Saturday 30th December - Clevedon FWAC Blind Pairs, Paddock Lake Acorn Fishery, Kingston Seymour

So it was on to the last match of the year and one I always look forward to .... my Clubs ''blind pairs'' match. In years gone by it used to be held on Boxing Day but recently its been held on the first weekend after Christmas usually Sunday but as the first Sunday was New Years Eve Adie scheduled it for the Saturday. Not sure if this affected the numbers but only 10 attended.

Draw was 08:30 at the Fishery and Adie was able to put pegs in which were less affected by the strong winds although they did reduce during the day from an initial 45 mph.

We had to draw our pegs first and I was well pleased with 34, a bridge peg which usually produces. Then we had to dip into another tin and draw out a peg with a number on it. Two No.1's, two No. 2's up to 5. So both anglers who drew the same number would form a pair.
I was teamed up with all round nice guy Mike Pickering who drew peg 21, another bridge peg. Well pleased with that.

My peg 34 and sheltered from the wind.

On the other side of my bridge was Matt Roden on 35 who was paired up with Mark Walsh who more or less lives on the venue.....and does very well.

Three rigs today, one for dobbing bread along the middle of the bridge with the option to also fish full depth if required against the bridge or down the track in front of me, bottom of the far shelf full depth or shallower with bread and finally a right hand margin rig for the end of the bridge.

We were fishing 10:00 - 15:00 and on the all in I started on the bread 6'' off the bottom in the middle of the bridge, I fed nothing anywhere else to see how it went. 

Lifting the 6mm punched bread up and down slowly after a few minutes produced no indications at all until 20 minutes in when the float shot under and I missed the bite. The tow was taking me away from the bridge so not ideal. I think Matt also missed a few small bites and we both concluded it was going to be hard. A short spell went by and this time when the float shot under I connected with a 8oz carp. I persevered with the bread along the bridge at different depths but no bites whatsoever. Matt was now on the maggot or pinkie and had the odd blade silver fish.

Going across to the bottom of the far shelf 6'' off the bottom with bread produced nothing. Looking around I had not seen anyone catch a carp.

I fed my right hand margin with a few micro's for later and also fed some micro's and dead pinkies at the bottom of the far shelf and went over it with a dead red at full depth. Roach and a few small skimmers came on this line now and then but there were long periods of inactivity. 

It was the same all around the lake. We couldn't understand it as it had been mild for a couple of days.

It was around 13:30 when I saw Mark Walsh on peg 2 latch into a carp, he seemed to play it for ages and i thought it was foul hooked, but no it was a lump. Shortly afterwards next to Mark on peg 4 Mike Owens was also into one. 

Five minutes passed and blow me I had one but only about 3lbs at most. Mark and Mike went on to put a few more in the net before the all out. 

I just added a few more silvers from all lines, Matt did not have a single carp neither did 5 other anglers.

At the weigh in it was tight between Mark and Mike with Mark weighing 23lb 7oz and Mike 23lb 12oz so it would be tight as neither of their partners had carp.

It was tight but Mike Owens and Mark Bromsgrove ended victorious....

                 

1st Mike Owens (left) and Mark Bromsgrove 27lb 12oz

                   

2nd Mark Walsh (left) and Matt Roden  25lb 15oz

Here are a couple more pics and the weigh sheet......

Lee Williams

Me

I plan to give it another go next Tuesday on the Open Match.

In the meantime happy new year all.

Thursday 28th December - Roy Carter Memorial, Gloucester Canal, Hempstead

I booked into this match ages ago which was being run by Steve Long and Dave Clapton. I only knew Roy (who passed away a few years ago) through the Super League Matches as ended up being pegged next to him on quite a number of occasions. I enjoyed his sense of humour and his love of the sport. A true gent.
The draw was at 08:00 at the Widden Rugby Club in Gloucester with breakfast from 07:00.
Steve did his best to get a decent turnout and at one stage he had around 40 but on the day 27 actually fished. Some were probably put off by the weather but I was determined to attend.

When I got in the van at around 06:20 the temperature gauge indicated it was -3 and as I travelled through the estate the roads were sparking like a night sky full of stars due to the frost. Once I got on the main road it was fine and had been treated with salt.  The M5 was also fine but as I came off at junction 12 there appeared to be a lot more snow about. I pulled into the Rugby Club car park and it was like an ice skating rink but I stayed upright. As I entered the Club I could see some familiar faces from the Gloucester based teams, Diawa Gorden League and Sensas Lobby's who I fish alongside in the Gloucester Canal Spring League and the SW Super League. There were also a few hardened Gloucester Canal anglers that help teams out now and then. Breakfast obtained I sat with Phil Bendall and his dad for company and then Alan Jones picking their brains on the venues current form.

Due to the no shows Steve had to change things around a bit to make it as fair as possible and called the draw at 08:30 with fishing 10:00 - 15:00. Not sure how I ended up near the back of the que but I did. Not to worry I pulled out peg 52 with the scales and section board. This was the end peg and according to Alan Jones worth a few fish on the pole to my right short. I followed Dave Clapton to the parking area as I was unsure how to get there from the Rugby Club.

I parked up tight to brambles and my slightly larger belly due to all the Christmas food and drink caught a few of the thorns. I was soon loaded up and slowly shuffling down the icy lane towards the canal and a short walk to peg 52 under the swing bridge.
Steve Long came walking along and also put me right where to fish.

Very simple set up today.....
20 grm cage feeder across to the tins and a 2 grm float to fish at 2 o'clock where it was top 5 deep at 9 metres.
I had some of the new F1 Worm ground bait, liquidised bread, bread, dead pinkie, maggot, caster and worm.

All set up on Peg 52 upstream of the swing bridge just where the canal starts to narrow.

On the next peg I had Sensas Lobby's Jon Tocknell who had set up the same as me (I think all the anglers in the section did the same).

It was a bright sunny day as you can see from the photo's and comfortable enough temperature wise due to no wind.

I was just about ready when the ''all in'' was shouted and I cupped in 3 medium sized balls on the pole line with a few dead pinkies and casters.

Starting off with the liquidised bread and punch on the tip I had a little knock on my 4th cast put nothing positive. I stuck with the bread for the first 45 minutes without success. I wasn't feeling it with the bread so filed the feeder with neat ground bait and put on a dead red and a pinkie on the hook. I had a proper bite but did not connect on the strike and the bait was missing from the hook when I reeled in....bugger.

I put a few small offerings in the feeder but did not have another touch, it was now 90 mins into the match.

I had a look on the pole line with double dead fluro pinkie on the hook and after 10 mins or so the float dipped but did not totally submerge  but I struck anyway and was pleased to see the hollow 5 -8 elastic come out with a small bream on the end. I love fishing the pole in deep water. It was carefully played and was landed without any problem and around 1lb 8oz.

Most of the anglers I could see kept looking up and down to see if anyone was catching and bites seemed to be a premium. Jon shouted down to me asking what I had. He said he had 2 bream (didn't see him catch them) and an angler a couple up from him had 1.

I kept plugging away on the two lines during the remainder of the match. No sign of any more on the pole line but I was getting little twitches now and again on the tip. I did hit a few of them but nothing materialised.

At 14:25 I had a proper slow pull around (more like it) and was soon playing a proper bream. I landed  it just as another angler who had packed up walked by. Just the job on a slow day and though I was still in it.

I had one more twitch with 5 mins to go but nothing on the other end and bait was in tact.

Dave Micklewright who was not fishing walked down and said the angler in the middle of the old bend had around 12lb.

That was it so I packed up and headed up to weigh in.

The first peg in the section (47) did not weigh and then it was Andy Richings on 48. Andy had fished the tip all day 30 metres out for a few decent bream and smaller samples for 12lb 7oz.

Andy with his catch

Jon immediately above me managed a 3rd bream 5 mins from the end and done well to weigh 7lb 13oz.

My 2 fish went 5lb 5oz

A hard day, but we knew it would be

This is how my section looked

Back at the Rugby Club I bought a few raffle tickets for the sponsored prizes.

There was a peg draw for a bucket of ground bait and Andy Jayne won that.

Steve paid out the Section Winners first and I got mine by double default (£30).

Overall (paying top 3)

1st     Andy Richings Sensas Lobbys 12lb 7oz

2nd    Jon Tocknell Sensas Lobbys 7lb 13oz

3rd    Phil Bendall Diawa Gordon League 6lb 6oz

Andy with the Roy Carter Memorial Cup

I ended up 4th so pleased with that.

£204 was raised for the Stroke Association so well done to all.

Next up for me is my Clubs Blind Pairs Match on Saturday.30th Dec .....on a Commercial (oh dear, best start watching You Tube again).

Sunday 17th December - Clevedon Club Christmas Match, Acorn Fisheries - Paddock Lake

HO HO HO and a merry Christmas all.

This was my first match since the 12th November as I have been on holiday in Devon, the Caribbean and in Norther Ireland seeing family before Christmas.

Due to the match being held on a ''Commercial'' I had to replace elastic in my power top 2's as well as tie rigs and hook lengths. A visit to Cadbury Angling soon had me with all I needed for the ''dark side''. The gear will also come into play for our Clubs ''Blind Pairs match'' on the 30th December at the same fishery.

I had been following the match results on the lake and saw that a few carp had been caught ''dobbing'' bread. I have never done this before so spent a few hours watching how its done on You Tube. There were a few different approaches to this method but it was useful to watch.

The draw and breakfast was at the Bridge Inn half a mile from the fishery and I belief 31 were booked in but 29 turned up. We opened the match up to non members as long as they were happy to pay the addition £5 and quite a few did. A large breakfast was ordered and it was not worth waiting for, ended up leaving half of it. I sat with Mark Walsh to more or less lives at the fishery and does very well, so was able to pick his brains a bit as he fished a match on it the previous day.

Match Secretary Adie Baker was well organised and the draw began just after 09:00 with rising 10:30 - 15:30 then back to the Bridge Inn for the results and prize giving plus the raffle.
As far as the cash pay-outs were concerned there were 5 section pay outs, each £50 and then the top 3 would receive Meat Hampers, everyone else would receive a prize in the form of Christmas Fare (mainly alcohol lol).
I was about a third the way down in the disorderly due to the draw bucket but well happy when I opened up my peg card to reveal peg 6. I have had this peg a few times and done well of it. You can fish to the bridge and a couple of features in the corners.

Map of Paddock Lake, peg 6 bottom left hand corner

Next to me on peg 7 was Somerset Bagger Paul Purchase who like me prefers natural venues so we were both a bit out of touch with this carp fishing lark. To my right on the other side of the bridge, peg 40 was UK Carp Champion and England Carp Team member Mark Bartlett whose family also own the fishery. 

Maver Cadbury Angling Team mate Glenn Calvert wo won the match the previous day with 57lb (from peg 40 dobbing bread) came around to me and put me right on a couple of things concerning the peg as 37lb had come off it the previous day.....dobbing bread! Glenn was on peg 14 and Scott Smallwood who also fishes for us occasionally was on bridge peg 34.

The air was very still and there was a small amount of cat on our corner of the lake but soon went by the time we were due to start. Mark on the other side of the bridge did spend a bit of time clearing ice from his peg. I set up 3 rigs, one to fish bread against the middle part of the bridge, I had to put a dolly butt extension on so it was about 14 metres across. While I was plumbing up I could feel a fish rubbing up against the line. One for the middle at 11 metres and one for my right had margin. Micro's, dead maggot and eat pinkie plus the bread was in the bait tray.

I was ready when the ''all in'' was shouted but decided to go for a pee in the on site toilet as I was directly in front of the house.

On my return I pole potted in a few samples on my middle and margin lines before going across with a double 7mm punch of bread against the middle of the bridge and starting off 6 inches of the bottom. I hadn't shipped out properly when Paul next to me on 7 could be seen playing a fish straight away.  I had the rig bulk shotted with 3 no. 8 at this point and one number 10 dropper.  As soon as it settled the float sailed away and it was also carp on for me. The no. 11 hollow was just right and a 3lb fish was soon safely in the net, happy days. I looked around as far as I could see and didn't see any other early fish being caught. Mark on 40 was fishing right across into the corner of the bridge his side and I saw him bump a few early fish. I think about 30 mins went by before I had my second bite and I believe it was foul hooked as it came off half way across and didn't feel right. Another bite followed and I missed it, more of a liner.  I shallowed up a couple of inches and started to slowly lift and drag the bait towards the right hand side of the bridge and this brought me a few fish within a 20 min spell.  The angler on 39 had a couple of fish down the track and also missed a few bites (not surprised as I could see his elastic hanging out the end of the pole). Mark also had a few in the middle of the bridge, he was feeding and I wasn't.

I altered the shooting on my rig spacing them out to allow a slow fall and this worked better giving me more fish. I really couldn't see much being caught and by 2 pm thought I was in with a shout as I had 9 carp with the best part of the day to come. I had a look on my other lines briefly but not a sign so didn't waste any more time on them and went back on the bread across. I added another 6 fish before 15:30 some of them were 8lb ish and I had one just before the all out. 

I estimated I had around 60lb, 11 carp in one net and 4 in the other.

Paul on 7 had 3 carp and I think Mark had around 4 or 5.

While packing up Mark came around and said you must have about 30lb, I said no, 60lb plus. He said he kept missing bites as he was watching me....lol...

Keith May who was on island peg 1 came across to his van behind me with his gear and said...how many you got ...15... (how did he know that?), he said there had been a few fish caught on the island. I couldn't tell as my big furry hat that I wore during the match blanked my view to the island out.

3 of the 4 island pegs that were in did fish ok and my peg was in with them for the section money, it was tight but I did manage the section with 71lb 4oz, peg 1 had 60lb and peg 2 had 66lb.

part of my catch 

It also turned out I had won the match overall.

Scott down on bridge peg 34 also had a good day with 42lb plus but also lost 15 carp!!!!

Scott with his catch in his small landing net 

5 Section payouts of £50

A - Ivan Currie 71lb 4oz (Maver Cadbury Angling)

B - Tony Rixon 23lb (Mosella)

C - Darren North 39lb 8oz (PSV)

D - Glenn Calvert 14lb (Maver Cadbury Angling)

E - Scott Smallwood 42lb 10oz (Maver Cadbury Angling)

Top 3 receiving meat hampers

1st    Ivan Currie 71lb 4oz (Maver Cadbury Angling)

2nd  Adie Baker 66lb 15oz (Clevedon)

3rd   Keith May 60lb 10oz (Over 55's)

a good day and kept the wife happy

Given that there was a match on the previous day it did fish well. The weight sheets are copied below but quality not good.

Next match for me is the Roy Carter Memorial on the Glos Canal 28th December then Pairs Match on 30th.

Sunday 12th November - Bill Milton Memorial (aka Poppy Match) Bristol Avon, Newbridge to Jack Whites

This is the biggest match of the year on the Bristol Avon with all proceeds going to the British Legion formerly run by the late Bill Milton and now organised by Ray Bazeley assisted by Paul Benson.
The draw was at the new Frys Club on the old Chocolate Factory site at Keynsham which is now all housing due to Kraft (plastic cheese makers) buying then closing the Factory and moving the operation to Eastern Europe leaving a lot of local people unemployed.
I believe there were 86 booked in and it was nice to see some of the more well known local senior anglers attending this match rather than fish the Commercials.
From our Team there was only Sam, Jack and myself fishing this match.

Old friend and Secretary of the Bristol and West of England Anglers Federation as well as the local British Legion Angling Club read the citation at 08:00 with the formal silence.

The draw then got under way with registered disabled anglers drawing the allocated disabled pegs first then it was the rest of us. Sam was near the front and Jack and I were not far from the end.

The river was supposed to be spot on after the rain in the week but it was colder.

Newbridge would be the favoured area to draw due to the pace and colour of the water so a big weight was expected.

I drew 76 which was permanent peg 88 up the Crane so was not looking forward to the walk. Jack drew 81 which was in the bay above the High Wall. We had know idea where Sam drew as he was off like a shot.

It was only as short drive to the parking area near Keynsham Angling Centre and I was soon unloading the van along with a number of unhappy faces.

I decided to lighten up as it was a fair walk over two fences so the trolley would have to be broken down. Fair play though at each fence everyone helped each other pass the gear over the fences.

Matt Challenger was a few pegs above me and I think he should enter the Worlds Strongest Man Competition next year as I have never lifted a rod bag and holdall that has been so heavy. 

Finally got to my peg and it didn't look that good, it was way down a steep bank with a couple of foot holds dug out and was extremely slippery. Rich Lacey who was also above me took a look and advised me to sit up on the bank a bit.

I did get down it the water and it was just above my wellies (yes got a wet foot again).

I set the rigger platform up and although it too a long time it was more comfortable.

Given the time, fishing was 10:00 - 15:00, I only had time to set up a Feeder Rod. To be honest due to the tree above me and being in a bit of a bird cage that was the only option. 

I had plenty of worm and caster plus some maggot and a couple of tubs of lobbys. There was a tinge of colour in the water, not too much and it was quite pacey across by the boats.

I decided on a line just on the edge of the main flow and a 30 gram feeder held there nicely. the business end had a size 14 drennan feeder hook to 0.15.

After a couple of chuck with a lobby head on the hook the tip rattled and a 5 oz perch was swung to hand.so blank avoided.

I missed a bite next cast. Out again and another bite, hit it right this time and it felt a little better and netted a 10oz skimmer. Exactly the same next cast and another small skimmer. 

After about 90 minutes Rich came down for a walk, I don't think he had caught at this point but he said Matt had chucked the feeder out and continued to set up his pole when he looked up the tip had gone around and he had a bream!!!

After another hour or so Rob Jones who was below me came up for a walk. He said he hadn't had a bite! He walked on up and when he returned he informed me Rich had a bream but Matt had now caught a carp around 6lbs...ffs....

I plugged away but was not getting any bites from when I had the last small skimmer.

About 14:00 I heard a smash in the nearside left margin and there was an otter sitting over the branches of a tree lying in the water. I went for the camera but it went back in the water, swam over the top of my keep net and disappeared.

That was my match over, 4 bites in the first hour then nothing.

Matt came down with the scales, he had weighed 11lb 8oz, he also had only a couple of bites but a couple of them resulted in quality fish as well as that rare carp.

Matt with his carp which went 7lb plus

Rich had went early and not weighed. my three fish went 1lb 6oz, the angler above me weighed 11oz and Rob below me DNW. My 5 peg section  was won with 2 lb plus so was worth sticking to the end just in case.

Back at the Club it soon became obvious that Newbridge had fished well with all the big weights coming from there.

1st   Kev Boltz 59lb 1oz

2nd  Craig Pinkett 37lb 10oz

Craig with one of his bream

3rd  Andy Curry 32lb 5oz

4th  Tim Ford 23lb

5th  Andrew Cranston 21lb 7oz

Young Andrew with his catch, he can't go wrong at the moment

6th  Martin Barrett 20lb 14oz

7th  Dean (the bream) Harvey 19lb 12oz (3 bream)

8th  Neil Taylor 18lb 8oz

My good friend and travelling partner for Ireland Steve Vernon was not far off the money with 3 bream for 17lb plus, well done mate (draw bag).

In the raffle I won a Sensas Polo Shirt, is this a sign?????

Sam and Jack also done rubbish but it was all about the draw today.

£1700 plus raised for the British Legion.

I went down on the River Tone in Taunton on the Tuesday following and had a nice day fishing the stick float for a 10lb plus mixed bag plus 2 pike one of which took double red maggot in 2 foot of water.

 

Thats it for me Match wise until the 17th December (Clevedon Club Xmas Match) as I have a few weekends away and a holiday coming up.

Sunday 5th November - Angling Trust SW Winter League Round 5, Kennet and Avon Canal Kings Arms to Semmington

I was up earlier than usual for this match as the draw was in Spencers Club in Melksham so needed to allow an hour to get there. It was a cold morning and the in car temperature gauge indicated it was 5 degrees at 06:15. No sign of frost but as I drove towards Chippenham I could see some of the fields were white. A bright sunny day was also forecast ... oh dear.
I had only fished this area once before, last year and managed a section win by default with 2lb 14oz. The team I guest for in the Winter League (Sensas Nomads) also had the individual winner on the day, Jeff Sibley and as a team we also won the day.
I got to Spencers around 07:20 and lined up to order a sausage sandwich. The Upper Thames Winter League was also drawing at Spencers as they had there match on canal sections above us. It was nice to see some of the lads from this league and usually only see them on the Gloucester Canal in the Spring.
Sections with postcodes for parking and access had already been handed out which is very beneficial for those who are unfamiliar with the area i.e. me!

For the second week running team captain Mark aka ''the whippet'' Williams had be be reminded to go and do the team draw when Mark Harper called the team captains. Correction .... only this time as he missed the previous weeks call altogether. 

Draw done and I found myself on G4 at Semmington. A quick word with Mark who gave more info on the location and what to do in order to fish for perch.

I found the section easy enough and met up with Darren Gillman who made a quick call to find out which direction we should walk in once over the canal bridge.

Anglers in my Section were James ''canal basher'' Carty on G1, Dean ''the bream'' Harvey on G2, Shane Caswell on G3, me on G4, then Darren on G5.

I was able to get down in the water with my rigger platform which meant I was off the very narrow towpath. I made sure it was absolutely solid after last week near miss (drowning).

All pole rigs today. 13 metres across in about a foot of water with a 4x12 and 20 hook. Up the ledge at around 11 metres across in two foot with a 4x14 and 18 hook. Down the track at around 7 metres left and right with two 4x14's and 18 and a 20. Down my right hand edge to some reeds in about 15 inches of water with a 4x12 to a 15 hook in oder to fish worm for bonus perch.

The canal was heavily coloured but I started off on the bread down the track feeding a couple of small balls of liquidised. I also cupped in a big pot of chopped worm down the edge and left the other lines feed free.

Starting on the punch it too a while to get my first bite (around 10 minutes) but the float duly sailed away and the blank was avoided with a 2oz roach. During the first hour I stuck with the bread and although in was not fast and frequent I was getting the odd small fish supplemented by a net roach of around 4 to 5 oz. I could hear Shane and Dean chatting to each other and both appeared to be struggling. The trees that had been on the far bank opposite them had been cut back and I could see the pole out across and not coming back in with fish. Darren below me had switched across to the far bank very early in the match and was catching blades fairly regular. 

I had a look across and caught a few blades as well and then for some reason fed a ball of ground bait with dead pinkie and a few casters down the middle to my left. In hindsight I wish I had stayed on the bread as the fish were a better size and they did not really respond to the ground bait.

It must have been around halfway through the match when Shane walked past me with a mixing bowl in his hand. He was off for a clear-out in his van due to having a stomach bug!

I had a look down the edge with a lobby tail and missed a bite after 10 minutes. Shane came back a bit more relieved and while he was behind me the worm rig dipped and I had a perch around 4 ounces. He said he had next to nothing.

I re-fed the worm line again and put on a maggot on my track line. The float dipped and I had a small skimmer. No more followed but I stuck at it looking for better fish. I knew Darren was ahead of me due to catching a large amount of blades so felt this was my only option.

I did have a bonus perch down the edge around 1lb plus as well as a few smaller samples so the tactic was OK, just did not find any more larger ones.

James won the Section going for blades all day, he said he knew the area and how shit it was. 

Heres how the Section looked at the finish.......

So 3 point from 5 .... not a disaster but should have stuck on the bread longer. 

Back at the results the team sheet got filled in and we had 25.5 points. Rich won his Section again and we also had two second in Sections. Mike just missed out on a Section win due to loosing a large perch at the net.

Jeff has now got the Samaritans on speed dial due to and 1 point (well 1.5 this time).

After the draw in the morning I was heading to the van when I over heard Mark Harper informing someone that Tom (Moretti) was on a flyer.

That was very true as he won the day by a country mile.

Nice net of fish for Tom (courtesy of his Facebook page)

Here are the Section weights......

A  11lb 11oz

B   7lb 7oz

C   6lb 8oz

D   7lb 3oz

E    4lb 10oz

F    4lb 5oz

G   5lb 7oz

H   5lb 1oz

Individuals (paying top 4).....

1st   Tom Moretti P I Thatchers 11lb 11oz

2nd  Rob Jones P I Thatchers 7lb 7oz

3rd  Andrew Cranston Die Hards 6lb 8oz

4th  Mike Withey Sensas Nomads 5lb 13oz

Teams on the day......

1st   P I Thatchers

2nd  Mosella Bathampton

3rd   Sensa Nomads

4th   Die Hards

5th   M & N Electrical

League after 5 rounds......

1st   P I Thatchers

2nd  Mosella Bathampton

3rd   Sensa Nomads

4th   Die Hards

5th   M & N Electrical

The final round is week after next on the canal at Bath which I will miss due to going on holiday.

Next week is the biggest match of the year on the Bristol Avon, the Bill Milton Memorial (Poppy Match) so looking forward to that.

Sunday 29th October - Angling Trust SW Winter League Round 4, Bristol Avon Newbridge

Guesting for Sensas Nomads again (East side of the Bristol Channel Team). Earlier draw this week due to the clocks going back and at the Crown Pub in Keynsham again providing a good breakfast. I hadn't seen the river but expected that the colour had dropped out of it and the pace would be slow again due to very little rain in the week.
Mark Harper called the draw just before 8 a.m. and Team Captain Mark Whippet was out having a cigarette so I prompted Mike Whithey who was just finishing off his breakfast to do it as we were first in line.
Draw done I found myself on peg 7 in the little field, a peg I had a joint first off (with Tim Ford) last winter (17lb plus of small roach and hybrids 7 metres to hand).
As I parked up Tim arrived, he was on 3 which had been fishing well. Andy Curry was also in the little field, end peg. The other two pegs in our section were Dean (the bream) Harvey on 16 and Darren Gillman on 18.
You need to get in the water on peg 7 so set up my Rigger Platform with the long legs at the front and added my box etc. It was a bit slow going getting in and out of the water as well as clambering up and down a fairly steep and slippy part of the bank but I was ready (just) by 09:50. There was a very slight tinge of colour but not a lot of flow.
I had a 4 gram flat float set up at 13 metres where it was around 7', a feeder for the far side towards the boats, a 2 gram rig at 11 metres and a 6 metre whip with a 1 gram pencil.
Just before 10 o'clock I got up on the platform ready to sit down and the whole lot started to slide forward! I ended up at 45 degrees to the water with one leg off the platform and the other still on it with my ass in the water and wader filling up. Oh bollocks!!!.
I seemed to be stuck and was trying to save the box from going in as well plus my tray. It was just past 10 o'clock now and I shouted a few times up to Tim for help but he couldnt hear me due to the noise from boaters and the traffic from a near by road. How I did it I don't know but I managed to slowly get out and find a grip in the very soft mud but by now both waders filled up. Once out I had to dismantle my set up and re-position the platform. By the time I had done this it was nearly 10:30, not a happy bunny.
I put 4 balls in at 7 meters and a couple in down the middle laced with chop, caster and dead reds. Starting off with the whip I had a roach first trot down around 2oz and then a few more. The wind picked up a little and it was harder to control the float but came in a little closer and that seemed to be better, the fish were all over the inside on the peg, not big but at least I was catching.
It didn't take long before the pike moved in, in fact my peg became totally infested with them.
I think it was about 2 hours into the match when Tim walked down. He had come for a walk to clear his head as he to was being plagued by pike. He was admiring to about 3 or 4lbs. I thought I had around 5 to 6lbs.
Not longer after he went another pike took a roach and I managed to net it with 7 sections of pole and 5 elastic, it was around 8lbs.

You waste so much time with these buggers and theres a good chance of the rig being trashed. I got through numerous hook lengths.

I had been loose feeding hemp and caster further out so picked up the 2 gram rig and had a nice run of small roach and hybrids for around an hour.

It slowed down then until the end of the match and I just picked up the odd perch and roach until 15 minutes from the end when I found myself playing another pike which trashed the rig.

It was a slow process getting everything back up the bank. I had the scales but Dean came up with the board and took them off me to weigh in Tim above. Dean said he had some skimmers and two proper slabs for around 20lbs. He also said Andy below me was admitting to 12lbs but Darren below him had struggled on 18.

Heres how my section ended up......

so.... 3 point from 5 not a disaster given I fish 4.5 hours from 5.

Dean decided to allocate nick names to everyone!

Back at the Crown it appeared that the bream had fed from peg 50 down. Mayer Team mate Steve Hutchinson guesting for M & N Electrical had a good day catching 42lb of them on the pole and he lost 3.

Sensas Nomads Team mate Richard Whitmarsh also had a good day netting 45lb plus.

Richard with his catch and enough to win the match

As a Team we didn't do that well.

For me man of the moment is Mosella Bathamptons Matt Challenger who from one of my favourite pegs (76) had another Section win and 4th in the match.

Another nice net for Matt.

Top individuals on the day....

1st    Richard Whitmarsh Sensas Nomads 45lb 12oz

2nd   Steve Hutchinson M & N Electrical 42lb 9oz

3rd   Luke Sorekin P I Thatchers 30lb 6oz

Teams on the day....

1st    P I Thatchers

2nd   Mosella Bathampton

3rd   Die Hards

4th   Sensas Nomads

5th   M & N Electrical

Team positions after 4 rounds...

1st   P I Thatchers

2nd  Mosella Bathampton

3rd   Sensas Nomads

4th   Die hards

5th   M & N Electrical

5th round next week Kennet and Avon Canal near Melksam......that'll be different!

Sunday 22nd October - Angling Trust SW Winter League Round 3, Bristol Avon Swineford to Jack Whites

So on to the third round of the SW Winter League and guesting for Senas Nomads again. I had been over in Powys for a couple of days at the end of the week returning Saturday afternoon and was keeping an eye on the weather. Although there had been a lot of rain the Upper Wye did not seem to be affected.
My route to the Crown in Keynsham did not take me over the river so was unsure what condition it would be in. Some of the guys said the River Frome was up and coloured so we expected some colour and pace.
I said prior to the draw I would like A3 at Swineford. Well Mark was not far off and came back with me being allocated A5. So at least a short walk.
Young Andrew Cranston came up to me at the draw and was overjoyed as he had drawn the peg I had been on the previous week.

Team mate Jeff Sibley was on B5 so we headed out to Swineford and parked up next to each other in the lay by opposite the Swan Pub.
The gate was locked so had to handball all the gear over the fence or gate. As I had a short walk I gave a couple of lads a hand.
The river was up and rising, not too much but looked good. In my Section there was Warren Bates A1, Glenn Bailey A2, Mark Harper A3, Andy Curry A4 and then me. No mugs here then!!!
I already knew who would win the Section and also felt it would be difficult to compete with A1 and A2 as they are good small fish pegs. Never the less I started to set out my stall.
As I was setting up Kev Dicks came up from B Section saying that the thread had gone on one of the legs of his platform so I said he could borrow mine. Surely all this kindness and goodwill would see me OK today???
As I set up the river was still rising and a lot of debris was coming down. Trying out the Feeder it took 45 grams to hold middle. A 13BB Crowquill was also set up for a third the way out and a 6 metre Whip for the inside with a 5BB Crowquill. 3 Kilo of ground bait was also fixed up (gros gardens, noire and brown crumb).
Fishing today was 11 till 4 and I was ready with 20 minutes to go.
On the ''all in'' I fed 4 medium sized balls 2 on the Whip line just to see how it went. First and second trot down I had two small roach then nothing for 15 minutes or so. I had been dripping in caster and hemp down the edge so shallowed up and caught a few more. Problem was the bites were at the end of the trot and it was hard to see the float due to over hanging rushes and I couldn't get them to feed a little further out even using the running line set up. I decided to persevere and added the odd small fish.
I could hear Andy above me casting the Feeder out continuously, so he was going for it.
Around the halfway stage I was surprised to see Glenn behind me, he had come for a walk! he asked me how I was getting on and I said about 3lbs at best. He said Mark on 3 was admitting to 15lb (bream). I asked what he had and he reckoned he had 10lb of bits, which is what I would have expected.
After he went I chucked the tip out and had a rattle but did not connect with anything. i gave it another 20 minutes but nothing.
Back on the inside on the running line I had a few more roach and dace but nothing mega.
The river started to drop and there was less rubbish coming down so at 3 o'clock I put half a lobby worm on a size 12 and had another go on the tip. I was chopping worms up just after casting out and happened to glance up and blow me the tip was bouncing like crazy. I struck and knew instantly it was ''bream on''. It was a real heart stopping few minutes getting it across the main flow and was a relief to net it. It was a decent fish around 4lbs.
That was it then the rest of the match would be on the tip. I did add a few more fish, 3 perch, a small skimmer and a greedy roach.
I was first to weigh and I put 8lb 13oz on the scales.

The bonus bream (could have done with 2 more)

Andy above me had no bonus fish on the tip and weighed 4lb 14oz so it would have been close between us had I not had the bream.

On to the star of the show Mark Harper who had two weighs for 35lb 6oz.

Lovely net of fish for Mark.

As expected Glenn and Warren had a small fish battle and were only a couple of pounds apart.

Heres what the Section looked like.......

Back at the Crown it soon became clear we had fallen well short as a team although there were a couple of good results, Rich Whitmarsh and Vic Abbot.

Top individuals on the day....

1st   Mark Harper 35lb 6oz (A3 Swineford)

2nd  Tom Morretti 26lb 10oz (G2 Jack Whites and last weeks winning peg 27lb)

3rd   Andrew Cranston 22lb 5oz (G1 Jack Whites last weeks 3rd place 21lb)

Teams on the day......

1st   P I Thatchers (7 section wins from 8)

2nd  Mosella Bathampton

3rd  Die Hards

4th  Sensas Nomads

5th  M & N Electrical

Newbridge next week for Round 4.

Sunday 15th October - Bristol Commercial House League Round 3, Bristol Avon, Swineford to Frys.

Leigh Wakefield sent me a text early Friday morning to say he wouldn't be able to fish as he had dislocated his shoulder playing football. He fell just as the ref was about to blow the whistle!
So a man down and only a couple of days to go.
I just happened to go on Facebook and saw that Craig Fletcher had posted that Gary Cross (this year Evesham Champ) was looking for a match. Craig kindly sent me Gary's number and it took a while but he gave in to my Irish charm.
The draw was at the Crown again in Keynsham and a hearty breakfast was laid on.

Team today was......
Chris Hook (capt.)
Sam Johnson
Gary Cross
Jack Jones
Steve Hutchinson
Me

Chris came back after doing the draw and we had drawn peg 1 and the scales (think my middle name is Avery as I have had the scales time and time again this year).
I found myself on E1 which is the first peg at Jack Whites...shortest walk...no breaking down the trolley...armchair peg...so there is a God.

Shawn Kittridge taking a break from Commercials and guesting for one of the Bathampton Teams followed me to the parking area as he was unsure were to go. Shawn was in my Section and was in the Cattle Drink.

Arriving at the peg it did look good, just below the Lock and plenty of flow due to the Wear just upstream.
The platform was put in the water and it was just so comfortable compared to some recent pegs I have been on.
I set up a Feeder (not used), 6BB Crowquill (not used), Waggler (not used) and a 6 metre whip which was used all day.

A 0.8 gram float with a number 8 dropper on the whip went through lovely and I held it back towards the end of the trot as it shallowed up a bit. I had about 5 foot of water.

4 small balls of gros gardons, black lake and noire laced with caster and hemp were thrown in a third the way across at the start.

First trot down about 5 metres out to my right downstream the float disappeared and a small roach was swung in. This was repeated for the next few put in's before it dried up.

I had been flicking hemp and caster in at mid river and as soon as I tried this line I had a decent dace followed by a 6oz roach. 

For the rest of the day I stuck it on the whip feeding two lines and putting in a nugget of ground bait every 5 minutes or so and in-between loose feeding. Loads of bites all day and the busiest I have been in a match for a while.

That was it ... no more complicated than that.

I walked down to Shawn who had the board and he wanted to get weighed in first even though there were pegs below him due to Cattle trouble. I think they damaged some of his kit while he was fishing.

Shawn nervously trying to retrieve his keep net

Paul Purchase was on end peg and had a nice net of roach for 12lb 15oz. The weights in our Section were pretty good, 7 double figure weights and 2 at 7lb plus.

Glen Bailey who was below me had a great net of mainly dace for a great 27lb 2oz prior to that Ian Paulley was top with 18lb 3oz but he was in A Div. I knew I had double figures but was thinking 15lbs ish. I was really pleased that my bag went 21lb dead.

Young Andrew Cranston took a photo for me but the lense must have been greasy.

So as Glen was also in B Div I got 3 points from 4 but second best weight in the whole Section.

Here's how the Section looked.

Back at the Crown everyone started to arrive back and we added up our points in the team and felt fairly confident that we had done enough in B Div with 17 points.

Gary and Sam had won their Sections and it looked like I might be in main frame for a payout.

Here are the results......

Top 4 on the day

1st   Glen Bailey 27lb 2oz

2nd  Paul Issacs 26lb 10oz

3rd  Ivan Currie 21lb

4th  Ian Paulley 18lb 3oz

Teams on the day

A Div

1st   P I Thatchers B

2nd  P I Thatchers A

3rd  Mosella Bathampton B

4th  Mosella Bathampton A

5th  D W Builders

B Div

1st  Maver Cadbury Angling

2nd Stand and Deliver Promotions

3rd  Sensas Nomads

4th  M and N Elect

Team positions after 3 Rounds

A Div

1st  P I Thatchers B

2nd P I Thatchers A

3rd  Mosella Bathampton A

4th  Mossella Bathampton B

5th  D W Builders

B Div

1st  Maver Cadbury Angling

2nd Stand and Deliver Promotions

3rd  Sensas Nomads

4th  M and N Elect

So that 3 wins for us out of 3.

Rich Lacey was selling Poppy Match tickets so picked mine up.

Back on the Avon next week in the Winter League guesting for Sensas Nomads.