It All Happens At Once"

Just to let everybody know I haven't given up fishing or my blog for that matter' but did hit a bit of a crisis" After having the house on the market for the last few month's without much interest all of a sudden along comes a cash buyer who puts in a decent offer and wants a quick sale, All well & good we thought until the people we were going to rent a property off of for the time being let us down at the last minute meaning not only did we have nowhere to go we had the added problem of finding somewhere which would also accommodate are rather large dog! It was a real struggle to tell the truth and as we were beginning to give up hope fortunately we have found a nice bungalow very near to were we are now. With everything rolling along at full pace we complete the sale of are house on the 1st of August but move into are new residence this weekend so I wont have chance to wet a line again this week but will be keen to get back on the bank the following weekend and get back to my blogging so good luck to those fortunate enough to at least be fishing' .      

River Huntspill (Somerset Super League Rd 2)

Back to the Huntspill today for the second round of the super league, With traveling Don picking me up I didn't have to worry about how much alcohol I had consumed yesterday but wasn't in any kind of state which was a good thing'

After the normal breakfast on route we made are way to Laburnham house for the draw, I fancied the winner would come from the sections below woolavington where most of the bait had gone in over the last couple of weeks as well as these pegs to produce better results than some area's? It wasn't to be for me though as I ended up drawing the top section of the river at gold corner which was pretty poor in the first round but you never know, Arriving at my peg the first main issue was the amount of weed present, Luckily for me my swim didn't seem as bad as some others so this year I didn't have to go swimming just to clear my swim although Andy Otterway from the Thatchers lot decided to take the plunge" I ask you' whats it all about when you have to resort to doing this just to clear your swim when there are other sections of the river which can be used and free of weed!?

 

 

First out the holdall was the feeder rod to fish toward the far bank in the slim chance of snaring a bream or some decent skimmers in the opening stages but after a brief chat with a few others this section failed to produce in the first round so with that in mind I was hoping the pole line would produce a few fish?

with plenty of time before the all in I assemble two pole rigs to fish past the nearside weed at 13mts as I didn't want to go any further as the forecast was for wet weather with the wind increasing from the south meaning it would be difficult to feed properly.

With around 5ft of water I had a heavier 0.4g rig on 0.13-0.10 and a size 20 B520 hook on one top and a lighter 0.2g slim patterned float on 0.11-0.10 to search through the lower depths.

At the all-in I fed a small pot of maggots & casters, (The casters I may add were from last week which were better than the fresh pint purchased yesterday which I had to throw away as they went grey and soft when I tried turning them"??) And then had a dozen chucks feeding a mix of casters, chopped worms & red Squatt's

though a 30g feeder before adding the hook-length and started the match with a bunch of squat's on the hook. I missed a couple of small twitches before having a 1oz rudd" the next 45mins as things didn't get much better as only two fish of similar size were added to the net. I had seen Gary O'Shea on the end peg of are section net a better fish but apart from that it seemed most were struggling including Paul Purchase next to me who was admitting to a few small fish. It was time to try the pole and starting on the lighter rig with a single white maggot I had a bite straight away resulting in a 12oz eel so a good start'? A few minutes later I hooked another around a 1lb but it shed the hook when I got it to the surface' not good! The Water colour at this end was a lot cleared probably due to the weed filtering the water? which meant fish may spook as it proved as I couldn't get a sniff after. I re-fed with another half pot before trying the feeder again.

30 bite-less minute later I was soon trying the pole again, I had a few small perch and some small rudd but it seemed the eel's had disappeared? Paul had managed a couple of eel's on his pole line but was also struggling for a few bites, it was fast approaching the halfway mark of the 5hr match and things weren't going to plan? I decided to loose fed small amount more regularly onto the pole line whilst desperately praying for a better fish on the feeder. I didn't happen so I was back trying the pole line but with the lighter rig set 6inches of the deck. it seemed to work as I added a few more rudd to 4oz and a bonus 12oz perch' to go with the one Paul Had snared on the feeder'. It seemed to be a case of catching a few fish before you had change depth and or rest it, The feeder line just didn't seem to be working as the guy below me spent most of the match on it without having much and although Paul had caught a few fish on it I didn't think he was that far in-front? In the last hour I decided to stick to the pole and keep a close eye on both of them on the tip, By swapping between fishing on and off the deck I was hoping for some late eel's , I had nothing to loose and decided to feed it a lot heavier with maggots and what I had of casters left via the catty and after a few more rudd and small roach with 20mins to go I hooked a better eel of a 1lb or so which this time I got to net' with 10mins to go I hooked another right swimmer" taking me towards the middle before I managed to stop it and get it back towards me, it felt a lot bigger than the last but after getting it a few meters from the bank it bolted around a couple of lily pads off to me left snapping my hook-length!" I soon added another but with only 2mins left I didn't have time for another bite. 

Nicky Collins wandered up add was admitting to 4lb odd I though I had around 5lb and Paul was admitting to the same so it would be close as expected really Gary O'Shea was winning the section when it got to us with off the end peg with 9lb followed by Dave Micklewright next door having 8lb odd, we didn't have that but it would be close between the rest of us, Their was a 5lb 15oz before it got to me and I finished up with 6lb 1oz before Paul ended the match with 6lb 6oz"

 4th in the section wasn't a bad result but the two lost eel's cost me but that's fishing, Back at the results and it seemed to be a carbon copy of the last match with those who seemed to have tried a few things have done better than those who have relied on just one method, Team match fishing to me is fishing as a team and discussing things to catch a few fish, Its seems if some just want to turn up and aren't bothered about being team members and with this in mind along with the costs involved I have decided to part ways with the team as such with regards to the future rounds of the Super league, Back to fishing my own choice of matches for the time being and at least I can only blame myself if things don't turn out right". The match was won by Thatcher's Gary Webber from below Wollavington with 29lb of bream & skimmers on the feeder on various baits from peg 99. Team wise Daiwa Gordon League lead the way after two rounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

overall standings -

 

 

 

 

 

 

                               

 

 

        

River Huntspill Open Match (Sunday).

With a practice match scheduled before the next round of the Somerset Super League next weekend traveling Partner Don Sutherland and myself decided to give it another go, Arriving at the draw we found out their were 20 booked-in to fish and the match it was going to be spread in two sections below woolavington were I drew last week, or so we thought, but for some reason they had chosen to leave out the section I drew last week starting further down the river which not only means a hellish walk over uneven ground it now meant we would be fishing a section which wouldn't even be pegged in the league next week" Knowing this I probably wouldn't of even bothered to fish as it just seems pointless to me, Teams wonder why they struggle to get anglers to fish these team events and in my eyes this match had been set out for thier own benefit to go bream chasing further down the river but who knows? One things for sure, I'm Seriously considering the future of team fishing as the effort you need to put in just doesn't seem worth it or cost for that matter..

I fully expected with the way it was pegged end pegs would dominate or the swims further down towards the noted clapper' would produce, Into the draw and I Don & Myself were nowhere near them being on pegs 100 and me on 102. arriving at my swim my first job was to dig out a section of the bank in order to get my box anywhere close to the waters edge which had me sweating like a pig for starters" It seemed most were prepared just to spend the match fishing the feeder for bream and although I planned to do the same I wanted the back up line of a pole swim at 13mts which hopefully would produce some eels or silver fish should the tip not produce. I assembled two pole rigs 0.3g and 0.5g both on 0.11-0.10 and with size 20 B520 hooks ( A bit smaller than the norm then) to fish between 12 & 13mts as I was set back in a bit of a bay.

I started the match by feeding 15 feeder full's of ground-bait, chopped worm & Squatts over towards the far bank and cupped in some casters & maggots onto the pole line. this week I started on two dead red maggots and missed two bites in the first two casts' but then had a small roach, over the next 50mins I switched between various baits but all I added was an 6oz eel and was already getting board' I decided to give the swim another 6 feeder-full's of bait and try the pole line.

Starting on the lighter rig with single white maggot on the hook the float hardly had time to settle before I had my first eel again about 6oz. the next 4 put-in's saw me add 4 more eel's to 10oz before things went quite, I cupped in some more feed and had another go on the feeder but it just seemed motionless as I couldn't get a bite on it know matter what baits I tried on the hook. back on the pole and a couple more small eel's but it wasn't quick. by now the sky had blacken and the rumble of thunder was fast approaching' I got up for my bait brolley and asked the guy above me how he was getting on and he only had an 6oz skimmer at this stage. it wasn't long before we had a massive down pore of heavy rain, I tried the tip again and when I wasn't expecting it missed a bite on worm and maggot but that was as far as it went' after the rain had passed I tried the pole again but couldn't get a bite on it so it seemed the heavy rain had put pay to it for some reason as Mark Broomsgrove below me who also set up a pole and had a few early eel's was struggling for bites. the last couple of hours I kept switching between the two lines but only added a small perch on the pole in the last 20mins. I finished the day with around 11 eel's and a few bit's for just under 3kg but as expected the end pegs dominated with Mark Treasurer form Daiwa Gordon league on the first peg of the match length peg 95 taking the spoil's with a 22kg bag of bream and skimmers on the feeder, further down the last two pegs of the match produced second with 18kg odd and 9kg odd so my prediction was right but you still have to catch them. Back next week for the second round of the super league and although it looks like bream will dominate the top catches at least I got a better picture of what to expect on the pole lines should the case arise and I need to catch a few for team points.                

Viaduct Fishery Saturday Open Cambell Lake.

With the weather forecast good for the day it was back to viaduct for their latest Saturday match on cambell lake which seemed to be the best for producing the better catches at the moment. With 20 of us fishing it the whole lake was in use and for once I drew an area I fancied for a few fish peg 114 on the near bank, I had the option of the open water as well as what looked like a nice margin swim down to my left towards the empty pallet 113 which doesn't normally get pegged.

 

 

 

Although Giles Cochrane makes it work I didn't really fancy chucking the bomb and pellet around all day but did set it up, my main line of attack would be the short pole at 8mts with meat and along the inside margin with pellet. I set up a  4x12 rig for 8mts on 0.17-0.15 and an 14 PR478 hook and a 0.2g AS2 float to fish along the margin in around 3ft of water on 0.19 to an 0.17 hair rig hook.

 

At the all-in I fed a large pot of hemp to help to the fish on the deck with a palm-full of 7mm cubed meat added onto the 8mt line and began pinging a few hard 6mm pellets down towards the pallet, Everyone else seemed to start on the bomb but I chose to go straight on the short line with double meat on the hook. It didn't take long for me to hook my first fish and it was a decent size until as I reached for the landing net it bolted under the pallet and smashed the rig to pieces" Great start then..! luckily I had an identical rig set up so was soon trying again, after a coupe of foul hooked fish I switched to a big worm on the hook and safely netted a 4lb fish but they didn't seem to want to settle.

 

I tried the bomb for a while without a response and after an hour it was time to look down towards the pallet as already a few fish had been caught on the opposite bank as well as the lads either side of me taking some early fish on the bomb. Starting with a banded 8mm pellet feeding just a few over the top via a cad pot it was instant but the fish wasn't happy' bolting for freedom under the empty pallet shedding the hook and leaving me snagged up resulting in another trashed rig!!. with a new one attached I chose not to go as far to the pallet fishing only half way along the inside bank hoping to have time to react and get then out easier?

Nope" Another hooked fish but this time it managed to tangle me up tight to the bank in all the under water debris from the tree branches which had fallen in over time and I coudn't see' Another trashed rig and already I was decorating my side tray with broken floats so things certainly weren't going to plan. I chose to start a new line a metre off the bank into the open water giving me more chance of adding fish to the net rather than have them run me ragged! it worked for a while but the fish soon moved back towards the pallet where they felt safe but to be honest the elastic I had been advised to use down the edge on swims like this just wasn't man enough and will soon be coming out of my top kits! I spent the rest of the day pinching the odd fish off the 8mt line with worm over mainly hemp which were of good size but they were few and far between and I could see a few anglers catching well, A few more attempt's at getting fish out from down the edge seemed to go one fish one more smashed rig! so not an enjoyable day although I don't think I made the most of my swim, perhaps a longer pole line or the pellet waggler would have worked more in my favour but that's why its called fishing not catching' lol, I didn't trouble the scales today but estimated to have around 70lb odd which wasn't going to get me anything so got the kit packed away just having time to get the results before heading home. It turned out Chris Davis fishing his favourite peg 135 on the end bank ( he's draw it 3 times in a row!) made no mistakes catching all his fish on 6mm pellet feeding the same to finish the day with just over 200lb so well done to him.

                  

 

 

    

Southwest Super League Rd 1, River Huntspill.

The return of the Super league and back to a total change from the commercials & rigs I've been used to of late' With Team mate and traveling partner Don Sutherland picking me up we decided on the safe bet of a hilltops breakfast rather than take the chance of the breakfast on offer at the draw venue Laburnham  House, Not that its not nice its the fact the coffee is not included and costs nearly as much as your breakfast!" Arriving with plenty of time before the draw things were already against us as one of are team had told captain Chris Hook he wasn't going to fish on Friday meaning we had to find a stand in for the first match, As well as being very annoying when this happens the stand in anglers tend to fish there own tactics rather than asking what ideas others have to try and catch a few fish, All good if things pay off but we would have to wait and see?, As anybody fishing these matches will know it's not cheap as you tend to need a bit of everything, maggots, casters, worms, squatts , ground-bait then the cost of breakfast as well as your pool's entry on top' I did a quick add up of how much the day was going to cost me and I didn't have much change out of £75" all very well if you are prepared to fish as a team who want to do well.

After Chris did the draw I found myself pegged below woolavington peg 89 with Don drawing the section above, Arriving at my peg I found myself the end peg of are section just before the dug out with the next section starting the other side of it, It didn't look as if anybody had fished the swim since the start of the season which can make the fishing hard until the fish get used to seeing a bit of bait since last year". Quite simple again today, To feeder rods set up, one to fish right over towards the far side on my Maver 13ft multi system rod as well as setting up the 11ft model to fish just past the middle of the river should the case arise.

Two pole rigs, a 0.4 PB2 on 0.13-0.10 with an 20 B520 hook to fish at 12mts on the deck in the open water were I had around 5ft of water, and a lighter 0.3g rig on 0.11-0.09 with the same size hook to fish on the same line but to use for silver's off the bottom by a few inches. I decided to wait and see what the Angler next to me would do with regards to feeding before I made my mind out how to approach my peg and when the all-in sounded & he proceeded to catapult balls of ground-bait into his peg on the feeder line I made my mind up to kick start my swim by feeding it just through the feeder with chopped worm & squatt added, 15 minutes later I had landed 16 feeder full's about 15ft from the far bank and after feeding some casters and white maggot onto my pole line it was time to attach a hook-length and get going. Starting with a bunch of red squatt on the hook I had a pull round 1st chuck resulting in a 1lb skimmer safely in the net which was a good start and got me all excited' it was short lived though as despite trying various hook baits all I added in the opening 90mins was a 4oz skimmer on dead red maggot. I had been loose feeding the pole line with the catty whilst on the tip and after seeing the anglers further down my section taking a couple of eels on there pole lines it was time to give it a try.

Starting with double white maggot on the hook 10mins later I was just about to switch back to the feeder when the float slowly slid away, convinced it was an eel bite I let it develop before giving it a firm strike to set the hook but was surprized to find out it was another 1lb skimmer!. Nothing else followed so I switched back to the feeder line as from what I could see not that much was being caught. 15mins later and another 1lb plus skimmer was added taken on red maggot but bites were hard to come by and it just wasn't happening so I re-fed the swim with another 6 feeder full's laced with squat's and rested it again. Back on the pole it took me another 10mins to get a bite but this time it was an eel' and a bloody big un" I got it off the bottom only for it to come to the surface and flip over on my hook-length snapping it in the process estimated to be over 2lb" Bummer..!

With a new one added I kept switching between the pole line & the feeder but wasn't going anywhere, I decided to switch to the lighter rig set just tripping the bottom with a single white maggot on the hook but cut back on the feed I was putting in with the catty feeding just a few casters & maggots over the top, This did make a difference for a while as I added 3 smaller eels in a 20minute period before the wind picked up making it harder to present it properly. Now with a nice ripple on the water I felt going into the last hour I had the chance of a few more skimmers on the tip. I gave it 15mins with no signs so back to the pole line with the heavier rig this time with a caster & maggot on the hook, 5mins later I had a proper 1lb plus eel but noticed Paul Purchase 2 pegs down had landed a big skimmer on the tip so went back across again with double dead maggot on the hook. With 25mins left I gave it a little twitch and soon after the tip slowly pulled around, Bingo' a 2lb plus skimmer was safely added which really got my hopes up of more in the last 20mins but it wasn't to be, from what I could see it was going to be a close section as far as the points went, One thing I did notice though, the chap next to me who decided to ball in ground-bait on his feeder line at the start really struggled today adding just a few eels despite staying on it all day. I was first to weigh and was pleased to put 8lb 13oz on the scales with my four skimmers & eels , further down the section there was a couple of close weights before Blackmore Vales Simon Hebditch put 11lb odd scales to take the top weight in the section, My weight ended up enough for 2nd picking up £50 for my effort but more to the point good 6 out of a possible 7 points for the team. Back at the results and some sections proved hard which it obvious due to the lack of bait going in for the first match of the year, So what frustrating as far as the team result go's finishing 6th out of 7 on the day as yet again some of the team seemed to go all out for glory instead of scratching for another point or two which makes all the difference in a small league like this. Having fished in the past for teams on the top level I know how hard you have to work at it to get results and although sometimes it doesn't work in your favour if at least you try different things you can at least get a clearer picture of what to expect rather than just hoping things will happen" Don & myself are back for the open match next week before the second round so expecting things to improve. Team wise Daiwa Gordon League won the day with a good 43pts and top individual went to lee green also from Gordon league with 50lb of bream from peg 99 below woolavington taken on the feeder. 

Teams on the day - 

 

Section Results -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                 

   

Viaduct fishery Spring Series (Final Rd).

I Got the chance to fish the last round of this popular league as a stand in for somebody who couldn't make it and after yesterday's Match This qualifier I was hoping to be lucky enough to draw on a few fish' The normal hilltops breky on route before arriving at the fishery with enough kit in the car to sink a battleship".  Todays match was to be spread over Cambell, Cary, & lodge lakes with a random draw in place so I could end up on any of them but wasn't in a rush to get in the bucket, ending up near the back of the queue.

It turned out I would be on Cambell lake again today on the far bank peg 125,

After a chat with a few other this end of the lake fished hard yesterday but fish have fins so didn't worry to much as things can change over night, Arriving at my peg that was the last of my worries as it looked as if I had drawn one of the hardest to do well in as I had Freenze's Luke Sorokin next to me on peg 126, England Ace Des Ship opposite me on peg 117 and to top it off the man of the moment none other than Giles (the Bomb) Cochrane who has taken the place apart in the last couple of month's the other side of me on peg 124!" and that's not including the likes of venue regular's Phil Cardwell on the end peg of are bank peg 123 with Paul Elms opposite him on corner peg 119 along with Dan white on the peg I had Thursday 118 so I had my work cut out today then..!

I Planned to keep it pretty simple as theirs no point trying to copy what other anglers who are doing well on certain method's so although first out of the bag would be the bomb rod as not to give it all to Giles' I felt my best option would be the short pole line with meat and down the edge both sides with meat & pellet. I set up a rig to fish each side both being 0.2g AS4 floats on 0.21-0.17 and a 14 478 hook, my favourite 4x12 chanti to fish in the open water at 6mts on 0.17-0.15 and a 14 434 hook which would double up to fish pellet on the deck at 14mts should I need a change of plan but didn't plan to feed anything here to start with.

At the all-in a cupped a large pot of hemp onto the 6mt line with some 6mm cubes of meat added, fed a few bits of meat down my inside right had margin and a small amount of 6mm hard pellets down the right hand side by hand. I had noticed on Thursday that some early fish were caught on the short pole line from the off so started with double 6mm meat on the hook, Luke went off like a train having 4 fish in 4 put-in's and I didn't take Giles long to put his first fish in the net on his bomb approach' Thankfully it didn't take me long to have my first fish of around 8lb followed by two more of similar size in the next 20mins, I was feeding a few cubes of meat & hemp over the top via a cad-pot, 2 more smaller carp in the next 20mins were added before things seemed to slow and I had a skimmer and a tench before re-feeding with half a pot of hemp.

A quick look down my edge's didn't produce so it was time to try something else, I fed another half pot of hemp on the 6mt line and had a try on the bomb but buy now are end of the lake seemed to switch off and from what I could see not much was being caught? Luke's swim had also slowed but Giles was still catching the odd fish on the bomb by searching his swim. I decided to re-fed a new line at 14mts with 6mm pellets and fish over the top with a worn on the hook but apart from a lot of fizzing and one missed bite I still couldn't put more carp in the net, back to the bomb and I added a carp and a 2lb skimmer but had to start catching soon as time was ticking away and by this stage Des was catching on the opposite bank along with Paul, And Giles looked to be winning are bank as it stood but Phil had started to take some fish from the end bank of the lake.

 Giles in action.

 

It was time to change tack slightly and I reverted to the 6mt line cad potting hemp and a few cubes of 6mm meat over the top but added a couple of inches to the depth and switched to fishing single or double worm on the hook with less than two hours of the match remaining, this seemed to do the trick and although it was a case of sitting and waiting for bites when I did get them they were positive whack' under's and the fish were of a good stamp. I slowly began to claw my way back and going into the last hour I felt I had chance to catch up with Giles & Paul on are bank although it was difficult to make out what was happening opposite, I ended up staying on this line until the end of the match taking a couple of fish to nearly 14lb but it was going to be close come the end of the match between the three of us as Luke was still having problems with foul hooked fish. When the scales arrived Luke was first to weigh and put 66lb odd on the scales, My turn and my carp added to my silvers went 127lb odd before Giles had 119lb and Phil 120lb so although there was only one fish in it I had came out on top as far as are bank went,

Over to the opposite bank and Paul put 147lb on the scales and after Dan's 120lb it was Des's turn who ended the day winning the section with 166lb, as a whole the lake fished well and Chris Davis on the end bank peg 135 emptied it to say the least weighing more than 300lb but after going over in one of his nets with the 80lb maximum limit had it deducted but still had easily enough to win with 249lb!" catching on the long pole and down the edge towards the next pallet on 6mm pellet.

As far as the league went Craig Edmonds & Giles Cochrane Were tying for top spot going into the last round but it ended up going Craig's way to finish up taking the league win ahead of Giles

I had an enjoyable days fishing come the end and am really enjoying fishing against the top angler's at the venue of late although with the super-league starting on the river Huntspill next week I'm sure it will much more challenging".

 

Full Results -

1st Chris Davis (Team Flip Flop) Peg 135 Cambell, 249lb 4oz.

2nd Andy Neal (Bait-tech/Freenze) peg 66 Lodge Lake, 218lb 2oz.

3rd Mark Wynne (Bait-Tech Viaduct) peg 112 Cambell, 213lb 4oz.  

4th Des Ship (Preston Innovations) peg 117 Cambell, 166lb 15oz.

5th Bob Gullit (Blackmore Vale) peg 115 Cambell, 161lb 2oz.

6th Bob Giles (Freenze) peg 113 Cambell, 157lb 15oz.

7th Paul Elms (Flip Flop) peg 119 Cambell, 147lb.

Overall League -

 1st Craig Edmonds 4pts. (weight)

2nd Giles Cochrane 4pts

3rd Kev Molton 7pts

4th Steve Tucker 7pts.

Knock-out winner - Andy Neal (Freenze-Bait-tech) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

             

     

Maver Match This Qualifier,  (Viaduct Fishery).

After looking forward to this match for a few weeks and a good practice on Thursday I was keen to get up this morning making an extra few rigs and making sure a my pole elastics were in order should I be lucky enough to draw on a few fish? Leaving home in plenty of time to arrive for a cuppa & a walk around the lakes before the draw with the lovely supportive wife we noticed the fish on Cambell lake were heavily spawning in the margins on most pegs,

 

 

With over a hundred Anglers keen to get the place in the big final at Larford lakes later this year five lakes were to be used, Cambell, Cary, lodge, Match & Spring-Middle It was going to be anybody's guess were we would all end up', If I could of chosen any lake it would have to be Cambell despite the early signs of spawning fish as I felt with the resent form of the lake it would produce the winner?

All keen to get the peg we all hoped for most of us were hanging around the hut eager to get into the draw.

 

I ended up nearer the front than most but as last year I still found myself next to twice Fisho" finalist Kevin Dick's"

 

The moment of truth and into the draw I picked up two numbers so decided to drop them back & try again' stuck to my hand came out comes peg 17 on spring  spring lake,

A bit disappointed as its not a lake I really expected the winner to come from but you never know and at least I had an island chuck as an option, For company I had venue expert and Thursdays open winner Gary O'Shea on peg 19 on one end of the island and another venue regular Dave White on the other end of it peg 16 in my section so had my work cut out. Matches like this you have to fish to positive so it was a bomb & Pellet waggler to fish over to the island, A rig to fish meat at 6mts in-front of me and a rig to fish on my top 4 down my inside against the bank in 2ft of water. Starting the match on the bomb an 8mm pellet I expected one of us to latch into some of the lakes munter's' early as we all had the same idea but it didn't happen' 45mins in and I did have a 6b fish dropping short of the island but I already had that feeling it wasn't going to happen, a change to the pellet waggler didn't get much better and although I stuck at it most of the day I missed one bite on it, I did have a problem with some line hanging from the tree opposite which cost me one waggler and two bomb rigs along the way which didn't help matters as I could only really cast to the same area each time.

After a couple of hours word on the bank was a few anglers on cambell lake were doing really well catching in there margins,

 

 

Things just didn't seem to get going for us are side of Spring lake and with an hour to go next door on peg 18 Colin Horn looked to be winning the section with 3 carp taken on the pellet waggler at this point, Things were really hotting up for a few back on Cambell and Pete Upperton on peg 112 was sacking up from his margins for most of the day by the sound of it,

 

 

Despite trying my other swims through-out the day it wasn't until the last 15min I added a similar size carp from the meat line at 6mts but that was it, Dave Also managed 1 on his paste line he had fished most of the day and Colin on peg 18 added two more on the waggler, A big disappointment come the end but that's the luck of the draw (or lack of it") lol as there didn't seem to be many carp willing to feed on this lake.

 

Pete went on to take full advantage of the only angler not to turn up on peg 113 to finish the day with a great 248lb and make his way to the final at Larford lakes in September picking up £250 on the day so well done to him taking all his fish from the margins at 8 & 13mt on meat, followed by Robert Taylor next door on peg 111 finishing the day with 187lb so that's were the fish hey" lol.

 Winner Pete Upperton.

 

Back to are lake and the section was won by Colin on peg 18 with 5 carp on the waggler and a few skimmers on the bomb to finish with 44lb making the trip from the isle of Wight worth wile picking up £85. 

  Section winner Colin Horn.

 

Back to the venue again tomorrow to take somebody's place in the final round of the spring series but with Spring lake not being used at least I've got a change of lakes to look forward too.

 

Full results -

 

1st Pete Upperton (Middy) peg 112 Cambell, 248lb.

2nd Robert Taylor peg 111 Cambell, 187lb 6oz.

3rd Fred Roberts (Sign Solutions) peg 88 Cary) 160lb.

4th Glen Butler (Maver) peg 114 Cambell, 152lb 3oz.

5th Tony Curd (Map/Bait Tech) peg 31 Middle, 144lb 11oz.

6th Jim Evans peg 127 Cambell, 133lb 15oz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

Viaduct Fishery (Thursday Cost cutter).

Managing to take a last minute days holiday from work I was keen to get to Viaduct for a session on the build up to the Maver Match This qualifier on Saturday, With the later draw there was plenty of time for a Hilltops breakfast on route. Arriving at the fishery to find 35 booked in the match was to be spread over Cambell & Lodge Lakes as there was a club match on Cary today, I decided to hang back a bit as far as the draw went today as I haven't had the best of luck diving in early and the result saw me on peg 118 Cambell,

End peg 119 had been in good form of late with a lot of fish being caught off the end bank on the long pole but with the set back peg 117 being empty and the breeze blowing into are bank I did fancy it for a few fish as the day went on, I had draw this peg once before in a two day silvers match back in the winter winning the match after breaking the ice' silvers weren't my plan today but I was hoping the swim could be kind to me again this time around?.

Their were some very good anglers fishing today who also fish here on a regular basis so rather than follow suit I decided to try and fish what I felt confident doing and keep an eye on what others were doing around me as the match progressed. First of a the usual bomb rod to fish 6 & 8mm pellets towards the middle of the lake was out of the bag, Next was a 4x12 chanti on 0.15-0.13 and an 16 PR478  to fish meat at around 5mts, and last of all 2 rigs to fish down my inside towards the next pallet and back behind me on the top 3 of my pole tight to the bank, I've started using the drennan AS4 floats and I've found them to be  really strong so the first one was 0.4g to fish down towards the pallet on 0.21-0.19 and a size 14 wide gape pellet hook (Take no prisoners') in 3ft of water,

 The next was a lighter 0.2g  on 0.19-0.17 and the same hook for the shorter inside line.

At the all in I fed a pot of hemp and some 6mm meat on the 5mt open water swim and fed a few 6mm hard pellets down to the pallet via the catty, Starting on the bomb with 8mm pellet I had a stonking pull around first chuck but lost it' but despite trying around the swim in the first hour all I managed was one carp just over 3lb, I had seen Dan White on the end bank take a couple of nice fish on the short pole as well as a few anglers taking fish on the opposite bank so things weren't quite going to plan at this stage. the match behind us had started 30mins later than us so after the commotion of anglers walking up and down before the start I felt it was time to try towards the pallet. I had Gary Flinders who was next to me on Sunday on the next peg 116 and although I couldn't see him very well I had noticed he had already had a few fish down his inside.

Starting on 6mm banded pellet cad potting a few the same size over the top I had a fish straight away which was a pleasing sign' I had to fish black hydro elastic as it was the strongest I had in my top kits as I don't really fish many venues were its necessary, but it was a case of hit and hold" as I couldn't allow them to take me under the pallet or into the snags back towards me! I was getting regular signs and despite losing a few foul hookers approaching the halfway stage I felt I was catching up with those who had caught well at the start with 18 carp in the nets, It was all going to plan when disaster struck and whist playing the next carp the elastic snapped and I lost the fish and the whole rig!" I did have a duplicate rig but the other top set only had a lighter elastic which proved to light as the next hooked fish bolted through the pallet and snagged me the opposite side! What looked like a good first half of the match was soon all going wrong so I had to tighten the elastic down as much as I could in order to get the fish away from the bank.

The next hour proved to my worse only adding 2 more smaller samples and one more on the bomb whilst attaching a new hook length after being snagged again then by some miracle I had another carp of 6lb down towards the pallet only to find it had the rig I had snapped the elastic on in its gob along with the Dacron connecter still attached at the other end! result". Things did slow up towards the pallet after a few more fish so it was time to try the short meat line at 5mts in-front of me, starting with two 6mm cubes on the hook I had a carp first dob in then 3 un-miscible" bites followed in the next 15mins, A quick look on the bomb didn't produce and by now with an hour left I had to hope for a few fish on the short line back behind me tight to the bank. I was a bit surprized when first put-in I had a fish of 6lb followed by another of 8lb' It looked like they had moved onto this line in numbers as although it took me longer to get them in on the lighter elastic they were getting bigger and bigger! I had estimated I had put 60b or more in the net in 45mins and even had to get up to borrow a net off the guy behind me with 10mins to go! one more fish of 9lb before I hooked and lost another on the whistle had me thinking a had around 150b odd by the end of the match, by the time the scales arrived 140lb odd was winning are lake before Andy Rowbottom on 119 put 157lb on the scales and I new it would be close between us after my late run? So it turned out as I went into the lead with 161lb.

Further down on 115 Gary O'shea went on to put 192lb on the scales catching on worm to start with then switch to paste on the long and down his inside bank which proved to be another to win the day followed by Mark woodington over on lodge lake taking 176lb from corner peg 66 on lodge lake, My weigh was enough to take 2nd on the lake and 3rd overall on the day adding £20 to the wallet, well' for a short while before I used it to purchase some new elastic ready for the weekend", looking forward to Saturday and was pleased how my day went so lets hope it continues.

 winner Gary O'Shea.

 

Full results -

 

1st Gary O'Shea (Preston Innovation's Thatcher's) peg 115 Cambell, 192lb 14oz.

2nd Mark Woodington (Un-known) peg 66 Lodge, 176lb 2oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Maver) peg 118 Cambel, 161lb .

4th Andy Rowbottom (Un-known) peg 119 Cambell, 157lb 11oz.

5th Craig Edmound's (Flip-Flop) peg 126 Cambell, 149lb 10oz.

6th Steve Walter's (Un-known) peg 59 Lodge, 132lb 14oz.