line were added and it wasn't until the last 30mins when the light faded things got interesting' I added a 1lb & 2lb fish in two chucks before I hooked a better skimmer which came off after a few seconds" so with time running out I added a small nugget of ground-bait via a tosspot attached to the pole over the float and hooked another as soon as the rig settled' And would you believe it I lost another good skimmer! Its amazing I hadn't bumped or lost a fish all day then this happens? I've had the same happen on most of this series and if its not frustrating enough with the weights being so close though-out it can turn out to be costly point wise.

At the weigh-in Bob Gullit was winning the section with 8lb odd before Martin put a level 10lb on the scales catching 5 bigger skimmers on the waggler with corn which turned out to be enough to take the section so well done mate (See I said you would get a mention) lol. I was last to weigh and finished 3rd in the section with a level 8lb so those late lost fish cost me again but that's fishing and I will be keen to try it all again next year being such a popular and talented well run league so a big well done to them, I was hoping for a top ten finish being my first attempt and I think I was close unding the league with 12pts. As expected the weights were down with 16lb winning the match but it again was a very close frame.

It was a very close call for the overall series and old team mate Gary O'shea from Preston innovations Thatcher's showed his consistency though-out the league ending the day with another section win to take the title along with the heaviest overall single weight caught which boosted his wallet further" So well done mate, The runners up spot was taken by last years winner and Mr consistent Tony Rixon Followed by Viaduct's Dan Squires in 3rd. 

 Winner Gary O'Shea left with Runner-up Tony Rixon.

Back to Emerald pools next Saturday for the final round of the silvers league followed by Shiplate Farms Xmas match next Sunday but that could be interesting as I'm out with the lads works do next Saturday evening!??.

Full Daily Results - 

1st Dan Squires (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 59 Lodge, 16lb 14oz.

2nd Sam Powell (Exeter) peg 64 Lodge, 16lb.  

3rd Paul Faires (Sensas Thyer's) peg 97 Cary, 13lb

4th Craig Edmond's (Avon Angling) peg 126 Cambell, 12lb 14oz.

5th Gary O'Shea (P.I Thatchers) peg 111 Cambell, 12lb 13oz.

Final Overall League -

1st Gary O'Shea (P.I Thatchers) 6pts

2nd Tony Rixon (Mosella) 7pts (Weight)

3rd Dan Squires (Bait-tech Viaduct) 7pts

4th Craig Edmonds (Avon Angling) 8pts (Weight) 

5th Bob Gullit (Garbolino B.V.M.G) 8pts

6th Paul Elms (Avon Angling) 9pts (Weight)

7th Gary Webber (P.I Thatchers) 9pts.

 

 

 

 

   

                               

Emerald Silvers League Rd 5.

Back to emerald pool today for the 5th round of the silvers league but after a hard overnight frost followed by a bright sunny morning wasn't going to make things easy for sure so the breakfast at the normal hilltops with Darren (Big Bird) Greenwood was very welcome although he managed to put another belly buster away before I was halfway thought the standard!"

With the league down to 8 of us now I still left the 9 pegs we started with in the bag and left Kev Jeffries decide my fate by drawing for me ending up on peg 6 again!

I was hoping to be a bit further up the lake where its a lot deeper than the 3ft I had but I had done well before so was confident of a few fish despite the frost, I set up 2 4x12 wire wonder floats on 0.11-0.09 and a 18 63-13 hook were I planed to start the day at about 10mts, A 0.3g PB2 on the same line/hook where I plumed-up at 13mts but didn't plan to feed anything here to start with, An finally a 4x10 chanti on 0.10-0.08 and a 20 PR434 hook on a long line to fish off to my right over loose fed casters. Company wise I had Darren on peg 5 (So could have good banter") and Ken Rayner down on peg 8 in the conifers but I couldn't see him. At the all-in I fed a few casters off to my right near the over hanging conifer and started at 10mts in the open water feeding just a small dry nugget of ground-bait via a cad-pot attached to the pole and started with a single red maggot on the hook. I missed a bite after 15mins followed by another 4 in the next hour then I connected to my first fish' A 5lb carp! Great...

Looking around I had seen Ken net some tench and Darren & Barry Fitchew had caught above me in the deeper water and I was beginning to get a little worried" I had tried the shorter caster line without a sniff and after 90mins I was out at 13mts searching for something? After 2 hours I had my first fish at 13mts, Another carp! and things were really not looking good as I was still to catch any silvers' I kept at it by feeding a couple of dead maggots & small nuggets of ground-bait and on the 10 & 13mt swims and switching between them.

After 2 and a half hours I finally caught a hybrid of 10oz on the 13mt swim on a single maggot followed by another smaller fish straight after" At least now I had something to work at as those who seemed to have had early fish were now struggling so with not much being caught I could make some in-roads. I was very cautious of how much I fed and didn't feed anything until I couldn't get a bite and slowly I began to add the odd Hybrid/Skimmers, I kept feeding the swims in turn and did manage to catch a couple of fish from the shorter swim but it took longer for any indications so most of the last 90mins were spent on the longer 13mt swim catching fish on and off until the all out, Darren's swim had slowed right up and I felt that I had enough to overtake him, Although Ken's swim had slowed later in the day I new he had a good first few hours so that would of helped, I did have a bit of a disaster at one point as my landing net handle came apart and started to sink as I went to net a hybrid over a 1lb, I asked Darren to help me scoop it back whilst I tried to scoop the fish by hand' Nope" it came off but after we managed to retrieve my net Darren returned to find his rig snagged to the bottom and as he tugged at it swearing at me' it flew out straight out and tangled in the over head tree.." I didn't laugh much!  Starting the weigh-in on fairy island Andy Gard on peg 1 had 6lb odd before Barry was top on are bank with 8lb odd, I new it would be close but didn't pay much attention to what I was putting in the net but was pleased to end up with 10lb before Ken finished up with 14lb odd of mainly tench to take top spot on a very hard day. It was a surprise to finish in 2nd spot on the day but I got the result after working at it and not panicking and dumping bait in" also worth £40 back as well as 2pts on the day which now looks as though I cant get caught for the overall league although the overall pay-outs for 2nd & 3rd are now very close with 3 anglers tied on 15pts after dropping there worst results so weight count back could come into play in the final round in two weeks time. One nice thing about this time of the year is the amount of tame Robins that are around to grab any free offerings of bait' as this little fella was doing on my landing net handle".

 

 Winner ken Rayner.

 

Full results -

1st Ken Rayner (Southwest Match Group) peg 8, 14lb 4oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 6, 10lb.

3rd Barry Fitchew (Pole Repairs) peg 4, 8lb 7oz.

4th Kev Jeffries (PSV) peg 3, 6lb 9oz.

Overall standings after 5 matches (Worst Result Dropped).

1st Dom Sullivan 6pts.

2nd Kev Jeffries 15pts, 109lb 7oz.

3rd Tim Lewis 15pts, 106lb 15oz.

4th Ken Rayner 15pts, 94lb 3oz.

5th Barry Fitchew 17pts

6th Andy Gard 19.5pts

7th Darren Greenwood 20.5pts

8th John Barker 22pts. 

                   

Viaduct silvers League Rd 5.

After deciding to have a Saturday off fishing I was looking forward to round 5 of this popular silvers league although this morning I didn't seem to have the enthusiasm  but was sure I would be more up for it by the time we arrived, Traveling with team-mate Don we had are normal hilltops breakfast before making the way to the fishery and as Don had fished yesterdays knock-up on Cambell lake the news of Gary Webber winning the silvers from peg 125 with 31lb of skimmers had me hoping for a draw in that area along with the other noted areas on the remaining lakes Lodge & Cary. After managing to sneak towards the front of the draw, with my size helping as nobody see's me" lol , I couldn't believe it when I only went and drew 125! Happy with the draw I felt that my main target was to be Skimmers on the long pole on a couple of different lines and a waggler fished slightly further out towards the middle of the lake.

For Company I had Andy Gard on peg 124 & local lad Geraint Powell on peg 126 who was in the next section but both these swims were vacant yesterday in the knock-up which could of made a difference? but at least I new there were skimmers in the area so felt I would still catch a few.  first of all I set up a 3AAA waggler with an 0.10 bottom and an 18 PR434 hook followed by A 4x12 & 4x14 Wire wonder pole float on 0.11-0.09 and an 63-13 hook, these were to be fished at 14 & 12mts in around 5ft of water both sides of me at 10 & 2o'clock angles, and last of all a 4x10 chanti on a long line to fish short with caster.

At the all in I cupped 4 balls with some dead reds and casters added on the 14mt line and two balls onto the 12mt swim with some chopped worm and dead pinkees added. I decided to start short just flicking a few casters in by hand after firing a few grains of corn onto the waggler swim towards the middle. I was soon catching the odd roach to 4oz and in the 1st hour seemed to doing ok but it wasn't long before a few had ventured onto there long pole lines and I notice Anton page & on peg 127 and the guy on peg 123 in my section have a decent skimmer straight away so with me now only catching the odd small roach I soon shipped out starting with a single caster tipped with a pinkee on the hook, I couldn't believe it when the float slid away only for me to bump of a big skimmer straight away! And even more hacked of when I did the same on single maggot 15mis later!" I had re-elasticated a couple of tops this week but soon swapped it' but after another 15mins bite-less I topped it up with another ball and tried the 12mt swim with just a couple of small skimmers & roach showing on single maggot after 20mins I tried the 14mt line again with a single maggot.

A couple of 12oz skimmers were soon added but again I bumped one of after lifting the rig to twitch it not realising it must of been sat there with the bait in its mouth!? This also happed later in the day and both times I was just a couple inches over depth and never had an indication on the float". I fully expected the last couple of hours to be productive on the long pole lines but it just didn't happen and I only had 1 bigger skimmer of 2lb in the net all day losing 6 in total including one 5mins from time shipping back" I missed another bite soon after and it seemed a few fish had turned up but it was to late. I had tried the waggler through the day but didn't have a bite on corn and just a missed bite on caster but had a few skimmers to a 1lb of both long lines in the end but it turned out to be a hard day which had to be expected as it turn out to be a bright and wind free day which didn't help. Geraint had struggled the same as me weighing 8lb odd off peg 126 but wasn't in my section, I had 9lb 12oz before Andy weighed 12lb odd catching most of his fish short with a few bonus fish along the way before Sam Powell on peg 123 went on to win the section with ease with 18lb odd of skimmers and small fish taken on the long pole with Squatts on the hook. 

It turned out Andy's Weight was enough to take second in the section so ruling losing those fish today after sitting and waiting so long for a bite. I fully expected to catch bigger skimmers later in the day and in hind sight I would of been better of sticking to the small fish closer in when I couldn't get bites as the pattern seemed to be you would get indications as soon as you left a line to settle for a while. I could still make a top ten finish after dropping today last in section! whoops" but it proves the class of anglers in this league Tony Rixon , Steve Kedge & Gary O'Shea are all tying for the lead Having 4 section wins each after dropping there worst result! The lakes all fished harder today and Paul Elmes took the honours from peg 70 on lodge lake with 20lb 13oz but the back up weights were very close with just a good fish separating the top 6". Back for the final round in two weeks but will be keeping a bit more of an open mind rather than thinking it will work.

Full Results -

1st Paul Elms (Avon Angling) peg 70 lodge, 20lb 13oz.

2nd Paul Cardwell (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 68 lodge, 20lb 7oz.

3rd Gary O'Shea (P.I Thatchers) peg 115 Cambell, 20lb 6oz.

4th Steve kedge (Somerset Angling) peg 97 Cary 19lb 10oz.

5th Tony Rixon (Mosella) peg 77 Lodge 18lb 10oz.

 

 

 

 

Viaduct Fishery Open Match.

Back to Viaduct with Don today for the open match, After the usual hilltops breakfast on route we arrived to find there were 24 booked in so the match would be spread over Cambell & Cary lake and choice wise I fancied Cary so was happy to find myself on the lake peg 99 but the spooky part was Donald had draw peg 100 which happened to be the same peg he drew last week in the silvers league'.

Don decided he was going to fish for carp so I was happy to target silvers giving Don a bit more room to play with as I decided not to set a waggler because yet again I drew under a tree which meant casting out would be awkward and knowing my luck I would end up attached to it at some stage", Keeping it simple I plumbed up a swim at 12mts off to my right were I set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook and another swim at 14mts In front of me were it was slightly deeper at just over 4ft were I used a 4x14 wire wonder on the same line with a PR434 hook. Last of all I had a 4x10 chanti again on the same line with a 20 63-13 hook to fish short on a long line at 4mt in front of me and under the tree with loose fed casters.

At the all-in I fed 4 balls of ground-bait on the 14mt line with a few dead red maggot & casters added and 2 balls on the 12mt line with some chopped worm and pinkees, Starting on my short line feeding just a few loose casters by hand I had a 6oz roach first dob-in which was a good start but after 30mins I only had 8 slightly smaller roach and with Dan Squires on peg 96 already having a few net skimmers on the waggler I switched to the 12mt line with a single red maggot to start with. After 15mins I had 2 x 8oz skimmers followed by a couple of small roach so fed another ball and ventured out onto the 14mt line with caster on the hook, Things were slow to start but after 90mins I had a better skimmer over a 1lb and a smaller sample soon after then I couldn't get a bite so decided to add some more bait which looking back now I fell was a mistake as when I went back on it 30mins later after some more small fish of my short line it seemed devoid of fish as I couldn't get a bite on anything. I think I should of left it as I had already had signs of fish over my initial feed and was a bit quick topping it up!.

Back on the 12mt line I had a couple more 1lb skimmers over the next 40mins and from what I could see nobody was setting the world alight, Scott Russell next to me on peg 97 had targeted carp from the off but was yet to have one and Don had 1 on the bomb but was now fishing the waggler with corn on the hook into the middle of the lake and interestingly was having the odd skimmer of good size" I kept glancing up wishing I had set the waggler up after all but still think I would have struggled casting so after have the match gone I had to hope the bigger skimmers would turn up later in the day, It was basically a case of patience for the rest of the match and by switching between both lines for the rest of the day taking the odd fish of each, I did have what I'm sure was a Big eel attached on the longer line at one stage but after a few seconds it must of just been holding the bait as the two red live maggots I had on the hook at the time came back dead and bitten! The last hour was best for me adding 3 big skimmers to 3lb off the 12mt line on maggot and a couple of smaller samples on caster from the 14mt line, Although it seemed to me as Don's attempt to catch carp on the wag turned out to be perfect for the skimmers as he caught well throughout the day adding a few late Carp to boot.

When the scales arrived Don was first to weigh and finished up with 25lb of Silvers along with 4 carp for a total of 64lb odd, My turn and I ended up with 22lb of silvers so Don's choice would of certainly helped me today and it paid off for him as it turned out it was enough for 1st in the silvers and 2nd overall on the day for a nice pick-up as well as a place in next years silvers final meaning that's us both in on the last 2 matches" Result!.

With Don winning the silvers pool it meant that the prize money for second was going to be close? Owe it was" As 22lb 13oz was 2nd and my 22lb 9oz was fifth! lol, Owe well it happens but enjoyed the day and hopefully did learn a bit more going into next weeks round of the silvers league.

Dan Squires went on to win the match with some big carp on the bomb but the weather had taken effect as the weights were down and poor Scott next to me didn't hook a carp all day but I managed to hook 3 and nearly" landing one breaking my hook-length at the last min which was probably a good thing as it didn't look like it would fit in the landing net!

Full Result -

1st Dan Squires (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 96 Cary, 77lb.

2nd Don Sutherland (Maver/Cabury Angling) peg 100 Cary, 64lb 7oz.

3rd Dave (Unknown) peg 127 Cambell, 46lb 7oz.

Silvers - Don Sutherland (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 100 Cary, 25lb.

                                         

Emerald Silvers League Rd.4

With Darren picking me up we had a trip to hilltops for him to pig out on the belly buster' before making are way to the fishery in plenty of time to do the pegging out, What was noticeable was the water level was up at least 6inches from the last match and the colour had also dropped out, I wasn't expecting the weights what we had last winter although I was sure there were a few fish to be caught with a somewhat gentle approach? I let Barry draw for me today and fancied the first few pegs on the far bank but found myself on the peg facing back up the lake on the far end bank but it can produce anywhere so would still target my swim the same way.

 After a heavy shower for 5mins before the draw when I got to my peg the sun had came out which was nice but I was limited as to where to plum-up with all the shadows caused by the trees so my main line would be at around 10mts in the clear shadow seen in the pic above.

the depth is slightly shallower at this end of the lake and I had just short of 4ft so set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook. the same rig would be used off towards my right into the shadow of the bridge which hopefully aid me to see the float in the same depth of water.

 I also set a 4x10 chanti on 0.11-0.08 with the same pattern hook to fish over the same lines if the fish were to come off bottom through the day. last of all 3x8 chanti to fish up in the water down my inside left were I planned just to loose fed a few casters by hand. At the all in I cupped two balls of ground-bait with some dead red Maggot & Casters added towards the bridge and started in front of me with single red maggot on the hook just cupping in a nugget of fishmeal ground-bait and a few dead reds via a tosspot attached to the pole right over the float and waited. I could see a few fish being netted from the off further up the lake and after 15mins I had a tench about 10oz's, After an hour I was up to 6 tench and 4 hybrid/skimmers but from what I could see nobody was catching fast and my bites were becoming more frequent, 2hrs gone and I was doing well having fifteen tench in total from bars of soap up to 1lb but by now the sun had come up behind me and despite trying the line towards the bridge it was impossible to see any colour float' As expected things began to slow down and the tench had disappeared and it seemed that Andy Gard over on peg 8 was now catching a few after a slower start.

 Andy.

 

I new it would be a case of catch what ever I could for the rest of the match so feed a new line 3ft off to my left with some micro and ground-bait and left it whilst I tried my inside caster line where I had a hybrid then a large carp which wrecked the inside before snapping the hooklength" so spend the rest of the match switching between the (Now 3) long lines managing to pinch fish off each with the sun now not being an issue catching mainly hybrids with the odd tench. After 5 hours I couldn't see what had been caught further up but new Andy had a good late run of tench so it would be close and I estimated to have around 20lb but its hard to tell here as there all sizes" so hoped to have a bit more as I said I thought 20lb would be a good weight on the day.

 

Starting on the small island Ken Rayner said he had a lot of carp problems ending with nearly 10lb, before Barry Fitchew on the opposite bank next to the bridge weighed 22lb, That was top weight until Andy had 25lb odd and I was sure he had enough to win on the day. 

 

 Andy Gard's Catch.

 

I new it would be close but was happy to end up just taking to win on the day with just over 27lb so working at it an finding a few extra fish paid off, For this prolific fishery I still don't think we have seen the best of it this year as there are still a fair few carp to be hooked and I enjoy the days where you have to keep on your toes and try and gauge what's going on around you,

 

 My catch of mainly tench.

 

A great result in the league for me with 2 rounds to go, adding £56 to the wallet along the way and with two weeks until the next round with the forecast of colder weather on the horizon it could fish well'. Cant go without giving Darren a mention & he was brimming with confidence before we started after drawing the peg I had last match.. Lets just say things didn't go to plan but he took it well' Although I reckon its because he had indigestion all Day after woofing the fry-up! lol.

 

Full results -

1st Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 9, 27lb 4oz. 

2nd Andy Gard (Alcove Angling) peg 8, 25lb 11oz.

3rd Barry Fitchew (Pole Repairs) peg 3, 22lb 13oz.

4th Kev Jeffries (PSV) peg 4, 18lb 8oz.

 

 

Overall Standing after 4 matches with worst result dropped -

1st Dom Sullivan, 4pts.

2nd Tim Lewis, 9pts.

3rd Kev Jeffries, 11pts.

4th John Barker, 13pts.

5th Barry Fitchew, 14pts.

5th Ken Rayner, 14pts.

7th Darren Greenwood, 14.5pts.

8th Andy Gard 16pts.

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

  

 

   

   

Viaduct Thursday Cost Cutter Match.

After managing to arrange a day off work this week along with traveling partner Don we decided to take a trip to viaduct for the cost cutter match, With the entry pools only £12 including peg fee it wasn't a case of fishing for the money today more of using it as a practice to try a few different things as well as having a go at the lakes carp should I be lucky enough to draw near them? lol, The added bonus was there were places up for grabs in next Autumn's Carp & Silvers Big Money Finals for the winner of each today.

I was still assembling the kit on the trolley when I realised the draw was taking place and by the time I got there only two tickets were left in the tin, As I pulled one out fishery manager Paul said was I sure I wanted it' or chance the other? I stuck with it and I found myself on peg 129 Cambell which happens to be an area I cant get away from at the moment on this lake just below the spit, I don't know what the other side looks like! Owe and the other peg happened to be 110 which is the opposite side of the lake - end peg" Bummer..!

We all had plenty of room though as the match was split over Cambell & Cary Lakes so had a choice to target Carp to start with but wanted to have a couple of silvers lines if I felt need to use them. The light was a bit awkward as I set up and I would struggle to see a waggler in the shadows so set a bomb rod up to fish hair rigged punched meat towards the middle of the lake on a 12inch 0.15 hook-length and a size 16 hook, A 4x12 Chanti on 0.15-0.13 and an 18 PR478 hook to fish in just over 3ft of water at 8mts where I also planned to fish meat over loose fed meat by hand. Finally 2 pole rigs, 4x12 & 4x14 on 0.13-0.09 one with an 18 63-13 and the heavier rig with an 18PR 434. Both my pole lines were at 15mts at 10-2 o'clock and although the depth was the same it was easier for me to see the float properly and far enough to target the bigger skimmers & Tench rather than catching smaller roach.

At the all-in I cupped two balls in off to my left with caster & some worm added & 4 balls with caster and red maggot on the right had pole line. Starting on the bomb & meat it soon became clear I couldn't cast towards the spit because of the over hanging tree which was a bit frustrating as it seemed to be teaming with carp from the minute we got to are pegs! 

 Yep' Their going Left!

Though I must add Steve & Paul are doing a great job of chopping some of the trees right back and I'm sure they will get around to it soon, I was chucking around the peg from in-front of me and off to my right towards the aerator but it was an hour before I had my first carp of 4lb out of the blue followed by a 2lb tench then nothing despite trying all around and firing a few 6mm cubes out with the catty. After 2hours I couldn't bare staring at the motionless tip any longer and by now the guys opposite had already had a few fish as well as Chris Rolf on end peg 131 below me. I couldn't see how I was going to catch up doing what I was so decided to switch my attention to the long pole lines in the hope of some silvers.

Starting on the left hand swim with double caster on the hook I gave it 10mins before switching to the lighter rig with single red maggot on the hook. I had a couple of 6oz skimmers before a few small roach followed so I topped it up with another ball and tried the right hand line but the same happened and nothing of any size was added, I felt there would be bigger fish in the area so took a more positive line with the right hand swim and fed a large cup of dry ground-bait and casters and left it to settle for as long as I could. A try back on the bomb in the hope of another tench saw me have another carp of 6lb' Followed by a small skimmer so 30mins later I tried the left hand pole swim again with double caster to start with, A nice 3lb tench first put in followed by a 2lb skimmer 10mins later before I bumped another soon after had me cursing so rather be keen to re-feed I tried the right hand swim but only added some more small roach so again I was trying the bomb taking another carp first cast then nothing again" with 90mins to go I had to concentrate on the long pole lines catching what I could before re-feeding small amounts and managed to add another tench and some good skimmers including one of 3lb 3mins from the all out" I new from those opposite me hadn't targeted the silvers but didn't know what was caught above the spit or over on cambell although Ian Dunlop the other side of the spit had targeted silvers from the off so would be interesting to see. I estimated to have around 16lb and when the scales arrived I was pleased to end up with 18lb odd, Ian went on to weigh 14lb odd and the top weight Cary was Donald on peg 86 with 13lb odd of blades' meaning not only had I picked up £20 for first in the silvers I qualify for next years silvers final which I will really look forward to (Watch out Andy Power"!) lol. Joking aside I have enjoyed fishing the popular silvers league here at the moment and my target was to try and Qualify for next years match although I didn't expect to do it so soon" Result! All I have to do now is win a match outright to get in the all winners final'?? (that might be easier said then done!) but Ile try".

First on the day went to Ray Bass on peg 125 Cambell (That's Somewhere above the spit?) with 92lb catching mainly on the bomb and bread so well done to him for making the All-Winners I tried to get his photo but he had disappeared so sorry mate. (Managed to get his stunning pic at next match")

 (Winner Ray Bass looking content???)

 

 Emerald to look forward to on Saturday but the weather doesn't look promising but fingers crossed then back at viaduct for the Sunday practice match for the final round of the silvers league though being an open Ile be hoping for a Carpy peg".

Full Result -

1st Ray Bass ( Cheddar Angling Club) Peg 125 Cambell, 92lb 2oz.

2nd Ian (PIGGY) Parsons (Sensas M5 Angling) peg 85 Cary 81lb 3oz.

3rd Chris Rolf (Viaduct) peg 131 Cambell, 79lb 11oz.

Silvers -

Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cabury Angling) Peg 129 Cambell, 18lb 3oz. 

           

                     

Viaduct Silvers league Rd 4.

After The usual hilltops breakfast with Traveling Partner & Team mate Don Sutherland  we arrived in plenty of time for me to mix my ground-bait before the draw as I had all good intentions of doing it last night but after a few bevy's yesterday afternoon with friends I wasn't really in any fit state" The lakes to be used today were Cary, Lodge & Spring lake in place of Cambell this time around and I would be happy to draw the same area of spring as I had last time it was used, I did manage to get myself nearer the front of the draw queue today as after my last draw I felt I had as much chance of a good un" as anybody else?? Into the bucket and I find myself on my favourite number peg 69!', A peg I was more than happy with as its been the area producing the top weights on this lake in the previous rounds with the section being won of next peg 68 on the last match so I felt a lot more positive about the day ahead, Although Nick Chedzoy did comment to me on his way to his swim their was to be know moaning on my blog this week so will do my level best not too..??

For Company I had Local Ace Roland Lucas on peg 70 the other side of the rope who won both the carp & silvers pool in yesterdays open" but there was a bush between us so couldn't really see him which was probably a good thing! lol. My main line of attack would be the long pole and after a bit of pluming around I found a deeper part of the swim at 14 and a half meters directly in-front of me  which was a good 10inches deeper than it was of to my left or right or further out being approx. 4ft deep, This would be the area I would use as my positive swim so set up a 4x14 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 an a 18 63-13 hook along with an identical rig to fish 10 & 2 o'clock in the slightly shallower water. My last pole rig was a 4x12 chanti on the same line and hook to fish short over loose fed casters. Last of all I assembled a 3AAA waggler which I planned to start the match on slightly further out into the lake. At the all-in I fed 4 balls of ground-bait on the deeper swim containing just casters, 2 balls were fed on the line off to my left with chopped worm and casters in and finally 1 ball of to my right towards the rope with dead red maggots added. Most people opted to start on the short lines but I stuck to my guns and started on the waggler with a small grain of corn on the hook feeding just a few grains with the catty to start with. it took me 20mins to get a bite which happened to be a carp which broke the hook-length'. Not wanting to waste much time I went on the short line were I had been flicking a few casters but after a roach straight away nothing followed but I felt I had missed the boat a little as others had seemed to have caught straight away including some bonus fish then things slowed up some what, I tried the waggler line again without success and before the first hour was up I found myself on the long pole, Starting on the shallower swim off to my left with double caster on the hook I had a couple of quick 3oz roach followed by a couple of 6oz skimmers before I had to wait a lot longer for a bite after 90mins of the match gone I had a skimmer around a 1lb on the same line but then nothing so decided to re-fed another ball with the same bait added and rest it. I kept trying the swim nearer the rope with single maggot on the hook and had a better 2lb fish but again I couldn't get a bite. I had left the more positive fed swim in the slightly deeper water as long as I could so started with single caster on the hook tipped with a floro pinkee, I missed a bite as soon as the rig settled but was soon playing another 2lb Skimmer, for some reason I just couldn't muster more than 1 fish from each swim before having to rest it but after about 3hours and a switch back to my left I had a run of 4 skimmers all over a 1lb before a couple of small roach saw me topping it up, with about 2hrs left I told Don who happened to draw directly behind me on Cary lake I was up to 9 skimmers and fully expected to catch more as the day went on but it didn't quite turn out as expected as apart from hooking 5 and landing 3 carp all I added was another 2lb skimmer regardless of where or what I tried The guy on peg 68 also had the same problem and although he had a run of 3 fish his peg had died, At the all out I felt I had just enough to see of peg 68 but had heard a lot of splashing coming from Roland's peg but had no idea what he or the others in my section below him had got on? When the scales arrived the chap on peg 68 ended up with 13lb odd before I put 16lb 6oz on the scales followed by Roland finishing up with 16lb 3oz" It turned out my weight be it very close was enough to take the section but a wins a win and I was pleased to finish with 1pt for the section along with the added bonus of £50, Overall the weight were down on the last match With Phil Cardwell Winning the match from what I think was peg 16 on spring? with 26lb odd followed buy a few close 20lb weights but I forgot the camera this morning being in daze" but Don Did manage to take photos of the weigh sheets after the match on his phone and will put them up when I receive them via email. Having not fished this league or venue much before my target is a top ten finish so today helped and look forward to the next round, Back to my league at Emerald next Saturday and hopefully the fish here have got used to the cooler water.

 

 

 

 

Full Results -

1st Phil Cardwell (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 16 Spring, 26lb 8oz.

2nd Nigel Bartlett (Thatchers Tackle) peg 86 Cary, 24lb 5oz.

3rd Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) peg 12 Spring, 23lb 2oz.

Jnt 4th Tony Rixon (Mosella) peg 60 Lodge Lake &

Gary Webber (Preston Innovations Thatchers) peg 99 Cary 21lb 5oz.

6th Mark Warne (Weston) Peg 3 Spring, 21lb 2oz.

      

 

 

                            

Shiplake Farm Open Main Lake.

Back to Shiplate farm for what seems ages as the matches at the fishery have been popular of late and being as the numbers have been limited I have left it to late to get a space on a couple of occasions, This venue is ideal for me being just a few minutes from my door so was keen to give it a go, I did attempt to get breakfast for myself and titch from Thyer's tackle but it was closed so it ment a day fishing on an empty stomach which wasn't a good start. Their were 14 of us fishing the match and the talk was of the normally productive pegs 1 & 15 being the wanted area but for some reason in 90% of the matches I've fished I always seem to end up on peg 6 or 6a", Hoping for a peg on the far bank somewhere I was a bit disappointed to end up on the near bank peg 7 towards the end off the lake (Not Far From My Normal Haunt Then!) but fish have fins so we would see.

A positive approach was in order as I know from experience the lakes head of skimmers are difficult to catch here although there is a chance of a big bream on the long pole so set up 4x14 wire wonder on 0.13-0.09 and an 18 PR434 to fish at 12 & 14mts in 5ft of water with casters and Ground-bait. A rig to fish at 13mts to fish down along my inside bank being a 4x12 chanti on 0.13-0.11 and again a PR434 18 hook, I decided to fish away from the bank at the bottom of the shelf where it was again 5ft or so, Last of all I set up a bomb to start the match on over to the island at around 20yrds.

At the all in In I cupped four balls of ground-bait containing casters and dead red maggot on the 14mt swim and a whole pot full of casters onto the 12mt swim, quite a positive approach but if any large bream were to show I wanted them to stop in the peg for a while, Starting on double hair rigged corn tight to the island I had a liner first cast but nothing developed so after 30mins I had a swap around between baits but couldn't get any indications or liners despite casting around the swim and trying shorter. On the hour mark I noticed some bubbles coming up where I had cupped in the load of caster on the pole line so was soon shipping out 3 dead red maggots on the hook, after a minute or so the float slid under and I missed it" but the next cast I was towing the rig through slightly when it went again and this time I was connected to what I thought to be a big skimmer but turned out to a hungry perch of 12oz! from that point on I never had a single bubble or bite on this line for the rest of the day which really surprized me?.

For the next couple of hours I started a new line off to my left at 14mts with micro pellets where I fished 4mm expanders over the top and swapped between 2 lines with different baits but all I had to show for it was a 1lb skimmer off each and a couple of blips. I had tried the bomb and corn again across to the island but the only bite I had all day came when I got up for a pee" Luckily I had finished in time and lunged for the rod missing the bite but managing to wrap the line around the over hanging willow branch! After a bit of forceful tugging thankfully it came free".

I had been pinging 6mm hard pellet in small amounts down the inside long line all day and felt with 2hours to go I had to have a look, so with a small cad pot attached I started on a single grain of corn feeding a few grains and a small nugget of ground-bait tight over the float, With 90mins to go I had my first carp of 5lb but it caused a bit of disturbance so tried the bomb line and pole swims again without success so spent the last 30mins down the edge. With 10mins to go I had an un-missible bite and after a battle netted a common of 13lb, I had seconds of the match left when I managed to get the rig back in place and after a few twitches and signs of another fish in the area the all out was called (Typical). A bit disappointed not to have caught earlier here but with the weather being bright all day I didn't really expect to. Overall it showed the affect the rain had taken as the weights were down and as I expected the top weights were off the far bank with Andy France on fancied end peg 15 was first on the day with 57lb catching 9 carp on the bomb and banded 8 or 11mm hard pellet over towards the lawn. 

Most venues seem to be slowing down a bit now so judging where and what to feed will be very important.

                                                Full Results -

1st Andy France (Cadbury Angling) peg 15, 57lb 6oz.

2nd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) peg 11, 53lb 4oz.

3rd Rich Hawkins (Bristol P.O) peg 12, 47lb 10oz.

4th Gordon Jones (Shiplate Farm) peg 9, 45lb 6oz.

                                                 Silvers -

1st Steve Howell (Shiplate Farm) peg 3, 18lb 8oz.

                        

Emerald Silvers League Rd 3.

Traveling with good friend Darren today we had the usual hearty breakfast at hilltops, Well he did" ploughing through the Over The Hill' breky without leaving a trace! Before making are way to the fishery to do the usual pegging out, I new Barry couldn't make it to day but also had another no show who didn't let me know so we decided to leave all nine pegs in and left it to the luck of the draw,

The forecast today wasn't good with a lot of rain due through-out the day on top of all the rain they had in the area last night so I was expecting the fishing to be a little harder this week. I let Darren draw for me this time around handing me peg 6 which is next to the peg I've draw the first two matches so no change in the area for me then" I had Tim Lewis on peg 5 and Kev Jeffries on peg 7 who I was doing my best to egg-on' telling him no pressure to perform after doing well off the swim last time, Something was telling me it would be hard to catch on the short line today and by now the heavens had opened and the light was really poor so although I did plan to feed it with casters I wasn't going to put to much faith in it, My main line was to be out in the open water at approx. 9mts so set up a 4x12 wire wonder float on 0.13-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook in around 4ft of water, and a 0.3g PB2 on the same line/hook to fish off to my right where it was a few inches shallower although I wasn't going to feed this line from the off but would give me the option of starting a new line if the case arose. the last rig was for the shorter loose fed line on the deck at 5mts off to my left by the over hanging willow tree being a 4x10 chanti on 0.11-0.09 and a size 20 PR34 hook.

At the all in I cupped two small balls of ground-bait on the 5mt line with casters and chopped worm added and began on the 9mt line with single dead red maggot on the hook just cupping a nugget of ground-bait over the top via a cad-pot, It was a slow start to say the least and after 15mins I hadn't had a bite' And looking around the lake it was pretty much the same for everyone else? A switch to single white maggot saw my first fish being a 10oz skimmer but after a smaller fish the next put-in again it seemed void? I decided to feed a slightly bigger ball on this line with some mushed worm and a few dead red and white maggot to try and draw some skimmers from a wider area, A quick try on the short swim again with maggot on the hook only gave me a 4oz hybrid so went back on the longer line with a small piece of worm which I had freshly chopped and picked out of the mix, As the rig settled it shot under and a 1lb skimmer was added followed but 5 on the trot up to 10oz, it didn't last though and a while I added another nugget of neat ground-bait, A couple of minutes later again I had a run of fish before it slowed up so it became clear to me to catch what I could before being to hasty to add more bait, From the rest of the anglers I could see including Tim & Kev nobody was catching much so stuck at it whilst feeding casters by hand on the short line hoping to catch a few towards the end.

After a couple of hours the rain had eased and there were odd spells of sunshine and it became clear I was waiting longer to get indications, I was fishing a short line between the pole and the float so re-fed the swim and assembled a copy of the rig I was using but on a longer line and a heavier 4x14 float just to have a bit more control, This made a big difference with the bites being positive with the pole not right over their heads and I spent the rest of the match just trying to keep the swim ticking over swapping between the two rigs on the long line using the lighter rig when the sun went in. The lake in whole had fished harder as had to be expected with the weather so up and down, The best results oddly enough have came when the weather is consistently very cold so the best could be to come' At the weigh-in the leading weigh was from Ken Raynor on peg 1 with 11lb before it was my turn so was pleased to end up with 27lb of skimers/hybrids on small bits of worm or white maggot, last to weigh was John Barker on peg 8 who took the spoils with 29lb of mainly Tench caught on caster over loose fed casters down his inside margin,  Picking up a handy £35 for 2nd as we agreed just to pay the top two on the day although they didn't give there-self's up easily I enjoyed working hard for the bites and getting the timing right as when to re-feed made a big difference.

 Winner John Barker.

 

 My Catch. 

 

 

 

 

                                        Full Results -

1st  John Barker (Over 50's) peg 8, 29lb 11oz.

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 6, 27lb 14oz.

3rd Ken Raynor  (S.W.M.G) peg 1, 11lb 6oz.

4th Kev Jeffries (P.S.V) peg 7, 9lb 8oz.

                    Overall standings after 3 matches (Worst Result Dropped)

1st Dom Sullivan 3pts

2nd Tim Lewis 4pts

3rd Kev Jeffries, Darren Greenwood, Ken Raynor 7pts

4th John Barker 8pts.          

      

       

Viaduct Silvers League Rd.3.

With a lot of over night rain things could all change as far as the fishing goes so I was more than hoping not to draw any of the shallower swims today and after being towards the back of the queue I was beginning to wonder after a few smiling face left the draw bag' With 46 fishing the match was to be spread over Cambell, Cary, & Lodge lake. I'd like to say my run of form of drawing well continued, (Not!) as I opened my ticket to find myself on peg 80 Cary which is along side the spit and yep its shallow! This peg has yet to produce so far in this silvers league ending up being in the bottom half of the section on the previous matches as well as having to contend with Matt Tomes on form peg 78 which won the previous match overall" I didn't think it was worth targeting the small fish today so went with a positive approach so decided on two pole lines at 14mts, One in-front of me and one off to my right as far as I could go, After pluming up I found I had two inches more depth in-front of me than I had in my swim yesterday' and only another 4inches difference off to my right" now I new why people were saying it was a hard area! I had already noticed Matt had around a foot deeper on his pole line and that can make all the difference at this time of the year. I felt if I had any chance of catching the lakes larger skimmers it wouldn't be until very late in the match so my only other option was to be a small ground-bait feeder fished out into the middle of the lake.

At the all in I feed 3 balls of ground-bait containing some chopped worms and casters on the 14mt line in-front of me and one ball on the right hand swim to start with packed with casters and dead red maggots, Starting on the feeder with two dead red maggot on the hook feeding a pinch of dead reds through the feeder on my second cast I was pouring a cuppa when the tip started pulling around" luckily I managed dump the flask quick enough and was soon playing a nice skimmer which turned out to be around 3lb". 20mins into the match it was a great start but it took another 30mins to get a smaller fish just over a 1lb but after this I couldn't buy a bite on anything so on the two hour mark I decided it was time to have a look on the pole lines and rest the feeder.

Starting in-front of me with double caster on the hook I wasn't to surprized not to get a bite despite trying other baits on the hook, It was the same case on the swim off to my right and the only fish I had a bite off was a rather large creature.." thankfully it only broke the hook-length so a new one was added. I re-fed the pole line with another ball of each then went back on the feeder and no sooner had it hit the deck I had a fish on" Another 1lb skimmer had me hoping they had turned up but it wasn't to be as again I couldn't get any indications, I think the problem was after hooking a fish and with the water being shallow it spooked any others away from the area?. I kept trying the pole lines but I was right in thinking I wouldn't get bites until late as my first 2lb skimmer on the pole came with 90mins to go. five minutes later after dragging my rig I hooked another good skimmer on the same line but it came off shipping back though I think it was foul hooked, I topped the swim up and switched to the right with double dead red on the hook, again a quick fish then nothing seemed to be the pattern and I had to rest the swim, Matt had began to catch some better skimmers as expected but wasn't running away with it and I thought I had chance to catch up in the last hour, another try on the feeder produced nothing so I sat on my pole lines for the end of the match adding 3 more skimmers one just before the whistle. I new Matt had more than me but I didn't expect to compete really never the less I was pleased to catch what I did on a hard day for most. At  the weigh-in I couldn't see anyone else in my section so had no idea what had been caught? My weight of 13lb odd was the second best weight behind matts 23lb on are bank only getting beat by a weight of 15lb of the end bank so a section 3rd was a good result considering. Traveling partner Don had a better day, drawing peg 125 on cambell, yes the peg jacko won the silvers off yest" lol, went on to win his section with 19lb odd having his second pick up of the weekend. Overall the match was won by In-form Gary O'Shea from peg 59 on lodge lake with 35lb catching on the long pole to take the win for the second match in a row, overall the weights were down slightly from last time but I'm sure it was down to the rain reducing the water temperature? back for Rd4 in two weeks and emerald silvers league next Saturday so roll on Friday".

Full results -

1st Gary O'Shea ( Preston Innovations Thatchers) peg 59 Lodge, 35lb 3oz.

2nd Roland Lucas (Bait-tech Viaduct) peg 96 Cary, 33lb 4oz.

3rd Ziggy (Un-Attached) peg 111 Cambell,  32lb 11oz.

4th Andy Power (Preston Innovations Thatchers). peg 94 Cary, 30lb 14oz.

5th Gabriel Skarba (Un-Attached) peg 68 lodge, 25lb 14oz. 

6th Vince Brown (Somerset Angling) peg 102 Cary, 25lb 4oz.

 

 

 

 

 

                  

Viaduct Charity Match. (Saturday) 

First to write about this weekend is the charity match in aid of click sergeant which myself & traveling partner Don Sutherland had both booked into and after the usual stop off for breakfast at hilltops we arrived at the fishery a bit disappointed at the attendance with only 12 booked in". Still at least I had done my bit and added nearly £50 towards the charity in sponsorship money to help out towards a good cause, The only lake to be used today was Cambell & with the lake being used in the silver fish only league I was keen to see how it would fish, Into the draw bag and I wasn't best pleased to end up on the end of the far bank peg 131, At this time of the year the carp tend to start shoaling up towards the other end of the lake so I made my mind up straight away to target the silver fish, the problem here was the lake is very shallow in this area around 2 and a half feet  and I felt that targeting the big skimmers on the long pole line would be to risky so my main lines today were to be the waggler at a distance I could feed easily with casters via a catty and a short line at 3mts where again I would plan to feed and fish casters in the hope of some tench? I set up a 3AAA waggler with a 0.10 hooklength and an 18 PR434 hook, A 4x10 Chanti to use on the short line 0n 0.13-0.09 and an 18 63-13 hook, A 3x18 Chanti to use on the same line up in the water on the same line/hook, and finally a 4x12 wire stem skimmer float for a line at 14mts in the hope of catching some skimmers later in the match over groundbait with maggot & casters.

At the all in I cupped 2 balls of groundbait with a small amount of chopped worms and casters added onto the 14mt line and began flicking casters on the short line. starting on the waggler towards the middle of the lake with caster on the hook I had a 5oz hybrid with-in seconds, followed buy a small skimmer and some roach in the next 40mins, I had began firing around half a dozen casters at regular intervals but had draw the attention of the small roach population' so began feeding bigger pouches less often to try and get some bigger fish to take interest, After 5mins I hooked and bumped off a better fish before things went quiet & felt I had to start catching faster if roach were going to be my target.

I had been feeding loose caster short for a while so switched to the 4x10 deck rig with double caster to have a look for some tench but it was obvious the roach were here in numbers so I was soon on the lighter shallow rig around 12inches deep with single caster on the hook, I started to catch really well mainly roach to 3oz and the odd small hybrid and from what I could see was doing ok silvers wise as there seemed to be a lot of elastic being stretched on the opposite bank, I did try the waggler again a couple of times though the day but despite trying a few different bait still got pestered with bits". I spent most of the match swapping between both the shallow and deck rig short and with 2hrs to go a 3lb tench on the deck rig got me all excited" thinking they had turned up in numbers but after a 2lb skimmer the only attention I had here after that were carp!

I never had a bite on the long pole until the last 45mins were I added two 2lb skimmers and lost a bigger flyer" which then killed it stone dead! so a few more roach short before we finished. I was first to weigh and had around 15lb of roach along with a few better fish for a total of 23lb, Steve Jackson won the silvers on the day on more fancied peg 125 in the deeper water with 35lb mainly tench at 3/4mts on caster and further up the was a 28lb of roach so I wasn't far from the frame and had I fished short from start to finish I'm sure I could of added bit to my weight but I do like to keep the options open and gave myself a good picture of what to expect should I draw this lake tomorrow?

Overall Giles Cochrane kept up his good run of form adding another win from peg 128 catching mainly on the bomb and meat for a total of 170lb, Don did manage to draw in the carp land" and ended the day with 103lb for 3rd on the day, Looking forward to the silvers league tomorrow and fingers crossed to have an improved draw"??.

Full result -

1st Giles Cochrane (Mosella) peg 128, 170lb.

2nd Roland Lucas (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 118, 156lb.

3rd Don Sutherland (Maver/Cadbury Angling) peg 119, 103lb.

Silvers - 1st Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 125, 35lb.