Viaduct Christmas Match, 23-12-17. All Lakes.

Thankfully a day of light winds and little if any rain was forecast for the 97 or 98 of us booked into this match, a very good turn out indeed.
We all had our ideas of where to draw and where not to, 132 and 110 are the hot pegs currently and most expected one of them to win and the other to frame the further up the lake you went the less carpy it became. Match Lake could be ok if things were hard and Middle/Spring had seen a couple hundred new carp stocked between 4 and 7lb, so should they feed then that could be interesting. Cary....maybe but should be at least the most consistent lake for the silvers at least. Nobody really fancied many pegs on Lodge with the exception of perhaps 73 and maybe 64, and 59 for skimmers.

Anyway the car parks were full and a few of us were boxed in up the top car park, but no worries as there was a prize for all and I couldn't see anyone leaving early.
Into the draw after a few natters with people and I found myself with 114 in my hand, I didn't fancy it on either the carp or silvers front as the payouts were top 6 overall and 3 silvers plus 10 sections. But unless I got lucky with the carp moving up the lake I would hope for a day's fishing.
As I walked to my peg it was clear the carp in Campbell were still along the end bank as several fish boshed out of the water....hmmmm
For company I had Mark Bromsgrove on my left on peg 113 and to my right was Phil Cardwell on 115.

I looked at the water, the colour was ok and although a little clear it wasn't too bad really.
A lead was assembled, a rig for silvers at 13m (DT F1.Silvers in 0.4g), a dobbing rig for my left edge (0.1g DT Pinger) and a meat/corn rig to cover 6 and 14m lines (DT RBS Open Water 0.3g)
Bait was dead maggots, pinkies, some groundbait and some meat and corn. Plus a couple slices of bread.

Peg 114 Campbell, Viaduct.

I began on the short pole, just in case of some daft fish playing ball, but nothing happened. Mark began on the lead and within 10 minutes had a carp. I followed suit, more in hope really and to have a cuppa. Across from me Jacko has landed a carp (or tench) and was exclusively fishing the waggler as he tends to do.

My 1st fish came after an hour and it was a skimmer caught on a bunch of twigs, on a rig, attached to my hooklength on the lead. Only a small 4oz fish, but blank saved.
Another 10 mins on the tip never saw a sniff so that was chucked up the bank for the rest of the day.
I could bore you all with the intricacies but the next 4hrs were spent picking off small skimmers on the 13m line feeding odd helpings of groundbait, but I couldn't really get them lined up properly.
Mark on my left was generally getting only small roach on the pole and wag and to my right it was a similar story to me, odd small skimmer and odd roach. Most people were struggling apart from Andy Cranston on peg 132, plus 131 and 130 had a few carp, no doubt 110 also had.

Towards the end of the match Dan White on peg 127 had a couple carp and a couple nice skimmers after a quiet day. Jacko had been catching silvers most of the day on the waggler from peg 128 and looked set for a decent net (he ended with 19lb of silvers).
The all in was called and I was all packed up for the weigh in and when Matt arrived with the scales and put my 2.5lb (actually 8lb 6oz) on the sheet that was 2nd best silvers net on the lake behind Jacko. Turns out it was also 2nd in section behind Geoff Francis on p110 who had 28lb to win the section money.

Presentations and prizes dished out to all after the match and mince pies, sausage rolls and drinks provided by the fishery was a great thing to do and much appreciated by all.
I also managed to be caked in mud and tipped my trolley and box contents all over the floor for the 2nd time in a week!! Thanks to the couple of guys who helped pick stuff up. I should strap my kit to the trolley frame not my side tray, lol.

Results:
Andy Cranston, p132, 95lb
Bob Gullick, p73, 85lb 8oz
Dan Squire, p7, 69lb 2oz
Mark Poppleton, p4, 57lb 8oz
then a few 50lb nets followed

As for the Silvers, Paul Greenwood caught 22lb from the Match Lake peg 46 and won that with Nicky Ewers having 20-03 from p66 and Stu White 20-02 from peg 19.

A nice day though which I enjoyed and I am sure most did even if it fished rather hard for a lot. But it was good to see spring and middle be consistent. The full weigh sheets are on Mike Nicholls' blog (Silverfox).

No plans set for this week ahead of going back to work next Tuesday the 2nd.
So I hope you all had a great Xmas period and enjoyed yourselves.
Take care and thanks for reading my blog in 2017.

Lee

Pawlett Club Xmas Match, The Sedges, 11-12-16

This weekend was that of PSV and Pawlett's Xmas Matches, so as is generally the way it goes for me, it was Pawlett's at The Sedges for me (and 33 others). A mild week preceded the day, but Saturday night saw a drop in temps and when we arrived there was almost a frost and the temperature gauge was showing a balmy 2 degrees as I made my way to the fishery. I arrived to a very full car park for the 8am draw.

Trolley loaded, nets collected, tea served (with thanks) by Denise and the draw would soon be made, but 10 minutes or more of chit chat with a few guys and the usual ideas on where each of us wanted or didn't want to be drawn for the day. Me, well I wanted Brick Lake, firstly it is because I prefer it but expected Tile to be more consistent, secondly I won the corresponding match last year from the lake, and lastly I cannot ever seem to catch silvers from the Tile Lake. Pegs 8 around the top end and down to peg 13 was where I wanted to be, peg 12 being may favourite. Golden pegs were 32, 22 and 40.

Nearly last in the basket, after pegs 8 around to 13 had gone......I drew peg 15, not too bad but I was still inclined to think I was maybe 2 or 3 pegs away from the bulk of fish, especially as a warmer south/south-westerly wind was due to pick up as the day wore on. Getting at my peg I found I had Mark Leader on p14 and Paul Lock on peg 16. Rich Coles was up in the corner on peg 11, which was definitely showing signs of carp.....well to be fair the lake was showing a few all over as we assembled our arrays of tackle.

Peg 15, Sedges Brick Lake

So I sorted my bait and tackle for the day:
Wag and mag, feeding groundbait around two thirds of the way to the rope.
Lead and bread or meat, fished from the waggler line and beyond.
A short meat pole rig, fished over groundbait at 6m.
A silvers rig for maggot or expanders over 2 lines at 14, one with micros in line with Jason King on peg 5, the 2nd with groundbait in line with Jamie Parkhouse over on peg 7.

The 9:30am all-in was called and I fed the 3 pole lines before starting on the waggler, some 20 minutes passed before I had a couple small skimmers and a roach before it went quiet. Rich Coles already had a carp and a few skimmers had been snared too.
Out on the lead and bread, so I could have a cuppa, and a 6oz skimmer was bundled into the keepnet 15 minutes later.
On returning to the waggler I was getting a few bites but they were not resulting in fish, probably small roach as Paul on p16 was suffering the same on the pole. It was fishing tricky though all over.

12pm came and I chucked the waggler back out and had the rod pulled out from between my legs as I grabbed my catty, a spirited battle saw me win and a carp of around 9lb landed.
I hoped for more, well hope is all I managed.....
Meanwhile up on peg 11 it was Rich Coles landing a few lumpy beasts on whatever tactic he dare try and really it looked like he'd sail into the distance in regards to winning, at least, the lake. The rest of us were hoping for a run of skimmers and carp to compete.
Mark on peg 14, who was contemplating going home, was getting a few 2lb skimmers and a few palm sized specimens of the same species and was doing well. Everyone else was on 2 or less carp.

We were now at around 1:15pm and I managed to get a foul hooked carp on the feeder (I had switched to that from a lead hoping for skimmers), a prolonged battle saw me land a common of about 11lb which was a bonus. It was a bonus as the rest of the match saw both running lines not produce another fish between them.
So the last 2 hours and 15 minutes was mostly spent on the pole lines, hoping to get some proper skimmers and maybe a carp or 2.
I didn't manage any more carp but just the odd small roach succumbed to my maggot hookbait, I couldn't get a bite on expander yet Locky on my left and Mark to my right were getting a few skimmers and they'd both had a carp each, on 4mm expanders. But I was doing ok really with only Rich on peg 11 and Mark Sweeting on peg 12 doing better from what I could see, but then a couple of quick lumps would change things around.

3 o'clock soon came and I had managed a nice 2.5lb tench which gave a nice little battle on the skimmer kit. Mark had at least 10lb of silvers and 1 carp. He hooked and landed another lumpy carp on his skimmers kit around this time. I suppose he must have 20lb of carp, similar to me, but had 10-12lb of silvers or more at the all-out.
I spied a few bubbles over my short meat line and the last half hour was spent hoping to connect with a fish or 2 from this short line, especially as the long lines were not doing anything worthwhile.
I did get 3 bites in the last ten minutes, liners methinks, but I never did  hook any, but that's the way it goes. Oh Paul Lock on peg 16 hooked a carp a minute before the finish and landed it after the hooter. He probably had the same-ish as myself as he'd had some skimmers.

I packed my gear away, loaded the car and waited for the scales, they had to weigh Tile and we heard of a couple upper 40lb nets and John 'plug' Fuidge had again underestimated his silvers haul, admitting to mid-teens only to have 24lb of them.....Rich Coles looked to have won overall as I reckoned on him having 50-55lb.
Scales arrived and the sheet showed Rich winning on 53lb-ish and peg 12 had 26lb. Mark Leader then put his fish on the scales to have 33lb+ before I managed 27lb 6oz with my 2 carp combined totalling 21lb. This gave me 3rd on the lake and 7th on the day.
Locky was 2oz shy of my total, that last gasp carp almost overhauled me....haha.
We left them to continue the weigh in and I made my way home before Mr Paul Berry gave me a lift to the Legion where the presentation was done and sausage and chips consumed.

Thanks to the Club for the prizes we all got and the food.

Results:
1st - Rich Coles, peg 11, 53lb 10oz
2nd - Mark Hembury, peg 36, 48lb 7oz
3rd - Kev Lock, peg 37, 44lb 3oz

Silvers:
1st - John Fuidge, peg 24, 24lb 14oz
2nd - Jamie Cook, peg 26, 18lb 2oz

Brick. Weigh Sheet.

Tile. Weigh Sheet.

So I needed one more decent carp for 2nd on the lake, but that wouldn't have got me into the top 3 but maybe had won me the section ahead of Mr Leader. Actually the 3 of us in a row all had 2 carp and each of us weighed 21lb of them. A tidy average size is that.

Next weekend is the next round of the Avalon Teams of 3, a nice day catching 45lb of skimmers would be cool.

Until then.....have fun
Lee

Avalon Christmas Match. 20-12-15

The season of good will and cheer is upon us, brilliant...............But no one has told the fish it is a time for giving, match results from all over the country has seen a trend of venues not fishing 'how they should'.........temperatures to over 15 degrees within a week of Christmas Day. Bloody daft if you ask me. These slimy critters we set out to catch don't know what to do, light levels are low, temps are high, confusedfish.com.

Anyways, Sunday, I made my way over to the lakes and arrived in a well filled car park, plenty of nets hung over the fence after being dipped....optimism on the inside, moaning on the outside, a funny bunch are anglers.
With 23 fishing it was a nice turn out, loads of faces I know or recognised, a few of whom can catch a fish or 2. I stood around chatting to Matt Challenger, Derek Beard and a good few others. Tom Mangnall, Tim Ford, Eric and Steve Fouracre and John Fuidge were in attendance along with Ziggy and a late arrival (with his 80's music) Steve Jackson, I am sure his load music scared the fish away from the car park end of the lake.....personally I wanted to be on the 1st island or one of the top corner pegs (23 and 24).

As the draw took place I waited until near the end of the rabble and with 3 pegs left in the bag, Vic, Eric and Myself would have pegs 26 (hmmmm nah thanks), 7 (will be worth a bite or 2) and 5 (Flyer...Flyer..that'll do). I picked first and left 7 to Vic and 5 to the ever consistent Eric. Ballbags.
But onwards and upwards, there seemed to be plenty of fish activity all over the lake......that was until the 10am all-in.
I made my way to my peg, I seem to be edging back up to the far end with each match I fish here, and went about mixing up less than usual groundbait and sorting my tackle.

Avalon  peg 26

Again a feeder was set-up, and the usual 4 pole rigs:
Edge rig for carp, Topkit rig for anything, long pole silvers and a long pole carp rig (unused). I fancied a few carp from the margins and possibly tight over on the feeder. As for the silvers, this area can be really good, but in the main I have found it patchy at this time of yeat with only the odd skimmer and bonus perch or tench, the car park end being more consistent.
Baits were the usual caster, dead maggots, meat and a few micros and 8mm pellets.
For company I had Derek Beards up on peg 24, he'd do well for sure, as would Steve Fouracre from peg 23. Tom Mangnall was on a decent peg (38) and obviously Eric looked favourite sat on peg 5.

At the all in I deposited a nice helping of maggot and meat near the empty pallet of peg 27, a couple balls of groundbait went in at 13m, I didn't fancy any longer as the wind was due to increase in strength. I fed both topkit lines by hand with mostly caster.
I spent the 1st hour on the feeder swapping with hookbaits from maggots to pellet to meat, it was literally on the hour that I had a fish, a 3oz perch on maggots, all fish activity had stopped and everyone was struggling, peg 28 had landed a carp as had Derek and Steve.
The 2nd and 3rd hours were a struggle, I only added a couple roach on the long pole, but I wasn't the only struggler. Despite everyone trying, what it seemed, everything, nobody was putting much in the net, Mike West over on peg 19 losing a few carp to the reeds. I was sure the other end would be doing a whole load better.....hmmm. I did see Phil Dodd and Tim Ford (just about see him), net a carp each during this spell. I kept plugging away and it was around 1:30 that I managed a perch of 1lb from down to my left on the topkit, my only successful bite there all day, I bumped an okay fish, possibly a bony mouth perch soon after. The right edge, despite it looking fishy never gave me a bite, similarly the empty peg of 27 never gave me a sniff all match.

Avalon p26 lhs

Avalon p26 rhs

As we arrived at the last hour stage I was on 2 perch and about 3 roach, probably 1lb. Steve was on 4 carp and Derek had a handful also. Out on the long line I had a bite and a nice amount of elastic came out and a 2lb skimmer was netter, a 6oz sample followed before another 1lb skimmer was netted.
With 10 minutes to go I wanted a carp, but knew I was unlikely to get one so stayed out long and had another knock, it felt like a decent skimmer, it was but just as I reached for the landing net the hook pulled out, upon inspection it showed a maggot had folded over the hook point...ballbags. It was a good 3lb+ fish comfortably. I only added one roach after this as was cursing the luck I had.

The all out sounded and I soon had my gear packed away before Vic arrived with the scales, he'd started at peg 48 and there were some low weights, including a DNW was James Cooper and 1lb 3oz to Jacko. Matt Challenger was leading the silvers with 8lb 4oz, that was 2 skimmers (bream) and Tom Mangnall was top weight overall at this point with 24lb exactly.
I tipped my carpless net onto the scales and registered the 3rd best net of silvers, 5lb 7oz. That bumped skimmer looked to have cost me the silvers pool (paying only 1 overall and 1 silvers), but then everyone loses fish but annoying none-the-less.

I made my way back the car park and was offered soup and mince pies, all of which went down very well so thanks to Vic and his lovely wife. But everyone was moaning how slow the fishing had been and that Eric had caught a few and looked odds on to win.
So it proved, with him winning ahead of Derek Beards and Tom Mangnall. Matt Challenger won the silvers ahead of Jim Jenner.
The presentation was made with some brilliant prizes from rods to large hampers, alcohol in various forms and a good few items of tackle. There was none of those typical poor prizes, all were quality especially the huge hampers.
I came 15th and chose a bundle of expanders, tackle/catty pouches, mince pies and a pellet pump which I gave to Steve Fouracre as he'd broke his.

I had the last chatters with peeps before setting off home.

Results:
1st, Eric Fouracres, peg 5. 28lb 13oz
2nd, Derek Beard, peg 24. 26lb 15oz
3rd, Tom Mangnall, peg 38, 24lb

Silvers:
1st, Matt Challenger, peg 40, 8lb 4oz

Weights on the day.

Next up is a Boxing Day match on Sedges' Brick Lake then back to Avalon for the next Teams of 3 match.

Until then, have a fabulous Christmas.
Take care, stay safe.
Lee

Pawlett Club Christmas Match, The Sedges. 13-12-15

Another year has almost passed, it has been patchy for me this year with some crappy results, these, I think, out weighed the positives.
However I still have 2 or 3 matches left in 2015, today's, next Sunday's Avalon Xmas match and another round of the Teams of 3 at Avalon, oh plus I am fishing The Sedges on Boxing Day and possibly this coming Wednesday at the same venue.

Back to today, the weather looked the best it has been for a few weeks, wind was very light and temps were up to around 14 degrees, so rather mild. 28 fishing so a tidy number.

I arrived at the lakes in plenty of time to load the trolley, have a cuppa and then a natter with a few of the other anglers.
There seemed to be a few fish topping around the pegs 4 to 7 on Brick, plus 10 and 11, the far corner pegs on the same lake. I didn't take a look at Tile as I didn't fancy it today (as usual), so I put a metal block on that lake, hoping it would also avoid me at the draw.
Pegs 14, 15 and around 4 to 6 were the numbers I wanted as I intended to fish for the skimmers, hoping to qualify for the club's Silvers Final in 2016, I am unsure if I had qualified so thought it best to make certain. Obviously a corner peg would dictate carp would be my quarry.
Half way along the rabble and I stuck my hand in the bucket and pulled out peg 9, second to last peg along the left bank of Brick Lake, not too bad, maybe a touch far along for the silvers, but you can never be sure. It was also one of the golden pegs for the day.

Sedges Brick Lake peg 9

Arriving at my peg I thought it looked okay, if not lacking the fish activity seen in pegs 10 and 11 or around peg 6. For company I had Kev Crouch on peg 10, Nick Selway on peg 7 and opposite was Martin Heard on peg 11, he looked a good bet to win today, he had Jason King next to him on peg 12.
I went about setting up a few bits of tackle.
A waggler at depth rod, a tip rod with a small feeder on plus 4 top kits for the pole:
First was a 0.8g rig for silvers at 14m, second was for silvers again but a strung out shotted 0.4g float.
Third rig was  0.2g margin rig for down the edge to my right and finally a 0.6g rig for meat at 7m in the 2 o'clock direction.

Sedges Brick Lake peg 9, right hand side,

At the all-in I deposited some groundbait at 14m, this was lacced with dead maggots and caster.
Some maggots and meat went on the 7m line and some 6mm pellets and meat went down the right hand edge at 7m.
I began on the feeder with a popped up pellet as hook bait, but it was ages before I had a bite, actually I had swapped between both the waggler and feeder for the first hour without success.
Kev on peg 10 had landed a couple carp on the method feeder, Steve Fouracre on peg 20 had a carp or 2 and so had Mike Davis further along my bank.
It was around 1hr and 10 minutes into the match before I had a positive take on the feeder and a 1lb skimmer was netted on popped up pellet, another soon followed on popped up bread then came a 10lb carp to popped up pellet, that was a short 20 minute burst. Then it died again.

A look on the long pole line saw small 2-3oz skimmers taking the maggot hookbaits, their bigger relations absent for most. I persevered and to be honest it was frustrating, Kev on peg 10 was catching regularly on the method and pellet waggler. Martin Heard had one or 2 fish also.
Nick was in the same boat as me, struggling for action of any kind!!
Soon enough we were at the halfway stage and I had in my keepnets, 2 nice skimmers of 1lb each, 3 little skimmers and one carp for maybe 14lb total.
I was getting line bites and odd knocks and pulls, but despite trying the waggler at varying depths it was not productive. The waggler never gave me a fish all match
It was at this point I changed the hooklength to 0.10 and a size 18 hook for double dead maggot, hoping for a few skimmers.......I was rewarded with a double figured carp, why do they do that? Anyways another carp of about 8lb followed before bites dried up again.

It was now 2pm and I was up to 3 carp (28lb) and maybe 6lb of bits off the long pole line.
All the while I had been feeding my 7m line by hand and the right edge via the odd cup of meat and pellets, this edge never gave me a bite all day.
I tried the 7m line and missed a couple knocks before a 2lb skimmer was netted, then another before a near 10lb carp was landed. A 15 minute spell without a bite, swapping lines etc, before coming back in to 7m and repeating the process of 2 skimmers and a carp, rest and return.....
So my last 90 minutes was spent doing this and I kind of felt i was clawing myself into the section monies contest as both Kev on peg 10 and Mike Davis looked to have in the region of 90lb and were likely to be in the top 3 (I hoped), but it was the silvers I had come to catch and was now catching a few of decent stamp plus odd rogue carp.

The all out soon arrived, just after I had bumped off a couple nice skimmers, I hoped that they would not make a difference to my net of silvers, with only 1 silvers pot to go at I was confident of having enough for the best weight off Brick, but wasn't sure how Tile lake had fished.
As I packed my kit away I reckoned on Kev, Mike and Steve Fouracre being top 3 on the lake, maybe with Martin Heard there or thereabouts as he had landed a few fish late on from along the end bank.
Jamie asked me to weigh in Brick Lake while he did Tile, so I started with peg 1 and Nigel Hull.
He had 24lb, before Mike Davis on peg 3 had 81lb+. Then we weighed the next three who had between 17 and 29lb before it was my turn.
I had 2 weighs of carp, only 7 carp, but they amounted to 68lb 9oz and topped up with the silvers (24lb exactly) gave me the lead with 92lb 9oz.
Kev Crouch weighed next and I expected him to move slightly ahead of me, but alas he hadn't, he had 78lb 2oz of carp and a 4oz skimmer. I was a touch surprised by that.
Around to peg 11 and Martin Heard, he asked what the winning net was and people stated it was me with 92lb, he was a touch surprised as he had not seen me catch much. Anyways he weighed in and totalled 77lb exactly. Jason King was next with 54lb+. Then came a few 20lb+ nets before we got to the last person on the lake, one of my Teams of Three team-mates, Steve Fouracre, again I thought it would pip me and it nearly proved so with his 12lb 8oz of silvers and 74lb 8oz of carp combined pushed him to 2nd spot with 87lb.

I went and looked at the weigh sheet from Tile Lake and saw that the top silvers was 14lb and ounces and top overall on that lake was 74lb 10oz to Chris Higgs, he'd got off to a flyer but slowed up during the day, plus he had a couple double figured lumps in his total.
So I had won overall, had top silvers weight and was sat on one of the golden pegs.....bargain!! So i qualified properly for both the All-Winners final and as hoped, the Silvers Winners final.

It was back to the Legion in Pawlett for the presentation and some grub.

Weigh Sheets

Results:
1st, Lee Williams, peg 9. 92lb 9oz
2nd, Steve Fouracre, peg 20. 87lb
3rd, Mike Davis, peg 3. 81lb 8oz
4th, Kev Crouch, peg 10. 78lb 6oz
5th, Martin Heard, peg 11. 77lb
6th, Chris Higgs, peg 36. 74lb 10oz (top Tile Lake Weight)

Silvers:
1st, Lee Williams, 24lb. Peg 9.
2nd= Phil Clapp, 14lb 4oz. Peg 34.
2nd= Jason King, 14lb 4oz. Peg 12.

So a hard going 4.5hrs, it was quiet for most during this time, except 3 of the corners on Brick, but I was chuffed that the skimmers turned up as they can be a great weight builder, as it proved today.

Next up is Avalon's Xmas match next Sunday, but I may fish Sedges' open on Wednesday as it is my last day's holiday of 2015.

Until then, Take Care.
Lee

That was the year 2014.......continued

Moving on to the second part of my round up,  what happened in the warmer months and through to the end of the year...??

July, August and September
The 1st weekend of June began with the Pawlett Club's Silvers' Winners final, this was held at a lake I have never seen before, Quantock Lakes at Nether Stowey. It was a busy match catching small fish and hoping for a bonus skimmer or tench, alas I never had any and the day was won by Dave Nash (who chose the venue himself). Some guys, especially Jamie Cook, had carp problems all day, thankfully I never hooked one.
Moving on, the following week's match was a PSV arranged one at Sedges, on the Brick lake. Chris Davis won on the day and had over 60lb of silvers in his net, me, well I had 40lb of them to take the Silvers money.....Brick Lake Silvers showed up!!.
Avalon gave me second spot with the Clevedon match, caught mostly on the pellet waggler, my 89lb was almost half of the winners' net and I'd doubled 3rd spot's weight. I lost a good few fish in the reeds on the day to.

Paul Nicholl's and part of his 175lb+ Avalon net

The month ended with yet another poor showing for me at Viaduct, Campbell lake, with a Tourettes induced Chris Davis sacking over 200lb despite getting through net handles and topkits during the 6hr contest.
As we moved into August the weather warmed up considerably and it began with another win for Chris Davis as PSV had a match on the Match Lake at Landsend, I managed a late run of fish to take 4th spot, first out of the money. But I really enjoyed the match but a length of very strong line caused me to lose a fish that cost me 3rd on the day.
I was really looking forward to the Pawlett match on the Huntspill River at Withy Grove, a venue I had spent a lot of my youth fishing but hadn't fished it must in the last decade or so. It was pretty well attended and 22 of us all caught fish. The highlight of my day was a 3.5lb hybrid, a stunning looking beast, sadly I never got a photo, but everyone commented on it at the weigh in.
My 7lb managed to pick up section money and 5th on the day. The match was won with over 20lb by Keith Clapp.
Before that match I fished a match that was a Clevedon vs Frys contest held on Durleigh Res, a venue I feel that doesn't get enough matches on it, I managed just over 20lb of mostly roach for nowhere on the day but the roach sport wasn't fully exploited by me as I tried to catch bream and carp on the feeder with no joy!!
Last match of July was at Sedges, Brick Lake, and I finished one out of the money again in 4th spot, but it was a good day fishing as is the usual scenario at one of the best fisheries around.
As the kids headed back to school, September looked to be a month of travelling with Pawlett's club day out being held at Ridgeway Fishery aka Walters Lake up on the Cotswold Water Park area, a snake style lake that has produced big nets in the past, but seems to have less hectic in the last 12-18 months. I did manage to scrape 4th or 5th and win my section money on the day. The top 2 were separated by an ounce, Jamie Cook taking the honours ahead of Eric Fouracre.
Another Campbell lake blow out for me was followed up with the annual PSV weekend away, this was held in gorgeous surrounds, but the fishing was very tricky over the 3 day/3 lake event.

Nice Views

Stunning Venue.....

Over the 3 days I got lucky enough to take a 2nd spot and 2 match wins to secure the overall event.
I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, read how it went.........Holgan Farm Weekend.
Lastly in September was another match at Viaduct, a not so great draw for me again, peg 130!! was made worse when the 2nd ticket I picked out at the draw I gave to Steve Fouracre. He went on to win from peg 80 with just over 200lb.
I managed to secure some money with a late run of fish giving me a net of 108lb or so and 6th over the Cary and Campbell lakes.

October, November and December
As we moved into the rear end of the year, as temps were due to drop, fishing was being patchy everywhere with the lack of rain and it seemed that no venues were truly fishing to how they should.
My October began well when I drew peg 7 at Sedges, on Brick Lake. I managed to catch 32lb+ of silvers, which was the best on the day, but my carp boosted my net to 83lb, finishing 3rd on the day, which was won from a true flyer of a peg...peg 10..!!
The following week was my 1st trip up to Harescombe, a venue I heard had lots of F1's and skimmers with carp being bonus fish.
The venue is set in a gorgeous valley, but we had murky , cold and fog all day, but I enjoyed it despite coming nowhere on the day.
Shiplate Main Lake peg 15 was my home a week later, a brilliant draw usually and so it proved with me putting a good few fish in the net in my winning 156lb+ was 100lb clear of the next best on the lake and around 90lb clear of the best Westpool weight. If you want, take a look at this blog...!!
I dnw'd at the last match of the month, as temps dropped and fish moved, I drew peg 130 on Campbell lake. I got home in time to watch some footy though!!
November began over at Landsend, peg 1, with the PSV guys, I struggled to 46lb or so and I wasn't the only one. Chris Gay won fishing maggots and worms over groundbait in the margins from peg 16.
Trinity Wildmarsh provided a 3 peg battle for the silvers and framing places, except 1st spot as that was sewn up by Brian Shanks. I came out 3rd in the battle with John 'the gimp' Bradford and Darren North, they had both caught bonus fish where as I hadn't, but I took home some money so it wasn't all bad. I really enjoyed that match and made a nice change away from carp.
A match on the Bridgwater/Taunton canal was fished with Pawlett Club, it was due to be on the Parrett, but rain put paid to that, but I had a nice day and finished 5th.
I followed this up with a DNW at Shiplate and the month of December was soon upon us.
The month of Christmas began with PSV's Christmas match on Bitterwell Lake in Coalpit Heath near Bristol.

Bitterwell Lake

If you want to read how the day panned out and see that I came 5th, read PSV Xmas Match blog.
Pawlett held their annual Christmas match at Sedges a week later, I plucked a peg I didn't fancy in the form of peg 30. But I fished ok to take the section money with 45lb, the best weight off that bank.
Acorn Paddock Lake was the venue for Clevedon's xmas match, it was bloomin hard and I managed a couple late carp to go with my silvers money winning 2lb 12oz skimmer. I drew peg 1 in that match, only to be told that it is very rarely put in the draw,!!
I did manage to squeeze two open matches in either side of the Clevedon match, 1 on Brick where I had peg 11 and on the other match I plucked peg 27, both times I managed to finish 4th and a couple of envelopes to add to my holiday funds.  So I had picked up in 5 consecutive matches after that result.
My year ended how it began with a match at Summerhayes, this was on Longs lake. It wasn't the busiest of days when it came to actual fish catching, my 8lb 15oz was 6th or 7th out of 15, but I really enjoyed it.


So that was a (sort of) brief summary of my 2014 match fishing, some decent results along the way, but best of all I had enjoyed it. I learned loads and found that I was pretty consistent.
I managed to pick up in 26 or 27 of the 61 matches (except White Acres week) so a 45% ratio isn't too bad.
For 2015 I hope to improve on my pick-up ratio and hopefully bag a few decent draws at the MMT's and Fisho qualifiers. A good result at Viaduct and Sedges Tile lakes wouldn't go amiss either. Also trying to squeeze in another festival at White Acres may be on the cards.

Here's to 2015, Have a Happy, Prosperous and Enjoyable year.

Take Care and Tight Lines.

Lee

Clevedon FWAC (& co) Xmas Match, Acorn Paddock Lake, 21-12-14

I was kind of looking forward to this match, as conditions being rather mild and overcast recently the fish could still be feeding well...........well so I thought!!

View across Acorn Paddock Lake (from around peg 11)

Arriving in plenty of time for the 9am draw I chatted to a few guys, some of whom were 'guesting' the match as Clevedon had opened it to non-members this year. It had not been fishing well and the draw would be all important, a bridge peg preferred or at least a peg between 6 and 13 maybe.
Nobody really wanted to be on pegs 1 to 6 on the island as it seems they are not the best, especially in the cooler months. Also the road bank (cyanide straight) was unlikely to give xmas cheer!!

With 32 fishing, and it being xmas, we had 13 payouts. These were top 5 overall, 2 silvers and 6 sections pots, so a 1 in 3-ish chance of a pick-up. It would be tough with good anglers fishing and/or those who know the place miles better than me, Mark Bartlett, Mark Walsh, Rich Heatley and the Thyers gang all in attendance, plus Rod Wootton alongside Andy Hembrow.
I was the last in the queue to draw, following Mike Wilson, Lee Waller, Darren North and Keith Ray, all of PSV fame!!
With 1 peg left in the bucket I took it with great anticipation...........peg 1....on the island.....with scales duty!! Still there was to be a presentation and raffle at the Bridge Inn, with a prize for everyone who took part.

I made my way to my peg and found I had Paul Faiers on peg 2 and Steve Bonwick on peg 3, both to my left. I had Mark Walsh on my right, well sort of, he was the other side of a part of the lake. Nick Harvey was behind me. I could see most of the guys along the straight bank, Lee Waller had drawn a bridge peg.



View down to peg 5, Acorn Paddock Lake.

View of peg 1

I began setting up and sorting my kit out, we were fishing 10:15am to 3:15pm.
3 rigs today, all on 0.14>0.12>18 B911f1 hooks. 2 on soft no.14 elastic and 1 on number 8 elastic.
The 1st rig, for 3 open water swims, was an NG Power Pencil in 0.5g.
The 2nd rig was for the bottom of the far shelf and was an NG Diamond float, 0.2g, which was pretty much unused.
The 3rd rig was another Diamond float of the same size, but would be for across against the far bank vegetation, this was around 13m in distance.

However with the wind likely to be brisk any decent presentation could be tricky.

It was also at this point when I noticed that I had left my coat at home,  thankfully the showers predicted never arrived. But I was cooler than I would have liked to have been.

Baits were micros, maggots and a few pinkies, I also mixed up a small helping of groundbait.
I also had some soft pellet, 4mm pellets and corn, all of which remained unused.
While we were setting up it seemed there were a few fish in the area, carp and plippy roach seemed to be present.
At the all in I cupped a small ball of groundbait at 2+2 in the 4am direction, at the bottom of the near shelf. Some micros and maggots went in at 2+2 in front. A helping of maggots and loose groundbait was cupped over in front of the vegetation.
I began in front at 2+2 and waited, waited a bit more, then after 20 minute of waiting I had a couple line bites, this coincided with Paul Faiers on peg 2 foul hooking a couple fish, though he did land one of them, hooked nicely in the tail...!!
He then lost another fouler.
To my right, Mark Walsh (p34) had landed a carp or 2 from by the bridge and others had maybe 1 or 2 carp maximum after the 1st hour.

The next 90 minutes was dull, I missed a bite to my right before I did land a skimmer of 2lb 4oz.
So after 3 hours I had 1 fish, missed 1 bite and had a few line bites.
Along the island the anglers had all caught one carp each, either on the pole or the method/pellet feeder. Paul was on 2 carp and 1 roach.
Behind me, Nick Harvey, had a run of 3 or 4 carp short on the pole before his area died.

The following 2 hours was pretty dire, I started to feed a topkit line with pinkies and small balls of groundbait in the hope that some fish (a fish) may turn up in the last hour.
Until then I rotated my swims for no reward. Saying that, at around 2pm I managed 2 bites in as many drops against the far side vegetation, both were foul hooked carp, both came adrift.
As we approached the last 45 minutes I came into the topkit line and stayed there almost exclusively for the remainder of the match. With half hour left I had a bite which I missed, then next put in saw me hook, and land, a carp of perhaps 4lb, I had hoped it was a decent skimmer as nobody seemed to have any amounts of silvers from what I could see.
5 minutes later saw me attached to another carp and a 3lb ghostie was duly netted. Both of these fish had been succumbed by my pinkie hookbait!! That was my match.....7 bites, 2 carp lost, 2 landed, 1 skimmer of 2lb 4oz netted, 2 missed bites and a few line bites had in the first hour.

As the all out was called, myself and Paul had noted Adie Baker over on peg 9(?) was doing well late on, plus Walshy had possibly 25lb+. Nick Harvey had 4 carp. On the far bank, along the straight, a few carp had been caught all the way along and it looked close among them.
Further round the lake, during the day, I saw Brian Slipper and Mark Bartlett land a few fish, plus peg 6 looked to have 3 or 4 carp and would probably win our section, but it is a decent peg.

I packed my kit up and set about weighing in pegs 1-13.
My skimmer weighed 2lb 4oz and my 2 carp took my weight to 9lb 5oz.
Paul's 2 carp and odd roach gave him just under 6lb, similar weights from pegs 3 and 5 with Rich Loverings on peg 4 not weighing. Peg 6 weighed around 15lb. The next 6 pegs gave weights from 4oz to 23lb, with 15-18lb being the average, with the 23lb+ going to match secretary Adie Baker.

I then went back and loaded my car and made my way down the road to the Bridge Inn for the presentation and raffle.
As it turned out my 2lb 4oz was enough to win me the silvers pool, with 2lb 2oz next best in the silvers.
Mark Walsh had 30lb or so to come ahead of Adie Baker, while PSV's Darren North took 3rd or 4th spot with 22lb+ alongside Andy Hembrow who also had 22lb+.
After a couple hours here, prizes given and chosen, raffle done and a 99th minute equaliser for Liverpool FC on the big screen, I made my way home.

Results:
1st, peg 34, Mark Walsh, 30lb 9oz
2nd, peg 9, Adie Baker, 23lb 5oz
3rd, peg 14(?), Andy Hembrow, 22lb 6oz
4th, peg(?) Darren North, 22lb 2oz

Silvers winner was me from peg 1, 2lb 4oz.

There was also money for 5th plus 2nd in silvers. 6 section winners took a little cash home to. All the fees went to the pools, no peg fees were taken from entry fee.

Pawlett Club, Xmas Match, Sedges - Brick & Tile Lakes. 14-12-14

So another week of cooler weather, plus winds and not too much of the wet stuff. Well it was -3 degrees at 2am this morning, -3 at 4am and by the time I loaded the car at 7:30 the temps had risen to a whopping 4 degrees and the frosts had vanished.
This would have an affect on the fish surely?

A rush to the venue as I was shattered from a couple nights of little sleep, I really wasn't in the best frames of mind. But upon arriving the array of smiley faces and plenty of banter lightened my mood a bit.
A draw on Tile lake (which is a bogey lake for me) was wanted by myself and the other 31 guys/girls. Tile has been 'easier' than Brick in recent weeks. I wanted a peg with an island chuck as the feeder(any type), has been picking up fish in nets to around 60/70lb. 60lb would be a very nice weight and in with a chance of framing. 24 to 27 have been consistent recently but the pegs 33 to 40 would be ok as these are on the whole better at this time of year.
As for Brick, any corner would be ok or perhaps 5-8 or 14-17 in the middle areas.
Golden pegs were 27, 7, 38, 5 and 4, so plenty of chances to scoop a boosted brown envelope, all these stood a decent chance.

I waited until 3rd last before picking my peg for the day, there was pegs 30, 27 and I think 36 left. So at least I would have been on Tile lake, I also was in with a 2 in 3 chance of a good peg. Nope I drew peg 30, now peg 30 is one of the pegs that doesn't perform for 95% of the time, it tends to be my nemesis during the summer evening matches and I haven't ever caught much from the bloody peg.
It looks a decent peg with the end bank to go at and an aerator in front, but it doesn't have an island chuck, which is what I felt was needed in order to compete.

Peg 30, Tile Lake, Sedges.

Looking at everyone else's islands from island-less Peg 30, Tile Lake, Sedges.


 

The day didn't start off great, I mixed my groundbait, sat on my box and dropped a plummet in! I then rigged up my waggler which promptly gained a wind knot on the line, this happened again. Probably due to the fact I re-spooled last night! This meant I was gonna have to rush setting the rest of my kit. Anyway this was set up on a 0.10>18 B611x hook, primarily aimed at bagging a few roach and maybe a skimmer or 2.
I set up a method feeder to fish to the aerator and 3 top kits for the pole.
I had 2 pole rigs for the same 14.5m line in front, one was set up on a 0.10>18 b611x hook to no. 8 elastic and the other was on slightly heavier 0.12>16 B911 and no.14 elastic.
The 3rd pole rig was to be fished in a couple spots along the end bank to my left at 14m and 9m. Hooklength was 0.12>16 B911 and no.14 elastic.

Bait was 4mm pellets prepared for the method feeder, some groundbait for the long pole line and a couple pints of maggots, which would form the basis of my feeding. I also had some corn for a change bait/feed. Plus assorted pellets for the band on the method.

For company I had Kev Lock on peg 29 and could see the 3 guys opposite me on pegs 31, 32 and 33.
The all in sounded and I was just about ready.
I started on the method feeder and stayed on this, fishless for about 1.5 hours. In this time not a lot had been caught from what I could see. Kev had landed 1 carp, Mark Hembery on peg 28 had one as well.
The nice man that is Colin Haggett was on golden peg 27, he'd got off to a decent start, or so it sounded, he had hooked, and lost plenty of these carp too.
Giffy on peg 33 had landed a couple carp on the method.

At 12pm I took a look on the waggler at about 20m in the 11 o'clock direction and had a roach 1st put, then I hooked a carp which promptly straightened my B611x, I thought it was foul hooked, but to be sure I changed to a 0.12 hooklength and B911 size 18 hook.
Until this point I hadn't fed any pole lines, so I decided to pot some groundbait and maggot in at 14.5m and fed 2 spots by the end bank with maggots and a few of the wetted 4's.

Next cast on the waggler saw me connect with a carp, this was duly netted and was around 4lb. I stuck at this for a couple hours, just topping up my pole lines occasionally with small helpings of maggots. During this time I had a good few roach, baby skimmers and odd perch. I did also have my 2nd carp which was around the 8lb mark.
Elsewhere peg 31 had landed a good few carp on the waggler and Giffy (P33) was catching a few in spurts. On peg 32 was Phil Clapp, he was being beaten by both sides, but was still landing the odd carp and silver fish. Down to my right things were quiet and despite his best attempts Colin on peg 27 was losing more than he landed. A 16lb 8oz carp was landed by Pete Manning on peg 23.

Into the last couple of hours and it was a look on the long pole line, but all this gave me was small roach, so I gave up on that line, plus it was hard to see the float in the conditions.
A look down to the end bank at 14m and I hooked a carp on my 1st drop, it fought like stink and once netted looked close to 11lb, next drop saw a roach, another followed, so I re-fed and went back on the waggler.
My 3rd wag caught carp was soon netted and it was the smallest of the day at around 2.5lb, but it was my 4th of the day, so I was doing ok, no chance of framing but happy enough I guess.
Some more silvers followed before another fruitless 10 minutes on the feeder never gave me an indication.

The last 45 minutes of the match saw me stay on the pole along the end bank. I landed another 3 carp from there, all decent fish, plus the odd roach to keep me awake as the conditions got murkier.
This last period of the match also saw Kev on peg 29 land another carp plus Giffy have 3 or 4 more on the method feeder.

The all out was called at 3:30 and I was soon packed up and wandered down to the scales, which had just started weighing Tile lake.
Peg 21 struggled for the day and only put a few pounds on the scales before Pete Mannings 16lb 8oz weigher helped him to 43lb 6oz, this looked like it was a good weight.
As the scales went along the road bank we had weights of 7lb, 29lb and 3 between 11 and 17lb before the board got to me.
My assorted silvers gave me 3lb 10oz and my 7 carp totalled a decent 42lb 2oz, thus my total was 45lb 12oz and the top weight on that bank/section.
The pegs between 31 and 40 fished on the whole better and as we made our way along we had weights of 49lb, 31lb, 57lb, 37lb, 63lb, 52lb, 27lb (inc 11lb silvers) and 48lb from peg 40.
Most of these weights were caught on the feeder with odd fish to the pole or waggler, but it was pretty fair.

Over on Brick lake top weight was Rich Coles from a corner peg, he amassed a total of 56lb 7oz from the flyer that is corner peg 10. Peg 1 was second on the lake with 45lb 10oz. Other than that there were a few 22-29lb nets.

There was a presentation and some food laid on at Pawlett Legion , which was over by the time I got there!! I'd got home unloaded the car, got changed and left.......oooppss. Feel bad now.

Results:
1st, Chris Higgs, peg 36, 63lb 2oz
2nd, Chris 'Giffy' Ware, peg 33, 57lb 12oz
3rd, Rich Coles, peg 10, 56lb 7oz

Silvers: Eric Fouracre, peg 39, 11lb 4oz

plus 4 sections were paid out which I won my section.

Overall I was 6th on the lake and 7th across everyone, so not too bad given my draw and the fact I spend at least an hour too long on the feeder.

Brick Weigh Sheet

Tile Weigh Sheet

Next up for me is another match at Sedges, on Brick lake next Saturday as Jamie is holding an open on there. This is followed up by Clevedon's Xmas match on Paddock lake at Acorn Fishery.

Until next time, take care.

Lee

PSV Xmas Match, Bitterwell Lake, 07-12-14

Sunday saw myself and 22 other anglers line the banks of Bitterwell Lake. The lake is on the outskirts of Bristol and is often visited by the like of Des Shipp and Callum Dicks etc. I hadn't fished it since circa 1995/6 when it was a little different. Though I had been up and taken a look a couple weeks back, more in the plan of not getting lost!
The lake had been fishing hard recently and with the temperatures all over the place we knew that a tricky and challenging day, but with roach, skimmers and possibly the very odd carp the target most were keen to get fishing. The day started a mild 9.5 degrees at 7am, dropping to 4 degrees by 3pm!!

The draw was done at the New Inn, Westerleigh. Where the majority had a full English style brekkie, not me though I manage just a banana and some crunchy nut!!
I drew my peg about halfway down and plucked out peg 17, that didn't mean much as the pegging was done by Steve Burgess on the day before. For company I would have Mike Welling on my left and Steve Wynne on my right. Pretty much everyone could see everyone given the lake's shape.

Overlooking \Bitterwell Lake

My peg is on the left hand side of this photo, the 2nd platform along.

I arrived at the lake after a 5 minute drive, on arrival Terry (who runs the place) said we'd have a tough day, but at least it would be fair.
I had hoped for a peg along the far bank from the car park, or perhaps a peg on the top right corner of the lake. My peg, I thought, was so-so and I wasn't either happy or unhappy.

At my peg I went about sorting my kit out, a simple day in store though with it being a pole only event.
Firstly I set up a 3.5m whip which was rigged with 0.14 mainline, a 4x12 Carpa Chimp and a 0.10 hooklength to a size 20 B511 barbless hook.
Secondly I set up an NG 0.6g Silverfish Caner float, 0.12>0.08>size 22 middy 9313 hook. The elastic for this was a number 8-10 solid set soft but on a pulla kit.
Lastly I set up a smaller 0.2g NG Silverfish Caner float on the same lines/hooks, but the elastic was a middy solid 4-6.
Both of the rigs were the same depth as the bottom pretty much stayed the same from 6m right out to 16m.
Baits I had with me were some liquidised bread for fishing the punch on the whip.
Some groundbait (sensas magic and roach mixed 50/50) to fish over on 1 line at just over 14.5m, using pinkies on the hook.
Lastly I had some micros to feed at 13m slightly to my right with the intention of fishing maggots or 4mm expander over the top.
I kept my 4mm pellets and corn in the holdall.

View from my peg.

The all in was called at 10am and the 5 hour contest began.
As I loaded my pole cup I looked across the lake to see Mark Radford into a carp immediately, with carp likely to be a rarity this bonus fish would likely see him take a framing position. As it turned out he actually had his plummet taken while checking the depth, he lowered his maggot bait on to the same spot and the carp took it straight away!!
Anyways I potted in a couple balls of groundbait laced with pinkies at just over 14.5m and some micros at 13m slightly to my right. The micros line never gave me bite all day!!
I began on the whip with bread punch, I stuck at this for 20 minutes as only a couple small roach had been caught (plus that carp). No bites were forth coming, in fact I never had a bite on the whip so no more on that!!
I went out onto the long pole line with single red pinkie on the hook. I was using the 'heavier' rig just in case I fluked a random carp..........I didn't!! I did hook a small roach which was bumped off soon after starting to ship back.
Talking of shipping back, I got lucky in the fact that behind me was a convenient hole in the hedge, thus allowing me to fish without having to double or treble ship like others on the lake.
Matt Taynton was shipping back by lifting his pole high up over the hedge behind him, so at least we would see when he was shipping in or out and whether or not he'd caught!!

I switched to the lighter rig, but with a decent, if not strong, breeze swirling around the lake I was struggling with it. I put the 0.2g rig back on the winder and transferred the 0.6g to the 4-6 elastic.
Back out over the groundbait and 20 more minutes passed before I had my 1st fish, a roach of 3oz saved me from a blank. A second roach of perhaps 2oz followed. I was doing ok compared to others.
Elsewhere it seemed that any fish were at a premium and even after 90 minute more people had yet to have a bite than those who'd got a fish or 2 in the net.

As we approached the halfway stage of the match I noticed that Rich Britton on peg 2(1st peg on the opposite bank) had a carp in the net along with a few silvers, Darren North and Colin Ellaway both had lost carp, so had young Ryan Radford.
I was on 6 roach and a small 2oz skimmer at this stage and was doing ok. I had tried to swing in a couple roach which fell off......schoolboy errors......would they be costly? I also bumped the odd fish when shipping, but this seemed pretty common across the lake, the awkward shipping possibly didn't help with poor hookholds.
Soon after this point we had the largest cheer of the day when Derek Lucas netted a nice carp, we were all hoping that he'd win the match with that as he doesn't have the best of luck/draws/catches. Well we all hoped that he'd win if it wasn't ourselves!!

The anglers either side of me hadn't had a bite yet and were struggling. Matt Taynton seemed to be catching a few though and Chris Gay was also beginning to string little spurts of fish together from peg 15 to my left.
I just kept my head down and stuck at my long line, feeding regularly with loose-ish groundbait, fighting against the wind and seeing the float in the un-favourable light conditions was my biggest problem.
At 2pm I did hook a better fish, which fortunately didn't fall off, it was a skimmer of 6oz or so, followed up by a perch of 4oz. A couple welcome bonus fish of sorts.
The last hour was soon under way and I thought that perhaps I had 1lb 4oz in my keepnet, I kept plodding along hoping for a better skimmer to come along, or a decent perch perhaps.
With a few minutes to go Mike, next door on p16, had a bite over the rather large helping of groundbait he potted in at 2pm, a nice skimmer saved him from a blank. Something 5 anglers had to endure!!
I ended the match with a couple 2oz roach and I did bump a better fish which pulled a few feet of elastic out for a couple second,  but generally I wasn't sure how I'd done in the scheme of things.
Perhaps I had 1.5lb or so.

The all out was called to ironic cheers and I began to pack up and went and loaded the car.
I caught up with a few of the guys, Chris Gay reckoned he had 1lb, similarly Lee Waller. Only 3 carp had been caught, so the top 3 spots were taken by Mark, Derek and Rich Britton. But 4th and lower, including section payouts would be close!!

I soon caught up with the scales after Chris Szacaks had not weighed, Rich Britton had amassed 8lb 7oz and looked already to have won. Steve Burgess plopped a couple ounces on the scales, Ryan Radford 1lb 11oz. Darren North had 1lb.
Mark Radford's carp plus a couple roach gave him 5lb 11oz and 2nd spot thus far.
The back bank looked to have struggled with a few 2oz to 5oz weights. When we got to Adam Caswell, he suggested that I had perhaps 4lb......I told him what I thought, 1lb 7oz. Chris Gay suggested a quid on who's closest. I refrained from that.
Chris Gay was soon weighing in, I was convinced he'd beaten me thanks to an hour spell where he had plenty of small roach on punch or squatt. He put a few ounces over a pound on to the weigh sheet.
Mike's single fish was worth 6oz before my net was hauled up the bank. It looked around 2lb, not 4lb!! Onto the scales went the fish, 2lb 3oz was called, I should have taken that quid bet, I was temporarily into third, though Derek's carp was larger than that and Matt had a good few more fish than me, and so it proved as we moved on to the last few nets.
Steve Wynne didn't catch from peg 18, Derek's peg 19 carp (plus 1 dram roach) gave him a weight of 5lb 8oz. Lee Waller had 1lb before Mr Taynton's squatt caught fish amassed 3lb 3oz, relegating me to 5th. Mike Wilson, the club chairperson, blanked off the peg next to Matt.
So that was the end of the weighing in process.

The presentation and results would be done at the Midland Spinner pub in Warmley at around 6:30pm.

At the presentation there was plenty of banter, some nice food and some decent prizes for all that fished. Thanks to PSV for that, I am sure everyone appreciated this.

Results:

1. Rich Britton .... 8-7
2. Mark Radford ... 5-11
3. Derek Lucas ... 5-8
4. Matt Taynton ... 3-3
5. Lee Williams ... 2-3 (section winner)
6. Ryan Radford ... 1-11 (section winner)
The other 2 section winners were Lee Waller and Ron Hardiman (I think!!)

So I feel I did fair enough for my weight, the top 3 all had a carp each, but I was glad to win my section outright as no carp was caught along my 6 pegs. Perhaps I should have taken squatt, but to be honest I never considered that. I may have had a few more fish if I could have seen my float better (or at all) at times, plus the wind made it hard work with 16m of pole out.
Most of my fish came after feeding and as the bait settled, so I had to lift and drop a fair bit.
I did bump one or 2 fish, and a few minutes before the all out I did hook into a better fish but the hook bumped out, perhaps a skimmer?
I do enjoy the fishing when it is tricky/challenging/hard going and re-ignites my enthusiasm, which has been waning.

Next up for me is Pawlett's Xmas match at Sedges, next Sunday, I would guess bites may well be a little easier to come by..............famous last words!!

Until then, take care.
Lee