Sunday 30th December - Clevedon Pairs Match Plantation Main Lake

This was the last match of the year, 22 of us attended (full house for this lake). To be honest I nearly sent a text to Barry our match secretary about 6 a.m. asking if it was still on due to the severe weather we were having in North Somerset. Got up again at 7 a.m for a 8.30 draw and it appeared to have blown over so off I went. This was a pairs match and to be honest there were various forms of understanding as how it was going to be run, section points or weight. Barry had put together the pairs numbers on the peg cards so it wasn't until you drew did you know who you were with. I drew 32 which is not normally pegged and my partner was Mr. consistent, Rob Wootton but Rob had drawn 24, so there was not much chance of framing ah well head down and get on with it. It was a hard day with skimmers not feeding just roach and the odd perch. I had very few options, I could have chucked to an island diagonally but that would have been taking the piss and infringing on peg 31 and 39 so I just stuck it out in front. Bumped a few perch with the small hooks and weighed in just over 5lbs of roach but beat the pegs either side of me.

Anyway here is the press report which covers the match...

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club held their last match of 2012 on the Main Lake at the Plantations complex Kingston Seymour. Twenty two hardy souls attended despite the gale force winds and hail that occurred during the night, during the day it remained cold and mainly dry. This was a random pairs completion with angler only finding out who their partner was after the draw. Kev Perry and Rich Lovering won the day with a combined weight of 65lbs 11oz.

Rich had 34lb 1oz and caught carp down the nearside margin of peg 23 on pellet while Kev put together 31lb 10oz of carp of fancied peg 7 fishing a varity of baits at  16 meters, he did well in the windy conditions. Second was the pairing of Mark Bartlett and Dave Smart who collectively weighed 40lb 11oz. Mark was on peg 28 and professionally poached some fish from the island opposite peg 29 from Glen Calvert. That didn’t seem to bother Glen as he took third place with his partner Adie Baker for a total weight 39lbs 4oz. The Club would like to wish its members a happy new year and tight lines for 2013.

1^st Kev Perry and Rich Lovering 65lbs 11oz 

2^nd Mark Bartlett and Dave Smart 40lb 11oz

3^rd Adie Baker and Glen Calvert 39lb 4oz

My camera packed up as well so unable to get a pic of the pairs but heres one of Kev which just about sums him up.... (pic from Chris Foxes Blog)

Happy New Year all, off to a David Bowie tribute act in a pub tonight (gettin too old for this).

Sunday 23rd December - Clevedon Club Christmas Match Acorn Fishery

It was hoped that this would be a 40 pegger and we had originally 20 pegs on Acorn and 20 on the main lake at Plantations just down the road. I bumped into Match Secretary Barry Fowler in Cadbury Angling on Saturday who informed me a number of anglers had gone down with the dreaded lurgy including our Steve Bonwick our Chairman. It was all to be on Paddock Lake at Acorn, fair enough.
Breakfast was from 07:45 at the Bridge Inn Yatton but there were only a handfull of us had it there as most went to Acorn for Breakfast. I can understand this as mine wasn't very good and appeared to have been cooked for a while. Everyone had to come to the Bridge Inn anyway as we done the draw there.
29 Turned up including some members who don't fish our matches that often, a prize for everyone being the attraction but it is good to see them.
Draw was at 09:00 with fishing 10:30 - 15:30. I drew peg 5 on the island, not fished it before but was told it has form with fish coming to the left hand edge or shelf later in the match. I planned to keep it simple today and fish the bottom of the far shelf, middle and left hand edge. Feed was to be caster, mirco and dead red, for company on peg 4 I had Paul Nicholls and on my right on the far side was Lance Tucker who is always worth a few fish, I think he won the previous day on Plantation with 96lb on the pole off peg 8.
The match started and I was just about ready, fed my lines and first put in on the bottom of the far shelf with a dead red produced a small skimmer, then nothing for about 30mins when another skimmer graced the net. Looking around no one was catching. I fished the middle line most of the match, in hindsight I should have just stuck to down the lefthand shelf. I had one carp across and one down the left hand side with about 15 mins to go. My middle line produced a few more skimmers.
My two carp weighed 7lb odd and my skimmers went 2lb 2oz, Paul next to me weighed in a few ozs less than me, Lance to my left weighed 25lb odd.

1st  James Gunter 60lb 06oz
2nd Brian Slipper 42lb 13oz
3rd Mark Bromsgrove 36lb 08oz.
4th Lance Tucker 25lb 14oz

Silvers
1st Simon Carvallo 21lb odd
2nd Mike Owen 2lb 12oz (I wasn't far away with 2lb 2oz)

Sections
A - Barry Fowler 12lb 11oz
B - Clive Richards 22lb
C - Paul Faires 23lb 07
D - Glen Calvert 24lb 9oz

1st James Gunter

2nd Brian Slipper

Prizes, alcohol being the main theme

Press report to Anglers Mail and North Somerset Times below.

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Clubs Christmas Match was held on the Acorn Fishery Kingston Seymour, 29 Anglers took part hoping to win some festive cheer as well as catch a few fish. For most of the day it remained dry but the recent heavy downpours affected the fishes appetite. Feeding the correct amount and bait presentation was the key to success. James Gunter drew peg 6 and pole fished maggot up close to a bridge catching a very creditable 60lb 6oz of carp made up of fish to 6lbs for 1^st place. James won a Tesco Hamper, bottle of champagne and cash. Second was Brian Slipper who took advantage of an empty peg next to him to catch 42lb 13oz, all carp. Third and drawn on the other side of the bridge to James Gunter was Mark Bromsgrove with a mixed net of fish for 36b 8oz. Top silverfish net went to Simon Carvallo who weighed in 21lb. Four anglers failed to catch, one of them the legend that is Kev Perry which shows how difficult it was on the day. Kevin made up for it though winning 1^st and 3^rd prize in the raffle. The Club would like to thank The Bridge Inn, Cadbury Angling and Acorn Fishery for supporting this event.



Well done to the guys for putting this match on and getting all the prizes, it doesn't just happen.

We have a pairs match next Sunday 30th Decemeber on Plantation Main Lake, lets hope the weather holds.

Happy Christmas all.

Sunday 9th December - Clevedon Club Match Rushcombe Lake

''What a load of Bullocks''

This was my first outing in a month and although not a huge fan of Rushcombe Lake at this time of year I was looking forward to wetting a line.
It was a 08:30 draw and I got there about 08:15, as I drove up towards the car park I saw that the Match Lake had been closed off and I could see a lot of the Frys AC guys. Was this to be an interclub instead? Not so Frys were running their own match and there were only a few of Clevedons anglers, namely 7! Which is poor and has been the case for a number of months, it also appeared there was some confusion with the booking but was not a problem as there was plenty of space and hardly any pleasure anglers.
Paul Faires pegged out and we were all huddled at one end but 4 pegs were put on the island which in my expericene always fishes better. I didn't draw on the island and I had Mark the 'paste' Walsh to my left and John the 'duck' Wolstencroft to my right. On the island was Paul Faires, Glen Calvert and Ady Baker.
It was going to be rock hard, the water was clear, down about a foot (how can this be given the rain we have had) and there was a chilly wind coming straight up the lake and into the face of Walshy, at the end of the match he looked like he had been on holiday for a week lol.
Simple rigs today (for everyone), 0.09 or 0.10 to a 20 or 18, little or no feed and dead or live maggot or punched bread on the hook.
At the beginning a few of us had bites from brown goldfish fairly quickly but then nothing. I think Ady caught a carp about 40min into the match and then don't believe he had another bite!!!
I caught 5 brown goldfish all day, Walshy caught a couple and John Wolstencrof who got his head down and fully concentrated almost right to the end blanked, not a bite.
On the island it was a different story, the press report below covers it.

Slow day on Rushcombe

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club members took advantage of a break in the recent adverse weather conditions and fished a match on Rushcombe Lake which is part of the Bullocks Farm complex at Kingston Seymour. A biting wind combined with low and very clear water made it a difficult day for most and bites were a premium. Competitors had to use ultrafine lines and small hooks and minimal feed to induce the fish into taking the bait. Glen Calvert took full advantage of a reasonable peg and put together a decent catch of small carp for a winning weight of 14lb 9oz. Glen pole fished to far bank features but in the closing stages of the match took two better fish from a halfway point and caught on dead maggot. Paul Fairs and James Gunter fought it out for second place with Paul just edging James with 7lb 8oz of small carp caught on bread to James 7lb 4oz.

1^st Glen Calvert 14lb 9oz

2^nd Paul Faires 7lb 8oz

3^rd James Gunter 7lb 4oz

Glen with his winning catch.

Next outing is the Clubs Christmas Match 23rd Dec on Acorn and Plantation, 20 pegs on each.