Jerry Pocock Xmas Match - Bristol Avon Newbridge

 Hope you had a good Christmas and we’re able to enjoy the festivities, I certainly had a fun time with the family. 

This match took place the day after Boxing Day, and the draw was at the Midland Spinner pub in Warmley where 20 hardy souls gathered. It was nice to have a breakfast, though it wasn’t the best in my opinion, and then a part of one of my teeth fell out as I was munching. I’d been waiting for that to happen for months as it had been painful when biting on it, now pain free but it will need sorting as it’s left a sharp edge. Jerry and Dean Harvey got the draw underway and I pulled out peg 13 (unlucky for some) which I was told was permanent peg 42, not a noted peg.

Off we all drove and parked up in the field, first peg in was 16, with 59 being the last. Looking at the river it was pacey and coloured but not really dirty, I thought 18, 24, 46 and the 50’s would throw up the best weights. When I arrived at my peg I found I was on peg 40, I’d been on this one last time on teams of four, but had roach on the pole, no pole today.

The colour was not inspiring me, but I did see 2 fish top whilst setting up. I only set a feeder rod up with an open ended and 14 N50 to 0.15 powerline. I needed 45g to hold bottom at 9m out which was my chosen line and where the fish had topped. Groundbait was Sonubaits Sweet Skimmer, a bit of Thatchers and brown crumb. We started at 10 and I spent the first 30 minutes having regular casts to get some bait in the swim instead of balling it. I had 3 maggots on the hook as this is usually a good way to get bites from initial small fish. Well not today, I never had a bite on maggots. At 11 I had my first bite, a decent tap but nothing proper, reeled in to find the worm was shredded, it had been down the throat of something then. 

It was about 30 minutes before my next bite and this came on treble caster, missed this bite, a few chucks later missed another. It had to be small roach I guessed as the bites were tiny (but a bit bigger than the many leaf bites I was getting), but thought one would’ve hooked itself! Andy Britt on peg 46 came for walk and he had a roach as did Mat Challenger on 44, Shane Caswell below my on 42 was blanking but Mike Goodhind above me had 2 roach. The whole match was tough and halfway through 10oz was winning.

With the top 4 and 4 sections being paid I just needed a few fish or better still a slab, I continued to fish positively with big baits, but I only had bites on Lobby tails or casters. Despite changing the length of hook lengths from as short as 1 foot to as long as 4 foot, but still I managed to not hit a bite. The match ended at 3pm with me having had 8 bites and no fish at all, quite frustrating and not something I recall happening to me before. Shane also blanked and missed a few bites, and there were quite a few other people who blanked.

Back at the pub most were glad to be in the warm after we had got soaked in downpours for the last 2 hours. It only required 2lb 5oz to win the match, Derek Cole’s had a skimmer and 6 roach on peg 50. Second Craig Pinker had 1lb 11oz on peg 18, and Mat Challenger was 3rd with 1lb (2 eels and a roach). Why the river fished so bad I don’t know, maybe all the raw sewage the water companies are pumping straight in when it rains?

Not the best way to end 2022 with a blank, but I’ll get another chance to put that right on the teams of four match at Newbridge on Sunday 8th Jan… I hope lol!

Happy New Year, let’s hope 2023 brings better things for everyone. 

Update and 2003

 Lack of fishing due to the inclement bitterly cold weather! I was supposed to fish the Lower Avon Teams of 4 last Sunday, but it was called off about 6:45am due to falling snow. Can’t say I was unhappy with that decision, really wasn’t looking forward to fishing the Avon at Newbridge on a day when temperatures were expected to not get above 0.  With no plans for this Sunday and the even colder temperatures I decided it would be a stay at home day watching cricket, darts and a rather uneventful World Cup final lol!!

My view last Sunday.

Had to have a dig around for the diary, and am back to October 2003 when it was an ATWL round on the Avon at Keynsham, I got a nice peg though 16 at Swineford. It was waggler and feeder tactics looking for chub, but the river fished really tough and I only had 1 small chub on the wag along with dace and roach. 6lb 1oz surprisingly enough to win the section.

I went back to Swineford on the following weekend and pleasure fished in the first field, last peg. A different river today alive with small dace and bleak. I fished a waggler for 3 1/2 hours as I ran out of maggots at that point trying to feed the bleak off, had about 12lb of bleak dace and roach.

Sunday 19th October and ATWL again, this time at Newbridge, I was on peg 26. River was gin clear and might be a bit tricky. I balled it on the pole and never had a bite. Went onto a small chopped worm feeder looking for a perch or anything, no bites. Maggot feeder across and no bites! I was desperate not to blank and spotted a couple of minnows close in, so got a 3m whip out with a canal rig for where it was about 4 feet deep. I caught a couple of minnows to save the blank, and then got the odd small Gudgeon and perch. It was fishing so bad in my section it was worth catching these, any runners that came past I told I only had minnows. With about 40 minutes to got I broke the hook on the rig, before retrying I decided to try the pole line which I had not fed since balling. I took 10 roach from here to end the match. My weight was 4lb 1oz to comfortably win the section, a bit of a one off this day. Team won the day and were now winning the league.

I missed the Poppy match this year, and so was on ATWL duty again on November 16th. Swineford peg 29, mega walk but not so much gear to carry / push 20 years ago! I had a lovely day fishing a 6 no4 stick float catching roach, dace and perch feeding maggots and hemp. My 10lb 12oz was second in the section, beaten by an angler with a pike, but can’t remember who it was now. 

Onto the Commercial House the following week and I drew at Fry’s, a stretch that could be very cruel at times. However, I was downstream end peg just below the culvert and it looked nice for fishing the long 20 foot rod with a crowquill. I started on a 20 and 0.10 and feeding maggot and hemp started getting the odd dace and roach. I then hooked a chub which wanted to get into the margin, I pulled so hard I thought it would snap me, but I netted it. The hook was straightened out and I was dead lucky. On went an 18 and 0.12, still getting odd small fish and 1 more chub. An hour to go and bites were gone so I stopped feeding hemp and blasted maggots. It worked and I landed 2 more chub in the last 30 minutes. I remember that Dave Clutterbuck weighed me in and he was very generous in his praise of my catch, 22lb 8oz. I was top at Fry’s and overall 3rd in the match, a payout of £210 good in those days.

My last match of November was ATWL on the K&A canal at Bath, I drew Bathampton bend where occasionally skimmers showed. It was a real struggle, nothing on bread and only bits on bloodworm. I’d been feeding casters into the open water and fished the waggler looking for the skimmers, they weren’t there. But I did catch 3 perch up to 1 1/2lb on it to save my bacon and weigh 5lb 4 1/2oz. I was 3rd in section, beaten by 1/2 oz and an angler with a pike! I remember who had this pike, it was Jeff Surmon. He could reach the far bank and fished the pole, the pike and some perch took his worms. I’ve had a few good next peg battles with Jeff, not easy to beat, but always a pleasure being next peg to the nicest man I know. We’re all behind Jeff as he battles prostate cancer, and I’m sure he will kick its ass.

I’m not going fishing now until after Christmas, the plan is to fish at Newbridge on the 27th, getting milder and some rain will make it better, unless we get too much rain, but fingers crossed we will have a go.

Today I dug up my parsnips and picked sprouts from my garden ready for Christmas dinner, the frosts will have added flavour. Can’t wait to taste them! If you like a red wine with your dinner, I’ve really enjoyed this one recently, got it from majestic wines.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, although times are a bit tough let’s have a good time. Good health and happiness to you and your family.

Windmill Fishery Open

 The last two weekends I’ve not been fishing as I’ve been busy with family stuff and a Rovers match that was less than inspiring, plus the river was up and flooded. There was nothing I could do on the river this weekend and so I booked in to fish at Windmill, I thought it would be a bit hard.

I woke up Sunday with heavy cold, it had been coming on Saturday, and I thought to myself do I really want to go fishing today in the cold. However, I thought the fresh air would help, lol, so I got on with it.

I got myself a breakfast at Wetherspoons and was soon at the car park at Windmill. There seemed to be a decent turnout which was good, and I kept myself fairly distant to avoid passing on the lurgy. The draw soon came, no idea what was a good peg but I got 11 which is right at the end of the lake and today out of the Easterly wind.

The peg looks nice with an island chuck but I reckoned that would be to shallow today. Reeds to the right, and plenty of open water. I set up a straight lead with 0.17 to 16 KKM-B, a pole rig for by the reeds and another 4x12 with 0.15 and 16 PR478. I really didn’t feel like setting anything else up to be honest and just wanted to sit down.

When we started at 10am I fed a small amount of micro and corn at 14.5m, then tried an early look by the reeds for any resident carp. I didn’t get any a carp just a 1/2oz perch, so went onto the long pole. The float sat there for about 10 minutes and then finally dipped under, missed it! About a minute later another bite saw the elastic come out, a nice early common carp about 7lb. Shipped out again waited about another 10 minutes for the next bite which I hit, carp number 2 was soon in the net. It was pretty much a repeat next drop, and three carp for 16lb were in the net. The next carp I hooked came off just as I was down to the top set. I had to wait a bit longer for the next bite, but it was worth it as a 9lb mirror was netted. An hour gone and 25lb.

John Osbourne over on peg 10 had a slower start to me, but at the end of the second hour he had also had a few a the long pole and I was still just ahead. But the pole was now dead and I chucked the lead out, with double corn on, to another part of the peg. After about 20 minutes the tip flew round and another carp came to the net. I cast the lead to the same spot but nothing happened. Back to the reeds, nothing, out long on the pole and another carp after a long wait. I didn’t realise it, but that was my last bite on the pole. 

With about 90 minutes left I had another carp on the lead, but alas try as I might I couldn’t get another and I never had a bite in the last 90 minutes. Sadly for me John had a couple more carp on the pole, with his last one hooked a minute to go! I knew my poor last 90 minutes would cost me, and it did!

Top 6 on the day were…

1. N. Sanders peg 1. 135lb 10ozs

2. M. Boundy p20. 66lb 2ozs

3. J. Osbourne p10. 55lb 7ozs

4. D. Keen p6. 52lb 14ozs

5. G. Welsh p22. 50lb 5ozs

6. T. Ford p11. 47lb 15ozs

Silvers

1. N. Sanders 3lb 3ozs

Nick caught on waggler and maggot and later on the long pole, he said it was solid in front of him, but fair play that’s a good weight on a cold day. One more carp might have seen me sneak third, but I only lost one and everyone loses a few. Still I can’t complain I had a few fish and got some fresh air ☺️.  Got the teams of four next Sunday on the river, looking at the weather forecast could be blankety blank 🙈.