Acorn Series, 5th Round, 2nd June 2018

Another attempt to get something out of this series came and went on Saturday, I had the wife in tow for this, well she could try and catch the sun, but like my fishing at the moment she catches a little but not enough to feel satisfied with the attempt.

Arriving early, nets dipped and a bit of a chat, more so a few were asking me what dross I was going to pull out today? I mentioned I have never been on a peg from 12 to 21. The replies were along the lines of 'well 19 is the worst peg on the venue', '17 isn't great but 19....well' or 'just go home'. Indeed once the draw got under way Matt Williams drew peg 40, which has been pants for a while now, paid his pools and set off homewards.
I drew and there were sighs of relief as peg 19 sat in my mitt. Lovely....Not.!! Anyways I stayed and made my way round to the peg, I had Rich Lovering on peg 17 and Lance Tucker on bridge peg 21 as my neighbours.
The water looked ok really, a few fish kicking around but there was some surface scum which was slowly drifting towards the bridge to my left. Pegs 24 round to 28 had plenty of the crap and the carp seemed to be plentiful down there.

3 rigs only as I couldn't be arsed to set up more. A shallow rig for banded pellet, this would do also for a foot off the far bank and for tight in to my near bank in around 12 inches of water at the most.
A rig for topkit left and right in the 10 and 1 o'clock directions (maggot, micro/expander areas) and lastly a rig for at the bottom of the near shelf just off the empty pallet of peg 20 where corn would be fed with a few pellets.
Bait was 6mm, 4mm and a few micros, a couple pints of live maggots and some corn. I also had a handful of expanders and some groundbait.

Peg 19 at Acorn

The all in was called and I had a 6oz carp right away on banded 6mm across, then a couple foul hookers lost then a 2.5lb fish was netted. A nice first 30 minutes. Nobody except Brian Slipper on peg 22 was getting much in my section.
The next hour only gave me a couple little f1s and roach. But we were all struggling, so I started to feed a few 4mm pellets at 2+2 in front in the remote hope that the carp may come there and shallow.
A couple more fish from across in 4 inches of water where I had seen plenty moving but were really uncatchable as most of them tended to be more out of the water than in. Not helped by the fact I went against my plan to feed via toss pot only and fed with a catty spreading bait and having too many fish all over the area. Numpty.

It was now the half way stage and to be fair I was doing well in my section, possibly only behind Brian on peg 22. Rich had a couple little carp, Gabe on the consistent peg 15 was struggling and it seemed the same down to my left.
I had started to get some fizzing shallow and some fish had started to come down my edges, so things were looking up. I dropped in the left edge and had a 3lber right away, then another from the right. I then went out in front shallow and missed a couple bites but picked up half a dozen fish to 8lb+ over the next hour and it was going well and I was happy. I even mugged 2 or 3 as they cruised out of the left margin.

Suddenly the wind changed and the scum on my side of the bridge (in peg 21, Lance's peg) started to drift to my right. My fizzing stopped and I never saw a fish down my edges, this all happened in 10 minutes, it was bizarre. Meanwhile Rich had one or 2 shallow but then got them taking paste and were a decent stamp. Gabe was flying along and was pushing on to 80lb. Lance also was getting one a bung on worms about a meter off the near bank.

The last 2hrs was pure boredom, while the guys around me were regularly getting fish, Gabe pushed on to my estimate of 100lb, Rich and Lance clawing my lead back and even those down on 24 and 26 were getting some fish. So from 1st or 2nd in section at the 4hr stage I was getting wound in and overtaken. I spent most of the last couple hours chasing shallow fish and fish in the super shallow water across, I managed 1 carp in this period and lost a couple foul hookers.
At the all out I felt like I had cocked thing up by not setting up a rig for banded pellet on the deck (I never had any paste) over the shallow line.
I said to Rich he was around 4lb ahead of me thanks to his last 90 minute spell of lumpier fish. Gabe would have 100lb and Lance not far off 70lb (he only had 10lb or so with 90 mins to go).
Further down I was sure they had all beaten me. Ho Hum.

I packed up and waited for the weigh in, had a chat with a few guys before the scales got to Gabe. He had 100lb 6oz, Rich had 61lb+, I had 57lb and Lance 67lb. Brian 80lb, Ken Rayner had loads of small carp for 40lb before Mark Thorne put 61lb+ on the scales (*weights may be slightly wrong as going by memory). This gave me 2nd last in section in a very tight section. But a few said my weight was good from the peg, so not a bad day I suppose.
The match was won with 150lb+ from peg 3, Barry Richards I think.

I know my lack of effort maybe cost me a few fish, would I have had 100lb to win the section if I had changed or tried something else? I don't think I would have, but perhaps 75/80lb may have been possibly. But that is hindsight, maybe I got lucky with that spell of edge/shallow fish?
Only 1 round to go, in July, can I draw a cracker? peg 1 hasn't been great....!!

Next up I am Viaduct for Mike Nicholl's 13m pole match on Campbell and then Sunday Landsend for round 2 of the Float only series.

Until then, take care and stay safe.
Lee

Acorn and Summerhayes, 19th and 20th May 2018

I will start with Saturday's blog, well, little write up. Started like normal with an early arrival and a walk around the lakes plus a natter with a few guys before the draw. Well I picked peg 22, the left hand side of the back bank bridge. Reasonably happy I guess. But it hasn't been great in this series.

Got to my peg and plenty of scum on the water and a few fish present so things looked optimistic.
3 rigs, 2 for shallow (band and no band) using DT pingers and one for on the deck in a couple areas of my peg in the deeper water.
It didn't take long to set up as my shallow rigs were already on the topkits. I had micros, expanders and 6mm pellets on the side tray plus some corn, casters and groundbait.
I had Mark Bromsgrove down to my left and Lewis Walker to my right on the other side of the bridge.

Peg 22 Acorn

Before the all in the wind picked up and my scum started to drift away to my left and the fish that were present seemed to follow, bugger. I hardly saw a fish in my peg for the most of the day and despite my efforts I never had a fish shallow and not a fish landed (did foul hook a couple) from the far side.
It was actually almost 4hrs into the match that I had my 1st carp over 6oz, that came down the edge to my left where the carp had only just started to come in but were spooky.
I had 2 from the deep water on expander and a couple more from the edge in the last half hour.
It was a dull day and it would have been a DNW could I have got my car out sensibly without causing hassle. During the match, Lewis had struggled to his last 2hrs and his neighbour, Bob Gullick similarly. Mark on peg 24 had caught most of the day from his peg with just the odd quiet spell.

Really it was only Paul Nichols on peg 5 who caught all day and won with 160lb+.
My weight was last in section but not last in weight on the day, 21lb something was my total, there was also 4 dnw's including Gabe on peg 40 where I never bothered to weigh in the last round.

2 more rounds to go, so again fingers crossed that I have a few fish to catch in at least one of those matches.

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Sunday saw me head to Summerhayes, Pawlett did have a match on the 2 canals at Shiplate but expected almost every peg to be in and a struggle for most given the pressure and the warm conditions so I never booked in. Alas peg 1 on Westpool won the match, Mike Davis with 135lb, Nick Selway was 2nd with 85lb from peg 6 on the same, then it dropped off I believe.

Anyways back to Summerhayes, 13 or so fishing so after a cuppa and a chat the draw was made, only 2 balls left in the basket, one for me and one for Jamie Rich who was fresh from his 3 weeks in Thailand....but he wasn't tanned....hmmmm!! I told him to give a ball to me, I had peg 20, he had peg 17 so both reasonably happy. For company I had Roy Hughes on the flyer of an end peg (p23) with the wind pushing in there and on my left I had a guy called Steve on peg 18. Chris Boulton had turned up to fish and drew peg 2, I really fancied that peg to win and told him so, it looked full of fish and is a pretty decent peg at any time.

Peg 20 Sellicks, Summerhayes

No rigs for silvers in this match, so my casters stayed in the bag and I didn't even bring any groundbait, I needed to catch a few carp just to convince myself I can occasionally do that.
My rigs were a couple shallow rigs, well the same 2 shallow rigs as Saturday, the banded one would do for tight over to the island at 13m and the un-banded one for down my left margin.
Lastly I had a meat rig for 2+2 off to my left, this rig was also used at the same distance feeding and using 6mm expander pellets, sort of a half hearted attempt incase the skimmers arrived.
My usual floats of DT Pingers for the shallow rigs and an RBS Margin for the meat rig.
My baits were meat, expander and 6mm pellets and some hemp. I also had some dead maggots to get rid of.

At the all in I started short for 15 minutes after depositing a full cup of hemp and meat off to my left and half a pot of expanders in front.
I only a liner to show over the meat line so I went across and was pleased to have a spurt of 8 or 9 carp in the next hour, but the problem was they were only little 1lb fish, or that is what I clicked. Roy was getting better fish on his paste rig and Jamie Rich was targeting silvers as usual and was getting one or 2 small fish.
Steve had started slowly and had a skimmer and 1 or 2 carp.
Things then began to get funny as the day got warmer the fish began to be a pain and whatever I tried to do I couldn't get them to settle and was suffering foul hookers and line bites. I did mug a couple, but even that was hard work.
I gave the far side a rest and tried the expander and never had a bite, I tried the meat line, I never had a bite, then the edge to my left, no bites....hmmm. I spent the next 90 minutes to 2 hrs trying to get a few fish in the net, but failed.
Steve was now down his left edge and was getting reasonable action from the carp and had also had a 2lb+ eel. Roy was still catching a few but missing lots of bites. He also been broken on a fish and last the elastic and rig.

With 2.5hrs to go I had just about double figures showing on my clicker and was beginning to think about spending a couple hours fishing caster, but I couldn't be arsed to get off my box.
Luckily I managed a run of fish shallow across, I had 8 or 9 more between 1 and 3lb which moved me up to around 30lb. Then I had a fish down my left edge which went under the empty pallet and out between the from legs of it, half expected the rig to snap I held my pole still and the fish waddled back and I duly netted it, lucky there.
I then tried back across but things were quiet so I gambled on my meat line, upping the feed a bit. This seemed to work as another spurt of fish, which were a little bigger on average made their way to the keepnets. I had been clicking then as 2 and 3lb but was unsure as it seemed a few felt heavier than their size, spawn methinks. So when my 1st net reached 40lb I started to use my 2nd net which coincided with the last hour or so.
Staying on the meat I began to foul hook a few in amongst the ones landed so I picked the margin rig and tried it over that line and the elastic was ripped out, ah shallow fish, but then I had ripple which obviously had helped as when it went flat calm I could only catch on the deck, once the ripple returned I caught shallow.
I also managed a couple fish from the edge but that was only as a rest from the 'catching' line..
I had also tried the expander line, one carp from there only. But I also tried expander shallow when I was missing bites on meat, this proved ok.

So the last hour was spent over the meat line up and down in the water and swapping between meat and expander on the hook and feeding a little every few seconds. I managed, I think, 10 carp in this time and my clicker showed 26lb, I had been clicking mostly 2lb for these fish. I was actually enjoying myself as the all out was called. My clickers showed 66lb though I did expect it to be a touch more.
Roy and Steve had beaten me I though and Adie said Chris on peg 2 had done really well.

I packed up and waited for the scales to arrive. I caught up with them at Jim Jenner who had been catching well down his edges and he put 91lb on the board which was the 3rd best weight to this point. Chris Boulton had 141lb from peg 2 and Mark Lehay 95lb from peg 4.
Wayne Michael had 26lb from peg 15 before Jamie Rich had 11lb 2oz of silvers, he guessed he had 7lb. You can read his blog here....
Steve was next on peg 18 and he totalled out at 89lb 14oz, I was sure I never had that. Certain. Well my 1st net (the 5hr 40lb one) weighed 66lb and ounces, while my last hour net (26lb clicked) topped 52lb. My total gave me 111lb 4oz. I was slightly embarrassed and felt like a tit to be fair. Those fish must have weighed 1lb or so heavier each than I thought.
Next up was Roy, now I was sure he had more than me as at times he was getting 3 to my 1. But he totalled 103lb 5oz which surprised me. That put me 2nd on the day and a bit of money for my efforts.
Next time I visit I may well fish for the carp....just for a change methinks.

Results:
1st - peg 2, Chris Boulton. 141lb 14oz
2nd - peg 20, Lee Williams. 111lb 4oz
3rd - peg 23, Roy Hughes. 103lb 5oz

1st Silvers - peg 17, Jamie Rich. 11lb 2oz
2nd Silvers - peg 7, Rob Birch. 6lb 11oz

Weights....

So it was nice to get a few on the meat and I learnt a couple things going forward, which is what I try to take each time I go.
Next up is Sunday at Viaduct I believe for the 1st round of Tony's Float Only Series which I got on thanks to Steve Tucker.

Until then, take care.
Lee

Acorn and Avalon.... 5th and 6th May 2018

So this last weekend......not much to write home about really, the Saturday saw me back up at Acorn for the 3rd round of the Saturday Series, which I have no chance of framing after two second last in sections. The weather was baking, which was nice.

I arrived in loads of time, dipped nets etc and then got into the draw, I pulled out peg 40, which I have had a few times, but I was neither happy or sad with this draw, I thought I would get a few but with the weather now rather hot the fishies may have other plans. Well the silvers were spawning.

Peg 40, Paddock Lake, Acorn

I set up the usual array of rigs and set about trying to catch a few, I did hope for a few shallow on casters, but other than a single roach I never had a bite on that, I also had nothing down either edge I did have about 10lb of silvers down the middle on caster on the deck. I had to wait nearly 4 hours for my 1st carp, on 6mm pellets right across, I had 3 in quick time and fouled a couple, but it died a death (not that it actually been alive), and with Matt Roden on p38 and Tom Thick (covering for Bobby G) on peg 33 (?) by the bridge doing really well (Tom won the day with just shy of 195lb) I packed up with at least 90 minutes to spare and decided that the sofa would be a better place to be.

I don't know the full results but Tom Thick won and Gabe Skarba was on peg 3 had a run of margin fish and I think he was 2nd on the day.
Back again in a couple weeks for round 4, hoping to at least draw on some fish then.....

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Sunday saw 33 of us on the banks of Avalon, I haven't fished there for probably 16 months at least.
A bit of banter, pools paid, another baking hot day and a re-draw....1st time I had p29, 2nd time I was on 19. Another vanilla peg and I wasn't really happy with it as I was wanting to fish for silvers and would have liked somewhere between 6 and 13 perhaps or from 27 to 36. But you can never be sure of where the framers will come from on this lake which is great.

Avalon peg 19

Off to my peg and I had on flyer peg 20, Steve Fouracre, he should be good for a few fish to the 'semi-gap' in the island (top left of my photo), he had his brother Eric next to him on 21. I had Lewis Hembury and Rob Dodd to my right.
I set up a few bits and bobs, a shallow waggler and a small feeder which I couldn't get onto the shelf due to island foliage, but worth having set up.
A depth pellet rig using a 0.8g DT RBS float this was for 16m in front, also a DT Pinger for shallow pellets over the same spot.
A silvers rig for 13, slightly left using various baits over groundbait, but had nowt here so nothing more on that.
I also set up a meat rig for just off empty peg 18, but never had a bite there either.

On the all in I fed the spots and started on the waggler, no bites for 20 minutes then I snagged up and lost the lot......chucked the feeder out while I re-set up the float. 10 minutes later I had a small pull on the feeder and a 2.5lb carp was soon in my keepnet, that was my only bite on the feeder all day, but then I did lose the whole lot and couldn't be arsed to re-tackle that. I also lost another waggler set up to the squirrels....but I did assemble that again.

So fast forward a couple hours and my keepnet consisted of 1 carp and a single roach which took a 6mm pellet shallow. Steve had maybe 60lb but from what I could see it wasn't prolific.
I soon managed to mug a nice 5lb ghostie on the waggler and then a 8lb common was mugged on the pole.
I lost a couple more fish, one hooked while fishing shallow with feed, the 2nd was a proper decent fish that acted like a dolphin as it made it's bid for freedom, which I gained along with a float etc.....

I could go on with how I managed to bang out a dozen more 8lb fish, but it would be a lie. I did manage to mug a few more, ended with 7 in total I think, on both the pole and waggler and I actually wished the match finished 20 minutes later than it did as I could see the carp better and they were actually coming in close enough to target them. I actually shallowed up my 0.8g depth rig to give me an extra 4.5ft of line so I could reach further out, this defo helped me once or twice.
At the end of the match Steve had around 86lb (I was clicking his fish to occupy me), Eric had around 50lb I guessed while Lewis had 5 carp including a lump that took him an age to get in and weighed over 16lb, Rob had 10lb of silvers and a couple carp.
Across the other side Mark Sweeting on peg 30 had done really well and Steve said he had more that him, I couldn't see Mark, but could hear the splashing of fish being netted. A few others said they had caught ok but Ziggy had 100lb+.
The silvers hadn't fed at my end, Eric had 1 tench on the tip and bumped a couple small skimmers on the pole, I had 1 skimmer shallow foul hooked and 1 roach.

The weigh in was well under way and I was rather warm, there was a fair few reddened bodies.
I had all packed up when I caught up with the scales, my clicker showed 34lb but I did not click at least my last fish, maybe my last 2. Both were pushing 10lb each.
A look at the sheet saw Ziggy on 100lb+ and Mark had 98lb and there was a couple 30s and Vic had 59lb.
I saw Mark Bellringer put 60lb on the scales from p22, Eric then had 49lb. Steve's total was 88lb 5oz, so I clicked well....haha. Next was me and it actually took 2 weighs and my 1-11 of silvers plus carp gave me a surprising 57lb 3oz.
Lewis had 46lb and then we had Shawn Kittridge have mid 40's, Keith Clapp a 71lb+ net from peg 7.  Jamie Cook was his accurate self with his guess and was less than 2lb out with his total and he had 79lb
Pierce had 17lb of silvers to take that money. Chris Higgs had 60-something.

So despite it not being a great day the chance to mug a few fish was ok, but the fish were defo easier to spot further out and closer to the other bank for sure. They didn't seem intent on heading to our side. But Sunday was a good day locally for mugging fish....look at Viaduct's weights...200lb was 6th and nearly 400lb needed to win both Sunday and Monday's matches, the best weights were mostly mugged fish. Some good mugging was had at Todber as well.

Results:
1st, Ziggy Slowinski, 104-08 from end peg 44 on pellet waggler
2nd, Mark Sweeting, pellet waggler from peg 30
3rd, Steve Fouracre, mostly feeder caught from peg 20
Silvers
1st, Pierce Furlong, short pole skimmer and decent bream, peg 5.

Weigh Sheets

Next up for me is Sunday at Todber as cover for Emma Drysdale in the Short Pole Series of Tony Rixon's. Fingers crossed for a few bites. As for Saturday....we shall see, but prob family day.

Until then, enjoy the rest of the week.
Lee

Acorn Series, 2nd round, 21-04-18

The second match in this series and after my 2nd last in section in the 1st match I needed a 1st or 2nd in section to at least keep a bit of hope going forward.
Arrived in plenty of time with the wife in tow, had my lunch, a 3 quid Tesco meal deal, and nattered to Matt Williams before I realised the draw was under way and with only 3 balls left in the bag when I told to the missus to pick mine, well her hand is as consistent as mine with peg 28 my home for the day. Certainly not a peg anyone would pick any of the time, so I figured it was series over as I was in with 3 bridge pegs and some other decent pegs. But I had to give it a go.

Peg 28, Acorn Paddock.

The weather was meant to give us a dry day, which was not the case as after an hour the rain came and stayed for an hour-ish, then as we packed up it was trying to return along with it's mates Thunder and Lightning.
On setting up the lake was calm and my peg had plenty of fish present, which raised my hopes.
I assembled 5 rigs on my fave DT Floats patterns, pingers and RBS open water floats.
But I only caught on 2 rigs all day, a shallow pellet rig which was set up for across where the bank looked to have collapsed, but luckily it plumbed up ok if a little too shallow.
The 2nd rig was identical but with a bare hook for maggots or corn, I couldn't get a fish down to either empty pegs or down the track throughout the day.
I had a pint of caster, 3 of maggots and some 4mm and 6mm pellets, oh and a few expanders and some corn.

The match began and it started well as I toss potted 4's over my banded 6mm pellet across to the far bank, 6 small carp in the first hour, 12lb on the clicker, but a nice start.....and that's how it stayed for the best part of the next 2.5hrs, only 1 foul hookier lost. Matt Roden around on peg 31 was doing ok after a quieter 1st hour and was well ahead of me, while Paul Nichols and Brian Slipper arounf to my right on pegs 24 and 26 were doing ok but were not in my section.
The wind had got up and was blowing away from me to the other end of the lake, possibly taking a lot of the fish with it.

I tried various things, even fishing for silvers, which I never even had 1 of all match.
A couple hours to go and I started getting a few more bites across and would find me getting 2 carp, not of any sensible size though, then nothing for a spell before a couple more fish and another quiet spell.
I decided to shallow up my bare hook shallow rig to the 4" hooklength plus float depth and try and mug a few, but as it turned out I managed a spurt of 3 landed and 1 lost carp tight in to the near bank at top kit distance.

In to the last hour and my bites had dried up again, only adding 1 carp during this spell as the cloud moved in.
My clicker showed 45lb in 1 net and a single 2lber in the second which went back into the 1st net. I was looking at last in section, unsurprisingly. I could see Matt had more, I guessed 70lb and the 2 bridge pegs had more and I expected the car park pegs 36, 38 and 40 to have done miles better.

With the car loaded it was a long wait for the scales, so a bit of a chat to some guys and I also listened to the closing stages of the footy as Man Utd beat Spurs to get to the FA Cup final.
Anyways when the scales got to me I reckoned on 40-something pound, but surprisingly I had 57-14 which even more surprisingly beat 1 in the section. So another 2 points and series over.

Maybe I will draw a decent peg in the series going forward as the match gave a few 100lb+ nets to 150-something being the top 2 weights on the day.
Barry Richards beat Bob Gullick in my section with 132lb to 128lb from pegs 38 and 40.
Rich Lovering won the day with 154lb from peg 6, Kev Perry had 151lb from peg 11.

Next up for me was the Apex match today (22-4-18).
Until then, take care.
Lee

Acorn Spring Series, Round 1, 7-4-18

I was looking forward to this match as I do like Acorn, but it can be patchy at times at the moment with weights all over the place it is hard to put a figure on the winning or framing weights, but like we do, I did, I reckoned around 120lb to win and 80ish would be in the top 4. But then I wouldn't have been shocked if 50lb won, lol.

Me and the wife travelled up with plenty of time so got some grub in Tescos as it was an 11am draw and fish 12:15 til 18:15. When we got to the lake there were plenty of peeps already there and discussing various things, I just dipped my nets and went for a walk around the lake, plenty of fish showing in areas but a few areas seemed barren in comparison. Peg 6 caught my eye as the breeze was pushing in to that area and the peg has plenty of features and options.
There are not many pegs considered 'bad' on the lake but there are always preferred areas, 1-6, 9 and the bridge pegs usually. But the pegs between 14 and 18 have been consistent recently.

I paid my dues and the draw was soon under way, 21 fishing, 3 sections of 7 pegged in number order this year rather than split them up. I delved in towards the back, as usual, and pulled peg 11. I was happy enough with that, but someone commented prior to the match that although good at times it isn't really a peg for 'now'. Indeed Paul Nichols said the same after the match, it is great when it is really cold and similar it can be great when warm and the fish are shallow/edge dwelling.

Either way I went about my business, 5 top kits were made up.
2 shallow using DT Pingers, one with a band and one without, these would cover across to the island and really tight in to my left.
2 depth rigs were put together, DT RBS open water floats in 0.4g, again one for banded pellet, the 2nd with a standard hook. These covered a few spots all over the peg should I need that option.
Lastly a 'deep edge' rig of 3ft or so, which I could only find in one sensible and sizeable spot down to my left, across plumbed up not so great as it went really shallow to a little too deep then full depth in a very small area.
Bait tray consisted of micros, 4mm and 6mm pellets and a few pints of maggots, oh some expanders were there too. I mixed a little groundbait should it be needed, it wasn't, or rather it didn't make a blinding bit of difference during the day.

Acorn peg 11

At the all in the water was calm in front of me and the breeze was noticeable down to my right in peg 6 and 5 where Bob Gullick and Ken Rayner were respectively. A few fish were moving in my peg but in a way that didn't convince me I would catch. But I sure would try.
I cupped some bait down in the 3ft spot to my left and some maggots at 2+3 in the 2 o'clock direction. Some micro and 4's at the same distance in front.
I began by toss potting tight across but other than a few liners and a couple lost foul hookers it wasn't productive.
I had my 1st fish after 30 minutes, a small 1lb stockie, another soon followed then it went dead. Vince Shipp on peg 9 was struggling as was Darren Wilton on peg 13.
That was my action for a few hours, all the while I could watch Ken Rayner, Bob G and Paul Nichols who was around peg 17 catching well. Bob had 60lb in the first 2hrs.

After 3hrs and just the odd small roach and another 1lb stockie and attempts to catch a few carp I decided to drop in on the topkit just to see what was there, more out of boredom than the fact there were a few bubbles present. Well 1st drop I had a fish, my largest at around 6lb or so and was my only fish from that spot, I did foul hook a couple there but I think I got lucky to catch one.
A look on maggots down to the left saw a few roach and a chublet before a clonking roach of 2lb-ish was netted, a beauty of a fish. But silvers was not what I wanted, in hindsight I should have fished for them because Vince swapped to maggots from pellets and ended up catching plenty of silvers and a few carp in the last couple hours.

With an hour to go I opened a spot right down to my left nearly under some trees and after feeding it I left it for 10 minutes or so, but when I went on it I had a 4lber right away, again my hopes raised but this was yet another solitary fish.
Darren on peg 13 was getting the odd fish down to the empty pallet of peg 12, but not exactly getting lots of action but a fish on the whistle I was sure put me down to last in the section as pegs 1 to 6 had all done well and Vince on 9 had a cracking last 2 hours.

The all-out sounded and the car was loaded in rapid time while we waited for the scales.
Once they arrived I saw that 1 to 5 all had between 55lb and 99lb and I knew Bob and Vince had more than me. Darren had 20lb and I was not sure I had that, but luckily my 5 or 6 carp and few pounds of silvers gave me 25lb and 6th not 7th in section. Vince had 47lb and Bob won the match with around 130lb from peg 6. I don't think I was getting 90lb to finish in the top 3 in section for sure.

So it is on to the next round in a couple of weeks where I need a run of top 2 in sections for the last 5 matches.....as no doubt that this 2dt round was my dropper.

Until next time, have fun.
Lee

Acorn/Clevedon FWAC Blind Pairs and Summerhayes Longs Open, 30/12/17 and 31/12/17

A quick round up of the couple of matches I fished on the weekend.

Saturday was Clevedon FWAC's 'Boxing Day' blind pairs, this was opened up to all and after my car had it's MOT I had to decide what to do on Saturday and this came up, but I could not initially get on but then a text from Adie said I could as someone had dropped out. Bargain.

Only 10 of us fished it and the winds were rather strong, but dropped from 40+mph to 20-something during the day. I hadn't fished it for a long while but I do keep eyes on the results and it has generally been tricky going and the fish have seemed to moved around a bit, except the island pegs (1 to 5) where I was sure the winner would come from and where I fancied (we had pegs 2 and 4 in the match).

Anyways a bit of a natter to those I know and those I didn't before the draw was done. I pulled peg 40, bridge peg by the car...short walk. They have also cleared the hedge and filled the ditch that ran parallel with the car park so it is more exposed but looks a lot neater.
I fancied it for a few fish but got told that area was pants mid-week and a few dnw's in that area were made. My partner for the day was Andy Devereaux on peg 31.

Acorn peg 40

Bait was maggots, expanders, micros and corn, plus some bread for dobbing.
3 rigs, 1 for anywhere from topkit to 9 or 10m where I would feed and fish maggots (DT 0.3g F1/Silvers float, 0.10>20f1 hook). The 2nd rig for dobbing bread along the bridge which went biteless (DT RBS Open water 0.2g, 0.12>16b911), lastly a shallower rig which was for the far side and my margins both sides where corn over micros would be used (0.1 DT Pinger 0.14>16b911).

Well to summarise the day, it was bloody hard for all. I began slowly, like everyone but I started to get the odd decent roach on my topkit and after an hour or so I had 4 or 5 for maybe 1lb.
The second hour gave me a 1.5lb carp and odd baby roach from maggots halfway along the bridge.
3rd hour gave nothing except 1 small skimmer on the topkit.
4th hour gave me another 2lb carp from next to the bridge on maggots and a skimmer from here.
Last hour produced a couple nice roach and in the final moments a decent f1 on corn over micros at 13m in front. I reckoned on 6lb plus a few roach/skimmers and 1 perch of 1oz.
Elsewhere the 2 island pegs produced a few carp and Mark Walsh and Mike Owens had 23lb+ nets. The rest of us struggled more so and Adie on peg 37 had 1 roach from his 4 bites all day.
Mark Bromsgrove had a tench of 1oz in his 4lb catch, which was nice.
I totalled 10-14 for 3rd on the day.
Top pairs were:
1st- total 27-12 were Mark Bromsgrove (4-00) and Mike Owen (23-12)
2nd - total 25-15 were Mark Walsh (23-07) and Matt Roden (2-08)

There are photos and weigh sheets on Ivan's Blog
It was nice to get back there and I will be sure to try and get there more often.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday saw me head to Summerhayes for their open on Longs, which turned out to be a rover.
I only decided to go as Gabe said he would see me there....a little more sleep would have been more sensible.
Anyways only 8 of us and I would wait until there was 2 balls left in the tub before my go....Gabe, who was running late, would have the last one. 1st pick and last pick were those left, yep I chose last choice. Pete phoned Mr Skarba and he put himself on peg 37 when he arrived. I fancied peg 11 or 12 as there seemed to be some fish there to say the least. But that area went, I chose peg 7, which in hindsight was not too sensible as during the day the sun came out and the winds increased leaving me not being able to see my floats in most areas and the areas I could were those ii struggled to hold the pole....twat, think next time...!!

Peg 7, Longs, Summerhayes.

Anyway I enjoyed my 4.5hrs fishing in the most part as you can get a few bites at this venue and so it proved, obviously not enough as I chucked back half and hour early. Peg 11 went off like a train and had 16 carp in the first 45 minutes to an hour. As had Martin Addicott around in the 30's somewhere.
My 1st carp came after 20 minutes on dobbed bread, after 90 minutes I had 5 or 6 on this, plus 2 little skimmers.
That was that on the bread. Then the wind and sun came and I never had anything for a couple hours, peg 11 kept catching but I was enjoying myself. I then picked up a couple carp on maggots where I had dobbed bread earlier when the wind dropped for a couple minutes.
I then tried down to my left edge by some reeds and netted 4 carp from here on maggots and a few chunky roach. I had nothing on maggots short but had a run of fish down my right edge by the empty platform on corn over micros, well I say run of fish, it was 4 and lost 2.

When I packed up I had 16 carp (40lb maybe) and 3lb or so of silvers.
I loaded my car and spoke to Gabe, he had around 30 carp and some silvers but also chucked back as 138lb and 101lb were top weights I found out later on from him. Rob Birch on peg 1 or 2 had 4 carp and a few bits, a couple others struggled too. But everyone had some bites and a few fish.

My 3 rigs were all on DT RBS Opens in 0.3g and to 0.12 hooklengths and size 16 hooks.
Bait was simple maggots, micros, corn and bread, I did mix some groundbait and had some casters but the wildlife were fed them.

It was nice to get back there and have a few elastic pullers, but I must remember that to face the sun and wind in the winter is rather schoolboy, I should have learned that I wouldn't have seen anything in those conditions.

Next weekend is the next round of the Landsend So-Simple Winter League. The weather looks cooler and I am on the Speci Lake.

Until then, Take Care.

Lee

A catch-up from my last post until last weekend.

The 25th of June saw the penultimate round of the Acorn Saturday Series, again I fancied a draw up towards the near end, that of the building work and entrance, but alas I picked peg 26. Paul Nichols won the section from this peg in the last round, but this match returned to the norm.
Pegs 28 and 31 were not in and I am convinced that this played a part in my match.
5 fish in the first 30-45 minutes had a nice beginning, there were plenty of fish in the area at the start and during this spell I could see them back off to the ample space, where they remained for the rest of the day.
Brian on peg 24 picked off a few more than me, well plenty more, especially later on in the match.
I ended up with 38lb something and 5th in section.

The following week I took a last minute decision to fish Norm Sterry's open at Landsend. I only decided to as I didn't fancy being bored at home, but despite an ok draw in peg 16 I wasn't feeling enthusiastic, I had decent company on a better peg in Ken Rayner on peg 15.

Landsend peg 16

I started off ok catching a few across early on, but the day proved frustrating for most, myself included. Ken caught naff all for around 4hrs and then he caught well late on to finish 4th I think.
I caught a couple skimmers and a couple late carp on my short meat line, but the middle 5hrs wasn't great and I think I ended up better than a few, but not as good as a few with about 40-something pounds if I remember rightly. My 6lb of silvers was just out of the silvers money.
The lack of effort in not getting the 16m section of the pole out definitely cost me some fish.
Norm won the match with around 97lb from peg 7.

On the 8th of July I had an afternoon over Apex, trying to catch some silvers, mostly skimmers and odd bream. I started ok with a couple, then it went quiet before I started to catch some quality roach shallow on pellet at 13m. The sun made seeing the float tricky so I came short and caught a good few bream to 7lb (which went off jumping like a dolphin), but good sport on 4-6 elastics. I think I ended up with perhaps 14 3lb+ bream, a comfortable 15lb+ of roach/rudd and lost a few carp. Enjoyable.

The following day I was on the Canal Lake at Sedges, 23 fishing, so it was going to be hard fishing. So it proved. I pulled peg 61, not the worst but away from where I fancied, 64 and 41-46.
I had 2 carp hooked in the first minute, mugged, one came off after a couple moments, the 2nd fell off at the net.
I ended the day with a few silvers (2lb-ish) and only 4 small carp for a total of just under 15lb, which was ok on the day with lots of DNW's and low weights.
Peg 64, Rob Dodd, won, as expected, with 58lb. He caught to the point of the island and down to the end bank. The pegs in the 40's did well, relatively speaking. Kev Crouch and Nick Selway coming 2nd and 3rd with 32lb and 25lb respectively. 6lb was top silvers net. So not brilliant, but it is a challenging water at times. Plenty of fish in the lake.

Peg 61, Sedges Canal

Weights....

Now that brings me up to last weekend, 15th and 16th of July.
Saturday saw the final round of the Acorn series and I had nothing to play for overall, so it was the £80 section winning prize I had to fish for. Again I hoped for a draw at the entrance end of the lake. I went in to the bucket 2nd last, well Steve Sewell and I had the last 2 balls, the pegs left were peg 5(yes please...) and 31 (ok peg but in with the 6 bridge pegs and hasn't been great for section points).
Well I didn't get what I hoped and big Steve sat on peg 5.

I had the wife with me for company, but the weather was dire, constant heavy drizzle all day, we never bought a brolly for her (ah well....) but she had my water proofs and a little brolly. I just sat in my shorts and sandals, haha. My maggots did Houdini acts all day and my the end of the day my pellets were mush.
Still, before the match started Gabe decided he didn't want to fish his peg 26 and left, but in the process scratched his new van on some metal while reversing to let me through.

A few rigs set up, tight over pellet which would couple up as a shallow rig for down the middle, a banded pellet rig for full depth around 1m off the far bank (unused), a rig for maggot/caster at 2+2 in the 10 o'clock direction. This rig would do for corn over micros at the same distance in the 1 o'clock direction. A shallow maggot/caster rig and lastly a rig for maggots or corn down the edges both left and right.

Peg 31 Acorn Paddock

There was plenty of fish mooching around all over the lake, including between me and Ricky Mills on peg 28. But as expected it was a tricky day. I caught a couple f1's early, lost 3 foul hooked fish when fishing across, so abandoned that. Nobody, except Barry Richards on peg 24, seemed to be catching much including Nick Harvey and Glen Calvert on the bridge pegs to my left.
As the day went on I struggled a little more, caught a few small, well baby, carp and some silvers down the middle on maggot.

4pm came and I had my 1st 'proper' carp and signalled the start of a few bites, well that's what I hoped. At this point I was last in the section. There were fish in the peg, even shallow on the caster and maggot line, but I never bought enough caster to make it work properly. I managed one shallow, but didn't persevere with it as I would have ran out of bait. I then had one on the corn over the micros, but that was the only fish from there all day. So I was left with the edges, I had a topkit line each side and another line at 8m each side, luckily I managed to figure something out that avoided the foul hookers a little more and caught steadily for the last 90 minutes, but at the all out was sure I would be near last in section. My clicker said 48lb (which I thought was 35lb) plus I had maybe 5lb in my other net (silvers, baby carp and f1s) but I try to over click at Acorn due to the 70lb limit which if you go over you lose the lot, no leeway.
I guessed Barry had won as he'd caught all day, I thought Nick and Glen must have 60lb each and even Ade Crawley on peg 22 had caught some fish.

I packed up with the help of the chicken-whisperer behind me, and followed the scales.
There were some 30-50lb nets and a couple 70's and a couple 80lb nets from the straight bank before Barry put 150lb on the sheet to confirm his series win in style, 4 section wins (including 3 match wins I think) and a section 2nd, which was his dropper.
Ricky didn't weigh before I plopped 58lb on the scales, plenty more than I thought, but presumed Nick and Glen had more, but they both weighed around the 50lb mark which, if Keith Ray on peg 40 had what he said was 35lb then I would win the section. Which was confirmed a few minutes later.
So at least I picked up another £80.

So a decent 1st round, an ok second round, 3 crap rounds and draws, last round was decent. I think I ended up with 19.5 points and probably in the top half of the field.
Barry won the series, I believe Paul Nichols was 2nd in the series. But I have not seen the results in full yet. They'll appear somewhere asap.
It was a well run series, thanks to Paul and Brian.

This Sunday sees me at Landsend on lakes 2 and 3, with the Pawlett group, I think I want Lake 2 as Lake 3 fished hard in Tony Rixon's Float only match on Sunday last.
I may go somewhere Saturday, Landsend or Todber? I defo want to get down to the Dorset fishery soon. Cracking venue.

Until next time, take care and have fun.
Lee

Acorn Saturday Series, 10-6-17

Not much to write home about for today's match, I had hoped for a nice draw at the near end of the lake, so anywhere from 38 around to 12 and the 3 pegs on the island. Anyways, peg 24 stuck to my mitt....not so great as it has pretty much been the worst peg in the series along with peg 28 with 9lb and 16lb the weights previously.
Had a but of banter with a few of the guys, mostly at the expense of Steve Sewell, but he's got broad shoulders and is a nice guy so no doubt like water off a duck's back so-to-speak.

It was bloomin windy, as is the norm at Acorn, it would be hard to fish the 13m across to the far bank where I figured the bulk of any fish I should catch come from. For company I had Lance Tucker on my left on peg 22 and Paul Nichols on slightly better peg 26, around from him was John Fuidge.

A few rigs, a shallow pellet rig for mid-way across and tight over. A topkit rig for maggots downwind and a topkit margin rig for my right edge as it was at this distance that it plumbed up ok. Lastly a pellet rig for just shy of empty peg 25.

On the whistle I started across, struggling against the wind. It was 15 minutes before I hooked and lost a foul hooker. Paul and Lance had a couple in this time, Paul's of a better stamp.
Then at the end of the 1st hour I had two 4lbers in two drops.......and that was it until the last hour (except a few baby carp and odd roach) when I had 2 more 4lb carp.
During the match I watched Paul catch pretty well from his margins, mostly to his left. Lance had a few smaller stamp fish and I guessed they had 65lb and 35lb respectively. John had struggled and had 5 smallish carp in the last hour slapping against the island.

At the all out I contemplated chucking my catch back as I was sure I would be last or 2nd last in section, so would be my dropper. I went and saw those in my section (19, 24, 26, 28, 36, 38 and 3), other than John and Myself the rest had over 30lb, so I walked back to my peg and chucked my catch back (maybe 15 to 17lb I suppose). John did the same.

I never got to see the results overall but I did see them on Facebook. Barry Richards won with 97lb ahead of Neil Morgan's 82lb. Paul Nichols won my section with 75lb.

The next round is in a couple weeks so a section 1st or 2nd in each of the last two rounds should remotely keep me in with a slim chance of a top 6....wait and see.!!

Not sure when I am fishing next, maybe tomorrow, but defo next Sunday, see how I feel.

Take Care.
Lee

Acorn Saturday Series, 27-5-17...........plus White Acres for a few days.

An update of the last week's fishing for me.
It started last Saturday at Acorn for the 2nd round of the Saturday Series, I managed a 2nd in section in the 1st round and suffice to say will need at least a 2nd in section for each round to have a chance of an overall framing chance come the end of it.

The usual suspects were there and a full house of 21 fishing, including a couple welshies who'd be running late due to bank holiday weekend traffic.
Trolley loaded, on with the draw, Nick Harvey drew the 2 missing welsh guy's pegs, 9 for Barry Richards and 34 for Neil Morgan, good pegs.
Well I managed a bridge peg in the form of peg 33, which I thought would be okay, but fancied the pegs along the entry road, pegs 6 round to 12ish, peg 9 looked great with plenty of fish in that area.

Peg 33 Acorn

Same rigs as last time, edges, tight over and a rig for down the middle. Baits were casters, 6 and 8mm pellets and some expanders.
The match began and it was slow for myself, Neil and Paul Preston on peg 31, in fact the only person catching was Barry on peg 9.
I slowly, very slowly, picked up the odd fish from across and Neil was getting plenty of those baby carp and some silvers (goldfish included).
I lost a few throughout the day to the concrete leg on the bridge, I believe they were foul hooked fish which made me less irritated. Oh Keith Ray on peg 3 saw his peg collapse into the lake along with him and all his kit, but Mark Bartlett helped in the fact he got in the lake and rescued all his kit and pulled out the structure of the platform. Keith went on to win his section and come 2nd on the day with 90lb, so no massive harm done.

The match went by quite quickly, even quicker for Nick Harvey whom left early, come the end of the match I think I ended up with a crucian, a roach and 8 carp. Probably 30lb. I reckoned Neil had similar of those little fish, Paul struggled and so had all the peeps going anti-clockwise around the lake from me to Mark Bromsgrove on peg 21. The only bridge peg I knew had done ok was Steve Sewell on peg 6 who was admitting to 60lb.

The weigh in done and Barry on peg 9 had walked the match, mostly catching shallow, he had 155lb. Keith was 2nd with 90lb from peg 3 and Steve Sewell 3rd with 67lb.
As for my section, it was tight for the places 2nd and lower with Steve winning it. I managed 32lb on the button along with Brian Slipper on peg 40. But Mark Bromsgrove on peg 21 had an 8lb carp last knockings to knock equal 3rd in section. So 4.5 points for me on the day.

Results sheet:

The overall standings sees Keith Ray in 1st place with 14 points ahead of Brian Slipper on 11.5 points, I have 10.5 points and am in 5th, but you drop one result so the standings don't mean too much at this point.

The next round is next week on the 10th June.

So after that match it was half term and we had a Monday to Friday booked down at White Acres, so it was up and leave the house at 7am so at least I could have a day fishing.
Trelawny peg 4 was my session for the afternoon. I managed a few fish, maybe 70 or 80lb of assorted species and had a nice few hours.

Next day was spent in the morning playing football golf with the family, which was actually quite fun, so it was then lunch and a few hours fishing.
I fancied fishing Eery, but it was full so looked at Pollawyn, I found a few fish in the area down the first leg, the leg had loads of surface crap so I went on peg 2, which apparently isn't great, Nathan Watson called me a 'saddist'. But I had a great few hours with 8 or 9 lumpy carp to 15lb-ish, over 30 f1's that probably went 3lb each and maybe 25lb of skimmers/roach and a solitary barbel. Most were caught on meat at 5m with a few caught shallow at 14m.

Wednesday I fished on Eery, peg 8, and had a nice 4hrs catching a few shallow and deep on pellets, nothing big, maybe 4lb the largest, but I did catch plenty of roach down the edge on meat. These roach were 4 to 8oz each and came one a chuck, I couldn't feed them off.... I had over 80lb I would think easily.

Thursday was the Rover match, 61 fished,  and at the draw I bumped into Jim Jenner. Word was Twin Oaks had been hard for 2 weeks and it was expected to be a low-ish weight match with 80lb needed to frame (top 6 paid).
I pulled 11th pick out and after my earlier look around, Eery had a few on there pleasure fishing, one or 2 pegs on Twin Oaks were taken by pleasure guys. Pegs 28 to 31 looked nice on Pollawyn as did 20, but that had the aerator in and on and I wasn't too sure if I wanted to be there.
I looked at the map when it was my turn and saw the pegs I liked the look of had gone so plumped for peg 13 on Acorn, the lake had been patchy but can do 80lb+ if you get things right and the lumps turn up early enough,

They didn't until 5 mins before the end, when I had tails waving at me down to my left.....I managed an eel in amongst them.....but no carp!! Up until that point I had managed a few f1's and small carp on pellets at 14m, lifting and dropping mostly, none on caster or meat lines, which surprised me, oh and a few late on the pellet feeder. I had 62lb and a few ounces which put me 10th on the day. 149lb won from Twin Oaks (peg 1 with the wind pushing in and loads of space) with 94lb 2nd off there also. A couple weights from Pollawyn high bank and peg 20. But an enjoyable day with lots of bites.

Friday was home day, but I had booked in to the Bolingey match, I have only ever drawn on the back lake and with 36 or 38 fishing most pegs were in. But the left hand leg wasn't used due to spawning.
I drew 31, I was told it was reasonable but with only 4 empty pegs free it would be pressured and the fish had other things on their minds......

Well I didn't catch on corn short (no meat or gb allowed) I managed 2 late carp down my right edge and the rest of my 75lb came at 14m up and down in the water on pellets. Oh I did get 5 small grass carp and 1 carp on the lead chucked on the pole line. I also took way too long to land a 13lb common, it just wouldn't give up. My weight was 6th or 7th on the day I think.
Only 3 nets topped 100lb with 130lb winning from peg 38. But I enjoyed it.

So a nice few days away and it has defo convinced me to get onto a few more festivals on the complex, whether they will be one of the 'big 5' or one of the couple 4 day ones they have depends on holiday allowances!!

Tomorrow is Pawlett's All-Winners match over at Trinity Woodlands, a nice peg full of fish waiting to be caught would go down nice, thank-you please.

Until next time, have fun and tight lines.
Lee

Acorn Saturday Series, Round 1, 13th May 2017

First blog for a little while after 3 weeks or so away from my fishing kit.
My last match was back in April with Pawlett, at Apex, it fished hard as predicted, I dnw'd chucking back a few pound of hard earned silvers.

Anyway, today at Acorn. I had booked-out of this but re-joined the list yesterday.
Arriving early enough (12pm draw, fish 13:15-18:15 ish....). Pleased to see a few guys I hadn't for a while, some decent anglers in attendance including a fair few regulars at the venue. 21 fishing so 3 sections of 7 split across the venue rather than in a line.
I looked at the lake, plenty of semi-spawning fish, mixture of silvers and carp, but not in great numbers, pegs 40, 6 and off the point of the island from pegs 9 to 13 had loads of fish moving.
The pegs that I didn't want were 3, 24 and 26 as I don't like 24 or 26 and although 3 can occasionally be ok, pegs 1 and 5 often slow the fish in moving through to peg 3.

Acorn Peg 3....

The draw came, I plucked my ball around halfway along the queue and had peg 3.... fer-cough I thought, still you never know how things will go. Discussions said 200lb would win and 100lb needed to be top in each of the other 2 sections. We hoped it would be a good day.
At my peg I saw it was a real area of PSV guys, Steve Sewell on peg 1, Matt Williams on peg 3, Paul Preston and Ade Crawley on 34 and 33 and Keith Ray on peg 36. But you can see a good amount of the lake from my vantage point so I could see how I seemed to be doing.

4 rigs assembled, 1 for my margins (mostly left, downwind). 1 for 2+2 off to my left in line with the point of the island, this rig also suited topkit distance in from.
A banded pellet rig for across in 12 inches of water. Lastly, but unused, was a rig for around 2m off the far bank in 3ft of water.
Bait was a few pints of maggots, some 4 and 6mm hard pellets, expanders and groundbait. I did have some alternative 8mm pellets for the band, just in case I fancied a change.

At the all-in I began across hoping for a few early mug fish, but that never happened, actually this spell was the calmest of the day and after an hour spent, mostly across, I had 2 small carp, 2 skimmers and couple roach and a baby carp. Elsewhere it was peg 40 and 36 who set the early pace, but Mark Bromsgrove who on p38 and in my section was doing ok, nobody else looked to be doing much.
The second hour saw the wind increase in strength and was going directly right to left and holding a pole at 8m was hard enough at times let alone fishing across, but there was signs of fish in the area across. I spent this hour fishing maggots both off to my left  at 2+2 and on the topkit in front, this gave me a few nice stamp roach, some perch and a couple 3oz carp, but it was bites at a time when most were not getting much action.

As the day progressed the fishing got tougher for pretty much everyone except Keith Ray whom had caught consistently all day, peg 40 got off to a flyer but he slowed in the second half of the match.
I had to keep switching between the left edge and the 2 maggot lines (2+2 left and topset in front) to pick up fish of various species, when the wind dropped enough to venture across I would get a bite, but this was only an option on and off throughout the second half of the 5hr match.
One of my blond moments came when I had an 7 or 8lber just sat on the surface waiting to be netted, but my mind switched off and I just sat looking at it not even touching the landing net handle, when I went to grab it the hook pulled.....numpty. I also dropped a perch late on, maybe 12oz, it ended back in the lake.

My 3rd and 4th hour saw me put 4 or 5 carp in the net and some silvers including a couple nice skimmers and a few perch. Steve and Matt on pegs 1 and 5 were struggling. There is not really too much to talk about, trying to snare a few extra fish was hard going. With just a little over an hour left Matt Williams began to catch a few lumpier carp down his left edge and put maybe 7 or 8 decent fish in the net which boosted his net, but he wasn't in my section.
The final 60 minutes was a little better, well that is retrospective of the day when using the word better, I put 4 more carp in the net, 3 from the left edge and 1 across. My clicker showed 41lb at the all out, plus I reckoned on 8lb of silvers.

I packed up and waited for the weigh in, pretty much everyone had struggled and there was a dnw in Rich Lovering.
The scalesmen arrived and weighed Steve on peg 1, he managed 20lb. Then my silvers weight 8lb and a few ounces, my carp boosted me to 50lb 1oz. Matt then had 67lb 8oz, 40lb of which came late on.
I left the scales to do their job and caught up with them when they got to Gabe, the venue expert managed 40lb before Ade and Paul Preston had 47lb+ and 25lb+ from each side of the bridge.
Then came Keith, he almost did 100lb but alas he totalled 95lb 12.5oz for what looked to be top weight on the day. He was in my section. Next was Mark Bromsgrove, he was also in my section, he was admitting to 40-something pounds, I reckoned he had more but he said he had silvers. He managed 49lb 9oz.
Last to weigh was peg 40, he had flown out of the blocks at the start and slowed down late on but still managed a nice net of 90lb and a few ounces.

So an okay day, the wind being the main preventative in me catching a few more, in hindsight I could have got a little method feeder rod set up to chuck across, but that isn't my idea of fun. 2nd in section and £60 in the pocket means I have got a decent start and my entry fee returned.
Back in 2 weeks for round 2.

Next up is Sunday's match, covering for Emma Drysdale, at Trinity Woodlands for a short pole match (topkit plus 3 sections)

Until then, have fun and take care.
Lee

SW Over 50's + Disabled vs PSV, Acorn Paddock Lake, 04-09-16

31 fished today I think, maybe a couple more, but it was an interclub affair against the venue regulars of the SW 50+ and Disabled guys.
With space at a premium and yesterday's and night's rain we had, plus Saturday's match fishing alright, the big 150lb+ weights were somewhat lowered on the expectation level, that said you can never be sure of anything with fish and fishing.

I arrived early, dipped nets and had a chatter with a few guys before getting on with the draw, I fancied anywhere from peg 1 round to 12 and maybe 33, 34 and 35. Peg 12 has been in form the last 2 weeks with weights to 237lb coming off it.
I drew around halfway down the line and plucked peg 5, a nice peg on the point of the smaller island, for company I had Ray Cooper on peg 4, and I could watch regular venue framers on pegs 9 and 10 in the 2 Bobs, Feltham and Smith respectively. Lee Waller had drawn peg 12 and he had Eddie Wynne and Steve Sewell to his left.

Acorn peg 5, lhs

Acorn peg 5

I set up 4 rigs, 1 for each margin, though my right hand side never produced. Groundbait on the left maggots down the right. My right hand margin rig also doubled up for fishing across in the shallow, 12 inch deep, water using corn, maggots and expanders.
A rig for 2+1 in front using expander over 6mm pellets.
A rig for banded pellet around 1m off the far bank in 3ft of water.
Also an unused method feeder was set up.

Bait was 6mm pellets, some 8's for the band, 2.5pts of maggot, 3 small tins of corn, some groundbait and some 6mm expanders.

I began fishing off the island, toss potting 6mm pellets and using an 8 in the band, I had 2 fish in the first 15 minutes, only 3lb fish but a start......then I lost a couple foul hookers before it died properly.
The 1st hour had lapsed with just 2 carp in the net, but I was still ahead of some who hadn't had a fish after 60 minutes.
The second hour was a little better, I managed a couple carp from my left margin on corn over groundbait and then I had 1 from the deeper water on expander. But I was getting a few foul hooked fish, annoyingly they would only come off at the net, I wasn't the only one suffering this though.
It really was slow going......in fact the next 2.5hrs saw me struggle properly and I am unsure if I actually put a fish in the net. There were fish showing in open water but could not be tempted despite trying various tactics,

I had binned the pellet line off the island as I was only getting liners and they wouldn't take bait shallower, they seemed to be just roaming the area. I had also switched to varying what I was feeding across in the shallow water, I began to figure it was a matter of trying to snatch the odd passing fish, try and grab their interest.
I worked out that sometimes a helping of corn would get me a couple fish, then it would die, so a pot of maggots would do similar. Groundbait and 6mm pellets and even 8mm pellets being fed over the same spot would all pick me 1 or 2 fish before dying.
I also had a couple fish from the 2+2 line on expanders.

Into the last hour or so and my 1st net's clicker showed 44lb. I had seen 1 or 2 swirls down over the left edge and managed a couple 5lb fish from here, but still I was getting a few foul hookers or they were not taking the bait properly as I pulled out of a couple fish.
I wasn't taking much notice of others really, but Chris Szacaks on peg 7 was losing a few at the net from peg 7 and the 2 Bobs on pegs 9 and 10 were doing well enough.....Lee Waller had gone by now off peg 12..!!
I also could see that someone around peg 33 or so was using their net often, though those behind me from pegs 40 back to 36 hadn't had too much in their nets, including venue regular Mark Walsh in peg 36.

The last 60 minutes were simply spent fishing across varying the baits while keeping an eye on edges, only dropping in when I could see fish were present. I did mug a couple as they left the margin, dropping a bait in front of them as they departed.
I finished with my 1st net clicked at 54lb and my second was 23lb.

I packed up and loaded my car before following my half of the weigh in, rumour had it that Matt Williams on peg 33 had caught well but that half of the lake (peg 40 back to 22) has struggled.
Also I knew the two Bobs had done fine and that Chris Szacaks had a late run of fish from peg 7.
Peg 1 dnw'd before Dave Stephenson had 12-09 of assorted silvers including a few goldfish!!
Peg 4, Ray Cooper caught a few edge fish late on and had a little over 48lb.
Next up was me and again my clicking has been accurate enough in that my 2 weighs went 26lb 2oz  and 51lb 6oz....finishing with 77-08. I got told that'd be in the frame. I didn't expect it to be honest.
Next was Ryan Radford and Chris S. They had 42lb and 44lb respectively.
Bob Feltham's late run of fish gave him 44lb+ then regular venue winner Bob Smith had 69lb 5oz.
Peg 12 dnw'd. Then we saw Eddie Wynne put his silvers on the scales, it settled at 12-08 before it was noted there was a roach in his net.....he pipped ahead of Dave with 12-10.....lucky lucky.
Steve Sewell then had 48lb 6oz. There were a couple more dnw's along these pegs before I left them to it.
A quick look at the 2nd sheet saw Matt Williams had a couple pounds more than me from peg 33 but that was it from that half, so I had finished 2nd. Not too bad really, we both had lost fish so I cant really say that it was lost fish that cost me the win, maybe it was the fact I managed to knock my bait tray everywhere and spent 10 minutes faffing around with that when I knew there were fish to be caught.....all hindsight though!!

Results:
1. Matt Williams. PSV 79-05. p33
2. Lee Williams. PSV. 77-08. p5
3. Bob Smith. Over 50. 69-05. p10
4. Steve Sewell. PSV. 48-06. p15
5. Ray Cooper. Over 50. 48-02. p4
6. Bob Feltham. Over 50. 44-14. p9
Silvers
1. Eddie Wynne. Over 50. 12-10. p13
2. Dave Stephenson. Over 50. 12-09. p2

So the venue did have a bit of an off day, but there was still plenty of bites to be had if you worked hard to tempt them. By varying things a bit on the day bought me a few bonus fish I think.
So in the last few weeks I have managed 3 seconds and a third from 6 matches, just need to get over that final hurdle, haha.

Not sure where or if I am fishing this week, maybe I will have an afternoon over Apex. Maybe try to fish Summerhayes on Weds and Shiplate on Thursday.

But next Saturday we have Pawlett's day out over at Mathern Mill, a new venue for all of us I believe.

Until then, Take care.
Lee

Avalon Silvers Series, 03-09-16 (plus other days)

Bit of a write up of my week since coming 2nd at Harescombe last Sunday.
I fished the Tuesday match at Acorn nr Clevedon, it had been fishing well with some good weights to over 200lb, but foul hooked fish are a problem, you need to get the feeding spot on the minimise them. Think there was 20-something fishing.
I drew peg 7, not too bad with a nice left hand margin and the right had side wasn't too bad either.

Acorn peg 7 lhs

Acorn Peg 7

Basically I fished my left edge most of the match, which produced in the last hour, during the rest of the day I picked up the odd carp from across and at 2+2 all on corn or maggot.  Loads of long quiet spells and I could see Gabe on p12 catching as was Tony Rixon on around peg 2 and Steve Shaw on peg 38. Though Paul Faires just along from me had some fish on the method and some on the pole down his edge and looked ahead of the 2 Mosella backed anglers.
I had 77lb and some ounces for 8th on the day. Learnt a few things going forward.
Gabe Skarba won with 237lb from in-form peg 12.

Results:
1. Gabriel Skarba. 237-07 p12
2. Paul Fairers. 142-11 p9
3. Tony Rixon. . 132-00 p2
4. Steve Shaw. 123-07 p38
5. S Holmes. 97-14 p11
6. Mark Walsh. 93-12 p16

Wednesday I fished the Sedges open on Tile, 15 fished and I had the last ball in the basket and it turned out to be a flyer in the form of peg 40. Though I was a little concerned as the wind was pushing up towards the other end of the lake and there wasn't a great deal of activity in my peg.
I fed the left edge only for the wind to change and fill it with floating crap in the form of leaves and branches/twigs, so that never happened.
After a 90 minute blank spell at the start of the match I ended up getting a few fish on the method and also a run of fish later on mostly on banded 8mm at 2+1 on the pole. I knew that blank start to the match would cost me and I ended up 2nd (thankfully my 2.5lb of silvers I chucked back didn't cost me) with 112lb.
Results:
1st Stuart Holmes, 140lb 6oz, peg 37
2nd Lee Williams, 112lb 4oz, peg 40
3rd Mick Shaw, 109lb, peg 28

Friday I spent a few hours down at Apex Park hoping for some skimmers, I had actually intended on fishing the Huntspill, but it didn't look right so over at Apex it was. I fished peg 3 and had 67lb of skimmers, bream and a load of roach, nice light kit fishing.

Around half of my Apex Park Lake catch.

So on to Saturday, I had seen the weather forecast and had decided a day of rest and homey stuff was in order......well that was put paid to when Mike West called me at 8am and asked could I cover him in the 1st round of Avalon's Silvers Series, so I agreed, I rushed to sort my gear, grabbed some casters from the end of the road and shot over for the 9am draw. 22 fishing so a nice number and a whole raft of very very capable silver fish anglers were present.

I drew peg 39, not too bad and 1 off the end peg which had a guy who has the venue's skimmers population sorted John Fuidge on peg 40. Ray Wickham to my right on peg 38, then Ken Rayner and Steve Fouracre next again.

Avalon peg 39....

A topkit rig for my right edge just using maggots and casters, a rig for maggot/corn for anywhere in front as I had the same depth all over, so a groundbait line was fed in front at 11m given the wind predictions, then a micro/corn line for 2+2 slightly left.
Lastly a banded pellet rig was made up for 11m and 2+2 on the left hand areas of my peg, but that went fishless, as was the 1 cast I had on a small groundbait feeder.

Simply put, the weather was dire, very wet, a touch windy and I messed my feeding up.

I watched John catch skimmers steadily during the day in amongst his attachment to 21 carp (I only had 9 on). I caught nearly all my fish down my right edge and never had a fish over 6oz in my 5lb+.
I had roach, perch ,skimmers and rudd to make up my weight, which wasn't at all near last by all accounts with a dnw or 2 and a few weights under mine. I only hooked, and bumped, 1 'proper' skimmer all day.

The winner was covering for Chris Fox, Paul Faires, he had 28lb+  to beat John Fuidge's 24lb and Vic Bush's 23lb.

Results:

1st Paul Faires (Chris Fox), 28-08, peg 33
2nd John Fuidge, 24-03, peg 40
3rd Vic Bush, 23-00, peg 17
4th Ken Rayner, 19-03, peg 37
5th Lee Woodhouse, 18-09, peg 12
6th Ziggy, 18-00, peg 9

Saturday evening was spent mostly drying fishing gear in various areas of the house!!

Next up is my blog from today's match at Acorn, PSV vs Over 55's...

Until then.....
Lee

Acorn Open, 25/7/15.

Well the weather was certainly different this last weekend, with Friday being absolutely awful with rain for pretty much 24hrs, or so it seemed. At least the lakes would get a welcome bit of freshness, how that'd affect the fishing I don't know.
Saturday was nice and warm and sunny, not great for fishing, before Sunday was mostly wet early on and getting more showery and windy as the day wore on.

So on Saturday I decided to fish a match on either Landsend or Acorn, plumping for Acorn as I hadn't fished it for months and months, plus I had the PSV match at Landsend on Sunday.
I arrived (with the wife in tow) in plenty of time for the draw, there was only 8 fishing though so a little disappointed by that, but onwards and upwards.
Mark Walsh was running the match in the absence of both Rob Fogg and Adie Baker, but he likes and does ok at the venue, plus he is a sound, kinda funny guy.
We had a couple regulars there including top guy and exceptional angler Giles Cochrane and Kev Jefferies, who also fishes with the PSV bunch every so often.

Mark pegged pegs 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 21, 24 and 28. Now I have only ever drawn up around peg 24 other than in the Clevedon Xmas match where I won the silvers with a solitary skimmer, I was on peg 1 that day. I really didn't want peg 24, or 28 really.
Lucky the draw was done and 24 had come out, I let the missus pick my peg and out came 13, not too bothered really and hoped for a nice day fishing.
For company I had Kev Jefferies on peg 15 to my left, Walshy around to my right on p10 and he had Giles further along on peg 8.

Acorn Paddock peg 13.

I had heard that caster was doing well and that weights could be from 50lb to 170lb winning, so pretty varied really. But with loads of space to hide I was sure that it'd be a trickier day.
I did bring some caster, maggots, a few micros, corn (meat is banned), 6mm pellets, expanders and some groundbait.

3 rigs were assembled. The first was a shallow pellet (then changed to maggot) rig for over between clumps of grass in around 2ft of water. The next rig was used tight in against my bank either side in around 12" of water and lastly I had a rig that would do for anywhere else in the swim, so I fed at topkit line, 11m and just off each empty peg either side, all were the same depth within an inch. I would feed each spot differently. All were on 0.18>0.14 hooklength and size 16 hooks.

Before the whistle Giles told me that he had been fishing, and doing ok, using caster and toss-potting the feed, re-feeding the same way every few minutes. He also said he rarely bothers going across these days.
Walshy would most likely be using paste!!

At the all-in I fed a small amount of corn and caster down to my left. Some micros and odd 6mm went in at 11m. I began feeding 4 or 5 casters and maggots on the topkit line and started down by empty peg 12.
After a while, probably 20 minutes I had a bite and lost a small foul hooked carp, but I soon had number 1 in the net, only a baby of 2lb but it saved me from a blank.
After the hour had passed myself and Kev hadn't had much more than 2 carp each, while Giles and Mark had done around 7 or so each, Giles even resorted to fishing across, lol.
The second and 3rd hour saw me put another 3 carp in the net, plus I had lost 3 or 4 foul hooked fish, maybe I had fed too much, maybe they were mooching around too much. But there was a lot of fish moving through, in fact further along past Kev we could see plenty of carp in and about pegs 17 to 19. The space was obviously attractive to our fish.

Into the last couple of hours of the match, myself and Kev were struggling and we couldn't even get many silvers. I started to feed tight to my own bank, on my right at topkit distance, plus I had fed 3/4 of the way to peg 14 tight in along the bank also. These are the areas I focused on for the remainder of the match and I had a run of F1's from the right and 3 or 4 carp from the left, plus a few foul hookers.
The match ended and I knew me and Kev hadn't done great with peg 6, the Giles (winner?), Walshy and peg 21 by the bridge doing better.

I packed my kit away and looked at my fish, probably 20lb of carp and 12/15lb of F1's. I looked at Kev's fish and he had maybe 30lb of carp and a 3 or 4lb of silvers, so similar to me.
We both tipped back once a glance at the weigh sheet showed 40lb, 135lb and Walshy's nr 70lb net, plus the guy on 28 reckoned on at least 80lb.
I didn't stay for the results, but I think Giles won.

It is a venue I should try and make more visits to and I do plan on doing so when I get a Saturday off every now and then, but only 8 fishing is a touch sad, but the previous few weigh sheets show more like 15 fishing at least so, hopefully it stays that way.

Until next time.
Lee.