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.