Sunday 28th June - S W Super League Practice Match, King Sedgemoor Drain

This was the only practice match scheduled for this years S W Super League. It's great that the League is still going ahead and only possible due to a lot of organising behind the scenes, but more on that next week.

Today's match was organised by Ben Rendall, Kev Dicks, Ben Matthews and Paul Purchase so a huge thanks to them, not easy under normal circumstances never mind following COVID-19 guidance. Thanks also must go to the 37 Club in Puriton for allowing the draw to be carried out in their car park.

74 booked in 72 turned up.

Two access points today which were displayed on my van windscreen which also meant I had to wait until the draw had been completed. Not a problem as fishing was from 11:00 - 16:00.

I was draw in D Section, peg 35. I hadn't fished down that end before and followed Paul Purchase to the parking area. 

Team mate Chris Hook was also fishing today, he was in the same area but in C Section.

I stopped when I came to Chris who seemed pretty happy with his peg as he had drawn it before and won his section with 12lb last year.

The pegs here look very much alike with lilies on the inside and reeds and lilies across. 

A couple of wild swimmers went past on the far side while I was setting up, that's a new one for me!

My plan was 6 metre whip, 13 metre pole, waggler and feeder. 

We usually fish this venue a bit later in the year and it ends up a bit of a fish race on the whip. Roach, Rudd, Perch, Hybrids and Skimmers making up quite a few double figure weights.

Paul suggested that the early pegs in A section could throw up some bream weights.

On the ''all in'' I fed my pole line and planned to leave it for a good hour. Starting off on the whip feeding small nuggets of ground bait and caster I had a few small perch and blades straight away. I was throwing casters in regularly. it went quiet after 20 minutes so came up in the water a bit and nailed a hand sized skimmer, sadly that was the only one. Double fluro pinkie brought a couple of very small roach and then a small jack pike took the pinkie on the way down. I did land it and after that the whip line completely died. 

It was almost and hour and a half into the match so went out on the 13 metre line with two dead reds.

At this point the wind was off my back. I missed a sail away bite which may have been a liner as when I put the rig back in the same spot the float went under and I was playing a small bream no more than 2lbs.

Word was it was fishing hard down our end, I only added a few small rudd across on the waggler and a few wasp like perch on the pole. I had a tench line by the lilies but no joy. There were a couple caught on the day.

Here's my Section Board, I won it with 4lb 12oz worth £70.

The match was won by GBV Angler Steve Long with 21lb 11oz of bream on the tip off peg 2 so well done to him.

Young Andrew Cranston had 21lb 2oz off the next peg and Andy Power had 17lb for 3rd.

Back next week for the first round of the League, going to be hard.

Wednesday 24th June - Bristol Avon, Staverton Open

Back to Staverton again for the afternoon / evening Open. Cadbury Angling owner Dan Hurley followed me to the venue for his first visit.

The weather was against us today with temperatures forecast in excess of 29 degrees. The venue offers some shade and I did get some when I picked up peg 46 and a possible chubber.

Three other team mates also in attendance today, Leigh Wakefield, Sam Johnson and one more who is under the witness protection programme so cannot be named although to be honest I think his cover is blown.

I had waggler supremo Gary Etheridge below me on 48 and Martin Barrett above me again on 49.

30 fishing today which in the 3rd season of fishing these Opens is a record I believe.

2 wanglers, a 2 grammer for the middle and a chopped worm line for down the inside by the lilies at 9 metres.

As expected small chublet's and bleak in the first hour before coming over on the pole line where I had only small, very small roach, unlike last week when they were netter's. The flow was slower and there was little colour.

I nicked a couple of 8oz perch on the choppy but even they were not having it.

Didn't hit a chub all match, Gary below me did but didn't land it which would have made all the difference as he would have won the match.

The Golden Peg is not opened until after the match and it just so happened that Leigh was on it but it was safe for another week.

Two 9lb weights took care of 1st and 2nd, Sam wasn't far off the pace with 7lb.

Rich Chave had the best of the 9lb weights to win and organiser Gerry 2nd of peg 75 one down from where I was last week.

Richard with his winning net

Never mind, back again next week and an Open on the KSD Sunday, 74 fishing!!!

On a positive note Kev Abigail was walking the bank today for a short period after his COVID-19 encounter so great progress and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Sunday 21st June - Clevedon Club Match, River Kenn

It's not very often I get a chance to fish one of my Club's matches due to team commitments and I was looking forward to this one on the River Kenn as some quality bream showed on opening day last week.
19 fished today, well I suppose they did and just as well it's not called ''catching''.

The wrong end of the river was drawn for me, peg 24 and I didn't fancy it at all, I was sure the early pegs would be the best.

Tip and two pole lines was to be the approach.

Instead of dribbling on about how the day went here's the results peg by peg.......

2    Matt Davis 5-3 one bream, 2nd overall
4    Chris Ford DNW
5    Leigh Wakefield DNW
6    Chris Hook 0-6 section win (default)
8    Pete Johnson 6-9 one bream first cast, 1st overall
9    Barry Fowler 1-0 3rd overall
10  Steve Bonwick 0-2
11  Dale Sator DNW
12  Lee Smallwood DNW
13  Mark Bromsgrove 0-11section win
14  Scott Smallwood DNW
16  Adie Baker DNW
18  Andy Law 0-1
20  Dan Dymond 0-2 section win
22  Paul Randle 0-1
24  Ivan Currie 0-6 section win
25  Andy Deveraux DNW
28  Kev Perry 0-3
30  John Page DNW

Err ... it was rock hard, enough said but 2nd pick up in 2 matches. Had the upstream wind not been so strong I could have presented the bait a lot better and improved on my 4 small roach on single pinkie.

Ah well, Staverton again on Wednesday

Wednesday 17th June - Trowbridge Angling Open, Bristol Avon Staverton

I didn't fish on Opening Day as I wanted to try and get some photo's of catches on the River Kenn which we have worked so hard on during the past month. The river did look spot on and there were 26 anglers out fishing over 60 pegs. Best I saw was 5 bream with the best going 7lb 12oz. Check out our Facebook Page clevedon fwac and our website https://clevedon-fwac.co.uk

Back to today...... this was my 3rd year fishing the brilliant Wednesday Opens at Staverton. The draw is at 14:00 with fishing 15:00 - 20:00 up until mid August. The pegs are very well maintained and you can park behind everyone of them. Team mate Sam Johnson was also fishing today due to being furloughed and at the draw another team mate Mike (surname cannot be published due to legal reasons) also attended.

The venue is one of the most picturesque stretches of the Bristol Avon, no walkers just the odd canoe (1 or 2), some days none.

26 fishing today which is slightly above average due to the current situation.

Terry the organiser done the draw, well he threw the peg cards on the ground and everyone sort of social distanced picking them up. I picked up 56 and was reasonably happy with that but when I got to my peg the only pleasure angler on the whole stretch (almost 80 pegs) was just packing up!
Jerry words were f@&^£*g hell bleep bleep bleep! Sorry Ivan go in on 76 if that's OK.

I knew Martin Barrett was on 77 as I had already passed him on the way down and I was hoping there would be a bit of space between us.
Thankfully there was and the peg did look OK.

It was quite a nice day at this point but rain and thunder forecast later on. 2 wanglers already set up, deep and shallow for across and one 2 gram pole rig for 11 metres out in the channel.

Two big balls of ground bait cupped in laced with hemp and caster was left to settle.

Starting off on the shallow waggler right across spraying maggot gave me a few chublets around 4oz each but was getting pestered by bleak. I went on the deep waggler after 30 minutes and picked up a few small roach but the bleak were still a prob.

After an hour I went on the pole and didn't look back. First run through I was surprised to get a net roach and more followed. Martin shouted down asking if I was catching, I said yes.

I hooked a huge chub and it bottomed out the 6 elastic, it was like a washing line across the water. I got him on the surface but just as I thought I was gaining control the hook pulled out. 

It didn't seem to disturb the swim as a few chublet's followed immediately.

Can't remember what time the rain, thunder and lighting came but it was torrential. Rain droplets were bouncing off the water making it hard to see the float. 

Martin came down to have a look as he didn't fancy sitting on a carbon box holding a carbon pole with lightening. He said he could only catch bleak.

I did persevere despite the weather and light conditions and had lots of bites. Around 18:45 I hooked a bream which took me right across the river but the hook held and I was glad when the net went under it, a nice fish of about 3lbs.

I finished with 11lb 4oz which was enough to win the Section so £30 covered my costs for the day. I wasn't far off the pace coming 5th from 26.

As expected in the early season bream showed down the bottom end with 23lb 6oz winning it off peg 4. A few other anglers also had bream from the early pegs. 

1st    Andy Ankers 23-6 peg 4

2nd   Stuart Keble 16-5 peg 6 

3rd    John Williams 15-8 peg 2

Sections 

Mike Poolman 11-4 peg 27

Mike Stellard 6-15 peg 52

Ivan Currie 11-4 peg 76

Weigh sheets below...

Sunday 14th June - Gloucester Canal Open, Slimbridge Down

I went back up the Glossy to fish Slimbridge Down again on the Tuesday before this match. Fished the same peg as the previous Thursday and had a nice day catching 5 big boys and about 8lbs of skimmers and hybrids. The session followed the same pattern as the previous Thursday i.e. wait nearly 2 hours before they started having it.

Myself and Chris Hook had booked in for this match immediately after the last one and as always we were looking forward to it.

Andy Jane was running it again and Kev Forty the Canal and River Trust Bailiff had strimmed out all the pegs, 26 of them.
At the draw it was the same social distancing rules as before but improved slightly. Andy drew a name out of the bucket instead of a peg number meaning that the first name to be drawn would go to peg 26 and therefore everyone could leave the draw in turn without crossing each other on the tow path ...except...Andy pulled his name out first and he would have to pass by everyone else!

Given the way it was pegged I was hoping to be allocated around 9 or 10, not far off I had to go to 6. Chris was on 16.

The peg was nice and wide but no lilies or trees across just some vegetation. 2 feeder lines and one pole rig at 11 metres. Same approach as the previous Sunday and my other sessions on the Glossy this year.

After 90 minutes on the tip with just a small rattle I went on the pole and had a 2 oz perch and that was it. No other indications at all.

A couple of walkers part the way through the match informed me that the ends were catching. I still can't believe that going along the tow path would herd the fish down the end of the match length i.e. 26 pegs.

Any way here's the results, very grim except the end pegs but better weights than last week.

Andy Richings just missed out from peg ground 0 as it was top 2 then 4 sections of 5 and 1 of 6.

Winner Andy Jane

2nd Jerry Wigget

Staverton Open on Wednesday.

Sunday 7th June - ''Knock Up'' match Gloucester Canal Slimbridge

Sensas Lobby's Andy Jane put a post out on Facebook asking if anyone was interested in a match on the Glossy at Slimbridge. I booked Chris Hook and myself in and then Leigh Wakefield showed an interest and managed to get the last place.

Due to having to manage the day with strict guidelines Andy initially limited it to 20 but increased it to 25.

I had never fished the Slimbridge section before so went up to have a dabble last Thursday. I wasn't sure where it was going to be pegged but headed downstream of the bridge past the boats and fished a swim which had a tree lined bank on the far side and some pads.
One other local angler was just setting up on arrival so went 3 pegs past him. I only took 2 Feeder rods and just set up one.

It was very slow and I didn't have a bite until 2 hours in. I was just feeding dead reds and dead pinkie in Fishmeal Ground Bait and swapped hook baits, dead maggot / pinkie and worm pieces.
After 2 hours they were lining up and I ended up with a mixed bag of big bream and skimmers for about 30lbs plus in the remaining 3 hours. Happy with that.

Come match day I was nice and early and first to park just over the bridge as instructed. Others were standing on the bridge so parked on the wrong side.
Andy the organiser was just behind me and after getting his gear out produced his home made weigh sling cradle which he made from an old camping table I believe, it looked OK.

Strict social distancing was fully observed and Andy made sure everyone was aware they needed to adhere to the guidelines otherwise they would be disqualified, no arguments.

The draw was also done by Andy for everyone and you had to go to your peg in turn with farthest away (peg 26) first (peg 1 wasn't in due to a boat).

Pay out was top 2 overall and then 5 section of 5, £40.

The pegs where the Gloucester side of the bridge and not downstream where I had practiced.

I was drawn peg 16 which was bang smack in the middle, a certain Mark Downes was next to me on peg 15 and Warren Bates the other side on 17.

Off we trundled in order. Warren was in front of me and part the way along one of his 4 trolley wheels came off and he went the rest of the way on 3.

Some of the early pegs had boats moored opposite and I didn't fancy those. Looking up the bank I could see a tree line on the far side and knew my peg would be in that area.

Kev Forty the Canal and River Trust Bailiff had done a great job strimming the pegs.

2 Feeder Rods were quickly sorted one with a B560 16 and the other had a B560 14 in case I went in to bagging mode!

I just set up the one pole rig which was top 4 deep at 11 metres, 3 gram with a 18 to 0.12.

Fishmeal deads etc for the Feeder and a mix of Lake and Molehill soil with dead pinkies and dead reds.

Mark Downes shouted up what time do you make it, I said almost 09:30 then a few minutes later he shouts up again .... has anyone shouted the all in yet ...... lol ..... I said its a 10:00 start. He then says do you think its OK to leave my peg to get water from my car. Crack on I said.

At 10:00 I fed 3 balls on the pole line left and right and went out on the tip just before the pads where it was about 6 / 7 foot.

No indications for the first 40 minutes and then a couple of minor knocks. Bright canoes and paddle boards came up the canal going right over the feeder line. I wasn't that concerned as there was a bit of colour in the water. Mark D asked me every now and then if I had any bites etc. I do like to get my head down and concentrate.

After 1 hour 20 mins I went on the right hand pole line. Within 10 minutes the float sailed away and I knew it was bream on, sadly it didn't stay on. No more bites on that line so went to my left. The float soon buried again and it was an eel, a good one at that but it bit me off at the net. I re-fed the lines again and went on the tip.

Nothing was happening. At around 13:00 I rang Chris to see how he was getting on, he wasn't but as I was talking to hime the tip pulled slowly round and it was bream on. The phone ended up in the dead reds!

It wasn't big, about 2lbs plus but welcome.

Despite trying the pole line now and then I didn't have another bite over them.

13:50 saw another good pull round and it was bream number two, a better fish 4lb plus.

No more bites and it was match over.

Ben Rendall easily won the match from end peg 26 with 38lb plus.

Ben's catch today in Andy's home made cradle

Mark Brush managed 2nd overall with 13lb plus.

I just missed out on my section, the weigh sheets below show how hard it was. Some didn't have a bite.

Apparently the bream spawned in the section during the week

Andy ran a great match keeping everyone safe and within the guidelines. He is running another next week, hopefully up the Splat end near Frampton.

I'll be up there again in the week.