Sunday 28th December - Clevedon Boxing Day Pairs Acorn Paddock Lake

24 Booked in for this popular match with most people glad to get out of the house after Christmas. For the first time the match was open to anyone and attendance on the day was made up of 14 Clevedon members and a mix of SW Over 55's and the odd one from here and there.
Based on the lake form from the week before it was expected to be hard especially with a hard frost and a bright sky.

A cold and clear Paddock Lake at 08:30

After a bit of faffing around the pegs were sorted, ping pong ball 6 had a dent in it so was taken out and replaced by 2, 2 being the new 6! Some registered their draw some did not, I checked and was paired up with John Page, John drew 37 and I was on 18, not a good draw. Last weeks Christmas winner Mark Walsh was to my left on peg 21 (another bridge peg!) and Mike Owens was immediately to my right on 19. I had plenty of room but it did not matter in the end.



Partner John Page setting up across on peg 37

I started off on the bread punch across just off the far shelf and had a couple of dips but no take, Mike next to me had a foul hooker first put in but it didn't stay on. After 20 mins still searching with the bread across I had a carp on but the way the float slid away I knew it was foul hooked needless to say it was only a brief bit of excitment. Looking around not much was happening, Simon Ryell on 15 was also not doing any good but he did keep warm after getting some pussy.



Simon and his furry friend

I could see Club Chairman Steve Bonwick getting a few fish up on peg 12 and Mark Walsh and Mike Chapman had some either side of the bridge other than that it was very very slow.

I took a small skimmer from the middle (foul hooked) for 10oz, Mike next to me had a perch for 9oz, Simon and the cat had 2 carp for 3lb 8oz, Mark on the bridge peg had 13lb 4oz.

Walking round watch part of the weigh in I got this pic of Dave Stephenson with his catch of 30lb plus.

Dave Stephenson 33lb 8oz



There were two weigh boards, one was all over the place so did not hang around for them to be sorted out as John and I had no chance, John weighed 11lb 14oz. Match Secretary Adie Baker sent me the results.

1st Nick Harvey and Martin Alexander 64lb 2oz

2nd Dave Stephenson and Geoff Stone 46lb 11oz

3rd Brian Slipper and Steve Bonwick 41lb

Next up for me is the 5th Round of the Commercial House League this coming Sunday on the K & A Canal at Bath.

Sunday 21st December - Clevedon Christmas Match Paddock Lake Acorn Fishery Kingston Seymour

This is a very well organised Match and well supported. Attendance was even better this year due to it being opened up to non members and the SW Disabled and Over 55's invited to fish. 32 booked in and to be honest is more than enough on this 40 peg match lake. It was 8 degrees when I left home at 7.30 with some very light rain, forecast was overcast most of the day with a chance of light rain. Breakfast was available in the on site Cafe, the results and prize giving was to be held in the Bridge Inn Yatton a 5 minute drive away.
It was good to see some faces that you do not normally see all year and who do not fish the Club matches.
Draw was held at 9 o'clock sharp, I was about half way in the que and when it came to my turn out came ping pong ball number 10, happy with this even though I have never fished this end of the lake.
A short walk today as I had more or less parked the car behind the peg anyway. Peg 9 to my right was taken by Match Secretary Adie Baker, Peg 11 was also in and taken by a SW D and over 55 angler so not a lot of room, the far shelf was a comfortable 11 meters across. 3 rigs set up for bottom of far shelf, middle and edge. Maggot, dead and alive, pinkie, soft pellet and micro on the bait table along with some bread.

every peg in down the left bank

island was full as well

Plumbing up I felt a couple of fish which was encouraging, Adie had the same experience.

On the whistle I fed the left hand margin and the far shelf with a little micro and dead read and cupped in some liqqy in the middle. The middle was where I started with a piece of 6mm punch, I did expect a bite straight away but it did not happen, after about 30 mins I had a couple of small dips but that was it. Nothing was being caught as far as I could see.A look across resulted in a foul hooker that jumped out of the water and came off, Adie also lost a few foul hookers in a row, The peg did not come alive at all and all I had was 2 roach and 2 see through perch. I got bored but picked up the camera and captured Adie in action.

fish on but nervous as already lost a couple

nearly there

got yah

Although Adie lost a few fish he picked up the odd one now and then and I thought he would be there or there abouts. At the weigh in he had 23lb 5oz, I had 4oz! disaster but apparent 4 blanked.

Back at the Bridge Inn I met up with Mark Walsh, venue expert and angling fashion icon. What did you weigh Mark... just over 30lbs was the reply. Turns out he had a practice the day before and he drew a bridge peg.

Here is Mark with his catch (thanks for the photo Scott).

not big carp but they all count

Overall results were as follows:

1st Mark (compo) Walsh 30lb 9oz

2nd Adie Baker 23lb 5oz

3rd Andy Hembrow 22lb 6oz

4th Darren North 22lb 2oz

5th Dave Smart 20lb 12oz

Silvers was won by fellow blogger Lee Williams with 2lb 4oz, Mike Owens was second wit 2lb 2oz which shows how hard it fished.

Here is Mark celebrating his win, he also won some good raffle prizes which brought the usual level of abuse directed towards him, Did he care!

man of the match and raffle

As if this match wasn't enough I am going back again as we have our Boxing Day Pairs match on Sunday 28th, must have had a senior moment.



Sunday 7th December Somerset Teams of 4 River Tone Taunton

The Team had registered for this League but this was the first time I was asked to fish. It's a new League this year made up of 8 Teams of 4, venues have been the King Sedgemoor Drain, Bridgwater and Taunton Canal and the River Parrot as well as this one on the Tone. I have never fished the Tone before and only seen it if driving down the M5 or through Taunton town itself. Team captain Chris Hook had never fished it either but the word was big chub with some roach, dace, grayling and trout were plentiful.
Draw was, 8 o'clock in the B&Q Car Park. Sat Nav took me into the right area but spent a few minutes trying to find B&Q. On arrival a catering truck was parked up doing breakfast rolls etc, I think he thought he had won the lottery as he could not keep up with orders and even gave up charging for tea and coffee. It was almost like the old days surrounded by hardened river anglers and a draw out in the open.
Section locations were explained but to be honest it might have well dekivered by a non english speaking china man.
I drew D Section and it was split, 4 pegs either side of McDonalds with a good gap inbetween. The section was only a short drive away and was fairly easy to find. In my part of D Section I had Riverfest Qualifier Roy Carter and Senas Thyers Captain Lance Tucker the other angler was from local team Amigo's.
The walk to the peg was easy and through a small copse, the river was pacy but I did have a long trot.

My office for the day

Set up was a light feeder rod as I was thinking of a bread attack but never used it all day, I also set up a 2BB stick for the inside line but never used this either. The rig I used all day was a 4BB wire stemed avon trotter, 4BB as bulk and No. 8 dropper, hooklength was 0.10 to a drennan wide gape 18. I had 1pint of caster and 2 pints of bronze. Depth down the middle was 3' max and about 6'' less down the edge and far side.

At the all in I catapulted about 20 bronze down the middle and fed some caster down the inside. First trot down I had a small roach and this continued for about 20 mins. A look down the inside and with the float held back hard a small graying came to the net. I started feeding a bit heavier down the middle and it did bring a better stamp of roach and a couple of 8oz chub. The wind kept changing which made presentation difficult and on reflection I should have put on a heavier stick float...but... I had bites most of the day and thoroughly enjoyed the 5 hours. I had no idea how anyone else was doing.

Roy Carter came down with the scales and said he did not have that much, when he saw my net he said it would probably be the best up this end of the section. My weight was 5 kilo 300 grms (11lb in old money) and was the best at my end of the section. 

Weights were slightly better downstream and I ended up 3rd in the section overall but somehow managed to pick up £10.

Team Captain Chris Hook won the match with over 11 kilo made up of decent chub, as a Team we came 4th on the day. I must go back to the Tone again.

Next up is the Clevedon Christmas Match this weekend on the Paddock Lake at Acorn (our own fishery).

Sunday 30th November - Tiverton Xmas Match Grand Western Canal

I was on the road early for this match (0630)as its a good 1 hour run and breakfast was available at Elmore Football Club. My two Team mates Sam and James were leaving Weston Super Mare about the same time but heading to McDonalds in Tiverton for breakie. I got there at 07:40 after taking a wrong turn (due to sat nav)and ordered my meal. A map of the pegging was on display, 56 pegs which shows there is an appetite out there for matches on natural venues. Peg 1 was in the Basin area in the town (where the canal starts)and the remaining pegs progressing out of town. Top 5 individual and 4 sections of 14 to be paid out. There were no other anglers from our end of the West Country and I did not recognise any of the others. James and Sam arrived and we paid our pools and got into the draw que, I had a feeling I would draw the basin area and I did, peg 5, Sam drew 6 and James was in the 40's.

I had fished the basin area about 20 years ago in the spring and weights were not good then. Local angler and fellow blogger Russell Hilton (who was not fishing today) gave me some advice via e-mail so I thought I was as prepared as much as possible, the advice was go positive with bread early for big skimmers and bream. The peg to be honest looked ok with a dead lilly pad across and it was about 2 foot deep here about 13 meters across at 11:00. Straight across under a tree I had the same at 11 meters and about 3 foot down the track. My bread rigs were 4 x14's with 0.10 to 16's, the chop and caster was a 4x10 with an 18 to 0.09.

On the 'all in' I cupped in liqqy down the track and across to the dead lillys, chop and caster went in undr the tree straight across. Shipping out and in had to be done parallel to the canal as the public footpatch was immediately behind me and behind that was a hedge and fence panels.
As expected I had bites straight away on the bread and within the first 30 mins had about 6 small roach then it died, it was the same for the pegs above and below me. The chop and caster line produced 3 very very small roach all day. I did keep adding the odd small roach on the bread during the day but it was a long wait for a bite. At about 13:00 we saw the guy on peg 3 land a pike and we all said 'thats the section won', it appeared to be about 3lb.
At 14:00 I decided to feed heavy with bread down the track and remain on this line for the last hour. At about 14:30 the float sailed away and the no.6 elastic stretched and headed for the far bank, I thought it was a pike or a tench, It was diffcult to control due to people walking behind me and then stopping to watch. I managed to turn it an landed a hybrid of about a pound and a half. Next put it the float disappeared again, slight resistance and then came free, a pike had bit the line! That was it for me.

Scales came down, peg 2 had 1kg 600grm, peg 3 had only the pike which went 1kg 100grm, peg 4 1kg 200grm, I had 1kg 400grm, Sam had 1kg 200 and the guy on peg 6 had 1kg 700grm. There was a gap then as a big bay was not put in, best weight after that was 5kg plus made up of some nice skimmers caught on caster,
So in my area I had not done bad. I think the bright conditions killed it.

Back at the results... 9kg won it from a peg in the 40's (match organiser) so a £100 pick up and a big hamper, he alos won another big hamper in the raffle.
Sections on average were won with less than 3kgs, 5th place I believe was around 5kg.

I finished 15th overall so not too bad out of 56 and on a venue I had not fished for 20 years. The match was really well run and with good prizes.

I did not come home empty handed.

The organises said it was their best attended event for quite a few years, I will certainly try to make it next year.

Thanks to Russell for the advice (I'll draw better next time!).

Sunday 23rd November - Commercial House League Round 4 Bristol Avon Lower Newbridge, Swineford and Crane Sections

A text 2 weeks in advance of this match showed the Team as Sam Johnson, James Gunter, Glenn Calvert, Lewis Walker, Leigh Wakefield and myself. With other team members busy, 1 due to family plans, 1 injury and 2 fishing Viaduct we are starting to build up a decent squad. I did make enquiries on the Wednesday to see if the match was still on the river due to all the rain and it was to be. On the day though Jack Whites Section was taken out and replaced by the Trees at Newbridge which was a good call.

All the Team except for Glenn were at the draw by 07:45, a quick phone call and we found out he was still in bed but would be on his way so pools paid for him. I was convinced I would draw Swineford, this would be a hard Section due to the shallow water and a full river. Sam came back and my name was against A12, yes, Swineford but at least it would be a short walk and we had the end peg but would it make any difference.

After unloading the car and passing all the gear over the gate with barbed wire wrapped around it (usually open) the banter started with Dean Harvey, Paul Barnfield (in his winter break from working at Chew for Bristol Water and Martin Barret. After a short walk down to the river it did not look too bad around pegs 1 to 3, Dean was on 3 and had a nice big slack which can throw up a bream weight in these conditions.
I had only one fence to negotiate and when I came to my peg it did look reasonable on the inside.

I set up my 13' 8'' Dutch Master with a 60 grm feeder for the middle, another feeder with a 30 grm for the inside and a 14 BB Crowquill, that was it.

The picture of the peg does not really show the pace of the river but those who know the river will be familiar with the landmark on the opposite bank.

On the all in I balled 4 in about two rod lengths out with chopped worm and caster, loose fed maggots could be fed upstream and as the depth was about 8' they would reach bottom within the slack. Out went the 60 gram feeder rig and I continued to recast every 5 minutes to keep the bait going in. End tackle was a Drennan Super Specialist 14 eyed hook to 0.15 power line. I had my first bite on 3 red maggots within 20 mins but missed it, Back out and another bite, hit it and a roach of about 5 oz was netted, next cast same again then I snagged and lost the feeder. I then tried the inside with the quill and second trot down had a small roach, another followed and then it went dead plus I kept snagging. After the first hour I had about 1lb. The next two and a half hours were a nightmare, not sure why but no matter what I used or were I cast I kept getting snagged and loosing end tackle. I persevered and kept the bait going in.
At around two o'clock I had a good rattle on the Dutch Master (5 oz tip), hit it and it went solid followed by a couple of thuds. Bream I thought at first but turned out to be a nice chub of around 2lb, happy days. I had 2 more puppy chub, a trout (doesn't count) and a decent perch in that last hour. I estimated I had between 4lb and 5lb.

The scales came to me first and there were a few comments about a nice net of fish for the conditions. Gerry Pocock said it was a decent weight of a sh*t peg. The needle stopped at 4lb 13oz. Above me was an 8lb but they were in B Div, above again was 6lb from one of the Bathampton Team who was in A Div, this ended up the best weight in A Div so I ended up with 5 points so job done for the Team. Most anglers in A Section weighed less tha 2lbs.

Back at the Rugby Club all of the Team came back except for Glenn who was picked up by his wife but we established he had a bad day. As a team we done really well, with a Section win, 3 seconds, a third and a last.

Team score sheet

We won A Div which was a fantastic result, we are still bottom but are only half a point away from the next team up and one point separates the other two team immediately above that. So two more matches left in the league both on the K & A Canal in the new year.

Top weight on the day was 15lb.

Sam and James said they were fishing the Grand Western next Sunday in the Tiverton Xmas Match, I was down in Devon today so popped in on the way home and got a ticket from Exe Valley Angling.

Looking forward to this as I have not fished this canal for about 20 years.

Sunday 16th November

This is why I did not go fishing on Sunday 16th November, click on the link

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9CnqB2LVvs

Sunday 9th November Clevedon Club Match Paddock Lake

I had a ticket to fish the Poppy Match on the Avon but after a few days of heavy rain I did not fancy fishing a river in flood (feeder job). I was hoping it would be switched to the Kennet and Avon Canal but could not get any information. I did text Kev Dicks Bathampton Match Secetary but he did not know as he was in Portugal, he did inform me it was pissing down there as well! Team Captain Chris Hook phone me on the Saturday morning and asked if I was fishing the Poppy, his teams of 4 match on the River Parret was cancelled due to flooding. I told him I had a ticket but was not going. Chris said he would have it so I left it down Cadbury Angling for him and he put £5 in the Poppy Collection so that was £10 donated from one ticket.

I fished a Clevedon Club Match instead on Paddock Lake Acorn Fisheries, it only went ahead due to other matches being flooded off. Here is the Press Report.

Top marks for Walsh.
With a high number of angling fixtures planned across Somerset and the Bristol area it was a risk whether or not the Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club Match would go ahead. Heavy rain the previous three days made rivers unfishable and a number of competitions were cancelled leaving anglers searching for a still water venue as an alternative. The Clevedon Club were happy to oblige and their match went ahead on Paddock Lake at Acorn Fisheries Kingston Seymour. Weights the previous week on the lake had been very good but an overnight frost and clear skies would mean it would be a challenging day so the draw would be important. Mark Walsh, a regular at the venue took full advantage of favoured Peg 8 on the road bank and pole fished soft pellet over micros for a quality net of carp totalling 45lb which was enough for first place. Two pegs away was Richard Heatley who pole fished maggot to nearside features for 43lb 14oz while third place went to Mark Bromsgrove on Peg 9 with 43lb 4oz. The top silverfish net was won by Paul Faires with 6lb 10oz. 50% of the entrance fee was donated to the Royal British Legion.

Mark Walsh

Weigh Sheet

No fishing this weekend, Sunday week is the next round of the Commercial House on the Avon, Swineford to Jack Whites.

Commercial House Round 3 Bristol Avon Newbridge, Pleasure Session on Apex and other news

Well my work life balance is still not right and I seem to be playing catch up all the time something drastically needs to change but not sure what. The 3rd Round of the Commercial House League held at Newbridge was a couple of weeks ago and for the first time my team Maver Cadbury Angling had a full squad. The objective is purely to stay in A Division for next year. The river was a little pacey and coloured following a couple of days of rain but not high. The chances were the bream would respond well to the condition. I drew down in the trees (again) on permanent peg 140 and was reasonably happy with this as the bottom end of the section generally fishes better for roach but would they feed. When I got to the peg it was very fishable on the pole line at 11 meters and OK for a feeder down the middle but nothing else. A 3 gramme rig at about 15 foot deep looked and performed well when setting up and a 30 gramme feeder held bottom in the middle, that was the set up and all I could use. Rowing boats were a right pain and the worst I have seen so far this year, they just don't seem to give a monkeys and come right in close despite plenty of room down the middle. At the all in 10 balls went into the swim on the pole line a 4 down the middle laced with choppy and caster. It took about 10 runs through on the pole to get a bite and when it happened I bumped a decent fish. 15 minutes or so passed and I had a few roach towards the end of the trot through but it just did not feel that roach were going to respond in any numbers. I had a couple of chucks on the feeder like the anglers either side of me but boat traffic meant it did not stay out for any length of time. I ended up with 3lb 14oz of roach, the Lobbys angler below had 9lb made up of one big bream caught 15 mins from the end and a few roach, Liam Bradell above me had one big skimmer and a few roach for 6lb odd. I ended up 4th in my A Div Section of 6 so not too bad and felt I had made the right decision on the team front. Captain Chris Hook won his section on the straight with 15lb made up of a couple of bream and bits.

Chris Hook

Sam Johnson had 28lb odd of bream and was 2nd in his Section he also picked up 5th overall.

Sam Johnson

We the had a couple of bottom in sections which gave us 4th in A Div overall beating Thatchers B and Bathampton Elite, happy days and gave us a much needed lift. On the downside we are still bottom in A Div overall.

Tim Ford (Mr Bristol Avon) won the match on the day with 51lb of bream from the little field., thats 2 wins out of 3 in the league so far.

Sunday just gone I had a pleasure session on Apex Lake just pole fishing for skimmers, it was a blustery day and difficult to present the bait due to the tow but I did end up with around 12lb of skimmers up to 2lb.

I was reading Tim Fords Blog at the weekend and was sad when I read the news that Bill Milton had passed away in hospital. I had known Bill for around 20 years and met him when I was Treasure of the Bristol and West of England Anglers Federation. As Tim said he was a salwart in terms of organising the annual Poppy Match and used to read out the Ode of Remembrance prior to the draw with his medals proudly displayed on his jacket. He loved his fishing (natural venues) and used to go to Ireland most years.

Bill with a nice net of skimmers from 2008 while fishing the 2008 pairs match at Tockenton Res (pic from Amalagamated Fisheries Website).

Its the Bristol Avon again this coming Sunday 9th November for the Poppy Match and I am sure Bill will get a mention and be part of many anglers thoughts during the 2 minute silence.

Press report - Dave Fowler Memorial 19th October River Kenn

Dave Fowler Memorial Charity Fishing Match

25 Anglers lined the banks of the River Kenn to support the Clevedon Freshwater Angling Clubs Charity Match held in memory of Dave Fowler who sadly passed away earlier this year. Dave was a founder member of the Club and continued to make a huge contribution right up to when he became ill. The Charities supported this year were Men United vs Prostate Cancer and Cerebra Injury Trust. It has been a while since a competition of this size has been held on The River Kenn but following good pleasure catches during the months leading up to the match anglers were looking forward to a good day out. Despite a few days of rain and weed cutting activity by the Environment Agency the water remained very clear, this combined with a strong wind made things difficult in terms of bait presentation. Weston Super Mare match man John Page opted to fish the long pole and was rewarded with a couple of decent bream and tench for a respectable 13lb 4oz which was enough for first place. Second and third place went to Mark Bromsgrove and Mike Owens who had a single bream each and some smaller perch. A total of £429 was raised for the two charities.

 Charity Match winner John Page

Bristol Avon and River Ithon

Its been a few weeks since I update the blog mainly due to work, family and other domestic committments, hopefully I am kind of back on track now. We have started the Bristol Commercial House League, 6 matches in total with 4 on the Bristol Avon and 2 on the Kennet and Avon Canal after Christmas. The first round on the Avon was on the Bristol and West of England Federation waters between Swineford and Jack Whites. I drew a resonable peg opposite the old soap works and was able to get down in the water, see pic below.

Most of the flow was at around 11 meters so a 2 grm and 1.5 grm rigs were set up, I also had a small avon trotter and a feeder for the boats on the far side set up.
On the ''all in'' 10 balls were put in on the pole line and a couple down the middle.First put in on the pole and a roach of about 3oz graced the net, I was on bronze maggot for a change. Second put in, float buried and a solid pull meant the number 5 elastic came out quite a lot. Bream? Chub? Big Perch? ..... no, a pike of about 5lbs, almost got him to the net before he bit the line. This carried on and off during the whole match, I had 8 pike on in total and they were chasing almost every small fish I caught. I was so fustrated when I had one on I smashed the end section of my top 3. I ended up with just under 4lbs, section was won with 8lbs or thereabouts. I would have won the section if it was not for those pike (by the way pike do not count). On the Team front we did not do that well, in A Div this year. Tim Ford won the match with just under 20lb at Swineford on the crowquill, fair play.

The second round was fished on the Avon again, this time at Staverton and Barton Farm, due to sickness and a couple of other domestic committments we only had 4 in the team, should have 6. I drew the first peg at Barton Farm which is normally a decent peg. the flow was ok to but with a rowing club directly opposite I had a nightmare second half costing me the section. I had started catching some decent roach on caster and then the rowing boats started to be put in. The ones that knew what they were doing were not a problem but there were some kids with learning difficulties having a go and most of them ended up over the top of my keepnet they got that close but what can you do. I finish half way down the section.

Weekend before last the wife and I had a weekend in a cottage near Llandrindod Wells, the River Ithon ran through the farm and guests could fish as part of the package. A bit of research beforehand told me the Ithon is a tributory of the Wye and contained Grayling, Wild Brown Trout and Chub. I put in an old waggler rod and a few stick floats etc. I had some maggot and pinkie left over from the previous weekend which were still ok and took that as well with a few worms.
On arriaval I was soon walking the bank which was 5 mins from the cottage. Heres the view from the back door.

It could have done with a bit more water but I did nind a 50 yd stretch which was about 2 foot deep if that and caught fish at the end of a long trot. I had about 6 hours on the bank over 3 sessions and ended up with 20 grayling and 2 trout, here are a few pics.



I hope to go back next year when the Salmon and Sea Trout run.

Back on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge this Sunday for the 3rd Round of the Commercial House, should fish well if the colour remains due to the recent rain. It also clashes with the Dave Fowler Senior Memorial Match on the River Kenn which I would have loved to fish.

If you would like to enter here are the details.



Sunday 7th Sept SW Super League Bristol Avon Newbridge final round

This has been my first year fishing the SW Super League and the second season for the Team. I have really enjoyed fishing the Gloucester Canal, the Huntspill and of course the Bristol Avon at Newbridge and the upper stretches around Trowbridge. The draw was at 10:00 again with fishing from 12:00 - 17:00 in order to miss the majority of the boat traffic (mainly from the rowing club). Problem is I don't get home unit about 7 p.m.so just time to unload, shower and eat then its bed time and up at 6 a.m. With two of the Team travelling back from Ireland, two sick and one getting ready to move house we again had to draft in Scott Smallwood from Clevedon and three from Bathampton to make up the 8 man Team. Young Lewis said last week I think we should get someone else to draw for us due to a series of poor ones so this week Darren Gillman (on loan from Bathampton) performed the task and it wasn't bad either. I was allocated permanet peg 39 which I was told by three anglers it was a good peg in the winter! So with temperatures of 20 degrees I knew it would be hard. Tim Ford gave me a couple of tips as promised which also confirmed my own plan after my experience the previous week. The peg was high up the bank and only the bottom two rings of the keepnet went into the water but once I set my box up it was comfortable. As with most of the pegs there was a nice tree line on the far bank and an ok chuck for a waggler but feeding with a catty would be a stretch.

I set up a feeder as well but only had a look two thirds away across for 15 mins. Main line of attack was the pole at 13 meters with two rigs, 1 gramme and 2 gramme, depth was just beyond top 3 kit but became a top 4 rig in order to long line for trotting well down the peg.

I balled in 10 good sized jaffa's with a little feed made up of hemp and caster on the all in and went over it straight away, first trot down float sailed under and I was on my way. I could see the Freenze angler on peg 40 doing the same but after an hour I knew I was ahead of him and he had gone across on the wag fishing shallow and catching bleak, Even though bites had slowed up stuck with the pole and kept getting a fish every 20 mins or so. After about 3 hours I went across with the wag to have a look, caught a few bleak and then this line died, by this time peg 40 was chucking the feeder out. I decided then to stick with the pole and put a fish in the net now and then.
The Freenze angler came running up the bank about 3:30 and asked if pike counted, he had one about 2lb. I said I didn't think so and the angler on peg 38 confrmed this (phew).
At the all out I believed I had about 4lb.
I walked down the bank to have a look at the weigh in and saw Andy Richens (Lobbys) tip back 9lb 6oz which included a good bream, Section winner I thought. Andy was also in charge of the scales and when he came to me and I gave him my name he immediately said 'Ivans Angle' which he follows, so here you are Andy fame at last by way of a mention and pic.

Riverfest 2014 qualifier Roy Carter (Sensa Thyers) is in the background, so a first for you as well Roy.

The Section was pretty tight as expected, I got 5 points from 8 so reasonably happy, here are the weights.

On the way back I stopped at team mate young Lewis just below the Pump House who put 11lb odd in the net consisting mainly of chublets on the wag and won his section so well done to him. Back at the results Sam Johnson also won his Section. Overall we finished 4th on the day with 38 points and 5th out of 8 in the league. Lobbys won on the day and Thatchers won the league outright. See Tim Fords account of the match for more info http://cluckerspeg.blogspot.co.uk/

Well next week its back on the Bristol Avon, Swineford and Crane for the first round of the Commercial House League (Teams of 6), we are in A Division this year after winning B Divison last year.

Saturday 23rd Aug Chew, Sunday 24th and 31st Aug Bristol Avon

Well I find myself catching up again on the blog, life is still very busy on all fronts. I was keen to get back on the bank after my holiday and with the wife on lates over the Bank Holiday Weekend it was too good opportunity to miss.

Saturday 23rd Aug.
On Saturday 23rd Aug I went down to get my bait as usual, I was fishing a Super League practice match on the Sunday but was discussing with the guys in the shop where to go, I fancied the Kenn but had been told it was full of duckweed and they had been dredging it further up so lots of floating green stuff, it will be cleared soon though. After leaving the shop I was still undecided where to go. Got back home put the bait away, walked the dog and grabbed the Fly gear and headed up to Chew Valley Lake just after 3;30 pm. £16 after 3 pm from the bank with a 4 fish limit and catch and release is great value. Dan down at Cadbury had informed me they were up in 3 feet of water. The wind on arrival was pretty strong in front of the Lodge but one of the Rangers told me Whalley Bank up between the Sailing Club and the Dam would be OK. I had not fished this stretch before so this would be a new area for me. After a short walk I was surprised to see how good the bank was for fishing and you could wade out quite a bit. I set up a washing line rig with a bright orange booby on the point and two black buzzers as droppers. I love this kind of fishing especially if you can get a good cast, takes are usually pretty positive and you need to hang on. There were a few boats out but I did not see them catch anything in front of me. At about 4.30 I had a really good take and after a scrap a nice rainbow of about 2lb was banked. I moved up the bank abit nearer the dam after about an hour as I saw a few fishing rising a bit further out than I could cast (always the way). At around 6.30 a fish broke the surface in front of me and about 10' behind my flies, a quick pull on the line to cause a bit of friction on the surface and it took the orange booby, a little bigger than the first fish as well. At about 7.45 I was thinking of packing up when a fish rose to my left a few feet out from the bank, I quickily retrieved my line and covered the area where is rose and had an instant take, if was the biggest fish of the session and brought the outing to a great close. I am sure if I had stayed on a bit longer I would have had my limit.

Not bad for a few hours, total weight approx 8 to 9 lbs

Sunday 24th Aug

James Gunter and I were the only members of the Team that could fish this match and was pitched as a Super League Practice (Bristol Avon Newbridge). There had been a match on the same stretch the previous week and there had been a couple of good bream weights as well as a few decent bags of roach plus the usual 5lb weights. Draw wa 10 am with fishing 12 - 5 mainly because of the amount of rowers in the morning period. Times were not ideal as I had to drive to London the following day (bank hol) to move my daughter from West to East London and all thats another story.

James Drew peg 54 and became quite excited, so excited in fact he fell in, had to get helped out, needed his phone replaced but went on to catch 4lb of fish. Think he has caught something else though as he was too ill to fish Sunday just gone.

I drew end peg 150, end of the trees. Walked along with Clive Branson who drew 134, he told me the end pegs in the trees are normally very good.

Found peg 150 which was right next to a kissing gate serving the path that runs alongside the river, it appeard not to have been fished, prob because of all the walkers and dogs. I moved down a little to give myself a bit of room and looking behind me saw the vegitation had been cut back to allow a pole to be shipped, I was still more or less right on the path which is not good and people walking directly behind are a risk.

Peg 150 the patch is directly behind my box.

I plumbed up on te pole at 13m and found it to be top 4 rigs including about a meter of line between the pole tip and the float which was a 2.5 grammer. Also set up a feeder just in case. Balling in mix was Noire, and Lake, laced with a few casters, hemp and cw. I balled in 8 on the all in and fished the feeder for the first 30 mins, it looked like most anglers below me did the same.

I caught roach around the 3oz mark and decided to switch to the pole if that was the stamp of fish. I caught on the pole straight away and for most of the day albeit small fish. I ended up with 8lb 8oz for 3rd in the Section, Section was won with 15lb of roach. Still had a good days fishing on troting through on the pole.

Sunday 31st Aug South West Super League Bristol Avon.

We had to bring in a few ringers for the match by way of 2 Bathampton Angers and Scott Smallwood from Clevedon due to James being ill, Sean also with a back problem and captain Chris Hook and Don Sullivan away fishing in Ireland.

I drew G5 which was about halfway down in the trees so must have been in the region of permanent peg 135 ish, not great. Same set up as the previous week but added a short line for perch over chop and caster.

  Peg G5 my Office for the day, more room this time.

Balls at the ready.

I started on the feeder again after balling in and had a few small roach, went on the pole line after 20 mins and caught straight away but this only lasted for about 40 mins and it went dead, it was the same up the whole section. I did manage a few baby perch down the inside to compliment my 2 small skimmers and 10 oz roach giving me 3lb 8oz one from bottom in the section, the angler below me weight 2lb 8oz and the one above 4lb 2oz so not good Section was won with 6lb 5oz. Last match in the League is next week same venue. I did not hang around as had visitors from New Zealand staying but word on the street was most struggled.

Ah well theres always next week.

Alaska and Canada July and August

Been back a couple of weeks now from my holiday consisting of a 7 day cruise out of Vancouver up to Alaska calling in at 3 Ports. Saw some fantastic sites, here are some samples.

Humpback Wales surfacing once they rounded up the herring.

Humpbacks on patrol

A wave good-bye

Ice-bergs ahead

Glacier above and below

I watched this mother catch 3 salmon, all about 6 to 8 pound

Rocky mountain rail road up to the Yukon

managed a couple of salmon

Lots more and too many to publish, back on the Bristol Avon this Sunday for a match at Newbridge, practice for the Super League the following week.

Sunday 20th July SW Super League River Huntspill

On the Huntspill for the 3rd week running now, the first 2 matches I was drawn on the North Bank which has fished awful. This time I drew peg 72 at Woolavington which apparently was ok.... really! My Section was won with 5lb and I managed a credable 5 points out of 8. I had a small skimmer first chuck on the tip in the middle and that was it. The remainder of my 2lb 13oz was on the pole made up of small roach and a couple of bootlace eels. The section above me was not that good either but did produce the winning weight of 50lb. Glenn Calvert won his Section at Gold Corner with 12lb plus beating England International Des Shipp. We scrapped a few other mediocre points to finish some way down the table on the day and now are at 6th overall. I miss this weeks match (on the Huntspill again) as I am off to Canada and Alaska. First week is a Cruise and the second week is fishing with my wifes cousins, salmon hopefully. I have mentioned the River Kenn over the last few weeks and it just seems to be getting better. Here is a fantastic bag of 37 bream caught by Simon Carvello from Peg 9 estimated at around 160lb..

July update on all fronts

It's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote on the blog. Life in general has been a bit manic. My new job is very demanding at present and I feel burnt out by around 3 p.m. each day hopefully it will start to settle down. I had the option to select early voluntary redundancy (no guarantee that I would get it) but ticked the option to stay, I can just see it on my headstone... here lies Ivan Currie, he ticked the wrong box'.

The fishing has also been full on with hours spent on preparation the Saturday before them match. We had a Super League Practise on the Huntspill 6th July following by an Angling Trust Teams of 10 on the same venue yesterday. I drew the middle section twice and within 5 pegs of each other. Generally a poor draw on the north bank and in the main only the end pegs produced, I only weighed in 3lb on both occasions, both times in the middle of the section. The strange thing is I did enjoy the venue, the potential is there, if only the fish were spread out a bit more. Bream dominated and if you were on them you had a decent day. In the middle sections were I was most anglers caught early and then little or nothing. Good turn outs with 70 anglers yesterday and about 50 odd the week before. Yesterdays Angling Trust match result was dominated by the Thatchers Team delivering a very consistent performance as a team and individual pick ups, quality.
We had a bit of a drains up after the match and Dom Sullivan made a very good point, we need to take on board what he said and put it into practise at this weekends Super League match back on the Huntspill.

On a more positive note the River Kenn has been fishing its head off, here is the press report I sent off a couple of weeks ago with Dan Dymonds picture.

New River Season opens in style

The fishing season on rivers commenced on 16^th June and North Somerset’s River Kenn which flows through Clevedon is producing excellent bags of bream, hybrids, perch and eels. The river from the M5 Motor Way bridge down to the outfall at the sea wall is easily accessible and suitable for disabled anglers. Most methods are catching fish but early mornings and evenings are the best times to go. The fishing is controlled by Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club who also have 5 miles of fishing on the Bristol Avon and Paddock Lake at Acorn Fishery Kingston Seymour. A season permit for fishing the rivers is £20 or £35 just to fish the Paddock Lake, a combined permit is £50, concessionary rates and day permits are also available, all through local tackle shops. For more information please visit http://clevedon-fwac.webs.com.

Pictured is Dan Dymond with a fantastic 90lb of quality bream caught in the first week of the season on the River Kenn.

Dan

 Last weekend there was a match on the Kenn, here are the results.........

1st Dan Dymond 71lb 10oz

2nd Adie Baker 71lb 9oz

3rd Steve Bonwick 53lb 4oz

4th Scott Smallwood 51lb 4oz

Here is a pic of one of the nets being carried up to the scales.

Dan and Aidie

Club Chairman Steve Bonwick with part of his catch.

The match was dominated by big bream caught on the wag or feeder. I have yet to get on the Kenn this year which is disappointing.

So that's a quick summary, off to tie more hooks, lets hope they get put to good use.