Sunday 20th August - SW Super League Final Round Bristol Avon Newbridge

This was the final round of a 6 match series but with practice matches in between it took up almost every Sunday for 3 months. This is my 3rd year fishing it and I get a real buzz out of it. It does not happen all on its own so a massive thanks must go to the organisers namely Dave Micklewright, Mark Treasure, Mark Harper, Nicky Johns and Lance Tucker. In addition those that organised the practice matches Andy Jane, Lance Tucker and Kev Dicks. There are also many others working behind the scenes and not forgetting the hospitality provided at the draw venues....Gordon League Rugby Club in Gloucester, Laburnum House in Highbridge and the Riverside Pub Saltford.

We were a man down up until the Friday but then new signing for the Commercial House Winter League stepped in, Jack Jones. We also had Mosella Bathamptons Kev Dicks and Darren Gillman helping us out today.
We were one from bottom in the League so nothing to gain today as a team. Although we have had some good individual results we have been way off the mark as a team and its all about consistency and availability for our guys. Its a tough ask turning out every week from a small squad.

Chris done the draw as usual and we ended up with the following pegs.....
20 Chris Hook
32 Me
47 Sam
63 Geoff
77 Nigel
99 Jack
118 Kev
146 Darren

The river was clear again so a difficult match was predicted with small fish being the main target on the pole.
I walked down to my peg (32) with Geoff who was on 33 the previous week. I had fished this peg last year and only had a low weight off it helped by a decent skimmer.
Mark ''whippet'' Williams was on the peg I had last week and I gave him some info for what it was worth. He was the first peg in my section as was I the previous week and all the pegs below had done better. But that was then!

I was quite high off the water on my peg with only the bottom 2 rings of the keep net in the water. Plenty of cover across and looked inviting but the big Chub that used to frequent the far side no longer show.

It was top 4.5 deep at 13 meters were the flow was so same set up as last week a 2 gram for running through and a flat float same distance. A waggler and a feeder was also assembled. Ground bait was gros gardons and magic with a little black crumb.
Usual bombardment on the ''all in'' and out immediately with the pole. It was a difficult angle to fish due to the high bank and I missed too many early bites, on reflection I had a little too much line between the end of the pole and the float but it was a bit gusty at times. Roach started to come but only lasted 30 minutes or so and they were not that big.  I went out on the flat float early with half a dendra and had a 10oz skimmer followed by a perch about the same size then nothing. I fed a couple of small balls and loose fed caster and hemp over the top. Back on the 2 gram rig and running it through bumped a decent fish, probably a big perch. A few more small roach followed and then bumped 3 good fish one after the other. I became very frustrated and I quietly cursed to myself as I knew those fish would probably make the difference today.
I tried the waggler for about 15 minutes but the fish were the size of minnows, small chub and bleak.
Nothing on the tip either although I didn't really give it very long.
The flat float produced a few more small skimmers and by the end of the match I knew I had no more than 4lbs.
In fact it was less that but I wasn't last and it could have been a few more pounds if I had got my act together and not lost those fish, all down to me.

my section

I met up with Chris who was packing up on peg 20 and he had done just over 4lbs but done better than Dean Harvey on favoured peg 18!

Back at the Riverside the Teams started drifting back in and it was clear we struggled (again).

Points from a possible 7 were....

Chris 2

Me 2

Sam 3

Geoff 5

Nigel 3

Jack 4

Kev ? didn't come back

Darren 2 (but did not fish 146 due to a boat, ended up on a crap peg).

individuals on the day...

1st   Neil Richards DGL 19lb 9oz

2nd  Kevin Abigail GBV 12lb 2oz

3rd   Dave Clapton Sensas Lobbys 11lb 14oz

Teams on the day....

1st   DGL

2nd  PI Thatchers

3rd  Sensas Lobbys

4th   GBV

5th   Sensas Nomads

6th  Maver Cadbury

7th  Sensas 88

Top 3 Teams after 6 rounds...

1st  DGL

2nd PI Thatchers

3rd  Sensas Lobbys

Thats a fair result and these 3 teams dominate the league, we as a team find it hard to compete against the bigger squads but we will be back to have another go next year.

Next up for us is the Bristol Commercial House League starting 10th September on the Avon. I miss the first one as I get back from Ireland in the early hours that day.

No more fishing for me now until 3rd Sept when I will be in Arva, first day pleasure fishing then 5 days fishing the festival, prep almost done.

Sunday 13th August - SW Super League Bristol Avon Newbridge

I am going to start this blog in reverse to the way I normally write it because.......

Our man Glenn Calvert won the match overall.
Glenn was allocated peg 3 in the little field above Newbridge the same peg that Captain Chris Hook had the previous week and the where 30lb plus of bream came from the week before that. Glenn does not fish many matches for us as he likes his comfort so is usually on the Commercials week in week out and does OK.
Glenn went to his peg full of advice as a few of us have drawn this area before and done very well.
He balled it in at the start with 10 big balls and starting catching roach immediately but the bites dried up after an hour and he had a lot of pike trouble landing two of them up to 6lbs - 8lbs, but they don't count. Not to worry though as he went on the Flat Float with worm after feeding a couple more hard balls and the float rose and sailed away first put in...5lb bream! He went on to catch a few skimmers bringing his total weigh up to 18lb 12oz which was enough to win the day on a difficult river.

Top man Glenn Calvert

Sensas Lobbys Andy Powell was second overall with 16lb 3oz, not sure what peg Andy was on but well done to him as he has been next to two anglers who framed recently so perseverance paid off.

Senses Nomads stalwart Rich Whitmarsh was third with 14lb 10oz, Rich was in the same section as Glenn.

On the Team front ...
1st  GBMV
2nd DGL
3rd PI Thatchers
4th Sensas Lobbys
5th Sensas 88
6th Maver Cadbury
7th Sensas Nomads

Our Team sheet was a bit of a disaster with 4 anglers in the bottom 2 in Section but Geoff Surman and Leigh Wakefield both had 5 points from 7 with Leigh just missing out on a Section pay out again by 3 ozs. Leigh had one bream and bits for 9lb plus but the bream were rolling between 48 and 50 refusing to get their heads down.

Leigh catch

As for me....I was on 22 behind the Pump House, nice peg but died after 40 minutes and I really, really struggled. All small fish and a 1lb skimmer for 6lb 12oz and last but one, enough said.

nice looking peg though

The rest of the Section was really tight and made up of small fish.

Well its the last match in the League next week then its off to Prague for a few days then the Arva International Festival in Ireland.

Back still playing up so got to get it sorted this week.

Sunday 6th August - SW Super League Practice / Open. Bristol Avon Newbridge

Like the other Super League Practice Matches anyone could enter this match. Bathampton AA Match Secretary Kev Dicks was running it and he had sent out a message on Facebook during the week to ensure a good attendance.
I usually fish during the week and try to have a practice session on the venue I am due to fish on the Sunday but not this week due to injuring my back while assembling a steel table on the Wednesday. Lots of pain killers and deep heat didn't get me quite match fit but good enough as long as I took it steady.
We usually draw at the Stothert and Pitt Rugby Club which also offers parking and access to the bottom part of the river. It appears the Stewards have move on and no one is prepared to do breakfasts etc. Not to worry though as a new draw venue has been found....The Riverside Inn at Saltford. What a cracking spot and friendly helpful staff as well as the mother of all breakfasts for £5.

The Riverside inn

A quick glance at the ''Section Boards'' Kev had prepared suggested there were 50 plus anglers fishing.
From our Team there was only myself and Chris due to two being ill and others had family commitments, but full Team for next week.
The draw was at 10:00 with fishing from 12:00 to 17:00 to avoid the rowing boats which usually are around a.m.
The draw started on time and I was around halfway in the que but got pushed back a bit due to being edged out by another line lead by Lance Tucker who took not notice of the abuse directed at him.
There were a few new faces in the draw around me and it was obvious they had not fished this part of the River before as they were asking about directions for parking.
Chris was way ahead of me in the draw and came back into the due to let me know he had drawn peg 3 in the little field at Newbridge, apparently 30lb plus came off it the previous week so he was off bream chasing.
I drew 79 which was not too bad as far as I was concerned, wouldn't have minded 74 but with a warm day forecast there may be the chance of idiots jumping off the old railway bridge into the water next to it so happy with my lot.
We were still able to park in the Rugby Club grounds for this Section, without this facility I can't see how you could access the water, good news.
It was a steady walk to the peg and I was able to get down in the water and set up my ''rigger platform''.

Peg 79

I could see most of the flow was just short of 13 metres out and it was quite steady so selected a 2 gram float to plumb up with and found it was about top 4.5 deep, a couple of run throughs and the float was spot on for running through and I had a 18 tubertini series 2 hook to 0.12 drennan fluro. I decided to keep the same line for my second rig and set up a 4 gram flat float to nail the bait on the deck and hold back hard with a 16 tubertini series 18 hook to 0.11 power. Finally a tip rod with a ''window feeder'' for fishing across although a couple of ''open enders'' were on my bait tray just in case. 

The water was surprisingly clear so I added some black lake to my sensas match, gros gardons and brown crumb along with a little mole hill soil due to the depth. The mix felt great and I split it in half adding a good portion of hemp, caster and a big pinch of dead reds. I had plenty of worm but decided to hold back at the start until I saw how the match progressed.

I wasn't quite ready at the ''all in'' but around 12:05 lobbed in 10 big balls of ground bait on the pole line. They were solid and went in with a thud!

Picking up the 2 gram rig and at the end of the first run though the float sailed away and a roach of around 3oz was swung in. Noise does not bother them at all and the float buried every run though for the first 90 minutes. The roach were not massive but I was putting weight in the net. Then the pike moved in and I lost a few fish having to replace hook lengths. I topped up every now and then with small gold balls of ground bait. Sometimes this does not work but it did on this occasion and I started catch small hybrids, lovely little fish as well as the odd chublet. The chublets were a nice size but due to them being virtually hollow took up more room in the keep net rather than add weight.

I had a nice skimmer around 15:30 and went on the flat float with worm but no joy, false alarm and was soon back on the ''run through'' rig and added a decent perch of around 12oz.

A couple of bank walkers suggested the bream were not showing up at Newbridge with the best being 2 bream and most anglers admitting to around 7lbs.

I had a quick look across on the tip and managed a few small chub as well as hybrids but the rattles were hard to hit so was soon back on the pole adding 2oz roach.

All in all I had a great days fishing with bites galore, just a pity they were not a bit bigger. when the scales came to me they said what I thought I had, a low double figures and registered 13lb 9oz. 

My catch

Above me there was a 16lb and a few pegs below there was a 20lb of roach and an 18lb which included a 5lb bream.

Back in the car park most anglers had 7 to 8lbs so the river fished brilliantly for small fish. Chris phoned me and said he weighed 12lb 9oz from peg 3 which included a 5lb bream on the pole. He also said Dave Micklewright had 15lb of roach in his Section.

Due to it getting late I didn't go back for the results but believe a low 20lb won the match.

Looking forward to next week and hopefully completely match fit.