Sunday 29th September - Commercial House League Round 2

After returning from a weeks fishing in Ireland last Sunday I was delighted to receive a text asking me to fish for Maver Cadbury Angling in Round 2 of the Commercial House League which was to be fished on the Bristol Avon around Chippenham plus 2 sections at Christian Malford about 10 miles upstream of Chippenham. I was familiar with the 4 sections on the Chippenham stretch but had not fished Christian Malford for about 10 years or more. The good thing was I was able to offer some advice to the rest of the team who had little or no experience of the water. The draw was at a Social Club in Melksham so about an hours drive from home and then quite a drive to the Sections. On arrival it appeared most anglers were unfamiliar with this part of the Avon. I was the last to arrive, well not quite, on arrival our captain Chris Hook told me there was bad news, one of the team was not coming, apparently informed Chris at short notice, there were no other spare anglers so we were one down before we even started. In Round 1 we only fished with 5 as Toby was ill on the day and had to go home but we did finish 2nd.Chris jokingly said 'well we will just have to win 5 sections' hmmmm. Sam Johnson done the Team draw and came back with peg 7. Sections were allocated and I was given 'B' which was below the bridge at Christian Malford, we left 'A' blank so all the rest were on the Chippenham town sections. After the draw it was quite funny to see anglers working out how to get to their pegs and park. I hung back as I knew where I was going and gave James Gunter some directions on paper. By the time I got to Christian Malford most anglers were already in the dedicated car park provided by Amalgamated Fisheries who control the stretch. I was not concerned as there was plenty of time as the fishing was 11:00 - 16:00 and it was only 09:30 when I arrived. The river was very low but there was a bit of colour in it. As I walked down to my peg some parts of the river disappeared under vegetation and as I walked past some pegs I really was pleased I had not drawn them, but what would mine look like.
When I arrived at B7 I was quite happy, there was a fair bit of room between me and the Cardiff Nomads angler on B6 and below me the next angler was around a bend, happy days.
Although there was a little bit of colour I did not want to risk spooking any fish so decided not to set up a pole, instead I set up a light tip rod for fishing straight lead and worm (there are big chub in this stretch), a wag rod for down the middle where the depth was about 5 feet and another wag for the far shelf under some trees set about 3 feet. 18 drennan team england hooks to 0.09 and 0.10 on the wags and size 16 drennan supper specialist to 0.13 for the straight lead. The Cardiff Nomad angler only set up a pole! I decided on a hemp and caster approach with red mag on the hook feeding both lines regularly.
At the all in I chucked the wag across to the trees and within seconds the float buried and a 3oz roach was swung in, several more followed in the next 30 mins before it died so switched to the middle and began catching again, small roach all around 2 to 3oz. I could see the angler above catching but new I was ahead. Throughout the day I chopped and changed lines, I had a go with worm on the tip for about 15 mins but no signs at all. I thought at this stage it would be best to keep to the wag attack rather than take a chance and given that we were a man down. At the all out I was pleased to have caught for most of the day, although the fish were small. I walked down to the pegs below me after packing up, the two favourite end pegs done the business with 16lb odd each, 3 decent chub were included in each of their bags and made all the difference, the other pegs below me did not do so well with between 3 to 5lbs. I weighed in 7lb 7oz which just beat the Cardiff Nomads angler who weighed in 7lbs 3oz so just as well I did not stay on the tip, other weights above peg 6 were poor. A quick glance at the weigh board confirmed I won my section so job done for the team. Back at the car park the best weight I heard from above the bridge 'A' section was 5lb.
Back at the club in Melksham for the results, I was last back again (longest walk last match, longest drive this match). Out of the 5 of us we had 3 section wins, a section 2nd and the 5th member below halfway, what a result but how would we figure in the overall points?
Overall the river fished hard due to little flow and low water, 5lb was a good weight on the day.
When the results were announced Div A and Div B section winners were call out first so it was great to hear Maver Cadury Anglers names called out namely... Sam Johnson Chris Hook Myself £30 each Teams on the day, Thatchers A and B Teams took the top two places in A Div, when it came to B Div results we had won the day with 5 anglers so Chris's suggestion that we needed 5 section wins to win was not far out... who would have thought! In B Div overall we are now in first position but only one point separates the top 3 Teams, what a result. The next round in on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge, unfortunetly I will be away (cruising on the high sea's again). Not sure what is happening this weekend and still have to write up about the ireland trip. On another note have a look at this pic my boss took while on holiday in Croatia, seems there is another Ivan into fish!!