Fluff chucking on Chew Thursday 30th August

As mention in my previous post I had planned to go fly fishing for a late afternoon evening session with Dan from Cadbury Angling. I was meant to recieve a call from him around lunchtime confirming that it was still on. 13:15 ish and no call so phoned his mobile and it went straight to voice message, a quick call to John at Cadbury suggested he was going. I made myself a decent lunch and loaded the car up ready for the off around 15:00. At around the same time I had a message from Dan saying he was not going due to picking up some kind of flu bug. A quick decision saw me get on the lap top and check out if a singleton boat was possible on Chew, this was soon folowed by a call to the lodge and I booked a boat, £23 for 16:00 - 20:00. I arrived dead on 16:00 and was out in the boat 10 mins later. I could see a few boats down in the bay immediately below the lodge and thought that'll do for me. I started off right down the bottom end and just drifted within 10 mins I had my first pull on what I think was the orange gold headed lure, I had a couple of nymph's further up the 18 foot leader. The wind was quite strong and kept pushing me into a weeded area which meant I had to start up the engine again. Across on the lodge bank the boats that were there were protected from the win by the trees and didn't seem to move much. I was soon across which was much better in terms of drift and fly presentation. No one was catching around me, the about 17:30 the boat further up the bank had 2 in quick succession, I also saw a few fish move on the surface but the sun was still quite bright. A wind knot made me replace the leader and I only put on 2 flies this time but extended the leader by 2 foot. On the end was a red diawl bach

and further up was a green diawl back
Both on size 14 hooks.

Its amazing casting these small flies into some 1,200 acres that you can catch at all.

I decided to do a very slow retrieve as I guessed most of the fish were down deep, I had another pull but missed it, I still haven't got the hang of the strike when fly fishing. 20 mins later another pull and managed to hit it this time. A real craker of a fish, 5 mins later he was in the boat and knocked on the head a really good fish.
Back out and nothing for about 20 mins the another pull, did  not connect, same again back out hit a fish this time but came off half way to the boat.
19:50 I headed back in, the boats had to be tied up by 20:00. I weighed my fish at the lodge, 4lb 4oz, pic taken below in my kitchen just before it was cleaned and put in the freezer.

No matched scheduled for the weekend so not sure if I will go out orn not, the following week we have a club match at Shiplake. I might go back on the Kenn for a few hours if I go out at all. It's been a good week off work.

River Kenn Wednesday 29th August

With the week off work and no major jobs to do (Mrs. C was also at work) I planned to take full advantage of the situation. After the success of my short spell on the Kenn last week I planned another visit so popped down to Cadbury Angling yesterday and picked up a pint of caster and some maggot, I already had enough worm. Dan in the tackle shop suggested bream were being caught down near the sea wall. I fancied the motorway stretch myself and had thought about pre baiting the evening before. This didn't happen and I am glad I didn't bother as the wind up there today would have been awful. I got up around 8am and it was persisiting down, you had a job to see through it. I had some breakie and kept looking out at it, a quick check on the BBC site indicated it would be on and off all day with thunderstorms in the early afternoon. I went out to load the car up about 8.45, it felt warm and all of a sudden the rain stopped, that'll do for me. I was driving through Tickenham at 9.15, Bruce Springsteen came on the radio singing 'sunny day' and the heavens opened up again, but I was on my way. I decided to go down the bottom end and pitched up on peg 3, it has a nice solid bank and you can get down level with the water.

I decided just to fish the feeder so mixed up some sensas lake and bream 50/50, half pint of caster and a few grains of corn. With worm on the hook I cast about two thirds the way across, the river is quite wide here and the wind was getting up as well, heres what it looks like looking upstream from peg 3.

Three casts in and the tip rattles, as expected a small perch but at least it's a fish, a few more follow. In between looking at the tip I was watching the surface, although the wind was quite strong the pace of the river looked spot on. After 2 hours with only 4 small perch I decided to set up the waggler. First cast with mag and loose fed caster a roach of about 4oz takes the bait, then a few more and some perch, much more fun than watching the tip. I then hooked what I thought was a small fish the the rod went solid and the line shot off the reel, I thought a pike had taken it. I played it very carefully and got it's head up, a tench of about 4lb, my first ever Kenn tench. I continued to trot for the next couple of hours and only added small fish. The lightening arrived on schedule and it poured down again, once it had stopped about 2.30 I decided to pack up. Overall an enjoyable session, the Kenn has fished hard for the last 2 years but I think it's on the way back, lets hope so. My total weight for the day was around 6lbs. Go on give it a go.

If all goes to plan I will be fluff chucking on Blagdon tomorrow afternoon / evening. 





Monday 27th August Clevedon open at Acorn Fishery

It has been a busy week with starting a new job and my nephew got married on Saturday and we were out with friends on Sunday night so 2 late nights. It was a 9 o'clock draw so didn't get up until 7.15, everthing was prepared a couple of days before so no rush.
Steve Bonwick as in charge again today as match secretary Barry Fowler was away. 21 had booked in and then Adie Baker turned up as he didn't fancy camping. This was an open run by Clevedon so we had a number of anglers from Bristol and they knew the venue well. There are around 3 to 4 matches a week at Acorn and the weights just seem to get better and better. John Wolstencroft was also there, I expected a clip around the ear to be honest after taking the p**s out of him on the blog last week and in the local press (but it was suttle), all was well though until Darren aka 'Nuddy' suggested his pic on the blog last week made him appear a bit camp! Justas well he was out of John's reach.
The draw appeared to be going well until Pete Sivell ended up without a peg! Lots of moans but also joy from those of us who drew 'crap', re-draw, redraw was the cry and so we tried again. First time around I had 18 (no likely), second time around peg 3 (much better but I have never fished it).
To my right was that man again John W on peg 1, to my left was a visiting angler on peg 5.
Simple today, banded across, soft in the middle and paste on the left hand margin. The wind and rain started and then died off a bit and I had a great 2 hours catching 1lb - 2lb carp across, then the wind really got up and on reflection I shouldn't have but I did carry on and try and present across. I had loads of foul hookers that got off and loads of liners in the drop. I did get the odd one but without any consistency. Down the track with soft pellet was short lived as the waves were getting up as well. The last 2 hours I spent on the paste and to be fair did catch on a regular basis, I only wish I made the decision around 1 o'clock. I weighed in 56lb no were near enough. Rich Lovering had 100lb 08oz and only won his section by default!

Glen Bailey won with 136lb, pic below

2nd was Darren 'Nuddy' Vowles with 116lb mainly on the method, pic below.

3rd was Brian Slipper with 103lb 8oz, pic below

Press report for North Somerset Times and Anglers Mail as follows;



On Bank Holiday Monday 27^th August Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club held an open competition at Acorn Fisheries Kingston Seymour. A field of 22 Anglers took part some of which travelled down from Bristol. By the end of the match some wished they hadn’t bothered as heavy rain and wind made it almost impossible to fish beyond 8 meters. Visiting angler Glen Bailey from Bristol drew in form peg 9, he fished into the wind and short for most of the day with paste on the hook and fed 6mm pellet for a tremendous 136lb of carp up to 5lb for first place. Second and drawn on peg 34 by one of the bridges was Clevedons Darren Nudd. Darren decided not to struggle pole fishing due to the high winds and instead used the method feeder casting to the far bank with pellet. It paid off and he caught steady all day putting 116lb of carp on the scales. Third was Brian Slipper, another Clevedon angler who is rarely out of the frame, Brian caugh103lb 8oz of peg 32. Top silver fish net and for the second week running was Paul Faires with 25lb 10oz of bream. If you would like to know more about this popular club please visit http://clevedon-fwac.webs.com/

1^st – Glen Bailey 136lb

2^nd – Darren Nudd 116lb

3^rd – Brian Slipper 103lb 8oz

Slivers

1^st – Paul Faires 25lb 10oz



I have the rest of the week off so hope to have at least one day out fishing.

Sunday 19th August Clevedon Club Match Shiplake Farm

This was the second time the club has been to Shiplake Farm near Loxton and we were on West Pool which is a canal type match venue but much narrower at one end compared to the other maximum width is about 16 meters, I personally had never fished it before. The complex is very popular and does hold regular opens, the owners are also very friendly and accommodating.
I arrived in the car park in good time approx 8 o'clock and I could see that a few of the guys were already parked up and enjoying a cuppa in the fishery reception. I walked back to the car to unload and a few more had arrived, I knew John aka 'the duck' Wolstencroft was there because I could hear him before I saw him, John was having a good old moan about.... well just about everything, he should be on the panel on Question Time, he doesn't mince his words but very entertaining with it. I called out his name while he was having said moan(s) and took this pic, he always looks this happy when moaning.

It was a very warm day and overcast with light rain forecast so everyone was looking forward to it.

Chairman Steve Bonwick was in charge again today but only had to take care of the entry fee and pay out as the owners had gave us the peg numbers and would also weigh us in, great service.

Into the empty beer box which was used as the draw bucket, I was almost last to draw and I pull out peg 12 which mean nothing to me.

After a 10 minute walk I arrived at my peg and could see lots of fish activity along the whole length. On peg 11 to my right I had Nick Harvey but this time he had left Smudge the dog at home, probably just as well due to the number of geese around. I don't think Nick had fished the venue before either as he was on the phone to Dominic Sullivan for advise on depth etc, Dominic advised him it was about 2 foot deep across on the far shelf, it probably was if you went 16 meters plus, Nick actually found it to be around 3 to 4 feet!

I went across to plumb up and had around 4 feet at the bottom of the far shelf, no point in going any further as there was a risk of getting snagged in the far bank vegitation, there was a small will hanging in the water as well. Banded pellet was to be the hook bait over loose feed 6's. I set up a paste rig for the middle where I had about 5 feet and a soft pellet rig for the bottom of the the near shelf which was the same depth as the 14 meter line.

At the start the usual micro went in ith a few 4's on the near and middle lines. Straight across at 14 meters with banded 8 mm and after feeding one pouch of 6's the float buried and a carp about 2lb was in the net, happy days, Nick also had one but took a bit longer to land it. We both had about 4 fish each then in quick succession the it slowed a bit. I looked up and down the match length and there did not appear to be that muc activity hmm. On peg 14 or 15 John Wolstencrof was fishing the tip towards an aireator which was in full flow, I saw him catch a few but he as soon on the pole nicking the odd fish, he lost a good few at the net and the air was blue. Now I know I take the p**s out of John but he just can't help himself, he hooked a duck across on the pole and the air was even bluer, I hadn't said a word and he was shout 'Currie don't say a f*****g word or I'll sue you. I didn't respond, he is a big guy and done some time in the army. The duck escaped and then we had a laugh about it. I looked at Johns peg after the match, he even had 2 decoy ducks in his left hand margin, pic below, spooky or what!!

Anway back to the match. I tried the paste line as I felt confident it would produce due the amout of bubbles over the feed, I had a could of sail away bites but did not connect, I even tried away from the feed and the same thing happened they just were not having it. I could see Nick getting a few on the nearside but this was slow as well. I decided then to concentrate fully on the far bank line taking a fish about every 15 to 20 mins some were foul hookers and very angry but I landed most of them. The sun had come out halfay through the match making the conditions even hotter. At the end Nick suggested I was in ith a shout but I knew John was having a few as well plus there were some tidy anglers on the early pegs.

Steve the owner soon came round with the scales, John was first to weigh and had just over 50lb. hen it came to my turn I put just over 57lb on the scales, pic below, the shadow is Steve taking the pic.

I think Nick next to me weighed in mid 30's,after that weights tailed off. Paul Faires, who is never far away in the frame weighed in 38lb odd, 32lb was made up of a really nice net of bream and skimmers caught on dead maggot or worm, pic below.

Glenn Calvert put in a credible performance in a poor area for over 44lb. I won overall and the win was well overdue.

Local press report for North Somerset Times and Anglers Mail is as follows:

Currie stays cool in the heat to win

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club visited Shiplake Farm Fishery near Loxton for their latest competition. The weather was overcast at first changing to bright sunshine and extremely warm with no breeze at all making the pool appear almost glass like. Fish could be seen moving along the far bank vegetation and were reluctant to venture out into open water. Press Officer Ivan Currie was on peg 12 and pole fished 8mm banded pellet at depth 14 meters across to the bottom of the far shelf most of the day to tempt a winning 57lb 14oz net of carp up to 5lb. Not far behind and off peg 14 was the ducks favourite angler John Wolstencroft. John weighed in 50lb 12oz but lost around 20lb of fish at the net. Glenn Calvert came third from the other end of the pool with 44lb 6oz. A beautiful net of bream weighing 32lb 8oz earned Paul Faires top place in the silverfish category. The club are holding an open on August Bank Holiday Monday at Acorn Fisheries Kingston Seymour, please check website for contact details http://clevedon-fwac.webs.com/.

Ist Ivan Currie 57lb 14oz

2^nd John Wolstencroft 50lb 12oz  

3^rd Glenn Calvert 44lb 6oz

1^st Silvers Paul Faires 32lb 8oz

No match next Sunday but club open BH Monday on Acorn report to follow in due course.





River Kenn - Strode Rd Sat 18th August

With the wife of to Seaton for the day I planned to get out on the Kenn, I haven't fished it yet this season but when I saw the roach about a week ago when a few of us were swim clearing I had to give it a try. I did intend to get out fairly early, around 9:00 but I was drawn to the shaving light above the bathroom mirror, it went a couple of months ago and it needed a new fitting. 'Simples' I thought a quick drive over to Homebase at Portishead, pick up a new one, fit it and off down to Cadbury Angling for some mag and caster at 10:30. Wrong, no lights in stock when I arrived so up the M5 to B & Q, got one eventually after a conversation with a very unhelpul lady ''well just because it's on display doesn't mean we have it in stock''. Back home with light fitting by 10:30 all wired up and fitted by 11:15, switch on, no light! bugger or words to that affect. Off comes the light and found a wire hand come loose. All back on and working (Mrs. C will be impressed) by 11:45. Then the dog looks at me with 'take me for a walk eyes', up the field and back by 12:15. Quick lunch and out the door, load up the car and in Cadbury for 13:15. Quick conversation with Toby on the way out I bump into Mike Lilly, quick conversation with mike heading for the door while talking. 'You'll have a job to get through the weed' says Mike. Anyway, finally arrived at Strode Road in Clevedon and after a quick walk up and down a couple of pegs I settled in in Peg 40, the one that Barry Fowler cleared the other Thursday night standing in the water wearing a wet suit and using a chain saw!!!!
Simple approach as I only had about two and a half hours. Waggler with maggot over caster. 0.10 bottom to a micro barb 18.
First chuck to the far bank without feeding the float buried and I had a 6oz perch. I fired in a few casters across and had a few more perch then they stopped coming. I had been feeding the middle as well so switched to this line and picked up a few roach and so more perch. The level of the river was more or less at winter level becuase of the recent rain and appeared a nice colour and was pushing through but when the sun came out you could see the bottom on the inside. The sun also caused the bites to cease and I went about 30 mins without anything. At 4:30 and shortly after I got snagged and had to put on another hook length the float buried and the tip arched over 'bream', after a good fight in mid river and avoiding the weed on the inside it was successfully netted. I had another couple of trots through but nothing was forthcoming. I packed up at 4:50. A guy who was feeding ducks (not John the duck Wolstencroft) kindly too the pick for me. The Bream went 5lb 4oz and the bits went 4lb 1oz, not bad for two and half hours.

Just as I arrived back at the car Darren Vowles (aka 'Nuddy') stopped on his way back from Horseshoe to make sure he wasn't seeing things (someone had actually fished the Kenn).

Club match at Shiplake Farm tomorrow, West Pool (its a long ditch really)

Sunday 12th August Clevedon Club match Horseshoe Lake Kingston Seymour

Back on the bank at last, it seems to have been ages since I wet a line. While in Norway I was itching to do some flyfishing for salmon and trout and at approx £4 per day it would have been great value for money, I must return. Anyway back to the Club match, 14 booked in and 13 turned up, a couple of guys went down and fished the Frys AC match on Durleigh, not sure of the weights but Andy Hembrow said the levels were still high despite him leaving his hosepipe on for a week! Horseshoe or the Match Lake as it is named now looked spot on with lots of fish and I mean lots of fish cruising around as well as lots of evidence of bottom feed activity, recent reports suggested it would 'fish its head off' with Steve Bonwick predicting a lot of people would need 3 nets! The pegging was done prior to the arrival of Glenn Calvert and Paul Faires and they were asked to review the position of the pegs, I think they done a good job with plenty of room for everyone. We also had a new member 'Smudge Harvey' pictured below, I would have got a better picture but he was attacking me at the time, must have known I was a postie!

At the draw I pulled out a peg along the split which is a favoured area and about halfway up and on the right hand side with plent of deep water out in front and a good left hand edge. I decided to keep it simple today and just had soft & hard pellet, paste and meat. I was about 10 mins late in starting beacuse my rigs were either too short or too long. At 14 meters I had about 4 feet so decided to feed hard 6 mm and fish banded on the hook, in the middle about 8 meters out it was about 5 feet so was going to use soft pelllet or meat over micro, down the edge I had a nice 2 feet of water which was to the paste attack.

First put in down the middle I had a skimmer about 1lb 8oz and had a few more in over the next 40 mins, lots of missed bites and every time the kinder pot of micro's went in there was lots of feeding activity. I then had a good run of small carp up to about 1lb 8oz with the odd foul hooked bigger fish coming off. Meat also played it's part on this line with quite a few fish, I saw little point in going over to 14 meters when ther was enough fish at 8 meters. I had been feeding the edge with hard 6 and 8 mm, first 4 put in's I had 4 carp, it was now 2 o'clock and I could see lots of activity in this margin but kept foul hooking and bumping fish. A switch to a lighter elastic resovled this problem. Word on the bank was some anglers were struggling I knew I had had a lot of fish but they were small in comparison to the zoo creatures swimming around on the surface and not feeding. I weighed in 47lb 10oz, 7th on the day.

1st was Brian Slipper who put over 120lb on the scales, Brian had quality fish, pic below.

2nd was Paul Faires with just over 97lb, Pual had one net of pasty size carp and another net of bigger fish caught in the latter half of the match down the edge, pic below.

3rd was Rod Wooten with just over 79lb, Rod probably had more fish than anyone else but of a smaller stamp.

Top silvers of the day went to Glenn Calvert with just over 10lb, I think he beat me by aound a pound, there was only one place for silvers today. Glenn is pictured below with his carp net, this boy knows how to pose for a pic and looks more alive at the end of the match compared to when he first turned up (maybe that's his secret).



It was a good day out and I estimate between 450lb and 500lb was put on the scales, press report is below.

No slip ups for Brian

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club stayed close to home for their latest fishing competition and held it on Horseshoe Lake which is part of the Plantations complex at Kingston Seymor. On arrival lots of big fish could be seen cruising around in the warm humid conditions and seemed oblivious to the bankside activity as anglers arrivied andprepared for the day ahead. Steve Bonwick the club chairman predicted a big weight and he was not wrong. Drawn toward the top end of the split was Sensas Thyers angler Brian Slipper who took full advantage of a good peg and pole fished varous baits to his right and left hand margins for a magnificent 120lb 13oz of quality carp. Second was his team mate Paul Faires who was fishing more or less opposite Brian and used similar tactics for a total weight of 97lb 12ozs. Third was 'Mr. Consistent' Rob Wotton who had probably more fish than anyone else but of a much smaller stamp but never the less weighed in a respectable 79lb 8oz. Top Siver Fish net of the day went to Glenn Calvert with 10lb 5oz. The 14 competitors weighed in 450lb overall (all fish were returned to the water after weighing). If you would like to know more about the club please go to http://clevedon-fwac.webs.com/

1st Brian Slipper 120lb 13oz

2nd Paul Faires 97lb 8oz

3rd Rob Wotton 79lb 8oz

Silvers Glenn Calvert 10lb 5oz

Next Sunday we have a match at Shitlake  Shiplake Farm, report will follow.