Round up of 2 pleasure sessions and Super League Practice Sunday 25th June Bristol Avon Swineford to Jack Whites.

Since my last post I have pleasure fished the Gloucester Canal at Splatt (Frampton on Severn) on the 14th June and the River Kenn in Clevedon on Tuesday 20th June and fished Cadbury Anglings Thursday Evening match at Acorn on 22nd.

Steve Long put me on to the right peg on the Gloucester Canal and despite being a very hot day and a strong tow towards Sharpness I had a great morning fishing the pole at 13 metres where it was top 5 deep.

I did not fish on the ''glorious 16th" nor the weekend due to family commitments. Then it was the start of the heat wave but I did venture out early on Tuesday 20th but by 09:30 I had enough as it was too hot. I did have a bream around 6lb on the tip and a 2lb hybrid and a perch on the waggler but the fish were not that interested in feeding.

At the Thursday Evening Match I ended up 3rd with just over 70lb, 90lbs won it with 77lb second.

So on to the first river match of this season on the Bristol Avon between Swineford and Jack Whites and a practice for the 2nd round of the SW Super League on 2nd July.

The draw for the match was at McDonalds Weston Lock in Bath due to the Rugby Club in Saltford not being available, not sure why but fair play to Mark Harper for sorting it out as well as running the match.

I got there in plenty of time but my mind was on other things rather than fishing. I then had a phone call from Team Captain Chris Hook saying he was running late as his van suddenly stopped on the M5 but he managed to get it going again so I said I would pay his pools and get someone to draw for him if he did not make it. He then told me Dave Hoskin our recent signing from Gloucester and not sure where the draw venue was was lost. I did try to call him and talk him in but no answer. I believe he got frustrated and went home!

Chris made it in time for the draw and we both drew Swineford, Chris on 13 and me on 18. Now those familiar with Swineford would think peg 18 would be around the second field. Wrong I just kept going and going and ended up on Bitton Brook. A few years ago Bitton Brook would have been peg 33 ish so 50% of the pegs have been lost / not cut out. I walked most of the length with Mark Treasure who had loads of gear and we were both bollocksed by the time we got to our pegs (he was on 19) having to break down to get over the fences and foot bridge.

Given that the draw was at 08:30 ....got to my peg 10:10 for an 11:00 start.

As I was setting up Nigel Wyatt came past walking upstream, he had been sent the wrong way to his peg and was heading home or going to fish the Feeder Canal as by the time he had got to his peg the match would have started!

My peg did have a nice bit of flow but I noticed that the far bank tree cover was significantly reduced.  I sent up a window feeder, a topper and a waggler. I did consider the pole but ran out of time, something I now regret.

To cut to the chase I ended up with 8lb 11oz of chublets, roach, dace, bleak and perch. I caught on all my rigs but had no bonus fish. I had loads of bites but believe I would have had 15lb plus had I set up the pole. 

Like I said my head was not in the right place and I was thinking about the horrendous walk back.

Mark below me weighed 10lb plus and below him was an 11lb. Above me was a 9lb and a 29lb.

I believe Richard Chave won the match with bream for 30lb.

I cannot fish the match next Sunday as plans were made in advance of the date coming out.

In closing big congratulations to team mate Sam Johnson who has qualified for the Wychavon at Evesham after coming 2nd in Saturdays match from peg 33 with 11lb plus, the winner weighed 13lb plus with two late barbel.

One of the things that was troubling me has hopefully now been solved so onwards and upwards.

Hope to fish an evening on the Kenn this week as well as the last Cadbury Angling Evening Match on Thursday.

Sunday 11th June - SW Super League Round 1, Gloucester Canal Sims to Pilot

Here we go again, doesn't time fly, this will be my third year fishing the SW Super League. Of course its the same faces (in the main) that fished the Spring League on the Gloucester Canal but 7 teams of  of 8 instead of 15 teams of 4.
In the week leading up to the match there was a fair bit of banter on Facebook as a result of Nigel Evans giving away one of his secrets ... opening a bag of sweets to get a bite..... a good bit of fun.

The trouble with teams of 8 is that most teams struggle to get 8 anglers to fish and we are no exception but we did have a full team. Perhaps teams of 6 would be better?

Team today.....
Chris Hook (capt)
Dave Hoskin
Phil Bendall
Mark Jones
Mark Traves
Ian Hingley
Dave Foxall
and me

We were looking for a good result today and had all the pegs noted which had produced over the last few matches on the stretch we were fishing today.
When Chris came back with the draw none of our pegs were on the list, in fact we were some way off any of the form pegs so knew we were up against it from the start.

I had peg 168 which was the first peg below Rea Bridge and as a boat was moored more or less on the number I had to move down a bit, not that it was a problem as everyone had two pegs between them. The peg looked inviting enough but I was well aware that it had no form, but....then again everyone fishes differently.

The wind was picking up while we were setting up so settled on an 11 metre line where it was just under top 4 deep and a 5 metre line at just under top 3 deep, both with 1.5 grm floats to 0.12 and a 18.
There was a gap under a far bank tree and this would be my feeder spot.

Pole lines were fed on the ''all in'' with 2 balls cupped in at 11 metres and 1 at 5 metres. I did not put any soil or leam in the mix due to it being fairly shallow compared to other parts of the canal.

As usual I started off on the tip like most people looking for an early wrap around but after 30 minutes it did not happen so went on the pole at 11 metres with 2 dead reds. After a few minutes and just as Mike Witney who was walking the bank for Sensas Nomads came past the float buried and a perch of around 3 ozs was swung in. Thats the dreaded blank out of the way I said to myself. Mike carried on and just as he got to the next peg and after putting the rig back in the float disappeared and a small skimmer of around 8 ozs was netted.

After 15 minutes nothing else came my way on that line so re-fed a small ball and tried the 5 metre line. Happy days a perch and a small roach in two put in's and then nothing so fed a small ball and back on the tip.

The good thing about my peg today was I couldn't see how the other anglers were doing.

I had a small knock on the tip which resulted in a sucked maggot so good indication there was fish about but the wind was getting stronger now and you needed to tighten up on the tip to be sure on bite indications.

About an hour and a half in the tip flew round and I connected with what seemed a decent fish, I was hoping for a bream but it turned out to be a hybrid about 12 ozs and most welcome all the same.

I continued to swap around all lines throughout the match and with more frequency than I usually do thanks to seeing what Nigel did last week. I did pick up fish on most lines now and then but couldn't present the bait properly due to the wind. Had it been calmer I would have done a lot better, there were definitely fish on the pole lines.

I ended up with 3lb dead, the two pegs below me weighed 1lb 7oz and 2lb then there was a 4lb. Section was won with 16lbs I think, Dave Clapton. I ended up with 3 points from a possible 7 so not great.

Back at the results it was clear a lot of anglers had struggled, two sections were won with 3lb plus.

Phil was 2nd in his section with 3lb plus so picked up and had 6 points.

Mark Jones done the best in the team weight wise off peg 235 with 12lb 15ozs and a 3rd in section, 5 points.

Mark with his catch

The rest of the team struggled, it was down to the draw and not the capability of the anglers.

Top weights.

1.  Luke ? P I Thatchers 35lb 7oz

2.  Tony Davis Sensas 88 17lb 6oz

3.  Dave Clapton Sensas 88 16lbs

Teams.

1. Sensas 88

2. Sensas Lobbys

3. P I Thatchers

4. DGL

5. GBMV

6. Maver Cadbury

7. Sensas Nomads

Next round is on the 2nd July, Bristol Avon, Swineford, Crane and Jack Whites but I cannot fish that weekend.

Tomorrow (Wed) thinking of heading up the Glos Canal again to fish either Purton or Splatt.

Sunday 4th June - SW Super League Practice Match Gloucester Canal Sims /Rea to Pilot Inn.

The South West Super League starts on Sunday 11th June and the first match is on the Gloucester Canal with 7 or 8 Teams of 8 competing over 6 matches. There is only one match on the Gloucester Canal this year instead of the usual two. The other matches are on the Huntspill and the Bristol Avon.

Todays practice match saw a good turn out as some anglers have not fished the Spring League on the canal so were keen to pick up a few tips.
Senses Lobby's Andy Jane was running the match instead of Mark Treasure so fair play to Andy as its a thankless job.

With other Team members having commitments I was the only one fishing. I drew 269 and was aware it was at the Pilot Inn end and on arrival found myself on the upstream half of Tanker Bay.
Welsh International Nigel Evans was on my right on 271 by the turning bay. DGL's Troy Weaver was on my left on 267 but had to move up a bit due to a moored boat.

I was advised to fish against the pilons for the bream which was a fair old chuck and due to people walking along the far bank feeding bread to the ducks and swans. in addition set up a 13 metre and 5 metre line. it was about top 4 1/2 at 13 metres and top 3 1/2 at 5 metres so quite a nice depth.

I cupped in 2 balls at 13 metres and 1 at 5 metres beginning on the tip across, Nigel did the same. Over the last few weeks an hour on more has gone by before getting my first bite on the tip and today was no exception. I missed a rattle an hour in but think it was only a small fish as the dead red was just nipped.

Nigel on the other hand did not stick the tip for long and was soon into small skimmers perch and roach fishing the pole at 11 meters.

I came in on the 13 metre line after and hour and a quarter and had an eel first put in. No more bites after 15 minutes so re-fed and back out on the tip which sat motionless. Nigel pole line also dried up but he did have a small skimmer on the tip.

I tried the 5 metre line now and then but had another eel.

With and hour to go I just stuck it out on the tip and added two more eels. Nigel had a bonus bream with 20 minutes to go on the tip which almost doubled his weight.

I did not weigh as I knew I was way out of the top two payouts in the Section, I had about 2lb at the most. I have since learned that the peg did not produce much the previous week and I would approach it differently next time.

Nigel weighed 10lb 4oz for a Section win and 3rd overall which shows how hard it was. He fished a tidy match and read it right.

Nigel with his catch.

Gary Cross was 2nd in the Section with 8lb 4oz, 1 bream on the pole and one on the tip late in the match plus 3 eels after that the weights averaged 3lb.

Top weight today was 28lb off 238 with 16lb second off 210.

As for Teams who had not fished the canal for a while..... I am not sure anything was gained.

Nigel did give me some advice though and it seemed to work ........... ''open a bag of sweeties and you'll get a bite'' (in a South Wales accent).

Will try to get out somewhere in the week but the weather looks horrendous.