Sunday 3rd January - Clevedon Pairs Open Paddock Lake Acorn Fishery

This match was billed as the Boxing Day Pairs Match in the calendar, I guess it must have been held on Boxing Day at some point but more recently it has been on the Sunday following Boxing Day due to most people having family committments. It is not normally an 'Open' but it was decided to and in the main invite the SW Over 55's and Disabled Club to take part as they fish the lake most weeks a few of them took part in our Christmas Match as well. On another note it fills the pegs and reduces the advantage of some having too much room.
Weather wise when I left the Nailsea area it did not seem too bad but by the time I got to Kingston Seymour it was blowing a hooley and raining hard.
I think we started off with 24 anglers but on the morning this increased to 27 making the pairs a little difficult but Match Secretary Adie worked out a way and it meant that one angler was paired up twice giving them two bites at the cherry. Adie and SW Over 55 match organiser worked out which pegs would be paired up and the draw took place as normal. I was surprised of the reasonably high number of anglers given the conditions. The top 3 pairs were to be paid out based on total weight. I tried willing myself to draw peg 6 again but it did not happen and I was not that pleased with drawing 18 but I soon cheered up when I found my partner was young Lewis Jones who is a bit of a carp slayer and he had drawn a good bridge peg... 34.
I was able to drive around to my peg with care and had to do a few manouvers along the way to let others pass and you could not drive on the grass as it was so soft. I had a blank peg to my right (17) and club colleague Scott Smallwood was on 16, to my left was SW DAC member Geoff Stone. The wind was severe and the rain was lashing down to sitting it out was the only option but at least it would put our new team gortex clothing to the test. I set up one rig to fish half way at about 2 o'clock with dead maggot over micro and dead maggot, another about a meter out from the pallet on 17 to fish banded pellet at the bottom of the near shelf and a popped up bread rig for the lead across or anywhere else to search around the peg. This seemed the only sensible options due to the wind. Feed was to be very little and not that often. Popped up bread on the lead was the first line of attack on the all in while I watched others struggle on the pole across. Over on pegs 1 and 2 I noticed that Paul Faires and Mark Bromhall were into fish straight away.  After a few casts and 15 minutes in I had a liner and then another before and after 30 minutes the tip flew around a a 3lb common was safely netted but that was it on the tip and after an hour I tried the middle line were I had put in a few dead reds and mirco at the start of the match. The wind was still strong and I had to look twice as the float sailed away and a solid thump was experienced followed by the number 10 hollow streaming out as the fish woke up. It was a bit hairy due to the wind but another half tidy common was landed. I put in again in the same place and the float went under again but I lost that one just before the net, I was only using an 18 hook. I persevered with this line for about an hour but no more indications. A look opposite the pallet on peg 17 produced a sail away bite on the banded 4 mm pellet and after a short scrap another common of around 4lb was netted, again nothing more on this line afterwards.
About just over halfway through the match the wind eased and the rain went off so I set up another rig for the far shelf to dob bread. I had one dip but it look more like a liner from a passing fish. I adjusted my banded pellet rig for the bottom of the far shelf and drip feed in a pinch of micros, the float dipped and a crucian of around a 1lb was had, that was my match really. Either side of me weighed in .... peg 16: 8oz, peg 19: 8lb 2oz, My 3 carp and crucian went 11lb 2oz and out of the 9 pegs on my bank I was the 4th best weight, peg 25 was the best with 27lb odd.
Lewis came over to see how I got on and I found out he had done 50lb plus on the bread. Listening to other anglers and the weights that had been caught I felt we were in with a chance of framing.
I gave Adie a hand to tally up the pairs weights and the results were as follows......

1st   Lewis Jones Sensas Thyers and Ivan Currie Maver Cadbury Angling 61lb 10oz and £120
2nd  Brian Slipper and Kev Perry Sensas Thyers 57lb 9oz and £90
3rd  Paul Faires Sensas Thyers and Matt Roden Clevedon 54lb 4oz and £60

1st Lewis and I, he is happy honest

2nd the Sensas twins Kev and Brian

3rd fellow Royal Mail Colleague Paul and his partner (not civil) Matt

Weight sheets as follows:

Next Sunday is the last round of the Somerset Teams of 4 League, was hoping the River Tone would not be flooded but as I write this the rain continues to fall so more than likely on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal which I quite like.

Happy New Year all.