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.

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

Due to my own Team not fishing the Winter League I joined the Sensas Nomads lads for this campaign as I did last year. I missed the first match last week though due to my own Club putting on a Charity Open.
All of the Team was from the english side of the Severn Bridge today.

5 Teams of 8 make up this League with matches being held on the Bristol Avon and Kennet and Avon Canal.
The draw was at the Crown Inn Keynsham and I found it to be a great venue with a good quality breakfast laid on.

Mark ''the Whippet'' Williams was captain today and drew the Team peg 1 which gave us the scales and I found myself on peg 42 at the end of the Newbridge straight. The river is in desperate need of rain and I think we all knew it would be rock hard.

I got to my peg and to say it was high off the water is an understatement. I had to put a small bank stick on the keep net and put it in a third the way down the bank just to get the bottom two rings in the water.

The flow was 13 metres out and just over top 4 deep. I set up a 2 gram float to a 15 hook. I choose this size hook because I would have to swing any fish to hand and because of the clear water perch would be the target later in the match. A 1 gram pencil float was also set up on the same line to run in through but with a 18 hook and a few inches off bottom.
A crow quill rod for fishing the middle and a Feeder completed the set up.

I put 9 big balls in at 13 metres on the ''all in'' and just 1 down the middle.

Starting off on the 2 gram rig I was into fish within 5 minutes and numerous small roach around 2 ounces were swung in. The river was very busy with rowing boats and they were all over the place due to new University Students being coached. You do need a lot of patience and theres no point in loosing your cool with them.

I bumped a few fish in a row which was frustrating as they felt a decent stamp. After about an hour a pike grabbed a fish but let go, it was a perch so shows how hungry they are. More pike trouble continued and I got bit off 3 times.

I had been spraying hemp and caster so tried the lighter rig and was back on the fish for a short spell before the bites dried up again.
I cupped in a big pot of neat chopped worm and with a dendra tail or head on the hook managed to snare a few perch now and then but they were not big.

A bank walker confirmed it was fishing hard.... really lol.

The crow quill didn't really work as the flow more or less stopped and a few chucks with the Feeder brought a couple of bleak and small roach.

I was pretty glad when the ''all out'' was shouted.

Tony Gilbert had the board so I walked down to him in order to weigh in. Tony also had a nightmare with pike and lost skimmers in a huge snag which he managed to pull out ..... a big branch of a tree.

Heres how the Section weighed, Matt Challenger had a nice net of fish and a bonus perch for over 9lb.

Geoff had a nice net of roach for 6lb plus and would have done better had his No. 7 section not snapped.

Matt Challenger won the Section.

So a 3rd in Section for me and not a disaster.

I made my way back to the Crown and met up with the others. Most had reported in and Mark was collating the scores. It didn't look bad at all with a total of 28 points.

2 Section wins as well Jeff Sibley and Paul Elms.

The Crown provided doorstep bread and butter plus sausages, chips and beans while we were waiting for the results.

Results as follows...... it was a bit noisy so weights there or there abouts.

Sections were won with the following weights....

A 11lbs

B 8lbs

C 5lbs

D 9lb 3oz

E 4lb 13oz

F 13lb 11oz

G 12lb 7oz

H 7lb 6oz

Top 3 Individuals

1st  Warren Bates Mossella Bathampton 13lb 11oz

2nd  Paul Elms Sensas Nomads 12lb 7oz

3rd  Mark Harper P I Thatchers 11lb

Teams on the day

1st Mossella Bathampton 31 points

2nd Sensas Nomads 28 points

3rd PI Thatchers 25 points

4th Die Hards 23 points

5th M & N Elect 13 points

League overall after 2 rounds

1st Mossella Bathampton 3 points

2nd P I Thatchers 4 points

3rd Sensas Nomads 5 points

4th Die Hards 8 points

5th M & N Elect 10 points

So a great result for us today and 4 rounds still to go.

Back on the Avon next week for the 3rd Round of the Commercial House League with my Maver Team.

Sunday 1st October - Clevedon Charity Open River Kenn

I declined to fish for Sensas Nomads in the Angling Trust Winter League due to my Club having their annual Charity Match.
I had put a couple of sessions in on the river with mixed bags of small fish up to about 9lbs. The river was very clear and I knew it would be hard going. I did favour a peg below Strode Road but it was not to be as I pulled out 51 which is just the other side of a foot bridge below Kenn Road. It can be good here in the right conditions but I had very little confidence. I ended up with 7oz!!!! Fished the pole all day due to the weed, nothing worked but thats fishing and the luck of the draw.
Craig Fletcher done the best in this section a couple of pegs below me. Craig managed a bream and a few perch on the pole for 4lbs plus. Had he not caught the bream the section would have been won with a 1lb!.

Craig with his bonus bream

Lance Tucker won the match with a great 29lb 8oz from a new peg I helped to cut out last year. It has a great feature with a tree going out halfway across the river provided a sanctuary for fish in the clear water.

Lance with a great bag of fish in the tough conditions.

Scott Smallwood and Rob Fogg took a £1 of me and Scott provide the tissues...... I'll be back.

Press report below.........

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club held their annual charity match in memory of founder member and trustee Dave Fowler Senior. Twenty-six anglers lined the banks of the River Kenn from the Sea Outfall to Kenn Road. The river was very clear despite the rain but an overcast sky did improve conditions for fishing on the day resulting in everyone one catching fish. Lance Tucker drew peg 39 just above the TV Masts and fished the pole over chopped worm and caster under an overhanging tree to net bream, tench, roach and perch for a total weight of 29lb 8ozs which was more than enough to win. Four pegs below was Mark Bromsgrove who fished a similar method but had much smaller fish for 9lb 6oz earning him second place. Third was Kev Perry from peg 27 below Strode Road who had 7lbs 14oz. Guess the winning weight was won by Mark Appleby who was only 2oz away. 

The event raised £400 for Parkinsons UK.

The Club would like to thank Cadbury Angling, Olivers Angling, Reel Fun, Veals, Ecolab, QCM Equipment and Worle Village Butchers for their sponsorship.

Back on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge on Sunday...no rain forecast this week so could be tough.