Viaduct Fishery (Cambell , Cary & Lodge Lakes)

Norman Sterry had organised this match via facebook & it was well attended with 48 of as fishing, Travelling on my own I stopped off for a breakfast at the albion truckstop which was ok but my eyes were bigger than my belly so the dog would be happy when I got home'. It turned out I was quite close to the front of the draw so I had a bit of a mix around before picking out peg 115 on Cambell.

The popular silvers league starts next Sunday & having not been on cambell for quite a while I was keen to get some idea of what to expect next weekend & try & muster up some idea as to how to best approach it so it was silvers all the way for me today, I had good company with Keyford's Steve Denmead on peg 114 & Middy's backed & last year's silvers league winner Sam Powell on peg 116 who was also going to go along the line of silvers. I was going to be a bit different & start the day on the waggler & corn towards the middle of the lake as the wind off are backs on are bank so set up a 3AAA waggler to an 0.11 bottom & a size 18 PR434 hook. Next up was a 4x12 Wire Wonder on 0.11-0.10 & a 16 808 hook to fish a line at 14mts with soft pellet over groundbait & hard 4mm's slightly to my left & I would use the same rig off to my right at 13mts feeding this line with corn & casters, Finally I set another 4x12 Wire wonder on the same line with an 18 PR434 hook to fish at 6mts with worm over chopped worm & casters. I started the match by feeding 4 balls of groundbait on the long left hand line & a mix of corn & casters on the long right hand line & fed the short line with a good mix of worm & casters at 6mts.

I started on the waggler at around 20mts just touching the deck with a single grain of corn, Sam had started on his short line & by the time I had fed my pole lines he was already playing an un-wanted carp" I only fed around 4 grains of corn on the waggler line with the catty & after 5mins I had a 1lb skimmer soon followed by another slightly smaller fish, Sam was already regretting starting short on pellet as the only thing he was attracting were more carp some of which were close to double figures" Steve had started to catch a few carp on the deck also on his short line with pellet but he was targeting them" I stuck to the waggler for just over an hour but only had a couple more 10oz skimmers, I had been topping the other long lines up every 20mins or so, so it was time to try them in the hope of catching some decent skimmers? Starting with a 4mm expander over the groundbait line I fully expected it to under straight away but it didn't! I gave it 15mins or so but all I managed was an 8oz skimmer foul hooked" I went onto the other long line with corn on the hook & thought I had it sorted when I had two 1lb plus fish in two put-in's but that was it'. Onto the short line with a segment of worm where I had been feeding casters by hand from the off but all it produced was a few small roach, I switched to a bit of corn over the top but the inevitable happened & soon found myself landing a 4lb carp" Sam had already given up targeting the silvers & had switched to a heavier elastic to cope with the carp which seemed very willing to feed even though he was feeding very little.

Back on the waggler & I had another skimmer, But I had made a big mistake by feeding more corn over the top as the carp were soon showing interest landing two in the process, The long groundbait line was fizzing like mad & the only bit I had on the long corn line was another carp", It just wasn't happening as far as catching silvers went & I was regretting not having set some rigs up for the carp as looking around they were very wiling to have a proper munch today, Steve had started to catch shallow at 6mts"

& Sam had now started to catch some carp down his inside edge as well as 6mts & was really starting to catch well, My day was spent switching lines just in the hope I could get through the carp to latch into some silvers but it just didn't happen today, With 90mins of the match remaining I had had enough & succumbed to defeat" Sam was thankful as he thought he was getting close to his net limits so I lent him one of mine as he was really bagging down his inside edge catching a fish every put-in,

Once I was packed away I went & watched same fishing down his edge at 4mts & I can say I haven't seen so many fish willing to feed In one small area for a long time' No sooner had he dropped his rig in he was playing a fish & as he was playing it their were already fish straight back on his bait with fish swirling close to the bank, it was fun to watch & with 15mins to go he had to use another net of mine" The lake had fished really well for those who targeted the carp with a few admitting to over 200lb, When the scales arrived John Mills opposite Sam had fished the long pole shallow all day & by the end of the match had seven keepnets in the water" his final total went a cracking level 300lb" There were a couple of other 200lb weights before it was Sam's turn, he was doing well until unfortunately one of his first nets went over the limit of 80lb max by 4lb so that net wouldn't count, It was bad news as had it been allowed he would of won the day with just over 300lb! he finished with 217lb odd to just miss out on the main frame, Managing a section win but a costly loss on the day. Overall their were some great weights proving how good & popular this venue is, Top silvers went to Steve Jackson over on Lodge Lake catching the bulk of his fish on worm over casters to finish with 65lb with a couple of back-up weights in the forty's, Perhaps it was a big mistake not to target carp today but at least it gave me an incite on perhaps what to do next week, Or should I say what NOT to do!" Lol. Off to fish the commercial house league tomorrow on the Kings Sedgemoor Drain, It will be the first time I've fished it for as long as I can remember so should be interesting"

Full Results -

1st John Mills (Ridgeway) peg 125 Cambell, 300lb.

2nd Craig Edmunds (Mosella) peg 129 Cambell, 241lb 12oz.

3rd Mark Wynne (Colmic) peg 80 Cary, 236lb 7oz.

4th Roy Worth (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 71 Lodge, 218lb 4oz.

5th Sam Powell (Middy) peg 116 Cambell, 217lb.

Silvers -

1st Steve Jackson (Garbolino) peg 70 Lodge, 65lb.

2nd Paddy (Viaduct) peg 123 Cambell, 45lb 3oz.  

                  

Shiplate Farm Sunday Knock-up (Squire Pool)

After missing the match at viaduct yesterday as I was in no fit state to drive after spending the night out on the sauce for the wife's birthday on Friday but at least I wasn't in the state she was spending most of the night with frequent trips to the pan", I did have the decency to let Steve know early enough.

Back to today their were other matches taking place on the other lakes so it would my first visit to this smaller pond teeming with lots of small carp & goldfish" with a couple of better fish over the 3lb mark, With only four of us it was run as a rover format so I let the Wife Yvonne do the honours, She gave me choice number two but to be honest having not fished it I didn't know the best area's?

Resident Steve (Peanut) Howell had told me pegs 7 & 10 seemed to be the best island pegs & the straight section was also fancied, I opted for peg 10, but the other three went on peg 1, 3, & 5 on the opposite bank so did they know  something I didn't"??.

I planned a simple day having a 0.3g pencil float to fish 3 & 8mts at the bottom of the shelf off the small island on 0.13-0.11 & a 16 808 hook, The depth on both lines only varied by a few inches at just over 4ft or so, I had a 4x10 Chanti to fish hard & soft pellet closer to the island but it was much shallower, & finally a 0.2g rig to fish down the edge against the shelf in 3ft of water, My whole day would centre around soft pellet Or worm on the hook, Micro & 4mm's or chopped worm. I new it was going to be a bit of a fish race so didn't plan to fish any longer unless I had too. I started the day feeding the 8mt line with a ball of micros & some hard 4mms & fed a small amount of 4mms on the 3mt line & fed some chopped worm down the inside shelf. starting with 4mm expander at 8mts it didn't take long to start catching some of the small 4-6oz carp along with the odd similar size goldfish or fantail but I couldn't seem to get & better size fish, I did seem to be catching a few more than Peanut who was opposite me on peg 5 so stuck to this line for the first couple of hours whilst feeding the shorter lines, I did have a quick look on the 3mt line but I had to wait longer for bites & the fish were only small, On the longer line I had began to get the odd fish 10-12oz but still no signs of any bigger fish, By the halfway stage things began to tail off slightly & bites began to be really iffy, I had only topped this line up once since the start with another ball but decided to add a cad-pot feeding a small amount of micros each put-in, I was really starting to struggle & to make things worse Steve had started to catch further across to his far bank & had found some better fish over 3lb" I tried shallow for a while with hard pellet but only added two more goldfish & I kept trying short lines but just couldn't get anything to settle here, I had to try & catch a better stamp off fish if I was going to keep up with Peanut who was now catching well, I decided to switch to fishing a small segment of worm on the hook on the 8mt line setting the rig to fish around 6inches over depth, I had to wait a bit longer for bites I was getting regular fish from 8-12oz & did manage one around 2lb. Going into the last hour I had Steve down as winner as he was catching regular & had managed a few more bonus carp, I set the rig even more over depth as I was still getting false bites which seemed to improve things netting another 2lb plus fish & a fair few around the 1lb mark, Golly Jones had had a good couple of hours on peg 3 but things slowed down later on for him & I couldn't see Nigel on peg 1, Come the all-out I still had Steve down as the winner with his better fish making the difference, Nigel was first to weigh & put 37lb on the scales, Golly finished the day with 45lb odd before peanut went on to weight 58lb odd, I was last to trouble the scales & my first net of fish which I had in the first three hours weighed 29lb odd before my second net totalled 37lb,

  giving me a total of 66lb to snatch the £35 winnings in this small knock-up, I was quite surprised at my total & funnily I enjoyed my days fishing, It was quite hectic but I had to keep tweaking things to keep the bites coming, I would have another visit perhaps when their are a few more fishing but it was a good bit of fun between us with plenty of laughs & banter along the way.  

      

Summerhayes Fishery Sunday Open.

It was a very last minute decision as to where I went today, I could off took the last place at Viaducts open on Lodge lake but to be honest I didn't want to buy any fresh bait as the freezer needed a good clear out". I rang Owner Pete whilst savouring a welcome breakfast at Hilltops which closes on Sept 30th for those who don't already Know. I didn't anticipate a large turn out As Shiplate Farm had there first round of their teams of three as well as the local Sedges Fishery starting their individual league taking up another 20 anglers, Among other matches.

It was worse than I expected, When I arrived their were only three of us booked-in!" Great, Now I did wish I had took the place at Viaduct". We were fortunate enough to add another three' before draw time, But more of fishing for your money back than winning anything, Pete decided to run it as a rover on Longs lake which would see us well spread out, Drawing first to see who had the first choice of peg ect saw me do my usual trick of drawing the last choice! Three rover matches on the trot here" Lol, At least I would know where the others would be, But with Venue Experts Bill Hopping & Martin Addicott both fishing, Both of whom have been winning everything between them of late here on the paste I was going to be against it but chose a swim away from then being peg 11.

It gave me the option of targeting both the silvers & carp should I see either of them bagging, I wont make it a long blog with are small knock-up so to speak, I started the day across to the far bank with banded 6mm feeding 4mm's on the deck in just over 2ft of water,

I had a 2lb fish after a couple of minutes but realised the landing net was still up the bank, I had to get up whilst playing it & clipped my number four section on the way past, luckily no damage, Shame the same couldn't be said as I got back on my box as I managed to catch it again snapping it clean in half..!" Start as you mean to go on as they say!. I got the fish in but 5minutes later I lost a foul hooker at the net causing the float to snap  the tip off" All this & I'd only been fishing 15mins".

I decided to switch to fishing just inches deep across tight to the bank still with a banded 6mm which produced a few 2-4lb fish but they were easily spooked & with the wind picking up it just wasn't quick enough for the time being but I would keep pinging a few over to keep some interested, After an hour I switched to fishing either 6 or 8mm meat down towards the next pallet in 3ft of water which I had been dump potting bait in from the start,

I had some better fish over 5lb but it wasn't hectic, I could see Martin was Catching well on fancied peg 37 next to the hut but couldn't see how bill was doing down on peg 23 & the other seemed to all be fishing for silvers, I had been feeding some 6mms by hand in a small area on my right which was just my top-kit away & began to see some signs of fish after three hours, At which point I reckoned on having about 35lb. It was only a couple of inches tight to the bank but I set the depth about 10inches & fished about 1ft of the bank with a 6mm expander over the top,

 

Yes The Water Is Blue".

 

I had a 6lb plus fish in seconds followed by a 4lb fish soon after before they backed off , This is how I spent the rest of the match, Fishing down to the pallet with meat taking a few couple of fish before, dump potting more feed & fishing the top-kit line when I saw signs of fish coming in the shallow water, I had an enjoyable second half of the match chasing fish off both lines, I was cursing not having the best of starts & spent to long trying to catch across but it turned out to be a good day, At one point I was thinking I would have to fetch another fishery net but come the end I new I would be close to the net limits? I was in the first as it went 79lb 5oz with the limit being 80lb" The next net weighed 63lb odd before a few small tench gave me a total of 147lb odd, I knew it wouldn't be enough as martin was admitting to 200lb plus, & Bill was admitting to over 200lb as well. It turned out Bill came out on top with 213lb to Martin's 205lb so fair play to them both as they have the paste fishing sussed here at the moment, I'm not keen on fishing it but used to all the time at places like Emerald Pool years ago but judging by the amount of fishery's responding to it this year I might just have to give it another go next season. Back down to Viaduct again next Saturday for their open on Cambell & Cary & with the silvers final on the horizon it may be a practice session for them depending on the draw. 

         

Viaduct Fishery Saturday Open,

After taking last weekend off due to spending the previous week on holiday with the wife I was looking forward to returning to the bank, Running a bit late this morning after making up some paste before I left I stopped off for a bacon butty at the Albion Truck-stop on route, Arriving at the fishery it was a good turnout with 30 booked-in & the match would be held over Cambell & Cary Lakes, After a brew before the draw & a chin wag with Nicky Ewers we found Are self's at the front of the queue, Nick went First ending up on Cambell before I picked out peg 98 on Cary.

I was quite happy with this to be honest as last time I drew this lake I did well catching on the Conker" later in the day so the straight lead rod was first out the bag, followed by the shallow waggler as conditions looked good for it should the bomb not produce, I spoke to new Mosella sponsored Gabo Skarba who fished this lake on the Thursday costcutter & he won the lake on the bomb & pellet from peg 80 so Apart from this all I set up was a 4x10 Chanti on 0.19-0.15 & a size 14 PR478 hook to fish around 6mts on meat & with the level's being down it was under 4ft deep. I hoped by casting around the lake with either Pellet or pellet masked with paste I would soon find some fish?

I started on banded 8mm but after 20mins added some paste to it as I had no early signs, Five minutes later I hooked my first fish but it swam straight at me & shed the hook infront my nets" another 30mins on the conker didn't produce a bite so it was back to chucking around the peg on the pellet but despite trying just about everywhere I couldn't get it to work. Gareth Lennox was next to me on peg 96 who despite feeding the bomb line had decided to concentrate on silvers with the pole & I felt the fish were sitting more towards him, I had been pinging 8mms out but had been feeding a line off to my left at around 20mts with 6mm's but still couldn't get indications over it, I switched to punched dyed or normal meat on the hook but still nothing'.

Nearly three hours gone & I still hadn't caught, I had nothing to lose so switched to pinging in more 8mm's in one area before trying over the top on the shaow waggler, Five minutes later & I had my first fish over 12lb, Next cast I had one around 8lb, & straight after this hooked another which came off close to the bank before I had drawn the attention of the hungry ducks" That put pay to that! I couldn't get then out of the peg & I had to keep feeding to get the fish in the swim so it was proving hard work with them competing with the feed, I did miss a couple of bite & lose a few fish but a couple were fouler's" I managed two more on the shallow wagg & one more on the conker" but still didn't get a bite with pellet on the deck, Interestingly the guy next to me the other side of the tree on peg 100 had fed a long pole line & in the last two hours started to sack up with paste on the hook over pellet so fair play to him, With Lodge lake right behind me I wasn't prepared to fish the long pole but it worked for him as he finished up with 150lb odd which was enough for second on the day, Winner on the day went to Aidon Bordick from peg 128 on Cambell with 164lb catching the bulk of his fish on the long pole & meat, Top silvers also came from Cambell peg 125 with Freenze's Dan Squires taking 50lb odd of mainly skimmers on corn.

I certainly couldn't get the bomb to work today & maybe if I had followed suit on the long pole it would of produced a better result but that's the way it go's, Still not sure of my plans for tomorrow yet but will end up somewhere no doubt.

Full Result -

 1st Aidon Bordick (Shaw Rd Disaster Squad) peg 128 Cambell, 164lb 5oz.

2nd Jamie Bowden (Unknown) peg 100 Cary, 156lb 8oz.

3rd Greg Harding (Unknown) peg 80 Cary, 146lb 4oz.

4th Phil Hardwick (Viaduct) peg 81 Cary, 140lb 2oz.

5th Rob Walters (Un-Attached) peg 94 Cary, 137lb 6oz.

Silvers -

1st Dan Squires (Freenze) peg 128 Cambell, 50lb 8oz.

2nd Nigel Bartlett (Viaduct) peg 78 Cary, 45lb 12oz.

              

Sedges Fishery (Top-Kit Only) Final, Tile Lake.

After two different lots of qualifying rounds & the top ten in each making it to the final with good pay-outs up for grabs it was back for the final on Tile lake, Traveling on my own today I skipped the normal fry-up & arrived to find a full fishery with the over 50's on brick lake as well as the nineteen of us as we were one short, I fancied either pegs 21 or 22 on the far bank as they were consistent in the rounds I fished or corner peg 40 on the causeway up to peg 36 as this seemed to be another consistent area.

Into the draw & I found myself on peg 39 which I was pleased enough with as the day before peg 40 had won the normal match with 200lb, Are foreign candidate in the form of Ziggy Slowinski?? Was on it today but also fished yesterday & was on my peg but only managed a few so I was hoping with us all limited to fishing a maximum of 3mts" It would turn out to be more of a level playing field, Simple as far as rigs today, A 4x12 & 4x12 chanti on 0.17-0.15 & a 16 wide gape pellet hook to fish on top & just past the sloping shelf in around 5ft of water, The lighter rig on a short line to the float, A rig to fish shallow on a long line slightly further out & finally a rig to fish down the edge either side tight to the bank in 3ft of water. peg 38 Between myself & Martin Heard on 37 was the vacant peg so was hoping to catch a few down this edge later in the day, I started the match feeding a small ball of hard 4mms in-front of me, & a pinch of 8mm meat off to my left, I started the day on an 8mm expander & in the first 20mins had managed around 3lb of small skimmers before I hooked my first carp, It was a nice fish near 15lb & just as I went to net it the hook pulled for no reason" I've had this happen a couple of times with this pattern so I soon changed to a PR478 hook. It was frustrating as Ziggy had already landed two & a good early fish can be a right settler, I managed a few more small skimmers but was also having trouble with my expanders splitting,  Thankfully Bobby Gullit had lent me a pump as I lost my handle but it wasn't doing the best job & after pumping some more & having the same problem I decided to scrap fishing expanders" 

I had been feeding fragile amounts of 8mm meat to my left from the off & after 2hrs of trying my other lines it was time to have a look as Ziggy was now on Five & I was yet to put one in the net". Thankfully it worked as I had two carp straight away, The second I went to weigh as fish over 15lb have to be returned, It wasn't as big as I expected at just over 11lb but at least I had a picture of the size of fish I could put in the net. I decided to start feeding meat on the pellet line I had started in-front of me & switch between the two, I also cupped a larger amount into the bank on my right hand side, Over the next hour or so I added another four fish & seemed to be making in-roads on Ziggy as he was now playing with foul hookers"

I would only fish one line for a couple of minutes then move as it seemed to work best, It wasn't hectic & I had to wait for bites but by fishing right under my top-kit rather than on the snaggy shelf I wasn't getting the problems with foul hooked fish & when I caught the average was around 7-8lb, I did try the shallow rig slightly further out where I had been feeding a few 6mm's but the breeze was all wrong to keep the rig still so struck to either single or double meat on the short lines. With just 30mins to go I was getting close to the net limit or so I thought so decided it was best to go & fetch another fishery owned net, Ziggy took the opportunity to ask me to fetch him one as he was playing a fish, & another when I returned", I hate putting a new net in as it seems to curse me & I was running out of time with just 27mins left when back on my box, I had a look down both edges for the second time through the day but didn't have a sign so finished the day back on the meat lines, Thankfully I wasn't cursed as I netted a lovely Orange & Black Ghosty over 10lb & two more smaller fish before the all-out, But I hadn't a clue what I had?, Ziggy said he had around 80lb & I thought it was close between him & me so had that as my target weight, When the scales arrived Bobby G from fancied end peg 21 was winning with 164lb which I couldn't see being beaten, Their was another 100lb plus weight on that bank before a couple of close 90lb plus weights further along my side, Finally my turn & my 7lb odd of silvers added to my carp gave me a total of 121lb odd so much more than I had thought but to be honest after a slow start I just tried to concentrate on putting some fish in the net". Ziggy wasn't far off with his guess finishing with 85lb odd & quits in the quid stake I owed him although I did manage to take one off Tom Thick on my bank.

At the results & Bobby G's final weight was easily enough to finish 1st picking up £250 & he also had the added bonus of finishing 3rd in the silvers picking up another £100" He had all his fish on meat doing much the same as me so well done to him, I was pleased to finish 2nd as I've only fished this event for the first time this year & the bonus of picking up £170" was welcome with a weeks holiday ahead with the wife to take us a few places. The top silvers went to Martin Heard who fished caster to catch 160 small fish along with some skimmers caught shallow to finish with a total of 36lb. 

 

 Final Winner Bobby G, Left with Silvers Winner Martin Heard.

Full Results -

1st Bob Gullit, (Mosella) peg 21, 164lb 11oz, -  £250.00.

2nd Dom Sullivan, (Maver) peg 39, 121lb 2oz, - £170.00.

3rd Steve Fouracre, (The Sedges) peg 29, 107lb 4oz, - £125.00.

4th Tom Thick (Thatchers Tackle) peg 34, 95lb 2oz, - £100.00. 

Silvers -

1st Martin Heard (Mosella) peg 37, 36lb, - £150.00.

2nd Mark Bellringer (The Sedges) peg 22, 19lb 9oz, - £ 125.00.

3rd Bob Gullit (Mosella) peg 21, 17lb 12oz, - £100. 

                     

Paul Chapman's Memorial Match (Shiplate Farm). Sunday.

 Trouble with the laptop again so a bit late with this one, It was back to Shiplate farm in memory of Paul who was a regular at the venue before suffering with cancer which eventually took its toll as sadly it does but a good turnout in his absents' On the good side over a hundred pounds was raised toward the hospice which are well needed in these events, The match was to be held over the Main lake as well as Hawthorn's, After last weeks good weights I was expecting it to fish much the same but we had a lot of rain in the area overnight so didn't know what to expect, I let venue resident Steve (Peanut) Howell draw for me as he's always got the knack of drawing the right places" I wasn't disappointed when he handed me peg 13 on the main lake, 14 & 15 have been the pegs over the last few weeks but I was in the right area so expected a few especially when travelling partner Lewis Jones drew peg 11 as he's a dab hand at drawing!" I also had former Fisho champ & one method man" Steve weight watchers Jackson on the new peg 13A & he had an Island chuck so I new what he would be doing then..!

First out the bag was the bomb rod & shallow waggler , I had a rig to fish paste at 14mts & 6mts off to my left as after plumbing up I found I only had around 2-3ft of water infront of me but at 6mts left I had the same depth as 14mts with 4ft of water  so set up a paste float on 0.17-0.15 & a size 12 hook, the only other rigs I set up were two shallow rigs for slapping & mugging a few if the case arrived.

on the all-in I fed two pots of 6mm pellet at 14mts , fed a smaller amount at 6mts but didn't feed the margins as I would leave until later in the day when I expected to have a few, I had a quick couple of casts on the conker" before I saw signs of fish on the 14mt line with bubbles coming up, I decided to start on the shallow rig set 18inches deep with a banded 6mm pellet, I hooked two in the next 40mins but both weren't in the mouth & did the normal trick of shedding the hook just as you think you have a chance of netting them" Nothing followed so I switched to the paste rig on the deck, Steve had already netted a couple on the METHOD", he was like a kid in a sweet shop when he realised he had an island chuck Lol. I finally managed a fish after about an hour but signs were already looking grim, I noticed when the sun came out the water was a lot clearer than last week & from what I could see most were struggling to hook carp, After 3 hours & rotating all the lines I had one missed bite on the shallow waggler but managed just two more carp on the long pole & paste, Time to stretch the legs so I went to see what Lew had, He was doing worse than me with just a couple of skimmers & one carp, Steve had five carp, Ash above him on peg 14 had seven carp, & Titch Williams on the end peg 15 had seventeen"! Looks like the writing was already on the wall then" This has to be the most sought after peg in the southwest but u still gotta catch um & he was the only one on are side who was catching short on the paste, I tried allsorts to try & lure some fish but it just didn't happen, I landed two more again on the long pole & paste, & lost a right beast over 18lb just at the net for no reason' but that was it, When the scales arrived Lew finished up with 22lb, I had 29lb, Steve finished with 46lb, I don't quite know how as he seemed to trim the tree with each cast, I did mention at one stage considering he's won fishomania he was crap at casting!", Ash managed 50lb but Titch Had a great day to easily win the lake & the match with 159lb odd, Very fitting for him I know he was one of the last to pay him regular visits at hospice so he must of been looking down on him today" Over on Hawthorns Steve did the business again, winning the lake with 84lb on his favourite worm over ground-bait so fair pay to him, (I knew I should of had the other ticket as he had to draw one flyer") As far as the silvers went Dave White on the opposite bank to me fished the ground-bait feeder & worm to finish with 26lb of skimmers.

Their was a trophy presentation afterward to the winners with plenty of winners paid out, Shame it didn't fish quite as we expected but that's fishing,

  Hawthorns winner Steve Howell, Left, With match Winner Titch Williams.

Off to Summerhayes on Sunday & the final of the top-kit series on Bank holiday Monday on the sedges to look forward too.

Full Results - 

1st Titch Williams (Drennan Thyer's) peg 15 Main, 159lb 1oz.

2nd Steve Howell (Shiplate Farm) peg 7 Hawthorns, 84lb 6oz.

3rd Dave Romain (Viaduct) peg 2 Hawthorns, 66lb 2oz.

4th Aide Bishop (Summerhayes) peg 1 Main, 65lb 12oz.

5th Pete Sivell (Bristol City) peg 9A Main,, 64lb.

Silvers - 1st Dave White (Viaduct) peg 4 Main, 26lb 12oz. 

 

 

 

 

                   

Lee Williams Saturday Series Final Rd, (Viaduct Fishery).

Traveling with Lewis Jones again today for this final round of the Saturday series on five different venues but having missed the last two not feeling fit enough to fish their was nothing to go for in the overall stakes but at least I could pick something up on the day if fortunate enough, After picking Lew up we stopped for a hilltops breakfast on route, Talking of Hilltops café I here on the grapevine that its to final close after years of trading soon which is a real shame as a lot of us have used the premises over 20yrs but all good thing come to an end as they say'. Arriving at the fishery we were greeted with overcast skies & a strong swirling wind, We were all on Cary lake today home of the big boys" & after a wander around we fancied a draw near peg 86 which was the area to draw on the Thursday cost-cutter as it had produced over 300lb".

Into the draw & I made sure I was one of the first' I opened it to find myself on peg 77, I drew peg 78 last time I was here & although I had a few I didn't really compete but was hoping for a better day, Lewis was grinning & I soon knew why as he ended up on peg 86!" surprize surprize" Boy can he draw" in the previous rounds he's had an end peg every time! I'm beginning to think he can draw better than DES SHIPP".

The aerator's were going to be left on today which could help as far as fishing the rods went so first out was a bomb rod followed by a pellet waggler to fish shallow, As far as pole rigs went I made a 4x12 chanti up on o.17-0.15 & an 16 wide gape carp hook to fish off the end of the tree which was in the water at 12mt to start with in nearly 4ft of water, A paste rig to fish off to my right which was slightly shallower by 6inches, & finally a 0.2g AS2 to fish in 2ft of water down the edge at 8mts close to the bank, I would of liked to have gone a bit further towards the next overhanging tree which looked fishy" but the rope connecting the Aerator was across the lake just past the pallet so this was soon ruled out.

I had Sensas 88's Captain Lance Tucker on peg 78 the other side of the tree but couldn't see him, And his team man Mark (Bunt) Broomsgrove on peg 74 but he informed me before the start his peg was black with carp which I didn't want to here as he planned to fish for silvers". I started the day on the bomb & 8mm pellet towards the aerator to my right on the edge of the ripple just feeding a few 8mms here & there & trying different areas, Thing were very slow to start with & after an hour of trying different baits I was yet to catch, After 30mins I dumped two large pots of 8mms at 12mts to my right & had been feeding a few 6mms off the end of the tree so it was time for a change, starting by the tree with a banded 8mm I had my first fish, a 2lb hybrid' followed by two 12oz skimmers before things dried up, I switched to the other line with paste on the hook but again just had signs of silver fish but all small, I even had a quick look down the edge but it didn't produce, back on the bomb I had my first carp on 8mm pellet around 5lb but nothing followed, Another 40mins chucking around before I was back on the pole by the tree.

I added a couple of 1lb tench & another 12oz skimmer but their didn't appear to be carp here willing to feed, I re-plumed at 14mts & started to cad-pot a few 8mm with the same on the hook but still nothing, I was going know where & had to try something else. I had upped the amount of pellet I had been feeding out towards the aerator & decided to give it another try but this time wrapping a lump of paste around the pellet. The bait had only been in the water second before I found myself attached to another carp, around 8lb it was soon in the net & I had it down as a fluke but the next cast the same happened, & the next! This got me really excited but I had drawn the attention of the duck by feeding more which soon put pay to anymore, I tried it over a few other areas of the swim but couldn't get any signs, I had a couple of skimmers on it before landing another double figure fish back towards the aerator, when things went quite I had another quick try on the pole lines but they just didn't produce.

with around 90mins of the match remaining I took two good fish in two casts before losing a beast & all my setup under the tree" It didn't take long to set back up but the next fish I hooked I pulled out of it just as it was close to the bank, I managed one more before signs of fish seemed to disappear on the deck. Although I couldn't see fish up in the water I just had a feeling so with 40mins to go I had a look on the shallow waggler, within second I hooked another good fish but again it took me under the tree snapping the hooklength in the process" I Managed one shallow before the ducks returned so spent the last 10mins on the bomb but didn't take anymore. from what I could see I had done ok & estimated about 100lb of carp but couldn't see the pegs below me on the opposite bank but the guy on peg 105 had been catching well all day, We were first to weigh on are bank, Bunt had 18lb of silvers , My carp went 110lb odd with just over 8lb of silvers to add, Tuck's had a mare day with just the one carp & two skimmers & above him Brian (Anteater) Slipper on the spit peg managed 44lb, Back at the results it turned out pegs 105 & 109 was the place to be as both managed to weigh just over 200lb, My weight was enough for 3rd on the day but with the monies paid out in section on the day the pick-up of £46.50' was the best I could of hoped for, I should of switched to fishing the conker" earlier which

I'm sure would of produced a few more as would of the pellet waggler but an enjoyable match come the end, Lewis ended up 2nd in his section to see him finish 2nd overall in the carp stakes as far as the league went so he also had some money back. off to Shiplate Farm for Paul Chapman's Memorial match tomorrow & hoping the wind we have here at the moment subsides".

Full Results -

1st Dave Chidzoy (Un-attached) peg 105, 213lb 13oz.

2nd Ryan Shipp (Bristol) peg 109, 203lb 8oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 77, 119lb 8oz.

4th Vince Brown (Mosella) peg 96, 108lb 10oz.

5th Lewis Jones (Drennan Thyers) peg 86, 86lb 9oz.

Silvers -

1st Paul Berry , Peg 97, 20lb 11oz. 

               

Tony Rixon's Float Only League (Shiplate Farm All Lakes).

I was guesting for Paul Elms in this latest round of his float only series, It was to be held over all lakes at the fishery with 41 fishing including a section on the new Squire pool which is resident to lots of small carp & gold fish" so expected a busy days fishing on here, I was hoping for a peg on the main lake as conditions looked perfect but I predicted their would be over 100lb caught of each of the canal lakes & the main lake so we would see? I was close to the front of the draw but wasn't best pleased to find myself in the narrows of Westpool Lake peg 4, I did have an empty peg either side but I still fancied the other narrow peg 2 to fair better & had to contend with all the other pegs being in the wider water, It was flat calm when we got to are pegs & with the sun already out I just didn't fancy my chances, I've draw here before in similar conditions & struggled but have seen these pegs produce with a wind blowing but that wasn't going to happen today'.

I set a rig up to fish tight to the far bank at 11mts but the deepest water I could find was only 10inches deep with the rest nearer 6 six inches"

I had a rig for down the track in just under 4ft of water & used the same rig to fish down my edge at 7mts in the same depth of water as it sloped straight off from the bank which again was only inches deep,

For company I had Tim Clark on peg 2 , Team mate Steve Segar on peg 5 & Tony Rixon on peg 7 so some banter was in order, I found another spot further along the bank again only ten inches deep at 13mts so would start the day on these. At the all in I fed a pot-full of groundbait on the far 13mt line & cupped a few 6mm's tight over at 11mts, Fed a good amount of 6mm meat & hemp down the slope on my edge line & fed some 6mm pellet down the track, I started at 11mts straight off with a lump of paste but after 15mins I switched to the 13mt line with a good worm but was pestered with small fish so re-fed it switching back to the 11mt line with banded 8mm pellet feeding a few 6mms with a cad-pot over the top, At last I managed to net a couple & after a hour when the wife arrived I had just netted my 5 fish but they were only 2-4lb , Then the wheels came off" I couldn't get a sign of fish & a small algae bloom had started to drift along are far Lines between me & Tim along with a load of weedy scum which made things worse, I had a go on the paste down the track but only had a skimmer on it all day, began to feed meet lightly down to my right which produced one carp of 4lb & a 2lb skimmer & my positive meat line wasn't much better as all it produced was a few silvers, I started pinging a few pellets tight over closer to the cover as Tony & Steve on the wider swims were catching well on it but it just didn't happen,

I had a poor day really with just 8 carp & a couple of these were only a 1lb & it wasn't much better for Tim although he did manage a few down the track on paste later in the day. Tony & Steve were admitting to over 100lb so we new we were going to be well out of it today. When the scales arrived Tim finished up with 33lb to my 27lb so that was us the last two on the lake! Steve weighed just under 93lb before Tony put 105lb to win the lake, Fair play to him as its a long way across on his peg but luckily he's got the build for it".

As far as the other lakes went they didn't disappoint, Belo Bako's on Hawthorns broke the lake record with 208lb catching very shallow tight over on pellet over pellet from peg 6, But it was that man again Mosella's Craig (Trigger) Edmonds who stole the show from peg 14 on the main lake with a massive 222lb to also claim the lake record, Catching most of his fish at 12mts on the paste over pellet, You cant take it away from him he always produces the goods when given the chance, a nice draw but he won well. Just to top lake records off, Fellow blogger Mike Nichols took the best ever weight from Squire pool with 71lb odd so a busy day for him catching on 4mm expanders.

Left Bela, Middle Mike & Right winner Craig.

 

All in all the lakes fished really well & my prediction was right but didn't quite expect 200lb plus off of two lakes" Top silvers went to Paul Faires from the main lake with 22lb & in hindsight I would of been better off targeting then again after having 5lb of them by mistake but I didn't realise there was a silvers pool anyway' Lol.

Full Results -

1st Craig Edmonds (Mosella) peg 14 Main, 222lb 14oz.

2nd Bela Bakos (Bristol) peg 6 Hawthorn, 208lb 12oz.

3rd Jason Radford (Avon Angling) peg 15 Main, 142lb 12oz.

4th Glen Bailey (Bristol) peg 14b Main, 132lb.

5th John Fuidge (The Sedges) peg 2 Main, 129lb 5oz.

Silvers -

1st Paul Faires (Sensas 88) peg 12 Main 22lb 14oz.

2nd Paul Blake (Viaduct) peg 10 Main, 15lb 6oz.            

Shiplate Farm Open (Hawthorns Lake).

After missing the latest round of Lee William's series on Avalon Fishery Yesterday still suffering with groin pain more than anything I was keen to get out on the bank, I had already made my mind up I would spend the day fishing for the silvers pool as I had no intention of fishing across or to far out to make myself any worse, With this in mind I didn't really mind where I would draw & with a full lake of fifteen fishing today nobody would have a real advantage, I found myself on peg 12 one away from my last visit & won the silvers with a lowly 12lb odd If I remember rightly so didn't Know if it would be much better, for company I had Andy France on peg 11 & the chuckler" Simon Ryall on peg 13 & although we couldn't see each other there was sure to be some banter'. The lake was flat calm considering it was breezy but it was blowing off are backs so presentation wouldn't be an issue, I panned to keep it quite simple just feeding a couple of lines to start with adding new lines if need be depending which feed I found best.

I set a 4x14 wire wonder on 0.11-0.10 & an 18 PR434 hook to fish short on my top-kit plus two sections down the track in just over 5ft of water, A 0.3g AS1 on the same line/hook to fish at 10mts off to my left which was just a few inches shallower  & I could also use this rig to fish down the edge as it was still a similar depth, The only other rig I had was a 3x8 Chanti to fish shallow on either of the shorter lines.

I started the day feeding a good ball of dampened micros & a few 4mm expanders at 10mts, Fed a ball of chopped worms/casters & a little ground-bait on the short lines & some loose worm/casters over the top & fed some casters & hemp by hand down the edge at 4mts. I started the day straight on the short line with a small segment of worm fished just over depth, I couldn't of had a better start as after 45mins I had netted 3 good skimmers & an 3oz Eel up the bum" It was overcast when we started but all of a sudden the sun had appeared & with it being calm it seemed to make a big difference as now I was struggling for a bite" After 90mins I had added another 1lb skimmer & had resorted to feeding small balls of worm/casters over the top with a cad-pot but it wasn't making much difference, I was feeding casters by hand over the top but it seemed to be drawing the attention of a few carp as some shadow's' were appearing in the peg.

I decided it was time to try the longer 10mts line this time with a 4mm expander on the hook, I missed a nice slow bite straight away & expected another soon after but it just didn't happen, I tried maggot & worm over the top but it didn't produce so it was back to the shorter lines after topping it up with another ball of micros , I managed another 12oz skimmer & a couple of chunky roach to 8oz but again bites were few & far between, I had been feeding down the edge from the off & did start to get the odd swirl so it was time to give it ago, starting with single caster set about a 1ft deep I had a 6oz roach but it appeared the swirls were from much smaller fish it decided to try the short deep rig over the top, I managed two small chublets of 5oz but again it died. Back to the 10mts line & first drop in I had another bite this time netting another 2lb skimmer which got me excited but it was short lived as again I couldn't get another bite over it, I decided now that I had managed a skimmer on it I would start another line this time on the shorter line away from where I was feeding the worm ect off to my right. Back on the worm line with the same on the hook I had another 1lb plus fish but just couldn't string two fish together, I had stopped feeding by hand & was dump potting mainly caster now to try & avoid the carp taking interest, Another go down the edge on the deck got me nothing but I did have another 3oz Eel shallow on double caster" I was hoping things might improve later in the day but it didn't happen, I tried off the deck, laying more line on the deck, Ect Ect but I just had to rotate all my lines trying to get the odd bite, The 10mt line didn't produce another silver but I took a 5lb carp over it, Did manage another 2lb fish over the new short micro line with a small bit of worm but again the carp seemed more interested as had a similar size fish on it, I had a couple more chunky roach & a few ruff" back over the worm & casters in the last 30mins but struggled to find any better fish before the all-out, I estimated to have around 12lb or silvers but wouldn't bother to weigh the two carp as I new a few had been caught, I managed a little morn than my estimation to finish the day with 14lb odd but didn't know what had been caught further down.

Back at the results venue resident Steve (Peanut) Howell had done the business again today from peg 7, fishing across to the far bank with worm over ground-bait to win the day with 107lb odd ahead of Julian Pinkett who weighed 78lb from peg 9, I did manage to win the silvers with the next best weight being 7lb odd so got the result I went for without busting a gut picking up £40 along the way. Back here next to fill in on Tony Rixon's Float Only League which will be held over all the lakes so who knows were I will end up.

Full results -

1st Steve Howell (Shiplate) peg 7, 107lb 6oz.

2nd Julian Pinkett (Wornheads) peg 9, 78lb 2oz.

3rd Russ Peck (Thatchers Tackle) peg 14, 64lb 4oz.

4th Pete Sivell (PSV) peg 4, 63lb 6oz.

5th Jason Bird (PSV) peg 3, 60lb

Silvers - 1st Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 12, 14lb 8oz.

               2nd Golly Jones (Shiplate) peg 10, 7lb 4oz.  

         

South West Superleague (River Huntpill)

I was really looking forward to this after last weeks section win I was feeling confident I could charm some Eel's on the pole line to pick some good points up for the team on the day should the feeder fail to produce. travelling on my own I did stock up on a warm breakfast before arriving at laburnham house for the 8.30 draw. We even had England Ace Callum Dicks fishing with us today, Fair play to him he had a meeting with some of the team in the week, Aswell as making a trip here, which un-fortunately I couldn't make & passed on some good information which had the guys in a good frame of mind. Captain Chris Hook gave us an early draw & I was hoping for one of the sections I had previously draw as although they haven't been that prolific I felt I would get good points. It wasn't to be as I drew the second section below Woolavington on peg 98,  All the talk before hand was of peg 99 as for some reason has been the best in the section each match & I new I was up against it when I found myself next to Thatcher's Gary Webber beaming ear to ear, He cant draw here can he, coz if I remember righty he had the end peg on my section last week! Lol. The end peg of the length was also in are section & that was taken by Sensas 88's Chris Parr who knows the venue really well so things were going to be a challenge".

When I arrived at my swim thankfully I could get the seatbox next to the waters edge as one I passed was a bit far off the water' It was quite nice as I could ship 13mts out just by using the higher grass bank behind me,

It looked spot-on with just a slight breeze but I've seen this venue change in minutes being quite exposed so made sure it was the same depth which turned out to be just over 5ft, the first two rigs were 4x14 & 4x16 wire wonders on 0.13-0.11 & 18 B520 hooks, A lighter 0.4g PB2 on 0.11-0.10 and a 20 B511 hook to fish dead depth or just off the deck for roach ect, That was it as far as the pole went & the only other piece of kit I had to set up was my 12ft feeder rod with 4lb main line & a 4ft length of 0.13 to a 16 B611 hook. I had loads of time before the start so made sure I had everything ready, even making a few more hook-lengths to add to the wallet just in-case I was sacking".

I started the day but cupping in some loose feed onto the pole line before having around a dozen or so chucks with the feeder full of chopped worm, casters & red squats targeting an area about 15ft off the far bank, It was a long chuck but not to far that I couldn't reach it should the wind pick up. I fed a bit more than normal at the start in the hope that if Gary had some fish in-front of him I may get the chance of a few with a decent bed of bait down should they be in the area.

Starting on the feeder after feeding the pole line again I started with 3 dead red maggots on the hook, A decent target bait should any fish be present, It was a slow start for all of us from what I could see with just the odd small fish caught, In the first hour despite going through different hookbaits I had managed just a 4oz skimmer & a 6oz roach but Gary wasn't catching as yet which was good news for me'. the chap on my right had come off the feeder after an hour & had managed a couple of small roach & a small Eel before I saw him playing a bigger Eel which he lost but got me excited as I now expected a few". I gave it another 20mins but with nothing added it was time to try the pole, Starting on double white maggot I hadn't realised how much the breeze had got up & was already struggling to hold the float still, I switched to the slightly heavier 4x16 rig which was set about six inches over depth to get some line on the bottom still enough to attract some Eel's? I don't like doing this as they tend to swallow the bait which can cause them to bite you off a lot easier but I had no choice, After 5mins I was just about to give up when Gary shouted & asked if I had any early signs, Bang on queue it went under & I had one but only about 4oz, I gave it another 20mins or so at 13mts but had to give up as it was beginning to hurt my side again & I didn't want to make things any worse, I dropped back to 12mts & had to sit on the pole to try and get the rig to sit still but it just wasn't happening, After another 10mins I had to have another rest as if anything the conditions were getting worse.

It was back on the feeder this time starting with a dead red maggot & a bunch of red squat , After a couple of minutes I had a nice positive slow pull round & found myself attached to a better fish, Thankfully it was a bream around 3lb so more than welcome" Back out on the same bait & soon after I had another of 2lb plus, Game on" or so I thought, Gary had cottoned on I wasn't fishing as far across as him so soon was re-spodding with his feeder at the same distance. In the next 20mins all I added was a hand size skimmer & a small perch before the inevitable happened, Gary started to catch & managed four in as many chucks, Rob Randell below him was also struggling having just the one smaller bream so we just had to sit & watch as the peg produced the goods again, When I new the fish weren't in the swim I again had half a dozen chucks with the feeder full of bait to try & draw some fish, I managed a couple more smaller skimmers of 6-8oz but couldn't connect with any more better fish, I did miss a couple of bite but when you sit their for so long with nothing then the tip moves its hard not to pick it up to early" I kept feeding the pole line all day but the wind just wouldn't let up, I did have another quick go at 12mts in the last hour but after two back breaking minutes it was soon back up the bank". I spent the last 45mins on the feeder & missed one more bite just minutes from the end but that was it, Gary had picked off the odd fish & I had him down as the section winner.

We had draw the scales today so it was up to me to weigh-in, Starting with Chris (Gappy) Parr he finished with 3 decent skimmers & a few bits for 11lb odd, Rob Managed 5lb odd before it was Gary's turn, He finished the day with 19lb odd before it was my turn, I finished with just under 9lb, Chap next to me had 15oz's, the next guy had 2lb odd before the chap on 95 had 22lb to win the section before the other end peg weighed 3lb odd, Not a bad result considering I expected to lose out to Gappy on the end & Gary on the hot peg' at the moment, Really gutted I couldn't fish the pole as leading up to this I was confident of catching a few Eel's to build a weight, just a few Eels would of made the difference for another point but very doubt full I would of had enough to catch the top weights & 5 out of a possible 8pts was still a good result considering , I'm sure if the conditions had stayed the same the bream/skimmers wouldn't have fed as much which would of produced a much tighter frame as nobody had a sign off them until the wind got going. That's it for this year as far as the Huntspill Go's yet again with the Superleague now moving onto the Bristol Avon for the last two rounds, Its a real shame their isn't more matches on here though the season as I'm sure they would be a few hardy souls to venture out, The walks are not as bad as the seem & most of the swims are nice to fish with the odd exception which could be left out. back at the results the plan for the rest of the lads to try the pole didn't quite work-out but most were catching on it until the wind ruined it for everyone, Never the less we still managed to finish 4th on the day with 40pts but Thatcher's Had another good result winning the day with 53pts to remain at the top of the League. On the individual front Mary leader fishing for Sensas 88 came out on top with 34lb odd from peg 60 above Woolavington ahead of that man Andy Power who just so happened to draw the same section" A enjoyable days fishing trying to milk what I could out the swim but would of liked to have known what the pole could of produced?.

                                   

Clive Cunningham Memorial Match (Summerhayes Fishery)

A bit late with these results but still not feeling in the best of health & to be honest when I've returned home from fishing I'm totally drained & its not down to amount of fish" Lol, First up was my trip to Summerhayes For Clive Cunningham's Memorial match, Skipping the fry up today I arrived in plenty of time to have a wander around first. Todays match was to run in a rover format held over Sellick's & longs lakes, As I took a stroll around I decided it would be a good idea to jot some pegs down I would prefer to fish, Although come draw time I did make a few giggle as I had the pegs for Longs scribbled on the palm of my hand & Sellicks written all down my arm!" I had choice number 12 but the rule was you had to have a empty peg in between each angler so I soon found myself wiping away some of my first choices' it was a bit of a dilemma when it came to me but I didn't want a straining day so opted for peg 20 below the motorway bridge on Longs lake, It was an easy reach to the island at 13mts which would be my first choice with the conditions ideal with little wind, When I arrived I wished I had chose somewhere else as its not a noted area for silvers & owner Pete was paying the same to the top three in each the silvers & carp pools, I didn't think Sellick's would produce the silvers frame weights as its been hard of late & some of my other would be choices were still their to give me the option if I wasn't do to well on the carp but we would see.

I didn't complicate things today, I had a rig to fish in the deeper water off the island on 0.14-0.12 & an 18 PR478 hook, A shallow dibber rig on 0.15 to fish tight to the far bank in just over a 1ft of water, A shallow slapping rig & finally a 4x12 Chanti on 0.13-0.11 & an 16 808 hook to fish at 5mts to my left with meat, My shallow rigs would double up to fish shallow down the edge should I see signs of fish later in the day? I started the day in the deeper water with a 4mm expander over some 4mm feed pellet & micros but scrapped that after 10mins & two tiny roach' Gareth on peg 23 just on the bend had hooked one across on hard pellet fishing just inches deep tight to the mud bank, firing pellets in with the catty, I soon followed suit with a banded 6mm tight to the bank & began to ping a few across, I fully expected to catch straight away but it didn't happen, An hour into the match & all I had added was a crucian about a 1lb'. I tried up & down in the water & different areas of the bank but I just couldn't get then interested, I had signs of fish coming into the peg but it would result in foul hooked fish before building it up again, Gareth had taken a few of the island but it had slowed for him & when he changed tactic's I stayed across to see if I could draw some around as their were a few off the point.

Two hours gone I things hadn't improved, I had tried the meat line but Nothing, Tried a new line closer to the bank but no early signs, & even began a new line with 4mm hard pellets at 6mt in-front of me but again it just produced a small roach on pellet but nothing on the paste, Yes Paste" I haven't fished it for a while but its the in craze here at the moment so had to give it ago, I even tried it across feeding a few hard 6mm's over the top with a pot but still nothing. I stopped feeding across whilst I tried the other Lines to let it settle down as I had the odd fish slurping at the bank for loose pellets which was causing the foul hookers, I new after two & a half hours I would need a miracle to get in the frame as I had already heard some pegs on Sellicks were bagging from the start but I was determined to work out how to catch these fish across" I went back over this time fishing a 6mm expanded on the deck in just over a 1ft & was cad potting small nuggets of micros, It took all of 20 seconds to get my first carp just over 2lb' Foowed by another, & another, & another! I couldn't believe it" I went from nothing to bagging in an instant" The fish weren't big with most between 2-3lb but I was soon making inroad on Gareth or so I thought, After about an hour the sun had creped around & I now had a shadow in the shallow water across, Not only was I having a job to get the rig tight in trying to avoid the foliage I now had the sun smack in my eyes" .

Garth had started to catch well on his short meat line & was now defiantly in-front but I was hoping mine would now produce?. No... All I managed in the last couple of hours was two fish off it, Nothing closer to the bank on the inside edge but did manage a 4lb fish shallow slightly further along but the rest soon sodded off" I finished with between 45-50lb which wasn't going to be anywhere today, Gareth was admitting to 70-80lb & I managed to lose out late to him in the silvers side bet as he took two big skimmers on the meat line which he sacked up on in the last hour so I ost out another £2 there' Martin Addicott has got the paste sorted here at the moment & I had him down as the winner from peg 6 on Sellicks & was told he had over 150lb but it was going to be a long affair by the time I tipped back & got the kit back in the van they were just starting the weigh-in & also had an after match BBQ in Clive's Memory to host so I made my way home to sort my kit for Sundays Super-League on the River Huntspill & to keep the wife happy". I will add the full results when I get them through, Should of switch tactics a bit earlier today but I don't think I would of made the frame in the carp pool but I was disappointed I didn't give myself a swim on the lake with more option of silvers as the last couple of matches here I've done well on them fishing expanders over micros & felt it would of been a better option to pick up some coin but that's fishing'.                            

Goodiford Mill Fishery. (Saturday 23rd)

A bit late for this one but have been flat out at work this week among other things, Still feeling some pain so have to have a complete MOT over the next month or so to try & find the problem, Hopefully nothing to serious. I was invited by Garbolino's Steve Tucker to fish a match he was running at Goodiford Mill fishery near Tiverton, I haven't been to the fishery for nearly ten years & back then the pegs which seemed to have underwater Bar's' were the most productive with the pellet waggler dominating, Lewis Jones also got in as did Gabo so we all stopped off on route for breakfast before arriving & having a wander around, The old favourite pegs still seemed to have fish present & choice wise my old peg 10 would of been top of the list as I had heard the pellet wagg was still working & last time I drew it I managed over 280lb on it but trust me I felt like I had been in a marathon come the end".

Their were seventeen of us today & Steve was paying the top three & two Section but no silvers payout so all or nothing today, Into the draw & I ended up with peg 12 but Steve Had numbered it himself so it turned out I was the first peg as you went though the gate, It wouldn't off been my choice as I felt I was to far from any of the Bar's & trust me I know where they are as I've swam the lake to see where they are & in one spot it was that shallow it looked like I was walking on water stood in the middle of the lake" End peg Lewis had done it again pulling peg 17 in the far end corner But Ben Hagg had drawn peg 6 which would of the been old peg 10 so fancied his chances, All I assembled was a rig to fish down the edge as close in as I could get which was still a couple of feet off the bank in 3ft plus of water,

A rig to fish shallow & on the deck at 14mts with pellet, & finally two pellet waggler rods'. I had Dave Romain on what would be the point of the channel & Mike West between him & myself, We thought we were seeing things when he assembled a pellet wagg as I've never seen him with a rod in his hand" .

I started the day feeding some meat down the edge & some 6mm pellets at 14mts but by the time I had done this & picked up my pellet wagg rod Dave was netting his second carp! I was soon out feeding 8mm's with the same on the hook,

25mins later I still hadn't caught & Dave was netting about his tenth fish, Over the far side I could see Mark Wynn who was fishing the long pole to the small island in-front of him was also bagging & thankfully I couldn't see the Bar' swims around the corner as I was sure they would be catching". The writing was already on the cards after the first hour as all I could manage was the odd fish, I persisted at it but it just wasn't happening, I had a go on the long pole but the silvers were happy to hang onto 8mm's here so didn't fair any better, Dave never seemed to stop catching & even Mike was getting a few on the waggler, Well, He Was, Until he decided to trim the top 1ft or so off it in the tree behind him" but he still managed a few the way it was". I was hoping for some fish to switch on late but it didn't happen & I never had a bite all day down the edge, Bit of a disappointing day really as I was never going to keep up with some of the pegs & with no silver pool the options were limited, As I expected Guru's Ben Hagg won the day with just over 200lb taken on the pellet waggler but you still got to catch them, Mark Wynn caught all day but a smaller stamp to finish with just over 180lb to finish second & Dave Romaine Ended up 3rd with 164lb odd again with a smaller sample of carp, Were having another match here soon but this time their will be a silvers pool should carp not be an issue & judging by the size of some of the roach & plenty of skimmers present some good weights could be had, I ended the day with 61lb odd but Lewis did ok taking the section Money with 114lb, Hopefully my next visit will be a little more productive but that's the way it goes. Just to add I did manage a few hours at Shiplate farm just on my doorstep on the Thursday which turned out to be another good visit, I had some nice fish on the waggler including this beast'

      I ended up with a couple shallow on the pole to end the day with 28 carp then had a go on the short pellet line later on catching over 10lb of silver in less than an hour on hard 6mm over 4mm's,

 Certainly a venue to try when you want to try something different with plenty of options of what to target. Fishing tomorrow at Summerhayes For Clive Cunningham's memorial match & good turnout will be on the cards & with the match being a Rover Format over Longs & Sellicks Lake it will be interesting to see where I end up??. 

                  

River Huntspill Practice Match.

Firstly I do apologise as I have a pleasure session on Shiplate Farm & yesterdays match on Goodiford Mill fishery to up-date about but couldn't connect to a network for some reason until now so will add through the week, On with today & it was another practice match on the spill" before the next round of the super-league next Sunday, Travelling on my own today I stopped off for a hilltops breakfast before making my way to laburnham house for the draw, Strangely enough I found myself parking around the back off the premises which Don used to frequent, He fished here for years with some found memory's so top of my thoughts again this morning. A few of the team were also fishing again today in preparation to next week which was good to see & another good turnout for the river/Drain?. I happened to be near the front of the draw for a swift exit & found myself on peg 76 being the section above Woolavington bridge, A little bit of a walk due to the electric pylons before the pegs started but it wouldn't make much odds as I was smack in the middle with Team Captain Chris hook on one end peg & Thatchers Gary Webber on the first peg in the section being peg 80 which won the section in last weeks super-league with 18lb odd so both of them would be fishing for the win on the tip today.

A nice comfy swim again today with just a slight breeze off are backs but a change in the conditions were due by the start of the day with rain forecast & the wind to increase? 

     I planned to start the match on the feeder in the hope of snaring a bream or a few skimmers whilst feeding the pole line up, I set up my maver 12ft tip rod to fish 2/3rds across with 5lb main line to a 0.13 hooklength & a 16 B611 hook, A 0.4g PB1 on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 B520 hook & A 4x16 Wire Wonder on 0.15 to 0.13 & again an 18 B520 hook both to fish at 13mts in approx. 5ft of water with my main target being eels over loose fed maggots & casters, The lighter rig being used if conditions didn't change. I had a quick wander before the start having a chat with Stretch" & Middy backed Sam Powell who was next to me on peg 77 who wasn't going to try the feeder just relying on the pole to produce silvers so it would be intresting'. 

I started the day feeding 10 feeder loads of chopped worm, casters & red Squatt's onto the feeder line before attaching the hook-length starting the day with a small piece of worm tipped with a red maggot on the hook whilst starting to feed the pole line with the catty, It took me 15mins to feed it & I had my first fish after 45mins being a 4oz skimmer on a bunch of squatt's, I had another smaller fish just after but after 85mins it was time to drop in on the pole line as their didn't appear to be anything bigger in the area at present.

Starting with maggot on the hook I didn't have to wait to long for my first eel around 10oz followed by a smaller sample & a couple of small perch in the next 20mins before I rested it again & had another few chucks on the tip. Another 20mins or so still didn't produce a thing & I had just switched back to the pole line when Chris came wandering down, He hadn't had any signs of bream & reckoned Sam's 6lb of bits next door was about the best weight, I new I only had around 3lb but felt if I could latch into a few more eels I may be able to catch up but we couldn't see each other due to the trees, The next eel I had managed to be over 1lb followed by another of 10oz or so, I didn't want to force the swim to much so when I felt they had backed away had another try with the feeder. This was none productive as I never had another fish on it, with an hour to go I thought I would leave the feeder line until the last 20mins or so & catch as much as I could off the pole line, Oddly enough apart from the odd small perch I hadn't had silver fish all-day on it but in the last 45mins I added the odd 4oz hybrid & a few rudd of similar size as-well as a couple more eels, I ended up with around 12 eels but some were very small together with my bits & reckoned on having around 7lb? Sam came up to say he thought he had 8lb or so but I was sure I didn't have that, Chris was first to weigh but didn't find any bream or skimmers finishing with 1kg odd , Sam was leading the way with his net of small fish for 4kg odd before my turn. My total went 4kg 900 so it was just enough to beat Sam & even better enough to take the section as not much was had below me.

Back at the results & it turned out it wasn't a big weight affair today as top on the day was former Fisho Mania Champ & recent Irish festival winner Kevin Rowles took the top weight from peg 84 below Woolavington bridge ending the day with 8kg odd mainly caught on the feeder, Their was a 7kg & 6kg in second & 3rd so a few more eels would of pushed me close to the main frame but the £50 section monies was welcome. Really enjoyed the day, Its quite odd not being able to see your fellow anglers but forces you to make decisions you may not other wise make, Nice to put a few riggler's together again today & to see I still have the snake charmer magic" Lol. Back here next week to help the team out in the Super-league so looking forward to it.

Full results -

1st Kev Rowles (Thatchers P.I) 8kg 250g.

2nd Clive Branson (Nomad's) 7kg 050g.

3rd Martin Barrett (Thatchers P.I) 6kg 050g.

       

      

I'm Back".

Well that was a bit of a shocker to say the least' I returned from fishing the Final round of the sedges series top kit only match in what I can only describe as agony" I had been suffering from a bad back (or so I thought ) since the previous Thursday, By Sunday the pain had shifted along my lower side & I wasn't sure leaning over to fish very short all day would be the best option but with a chance of making the final in August & the pool's already paid I grit my teeth & Carried on.. More of the match in a bit but when I got home my lovely Wife new I was suffering But after not having a drink all-weekend I said we would go for a quick drink & fire up the BBQ, Well I didn't make it.. We got near the pub & I just had to get out the car as I was having a funny turn' Feeling Really cold but sweating like a pig" I even got out before the car had stopped only to go headfirst into a window then falling flat on my back in the road & that's where I stayed until the Ambulance arrived 45mins later! The pain I was in from my side & luckily not my fall was enough to put up with before the Gas&Air arrived that was, I happened to know the paramedic who I worked with years ago & With my conditions was convinced on route to the hospital that I was suffering from Kidney Stones.

Well I was drugged up to the eye balls & produced the normal Blood & Pee' samples then had to wait for a CT scan the next morning, Finally I got the results at 4pm yesterday" to say thankfully no signs of any stones but had had some kind of Kidney/Muscles injury & was sent home still in pain with Anti Biotics & if the pain persists to contact my GP..! Great".

Not well enough to drive so its on with the match. I had travelled on my own today as Lewis was taking my place for the superleague which I would of been fishing had I not messed my dates up". Their were a few stand-ins today Including Bobby Gullit who was fishing the other round of qualifier's, I not sure if I was running it I would allow this as it gives them extra practice under match conditions in theory? But one things for sure I wouldn't let then draw before the others who were in that round as some did, What if they draw the peg everyone was routing for starters things would be havoc then' Lol, I fancied drawing the opposite bank for a change in the from pegs 21-24 or the spit bank 36-40 as they have been consistent, Into the draw & out comes 35, It was the peg up from what I had the last match but I remember the guy on it really struggled & had one late carp but you never know, I just so happened to have Bobby G, next to me on the peg I had 36 so expected a battering really as he's doing really well here of late in his rounds" Lol. Just setting up was proving a right effort & I knew I was in for a painful days fishing, Not going to go into detail but I managed two early carp in the first 40mins on the deck with 6mm expander on the hook feeding 6mm's by hand before I felt something pop & a burning sensation in my lower left side so that was it' No more leaning over to fish on the shelf leaving me sat like a gnome fishing just past my nets praying for the final whistle after an hour" I had to get up for a walk a couple of times & I saw Bobby catch a giant eel" to go with some better carp he had taken & to be honest I just wanted to pack-up & go but some were struggling & I didn't want to squander the chance to make the final, I had fed both edges but hadn't had a sign their but persisted to finish with 9 carp mostly on the meat later in the day, I didn't have big fish with my best going 6lb out were as Bobby's biggest went 15lb odd" but I was glad in one way as I had a hard enough job landing the smaller ones" When the scales Arrived I had to get Bob to pull my nets out as packing up & taking my kit back to the van had just about finished me off, I managed 42lb odd which wasn't going to give me a pick-up today but when the final points were sorted it had proved enough to get to the final which was the main objective so it was off home to find out my later fate". Winner on the day was Nick Fuidge over on peg 21 catching mainly on the meat over meat & caster so well done to him ahead of bobby g who finished 2nd with 119lb odd which also included second in the silvers with 12lb odd so a double pick-up for him. 

Full Results -

1st. Nick Fuidge (The Sedges) peg 21, 125lb 9oz.

2nd. Bobby Gullit (Mossella) peg 36, 119lb 13oz.

3rd. John Fuidge (The Sedges) peg 38, 105lb 3oz.

4th. Nigel Garrett (Viaduct) peg 33, 86lb 6oz.

Silvers - 1st Bruce Hunt (Tiverton) peg 25, 15lb 1oz.  

      

   

Just to keep you updated.....

 Just to let you a know Dom Came home from fishing  Today (Sunday) and he collapsed, I had to call a ambulance to which is why there will be a delay to blog for his match at The Sedges. We are waiting for tests to be done .....He's is in a lot of pain,  but flying on the pain relief....lol. In over a decade of being with him ive never seen him so ill, bit scary really. I know how he likes to get the blog done as soon as he can,

sorry for the short blog( and nothing like Doms even the speing!) but I popped home to let the dog out and grab a mug of tea....for waiting at the hosp , good job we r 2 mins away from it,Handy hey!

 As soon as I know more ile keep you updated.

What's he say ? owe yer .......Tight lines lol

von x