5 in a row and its not good news.

I have been fishing over the past few weeks but have not had the best of results and not sure what's gone wrong...... no need to pass the tissues as I see it happening to loads of anglers and I guess it's my turn and time ...... but I hope it doesn't last long.

On 9th March I ventured down to Viaduct to fish my old team mates memorial Silver Fish Match (Don Sutherland). I came 2nd in it the previous year and did draw a half decent peg on Campbell Lake according to owner Steve Long. Peg 126.
It was a difficult day with strong winds but was off my back for most of the day. I weighed 12lb odd which beat team mate Sam on 125 but 127 weighed 20lb plus. A mid 40lb won it from Lodge Lake and it was good to see former team member Dom Sullivan fishing after a break and coming 2nd on the day. Don and Dom used to fish Viaduct on a regular basis.
So not a good result No. 1.

I had a break in Mid Wales followed up by a long weekend in Copenhagen where I celebrated St. Patricks Day in the Globe Irish Pub. The previous day was not so good as we watched Ireland get hammered by Wales in the 6 Nations.
Not a good result No. 2.

Chew Valley Lake was my next outing for a bit of early season ''fluff chucking'' from the bank. I fished Whalley Bank for 3 hours without a pull and had an otter swim behind me while I was up to my waist trying to get that extra distance.
I moved down to Herons Green and whipped the water for another 2 hours without a pull but a lovely double figure pike swam by me twice in the clear water without a care.
Not a good result No. 3.

The week after I tried Chew Valley again from the bank and started off on North Shore where I was told that this was the place to go but another angler and myself failed to catch after 3 hours so I move to Wick Green. No pulls there either and another big pike swam by me a rod length out.
Not a good result No. 4.

Sunday 7th April - Gloucester Canal Spring League Round 1.

I wasn't down to fish this match but was called in due to one of our guys stepping down from Nomads. I was going up anyway to bank walk for the team and was looking forward to fishing it.

OI believe there were 20 teams of 4 down to fish but one team failed to attend I hear so down to 19 which is a great attendance by any standards on a natural venue.
DGL's Dave Micklewright was at the helm organising this league and it all went very smoothly.

Team today was....
Steve ''Stretch'' Saunders
Sam Johnson
Chris Hook
Me

The canal had been under a lot of pressure over recent weeks due to the Sensas Challenge and we were all wondering how it would respond.
We bumped into Andy Jane and Andy Richings in McDonalds who had fished it on the Saturday (not on the match length) and said it was really dirty and cold. Not great for this time of year and Bloodworm and Joker was not allowed.

Chris done the draw and picked out envelope 18 which had our pegs in. Teams had to do their own draw for pegs. We ended up as follows.... Sam - middle of Permali high wall (not good), Chris 55 on dead mans straight, me 183 at Rea and Stretch 227 towards Pilot. The draw was not great.

I started off on the bread across after feeding 14 and 6 metre lines. I had a small knock after 15 minutes but had to wait a further 15 minutes for a proper pull which resulted in a 2lb plus bream. A couple more small knocks and a liner on the bread suggested there was a few fish about so I gave the bread another 45 minutes without success.
The feeder line was fed with 3 feeder fulls of fishmeal, finely chopped worm and dead pinkie before I tried the short pole line.
A small skimmer and a roach in 2 puts in's and then nothing. Out on the 14 metre line and not a touch after 20 minutes so re-fed both pole lines before going back on the feeder. A roach on the feeder and another skimmer on the short line was my lot for the day.
I weighed 3lb 3oz and got battered both sides, 10lb to my left and 6lb to my right.

Two pegs below was Tim Frampton who had 5 fish short for 17lb and he won the match over all.

Tim Frampton with his catch (there is another fish somewhere)

On the Team front Sam had 3lb 10oz, Chris one skimmer for 1lb 10oz and Stretch 6lb plus.

We knew we would be way down the league and ended up 14th from 19.

Team and Section results as follows....

So I guess that's bad result No. 5.

Can it get any worse?????
K & A Spring League Round 1 this Sunday.

As Secretary of Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club its been very busy as we have a couple of big projects on the go. I have also written 3 articles for Go Fishing N I which is a free E Magazine and I also sponsor the young angler of the month competition as well as judge it.

It's great to be so involved in a sport I love. Just wish I could catch some fish.