Sunday 30th October - SW Angling Trust Winter League Round 4 Bristol Avon Newbridge

Guesting again for Sensas Nomads. There was a couple of new faces this morning as I think the Welsh contingent were on the Wye.
08:00 draw this morning due to the clocks going back and a limited breakfast at the Rugby Club due to them having a late one the night before.
Access to the pegs at Newbridge is uncomplicated with only two points and no fences or styles. The draw was on time (it always has been), Mark Harper runs a tight and efficient ship.
The table of results to date came round before hand and I was pleasantly surprised to find that individually I am lying joint 4 along with a few other anglers including Nomads Rich Whitmarsh.

Individual positions after 3 matches

Richard came back with the Team Draw and announced I was in A Section Peg 3 which is in the little field right hand bank upstream of the road bridge. I have never drawn there before but a couple of the guys said I would win the Section from that peg and gave me a few tips.

Parking was straight forward and a short walk to my peg. In my Section I had Tony Gilbert (Thatchers but fishing for Jerry's), Mike Goodhind (Amalgamation), Warren Bates (Bathampton) and Lee Trivet (Thatchers). All good river anglers hmmm.

My peg did look nice and I was able to get down in the water which makes a change after the high banks I have had in the previous weeks.

Most of the flow was on the far side but there was an awful lot of leaves coming down. I still set up a maggot feeder and a waggler just in case and two top 5 set ups fishing to hand with 1.5 gram and 1 gram floats. Depth on the pole was no more than 10 feet and covered the area were the flow was on my bank.

very comfortable thanks to my Rigger Platform

By the time I was ready it warmed up and I fished in a T Shirt all day!

On the ''all in'' I lobbed 8 big balls in on the 5 to 6 meter line full of chopped worm, hemp and caster. It took about 10 trots down before I got my first bite on red maggot which was a small Chublet around 3 ozs. The first 20 minutes was far from fast and furious but after that it was a fish a chuck or a bite most trots down for the first 3 hours. The flow on the nearside was varied due to the lock gates further upstream opening and closing for the boats, when the flow picked up bites were more positive. I thought I was doing OK but due to no bank walkers and limited vision I had no idea how anyone else was getting on but decided to stick to the pole line. I did throw in a golf ball sized ball of ground bait every 10 minutes which kept the fish in the swim but there was a fair bit of pike activity as well, One actually cleared the water and there were many swirls on the surface. Because I was fishing to hand I managed to get the fish out without any pike takes.

It was a glorious day and even a Hot Air Balloon was up.

I was glad when the ''all out'' was shouted at 15:00 as my arm was aching. I had a great days fishing catching Chublets, Dace, Bleak, Perch and Roach but only needed to net about 5 or 6 of them. I knew I was into double figures but not sure by how much.

Tony on A1 was first to weigh and he had a good net of quality skimmers and some big roach, I had nothing of the size that he had. His net went 17 lbs 1 oz and I thought I had not done enough.

Mike was next and weighed just over 7lbs.

I was next and when pulling my net out thought I had around 15 lbs. Lots of gasps when Lee called out 17 lbs 7 ozs 8 arms !

My 17 lbs 7 ozs 8 drams...busy day

Warren below me had a creditable 11 lbs plus and Lee who knew he was up against it from A5 weighed 8 lbs 7 ozs.

My Section Board

While loading the car Darren Gillman asked me what I weighed....I said 17lb 7ozs completely forgetting about the 8 drams. He said Tim Ford had 17 lbs 7 ozs 8 drams and this appeared to be the best weight on the match according to the jungle telegraph. It wasn't until Tim drove up to me and stopped that the penny dropped and I remembered my correct weight.

Back at the Rugby Club the other Team members had not so good a day.

Individuals on the day...

1st    Tim Ford and Ivan Currie both 17 lbs 7 ozs 8 drams (£160 each including £50 section money)

3rd    Tony Gilbert 17 lbs 1 oz

Teams on the day.....

1st    Bathampton

2nd   Thatchers

3rd    Nomads

4th    Gerrys

5th    Amalgamation

League to date.......

1st   Thatchers

2nd  Bathampton

3rd   Nomads

4th   Gerrys

5th  Amalgamation

5th Round next week on the Kennet and Avon Canal out Devizes way..been a while since I fished there.

Wednesday 26th October - Pleasure session River Kenn

Summary of the session as follows:

Fished 10:00 - 15:00
Peg 34 which is immediately above Strode Rd. Bridge in Clevedon.
River had a little bit of flow and was going in the right direction due to the high tide earlier in the morning.
The previous days rain had put a little tinge of colour in the water for the first time in months.
Bait was left over red and bronze maggots plus some 3 week old worm and about 1 kilo of left over ground bait from Sunday.
Fed 4 balls of chop and a few maggots at the start using the pole cup at 13 meters which is about mid way across the river.
Used my usual 1 gram float to 18 hook on 0.12 fluro carbon hook length, 5 elastic.
Had roach after 20 minutes up to 8 ozs.
First bream came after 2 hours and the other two around 13:00 and 13:30, roach came fairly steady in-between.
I had approx 10 lbs of quality roach and the bream averaged about 5 to 6 lbs each.
I used no more than about half a pint of chopped worm and approx quarter pint of maggot, all the ground bait was used.
Due to being on the river once a week now dog walkers are getting to know me and control their dogs a lot better, in fact they shout out hello and I have used them to take pictures of my catch.
This has been my best year on the Kenn since joining the Clevedon Club in 2008.

Sunday 23rd October - Angling Trust Winter League Bristol Avon, Swineford, Crane and Jack Whites Sections

Guesting for Sensas Nomads again today and my fourth Sunday on the trot fishing the Bristol Avon. During this period we have had no rain to speak off so to draw some where with flow is crucial.
After last week I just wanted a fairly easy walk and when the Team draw was done I was more than happy with A2 at Swineford (permanent peg 4).
When I pulled up in the Lay-by opposite the Swan Pub Dean Harvey last weeks winner with 40lb of bream from permanent peg 6 was already unloading his van. I did say to him ''you haven't have you" and with a raw smile he said ''yes'' then no. He did say to me when I told him what peg I had it would be worth a go.
A nice flat walk found me at my peg within about 15 minutes. When I looked at it I thought this is going to be difficult given the gradient down to the water and only a small ledge.
Apparently 12 lbs came off it last week on the whip and I was told to concentrate on this for team points. I set up the pole at ''top 5'' with a 1.5 gram float to an 18 hook on a fluro hook length. Depth on this line was around 5 foot. I also set up a tip rod and a crow quill set up on running line for down the middle (5BB).
For company on A1 I had Nick Johns who I thought would win the section if the bream did not show give the form the peg has had over the past few weeks and the class of angler on it. Below me on A3 and the bream peg from last week was Rich Lacey.
Due to the access to the water it took me all of the 2 hours to set up and get comfortable.

It was a long way down

On the ''all in'' 4 tennis ball sized balls went in on the 6 meter line and then 6 feeder full's of chopped worm and caster 2/3rds the way over. 

Starting off on the 6 meter pole it took a few trots down to get my first bite which I missed. The maggot came back just nipped. Same happened again time and time again in the opening 10 minutes. A switch to caster brought a sail away bite and a small dace and I mean dace was swung to hand. More dace followed in the first hour along with numerous missed bites. The dace were quite small so I upped the feed (hemp and caster in small nuggets of ground bait) and this seemed to bring on some roach although they were not big they were better than the dace.  I continued this approach for the rest of the match and never picked up the feeder or the crow quill. 

I did have about 5 net roach and the rest were swung due to the size.

I could hear Rich below me chucking the feeder out now and then and swapping to the float so thought the bream had not showed. I could not see Nick above me and still thought he would walk the Section.

By the ''all out'' at 15:30 my arm was aching. The flow had not been consistent due to the lock opening for the boats above us and the wind had been making presentation difficult off and on during the day. 

I had the scales...again and walked down to James Carty on A5 who had the board.

James weighed first and had a chub of around 2lb in his net of 11 lbs 8 ozs. Next to weigh was Glenn Bailey who had one of the most comfortable pegs I have seen a real armchair peg. Glen had 12 lb of quality roach to take the lead. Rich was next to weigh and I already knew he did not have any bream. That time spent looking for the bream cost him as he weighed 4 lbs 6 ozs.  I weighed next, I was thinking I had around 8 lbs due to the size of fish but was pleasantly surprised to register 10 lbs 5 ozs.

Prior to Nick weighing he said he had a poor day due to the flow coming back at him, I have heard all this before but he was not telling lies and weighed 7 lbs 7 ozs.

my 10 lbs 5 ozs

my section weights

So top 3 quite tight and beaten by anglers with either a bonus on quality fish. Should I have tried the tip? Don't think so and once again the Section was within my grasp (about another 10 fish).

Overall results as follows:

On the day....

1st   Andy Ottaway 25 lbs 4 ozs (Jack Whites)

2nd  Sean Townsend ...did not get his weight

3rd  Kevin Boltz 19 lbs 10 ozs

Teams

1st  Thatchers

2nd Bathampton

3rd Gerrys

4th Nomads

5th Amalgamation

League to date...

1st  Thatchers

2nd Bathampton

3rd Nomads

4th Gerrys

5th Amalgamation

Prior to the match I was lying 14th overall, hopefully I have improved on this after today.

Round 4 is at Newbridge next week and there is still no rain forecast.

Friday 21st October - Pleasure session River Kenn

Short session today...summary as follows.
Fished upstream of Strode Rd bridge 13.45 to 17.20
Very warm and bright, water still very clear, flow going the wrong way for most of the day.
Only had old bronze and red maggot to use up.
Fished 13 meters with usual 1 gram float set up on long line.
With the exception of 2 perch all the other fish were roach up to 6 ozs.
Last hour was most productive when the sun went down.
Ended up with approx 6lbs 7lbs which was good given the conditions and my bait over less than 4 hours.

lady who took the pic while walking her dog cut my head off

Quite a few anglers on the river today.

Tuesday 18th October - Pleasure session River Kenn

Quick summary of today's pleasure session on the River Kenn above Strode Rd.
Fished 1030 to 1500
Peg 38
Bright, sunny, windy.
Fished 13.5 meters with 1 gram float, 0.12 Fluor hook length to 18 hook.
Cupped in 4 balls of chop and caster at the start, topped up frequently with caster and hemp via pole cup only.
Fished floating red maggot or double caster for a 3lb tench and 12lbs of quality roach.

Sunday 16th October - Commercial House League Round 3 Bristol Avon, Swineford, Crane, Jack Whites and Fry's Sections

I seem to be spending a lot of time on the Bristol Avon at the moment but I do enjoy fishing it despite the ups and downs, highs and lows that the draw gives me. Up until the end of December I will be on it most weeks.
I missed the first two rounds of this league due to being on holiday and was looking forward to the third. A text from Captain Chris Hook in the week asked me to try and get another angler as we were one short. We do need more river and canal anglers in the team as we have struggled this year but where do we get them from... if anyone can help or if anyone is interested please let me know. Anyway a phone call to Clevedon Club stalwart Scott Smallwood soon had the gap filled, maybe he will come on board as he likes his natural venues. Full team was ... Chris, Sam, Lewis, Rob, Scott and myself.
With only a small amount of rain on the Saturday I knew it would not affect the colour of the river so could be hard going (again). Draw was done on time (08:30) so plenty of time to get to the pegs, with fishing 10:30 - 15:30. We did not have a great draw as a team.. peg 6. Chris and Lewis were at Swineford, Rob and I up the Crane, Sam at Jack Whites and Scott at Frys, we also had the scales.
My hike to C6 meant that I had to negotiate  two fences. It was OK as anglers gave each other a hand to lift the barrows over in one.
When I got to C6 I found I was up on a high bank again but the flow was at 13 meters so not too bad. An overhanging branch directly above me was just enough to stop my top 5 hitting it. Lots of line was hanging from the branch so another angler must have had a frustrating day.
Set up was very simple, 3 gram float on the pole as the flow was quite pacey, crowquill set up on the running line and a tip rod.

There was quite a bite of activity on the boat opposite as well as a young child shouting hello to me out of a window most of the day. More boats were moored either side of the one opposite, there is a whole community living on the river now and it appears to be increasing year on year.

At the start 10 Balls laced with hemp and caster went in at 13 meters and 4 down the middle. Beginning on the pole at 13 meters the float was just right for the pace of the river and I had a bite straight away and carefully swung a small chublet to hand watching the overhanging branch above me. I had a run of roach then for a while around 2oz to 3oz and then the light changed making it difficult to see the yellow topped float. A red pole top sleeve was put on which helped for a while but the light changed again and I was fishing blind again. 

I had a few runs through with the crowquill and had a few better roach towards the end of the trott before the bites dried up.

The sun had moved around a bit allowing me to come back on the pole and I added a few more roach, netters this time along with the odd perch. 

The second half of the match was a real struggle, the wind prevented me from fishing the crowquill properly and the persistent ever changing light conditions was a night mare. I did try the odd chuck with the tip across to the boat but not an indication at all.

I did do better than I thought I had and the peg was definitely worth a lot more on a duller and overcast day.

Here are the weights in my Section (A and B division).

So for the second week in a row I was ounces away from better points in my division!

The walk back was not good as I was last to pack up after doing the weigh in and had to break down the gear to get over the two styles.

Back at the results Sam had won his Section and Scott was second, the rest of us not good.

I had to rush off as my daughter was going back to London but here is a link to Tim Fords blog which gives his view of the match and results.......

http://cluckerspeg.blogspot.co.uk

Back on the same Section on Sunday fishing for Cardiff Nomads in the Winter League, pleasure fishing the River Kenn in the week.

Tuesday 11th October - pleasure session River Kenn

Just a quick summary of the pleasure session I had today on the River Kenn Clevedon North Somerset.

Fished peg 38 above Strode Rd opposite TV Masts.
River as clear as tap water and bright sunshine all day.
Fished 10:30 - 15:30
Fed half a kilo of worm, half pint of caster and hemp in black ground bait.
Fished small piece of worm on the hook.
Pole at 13 meters and held back hard on a 1 gram float.

Not a bad days fishing given the conditions, pics below.

Sunday 8th October - Angling Trust Winter League Round 2 Bristol Avon Newbridge.

Guesting for Cardiff Nomads again this week due to their Team being fairly stretched due to the Wye Winter League starting.
I had been looking forward to this match all week and was looking to draw either permanent peg 24 or 74 which have provided me with a decent days fishing this year in matches as well as a pick up.
Meeting the other guys at the Rugby Club it was pleasing to see they had a full Team. The draw was completed on time but when Richard came back i saw I was on permanent peg 32 on the straight, not good. parking up down by the river at Newbridge meant it was a relatively short walk to the peg. As i passed 24 who should be on it but Avon expert Tim Ford who was pleased to say the least. Had a quick chat with Tim before moving on, Tim was the first peg in my section so knew it would be hard to beat him. Immediately downstream of me I had Bathamptons Derek Coles again. Derek said to me you'll not get a bonus chub this week lol, i said I'll have a bonus bream instead.
The river was low and clear, no flow and I was up on a high bank. The far bank had a little flow and there was a willow bush on the water which looked inviting.

Lots on rowers on the water today with many having coaching, I did get my hair off once when one boat pissed about too much and continually crashed into the far bank cover.

Depth at 13 and 11 meters was the same and top 4 sets were sufficient. 1 gram floats to 18's on the 2 rigs I set up. Waggler for across as well as the Feeder. 

9 Balls went in at 13 meters on the ''all in'' and 2 big pots of chopped worm down the side. While that was settling 8 feeder fulls of chop and caster went in just short of the willow bush in the water.

starting on the 13 meter line it took about 6 trots down before air had my first bite, usually its a bite first run through. This resulted in a tiny roach followed by a equally tiny perch, not good. No indications at all then for around 20 minutes, totally dead. Put a piece of worm on and had a better perch followed by a few more around 4 ozs. 

Decided to try the inside line over the worm with worm and had a welcome perch around 8 ozs. That was it from that line all match despite topping it up little and often. Just over an hour had gone and I could see Derek below me had gone on the waggler catching small bleak across. He must be struggling as well I thought so followed suit. I had a could but they were very small and the bites hard to hit at distance so the waggler went up the bank. 

I put the feeder across and had a bite straight away on the worm but missed it. Due to the high bank I had to have the rod pointing more or less straight down the bank, not ideal. I caught a small perch on the second cast and at this point it was very welcome. I had a more positive knock around 2 hours 30 mins in and made no mistake in hitting it. I felt resistance straight away and it did feel like a chub. As it came half way across I could see it in the clear water and it was a tidy skimmer around 1lb 8oz. The landing net had to be used at full length in order to net it. Brilliant i thought, lets have a few more. Alas that was not to be despite plugging away at it. I did have a look on the pole lines now and again and just added the odd small fish on the 13 meter line.

Word on the bank was that most in my section had struggled but heard that before. I had the scales, Derek had the board so we started at Tim. 

Time said he only had a very small chub across and then in the last hour added a small roach a chuck on the pole. He did enough though to win the section with over 7lbs, which shows you how poor the river fished our end, really need some rain.

I was disappointed getting only 2 points and with the weights so tight after Tim felt I should have held out longer for a few more perch down the edge, but that's fishing.

Well what did I say to Derek ref bonus bream!

Back at the Rugby Club the team results were pretty good with 1 Section wins and a few 2nd in Sections. Andrew Trudging also won the match overall with a nice net of skimmers, hybrids and roach at 7 meters just below the bridge at Newbridge.

Individuals on the day....

1st   A Trudgian 26 lbs 12 ozs

2nd  S Townsend 19 lbs 10 oz

3rd   L Bradell 15 lbs 15 ozs

Teams on the day ....

1st   Bathampton

2nd  Thatchers

3rd   Nomads

4th   Jerrys

5th   Amalgamation

Team position after 2 matches (there are only 1 or 2 points between the teams so very tight)

1st   Thatchers

2nd  Bathampton

3rd  Nomads

4th  Jerrys

5th  Amalgamation

Fishing the Kenn again on Tuesday, here's what I had last Thursday.....

Commercial House League match 3 on the Avon next Sunday with Maver.

Sunday 2nd October - Angling Trust SW Winter League Bristol Avon

Earlier in the week I posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew of any opens on natural venues around the Bristol, Bath and Taunton area. A note came back from Shaun Bryan informing me that there may be a few spaces on the Winter League, My Maver Team have not entered this League but I was aware a few of the Teams were short so sent a text to Mark Harper who was running the matches. Fair play to Mark as he came back straight away saying I could fish for Cardiff Nomads, that'll do I thought as the first match was on the Bristol Avon, Crane and Swineford Sections plus Jack Whites.
Waking up to a chilly Sunday morning at 06:30 I soon had the car loaded and headed off to the Rugby Club at Salford for the 08:30 draw.
A few of the Nomad Team were there on my arrival but not the likes of Clive Branson or Richard Candy as apparently there was also a big match on the Wye as well so they were quite stretched. Richard Whitmarsh was the Nomads captain for the day and made me feel welcome.
The League is made up of 5 Teams of 8 but one of the Nomads guys failed to show so we were up against it even before we started fishing, not sure what the problem was.
Richard came back with the Team draw and I was in 'F' Section peg 4 which was about 3 pegs up from the Cattle Grid at the bottom of the Crane so a relatively easy and short walk.
got to my peg in plenty of time and found the downstream angler on the Cattle Grid peg was Derek Coles, could see the angler above me around the corner so plenty of room.
The heavy down pours on the Saturday had not put any colour in the river at all and you could see right down to the bottom ring of the keep net. The peg looked fine with some boats moored over in a bay on the far bank and a decent bit of flow at 10 meters. I had fished the peg some time ago and knew it was deep so set up a top 5 rig, 3 gram float and 2 no. 8's as droppers. Size 18 hook to 0.11 floor carbon line. A 2 gram rig was also set up in case they wanted it running through at the same pace of the river.
Plumbing up was a bit of a nightmare as the bottom was extremely uneven and shallowed up quite quick so adjustments had to be made in order to hold back hard and then kinda lay on towards the end of the run. A Feeder Rod was set up for fishing across.
On the ''all in'' at 10:30 I put 6 balls in on the pole line tightly packed with hemp and caster, normally I would put in more but due to the clear conditions and bright sunshine I wasn't sure how the fish would re-act. After that I put 6 big Feeder full's of chopped worm and caster across and about 1 meter away from one of the boats, it was a good depth across.
Starting on the lighter pole rig it took me about 6 runs through to get my first bite and I missed it. The rig did not feel right so switched to the 3 gram one. This was much better and a bite first run through with it resulted in a 4 oz roach. About 6 more followed over the next 30 minutes, it was certainly not fast and furious. I topped up the line with a couple of golf balls with a bit of worm mixed in and a few perch responded.  Double caster went on the hook and a few more tidy roach came to the net but then the pike moved in. I was bitten off twice and lost another 4 or 5 fish to them. You could see them coming up in the water after the small perch which I began to catch with a piece of worm.
Derek came up for a look and to see how I was getting on and he to was having pike trouble and not doing all that well.
I fed the pole line again and then went across on the tip with half a worm. I had a bite straight away and connected with a small skimmer around 5 ozs, sadly that was the only one. I did have a few perch and a couple were about 6 ozs which I was happy with but was getting lots of knocks and not hitting much no matter what bait I used.
After an hour I came back in on the pole line and had a nice 8 oz roach but then more pike trouble and I trashed my rig after one of the buggers let go of a roach when the elastic was very tight.
There was now about 90 minutes left so I decided to stick it out on the tip hoping for a bonus fish. i stopped feeding worm through the feeder and just stuck with caster and hemp with double caster on the hook. I was casting about every 5 minutes and was getting bites but not hitting that many. rather than watch the tip I kept an eye on the bow in the line for movement and had more success.
at around 14:50 the bow in the line went upwards and I hooked something solid, thought it was a bream at first until it started to run upstream and knew it was a chub.
It was that time in the match when you know the fish you had on was going to be really valuable and your bum starts making strange sounds. I was chuffed to land it and it was a good fish.
I kept on plugging away but did not get any more.
The scales came down and 7lb odd was best (Mark Harper) with just me and Derek to weigh. as soon as mark saw my net he said I had won the Section.
The scales registered 8 lb 11 ozs and the Chub went 3 lb 10 ozs.

My bag and the best chub I have had for a few years, worth £50.

Peg F4

My Section

Teams on the day....

1st   Thatchers

2nd  Bathampton

3rd   Nomads and Gerry's tied .......We (Nomads had 3 Section wins so could have done with that extra man)

5th   Bristol and Bath Amalgamation

Top 3

1st   Graham Hunt 18 lbs 14 ozs

2nd  Glen Bailey 17 lbs 15 ozs

3rd   Andy Ottaway 16 lbs 14 oz

Hope to be asked to fish with Nomads next week when the second round is at Newbridge.