Open match Bristol Avon - Chippenham and Melksham

This match whist being an open was largely being run as a practise for next weekends AT Winter League, so I was here supporting my Thatchers team. The river is very low and clear and I was expecting a tough day unless I drew one of the chub flyers.

I stopped in Greggs for a breakfast baguette as the venue used for the draw was not opening in the morning. It was cold stood outside and definitely colder here than back in Bristol. I was soon stood looking at my draw, peg 24 which was the end peg at Chippenham just above the blue bridge in a peg called the copse. I had a quick word with Gary Etheridge and Mick Gale who told me I should be able to get some chublets on my peg, and whilst it wasn’t one of the best pegs there were plenty worse.

Once I found my peg I could see why it was called the copse as you’re sat surrounded by trees. As you can see I had a nice platform to sit on, it was covered in leaves as was the river.

The river was hardly moving in front of me, and I had to go to 11.5m to find a bit of flow. I set up a 1.25g pencil float for the 7 to 8 feet depth of the peg with a 18 N10 to 0.10 accu power. I didn’t set up any lighter strung out rigs as minnows can be a problem here. I put up a chop worm rig but never had a bite on it, lastly a 3AAA waggler with 18 to 0.13 powerline.

We started at 10:30 and I cupped in 6 balls of gbait with a bit of hemp and caster in at 11.5m, wasted some worms and fed maggots across and downstream which I would do regularly. I started on the pole and had bites straight away from 2 to 3oz chublets, these were straight on the bait and kept me busy for 20 minutes. As they thinned out a little I also caught the odd roach which were 2oz to 4oz. After 45 minutes it was slowing down and after trying the worm I picked up the waggler. I had a very narrow corridor to cast in due to the trees around me, and had to be careful with the distance to avoid the overhanging branches. Chublets were also obliging on this method and I had my biggest at maybe 8oz. I had a good 20 minutes on this either catching a chublet or a leaf! 

Switching back to the pole line and the rest had improved it with more chublets and roach coming steadily but it faded quickly. This is how my match panned out, switching between the pole and the waggler all match and it just got harder and harder. I didn’t get any pike trouble, only had a couple of small fish come off and caught the tree across once but got my waggler and hook back! It had been a decent day of working hard and trying different feeding and hookbaits, though maggot on the hook was best for me.

Kev Rowles had the scales and came to weigh me in first, Kev told me he might have 35lb of chub and perch! I was happy to see my fish go 9lb 14oz, especially as Kev told me it was a good weight from a peg he didn’t really like. 

I didn’t follow the scales as I didn’t want to leave my gear alone so got back to the club quite quickly. As people started to come back it was obvious it had fished hard, but there were some decent weights. Kev Rowles romped the match from a peg near the sea cadets I believe. Second was teammate Shaun Townsend who had 7 chub in the last hour on the waggler, match organiser Rob Kepner was third with chublets on the shallow peg on Prattys bend. Last in the frame was Mark Brush who had 11lb of roach at Portman Road.

I ended up 6th overall and got the section money for my troubles.  Framers and section winners and weights below.

Unfortunately neither myself or Shaun can fish the winter league next week, so we will be keeping our fingers crossed for the lads. 

Commercial House Round 3 Lower Bristol Avon

Last match on this part of the river in this league which is a shame in my opinion. After a busy work week I had not much time for prep as on Saturday it was a family wedding in Keynsham. Well it was a great wedding and plenty of booze, probably a bit too much 🤣.

I was really enjoying my sleep when the alarm went off at 7, but I was soon waking up and heading to Greggs for a couple of rolls. My pools were already paid so I had no rush, but was still in good time for the draw. Jerry Pocock was drawing and I hoped he would get me Swineford, but he drew that one himself. I was off to the crane again, but a short walk which was nice. My peg was just below the little wall, a parrot cage that was for sure, but last match there was 13lb caught on the little wall so I was happy with my peg in the section. However, there were two pegs in the lane that could be good.

A bit like last week there wasn’t much flow in close and with trees I thought I would go with bolo and waggler tactics again fished down the middle. I also set up a pole rig for fishing chop worm at 9 metres. The river was amazingly clear, and with the sun out I wondered if the fishing would be more difficult today.

I started on the bolo and again just loose fed hemp and caster and did not use gbait. First cast and I swung in a little dace and I was up and running. I was soon getting regular bites but I was missing lots of bites. I think it was dace as I had odd ones during the match. Most of my fish were coming to caster initially and I was soon shallowing up as the fish were coming up for the feed. I had a quick look on the worm for 3 small perch, had another 2 here later but that was it.

In the second hour the bites kept coming but the fish were on the small side, I had changed to maggot on the hook and also upped the feed. I tried the waggler and had bites on this and a couple of dace, but I couldn’t hit enough bites to warrant staying on it for now. I think going into the third hour I started to get the odd better roach, but they were just odd ones, then a pike grabbed one and bit me off. Over the next 10 minutes the pike tried three times to grab my fish but missed. The pike never showed again after this, but it did slow the fishing down.

Not long after this I heard some lads below chatting and laughing, I thought they were gonna go swimming, but then I heard the odd spadoosh like they were throwing big stones in. Eventually this had a detrimental effect on my peg and I was finding it hard to get bites. I decided to approach the lads and took a civil approach. Turns out they were throwing in big magnets on rope trying to find treasure lol. Thankfully they moved off below the match length, but my peg was never as good.

Another try on the waggler and more missed bites, so it was bolo all the way till 10 minutes to go when I caught a tree branch on a cast and bust the bolo rig. I deepened the waggler and caught two roach on it before the call out. I thought I had 12 to 13lb.

The scales came from peg 1 on the high wall where Sam Johnson had 8lb +, next lad had 4 1/2lb. My fish went 13lb 4oz which I was happy with though wish I could have hit more bites.  Down in the lane Sean O’Neill had 12lb and on the end peg Graham Hunt won the section with 14lb 1oz, so I ended second.

 

Back at the results news came in of a couple of outstanding weights, Jason Fearn at Newbridge about peg 28 had 38lb of chub up to 1 1/4lb on the waggler to win the match. At Swineford in the second field Warren Bates had 30lb of roach to come second, he caught on an 8m whip then on a waggler with roach up to 10oz. Section results and top overall weights are here. Although plenty of good weights again there were some areas where bites were hard to come by and a blank was recorded. To show how different it was Leigh Wakefield drew the peg I had last week. Now last week I had small fish boiling on the surface on the waggler and maggot, Leigh today had no small fish and had to fish for chub on the waggler and had some up to 4lb for 13lb 13oz. 

Right an early night needed now 😴 and no fishing next week. Next match in a couple of weeks at Chippenham.

Commercial House Round 2 Lower Bristol Avon

Had a few drinks for my birthday this weekend but was finished early Saturday after a few hours in Bath. As a result I woke up before my alarm ☺️. I decided to grab my breakfast from Greggs in Longwell Green and that was a good idea as the Crown pub was not open for the draw! This is not the first time this has happened and it’s not on when the place is booked for 6 or 7 matches. Luckily the weather was dry and the draw was done outside. This week I was off to the Crane as per normal not Swineford which I crave to draw 🤣.

I was happy enough with my peg which was the wader peg in the bay in the small ashtip field, though it hadn’t thrown up a weight last match here I believe. It was as I looked at the peg that I realised I had not brought my Preston platform 🙄, but I was saved by Lee Warden who said he had the same platform and he walked back to his van to get it for me. That’s what you call a mate, I really appreciated that and it meant a lot.

It meant my peg went from looking like this…..

To this….

I was up to nearly the top of my waders to get this far out, and still behind the reeds to my right, not great if I hooked any chub.

My set up was a 4g bolo with 18 to 0.10 accu power, and a 4 AAA waggler with 16 to 0.11 powerline. I did set up an 8m whip but the fish never came in range to use it. The flow here is better as you go across the river, hence no pole. As I had a boatload of room below me I decided on a loose feed approach and no gbait; hemp and caster 1/3 out for the bolo, maggot across for the waggler.

We started at 10:15 and I had bites straight away on the bolo but missed the first two. I was soon into small roach on the bolo and sadly soon into a pike that bit me off. I was happily building the swim and getting regular bites from small roach, but wanted bigger ones! Unfortunately when I did hook a better one a pike grabbed it and after the first hour I had 4 pike on.

The second and third hours were steady with mainly small roach and the odd dace, I had 2 perch and pike on again. I found the fish were coming off bottom and was about 18 inches off the bottom, but needed to rest it. The first look on the waggler was a bite a chuck from small dace and roach, couldn’t get a chub or chublet. Back on the bolo and had a 12oz chub and started to get more better 4oz roach in spells, but they would go as quick as they came, but it was still a bite a chuck from smaller ones. My waggler line had fish boiling for the maggots, but it was 1oz roach and I wasn’t going to do any damage with them. 

The bolo line was my main attack and I kept working it, changing depths and hook baits and hook lengths as I got up to 9 pike on. Caster took the most fish but I had spells on single and double maggot. Lee Warden above me had been telling me he had a few fish but couldn’t keep bites coming, other than that I didn’t know what was happening. My match finished as it started on the bolo catching mainly small roach with the odd better ones. I thought I might have 15lb.

I was on the board so had to record the weights, my section started in the long ashtip and on the second peg in my section first peg in the long ashtip was Dorking angler Jack Jones, he’s a great angler and a top bloke, I wasn’t surprised to see him weigh 17lb of roach and perch on the pole, well done. However, I knew that would not win the section as Nicky Johns had admitted to 20lb, he wasn’t far out, he had 23lb 4oz, that was maybe 9lb of chub and 14lb of roach from two below the long ashtip. Lee had 9lb and I had 15lb 14oz. 

My section board.

Another thoroughly enjoyable day for me even if only third in the section, a great days fishing on the Avon. As it turned out Nicky was joint top on the day with Derek Coles, Derek at Swineford had stacks or roach and a 5 1/2lb bream.

3rd was Ben Rendall with 19 lbs 12 ozs.  He was drawn in the 1st peg of the 2nd field at Swineford 

4th - Warren Bates  18 lbs 8 ozs

5th - Andy Britt 17 lbs 7 oz

6th - Jack Jones 17 lbs 4 ozs

On the team front  Lobby’s won again to extend their lead to a large 16.5 point lead. My team remain in second but tied with Bathampton.

1st - Sensas Lobby’s - 33

2nd= Mosella Bathampton - 28 

2nd= M&N Electrical - 28

4th - Midland Spinner - 26

5th - Sensas Nomads - 25

6th - Mark Paynes Leads - 14

7th - Crown Hospital team - 10

League positions

1st - Sensas Lobby’s - 71.5

2nd= Mosella Bathampton - 55

2nd= Midland Spinner - 55

4th - Sensas Nomads - 53

5th - M&N Electrical - 51.5

6th - Mark Paynes Leads - 24

7th - Crown Hospital team - 10

Back here next week, no rain forecast so the river which was slow and clear today will continue to be the same.

Commercial House Round 1 - Lower Bristol Avon

Thatchers could not get enough anglers to fish this league due mainly to clashes with other things. I always want to fish the Avon at this time of year as it’s generally the best fishing in my opinion September to Early November. I was happy to fish with Jerry Pococks team The Midland Spinner, and I can fish 4 of the 6 matches. It’s a team of legends, Jer, Kev Boltz, Shane Caswell, Dean Harvey, Jeff Surmon, Derek Coles and me.  Today’s match was spread over Jack Whites, Crane , Swineford and Newbridge.

Saturday was a great day, I went to Newport with the boys to watch the Gas win away (rare). Suffice to say I was rather inebriated and think I went to bed just after 9pm. I woke up at 6:45 not really knowing what day it was and tried to get my head straight 🙈. I actually got everything sorted and forgot nothing! The draw was at the Crown in Keynsham so not far, Kev Boltz was acting captain as Jerry was in Scotland. Kev did the draw and came back with not a great set of pegs I thought. I was peg F5 and below the cow drink at Jack Whites, and hoping not on the snag pit.

It’s a pain to get to the peg as there is a poxy kissing gate, so you have to get your trolley unloaded and reloaded, what a pain! The sky looked nasty and we had a downpour and some thunder as I walked to the peg. I checked the met office rainfall radar and it looked like there was a major thunderstorm on the way. I walked past all the top pegs and got to mine which was not one of my favourites and can be snagged. I was thinking I would struggle from here. It was a challenge getting down to the peg, and then I’m sat at least 6 foot off the water. With a tree above me and lightning around I decided no pole and no whip. 

Took these pictures before the storm came proper. The steps to my position had already washed away and I was never getting back up that way so was stuck where I was.

Nice and calm… the calm before the storm!

Looking at the peg most of the flow was close in and got slower across, that would not make for a great waggler chub approach, so my main approach was a 7 no 4 stick float with 18 to 0.12 about a third out or more. I would have fished it closer but there was a tree fallen in the water inside and it could be a problem. I set up a waggler with 16 to 0.13 and that was my lot. Couldn’t see a feeder being any use here.

We started at 10:15 and I fed hemp and caster and started on the waggler 4 feet deep. After five runs through and no bites I tried the stick float. Bite first chuck on this from a 10oz chublet. Then a couple of small roach and another chublet, then I hooked a better fish which came off, think it was a decent perch. The storm was now over head, thunder lightning and very heavy rain. I was struggling to see my float, I took a shot off but it didn’t help much. I actually hooked some fish just striking randomly. Trying the waggler which I could see was again a waste of time.

After 90 minutes of intense rain it eased, the river had risen and coloured up a bit, and the fishing improved as I could now see my float better and roach and odd dace were feeding. I had spells of catching 5 or 6 decent roach in as many casts, then back to smaller fish. Red maggot on the hook was good for a while, then caster was great. With 2 hours left bleak moved in and became a real pest, I tried to clear a few out on the waggler and also had a few dace and small chublets. Went back on the stick and had some nice roach on bronze maggot but then bleak messed it up. I had a few roach and dace on tares but was missing too many bites, so went back to maggot and caster, if a bleak didn’t get the bait I would get a roach virtually every chuck.

When the match was over I thought I had about 14lb, took my time packing up and waited for the scales. Graham Hunt and Jason Fearne came up from below with the scales, Graham had a big 13lb Jason just under 9lb. I handed my net up to the lads and let them put the fish in the weigh net. I was surprised to hear 17lb 14oz called, but I realised the fish were a nice size. Picture taken of me stuck on the bank, and soon after Alan Mapston and Lee Warden pulled me up, cheers lads!

I ended up second in the section, Dave Wild on peg 3 won it with 23lb of roach and dace on the stick float. Dave drew peg 4 in the cow drink, but before the match it was stated that a lot of young cows were in the field and the angler drawing the cow drink could fish the empty peg. It was a good move by Dave who had probably not fished a match for 40 years. Here’s my section board it’s not in order of the pegging.

Back at the pub for the results I was glad of beer and some food. It was soon evident that the roach had fed well today and every section had fished really well. Here’s the section winners (by default) and the top 6 anglers (think I was 7th). Well done Dave on the win, Andy Powell on second and Nick Coles third (Nick told me he didn’t fish the first hour as he was too scared by the lightning, and that definitely cost him at least second).

On the team front Lobby’s absolutely pissed it with five of them winning their sections, well done!!! My team managed second which was great. 😊 here’s the team points.

Well a fantastic match when the roach finally decided to go on the feed, but bream and chub did not. There were 26 double figure weights today. I definitely had enough fish on the hook to get 20lb, but conditions and a slight hangover also hampered me 🤣. I just love fishing a stick float and don’t get the chance to do it very often, so today was very enjoyable despite the conditions and I loved it! Next match in two weeks.

Bathampton and Bristol & West Pairs league - Newbridge

Final round of this well run and friendly league, hats off to Dean Harvey, Craig Pinker and Derek Coles for the great work they put in.

It was good to see that the rain we have had this week had changed the river… not! Obviously the rain is being soaked by the ground and the plants. Rich and never leading by 6 1/2 points but the way the river has been it could be wiped out.

After the last match here I would like to be drawn in A section where a lot of fish have been showing, but once again Rich drew A so I was in B (not been in A section at all). When Rich gave me peg 5 (52) I was not happy, it was last in section last time out and not been good all league. It was no surprise to see Dean Harvey on another flyer as he got peg 61 Norfolk Reeds again. Jerry Pocock was on 46 that has been consistent and so I was looking at trouble straight off as those two were on our heels. Rich was on 16 same as last match and so was pleased with that, we needed 14 points to guarantee the win.

Got to my peg in the dry, it’s normally a decent bream peg but they’ve not been caught on it so far. Chopper Amos was on 54 same as last match where he had bream.

I set up the gbait feeder, waggler, 1.5g pencil

Float and a 2g float for the pole. I also set up a 2gm whip rig. 

Standard approach gave the gbait feeder 30 mins getting some bait in and looking for a quick fish, only had 2 small perch and a roach on this. Onto my pole / whip line where I had put 6 balls of gbait, I had 2 roach a dace, a small perch and lost a decent perch on the whip. Bites tailed off so I went onto the pencil float, normally I can catch a few on caster or red maggot but it was quite tough. I tried a bronze maggot on the hook and had a dace, then a small perch. The change to bronze maggot was a good one as I had about 40 minutes catching these dace and perch (all swingers). It died and I went back on the feeder. I gave Dean a ring and he was already on 2 bream and some skimmers and double figures, another battering on the cards. My feeder line was just not working and all I could get was the odd little perch.

I had been trying to feed a waggler line with bronze maggot but storms and variable winds were making it difficult. I had tiny chublets and bleak on this but couldn’t see me getting enough of them, so I upped the feed and went back to the pole. This coincided with a big storm and I put the brolly up. I caught 3 or 4 more fish but it was dying, and then my pole sections jammed together. That was the end of the pole fishing!

I spent the remainder of the match switching between the feeder and the waggler, with no brolly it was rather wet lol. I just couldn’t get any quality fish, on the waggler I did manage a few 3oz chublets in between the tiny ones. When the match finished I was sure I had dipped out and Rich had struggled with his peg not fishing anything like last time, though he had lost a bream which might be crucial 😬.

Dean was soon along with the scales showing off his Turkey Teeth with a broad smile having had 17lb 11oz. Shaun Townsend was next best with 7lb 12oz from peg 56 where I was last match. My net of small fish went 6lb 8oz.

On upstream peg from me was Dave Lewis, he had a completely different match in that when he got a bite it was from a decent fish. Perch, skimmers and a late bream for 16lb.

Walked back pushing my trolley and got to peg 24 and thought I had forgotten to pick my metal peg up, so walked all the back to peg 52 only to find it wasn’t there, turned out Dean had picked it up! Good exercise I guess 🤣🤣

I ended up getting 6 points which was actually more than I expected, see the weigh sheets below. In A section Rich had 7lb 14oz but that was only worth 4 points as it had fished well again, sadly the bream he lost would have made a big difference. I knew then we had blown out.

On the day the two pairs close behind us had both had great days. Dean and Derek 18 1/2 points, Jerry Pocock and Nic Coles 18 points. That meant Jerry and Nic wine the league with 82 points, well done chaps.

Rich and I came 2nd with 81 points just beating Dean and Derek by 1/2 point (thanks to Mike Weston weighing the same as Derek).

A disappointing end to the league for me, but everyone has had a bad one at some point. I really don’t think I drew a fancied peg and that’s the way it can go. But it’s still a great league and great fun to fish. Maybe next year the draw will be kinder lol.

Bathampton & Bristol and West pairs League - Newbridge

Another early alarm call and must admit to feeling a bit tired after the previous long day of the National. However, this was round 5 and the penultimate round and I was keen to try and keep myself and Rich Lacey on top of the league. 

I got to the river at 7:15 and as I paid my pools had to endure another ear bashing about the Gas, can’t argue with anything in that respect at the moment 🙈🙉. As ever I wanted to be in the first 4 pegs in A section, but as ever Rich pulled me B section. I think that’s every match this and last season I have been in B lol. Rich got A1 peg 16 and I got B9 peg 56. I would have been on peg 61 but moored boats had messed up the pegging.

A decent walk from peg 16 to 56, and when I got there I had a rest and looked at the last results here, my peg had 3lb and beat 1, hmmm. Dean Harvey was on peg 10 and I expected him to do well as it has been good for roach and perch.

Much like yesterday I had a steep peg, but no steps. But at least I could get my box in the water and all comfortable.

56 is a great peg with a bit of water on as the flow is mostly across the river. It meant my pole line was a bit slower and shallower than the pegs around me. A 1g pencil float would do for 11m and I went with a 20 and 0.10. I did set up a heavier rig and worm rig but neither worked. The obligatory gbait feeder was readied as was a waggler with 18 to 0.12 and a bolo rig.

Started on the feeder getting some bait in and looking for early signs, just a small roach and a perch so it was onto the pole where 8 balls of black roach / black river had been fed. I got a 1oz roach first drop and a few more this size which was concerning, then I started getting a few bleak problems but not so bad. I was catching but not great quality, but carried on taking what was on offer. I was loose feeding hemp and caster over the pole line and after an hour had a few 3oz roach. 

Halfway through the match the pole died and I gave the feeder another 30 minutes. Never had a touch and was surprised, especially as on peg 8 (54) Chopper had a bream and 2 skimmers and quite a few perch. With Dean catching on the float I was getting a battering! Just to make my lot better a paddle boarder fell in right in my peg, then after getting back on the board proceeded to drop her house and car keys in the river….. Her husband decided to dive in after them (a pointless exercise) and then said they’re gone. I had a drink and a bite to eat to let things settle down.

I tried the waggler which was awkward as the wind was a nightmare, but I picked up a few bleak and 4 small chublets and then nothing, not a bite on the bolo. Tried the pole and feeder but no bites. I had to make a decision sit it out for a bream or try and add some extra fish on the waggler. I went with the wag and picked up odd chublets and bleak to end the match.

I reckoned I had about 8lb or so but no idea how that would do. Rich on A1 thought he had over 10lb but for a few hours was battered by bleak. Well I ended up getting 8 points out of 10 with 9lb 2oz which I was relieved with, but I was beat both sides lol. Well done Chopper winning the section after struggling in the league, see you can catch them! My board below.

A section fished well as you can see, and Warren Bates won the match from unfancied middle of the straight. He had roach on the whip early, but when it died he had a couple of bream and a skimmer on the whip, nothing on the feeder. Another great performance by Warren in the league.

Rich ended up with 6 points which was good enough as 14 points is usually decent each round. 

With one round left to go we are still winning but just 6 1/2 points ahead of Jer Pocock and Nick Coles. This  means we need to get 14 points on the last round to guarantee the win, but anything can happen. The next round is back at Newbridge in 2 weeks. 

The end of a long weekend (week actually but that’s another story) and despite not picking up any dosh I had enjoyed the fishing both days. No fishing this weekend so tight lines if you’re going.

Better quality today than yesterday.

Division 1 National - Warwickshire Avon

I’ve not fished a national for a few years as primarily the venues haven’t suited me and Thatchers have plenty of canal anglers. However, I was definitely up for fishing this one even though I know the Warwickshire Avon can be very hard. Around 14 miles of river was to be used to host the 45 teams of 10. With so many sections we elected not to practice and just get some info. The section draw was done on Wednesday evening and I was in H which meant I would either be at Pershore or Pensham.

Saturday morning and met up with Lee Trivitt and Rob Jones at Wetherspoons in Tewkesbury just before 7:30. We ate our breakfast and waited for Martin Barrett to do the team draw and share the pegs we had on our WhatsApp group. Secretly I was hoping to be at Pensham as it sounded a bit like Newbridge and some bream to be caught, but I was going to Peg 1 at Pershore and was quite excited about being an end peg. I drove to the river and spoke to a local who thought I was first peg through the gate, but turned out I was before the gate and on permanent peg 4.

There was a set of steps and small platform to fish from, so comfy. But the far bank was boat moorings and full of weed and cabbages. Pegs below me had mostly natural cover across.

As I was setting up a boat arrived, but it stayed all day.

Now the advice I had was fish for an early bream, something I would be happy to do and I set up the gbait feeder. But as I set up I noticed hordes of tiny fish topping off the edge of the bush  to to my left. Set up 4 / 5m whips with 0.4g floats and 16 to 0.12 for fishing shallow bleak rigs. Set up a 0.5g float for fishing on the bottom under the bleak on a pole. Lastly a 7 no 4 stick float for fishing hemp down the peg. I did also set up a waggler and worm rig but these were not used.

There were a number of top anglers in my bit, Simon Willsmore was on 2 and further down Leigh Gardner, Darren Cox and Rob Hewison. No pressure!

We started at 11 and I began on the 5m whips, threw in some bronze maggots and the water erupted so I didn’t pick the feeder up. I was soon getting bites but was missing more than I expected. The culprits were tiny dace, chublets and bleak. But there were better fish there as I could tell from the swirls. After probably 30 mins of thrashing the fish were still swirling but I was struggling to get a bite. I decided to change to a 20 to 0.9 and this got me bites again. The river is like tap water and even these small fish are finicky. I came into 4m to hand as the fish were happy to be there, I upped the feed and was trying different depths and hook baits to improve the size of fish, but it was hard to get through the miniatures. Stewards and bank runners said I was doing well and me Simon were catching the same, 3 bream was best further down. So I ploughed on all the time feeding hemp further down and out.

I had a dodgy spell and picked up the deep rig, I caught some more small fish on the drop but did get a few 2oz perch, odd better dace and even a couple of roach. I had to go back shallow again and kept on thrashing. With 90 minutes to go I tried the hemp on the stick, first cast roach, 3rd cast roach and then a long wait for number 3. I rested it and went back on the bits changing between deep and shallow. I had another 2 roach on hemp but it was clearly not right and went back to 5m to hand as the fish were petering out in the last 30 minutes.

Match over and I had a very busy day, hard to say what weight, no idea how many fish as I can’t count them. I was going to be the last to weigh in so when the scales arrived I was all packed up. 17kilo was winning, Simon had just weighed 4 kilo 100g,  my fish went 4 kilo 50g, close but no cigar. Still I was dead happy, parked by my peg and bites all day is not something that often happens in a national! Bad pic as catch shots were not allowed in some sections.

I was 5th at Pershore as you can see from the board and I found out later that only one person at Pensham had beat me so I was 6th out of 45, dead happy.

The messages started to come in from the other lads, a few had been on dreadful pegs, but had done all they could. Top performer was Rob Jones with 3 bream and second in section, bit good is Rob. He got the section money be default too.

I went back to the results and saw a few nervous faces as some top teams were trying to work out their points. We were hoping for a top 10 finish and we got that coming 9th, and I was about 32nd best weight overall, so a decent day. 

Tackle & Baits won the day, Dorking 2nd and Starlets 3rd. Well done all.

The guy who won my section with 17 kilo actually won the match by about 250g. After his early 3 bream he had lost 5 and a barbel (must of been gutted) but then in the last 30 minutes he had 6 more bream. Also a special mention for Shaun Bryan who won the national last year, he won his section this time thanks to landing a 9lb carp on a worm rig. Well done Shaun.

After a long day I got home at 9pm, then had to sort out a bit of gear for the following day fishing the pairs match at Newbridge.

Pairs League Saltford Trees / Swineford

After a great day out Thursday at Acorn I was looking forward to getting back on the river Avon. The weekend was slightly soured by the Gas losing their opening match but still remain hopeful for a better season than last.

I got to the rugby club car park at 7:15am and as I paid my pools to Dean Harvey I had to listen to a lot of comments aimed at me about the Gas. Well you’ve got to take it haven’t you lol. My partner Rich Lacey and I were up to second in the league, just a couple of points behind Dean and Derek, this was the 4th match of the league. I let Rich draw again as at least that way I can moan at him, I fancied pegs 6 to 10 in each section. Rich drew out Swineford for himself the first peg in the second field (I’d prefer this later in the year, and he got me peg 2 in the trees one below the arch. Last match this end of the section had been poor but Jan Macyzk did get 3 bream late I was told.

Got to the peg and as Frank Barlow used to say it was a right parrot cage! I was only going to be able to fish the pole and the feeder, even then I had some issues. 

I set up two pole rigs; a 1.25g pencil float with 20 to 0.10 and a 2g round float with 16 to 0.12. The gbait feeder had a 14 to 0.15. Gbait for the pole was Sonubaits black roach and black river, for the feeder it was Thatchers green and sweet skimmer.

I starred in the feeder to get some bait in, but on my third quick cast I had a bite and was into a decent fish. I was chuffed to net a skimmer of 1 1/2lb to 2lb, a great start. I carried on with some quick casts but was getting quick bites from small roach and perch. After 40 minutes I wanted to try the pole, so in went 8 balls of gbait and caster and I went straight over it looking for an immediate response. A couple of tiny roach then bleak were a real problem, they grabbed everything on both rigs even with the bulk pushed down. I went back on the feeder and bugger me but bleak were grabbing the hookbait when I cast in. I put a whole dendra on and even had a bleak take this. With 2 hours gone I wasn’t going anywhere fast, stacks of small fish smashed into the bait on the feeder and bleak on the pole. I went for a walk, Toby on peg 1 was struggling and had pike trouble, Dave Lewis on 3 had some roach on the pole early, Mike Weston on 4 was getting a bite a chuck on the feeder after catching roach early on the whip, no bleak problems.

Back to my peg and chucked the feeder out again with whole dendra, I rang Rich to see how he was doing, and as I did I had a good bite and another decent skimmer, then a 10oz chublet then a 1lb skimmer all while talking to Rich! I then lost a small skimmer at the net and was now just getting fast bites I could not hit. The pole was tried but still rubbish, so I fed a ball of gbait with worms thinking I might get some skimmers here. Back in the feeder and I had another couple of chublets and 2 hand size skimmers. Tried the pole again just 2 perch, fed another ball. Back on the feeder and a proper bite and bream on! Fifteen seconds later it came off 😫 when I reeled in the worm was in an o shape and had doubled over the hook, gutted.

With an hour to go I tried the pole again, another small perch on the worm so decided to try the pencil float with maggot on the hook. The float settled and went straight under, roach. Next drop roach, and the next…. I had a bite every drop and kept catching roach, but also thought I need to try the feeder again. Well 10 minutes left to go I picked the feeder up and put a worm on again. Lots of taps and jags as before, I left these and then had a pull round and struck on this and had another 1 1/2lb to 2lb skimmer. Missed a bite last cast and match over. I hoped I had 14lb but really wasn’t sure. 

The scales were coming up from peg 10 and when they got to me Nick Coles was top with 14lb 3oz, I was surprised and happy that my fish went 16lb 14oz and was enough to be top weight in the trees.

Here’s the board for the trees, decent weights made up mainly of roach and odd skimmers. No bream caught but 3 were lost.

We had the results at the Swan pub in Swineford, and top angler there was the consistent Warren Bates with 16lb 2oz of roach and 1 bream on the whip from peg 4. Rich had done brilliant again to nick 2nd in section with 12lb 10oz catching roach and perch on the whip till he snapped it late on ooops! I’d won the day which was a bonus, but a great result for us as a pair. Here’s the Swineford board.

Not sure how all the pairs points are, will have to work them out, but Rich and I are now in first place. Two more matches left in the league.

My next match is in two weeks fishing the division 1 national on the Warwickshire Avon, it will be a case of feast or famine, definitely need a good peg!

Darren North Memorial Match Acorn Fishery

In late 2024 Darren North suffered a heart attack and died whilst away fishing in Ireland. It was a big shock to everyone and a sad loss. I’d known Darren from school and for the last 5 years lived a few doors down from him. When Mike Wilson asked me if I’d like to fish his memorial match it was a definite yes. 

I was looking forward to fishing the match and the chance to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. My preference at Acorn is to fish for the silvers as I enjoy busy fishing and don’t have to pull my arms off slaying carp lol. Last time here in June I managed second in the silvers but I struggled to catch, but since then 35lb to 58lb has won the silvers most matches, I just needed a decent peg. I had asked Jamie Rich for a bit of info and he obliged, it was pretty much in line with what I thought so I was well prepared.

After a breakfast roll at H&H I was at the fishery in good time, I already had 2 pints of casters (from not fishing the weekend) and bought 2 pints of maggots from the shop and was served by my old (very old lol) team mate Des Shipp.  Not long after Mike announced match details and we had a minutes silence for Darren, followed by the draw. Jamie said draw 38 or 40 would help, but I drew 18 on the straight hopefully ok.

When I got to my peg I was happy to see I was surrounded by carp anglers 😊 and had the silvers to myself here. To my left on 19 was Lee Waller, on 16 was Graham Smith, Ryan Jordan and Gary Bowden (with new teeth 😬) were also on the straight. Setting up was simple, 3 top sets with two 4x16 with 0.12 accu power to 16 SFLB one for top set plus two sections, and one for 10m (both deep water) and a 4x12 for 3 1/2 feet at 13.5m.

We started at 10 and I fed maggots and casters on my short line and 10m line, then went across and dropped a small ball of gbait and maggots in and started here. I had a couple of liners and then landed a carp… I binned this off straight away! Onto the 10m line and there were lots of fizzes, but for 15 minutes not a bite! Fishing double red maggot on the hook I finally caught an ide, and very gradually started to get bites and topped up with a toss pot of maggots and casters. After the first hour I had 8lb ide , a couple of skimmers and one small tench.

The second hour was more of the same with ide regularly coming to the net, I was up to 20lb by the end of it. The next hour carried on well but the 10m line was now slower, time to rest and look short. It was more ide here plus a skimmer and 2 tench, but it slowed quickly. Back to 10m and more ide had arrived. I carried on catching mainly at 10m till an hour to go, then it slowed up. With 45 mins to go I dropped a couple of balls of F1 gbait with worm and caster to my right at 10m, and as expected this fizzed right up! In my experience at this time of the day it draws carp in as well as silvers, on this occasion I hooked 3 carp here but did get a couple of skimmers and 3 tench one landed in the all out.

I’d had a fantastic day, really busy and had to change a few things up with the feeding to keep bagging. I had clicked exactly 60lb (30 in each net) but wasn’t sure if I had that much as a lot of the ide are 6oz. However, Graham said he thought I had 60lb. Brian Shanks was on peg 10 and had the scales, Lee elected not to weigh in and then my two nets were added up at 66lb 8oz. 

As it turned out I was able to beat the regular silvers slayers here and was well chuffed to win the silvers on this memorial match. Results overall…

1. Brian Shanks          203-12 p10

2. Keith Ray                192-13 p13

3.Matt Vowels            173-04 p6

4. Jeff Grant               172-07 p40

Silvers

1. Tim Ford           66.08 p18

2. Mike Chapman        32.12 p2

Mike Wilson did a really fantastic job and the match raised £450 for the charity, partly in thanks to Darren’s sister who paid the peg fees, she also came to the match and it was nice to talk to her.

It’s Coming Home

 Well things did not go to plan this weekend until the very end.

I was booked in for a match at Lacock on the Avon, but it was cancelled as the club decided with the low river level they did not want fish kept in keepnets. I had ordered bait so decided to use it up on Swineford or Crane on Sunday pleasure fishing and then get back home to watch the Women’s Euro Final.

Sadly on Saturday my wife Wendy got a call to say her grandfather had fallen and hurt his head but was refusing to go to hospital. Long story short, we drove to Lymington and took him to hospital in Southampton. Got home 02:30 and then drove back to Southampton Sunday. He’s settled down in hospital now and fingers crossed for a good recovery.

Never even thought about fishing.

Got home after listening to the football on the car radio just in time to watch the penalties. Well after a tough weekend England back to back Euro champions was a great tonic.

Well done ladies absolutely brilliant team!

Pairs League - Newbridge

No blog posts from me for a while as I’ve been really busy with other social events. This meant I was not able to fish the first two rounds of this league and I was indebted to Shaun Townsend and Rich Whitmarsh covering for me and keeping me and my partner Rich Lacey in contention. After two rounds Jerry Pocock and Nic Coles were clear leaders. 

My preparation for this match was a bit short and being at Warren Bates stag do was probably not the best preparation… 🤣 but it was a cracking day out 🍻

Got to the river before the 7:30 draw time, then realised I’d left my 2 litres of squash at home, definitely was going to miss that! Unfortunately more boaters had decided to moor up illegally and pegs 16 and 18 were unfishable.

Rich did the draw for us as I was still loading my trolley, I fancied A1 to A3 for a good days fishing. Rich drew be B8 so a long walk for me to permanent peg 59, a very deep peg that is a good bream peg, but the bream aren’t feeding at the mo. Rich was on A5 permanent 30, and not the best we thought.

Setting up on 59 I put a groundbait feeder up first, 14 to 0.15, groundbait was Thatchers green. A waggler was put up but as I only caught 2 bleak on it it’s not getting a mention. A 2g pole rig with 20 to 0.10 and a 3G with 16 to 0.13 for fishing worm. My plan was to loose feed the pole line today, and I did this from the start feeding maggots and hemp (couldn’t feed casters as I only had a pint due to the maggot shortage). I started the match on the feeder hoping for a lucky bream, but after 45 minutes I just had 2 roach and a perch.  Onto the pole and I had 2 perch and a roach, I was properly struggling.

After 90 minutes I called Dean Harvey who was below me on the Norfolk Reeds peg. He was doing well having had a 6lb+ bream and lots of perch on the feeder.  I needed to get some bites, so I decided to put more worm in on the feeder line and now feed worms on the pole line.  This did improve things in that on the feeder I had a some small perch, a 6oz skimmer and two chublets. The pole worm line gave up some small perch which petered out.

I spent the last hour on the feeder hoping for a bream, but it never came but I added a few more small roach and perch.

I thought I had just over 4lb, and was not expecting to do well. Toby on the end peg had 9lb 10oz of mainly roach on the pole, then Dean had 15lb 1oz. He caught on the crowquill for the last 3 hours, and had tons of bites he said. 

My net went 5lb 1oz so a right battering of Dean.

There were it seemed pockets of fish and only 1 other bream was caught in the section by Mike Weston. As you can see from the board I got 5 points and was the best of the worst weights, definitely needed a bream or 2 to get good points.

Down in A section Lee Warden had a good day catching on a 6m whip and long rod to catch 14lb 13oz of roach and chublets. Rich did brilliant to get 8lb 5oz and 8 points.

Dean won the match and with his partner Derek coming second in his section they smashed the day and as a result are now leading the pairs league with 39 points. In second with 38 points is myself and Rich, then Jerry and Nic have 36 1/2 points after blowing out today. With 3 matches to go though it’s really close with most pairs having 30 points plus. The next round is in 2 weeks, 1 section at the trees at Saltford and 1 at Swineford.

Back on the River

Not had a chance to get on the river so I became a member of Ridgeway and booked in for their Sunday match at Swineford. I walked this match last year and it fished well with lots of chublets, chub and some bream.

The draw was 8:30 by the outfall, and big thanks go to Ridgeway legend Steve Dumbleton who runs the club, matches and had organised swim clearing on the Friday. My first duties were to explain to some Eastern European anglers that they could not fish here. Eventually the penny dropped and they headed off elsewhere. 

11 fishing today and I fancied drawing any of the last 5  pegs. Well as per my current draws I avoided them, I pulled a choice, 1 or 3. Well it was 3 for me, a steep peg but I hoped not a bleak fest like peg 1 would be.

I was surprised at how little flow there was, but then again I guess it’s been dry for ages. What flow there was was between 6m and 16m, and it varies and changes during the day. Past this the river was on its head. Set up a 6m whip with 3G rig 16 N10 to 0.12, a 3G bolo and a gbait feeder.  I mixed up some Sonubaits black roach and black river for the whip, and usual sweet skimmer and Thatchers for the feeder.

I had 10 chucks on the feeder and a quick look for just rattlers. Onto the whip where I was feeding the odd small ball of my gbait with casters and hemp. First swing in and caught in a tree… got the rig back but had to snap the line, it was turned into a 5m rig, no more tree problems after this. I started with caster on the hook, and it wasn’t long before I was getting hold ups from bleak and after a while the bulk was moved down and I had a no6, no 8 and no 10 next to the hook length. First hour was ok, maybe 2lb, bleak, dace, a roach and a perch. 

The second and third hours were better, more dace, but had to switch from caster to maggots on the hook. A few more roach and perch were also welcome. Ali Gibbs on peg 4 and Craig Pinker on peg 2 both said they were struggling and getting bleaker out.

Bites dried up other than bleak so I introduced some chopped worms in the gbait, this got me a few more perch and then I hooked what was probably a chub that took off at a rate of knots and snapped me. After this it was a struggle, the feeder line was dead other than bits and the whip and bolo was just odd bleak. My match ended quietly and I thought I had 7 to 8lb, word was everyone had struggled. 

The scales came down from peg 12, John (forgot his surname 🙈) was top with 8lb 12, and Matt Challenger had a little less. Ali had 4lb then my fish went 9lb 8oz, with Craig also having 4lb that meant I was top on the day. 

A lot tougher day than I expected, and had the bigger fish fed I would have been way down, but I got lucky today and enjoyed my day on the whip. Nice to be back on the river, but I’m now not fishing for a couple of weeks due to other activities. Hopefully so meaningful rain falls to improve the flow.

Viaduct Holiday

Another year another week at Viaduct Fishery with good mates.. fishing, beer and great banter what’s not to like. There was 11 of us this year, in one lodge was Martin Rayet, Gordon Cannings, Tony Witcombe, Mark Tanner and Hayden Withers. In my lodge was Glenn Bailey, Mike Nicholls, Geoff Francis, Gary Bowden and chief organiser Martyn Woodington. Due to the PVA bags on the lead dominating the carp fishing and it not being something I want to do I had decided to go all out for silvers, unless I drew a peg solid with carp. The silvers were coming out in the middle of the lake on Campbell so that’s where I needed to draw.

Saturday and Campbell open, met up with the lodge mates and got into the draw queue. I was a bit gutted when I drew out corner peg 132, but you never know so I was still going for silvers. My approach was same as my previous two opens here, gbait, casters, maggots and micro pellets. It’s a shallow peg here so 4x12 rigs with 16 SFLB to 0.12 fluorocarbon would do. I set up a carp rig for the end bank in case I needed to go for the section. I did get amongst the skimmers to start, steady and odd fish, but then it died. I had a look for carp but there was a nasty bramble under the water that messed that up and I gave that up. I ended with 25lb I think of skimmers for no good. Bit of a heavy night on the beer, I blame Gary Bowden for his bottle of rum 🙈🤣

Sunday open on Campbell and after a breakfast bap made by top man Geoff Francis I was soon drawing a peg from the coffee tin. No middle peg for me again, 121 on the top bank. The local silvers slayers said it hasn’t been great. Same approach but a 4x14 for out at 6m and 11m, and 4x12 for margins where I would feed caster. After a slow start when I hooked 2 carp my 6m line came to life and I had a nice run of skimmers here, but soon it died. Nigel Bartlett on 119 was getting odd skimmers but like me not bagging. My margins were poor for silvers and hooked a couple of carp. I went out to 11m for a few more skimmers but then it all died and I only caught a few late skimmers. I weighed 34lb of silvers which tied with Nige for nothing lol. Martin Reyat won the silvers with 53lb from 125. Tony Wittcomb won the match with 135lb on the teabag. Lovely curry on the night.

Monday was a teams match on Lodge. A bit of fun and banter, with random team selection. My team was Gary, Mike and Mark. I was on 66 a corner peg and can be very good. When I got to the peg was a bit gutted to see a pleasure angler on Carey had set up base camp right on top of the bank by my margin. Suffice to say my close margin never produced a fish. I set up to the fish paste at 11m and margin rigs for meat to my right by the tree and to my left by spiky grass. The paste started ok for me and had a few carp which was better than Glenn on 64, but Tony on 68 was flying! Eventually the paste died for me and Tony, and most were struggling unless they could catch in margins. Mike on 71 was bagging apparently and as my LH margin was messed up I went long down by the trees. I had a few carp but they didn’t stay and it died. I ended up getting an odd carp by the tree on meat, but was getting battered by Tony who was catching carp and ducks.

Tony won with 180lb and Mike was second with 177lb (chucked back some skimmers to have another net). Tony’s team won as well and mine were second so well done chaps. 

Tuesday open on Campbell… and I was gutted when I pulled 121 again! 

Short story, after 2 hours I had 1 skimmer and with Nige Easton and Rob Eagle bagging I was never going to get in the money. The lake was fishing hard and I thought I would go for the section money, so I got off my box and knocked up some paste and got a paste rig out. In an hour I had 4 carp and was amazed, but it soon slowed up as I then fouled too many. A look long in my left margin on corn produced a few skimmers and a 16lb carp. I ended up with 64lb and that was just enough to win the section and get a pick up. Howard Webb won with 92lb on the tea bag, Nige Easton had 48lb of silvers on 115. Quite a few beers and a takeaway I think.

Wednesday was an away day at Acorn fishery where I was definitely fishing for silvers. Lots of ide in here now and I planned to fish for them to start across in 3 feet of water. Balls… I drew peg 12 which is 17m wide and the only peg I could not fish across for ide!!! However, I drew this peg on the same match last year and had a lot of tench so was going to have to catch them and skimmers. 4x16 float, 0.13 to 16 GPM for 8m and top set plus one. I fed maggots as this was the way everyone has been catching. Well after an hour I was still waiting for a bloody bite! Martin Rayet on peg 13 was still waiting for a carp but a few silvers, Glenn on 10 was struggling, but pegs 1 to 5 were bagging. My maggot attack was not working, so I switched the long line to gbait caster and worm, this eventually got a few fizzes and signs of fish in the peg. It wasn’t easy but I had the odd skimmer, ide and small tench to end up with 23lb. That was enough to get me second in the silvers with Paul Faires winning with 29lb from peg 6. Gary Bowden won overall from peg 1 with 178lb beating Woody on peg 5 who had 135lb. We ate well in the Brent Knoll carvery later!

Thursday cost cutter open on Campell and I was chuffed to draw 126 which should be good for silvers, but had retired carp angler Martin Reyat on 125 also fishing for silvers and Mike Nicholls in 127 fishing for silvers. Carp were spawning in our margins today after the previous hot days. However, today heavy rain was forecast and it did arrive for a few hours. I stuck to my guns on gbait caster etc, and I was amazed to see fizzing on my top set plus 3 sections line to left and to right by a willow. Only trouble was I couldn’t hardly get a bite!!! It was frustrating as hell, Mike was struggling too, but Martin went down his margin and started to catch. I had fed caster to my left and corn and micro to my right. After a while I started to get a few but only on the corn, but I was always behind Martin. My last hour or so was poor but I did land a last cast carp of just under 15lb on my silvers rig which was nice. Martin had fished a brilliant match to win the silvers with 63lb, I had 43lb and Mike 31lb. I missed out on a pick

up as 46lb was needed, I should have had that. Tony won the match with 126lb on the teabag.

Well the fishing was hard this year, and I’m glad I went for silvers as I enjoyed that. But the teabag has dominated again, and it’s a bit tedious just fishing Campbell as a result. So we’ve all decided that as much as we love Viaduct and Somerton it’s off to pastures new next year. Our thanks to Steve, Helen and Matt for putting up with us for 12+ years and all the good memories, but it’s time for a change.