Emerald Pool Silvers Open.

With Darren (Big Bird) picking me up this morning we made are way to Hilltops for the formal breakfast though how birdy manages to eat the biggest on offer I don't know' Down to the fishery and with 18pegs in today some of it was goin to be a bit tight so I was hoping to draw the far side which is seeming the more favoured area to be in with it being slightly deeper and more room to play with so in went my hand and out comes peg 7 which put my by the lifebuoy on the nearside car park bank which has been producing 30-40lb weights of late so a lot to play for until I realised I had Alex Murry on the peg to my right which is not normally put in meaning as we were close I couldn't fish to my right as I would of liked and a small island prevented me going left and I didn't want to go to close to it as it looked a tad carpy"

 Most of the best weights come buy fishing short with maggot or caster so a 0.3g PB2 was set up to fish on the deck in three and a half feet of water on 0.11- 0.10 with an 18 63-13, a lighter 4x10 rig to catch through the water if possible on 0.10-0.09 and a 18 silver fish, both to fish at 5mts , and a swim around a yard off the island at 11mts which was 3 inches deeper so I could use the same rigs for both.

at the start I cupped in some chopped worm on the short line, and a small nugget of micro and a few expanders on the longer swim, starting long with an expander on the hook I had some small hybrids then a 1lb tench before a small lull which resulted in a carp of 3lb, not good', a couple more small samples saw me add another nugget of micro and switch to the caster on the short line which I had been feeding by hand soon saw me catching and although I felt I was behind I was getting the odd tench and big roach to help build my weight up but the problem seemed to be when I didn't have a ripple on the water due to the island I found it hard to get a bite which saw me having to put a section on and fish further beyond were I was feeding.

at the halfway point the match really took a swing and the lakes carp population turned on and everyone seemed to by playing one at some stage it put an end to the silvers for me and Alex for the rest of the match with us taking it in turns in Artistic display fishing of carp on light elastic but its amassing how you get them all in" we only managed to add a few 1lb of silvers each for the rest of the match as it didn't matter what you put on the hook you hooked One!

The Noted far bank produced the goods as even between the carp the silvers were still being added right up to the whistle.

For the second match in a row Nigel Garret took the win on the far side with a cracking 92lb all caught short on the maggot , And Glynn Wickham finishing 2nd with 52lb from the same bank fishing caster. It was a shame the swims died for me and Alex, as we were both catching and I ended on 32lb which was nearly all in the first three hours" still a great days fishing though with over 680lb of silvers caught between us all.   

            

  Part of Nigel's winning bag.

       Runner up Glyn's catch.

Full results- 1st Nigel Garrett (Summerhayes) 92lb

                     2nd Glynn Wickham (Summerhayes) 52lb 4oz

                     3rd Martin Heard (Tiverton) 51lb 10oz

                     4th Ray Wickham (Summerhayes) 49lb 12oz . 

Acorn Saturday Open

Straight to the fishery for the match today and with the resent form coming off the bridge pegs I was hoping the draw would be kind to me and when I pulled out peg 34 next to a bridge and a peg I happened to draw on my last visit I was more than happy, though this was short lived as for some reason there had to be a re-draw which ment I had perform some magic if I was going to get it again" Nope' This time I managed to draw peg 2 not were I would of chosen but it was the bonus peg so I had to bear that in mind, I planned to fish maggot over caster on the long pole down towards the next pallet in around 4ft of water and a couple of swims across towards the far bank with 4mm expanders over micro.

4x12 chantis on 0.11 - 0.10 and 18 808's were all I set up and after a pound with bend it Brian who had now draw 34" I started the match by cupping in a large pot of casters to the pallet before starting over with expander over a tiny amount of micro and 4mm hard pellet via a toss pot after 5 mins I had expected some indication but nothing happed and a switch to maggot didn't do any better so I started a new line to my right in the same depth feeding the same amounts tho there didn't seem to be anything willing to feed so I was soon making a new rig to fish down the track in 6ft of water with maggot and hard 4's fed by hand it was slow to say the least and after two hours I had managed one 1lb tench on red maggot down the track and still had no signs of fish across on any line but having found the fish do tend to switch on later in the day and with only one 10oz skimmer added to my total it didn't happen until the last 30mins then somebody flicked a switch as my lines across both started to produce fish and I ended with four carp and some crucians & skimmers for around 6lb of bits and 14lb of carp but the bridge peg 40 had won for the 3rd match in a row with Dave Smart winning the day with 33lb odd and second was Aide Baker with 31lb the other side of the bridge , Shame they didn't switch on earlier as I may have snuck it but it wasn't to be but it was still a nice day to try and work a few things out.     

Emerald Pool Tony Rixon Match

There were 16 of us today as the word has gone around how popular the silver fishing has been here of late so tony left me to the pegging to accommodate us without putting to many carpy looking pegs in, I managed to draw on the car park bank next to the bridge on my left, Nigel Wickham had struggled off this peg on the Saturday open finishing with 20lb odd but I was sure there were fish to be caught all over the lake and with a first and a second in the last two matches I must have been doing right'.

Planning to mainly planned my attach around 5mt with caster over caster and a bit of chopped worm and a line at ten meters with caster and groundbait, I didn't feel to happy tho when plumming up as I only had around 2ft of water on the short line and not much more on the longer line, I felt that I would catch short but they would spook easy and with the bridge leaving me unable to go further to the left it left me little option to go elsewhere.

For company today I had Barry Fitchew the other side of the bridge so we had a pound to keep it friendly and on the start I cupped in some loose groundbait and caster at 10mts and some choppy and caster on 5mt swim, Im not going to get into detail of my first hour excecpt I had 4 big roach and some smaller fish off both lines Before what I can now only describe as horrific..

We all heard a lot of shouting and all got off are boxes to find out the disturbance was down to a fishery regular had turned up with a young lad and climbed over the owners locked gate into there back garden, We don't know if he new but there German Sheppard dogs were in the garden and for an unknown reason to any of us the dogs had attacked the guy and the young lad i'm not going into anymore Detail but a big thanks goes to all as if it wasn't for some quick thinking it would no bout ended fatal, We were all in shock afterwards and a quick response by the emergency serviced thankfully saw them off to hospital without to serious injuries. Now were an Owner of a big dog myself and as soft as she is dogs are territorial, We are or entitled to are opinion but I cant justify why for any reason knowing the owners were out why he put himself and a young child who wasn't related to him in that position of entering the premises.

Needless to say few of us witnessing the scene were keen to continue so the match was ended and Tony returned the entry fee to us all, it was a shame as some people were catching really well from the off but none of us were in the frame of mind and i'm sure from all of us we wish the lad a speedy recovery but he did have a smile on his face when Silverfox Mike told the lad he was having a free ride in a helicopter"                      

Viaduct Teams Of 5 Rd 3

Traveling with team mate Don Sutherland today and a quick stop for a breky roll to have on the way to the draw at the globe were arrived with plenty of time so I made the most of it by having a good chat and catch up with Des (Smiley) Shipp and had five minutes putting the world to rights before my draw was to be decided on Cambell Lake, I don't know why but I had a good feeling I was going to land on one of the more favoured pegs and I was more than happy to find myself on 85 which had caught carp on both matches so far as well as the opens.

Knowing most of the fish come at distance from these pegs all I was going to set up was a loaded 2gram waggler to fish just on the deck with a small 20mm swivel connecting a Drennan 0.16 hook length on a size 14 hair rig and lead a tip rod with a bomb with proper line" as they go to 25lb in this lake and smallest seem to be 5lb connected with the same hook length as the waggler, Or so I thought" I had forgot to put my reels in today as well as my feeder arm so a quick scout round saw me borrow a reel with 8lb line and Dons feeder arm, as I found my reel for the waggler in my net bag, set up with plenty of time to have a wander and a chat with fellow Bloger Tony Rixon who kindly lent me one of his nice aero reels just in case although im sure there was a reason and he could cast as far as were I was going to fish from peg 81 so I was going to have to keep an eye on him" Owe and he didn't need Reminding the last time he lent me this reel off the next peg he got beat by me so I was out to repeat the lesson."

Starting the match on the straight lead with punched 8mm meat I began slightly to my left so I could work my way back to the point of the island on my right at around 25 yards as the match progressed, After 20mins of trying I was struggling to reach the distance I felt the fish were with the thickness of the 8lb line so a quick decision to change the now thankfully borrowed reel from Tony' loaded with 5lb line saw me back in the peg 5mins later at the right distance and with Andy Crocker from the Welsh Freeze outfit on 86 already netting a nice 15lb fish I felt it wasn't going to be long before it was my turn and sure enough on the 25 minute I had a proper bite" and landed a 10lb mirror (Nice start), Sticking to the meat and a few more liners followed before another 10lb'er was added so now I was nicely settled as looking around I had only seen two carp caught.

A few more false bites when you cant help picking the rod up without fear of it being pulled in had me thinking the fish had come up slightly in the water but by now the breeze had picked up so ruled me out of fishing the waggler so I had to stick to my guns and sit the match out on the tip which I'm not a lover of as I like to be working at it, I began to change my baits and tried popped up bread and a bunch of floating red maggot on a longer tail but with no response it was back to the meat and bang on the two hour mark I hooked a much bigger fish and this is were the fun began" The fish kited from around 30 yards to my left as soon as it was hooked and there was nothing I could do' I warned Andy on the next peg but moments later it was to late and I wasn't only connected to his line but the guy the other side of him aswell! Both were very sporting and let there reels off for me play the fish in and after 10 mins it was in the net All 17lb of it' hooked in the barb" along with a tangled mass of weights and hook lengths! WHOOPS" , They took it well though but we all had to set up again" At least we gave the fish a rest for ten mins.

Back in action and the next two cast saw Andy land two fish so the mini break did his swim good but by know my liners had stopped and I began to feel the fish were moving further along the lake and so proved as the two guys to Andy's left had a carp apiece going into the last hour as well as Andy ending the day on six fish one of which he cast on top of fizzing fish sat right in front of him we could see when the breeze dropped and 5mins later he was in yet my swim seamed devoid of any bubbles or any signs of fish and despite trying different baits and moving closer to the spit my only other fish was a 13oz skimmer on the corn and two liners with 5 mins to go which is typical as I felt I was going to get another, so my 3 carp and a Skimmer weighed 37lb odd for 4th on the lake out off 19 so good for team points and Andy's six fish weighed 54lb for 2nd on the lake which was won with 56lb so two more pull rounds may of seen my do it but that's fishing and at least the weather was nice" I kindly gave the borrowed tackle back and reminded Tony it was now two from two with his reel! perhaps he ought to sell it me"

Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) won the day from Cambell Lake 124 with 160lb odd on the bomb and various baits and this lake through up the top Five placing's today , Don managed to come 5th on his lake but Steve Seager had a poor draw for last on the lake but we managed 4th on the day team wise its a shame we had a poor last round but we can still finish some were so all is not lost, Frezze Won the team side on the day with what is believed to be a record score of 81 pts puts them top of the league so far.

Overall results -

1st Steve Kedge (Somerset Angling) peg124 161lb 7oz

2nd Adam Mitchell (Freeze Orange) peg 119 147lb 6oz

3rd Roland Lucas (Viaduct) peg 116 115lb 4oz

4th Lee Werret (freeze Black) peg 110 75lb 9oz

5th Dave White (Viaduct Select) peg 38 72lb

Silvers -

1st Dave white (Viaduct Select) peg 38, 31lb 3oz

2nd Bob Gullick (Moaning Maggots) peg 25, 22lb 15oz

3rd Glen Reynolds (Freeze Black) peg 37, 21lb 3oz  

Shiplate Farm Series Rd 9

!st Alan Healy (Frys) 52lb 4oz , 2nd Steve Howell (Shiplate) 51lb 14oz , 3rd Russ Pecker (Thatchers Tackle) 32lb 8oz

Silvers - Julian Pinkett (Post Office) 9lb 11oz                            

           

Emerald Pool Silvers Match

Another chance to have a crack at the silvers population today and with no let up in the weather we were all hoping the wind would ease up from the gales last night, A nice breky at hilltops before arriving in order to do the pegging out I spread them around the whole lake giving us as much room as possible and I fancied the far bank with the wind behind us slightly to make for an easier day presentation wise. Darren(Big Bird) drew for me today and handed me peg 5 which was one up from the far side end under the willows which I had to do a bit magic with folding some branches over themselves so I didn't catch them whilst hopefully bagging"

I was hoping to catch on at around 5mts were I could feed caster easily feed by hand but planed to leave it for a while to settle and catch out at 11mts over groundbait and caster, My inside line was shallower than the last match with about Three and a half feet and a quick look on the 11mt line only showed it to be inches deeper so a rig to fish on the deck with a 0.3g PB3 with a bulk 6inches from the hook and a lighter 4x12 chanti strung out for searching the depth both on 0.11-0.10 and a 18 63-13, and a 3x10 chanti for fishing shallow if they came up high in the water,

For company today I had Glyn Wickham on peg 5 and Sedges Regular Eric  Foracre on end peg 6 my bank who both enjoy there silvers so I new I had a challenge on the keep them in my sights, I started the match by feeding my short swim with a good amount of casters and some chopped worm via a big cup and my long line with three cups of wetted loose groundbait containing some casters  starting with single caster at 11mts I was expecting to catch straight away but I had to work the rig to get any indications and the stamp of fish were small, after 30mins I had around 3lb and new I had to get amongst the better fish so I topped the line up with a firm ball and switched to my short line where I had upped the feed to 20 or so casters every minute as I was already playing catch up with the pegs either side who were catching shorter.

Starting with caster on the hook I was soon into some better hybrids and roach over a 1lb by feeding the swim before laying the lighter chanti rig most of my bites were coming as soon as the float settled or by repeating the process of feeding again, I did notice a pattern was beginning to appear the for know reason bites would dry up but it did appear the carp were a lot more active today as many were caught as well as myself ending the day landing five and losing one at the net with the rig ending up in the willows overhead not to be used again" so I kept to same pattern and fed some more chopped worm and small nuggets combined on the same line when the smaller stamp of fish appear of after a carp had unsettled the peg.

I stayed on the same line for the rest of the match as for what I could see I was keeping up with the rest of the field and by working up and down through the water I had some nice wiser Hybrids and big roach at various depths to keep the pressure on the rest and taking advantage of the wind dropping I managed to end the day catching 18inches deep on 3x10 rig to finished with what I thought would be around 55lb although its so hard to tell so I was happy to finish up with 67lb odd and enough for 2nd on the day.

some of my catch.

                First on the day went to Nigel Garrett with a cracking weight of 85lb mainly catching short on casters and corn,

 |Nigel Garrett with part of his catch.

Overall there was over 430lb of silvers weighed in today and considering the weather we all had a good day with plenty of bites to work at.

 I had to add this picture of Eric next to me as he went off like a train and I was so convinced he had more than me I had a tenner side bet with him and despite just missing out on the overall frame he went home with the tenner off me hence the smile!

Overall results -

1st Nigel Garrett (Summerhayes) peg 2, 85lb 5oz

2nd Dom Sullivan (Maver/ Cabury Angling) peg 5, 67lb 6oz

3rd Glyn Wickham (Summerhayes) peg 4, 49lb 4oz

4th Eric Foracre (The Sedges) peg 6, 47lb 2oz

5th Barry fitchew (Pole repairs) peg 11, 37lb 12oz    

 

      

Shiplate Farm Open, Canal Lakes,

Decided Against Breky today but  grabbed a breakfast roll for fishery owner Steve and had a gossip and a cuppa before the start, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be plain sailing for me today as I had my brand new tracky bottoms on for five minutes and whilst turning the car around to load my kit in I knocked the end off my cig and it fell between my legs burning a hole in them" And that was after stepping in dog poo whilst trying to find the back gate in the pitch black! The wind had been horrendous over night and there was no let up when it came to draw time with added hail to assist us whilst tackling up, I fancied a draw in the narrower low numbers on Westpool but ended up on Peg 9 hawthorns which I was happy with as I won off this peg last time fishing across at 14mts towards the aerator rope and bull rushes on the far bank. I was debating as what to do at the start as the wind was so strong I didn't even want to get the pole out" I decided to wait for a lull in the weather and set the rest of my kit up first and pumped some 4mm Expanders.

I had a feeling my main lines were going to be down the edge today in around 5ft of water for which I set up a 4x14 chanti on 0.15-0.11 and an 18 808 and a 4x12 on 0.13-0.11 for fishing up and down in the water with maggot on the hook and one rig across a 4x10 chanti to 0.11-0.10 again to an 18 808 in around 3ft of water against the rushes, Only just ready at the start I began by cupping in some casters and red maggot on my inside right hand swim and drip fed my left swim with some maggots by hand , I chose to start across on my long line with a single red and white maggot without feeding anything and within 2mins I had a positive bite which saw my gingerly playing a carp of around 4lb which decided to come straight to the top and roll before sheading the hook! I spent the next 40mins across with nothing after trying shallower and swapping to 3 floro pinkee and single red magg on the hook I had to have a rest as buy now it was lashing down and I had no feeling in my fingers so I cupped in a small amount of micro and dead pinkee across and switched to my shallow rig with double red maggot down my right hand edge.

After feeding half a dozen maggots by hand twice I lay the rig in over the top and as soon the rig settled it shot under and this time I managed to net a carp off 4lb so I was off the mark, I fed the swim with some more maggots by hand and changed to my left hand swim where I had been dripping casters in and again when it settled and I fed over the top I was hooked to a much bigger carp and dispite me having one chance to scoop" it bolted for the tree root and I lost it, swapping back to my right and flicking a few maggots in saw me hook another and after a couple of mins I was just reaching for the net and "ping" another one gone! After a few choice words with myself ' I changed the hook length even tho the hook looked fine I wasn't going risk anymore coming off.

After causing a disturbance to my inside lines I feed them by hand and went back over with double red again first put in resulted in a chub of 12oz then a perch of 10oz but no carp followed so I resulted in cab potting a few reds and micro with a couple of 4mm expanders and waiting for a bite another ten mins and I had another carp across but it was foul hooked so after 5mins praying it would stay on the obvious happened and again it shed the hook only for my rig to smash back and break the float! after feeding a cross again and a new assembled rig it was back on the inside swims but I couldn't get a bite at any depth so I topped them up with some more casters and a few reds and changed to my full depth rig with caster on the hook but after 5mins both sides without so much as a knock I was back on the long line with 3 floros on the hook and two mins of lifting and dropping saw me connect to a carp of 5lb which I managed to hook in the mouth and get in'  Another chub next put in left me thinking it was best to feed a little via the cad pot then sit on it for 10 mins at a time before repeating the process if I had no indications , I would of liked to have another swim slightly to my right on this line but it was impossible to present it right with the gale force winds and it was towing down the lake with the wind which didn't help.

I kept trying both my inside lines regularly but they had seemed to vacate the area altogether as it was totally none productive and word on the bank was the lakes were fishing hard (Hardly surprizing with this endless rain) so I sat over for most of the remaining match and by endlessly lifting and dropping maggot or 3 floros pinkee I ended with 5 carp for around 20lb and a couple of pound of bits, word was Westpool had fished equally hard with Julian Pinkett top weight with 22lb 2oz so I new it would be close and when my carp and 2lb 2oz  of silvers were added together my 23lb was enough to win the lake and the match out right so not such a bad day after all and 60 quid better off, We surely have to have some more suitable fishing conditions soon as at one stage today I was shaking like a leaf and my hands were numb which doesn't help when your trying to concentrate, Owe a a quick mention of Steve (Peanut) Howell who yet again managed to draw a good on consistent Peg 5 Westpool only for him to whip around the carpark like a ferret having £1 side bets with whoever he could" But in sure he wont mind me mentioning he was stone last on the lake and had to ask Steve for change to pay us all!...

My catch

Golly jones & Me

 

Results -

1st Dominic Sullivan , Maver/Cadbury Angling 23lb

2nd Julian Pinkett , Bristol Post office 22lb 2oz 

Silvers -

Golly Jones , Shiplate 3lb 7oz                     

Viaduct teams of 5 rd 2

Traveling by myself today as Don had other commitments so straight to the grove in Somerton for an all you can eat breakfast or so I thought as word has got round from the first match so most chose to head there for breky resulting in the first round of it running out and guys having to wait 20mins just to get a full breakfast" So a cuppa and a chat was the best I could hope for. Team today was myself , Captain Chris hook , Sam Johnson , Steve Seager and Glynn wickham taking the place of John green again? Got a funny feeling we wont see him".

Onto the draw and one of the last to draw Chris came out stoney face as we hadn't had a good team draw, with me being on cambell today I was hoping to be draw on form pegs 124, 125 or the pegs directly opposite so when I was handed 126 at least I new I was in the right area and fish have fins, I new from the last results on this lake the pegs below me proved tough so my decision was made for another positive day meaning I would rely on the bomb and waggler to do the damage leaving my wet pole from yesterday still in the holdall  a loaded 2g waggler was assembled with an 0.13 hook length to an eyed Preston PR36 size 16 and a bomb rod with 4lb main line to a Drennan pre tied size 14 hair band 12inch hook length, not taking long to set up I went for a wander down to Tom Thick on corner peg 132 hoping to learn something as the lad has been here a lot more then me, within 2mins of my arrival and Tom pluming his waggler line towards the pallet on the empty end bank he managed to snare the vegetation meaning I had to walk around and free it for him so not a lot learnt there".

A quick chat with Ron Hardiman before the match who drew my peg last time didn't inspire me much as he had 2 fish for 10lb odd on popped up bread? ( i'm still not convinced you can do this?)  but at least I had idea what to expect, with the wind being slightly awkward at the all in I decided to start on the bomb and 8mm meat it took all of 5 mins to get a (I'm on there!) bite and a 3lb carp was netted, Next chuck I fully expected the same but 30mins later I hadn't even had a liner so I switched to the waggler and 3 dead red maggot and first cast I had a tench of around 2lb but again another 30 mins and no more signs soon saw me back on the bomb and meat as by now Nige Easton next door on 125 and Chris Davis on 124 were both getting the odd fish on the bomb and meat or waggler and maggot so at least I was going along the right lines" Another 20 mins then out of the blue a nice 8lb carp was added followed by one of 6lb next chuck both on the 8mm meat again the nothing' it was frustrating to say the least as by now Nige & Chris were both catching well yet I couldn't buy a bite despite trying floating maggot on the bomb as well as bread, I new on the last match Ron said they were Tightly shoaled and it was a repeat this time around.

Happy I was doing the right thing I continued to swap between the bomb and wagg as I new already a few pegs would struggle to match what I already had in the net and the guy directly opposite me hadn't had a carp as well as a lot of others so all was not lost, Another hour passed then two more in two chucks again on the meat saw me going into the last hour looking for a few extra fish but it wasn't to be despite one last fish on the bomb they were happy just to sit in the two pegs to my left who caught right up to the whistle as well as Tony Rixon opposite them, Apart from the neck ache I had watching them all day the most annoying thing had to be the lad next to me on 127 using his alarm on his phone to time his casts, It wouldn't of been so bad but with him not switching it off until he reeled in nearly saw me off my box giving it a watery grave!

Ending the day with 6 carp and a tench for 40lb 14oz saw me finish 6th on the lake out off 19 and the added bonus of a section win and 40quid in the back pocket, Well, Till the wife finds out and wants a Chinese later" Apart from Steve Seager having 12pts we strugged as a team from a poor draw today but that's the way it goes so with cary lake my next port of call I may be lucky to land right on them instead of watching the action.

Full results - 1st Nige Easton (Amigos) 119lb 12oz

                       2nd Steve Long (Bait TechViaduct) 112 14oz

                       3rd Dave roper (Moaning Maggots) 108lb 10oz

Silvers - !st Adam Mitchell (Freeze south west) 23lb 2oz

               2nd Des Shipp (Preston Innovations ) 16lb 15oz

Teams on Day -  1st Bait Tech Viaduct 68pts, 2nd Somerset Angling & Thatchers Gold 65pts, 4th Thatchers Anglo welsh 64pts

Teams Overall Standings - 1st Bait tech Viaduct 132pts, 2nd Thatchers Gold & Somerset Angling 126pts, 4th Thatchers Vets 119pts, 5th Freeze Orange 116pts 6th Freeze Black 109pts   

                          

Emerald Pool Silvers Match.

A change of scenery for a match today with owner Alan allowing us to fish the main lake at this fishery just outside Highbridge, After a breky at hilltops with a few of the others it was off to the lake to arrange the pegs and With the forecast to be gale force winds and heavy showers I decided to change the pegging slightly to accommodate us in the most sheltered areas of the lake, With 13 fishing today we still had plenty of room as we were evenly spaced as we didn't know where the best place would be?  At the draw I let young Lewis Jones do the honours for me ending up on peg 6 the far side of the lake in the open water.

My swim.

For Company today I had Darren (Big Bird) Greenwood on 5 so a pound was struck with him & Olden day Avon Bait supreme Charlie Barns on peg 7 who loves his silver fish bashing, and with my previous trips producing good catches we were all hoping the fish would give us a good day. I planned to keep it as simple as I could as I new if it did fish well it would be those who could keep them coming who would gain the advantage so one rig to fish at 11mts on the deck in 5ft of water with caster over groundbait and pinkee being a preston 0.3g PB2 and a 4x10 chanti to try and catch shallow should conditions allow, both on 0.13-0.10 and an 18 PR490.

I started by feeding the 11mt line with 3 balls laced with caster and a few pinkee and one big cupful of wetted loose groundbait over the top to add some attracting cloud, I also Decided to feed a line where I could feed by hand so kicked off the swim by cupping in some pulped worm and caster at 5mts were I could feed caster easily. Starting on the long line it wasn't long before I started to catch some small skimmers on red maggot but knowing I had to catch a bigger stamp I changed to single caster on the hook and loose fed over the top by catty, It still wasn't fast fishing but  I started to get some net size fish and looking around those I could see others were also catching from the off, Well most of us" Except for Birdy next door who was struggling at 13mts to put anything together and soon saw him swap to his 7mt line with a whip" and caster,

This is where my match was to make a dramatic change as for the next 30mins I watched him take a fish a chuck all of net size and although I was catching they weren't of the same stamp and it was certainly beating me in the speed stakes so after 10mins out on the shallow rig and only one fish it was time to come on my short line with my depth rig. It was only about 3inches shallower on the 5mt line so after a quick alteration I started on single caster and as soon as the rig had settled it had gone and shortly after a nice 1lb roach was netted, No fluke as the bites kept coming from hybrids roach of all sizes and the odd tench to a 1lb plus, I even shouted up to Charlie who was stringing a few together what were his thoughts and he replied' I've Died and gone to heaven!"

I Felt Birdy was still catching faster on the whip so upped my feeding by hand to twice a cast in the hope of stealing some fish as the day went on and it seemed to improve stamp of fish for a while, with no more tench showing I decided to feed some more worm and caster on this line via a big pot to draw some to the swim, It did seem to work as I managed three more on the worm In the next hour up to a 1lb along with some nice hybrids and roach.

With two hours to go Glynn Wickham had been for a wonder and said all the pegs below me had around 30lb and Jamie Rich on the car park bank was catching well and had 120 plus fish so there was all to play for and for the remainder of the match I stayed at 5mts both sides of me swapping between both lines to keep fish coming of all sizes on single caster or worm loose feeding quite heavy by hand right up till the all out.

On the weigh in it was obvious there were going to be some great weights and starting the ball rolling was Nigel Wickham despite Having a moan about the peg at the start weighed a great 78lb , next up was Big Bird who had a nice all whip caught 43lb, I had two nets in and with silvers in each I didn't really have any idea to what I had but after two weighs my total weight of 98lb 14oz was a cracking days fishing and enough for first on the day.

part of my catch .

the whole lake fished well on the day and the lowest weight being 23lb everyone enjoyed a marvellous days fishing with plenty off bites. picking up a nice £70 I can thoroughly say it must rate as one of my best days ever despite the gods throwing everything it had at us.

2nd Nigel Wickham.

                         3rd Barry Fitchew

 Birdys whip caught net.

Results -  1st Dom Sullivan,  Maver/Cadbury Angling 98lb 14oz peg 6

                2nd Nigel Wickham,  Summerhayes 78lb 7oz

                 3rd Barry Fitchew,  Pole Repairs 55lb 2oz

                4th Wayne Blake,  Bristol  46lb 2oz

                 5th Jamie Rich, Against men and fish/Burts Baits  44lb 10oz

                6th Darren Greenwood,  Shiplate Farm 43lb 1oz     

                   

Shiplate Farm Series Rd 8.

With the Forcast to be windy and driving rain I wasn't going to venture out today but dreading the thought of my wife finding me some DIY to do a phone call was made to fishery owner Steve and a place available on Westpool Lake in the event of Paul Chapman not fishing today, Being as the fishery is on my doorstep and in the event of my tooth still giving me grief it wasn't far for me to retreat if things got worse.

Greeted by high winds and driving rain on arrival I was beginning to think a coat of paint here and there in the house wasn't such a bad idea" waterproofs on and a nice free cuppa before the draw was welcome as no breky stop today, Steve has done well to pack in the fags in aid of the new E-Cig which no matter what, Has to be better than tobacco except when you first see them it looks like something you would find being smoked at a Bob Marley Gig"

    (notice Carol doing some modelling on the Calendar Behind him..)

 The Lovely Carol taking a laid back role. Back to the draw and I let the others go before me as I was guesting today so had the last in the hat today although Steve (peanut) Howell asked me to draw before him tho which I refused and he ended on peg 3 in the narrows with me ending up on 13, And funnily enough a peg I had never draw before, A quick chat to Andy France as he had won a match off the same lake last week put some ideas in my head as how things should pan out, Andy caught all his fish over to the bull rushes shallow with maggot on the hook so this was my starting plan without feeding and just having a dob around.               Below  -  (Dobbing land)

   

My home for the day.

Opting to fish along the bank to my left and right I set up two identical 4x10 chantis on 0.13-0.11 & an 18 808, a float I use a lot at this time of the year due to the fact I've used them for approx. 20yrs and find them to suit a lot of situations,

I also set a rig to fish at dead depth down my inside in 4ft of water with caster though it was a bit if a through away line as the aerator rope prevented me from going to far, One more rig was to fish at the bottom of the far shelf for silvers in 5ft of water over groundbait and caster with a few floro pinkees added.

For company today I had Gordon (Golly) jones on my right peg 12 and young Tom Light on end peg 15 both guys were doing ok in the league for silvers so there main lines were to be based around them.

Not quite ready in the hooter but no big deal I cupped in 3 balls on the 13mt line with pinkee & casters in and cupped some maggot and caster down by the rope to my left, Starting straight in front of me to give me the option to search further along the bank if need be I set the rig at around 2ft deep with double red maggot and dropped in at 14mts choosing not to feed anything , 20mins in and despite dobing the rig and changing depth I didn't have a sign so it was time to dig the 16mt extension out and go a bit further to my left which would make it easier with the wind picking up but coming off my right shoulder into the far bank, changing to 3 floros gave me a bite straight away at around two and a half feet deep and carp no.1 was netted at 3lb, one more missed bite and a daddy ruff  saw me switch to my right were I decided to feed around a dozen floros & the same of micro pellet but nothing happened so after a look on the left hand swim I decided to try my silvers line to see if one of the lakes resident Bream had turned up, first put in on double caster saw me have a 5oz perch then nothing but this line was towing quite hard so I cupped in another ball squeezed slightly harder and hid the casters & pinkees inside.

Back on the left hand 16mt swim with 3 floro pinkee and another Carp hooked only for it to come off as I picked up the landing net" B###cks! A foul hooker in the next ten mins which also came off" had me thinking It was going to be one of those days until I connected with another lively 3lb carp which was safely netted, By moving the rig along the rushes two feet at a time I was getting the odd bite but I was missing a few as the gusting wind was hampering the presentation and a couple of times I had very small roach attached so switching  back to the silvers line with triple pinkee saw me take a run of small skimmers by dragging the rig once it had settled but I was going to get nowhere fast so I decided to stick it out fishing  across, despite trying a piece of punch bread and double red maggot all along the rushes I could only muster bites on the floro pinkee and without feeding anything I started to hook some carp but they were only small, Owner Steve was now on his way round and after stopping to inform me that peanut had 8 carp and Dean Madlin over on Hawthorn had 6 and as it stood I had 4 for around 10lb but had lost 3" he also informed me everyone he stood behind on are lake had hooked a carp, 2 seconds later and Bingo the float shot under and a better carp was hooked, Steve being a bit of a jinx to me in the past made a hasty retreat to Tom on the next peg only for me to skilfully get it back to my top set and a quick glance of Steve out of my eye saw it shead the hook again! Yep" he's a jinx to me so we have a neutral agreement from now on if he comes any were near me during a match im just ignoring him!

 A check of the hook saw it had gone blunt which then had me cussing as to why I hadn't changed it earlier, its mistakes like this which can cost anyone at the end of the day after all I had done all the hard work by getting the bite! Some heavy showers really put the fish off in the last couple of hours and I didn't have any indications whilst it was raining but the high light had to be when golly went to net a 4lb carp he had hooked on his light rig and his landing net came away at the brass fitting then sinking to the bottom of the lake" in desperation he decided to reach for something to scoop it out with as I couldn't pass him mine as I was wrapped around 16mts of pole' This is where it all went wrong as he slipped backwards and fell straight on his ass still attached to the carp with ten feet of elastic streaming from the end of the pole dispite doing his best he only went and slipped over again this time landing right on his cupping kit with an almighty CRACK"

By now I was dying with laughter only for me to look up as my float shot under but I wasn't ready and didn't set the hook properly causing it to come off! then I turn round to see Golly finally get to his feet and trying his best to scoop his carp out with his maggot riddle!

I couldn't take any more so got off my box to help him net the carp, bloody marvellous there's me trying to keep um on the hook and his wouldn't bloody come off..!

I did manage to retrieve his net after the match with my weed cutter.

WHOOPS GOLLY"

I finished the day with 14lb of carp and just over 1lb of silvers but 6 lost fish (two foul hooked) was looking costly today and so proved as Tom on 15 ended up winning the section with 23lb odd catching well towards the corner in the last hour with chub and carp on maggot,  First on the day went the way of Alan Healy on Peg 5 westpool with 42lb 13oz all caught by dobbing around about 2ft deep on bread or maggot to the far bank with Peanut on next peg 3 finishing up with 37lb 4oz for 2nd on the day top weight on hawthorns was Dean with 28lb 12 oz

full results -

1st Alan Healy (PSV) 42lb 13oz

2nd Steve Howell (Shiplate) 37lb 4oz

3rd Dean Madlin (Dynamite Baits) 28lb 12oz

Silvers-

1st Julian Pinkett (Bristol Post Office) 7lb 10oz

2nd Tom Light (Shiplate) 7lb 2oz

My Catch.

Alan 42lb 13oz 

         Julian pinkett (left) silvers & Alan Healy (winner).

                

Emerald pool,

No match today so it was back to Emerald pool for another Crack at the silvers and after a breky at hilltops which I had to leave most of due to raging toothache" again! back to the dentist Monday I think and its coming out! I was meant to meet Glyn Wickham there but he couldn't make it but Ray & Nigel Wickham were there to join me for the day instead.

After deciding what pegs to fish & loading the gear on the trolley it dawned on me Glyn was suppose to be bringing my bait and all I had was some red maggot and some floro pinkee so after putting my kit on a peg on the far side of the lake opposite the car park a quick trip to Thyers in Highbridge saw me grab a couple of pints of casters for the day.

 

Back in time for me to tackle up two rigs one 4x12 chanti for on the deck in 4ft of water at 13mts and another 4x10 chanti for an inside line in 3ft of water as far as I could  feed by hand both on 0.10 to 0.09 4in hooklenghts with an 18 PR 490 which is a nice fine wire wide gape perfect for the casters when there is a chance of catching quick,

I cupped in 4 large pots of wettish grounbait with a handful of casters added to each on the 13mt line and began to feed the shorter line by hand starting on the long line it took me all of two minutes to get my first bite and a hybrid of 6oz, was netted at the same time Ray on the next peg also had his first fish that was the pattern for most of the day and by swapping between 13mts and 14mts when I re-fed, I managed to catch on the one line all day with caster on the business end for what I can only describe as an awesome days fishing with Roach to a pound plus, Skimmers, Hybrids and crucians of similar size and going into the last part of the session  I decided to count how many fish I could do in an hour only for me to get to 28 fish in 20mins then I made the mistake of trying to swing in fish 29 only for it to fall off and my rig end up in the tree overhead! so I finished the day after four and a half hours with a weight of  Approx. 60lb whilst Ray also had some nice fish and ended with 30lb + all caught on double red maggot and Nigel over on the car park bank opposite ending the day with 50lb + again all on one line with worm so a great day was had by all and really looking forward to Match I have arranged for next Saturday so as long as we don't have any bitterly cold weather I think we will all have a good day, But judging by todays results I don't think that will make much Difference"

Myself

       Myself with my net of fish, followed by Ray & Nigel's Catches.

  

  



 

 

 

 

  

 

   

Emerald pool pleasure day,

A recent rare day for me to have a days pleasure fishing for a change as I nearly always seem to be tied to matches on the weekends, A change of scenery and a chance to catch up with Alan & Anita after I had heard the main Emerald Pool had been fishing well for silvers so that was going to be my target today ,

 I Arrived at the fishery to find I had the lake to myself as there were no other hardy soels venturing the bank , Deciding on not making it hard for myself I opted for a swim 2 pegs up from the bottom of the car park bank shelterd from the wind which would give me a short line to fish a 4x10 chanti on 0.10 - 0.08 and a 18 PR 434 and a 0.2 skimmer float on 0.11-0.10 and a 16 808 for what I planed to fish at 13mt in what I thought would be around 4ft off water"

     

                                           ' My Chosen Peg For The Day

 

                                                       My Inside Line

Pluming up on the long line I was surprized it was only 18- 24inches deep'  All the way from my left to right so I plumed back towards me and at around 11mts I found about 3'6 of water so this is were I would target the skimmers over groundbait and just loose feed my inside with casters by hand, I cupped in 4 big pots of wetted loose ground bait with some casters added onto the long line rather than cupping in balls squeezed together with the water being shallow, and 1 soft ball with some casters and maggots on the same line 3mts to my right.

Alan the fishery owner came round as I was tackling up and after a nice chat he let me use a keepnet to take a pic of my catch as he was sure I would do well though he said I had chosen one of the harder pegs on the lake as far as the recent results had been going but not to be deterred and liking a challenge even tho it had been the coldest night at the fishery.

Starting on the line I cupped one ball in it took me ten minutes for my first fish, A carp of 4lb what was not the plan followed by a roach of around 6oz on single red maggot I was cupping a nugget of groundbait in after every 5mins to keep them searching for offerings and I was getting fish up to 12oz but it wasen't fast so after 45mins I switched to my more positive line with a single caster and netted a nice 14oz hybrid first chuck, I caught quite well over this line for the next 30mins with some roach and hybrids pushing the pound mark tho the bites were drying up and getting iffy and I felt that most of my bait had already been eaten" topping up with one ball containing more caster it was time to try my short swim where I had been feeding by hand.

First lay in of the rig on single caster and float shot under and at the net I lost a cracking roach over a 1lb a couple of smaller roach before a 1lb fish was safely netted then I couldn't get a bite mainly for it being just over 2ft deep the fish could be seen flashing when connecting with them but I wasent expecting to catch short in numbers so I carried on feeding it by hand and returned to the long line, Double caster seen me catching some lovely hybrids skimmers and a bonus tench before the bites slowed again becoming more iffy and after a couple of foul hookers it was time to add more bait to pin them to the deck .

By spending the rest of the day swapping between the two lines being careful not to push then to hard I had a great days fishing and in just over 4hrs I had a mixed net of mainly hybrids and big roach for a total of approx. 40lbs

             

Viaduct teams of five rd 1

First of the eagerly awaited teams of five today and I was praying for the draw to be nice to me as all my previous visits have put me in the don't want to draw" areas, I was up early to be picked up by team mate Don Sutherland although to say I felt somewhat under the weather was an understatement as I had a cough, headache & Toothache all at the same time! Not to let the lads down & dosed up to eye balls it was of to the globe pub for the draw and a nice help yourself breky for a fiver, Team Mates today consisted of Myself, Don, Chris Hook, Steve Seager & Glyn Wickham in place of John Green For this match.

Don did the team draw today and came back with a big smile putting himself on Spring peg 4 which his section consisted of the match lake as well meaning the next name on the list would be me for a peg on Spring and where do I end up" peg 7 right in the corner! after a quick chat I found it was to be carp or bust as I would be cut off to fish the open water from the pegs either side and word was to fish as far down the edge as poss for the big boys".

Now this was my first big issue as I arrived at my peg to find an over hanging tree 2mts out from the bank which ment my fishing long down the edge was going to restricted to 4mts in amongst the branches" Great! Now I didn't fancy using my expensive pole so Don lent me his margin pole with 22 elastic", Two new rigs were made up on 0.17 direct to a 16 PR474 for various Baits, One to fish in between the branches in around 3ft of water the other rig to fish at 10mts through the branches in slightly deeper water with a very short line between the float and pole tip as I couldn't strike" & I also set a rig for a silvers line at 14mts as I had mixed my groundbait the night before and I thought I mite catch some skimmers on it late into the match, I fed 4 balls of groundbait packed with caster and a few dead reds on the 14mt line  And started the match not feeding anything and just fishing a big piece of punched bread around 6inches off the bottom in between the gaps of the branches  hoping to mug an early carp which might be lying there but after 15mins and know signs a change was made to fish just touching the bottom with 4 dead red maggot whilst feeding some over the top by hand with some casters.

Now an hr into the match and still know signs I fed the 10mt line with some broken 8mm cubes of meat & some casters and put a big 8mm cube of meat on the hook, After all I was after proper fish! Ten mins of tweaking the bait around and my first bite saw me just lift the pole a couple of inches and the elastic started to come from the end of the pole so I wasted no time in shipping back as fast as poss only to find out it wasent the munter I was looking for but a 3lb F1", at least it was a start but with no more indications I re-fed the line with some more broken meat and caster and reverted back to the 4mt line on a bunch of dead reds were I had been dripping some maggot & caster in by hand, 20mins and out of nowhere the float shot under and I pulled for dear life as much as I could to steer it out of the tree and within 10 seconds in was netted" no messing with this 22 elastic malarkey! Not a big fish but 7lb was a lot of silvers and plenty of time for a few more.

Resting the swim from the disturbance I switched back to the 10mt swim with meat on the hook whilst still feeding the short swim by hand but no more bites had me trying maggot and caster on the hook without success so twenty mins later I was back to the short line but I had no signs of fish I decided to try the 14mt groundbait line but with only two small roach on double caster after ten mins that was soon back up the bank and the rest of the match was to be spent hoping to catch some bigger carp, I even took a gamble to cup  in a full half pot of Dead Maggot on the 10mt line to try and force a fish to have a look but all a could muster was a missed bite which resulted in a perch as I lowerd the rig back down.( same fish?) and a foul hooked carp which was only small both coming on the line in the tree", The guy over on peg 8 was really stuggling and decided to chuck a feeder down to the back of the tree which was 6ft from my float" Marvelous' I did give him a LOOK" and the Gods were with me as next chuck he was in the Tree !, Then just my luck fishery manager Paul Greenwood walked passed him and told him where to fish along his inside bank only for him to end up catching 3 carp for 37lb on the pole at 13mts!

The lake had fished well on the noted pegs with Nicky ewers peg 5 Spring winning the match with some big carp on the straight lead and punched bread to the island for a total of 158lb, Don was next to him and ended 2nd in his section with 80lb , Mr consistent Andy Power won my section on opposite side of the island with 87lb  My total weight of 10lb 2oz was only enough to beat 5 others today but with lack of room it was always going to be big fish or bust and a few anglers in my section only had 1 fish a piece being 14lb plus" And Alan Oram over on cary had a 25lb 6oz carp on the pole!

Team wise we finished 9th on the day but not a disaster as we are only 5pts off 3rd place and there are 4 rds to go yet , next match two weeks time and my turn to be on Cambell, There were a couple of 80lb weights from there today but they were tightly shoaled so im hoping my draw lands me in the right area but that's fishing"

Results- Teams ,

1st Thacthers Vets 71pts

2nd Team Viaduct 66pts

3rd Somerset Angling 61pts

Individuals -

1st Nicky Ewers 158lb peg 5 

2nd James Knight 96-1 peg102

3rd Luke Sorokin 88-8 peg 66

4th Pete Bailey 88-5 peg 85

5th Andy Power 87-6 peg 16 

Silvers-

1st Nick Chedzoy 21-10

2nd Gary O'shea 18-0

3rd Des Shipp 17-8 

Shiplate Farm open Results- Hawthons & Westpool,

1st Andy France 42lb peg10 Westpool , maggot across feeding nothing" 

2nd Dave Coco 30lb peg 9 Hawthorn

Silvers

Julian Pinkett 5lb peg 1 Hawthorn 

   

       

     

      

       

In Memory Of Jeff,

I was unfortunate to receive a message this morning to say good friend Jeff Wye had passed away after a long illness, He had been battling against cancer but was un-deterred to make the most of his time being on the bank as much as possible,

I've known Jeff many years the same as many others have, he was always friendly and liked to fish the Natural Venues more than any other being a member of Weston.A.A for as long as I've known, I remember as a kid reading his article in the Angling Press fishing for roach on the stick float in the middle of winter on the River Axe up to his knees in mud! Over time things have changed a lot and most of his fishing has been on the commercials over the last few years and more recent months mainly at Shiplate Farm & The Sedges on a Sunday.

Always being keen to socialise" He loved to be a DJ in the evenings and for many years he always had a gig" Somewhere as he was that popular! I first Had the pleasure of (DJ Jazzy Jeff") at my surprize 35th Birthday and can remember it well with everyone up dancing to madness whilst' with a big cigar in his mouth and a gunniess"  was lining up the next record to wear us out! He later did my wedding reception which everyone really enjoyed and was as good as ever.

Its always a sad time When Someone passes Away but the memories are still always there and He will always be missed on the bank, I'm sure he sends many thanks to everybody who helped him over his sad illness and for the help on the bank as he fought it for as long as he could and fished when ever he was well Enough with the Special Help of his good friend and long time traveling partner Ron Stark. 

I'm sure we all send are regard's to his partner Ange and family and can all share some memories and remember him well. God Bless Buddy x       

          

Viaduct open

Up bright and early this morning thinking it was the first round of the teams of five so wanted to make sure I had everything but the kitchen sink as you could draw any lake on the first match it wasen't until we got to the fishery and thought it was a bit quiet it clicked it was next week!

Being picked up with traveling partner for the league and team mate Don Sutherland at 7am I was getting worried by ten past then he ran me to ask were I was? only to realise he was at my old address I haven't lived in for ten years!, after he did a quick de-tour we had time for a  breky roll before arriving early enough for the draw and thinking all the pegs were on cambell I fancied a draw from 110 to 118 as the wind was off your back along this bank and the forcast to get wet and windy late in the day would make it hard to fish the opposite bank,

 I was first to draw today as I just happened to be at the front of the queue whilst chatting to Don so into the bucket and peg 130 cambell is my home for the day, Now there was an International Rules match on here yesterday over all the lakes and after chatting With Steve Long before the match I was to find out only the legend himself ex-team mate Des (Smiley) Shipp was on my peg the day before ending up with 30 odd pound of mainly tench to win the match out right on the waggler with caster.

Its been a few years since my last visit and the last time I was here I had the same peg" how does that happen...? but arriving at my swim I was more concerned about fishing the waggler as the wind was straight into my face which ment feeding was going to be a real problem , I wasn't deterred tho and made a waggler rig with 0.10 hooklength to an 18 454 preston hook to fish as far as I could feed , a 0.03g on 0.11-0.10 pole rig to fish at 14mts over groundbait and caster and a Tip rod to fish hair rig meat or bread should I decide to fish for carp although I didn't expect any at this end of the lake and my main plan was to have a day for silvers now knowing there was a few pegs on cary that would catch big carp.

On the whistle I fed 3 big balls of groundbait with caster and a few dead reds at 14mts slightly to my left and started on a single caster with the waggler at around 20mtsand Within seconds I had a bite and and a small roach was my start, Next cast and I barely had time to feed before having another bite but this was a better fish and praying it was a tench I carefully played it before netting one about 2lb as I looked up to see Steve long walking alone the opposite bank give me the thumbs up ( Another jinxed fishery owner") by the look of it.

Next cast and thoughts were going through my mind of ile show you how its done SHIPPY" but a couple of missed bites and some small roach in the next hour despite swapping to double caster and maggot on the hook, I couldn't feed with consistence due to the wind finding it best to catty out when there was a drop in the breeze but with the tow coming towards me it was time to try the pole as I was convincing myself the tench and skimmers would be queuing up.

Starting on double caster five minutes passed before it was clear they weren't there but I spent another 15mins trying maggot and single caster but with still know signs I topped the swim up with a small ball of groundbait containing some more caster and some floro pinkee and switched back to the waggler with single caster, All I could catch was small roach but with the wind now getting stronger it was hard work.

I had no real feeding pattern and when I couldn't keep it at the same distance twice" I was going to swap to the lead and have a look for some carp but I wanted to get a picture of the silvers in this area as next week all the pegs are in around me what are empty today and the carp seem to be caught around the middle of the lake, I kept trying the pole line but couldn't muster a bite even on floro pinkee so a definite re-think on how much to feed on this line next week is in order! I stuck at the waggler for the rest of the match hoping to catch some skimmers and tench late but my only fish were small roach but there wasent much caught down my end except for peg 110 in the corner who had some tench but the guy opposite struggled for a bite.

If I happen to draw this area next week which im praying I don't" I think the waggler will score well if you can present it ok as there will be hard areas on the day on all the lakes but that's fishing at this time of the year, after a chat before the final whistle with Steve (He is a jinx) he was with me on thinking the tench and skimmers had moved down to the calmer water what wasen't pegged and the day before Des had the wind off his back which I will be hoping for next week to make my day easier if nothing else"

full result -

1st Dick Bull (Viaduct) cary peg 77 , 53lb (carp on the tip & 10lb silvers on pole) 

2nd Nicky ewers (Thatchers) cary 86 49lb 

3rd Don Sutherland (Maver/Cadbury Angling)  118 cambell 43lb

Silvers -

Roland lucas (Viaduct) 110 cambell 16lb

Shiplate farm had there series today on the main lake

Results- 1st Dean madlin (Dynamite Baits) peg 1, 58lb

2nd Tim Lewis (Shiplate) peg 11, 43lb

3rd Pete sivell (Dynamite Baits) peg 15, 27lb

Silvers - Paul Chapman (Shiplate) 16lb .             

     

  

Acorn fishery

Back to acorn fishery today as I haven't been for a few weeks mainly due to the fact the same peg seems to be winning due to a stretch of the lake being reserved for pleasure anglers which the fish seem to like backing off  into? Running late this morning left me no time for a breky so straight to the fishery and a quick cupa was it today, Back to the draw with 13 of us fishing we were going to be spread around the remainder  of the lake The pools have been dropped to £12 with an optional £1 golden peg , I was one of the last in the bag ending up on peg 34 next to the bridge with Rich Healey on the other side peg 35. I did fancy it for a few bites although the bridges tend to hold smaller fish and said to Rich I recon 20lb could get in the frame today as venue regular Dave (Dogging) Wride won the Tuesday match with three Carp as rumour had it.   

I wasen't going to complicate things today so opted to fish a couple  of swims away from the bridge infront of me and to my left in around 4ft of water with maggot micro and 4mm expanders via a tosspot , Another swim across at 13mts tight up against the bridge which I would start on in the same depth with 4x12 chanti on  0.11-0.10 with a 20 808 and an inside swim with the same line and an 18 808 at 8mts which is a bit short with the water being clear tho I did draw this peg in the early part of the year and caught some big fish on corn after snapping my pole and not being able to fish more than 8mts!.

Ready before the start I went for a chat with ex-team mate and good friend  Nick ( Morrisons trolley thief) Harvey from Sensas Thyers who was on peg 28 at the far end of the lake and having my usual £1 with him as he had acres of room" to draw a few fish from... I was back for a cuppa before the all in.

Opting to feed a small amount of caster and 10 grains of corn at 8mts down the edge and a small amount of micro and expanders in front of me I stared up against the bridge with red maggot feeding some reds and micro via the tosspot, 20mins in and after trying various depths and baits I was biteless so it was time to try the line straight in front of me so starting on the expander just touching the bottom I had a bite after 5 mins which I wasen't ready for and missed" but at least it a sign, Next put in and I was ready like a hawk and after feeding around ten micros and a couple of expanders I had a carp around 2 lbs the next hr was slow tho nobody was catching much from what I could see except for Aide Baker on end peg 11 so after 2 f1s and two small carp it was starting to dry up so I moved across two metres to my left and started feeding a new line whilst swiching back to expander next to the bridge.

Ten minutes biteless I was onto the new line which gave me a 4lb carp next put in then nothing so I plumed a new swim a metre from the bridge and feed it with a cad pot of expanders hoping a carp or two would come on it in the last hour from under the bridge, swapping between the now 3 lines across" I was getting the odd small carp but I wouldn't get more than a bite from each line even tho I was only feeding tiny amounts on each, I did try at half depth on caster in the middle of the bridge where I was flicking some in but only had 1 roach and a try down the edge on corn and caster saw no response so I stayed across swapping lines for some more small carp and skimmers on expander  for the last 45mins including 2 x  3lb fish taken on the new swim nearer the bridge, the lake was fishing hard for all I could see so it was going to be close on the weight in.

Aide Baker won the day with 54lb odd from peg 11 as I expected although you still have to get it right and he did well to catch some nice carp and 14lb of silvers on maggot and expanders over small amounts of feed via a toss pot and my 19lb 8oz was enough for second which was a few pennies back and above all it was a very pleasant day weather wise which has made a change"

Full result -

1st Aide Baker peg 11 Clevedon A.A 54lb 8oz

2nd Dom Sullivan peg 34 Maver/Cadbury Angling 19lb 8oz

3rd Dave Stephenson peg 5 Clevedon A.A 17lb 4oz

4th Lee waller peg 23 Acorn 11lb 2oz

Silvers

Andy Gard peg 7 Acorn 5lb 14oz

 Trolly thief Nick try to get off with with giving me 50p claiming I had a better peg but I was having none of it so took his i.o.u" off to viaduct for first rd of the teams of five and I haven't been down there for yonks so should be interesting.

 

           

How things change"

We have all had those days when we dip are hand in the drawbag and out pops the peg everyone is raving about (Not normally me may I add") or even a peg you may well fancy yourself for various reasons which brings me to a recent match held on Shiplate farms Hawthorn lake.

There was only 9 of us due to family ties over the Xmas period but never the less we were all keen to win some shillings back and try are best to make the most of are pegs , Into the hat and out pops peg 1 Hawthorns a peg which I had drawn less than ten days before and won off, with 40lb odd, The conditions hadn't changed much with more wet and windy weather and the wind was still blowing down my end of the lake, To be honest I felt sure the fish would be in the same areas as they were before and that the peg being in the corner did hold the odd resident fish so I was confident I could do well off it again and planned to approach it the same way.

I started the match the same as before feeding around 40 maggots down the edge to my left and this time the same amount of casters to my right to give me another option if I needed it, Starting on maggot over a minimum amount of the same and a few micros in 3ft of water I wasn't expecting to catch from the off although after 45mins and no signs on anything I put on the hook I was a little surprized, A quick re-plum a meter or so to my left saw me start a new line feeding just a few pinkees via a toss pot and fishing two floros on the hook, Another 45mins and all I could muster was a daddy ruff which fell off and a foul hooked carp despite ringing the changes depth wise so a search along the far bank without feeding a thing on the shallower 2ft rig was soon the next gambit.

There are two spots towards the corner around a metre apart I was confident it would give me my long awaited first fish" NOPE! I searched the whole length of the far bank again with various baits without so much as a dip of the float although Darren Greenwood on next peg 3 Had two carp on maggot right over in the shallower water in the first hour but was also struggling to add to his total. I had been drip feeding maggot and caster by hand down my inside swims and now I felt it was my banker line so it was time to rest my far bank swims" lol and give it ago.

Starting at half depth again I fully expected to have a bite on maggot or some sort of movement but it wasn't happening even trying the caster at the same depth to my right had me really scratching my head as most of my fish in the previous match had come off these lines, So a switch to my bottom rig was in order and finally  I had a fish in the net" a carp of around 4lbs, I tried this line for the rest of the match on and off but dispite adding another carp slightly bigger from my right hand swim I couldn't find any fish over and only had one more bite to my left margin even though I tried the rig at all depths they just didn't seem to be in the peg today.

Darren on peg 3 ended the match with 4 carp for 16lb odd and 18lb was second on the day so three more carp would have put me in the coin although with the water being slightly clearer than the previous match I just couldn't entice the bites needed to add to my two fish total, maybe I was right the peg held two resident fish and I'd caught them in an area they were happy to be in on the day,  We all go home wondering how we could catch more tho I believe if you have confidence in your methods on the day and if the fish are willing to feed then you get your rewards , I'm sure we've all draw what we would expect to be (A Good Un") on its day but sometimes it turns out to be the opposite and fish have fins so just because the peg has form" or it looks fishy its certainly worth bearing in mind , After all there's always the next HOT" peg to look forward too.