Todber Manor Open, Hillview Lake, 14-4-18

A long awaited visit to this super fishery yesterday, somewhere I should try and venture to more than I do, actually it was possibly last September-ish that I went. You are usually guaranteed of a few bites even if you have drawn away from the 'hot area' on the day. I just wish it was at least 40 minutes closer.
Anyways the weather on the way over was rather foggy and at times visibility was bad, luckily the roads were clear with the exception of numpty people towing trailers whom all hogged the whole road. I made it in plenty of time and had a look around the well stocked tackle shop.

Nearly 30 I think were fishing and we were all on Hillview Lake. Pre-draw chatter with Mark Poppleton and Allan Oram plus a few others was good, nice to see a few faces like Dave Chidzoy who I hadn't seen in a while.
On to the draw and you really don't know where the fish could be and where the winner and framers could come from, obviously apart from a few of the slightly more consistent pegs. I drew halfway down the rabble and pulled out peg 53, didn't mean much to me initially and had to double check where it was. It is the end peg in the far leg of the lake.

Peg 53 Hillview, Todber Manor

I made my way to the peg, one of the few pegs you cannot drive right up to, but gravel paths and a short walk is no issue. Bit muddy off the paths, to be expected with the work they have done and the recent weather issues.
Not much in the way of company, I had a guy called Bob (I think...sorry) next to me on 52 and Mr Chidzoy on peg 51. Other than that it was a nice view of the countryside. And thankfully the fog cleared to leave a lovely sunny day. Spring had sprung.

My peg looked ok, but the water seemed clearer than most others and along with peg 52 we had nothing in the way of wind or ripple, which was pushing over my head and away from me. I was certain that my are would not be ideal, but fish have fins and you never know what will occur.
Setting up a large bream rolled in front of peg 52, but that was it apart from odd roach.
I assembled a method feeder for across to the far bank, and a bunch of rigs for the pole, simply because I had entered the silverfish pool and I had not been in so long I hadn't a clue what to do.
So A shallow pellet rig using a DT Pinger, this went unused.
A depth pellet rig for 11m in front, slightly right as this seemed a nice area off the shelf but not in the deepest part of the peg. A 0.4g RBS Open Water float with 0.14>b911 size 16.
A depth meat rig on the same set up as the pellet, but even further round to the right at 11m, but this was only tried a couple times and remained fishless as did the rig I put up for around 2ft off the bank even further around to my right at 11m.
Only 1 silvers rig though, a DT Pencil float 0.2g for topset plus one section in front, just before the deepest water. I would feed groundbait and casters there and fish caster on the hook.

It was soon the all in, I fed the peg and I began on the method feeder, 25 minutes and no indications.
A look on the 11m lines, again no signs, not looking good after around an hour.
Elsewhere people were getting action, especially behind me in 43 and 45. Dave on peg 51 was getting a few stockies on his feeder. Bob was struggling but had put a couple roach and skimmers in the net and a couple small carp.
On the hour I had a look on my silvers line and began to get a few roach, very odd skimmer and even less tench......all interrupted occasionally by the odd stockie carp which were manageable on the silvers rig. You need a few of the 5lb+ carp to win the matches there, I really don't think there were enough of them down our leg to do that.

I could write on about the rest of the day, but other than 2 small carp on the 11m pellet rig I never really looked for the carp for more than another 40 minutes throughout the match. I just carried on putting silvers in the net in little spurts. I did get interrupted by a decent bream of perhaps 3.5lb which I hoped would see me add a few more like that, especially as Bob had a couple, buy I only added a couple 1lbers throughout the day plus odd 12oz tench, but it was mostly roach from 1oz to 5oz. Elsewhere Lee Woodhouse had netted a couple really clonking slabs, 2 possibly would have weighed 13lb between them.
I kept bites coming though and carried on doing what seemed to be ok, but I was not sure I had got it right, feeding half a dozen casters every minute and odd top up of groundbait.

Just before the all out Dave Chidzoy had a 1st, his 1st ever catfish, only a kitten at perhaps 5lb and fairly hooked in the tail, this gave him a shock when it surfaced, but it was good to see, I do like catfish and a trip to catch one or 2 this summer may well be in my plans. He had fish all day but only small ones in the main and was admitting to 70lb of carp.

Anyways the all out was called and I tipped back my carp, maybe 25lb of them, from 8oz to 2.5lb and wanted to just weigh my silver to gauge how I had faired for future reference.
So kit packed up and waited for the guys and the scales, I got to see Dave's cat and his guess was as close as I have known with just over 70lb of carp and catfish boosted silvers of 8lb gave him 80lb-sh.
My neighbour on 51 had 19lb of silvers and 22lb of carp. Elsewhere peg 43 had 125lb, Pete Neate had 105lb from 45 and best silvers was 33lb and a 23lb.
My turn to weigh and I had more than I thought by a long way, no surprise to some perhaps, but my total was 29lb 12oz. Lots of roach especially. This put me 2nd in the silvers on the day and a pick up, sadly not enough to put me into the King of the Manor Silvers final. But I will try again a few times this year I hope.

Results:

1st: Lee Janczyszyn 125lb 4oz (Peg 43)
2nd: Pete Neate 105lb 12oz (Peg 45)
3rd: Nigel Alford 95lb 4oz (Peg 49)
4th: Dave Chidzoy 80lb 1oz (Peg 51)

Silver's 1st: Lee Woodhouse 33lb 0oz (Peg 50)
Silver's 2nd: Lee Williams 29lb 12oz (Peg 53)
Silver's 3rd: Matt Skyme 23lb 0oz (Peg 41)

Section A: Ian Graham 53lb 7oz (Peg 34)
Section B: Terry Death 74lb 12oz (Peg 54)

Looking at what I could have done, maybe got off my backside and set up a 2nd silvers rig for further out may have been a better option for the quiet spells rather than trying for carp, but that is hindsight but I will take it with me going forward.

Next week I am back at Acorn for the series on Saturday and Sunday I have a match on one of the best silvers waters around with the Pawlett guys in Apex.

Until then, take care and enjoy the warmer climes this week....

Lee

Pawlett Match, Sedges Brick and Tile, Silvers only. 8-4-18

The yearly Silvers only match at Sedges usually gets a decent crowd and this year was no different as nearly all of the 40 pegs were taken. Some decent anglers fishing, including the in-form John Fuidge, who has been picking up the wins in the silvers matches and payouts here (plus elsewhere) for the last few months.

The weather was set dry, yay, but mild, which would no doubt attract the carp into feeding. The last couple of years I have probably had over 80lb of them during the corresponding match. I doubted that it would be any different.
I arrived for the draw in reasonable time and didn't get to chat as much as usual, it was the 'hello and how are you?' only chatter before the basket was attacked by a flurry of hands.
I waited til near the end, behind Mr Fuidge, whom I commented 'which peg are you ganna win from?', he smiled and drew peg 17.....nice silvers peg. Me, well I pulled peg 28 on Tile, not where I fancied as Brick would be hard to beat now the temps are a little better. Plus I am less confident on Tile, I actually think my last time on here was around a year ago.

Off to my peg and setting up I thought I was the last angler on that bank as peg 29 was empty.
A small feeder rod was set up for around 30m in front.
3 pole rigs, a DT Floats' Pencil for my left edge and over my longer lines shallow, I did set up an F1/Silvers float for the same line but it fell off the connector with the plummet attached so there is a nice float, 4ft of line and a plummet in front of peg 28 somewhere at 2+2 distance.
The next rig was for 2+3 in front where I would feed micros and 4mm pellets, the float was an RBS open water in 0.6g. I had a band on this rig, but I never picked it up all match.
The next rig was the same as the above but with a normal hook, Guru F1 pellet in size 18 my choice. This was for an area at 14m where I would be feeding groundbait and caster.
My side tray had micros, 4s, maggots, caster and some expanders. Plus a handful of  (unused) 6mm pellets for the band.

I did plumb an area off to my left in peg 29, but 15 or 20 minutes after the draw Rob Dodd turned up for the end peg advantage, he doesn't need any help, he is a tidy silvers angler.
On my right I had Mark Watts on peg 27. I could just about make out Paul Homewood opposite me but I could see Shawn Kittridge over on peg 39.

On the all-in I cupped 4 decent balls of groundbait on the long line and a pot of micros short, plus I threw some casters down to my left.
I began on the feeder for half an hour, only a couple knocks in that time, but Rob had maybe 5lb on the pole. Shawn too had began well.
It was around an hour for my 1st fish, a skimmer on the long pole line, this was around 6oz, but it was very slow going and it seemed that only Rob and Shawn were catching.
Oh I did have a carp on single maggot, I got it in, perhaps 16lb. It is great how much you can pull with light kit and not get busted.
A couple more carp for me, and Mark and even Rob got in on the act....the difference being that Rib would be getting silvers between the carp.
Mark struggled all match and ended up at the end of the match with 3 small silvers, so unlucky him.

I kept trying shallowing my rig as I was getting liners and bumped a couple foul hookers but to no avail. At the halfway stage I managed a proper skimmer of 2.5lb or so from my short line on expander, that was a one off, except for the odd rogue carp.
A switch to the feeder so I could have a cuppa surprised me when a couple of skimmers of 1lb each came within minutes of each other.

I would love to say that the last few hours were super productive but they were not, pretty much the whole lake switched off and except the odd eel and solitary skimmer it was the occasional roach occupying us all, well except Rob on peg 29 who despite losing a couple lumpy foul hooked skiimers was still putting the odd smaller one in the net.
The last hour did see me put another 1lb skimmer to my tally, caught down my left edge. Then a couple roach and a couple 6oz skimmers ended my match.
I reckoned that I had around 11lb and Doddy perhaps 19 to 20lb after his spurt in the opening hour.

I packed my kit up and waited for the scales. By the time pegs 21 to 67 had weighed there were several 8lb nets. My hard earned catch weighed in at 13lb 4oz. Quite happy with that really but I knew Rob had more and my 19lb 12oz guess was closer than his 15lb guess....he had 19lb 4oz.
I went and loaded my car before following the remainder of Brick's weigh in.
A quick look at the weight on my lake and Pete Cooke had 17lb 9oz from peg 38 that put me 3rd on the lake, happy with that.
A glance at the weights on Brick showed several double figure weights including 23lb 15oz to Kev Crouch on peg 7 and Rich Coles had 19lb 4oz from peg 5.
We were round on peg 13 to see Giffy have a nice net of fish which weighed 19lb exactly before Derek Beards had 20lb and that man John Fuidge was last to trouble the scales with a net of fish including a couple tench and a crucian, his winning net was 27lb 1oz. He did say he lost and foul hooked well over a dozen decent skimmers and that he could not figure the fish out and how to get them feeding better. But he had done enough.

Results:
1st, John Fuidge, 27-01. P17
2nd, Kev Crouch, 23-15. P7
3rd, Derek Beards, 20-09. P14

So a tricky day and I never got the lake I wanted in Brick but I was personally pleased with my weight and considering I didn't expect Tile to beat Brick.
Next up at the moment is the next Acorn Series round next weekend, no plans as yet for this weekend. But I bought me a ZT Pro so perhaps hook tying is the agenda.....that or Todber on Saturday.

Until then take care.
Lee

Easter 4 Day Weekend, Landsend, Sedges, Shiplate. 30/03/18 - 02/04/18

So the 4 day weekend has been and gone for another year, sadly we never saw the weather we wanted (well at least I wanted it kind of hot and sunny). But it was not as bad as the doom sayers predicted not a few weeks earlier, we didn't have a 3rd episode of the 'Beast from the East' nor was it a wash out.

Any way the Friday was spent in the company of my family at Tyntesfield House near Clevedon, that was nice, better in the summer no doubt. Being National Trust members is great and gets us out of the house when boredom sets in. After that it was burgers at the Bridge Inn then I went and had a quick look at the Charlie Barnes memorial match at Acorn, a silvers match, plenty of carp caught....the top 3 were taken by the Shipp's on the top lake.
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On to Saturday and I had booked into the Landsend match and the weather looked okay with very little in the way of rain predicted but the wind may have been pain, but generally it was ok.
We had 17 I think, so Lakes 2 and 3 were used, I didn't mind where I would be but I haven't been on a peg in the 20's for a long time, alas I drew the same peg as the last round of the winter series in peg 68. No pics sorry (actually no pics all weekend....) I remarked to Mark Walsh that he would catch a boat load of F1s from his peg 5 draw, he insisted he would catch skimmers....

I set up a shallow pellet rig for against the island, a depth pellet rig for the same spot and this rig also did down to the weed bed to my right. 
A meat rig for 6m off to my left and a light carp rig (heavy silvers?) for 5m in front.
For company I had Jim Jenner across on peg 41, he had Russ Peck further along from him on 46 (I think).
Anyway as the match goes, I wont go into much detail, I lost 4 foul hooked on the depth rig in the first 10 minutes or so but couldn't get any fish on the shallow rig, they seemed to just be mulling around all day.
I did start getting a few on the depth rig by the island, 8 or 9 carp and 3 small F1s by the half way stage. But the carp were small compared to Russ and Jim.
It slowed so I tried the meat line, this gave me 3 carp including my largest at 4lb.
Then for the last 90 minutes I focused on trying to catch some silvers as I was unsure how Mike Duckett was paying the pools, so at least I could try to cover my options as it seemed unlikely I would catch Jim and definitely I would not catch Russ.
I managed plenty of roach, a crucian and a few skimmers on the silvers (I fished caster or maggot over groundbait) but I did pick up a few carp there and also some carp by the weed bed where I hoped to get F1s (count here as silvers).
At the all out I had 18 or 19 carp and my clicker showed 53lb, plus perhaps 10 or 12lb of silvers. 

As it turned out Lake 2 was tricky as Steve Seager was top weight from peg 14, 54lb+. But Walshy had 23lb of F1s to win the Silvers from peg 5, Martin Pettifer had 18-09 of silvers from peg 11.
Jim weighed in first on lake 3 with 79lb, Russ then had 123lb (I told him he had 120lb as I had been watching...lol). The rest of the guys' were topped by 49lb then I was last to weigh and I had 18-02 of silvers and my carp, all 56-12 of them, pushed me up to 74-14 to give me 3rd overall and 3rd in the silvers and a nice pick-up.
Results:
1st peg 46 Russ Peck 123-13
2nd peg 41 Jim Jenner 79-02
3rd peg 68 Lee Williams 74-14
4th peg 14 Steve Seager 54-01
5th peg 62 Richard Lovering 49-02
6th peg 5 Mark Walsh 45-12
Silvers 
1st peg 5 Mark Walsh 23-08
2nd peg 11 Martin Pettifer 18-09
3rd peg 68 Lee Williams 18-02

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Sunday saw me covering at Sedges in the last round of the Silver League and I pulled out peg 7 on Brick Lake, not too bad really but thought I had my work cut out when I realised I had venue silvers expert Phil Clapp on peg 6 and my White Acres roomy, Jamie Parkhouse on my fave peg 8.
The wife was with me for this match, it was muddy, but she was happy enough and can take the banter.
On to the match, a small feeder was made up, a rig for banded 6mm pellet over 4s at 11m (fishless during the day), my usual meat rig for 6m (fishless for once), and a rig to fish at 13m in a couple spots (one groundbait, the other micros and caster). Oh and another rig that went fishless, that was nan edge rig and would double as a shallow rig at 13m.
Well the match was hard to say the least, the far side started well but slowed (except Jess Jordan) and other than 1 skimmer of 1lb at the halfway stage, the feeder was motionless, I did manage a handful of skimmers to 2lb on my groundbait line, including a couple foul hooked. I also had a tench on the micro/caster line after I potted the best part of a pint of caster in such was how slow it was going.
The odd roach was also added to my net but not many.
Jamie tipped back 2 decent skimmers/bream and a couple roach, maybe 7.5lb, before the all out.
Peg 9 had don't ok but said he was only getting smaller skimmers.
Phil on peg 6 had a couple tench and some decent skimmers and lost a proper skimmer late on, but I had one come off, we all lose fish. I banked on him beating me and also peg 9, so I figured no envelope.
During the course of the day all 4 of us (pegs 6, 7, 8 and 9) all had plenty of carp action, especially late on and especially Phil. Annoying but kind of fun at times.
Come the all out Phil said I was 3lb ahead of him, I laughed.
The weigh in was done and Eric Fouracre had 19lb from peg 1 then there were some nets to 12lb before Phil had 15lb-ish only for me to put 17lb  on the scales and peg 9 had around 13lb I think.
So I had won my section and another pick-up.
Actually Jess Jordan had 24lb from peg 13 to win the lake and match.
Tile Lake saw John Fuidge have top weight with 21lb or so and then weights tailed off a bit with 13lb maybe 2nd on the lake.
I think, not certain, that I was 5th on the day, but I was 3rd on the lake.

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Monday, well the weather forecasters are tits, they said it would be windy and rainy most of the day when I went to bed Sunday night, so a day at home was on the cards.
I woke to see the weather had changed and it looked predominantly dry for the day, but a breezy afternoon.
I was undecided what to do and eventually was persuaded to go to Shiplate, well I was going to be late arriving after only deciding to go 30 mins before the draw, so I rushed around sorting my kit and bait, loaded the car and me and the wife were on our way, 30 mins after the draw I had a pick of 2 pegs in the bucket, peg 6 and peg 12 were left, I ended up on the latter.
I rushed to set up but was almost done by the all in.
I wont bore you with the details as it was hard from peg 7 onwards with the top 3 spots from pegs 5 (empty peg 6 next to him), peg 1 and then peg 3. Ray Wickham won the silvers form peg 10.
I did manage to land 1 carp after 90 minutes, a 4lber on banded 6mm pellet over 4s, I did lose, probably foul hooked, during the day, well in the last 30 minutes.
I managed a few silvers on maggot over groundbait but I also had some come off, they may have cost me 2nd in the silvers, they may not have, I will never know but they felt decent. But I did beat few, so at least it proved it wasn't completely or only me that had a slow day.
But it is a great fishery that I don't get to fish too often, well maintained and very welcoming owners, I will try and get there a few times this year.
Results:
John Hawkins p5. 101-14
Julian Pinkett p1. 57-14
Mark Jones p3. 42-0
Silvers
Ray Wickham p10. 10-6
Ritchie Hawkins p8. 7-2.

So a nice 3 days fishing with a couple pick ups and a few bites if not some tricky fishing at times.

Next weekend I am at Acorn for the 1st round of the Spring/Summer Series on Saturday, there are some very good anglers fishing, but it is a nice fishery and am looking forward to it.

Sunday I am back at Sedges for Pawlett's Silvers match.

Until then, take care and have fun.

Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, Final Round. 10-12-17

The 6th and last round of this series was on this Sunday past and the weather had stored all it's energy for the first couple hours of the contest. Bloody cold temps and winds that anyone with a bit of sense would keep them at home....plus some rather heavy rain.

Well I arrived in sensible time, avoiding branches and flooded parts of roads on my trip over to Somerton to find that there were less than the expected amount of vehicles, a few guys hadn't bothered fishing (the pools for the last round paid before rnd 1) plus there were a few of us that would not want to go to our pegs in the conditions we faced. I left my kit in the car and headed for the draw after a natter to a couple guys.
Midway down the line I was for the draw and in my mitt stuck peg 87, along the Cary bank of Cary Lake with the wind coming into my from the 2 o'clock direction, carrying various sized bits of wood and trees.....oh and Trig's EVA bag went sailing up from one corner of the lake to the opposite pre-match.
My pre-match was not great, I decided to set up a little feeder plus a couple topkits with just 3 sections, which in itself was tricky to hold in the wind. But the forecast was for the wind to almost stop. I don't trust weather forecasts enough to believe that.
I took the bungees off the trolley and stood the rod bags up, turned around to grab my side tray and noticed it had blown over the otter fence...so I had to climb over and get that.
The next things to blow away for me was a bait tub of casters and my tub of prawns. Then my topkits went for a wander, then the 3 sections tried to make the same trip along the bank.

Viaduct Cary peg 87

Anyways I was soon settled and everything was bolted down so-to-speak.
I had Dave Chidzoy to my right and nobody around to my left until peg 94 which was off in the 11 o'clock direction from me. So a 3-peg section. I had my double or quits pound with Dave after he beat me in an earlier round. I could see Tony Rixon on peg 97 opposite me with loads of room.
My rigs were a DT F1/Silver for topkit, it was a 0.3g float and had 0.10 hooklength to a size 20 F1 hook. My 2nd rig was the same but in 0.4g.

The all-on sounded and I cupped 4 balls of groundbait to my right, 1 to the left and threw a few casters close. Starting on the feeder it took 20 minutes before I caught a roach of 1oz. No blank. Thankfully. A few more little roach followed and a 3oz skimmer, but it wasn't hectic. The only person catching seemed to be Tony over on 97.
After 45 minutes I went on the pole, started on the topkit, no bites, no surprise, so that was generally knocked on the head for the day. Switching between to two 'longer' lines I managed to pick up the odd roach to 3oz and after a couple hours I had about 25 roach and one 3oz skimmer.
It was about then that the winds dropped, but the rain was still cold and I could barely feel my hands, which is unlike me.

Dave had decided to get the rest of his pole out and set up a line around 13m out, so I decided to see how he fared as I didn't think the wind would stay light.
Well I continued to pick up roach on the 2 pole lines (and odd look on feeder), but over the space of 30 minutes or so Dave had 6 skimmers for around 2lb. So it was off my box and the sections to 13m came out. I used the topkit rig to plumb around in front and once happy I potted in 2 decent balls of groundbait with a few dead maggots and pinkies in.
I came back on the shorter 'long' lines and had a couple roach before trying the 13m line and I had indications immediately and I began to put the odd skimmer in the net, nothing bigger than 4oz, plus a few roach. But it was a positive sign,

The last couple of hours was pretty much spent long, but I wasn't getting as many fish as Dave I didn't think, but by topping up regularly, resting it for 5 minutes, then dropping back in I kept a few fish coming, but I just needed a decent fish of 2lb+ to help. I did bump a better fish and came back with a scale and slime, and the odd one fell off as they do, but it was a pleasant couple of hours catching a few small skimmers.
But at the all-out I figured Dave had double what I had. Tony had caught for most of the day, but wasn't in our section, peg 94 hadn't caught as much as us I didn't think.
I estimated Mr Chidzoy to have 11-12lb and me around 4.5-5lb perhaps.
It didn't take long to pack up and soon enough Matt was doing the weigh in. Gary O'Shea had 10lb of roach from peg 85. Trig had the same weight from p74 while Nicky Ewers (24lb) and Joe McMahon (15lb) were on pegs 77 and 78 respectively.
Dave weight 10lb something,  while my guesstimate was well out when I put 9lb 9oz on the scales, so that 30 minutes I watched Dave fishing long before I got my sections out of the bag probably cost me a bit of weight perhaps, but you never know.

Back to the car-park, after giving Dave his £2, it seemed it hadn't fished too bad with Nicky Ewers and Vince Brown (lodge p59) both having the top weight on the day with Tony's 18lb 3rd best.
Vince fed a couple pints of caster to catch his, as Trig did in earlier rounds, and again the fish came on later in the day for him.

Results:
1st = Vince Brown, p59. 28-08
1st = Nicky Ewers, p77 28-08
3rd Tony Rixon, p97, 18-00
4th Joe McMahon, p78, 15-07

League Standings
1st, Craig 'Trig' Edmunds, 7pts (drop a 3)
2nd, John Fuidge, 8pts (drop a 7, better weight)
3rd, Steve Jackson, 8pts (drop a 7, less weight)
4th, Gary O'Shea, 9pts (one of five on 9pts, better dropper/weight combo)

Me well I finished down in 34th, which given at least a couple of my draws and it being my 1st attempt I am not too dissatisfied with to be honest and I shall most likely give it another bash in 2018.
A couple of pick-ups along the way did soften the blows from earlier rounds
Well done to the framers, especially the man-of-the-moment, Mr Edmunds. He cannot do much wrong and he has proven what a quality angler he is.

Next up I have a knock-up Xmas match on Trinity Wildmarsh on Saturday, it will be hard, very hard I would expect, but it is Christmas and should be a giggle.

Until then, take care and have fun.
Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, 5th Round, 26-11-17

The penultimate round of this popular series has now been and gone, the last round is in a couple of weeks.

Anyways I didn't arrive too early, got a couple miles from home and the wife called to let me know I had left my waterproofs at home.....Numpty!!
Once at the venue I had a quick chat with a few guys, Matt Williams and Myself convinced we would again draw less than favourable and with the poxy wind blowing rather cool a draw with the wind off my back would be nice. The weather was due to be dry pretty much all day, but Mr Long said we would be fishing 10:30 til 15:45 due to the light fading and the rain was due at 4pm........

Into the draw and out comes peg 97 on the diagonal bank of Cary, reasonably happy with that area, at least I was on Cary as it does seem the most consistent of the 3 lakes, but individually Lodge seems to produce the winner at the moment, but that is the trickiest lake I think. I still haven't been on Campbell. Maybe next time?
For company I had Paddy Curry behind me on Lodge peg 66 (ouch!), Steve Kedge on peg 96 but not in my section, luckily as that peg seems to be in the top 2 in section each round.On peg 98 was Clive Barrow then Martin Rayet on p99.

Peg 97, Cary Lake. 

Bait for the day was pinkies and maggots both live and dead. Some casters and some corn. I mixed up 1kg of BMG groundbait as I didn't want the temptation to be too positive given the colder few days we have had coupled with the rains we had overnight.
I actually set up a feeder, which I chucked out maybe for 20 minutes in total and went fishless.
A waggler for around 25m out, I would feed corn for that line as the wind was pushing in to me so casters were ruled out.
Lastly 2 pole rigs, a DT F1/silvers in 0.3g to fish at 2+2 in front using small amound of groundbait and loose fed casters. The 2nd rig was using a 0.4g DT Floats Jabba pattern, this would cover 2 lines, the 1st at 14m in front where groundbait and dead pinkies would form the bulk of the feed initially.
The same rig was also used at 11m off slightly right where I fed dead maggots and caster quite heavily via a cup as eels and perch could show.

The match began and 3 balls of groundbait went out long, a full pot of caster/dead maggot went on the 11m line and a gold ball sized helping of neat groundbait went in on the short line. I didn't feed the waggler line but chose to spend 20 minutes on the feeder where I planned to fish the waggler.
No bites for this 20 minute spell though Martin and Kedgey started to get a few small roach and odd small skimmer in this spell.
A quick look on the waggler, but the wind got up, so on the pole, starting short, no bites in 10 minutes so looking over the long groundbait line. A couple little roach and a 6oz skimmer were soon in the net and blank avoided. It then went quiet for a while but Martin on peg 99 was catching consistently, nothing big (he did hook a couple carp and land 1) but regular spells of catching well. Kedgey was also getting a few fish on his pole lines. Elsewhere everyone was struggling.

So fast forward a couple of hours and I had been picking the odd fish from both the long 14m line and the caster line, I had also started to feed a few pieces of corn out for the waggler as I expected that to be the area to produce a better stamp of skimmer. I suppose I had 2.5lb in the net at this point, Martin maybe 6 or 7lb and Kedge about 5lb. Clive, to my left was really struggling and only had a couple roach to show.
It was 1pm when I had my 1st skimmer, around 1.5lb from the long groundbait line, double caster the bait fished off bottom, as like I had last week I was getting indications and liners, so I stick on a better bait and it went under right away. Sadly no more followed. A few more small balls of groundbait went in on that spot again and I switched to the waggler as Kedgey was getting a few fish, 6oz skimmers mostly but had a couple 1lb fish from what I could make out.

15 minutes of thrashing the water with the wag and missing a few bites I connected with a nice fish and soon a 3lb skimmer was netted, Steve lost one of a couple pounds at the same time.
Again no decent fish followed so I stuck with the pole for the last hour or so. I knew I was a long way behind Martin on peg 99, I couldn't see anyone in the section past him so didn't have a clue how I was doing in the scheme of things, but Gabe had gone home and there was a fair amount of grumblings about how hard it was fishing.
20 minutes to go and the rain had already set in, it was not very nice, quite heavy and bloody cold, but I could see the odd bubble over the long line and I suspected an eel to be honest but a couple 8oz skimmers were netted and a couple roach before I bumped a couple better fish, possibly big skimmers as a nice amount of laccy came out. Luckily I had another opportunity in the last minutes as a 1.5lb skimmer was netted. I reckoned to myself I had around 10lb and Martin must have 17lb maybe. But I had more than Clive who tipped back, so at least I was not last in section. From what I could tell Mr Kedge had 15lb and looked to have won that section as it was only Nicky Ewers over on 87 had really caught any amount of fish, similarly Jacko on peg 78 had netted some nice skimmers.

I packed up, well started to, in the rain, when the scales arrived. Martin had weighed 16lb but the rest of my section had struggled to catch with Roly's 10lb next best. Thankfully my weigh tipped the scales to 12lb 3oz and put me 2nd in the section. Steve Kedge did win his section but I was a little surprised to see him total 12lb 15oz, I was sure he had more than that. Nicky Ewers had 12lb 3oz to come 2nd in that section. Jacko won the 3rd section on Cary with 13lb 8oz.

Results:
1. Gary O’Shea - 20lb - peg 70
2. Craig Edmunds - 18lb 12oz - peg 59
3. Gary Webber - 17lb 14oz - peg 129
4. Martin Rayet - 16lb - peg 99
5. Mike Nicholls - 15lb 2oz - peg 132
6. John Fuidge - 13lb 10oz - peg 110

So although a tough day, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the last round in 2 weeks. Well done to Mr Consistent Gary O'Shea on the win. He caught mostly on waggler and caster I believe.

Trig (Craig Edmunds) is leading the series with a maximum 4 points (dropper is a 3!!) after a section win and 2nd in the match. But a couple of others have an outside chance of overtaking him, although in-realistic at this stage.......but you never know.
For full sheets and standings etc take a look at the Viaduct Facebook page.

Next week I have the first round of the Landsend Winter League, another 1st attempt at the series for me and it can get really hard there at times, so maybe I will draw a bit better than my draw hand has been, generally, in 2017.

Until then, have fun.

Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, 4th Round. 12-11-17

Another round of this series came and went on Sunday, between my pants drawing hand, my obvious lack of capability to catch a few decent skimmers at the venue in comparison to those who fish there regularly and the fact the quality of the angler is pretty high means I am languishing near the bottom of the league.

Anyways back to Sunday, after the usual chatter and putting the world to rights I was discussing where I fancied, well Cary will do for me, preferably on the Campbell bank as the wind would be off my back over there. Otherwise Campbell's pegs 123-127.
Lodge, well if you are on the decent skimmers which usually inhabit the rope pegs and back towards the car park. There also doesn't seem to be the numbers of 3-6oz skimmers that Cary is producing this season, but maybe the roach could show?
Well I did get on Lodge....surprise. Peg 68, the next peg along from where I drew in round 1. Not the best area going by weights over the last few rounds. But you never know.
For company I had Dave Chidzoy on 69, he used to avoid silvers, now he loves them and is a dab hand at catching them too. Another decent angler was down on corner 66, not a great peg, that was Sam Powell. Opposite me was another decent silvers angler and one who I could gauge myself against, Steve Kedge. I could also see Trig, who had won 2 of the previous rounds, he was down on peg 59 and that's not a bad peg for a formidable angler.

No pics of the peg, forgot to take some.
So to keep things short and sweet I will give a basic run down of the day.
I fed 2 13m lines, one with a couple balls of groundbait, one with a mix of caster and dead reds (no bites here all day).
A short 2+2 line was fed with a ball of groundbait holding dead reds and lastly I fed a margin line for roach...........that line never gave a bite all day.
A waggler was set up for corn or caster at around 18/20m.

It took 20 mins to get my 1st fish, a 2oz roach from the long groundbait line and then a 4oz skimmer followed soon after. But that first 20 minutes before I caught my first fish saw me lose 3 foul hooked decent skimmers, that probably didn't help my peg for the day.
Dave had a couple skimmers on a small feed cast along the rope, something he managed on and off during the day along with some on the pole caught fish to 2lb-ish.

The following 5hrs was very slow, I managed 5 or 6 small skimmers off the longer groundbait line, 1 on the waggler and a 8oz hybrid on the waggler also.  I also had a few roach off the long pole line, mostly on the drop. And I did bump a couple better fish during the afternoon. But I never felt for one minute I was going anywhere.
Sam on peg 66 did manage a couple decent skimmers but had a fair few small skimmers and totalled 10lb 8oz come the all out.
Kedgey was struggling too and his bit of luck came when he had a decent skimmer foul hooked and never came off near the end of the match. He ended with 6lb, the 2 to his left had 6lb 11oz and 6lb 12oz respectively.
Talking of being a pain in the butt to land, Trig hooked a huge common or around 22lb and couldn't land it in his silvers net.....it didn't stop him winning the match after a slow-ish 3.5hrs. He ended up with 28lb on the long pole using caster over groundbait.

My bit of luck came with 30 minutes to go when I had a decent eel on my short line, probably 1.5lb, it was an arse to land though. My total at the weigh in was a not too weighty 5lb. Second last in section. I don't think I would have managed the 23lb needed to win the section. 22lb was second and 13lb (to Dave) was 3rd in the section and scooped the section money by double default.

Results:
1. Craig Edmunds - 28lb - peg 59
2. Stu White - 23lb 2oz - peg 70
3. Gary O’Shea - 22lb 6oz - peg 73
4. Matt Parsons - 18lb 11oz - peg 98
5. Nigel Easton - 18lb 3oz - peg 100
6. Paul Greenwood - 18lb 2oz - peg 129
7. Alvin Jones - 18lb 1oz - peg 123

So Lodge gave the top 3 overall but it was a struggle for most, the cold northerly/north-westerly didn't help matters and by 3pm it went noticeably colder. But I am learning each round which isn't always a bad thing.
Trig fed quite a decent amount towards the 2nd half of the match and maybe I was a little too negative, who knows, and again I never set a small feeder up, maybe I should?

Next round in a couple weeks, I must be due a go on Campbell (not pegs 130, 131, 132 please)...

This Sunday I am at Sedges, covering in Matt Culpin's series. On Brick, looking forward to that....I think. Some new rigs needed to be made.

Until then, have fun.
Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, 3rd Round, 29-10-17

3rd round of this series was last Sunday. A dry and bright day forecast with westerly/north-westerly winds, no doubt making float spotting tricky at time.
I was hoping to get on Cary, maybe Campbell, but thankfully I got my wish. Peg 85 on Cary fell into my hand, nice enough peg, tricky section. Plenty of cover guys today across the board.
My section consisted of me on peg 85, Robin Guy on peg 81, peg 80 had Martin Rayet, 78 was Trig, 77 was occupied by Vince Brown. Lastly on peg 74 was Mr Gabe Skarba. No such thing as a weak section in this series.

peg 85, Viaduct Cary

For company I had a good young angler in Geraint Powell on 86, he had Mike Nicholls on peg 87 to his left.
Waggler was set up first to chuck corn to around 20m. 4 pole rigs, a topkit rig for down by the tree to my left using caster over caster. A rig for 13m slightly off to the right where I could actually see the float most of the time, not all of it, I would use maggots or caster over groundbait in that spot.
Lastly I made up a pellet rig (last pellet match before the 'ban' comes into play), this would be for 11m in front, but couldn't see the float at any point in the awkward light so knocked that on the head. So I used it for 2+2 slightly left just off the tree using 4mm hard pellet over micros and odd 4mm as feed. Lastly a rig for 2+2 down the edge to my right.

The match began with me feeding 4 balls of So Simple BMG at 13m, with a few dead reds and casters in. 1/2 a pot of micros at 2+2 and a half pot of caster under the tree, I also wanted to loose feed caster to my right at 2+2 down the edge so a few were lobbed in that direction.
I started on the wag, no bites in 10 mins, but Geraint was getting small skimmers right away.
Over the groundbait and after 5 minutes I had a couple 3-4oz skimmers and kept them coming for 15 minutes before they stopped. Another helping of groundbait went in before trying the other lines, only 1 small roach and a small skimmer fell to the caster under the tree, a 2oz skimmer on the short pellet line.

After an hour I had maybe a dozen fish for 1lb or so.
The following 4hrs went slowly for me, I could hear Geraint catching well but I was struggling as was 81 and most of the diagonal bank from what I could see.
I would get spurts of small skimmers, no quality, the largest maybe 10oz at a push. So going in to the last 60 minutes I hoped for a few lumpy skimmers, but this never happened either, though I did lose a foul hooked skimmer of about 2lb. I initially thought it was a carp and pulled too hard.
The right edge never gave me a bite and all I could hook at this point under the tree was carp, similarly the last 4 fish I hooked on the long pole were carp and another at 2+2 where I had swapped to fishing maggot on the hook.
At the all-out I reckoned I had 9lb or so and was miles behind peg 86, but he wasn't in my section. I would guess that 74 to 80 had done miles better and 81 probably had over taken me with a few late skimmers. So last in section was on the cards.
As we packed up I thought that I pretty much fished like a tit for 4hrs of the 6, over fed the peg and should have really opened a new line at around 8m, but I am too stubborn at times......one day I will get it right, but I am enjoying this learning curve. Roll on the next round in a couple weeks.

Matt came and weighed me in, 11lb 8oz was my dire tally.
Geraint had 29lb something, I thought he must have 30lb!! He confirmed my thoughts I had fed too much when he told me how he had not fed much and figured the fish would drift off but come back a few minutes later, so well done that man.
The rest of my section weighed, from 74-80, 21lb, 31lb, 32lb, 23lb, 14lb and then me. Trig and Vince were 1st and 2nd in the match from their pegs each side of the fallen tree.

Results:

1. Craig Edmonds 32-14-0 peg 78
2. Vince Brown 31-0-0 peg 77
3. Stu White 30-09-0 peg 96
4. Paul Faiers 30-06-0 peg 123
5. Geraint Powell 29-02-0 peg 86
6. Gary O’Shea 28-02-0 peg 56

Of all the 51 anglers, the majority had double figures, so it fished pretty well. (full weigh sheets on Mike Nicholls' blog and Viaduct's Facebook pages).

Next up for me is this Sunday, covering in Matt Culpin's series at Landsend on either lake 1 or 2. Not fished there for a long while so will see how it goes, but it is unlikely I will over-feed this match!!

Until then, take care.
Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, Round 2. 15-10-17

Second round of this popular series. I arrived early enough but somehow, after a chat with John Fuidge and then Matt Williams the draw was underway. I didn't want Lodge, simples. I wouldn't mind Campbell but would like Cary....please, pretty please!!

Into the tin, halfway along the queue and I pulled out Cary, yay....peg 80....not so yay. Matt drew a nice peg in 115 on Campbell. My peg, well it was in with 74 (good peg), 77 (in-form good peg), 78 (decent), 81 (better than 80) and 85 (worth a nice weight).
Well I had a job to do. Peg 80 is a shallow peg, probably a foot or 18" shallower than 78 to my right. It isn't the best silvers peg on the lake, maybe the worst, but fish have fins and it has produced occasional decent nets of skimmers and odd perch. Steve Long told me that it was deeper in a couple areas along the spit and could produce on the waggler (as Jason King had an upper 20lb net on a recent Pawlett match there).  For company I had Jess Jordan on p78, he had Gabe on 77 to his right. Behind me, ish, was Chris Davis on 116 and Dan Squire on 118. But really it was only Jess I could speak to.

Cary Peg 80, Viaduct

I set up a waggler, but never used it, simply because I had the wind, irregularly, blowing into my peg, so feeding would not work. Plus the light conditions were poor when the ripple was on the water.
4 pole rigs made up, all on 0.10 hooklengths and 18 hooks.
2 DT Floats pencils in 0.4g, the 1st for 2+2 for 6mm meat in front, the second was for expander or dead maggots over micro at 14m, off in the 2 o'clock direction. Also for over groundbait at the same distance directly in front.
2 DT Slims in 0.3g were also assembled, one for along the spit at 14m, where it was a few inches deeper than anywhere else in the peg, the second was for down to my left on the topkit, but this went out of the window after 15 minutes once the wind picked up and filled my left edges with leaves!! Both of these lines would be loose fed with caster and dead maggot.

At the all-in a full cup of micros went in on that line, 4 balls of groundbait and dead maggots went in on the long line in front. Some meat and loose groundbait went in short.
I started on the topkit, but after 10 minutes I had no bites. Meanwhile Jess already had a decent skimmer of a few pounds in the net.
So up along the spit and toss potting casters, this gave me a couple small roach and a 3oz skimmer, but leaves were a real problem, dragging the rig out and missed bites pretty much guaranteed me some float foliage. But I stuck with it for a while and put the odd fish in the net, only small roach and odd 3oz skimmer. Nothing of quality.

An hour in and I had maybe 1lb. A look over the micros never gave me a bite, in fact it never gave me a silver fish all match, just hooking 3 carp over the spot.
Over the short groundbait line and a few roach and small skimmers were put into the keepnet, but it wasn't quick enough and I was not getting any quality 6oz+ fish.
So out long and I was getting more skimmers than roach, but they were only 3oz versions of the 2lb ones I wanted. So I upped the feed but this made little difference. I did hook a carp out on this line, I hooked 3 from this spot during the match.
Back along the spit and it was still only small roach, odd 3oz skimmer and a solitary 4oz perch.

It was soon the halfway stage and I reckoned on 4lb in the net, it wasn't going great, but Jess wasn't getting much, he had landed a decent perch and odd decent roach, but he was mostly getting plippy roach and 3oz skimmers. Oh and he too had started hooking the odd carp.
It wasn't long after this point in the match where I hooked 6 carp, all on single dead maggot, along the spit, thankfully the hook would pull out easily enough. So I pretty much decided to abandon this spot, but cupped in a pot of caster and maggot just in case I chose to try there late on in match.
The following couple hours was mostly spent swapping between the groundbait line at 14m in front and the short meat/groundbait line. I managed mostly roach and 3oz skimmers but a couple 6-8oz skimmers over the meat line helped, but I was certain to be last in section, as expected really. The light caused by the sun and ripple was not great and seeing the float was tricky most of the time, unless it went calm

Into the last hour and with perhaps 7lb in the net, the light was awful and the leaves too were both a pain in the butt up until this point, but the last hour was relatively calm and the leaves less problematic. I had a couple looks along the spit but the roach were still there, but put any more feed in and the carp returned. I wish these roach wanted to come short as I would have been happy to catch them, but they wouldn't really move closer in numbers.
About 5 seconds before the all out I hooked a nice skimmer which was netted after the whistle and was my best fish of the day at around 1.5lb-2lb. I guessed I had around 8-9lb.
I had hooked 16 carp during the day, none on meat randomly, all of them hooked on single or double dead maggots.

The scales came and went, peg 85, Joe McMahon, had 21lb I think, peg 81, venue silvers ace Stu White had 15lb (not 9lb), I managed a level 14lb which I was pleased enough with. Jess had 11lb before Gabe had 25lb and Martin Rayet on peg 74 had around 30lb. So 5 points for me and series over realistically. But I shall try and do my best in the next 4 rounds.....especially at the draw.

Results:
1. John Fuidge - 34lb 8oz - peg 96
2. Ricky Mills - 31lb 13oz - peg 97
3. Martin Rayet - 30lb 3oz - peg 74
4. Bob Gullick - 28lb 1oz - peg 100
5. Gabe Skarba - 25lb 7oz - peg 77

The full results can be found here or on Tony Rixon's blog.
There were 17 weights over 20lb today, but a lot of carp problems, especially on Campbell where some hooked over 25 during the day.

Not sure where I am next weekend, maybe viaduct, maybe todber, maybe a pleasure day with a good mate.
Otherwise it is back to Viaduct for round 3 in a fortnight.

Until then, take care,
Lee

Viaduct Silvers League, Round 1. 01-10-17

My first attempt at this popular series at the very popular Viaduct complex, with around 50 quality anglers taking part I know it will be hard enough to come 2nd last let alone get in the top 30. So my aim is to beat one......haha

51 fish this year, spread over Campbell, Cary and Lodge lakes. With sections of 6 or 7 you need at least 3 or 4 section wins to get in the top ten I would say.
On to today, I was in the queue with fellow debutant Matt Williams chatting away and I commented I would like to be on Cary as it seems the most consistent at the moment and 10-15lb is capable from every peg I feel. I didn't want lodge I said, especially not peg 66 or 53, not the best 2 pegs at all.
So hand in tub, out comes peg 66 for me, Matt next, he pulled 53. So much for beginners luck!!

I got to my peg and the water was black with carp from 3lb up to 20lb, not just my peg but most of them, but it was worst up the end I was. Anyways I had Tom Thick across on 63 and he had Glen Calvert and Gary O'Shea to his left, but Tom was the 1st person in my 7 peg section, so really we had the rough draw. I had Dan Squire behind me and shipping back and landing net useage was a touch awkward, but we coped.
I decided against worms today after seeing all the carp, so my bait tray was casters, a few maggots and some 6mm meat along with a couple kilos of groundbait. I also had some micros with me and I was undecided on whether to use them.

P66 on Lodge Lake, Viaduct

3 rigs made, a topkit for left and right, a 0.2g DT Floats pencils. A rig, 0.3g F1/Silvers pattern for 6mm meat over groundbait at 6m in front. Lastly a 12xno11 float for 13m in front for caster/maggot over groundbait and this rig was also used off the tree to my left using maggot over micros.
All lines and laccy were 0.14>0.10 or 0.08 and middy solids in 4-6 for the edges with roach in mind and the other 2 were middy solid 5-8.

I could go into how excellent the day was for me, but it really was a hard slog for most on Lodge.
I caught the odd roach and very small skimmer on both groundbait lines, there was lots of 1/2oz roach up in the water with odd better fish but these were too small to target and the better fish swirled irregularly , but I was apprehensive on setting up a shallow rig simply die to the amount of carp in front of me.
I tried the micros line a couple of times, each time resulted in carp being hooked, so I soon knocked that on the head.
The margins never gave me a fish all day, something that I would have put down as a banker, but these days happen. So it was a matter of hoping for a decent 1lb-4lb skimmer every now and then from either of the 2 groundbait lines. This never occurred and it was mostly the odd 1-3oz roach with the very occasional 4oz skimmer.

Tom Thick opposite me was also struggling and until he managed a few decent skimmers in a 20 minute spell late on I was probably just ahead of him. The others on his bank looked like they were doing ok, but I couldn't see or hear much from my side of the lake.
I did get 3 net skimmers, maybe 8oz each in the last hour but it was not very good really and I expected me and Tom to be last 2 in our 7 peg section.

Anyways after 6hrs the all out was called and I reckoned on 4lb-ish or bits and bobs. I reckoned Tom had 9lb and the rest of that bank were into double figures to perhaps 17lb, but was hard to tell,
I packed up and waited for the scales. A quick check on a couple other guys in my section and the most anyone would admit to was 11lb, Matt Williams even packed up and didn't weigh in off 53.

Behind me on Cary, Dan and Sam Powell to his left had a great peg to peg battle and bith would hav close to 30lb each. Most people had a few bites on the lake and the weights at the end showed everyone had over 11lb, good fishing.
The scales arrived at me and Tom had weighed 9lb 2oz. My 4lb or so actually weighed 8lb 8oz so I was only a couple of my 'bumped' fish off his weight, but to be fair he bumped a couple and we both had baby roach fall off shipping back throughout the day.
I followed the scales a couple pegs and Rob Eagle had 6lb 4oz, then Nigel Easton 11lb. So I wasn't last in section, result!!

I loaded my car and had a quick update from other guys and rumour was Trig (Craig Edmunds) had won from peg 123 and Campbell with 39-something but it was close as Gary Webber (p115) also had 39lb+. Some of the guys were happy with their day and others less so, even with 17lb coming last in the 1st section on Campbell...

Results:
1. Craig Edmunds - 39lb 12oz - peg 123
2. Gary Webber - 39lb 2oz - peg 115
3. Ziggy Slowinski - 37lb 6oz - peg 126
4. Tony Rixon - 36lb 3oz - peg 94
5. Sam Powell - 35lb 8oz - peg 98
6. Chris Davis - 35lb 2oz - peg 77

In all there was 10 weights from Cary and 10 from Campbell over 20lb, good fishing. Top weight on Lodge was 17lb.

All scores and sheets can be seen on Here or probably on Mr Rixon's or Mr Nicholl's blogs at some point.
Me, well I was 4th in section, which from my draw I was pleased enough with. Maybe I could have got another point, but always 'maybe'.
Next round in a couple of weeks.

Until then, Take Care.
Lee

Catch-Up....Mid August til End of Sept

Following on from my last blog, Tony's Float match at Sedges. I have not had the time, or inclination to get back to writing a blog each week, life issues and a much needed rest from it has suited me.
But a quick round up of the last 6 weeks or more is a pointer, I hope, for me, to get back into the swing of things.

Anyways. We had a weeks family holiday down at White Acres on Bank Holiday week, I fished the 3 matches there during the week. The Monday gold match on Twin Oaks saw me pick a less-than-good peg, peg 1. I managed a few late on and just missed out on a pick-up.
The rover saw me sit on Acorn and it never really got going, I couldn't find any carp at all. I ended up 21st. But I think that only 3 or 4 half decent carp from a top 4 finish, around 15lb.
Friday's Bolingey match put me on peg 16, an ok peg, but although I had a few carp, 14 or 15 of the smallest carp the lake holds and chucked back around 60lb.

Into Sept and I fished Todber for Pawlett's Day-Out, the whole complex switched off and I drew ok in 44, no island chuck, but had a reasonably enjoyable day and 40-something pounds. Lots of bites there, nice fishing even on the less-than-good days.
The following day I guested on PSV's match at Viaduct on Campbell, I drew 132. Didn't want to fish for carp, but it is not a great silvers peg. Had 4 carp in 4 drops on 4 different rig/lines. But tried to get some decent skimmers and tench. Didn't have any tench and strung a few skimmers and roach together for 4th in the silvers. 19lb 6oz I weighed and lost a few late 'jumpers' in the last 15 minutes. Mark Radford won overall and Matt Williams won the silvers with 25lb.

A Thursday Viaduct Cost-Cutter, after a week not fishing,  saw me fish peg 99 on Cary, I went for silvers but found no quality skimmers or tench. 15lb or so of palm sized skimmers and roach was nowhere overall, but was 3rd on the lake in the silvers and missed a pick-up by 1 place.
The following day I went to Summerhayes, the wife tagged along to keep me company, but she slept...It was a silvers match, but I managed about 40 carp on the light kit. I did scrape 9lb something for again 1 out of the money (a few roach that fell off cost me).

Saturday the 23rd saw me (and Mrs) head to Todber, a slow start for carp, for most people really, saw me spend too long fishing for them throughout the day from my peg, peg 61 on Hillview. Fished for the silvers on and off, more so later on in the match. I put 16lb+ in the net and yet again 1 place off an envelope. 2nd on Hillview in the silvers. I did manage 35lb of carp as well, my 61lb was not too bad in the scheme of things.

The 24th, last Sunday, I had a Pawlett match at Viaduct. Cary and Campbell.....wanted the latter, got the former. Didn't fancy my peg, peg 85 for either a silvers or carp placing. So a day of faffing around saw me land 2 carp in the last hour, 18lb. But I put some silvers in the net on and off, between the times I tried for a carp as only 2 guys I could see were getting them. I had 23lb of roach and skimmers short and 3rd in the silvers with Cary giving the top-3 in the silvers (paid one only). Shawn Kittridge won the silvers with 31lb mostly on 6mm pellet over 4's from peg 78. The top-2 overall came from Campbell, which never gave much in the way of silvers.

So that leaves me to this point in time. After a frustrating few weeks where I haven't had my mind in the game properly, I do hope to get back into a clearer head situation and get back to my simple basics.

This Sunday sees me fishing the 1st round of Viaduct's Silvers League. I have never fished this series and it has 54 of the area's best anglers taking part and me.........My aim is to finish 54th or better!!

Until next time, take care.
Lee

Pawlett Silvers Final, Durleigh Reservoir. 6th August 2017

The yearly match where the 16 qualifiers, those who had topped the silvers weights in each match (even by default), have their match to become the club's Silvers Champion.
As in last year's match it was held on the local reservoir, Durleigh. A cracking piece of water of 80 acres, plenty of bream and roach, silver bream, perch and rudd, oh and a decent head of carp (don't count in this match).

As usually it was a strong line up fishing, some tidy silvers anglers. Vic Bush, John Fuidge and Eric Fouracre to name but 3, but every one of us had a chance.
Recent matches on the venue had shown that in a few weeks the bream weights had fallen somewhat since Mark Bartlett did 110lb a few weeks back. They had also been a bit patchy, but the end pegs and the point were still the better spots.
The whip weights had been a bit patchy but a few upper 20lb nets had been had. The inconsistency, in my opinion, has been due to the fact that the water level has been kept high and was several feet, a few metres in distance, higher than normal levels at this time of year.

Anyways back to the day, I had the wife with me and the weather looked somewhat better than the last time she came along (Acorn Series last match). I chatted to a couple people and paid my pools.
As for the draw, I wanted, ideally to be down in the shallows, further up the ressie, as I am more a whip angler than a feeder chucker. I fancied that end to produce more whip fish and the near end more feeder fish. I drew around 5th in the queue and peg 3 stuck to my hand, not my choice but a reasonably decent peg......for someone who likes feeder fishing, ho-hum.
Actually years ago I enjoyed it, fishing up the res, on the Huntspill and some of the local club waters. I did ok, but commies came along, I drifted away from matches and my feeder fishing became, well, obsolete almost.

I got to my peg and watched the water, hoping to see plenty of small fish topping. They weren't but the odd dimple and I saw 1 or 2 pike meant there may be some whip fish about.
I mixed up my groundbait, 2kg of Fishmeal Lake and 1kg of Sweet Fishmeal F1, plus some Sensas Roach to add weight. I wetted 2pts of micros with plenty of liquid additives for the method feeder.
I had a few pints of caster, 1/2pt maggots, a tub of worms for the hook and an array of wafters/pellets/boilies for the method hookbait. I also had 3 pints of hemp.

3 feeder rods assembled, 1 with a standard open end feeder at around 40 turns, a method feeder to fish at 70 turns and an open-ender for the same distance.
2 whips made up, a 3.5m and a 4m version. The 3.5m rig was a DT Pencil, 0.2g to fish off bottom in around 4.5ft of water (the shallows would have 2.5ft), the 4m rig was a 0.4g DT Chimp style float, this would be for on the deck. Both rigs were set on 0.14 mainline and 0.10 hooklength to a size 18 in a b611 pattern (4m rig) and b911 with a band for caster (3.5m rig).

Peg 3 at Durleigh Reservoir

For company I had Mr Bush on peg 2, Steve Fouracre on peg 1, and Mike Davis, who I couldn't see further along on peg 4.
The all in was called and a couple balls of groundbait on the whip line and a dozen or so feeders of bait on both lines, groundbait on the shorter feeder line, micros on the long line.
I began on the whip and had fish right away, but only 1oz roach and rudd. After half an hour or so I switched to the feeder as the little fish on the whip were relentless.
Vic had landed a couple skimmers on the long range method line and Steve I thing had one shorter.
20 minutes of the feeder saw only a liner for me, so back on the whip, again only 1oz fish with the odd 2 or 3oz 'bonus'. You need 3-4oz+ fish to compete on the reservoir most of the time.

I kept plugging away, spending 20 mins or so on the feeder every now and then, sometimes chucking the feeders out every minute to keep the feed going in. The whip line was still mostly little fish.
I had my 1st skimmer after 2hrs, a 2lber on the method, but it was a loner. But I felt I was maybe spending too long on the feeder without response, but the guys to my right were getting a few.
My 2nd came around an hour later, another 2lb fish on the method, but I wasn't getting indications.

So at the halfway stage I had 2 skimmers on the method and perhaps 3lb on the whip, I had hooked a couple lumpy perch on the whip but the hook pulled each time, annoying and maybe costly. But that's what you risk when fishing flick-tips, but for me the flick-tip outweighs laccy if catching well with fish to 4oz.
Vic and Steve had around 10 skimmers and bream each, so maybe 20-25lb each. I couldn't see anyone else to be accurate on what was being caught, but a couple walkers said most were struggling, so I pretty much decided to stay on the whip, only stopping to put some bait out with a few feeder full and have the odd 10 minute 'look'.

The wife's view of my peg...

I altered my feeding on the whip as it seemed the more caster I fed, the smaller the fish got, so I upped the groundbait levels and fed hemp more, only feeding caster when bites slowed.
I was swapping regularly with the shallow rig and deep rig, often coinciding with pike activity, when I had a pike in the area I would drop to the deck and I began to get better fish, mostly 4oz silver bream but the odd similar sized roach and perch too. I was even getting fish really shallow at 8 inches, but found 15" more productive with hittable bites, just the fish were strangely smaller, usually the better fish come shallowest. Vic and Steve had stopped catching and could see me catching and a few comments were forth coming, but I knew I was well behind their nets. Mike Davis though was catching netters on the whip, I could see the splashes regularly under the trees. He'd been doing well all day I believe.

90 minutes left and I needed a call of nature, so I lobbed the method out and got off the box...Back on my box it wasn't long before the tip twitched, and again, so I struck and a solid thump on the end.....
A nice bream of 4-5lb was plodding in and it was around 15m out when the poxy hook pulled....bollocks. But this happens and I don't let it get to me, but I was a touch gutted. I gave the feeder another, fishless 15 minutes. So going into the last hour of the six allotted, I had probably spent 2.5hours or more on the feeder for 2 skimmers, 1 liner and 1 lost bream.
I decided to stick with the whip for the last hour, in a bid to increase the size of fish I tried mixing my groundbait into a slop to cloud the water, last chance really.
The final 60 minutes flew by, but I saw Steve land a couple lumpy bream and a couple skimmers, so maybe 10lb. Vic had a couple and added maybe 6lb or more in that spell. There seemed no routine to how they caught during the day, it was odd to see as both are capable guys, even they said they couldn't figure it properly.
I managed to get among some silver bream and would get a fish a chuck, but the average size was a little better than the previous 5hrs. The slop worked well.  The all-out was called.

A quick glance in my net and it looked like 12-13lb maybe....well I am pants at guessing my silvers nets!!

I packed up and waited for the scales, by the time they got to me we had lots of 11lb nets and Ziggy with 28lb. Mike Davis has 32lb and then I tipped my fish on to the scales and it went 24lb 7oz.....12lb my arse (or similar) was mentioned at least once....
I knew Vic and Steve had more than me, I was expecting them to put 90lb between them on the sheet, actually Vic had 30lb and Steve 42lb. So that put me 5th on the day, and a quick glance saw me have the default section win as Steve, Mike and Vic were 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. So that lost bream and 2 lumpy perch (plus the few bumped fish...which I can live with) possibly cost me 2nd as that would have been 8-9lb or so. But that's fishing.
Would I have caught 35lb on the whip if I hadn't bothered with the feeder? I really don't know, I would think so, but only if those better fish turned up earlier, but all ifs and buts..!!

We congratulated the winners and monies given out. I had a few chats with how their matches went and it was generally seen that the feeder was patchy and that the whip had lots of 1oz fish.
The 'also-rans' match held in tandem with the final saw a 30lb net of whip fish by Rob Dodd. But it was hard all through it seemed.

Results:
1st, Steve Fouracre, peg 1 - 42lb 10oz
2nd, Mike Davis, peg 4 - 32lb 8oz
3rd, Vic Bush, peg 2 - 30lb 4oz
4th, Ziggy Slowinski, peg 9 - 28lb 1oz (sect win)
5th, Lee Williams, peg 3 - 24lb 7oz (sect win)

Weights,,,,

Not too sure where I am next weekend, but I will no doubt find somewhere to go.

Until then, have fun.
Lee

Pawlett Match, Sedges, Silvers only. 10-04-17

The annual Silvers match at The Sedges began in warm and sunny conditions, the warmest day of the year and the carp looked very active.....It didn't end very warm though, but the carp were definitely active!!

32 of us lined the 40 pegs of Brick and Tile Lakes, leaving only the corners out on each lake, I had a natter with a few peeps before the draw. I wanted, needed, to be on Brick Lake, as I cannot seen to catch well enough on the silvers front on Tile, but I enjoy Brick and I am more comfortable and confident on that lake. A whole bunch of very tidy anglers fishing the match including some decent silverfish anglers, John Fuidge, Ziggy, Mark Leader and the usual suspects such as Vic, Eric, Mr Parkhouse and the Clapps to name but a few.
Into the draw basket, fingers crossed, out pops peg 28.....On Tile. Bummer. I actually, again, deliberated not fishing. I didn't fancy Tile to compete with Brick Lake when it comes to the overall placings so a double negative for me. Still it was dry and the sun was shining.

Arriving at my peg I could see plenty of carp, a number that seemed to increase during the day.
I had Nick Selway on peg 29 and Kev Crouch on 28.

Peg 28 on Tile Lake

4 top kits were assembled, giving a few of Dean Townshend's (DT Floats) a whirl. Pencils in 0.2g on a couple of rigs and the new-ish F1/silvers Titan (bendy titanium wire) in 0.6g and 10x no 11's.
The 1st Pencil was for down my left edge where I would feed caster by hand, hopefully snare a few roach and maybe a decent perch or a rogue tench.
The 2nd Pencil was for fishing up in the water at 13m using caster and maggot as hookbait. I would fish this over my initial groundbait deposit where the 0.6g rig would be used on the deck. Loose fed casters would be lightly fed over the top via the catty. This spot was off slightly to my left.
Lastly the lighter 10x no11 rig was set up using a banded hook for hard pellet, 6mm, over an initial feed of micros and I would ping a few 4mm pellets over the top. It was the same depth over each line, opening my options a little.
Also I had the same depth (give or take an inch or so) at 2+2 where I fed corn, but it stayed fishless.
My pencil rigs were made up on 0.16>0.11>Guru F1 pellet hooks in size 18.
My deep rigs were on 0.16>0.11>18 LWG or B911 for the hair rig.

All-in, 4 balls of groundbait cupped out long, 1/2 a cup of micros out long slightly right and a few casters and maggots dropped down my left edge.
Out with the shallow rig and I soon had a small roach in the net saving a blank. The lake in my area was calmer and loads of carp could be seen all over the place. It was a slow 1st hour, I think I only put 3 or 4 small roach in the net on the shallow rig and a solitary 4oz skimmer that came to caster on the deck. But it looked like more than the guys each side of me.

It took a whole 90 minutes before I hooked my 1st carp of the day, I think by the end of the day I had landed 15 and lost a few to hook pulls, at times they were taking casters as soon as they hit the surface and take my hookbait before my rig had been lowered in.
So after my carp flurry I managed 3 or 4 more skimmers shallow, one was around 12oz-1lb but the usual size was 4oz or so. A perch of 4oz and a couple roach also took a liking to my caster shallow tactic.
All the while I was feeding a few casters down the edge and pinging pellets long over that line, but I only ventured over the pellets once and hooked a carp, so that line was pretty much left along and u hoped the carp stayed there, or headed elsewhere!!

At the halfway stage it seemed the lake wasn't fishing great for silvers but the odd decent skimmer and very odd tench had been caught. I think I had around 3lb in the net and Kev had overtaken me with some nice skimmers on his short line. Nick was struggling properly.
I persevered fishing my caster and maggots up and down in the water but never managed a non-carp species on the deep rig. A few roach sand odd skimmer from 6oz to 1lb found my keepnet in between the carp.
So with an hour to go I was behind Kev and Nick had begun to get a few skimmers and was possibly level or just ahead of me. I decided to look down the edge, nothing happened so I potted in 3 cups of groundbait as a last resort. 10 minutes later a couple roach topped down the edge so in I went with a single caster, the float went under and a carp was hooked...! Duly netted and released I had another look and had a roach, next look I had a decent fish on and luckily it was a bream of perhaps 3lb, then I had a second of similar stamp. Another roach and another pot of groundbait.
A quick on the long shallow rig saw 3 carp hooked even without feeding...the last netted after the all-out. I reckoned I had around 8lb, as did Nick and Kev, but I hoped the last couple of bream took me ahead of them, Keith Clapp was said to have had 14lb+ from further back to my right. Brick Lake, as expected had seen a few guys catching well enough. The best we on Tile could hope for was a section win.

I packed the kit away and waited for the scales. I found them weighing in Mark Watts a couple pegs to my right, the scoresheet had Keith Clapp putting 14lb 15oz on the scales.
Mark never weighed then Kev had 11lb+ before I tipped my silvers into the sling and registered 14lb 6oz.
Nick had 9lb+, most of which came in a 20 minute spell late on.

I didn't follow the scales but caught up with them towards the end of Brick Lake and I could see a good few nets of 15lb, 17lb, 19lb, 20lb, 28lb and then Ziggy put 29lb+ on the scales to take the honours on the day.
I was 4th on Tile behind Keith 14-15, Paul Homewood 14-07 and Jamie Parkhouse 17-03. Nowhere overall.

Results:
1st, Ziggy Slowinski, 29-12. Peg 17
2nd, Pierce Furlong, 28-02. Peg 12
3rd, Vic Bush, 21-09. Peg 5

Weigh Sheets

So a nice day really, kind of enjoyed it despite my own initial despondencies. The fishery is a quality fishery and the weights were pretty fair throughout.
I was really impressed by the new floats and I also tried some Nick Gilbert micro bore laccy, both the 4-8 and 6-10 and they handled the carp pretty well considering and it was very nice on the silvers, I will be getting some of his lightest micro-bore at some point and some more of the 4-8 for sure.

Not sure where I am on Friday/Saturday/Monday, but Sunday is the last round of the Avalon Teams of 3, nothing on the overall front for us to fish for so it is down to on the day winnings for us.

Until then, have a great long weekend.
Lee