Sunday 13th June - Port Talbot Docks Open

 Back to Port Talbot Docks for what will probably be my last match here until the Autumn.

It was forecast to be a pretty warm day with bright sunshine so a good peg was needed i.e. not in a shallow area. I pulled up outside Bro's Cafe around 07:40 and as usual the food was top nosh. There was a pretty good turnout when I arrived in the Dock so the payout would be very good.

I was hoping to avoid the early numbers for a change and when I was drawn peg 18 I was pretty happy. Not fished it before but I know from experience that its a reasonable area to catch skimmers. Clive Roberts confirmed this but also said it was a good short pole / whip peg.

It went off deep very close in. I sent up an 11 metre pole where it was top 5 deep, a 5 metre whip at full depth, another 5 metre whip at half depth and a feeder rod.

I had Clive Branson next to me on 17 and Shaun Parsons on the other side peg 20.

I threw in 2 jaffa's short at 5 metre's and 2 long at 11 metres (black lake and gros gardons wit some mole hill soil). Bream and skimmers have not showed that much of late but I had a fishmeal mix made up anyway to try later on the feeder.

It did not take long to get a few roach long but after 20 minutes it went quiet so re-fed and came in on the whip at full depth. More roach followed but the bites tailed off.

I was also loose feeding hemp and caster and had a few at half depth but it was slow. I chopped and changed around the float lines but did not think I it was going anywhere. Clive next door was getting bigger roach up in the water on the waggler when the wind allowed him to present it properly.

At around 13:15 I decided to have a look on the feeder to try and get some bonus fish.

After about 6 casts 5 minutes apart at 20 turns the tip went around and a skimmer was netted, not bit but at around 12 oz was worth having. Another followed straight away so this made my mind up to stay on this line and method the rest of the match.

It wasn't fast and furious but I did get fish on a regular basis and had a days fishing.

Team mate Clive Roberts easily won the match again with 26lb plus of roach and Richy Candy was 2nd with 21lb again all roach. These guys are deadly on the whip. Owen Davis on end peg 21 had a couple of proper bream and mullet on the whip for 20lb plus and third place.

My 16lb was ok and wish I had of went on the tip an hour or so earlier.

Owen was the only one who had bonus fish.

Thanks to Geoff Brierley for the refreshments after the match.....

Staverton Open on Wednesday 16th June next...

Sunday 16th May - Port Talbot Dock Open

I did fish the Glossy Spring League on the 9th May and drew Castle Up which turned out to be another disaster. All around me fished shite and once again you needed to be towards the end of the Section (towards Gloucester in this case). Team mate Sam Johnson finished 2nd in his Section at Slimbridge Up with 5 or 6 pounds but he had most of that in his first few casts. It's Round 3 this coming Sunday and I see there are a few teams looking for anglers due to others starting to drop out, can't blame them. The organisation is superb but the fishing crap. 

On to more positive fishing.......

I was keen to get back to Port Talbot on Sunday, it has been fishing harder than usual but at least you get a few bites. Dai the fishery owner gave organiser Steve O'Mara pegs 1 to 21 and 18 were booked in. When I looked at the list of anglers it was a quality field but in my opinion its a very fair venue.

They had a lot of rain during the week and more was forecast for Sunday. I sort of knew the fishing would be affected as the cold water comes off the mountains into a river and then into the dock. The dock sluices then let water out so it does not get a chance to warm up. The fish don't like this too much and the bream and skimmers switch off, the roach, particularly the bigger roach also back off a bit.

It was 08:00 at the dock gate with fishing 10 - 4.

On the way over the weather was ok but when I reached Cardiff the rain came on but cleared by the time I got to Port Talbot.

Steve O'Mara was well organised as usual and got the safe draw under way. Eventually it came to me and I was allocated peg 1. Never fished it before and it of course was an end peg. I gleaned some information of Team mates Rich Candy and Clive Roberts who have been framing a lot on the venue recently. Other Nomad anglers Andy Thomas and Paul Manley were also fishing. I also volunteered to help with the weigh in.

A strong line up (Steve put me down as the hot variety)

My peg turned up to very comfortable and I was able to set up on a big concrete slab.

The Dock is not the most attractive place but it's starting to green up a bit now. 

Alan Godrich was next to me on peg 2 and with his strong Swansea accent plus a bit of wind noise it was a tad difficult to understand him. I know he was not over joyed with being up this end of the dock.

The Dock is one of them venues were I think you have to make an early decision concerning your approach and stick to it i.e feeder or whip. I did set up a feeder rod but also set up 2 whips, one at full depth 5 metres out and one at half dept 5 metres out. I done ok on the whip 2 weeks ago here but the 5 elastic was too weak when you are striking into fish 4 metres deep! I was sorted this week stepping up the elastic to a 6.

The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze.

I put 3 balls in at 5 metres, went out on the 2 gram deep rig expecting the float to disappear and it just sat there. I feared the worst.

20 minutes in it went under and a 4 oz roach was swung in. Back out expecting another and there was not a sign of any fish. Looking down the line up to peg 8 there was little action. At this point I thought that if the roach are not responding then the skimmers and bream won't either.

Little soft balls of ground bait brought a few fish in but I could get a run of 5 fish or so then nothing.

Alan next door was on the tip and wasn't having anything. 90 minutes in I had 25 roach. For the first time ever in a match I started counting the fish.

I decided that when the fish backed off I would have a chuck with the feeder for 10 minutes but soon got bored with that due to no indications.

Swapping to the shallow 1.5 gram rig brought a few fish but it wasn't right due to the tow on the water so binned that idea and just focused on the deep heavier rig.

I changed from feeding ground bait to just loose feeding and it did seem to make a difference. 

Alan on peg 2 and Shaun on peg 3 packed up early.

I went down to Steve on peg 16 to collect the scales. Steve said he chucked back about 5lb of fish, the skimmers and bream that usually hang around on this peg did not respond and if he can't get them then no one can.

The weights overall were very mixed and a few DNW. Nige Evans managed to snare a couple of bream in the last hour which boosted his weight but it was fellow Nomad Clive Roberts that won the day with nearly 22lb of roach. I managed a level 15lb, I thought I had more and ended up 2 out of the money.

Least I had a few bites

Steve took a photo of me doing the weigh in, he said I was very meticulous and concentrated lol.

Back on the Feeder Canal Wednesday and the Glossy Sunday for Round 3 !!!!!!

Sunday 2nd May - Port Talbot Dock Open

 I think most of us are aware that COVID restriction and guidance in Wales has been slightly different to England and that did affect travelling and fishing.

Looking back the last time I fished the Dock was on 22nd March 2020, I ran that match on behalf of Steve O'Mara and then the Lock Downs began. As restrictions eased in Wales some of the locals have been fishing the Dock organising a few Knock Ups. Team mate and founder member of Nomads Rich Candy had been doing well.

With nothing else on this Sunday I sent Steve O'Mara a message asking if he was organising a match on the Dock, Steve came back straight away confirming that he was and I was more than welcome. In fact Steve has started the Port Talbot Docks Match Fishing page again on FaceBook where notification of matches will be published as well as results etc.

Meet up was on the Dock itself at 08:00, for some reason I was running a little late but rang Andy Thomas to say I was almost there just before 8. I need not of have worried as Rich Candy and Clive Roberts arrived after me. On the way into the Dock Dai Morgan who runs the Fishery recognised me and gave me the thumbs up and a welcome back.

As I parked up Steve Shaw asked me what pie I wanted, Beef or Lamb and Mint, apparently his shop was closing so he brought a load of pies to give out to the lads. Well, when in Wales its got to be lamb hasn't it!

Paid my pools to Steve who gave me a warm welcome as did some of the other lads. A good turn out today and a strong Nomads presence namely....Andy Thomas, Rich Candy, Clive Roberts, Nige Evans (also a member of DGL) and myself. 

I phoned Richy in the week once I had booked in to get some information on the Docks form, skimmers and roach had been feeding well. It did seem that the whip was working well but there had been the odd big bream / skimmer weight to.

The random draw saw my peg drawn out about halfway down the list, peg 6 it was to be and I have fished between 8 and 5 quite a few times. I must have known I was going to draw there as my van was parked about 30 metres away. I was actually the end peg with Paul Waddington (DGL) on 7 and a local angler on peg 8 which is out on a small point.

You don't need a lot of tackle to fish the Dock, I only had a 6 metre whip and 2 feeder rods, one with braid and one with mono.

It was a glorious morning, bright sunshine and flat calm, roach were topping as well.

Plenty of time to set up with fishing 10 - 4.

I had a load of ground bait today, 2.5 kilo of Sensas Black Lake / Black Magic for the Whip line (roach) and 2 Kilo of Fishmeal for the Feeder.

6 big jaffa's went in at 6 metres laced with dead red, hemp, caster and corn. Starting on the feeder second chuck at 30 turns I had a rattle and knew it was a roach, a few more followed and I was re-casting every 5 minutes for the first 30. I did feel it wasn't right though as normally you can pick up skimmers fairly early.

Picking up the whip it was a roach first put in with corn. Corn usually sorts out the better roach. Paul on peg 7 was fishing the whip as well but more like 7 to 8 metres and it did appear to be slow on his peg. Both of us were getting loads of bites but only hitting 1 in 8. It was amazing watching the float sail under and keep going in the clear water but when you struck there was nothing there.

I could see the local angler on peg 8 was just fishing the tip and there wasn't much happening on his peg.

A change to double maggot on the whip made a difference but the roach were small. You could catch 3 or 4 in as many put in's but then nothing. I kept feeding little balls  every other cast but they were not lining up for it. Paul started getting plagued by pike as did I so perhaps that was the problem. I did land one on the whip when it just took a maggot, a long lean bugger of around 7 to 8lbs. 

Every hour for the first 4 I took the odd look on the feeder but it was no good.

Andy Thomas came up for a walk and said most were struggling, Rich and Nige were admitting to double figures. A few skimmers were caught by a couple of the feeder lads but none in any numbers.

With 2 hours to go I decided just to stay on the whip.

Paul reckoned I had around 15lb and thought I would frame, he had a good last hour or so and I thought it would be close between us as his fish were a slightly better stamp.

The scales came up to us and Rich was winning with 21lb 9oz, helped by a mullet of around 4lbs, Nige was lying 2nd with 19lb. Paul on peg 7 weighed 15lb 4oz, I thought he had done me. My net went 15lb 7oz, that was close.

So 3rd overall for me and with my team mates filling 1st and 2nd place it was a good day.

Rich likes the mullet, here's one he caught a couple of weeks ago which helped him win the match.

Many thanks to Steve for running the matches again, I'll be back in a couple of weeks but first i have to fish the Gloucester Canal next Sunday in round 2 of the league, a good draw is needed.

Sunday 22nd March - Port Talbot Dock Open / Knock Up

Prior to this match I fished the Tuesday Open at Acorn Fisheries and had 10lb odd of silvers and 19lb of carp. Didn't do any good as I was again down the wrong end of the lake but more importantly I began to question myself as to why I was there in the first place. The draw was done under strict conditions but not everyone was keeping what I think is a safe distance.

Steve O'Mara who runs the Port Talbot Dock matches posted that he was ''self isolating'' due to feeling under the weather and would not be running a match this weekend but invited someone else to come forward and run in.
I wasn't planning on going over so told Steve I was not available.

Team mate Chris Hook phoned me around Wednesday and asked if there was anything on this weekend and I told him about the situation over Port Talbot and said I was just thinking of trying the Bristol Feeder Canal pleasure fishing.

On the Port Talbot Dock facebook page there were quite a few guys interested in fishing the dock so I let Steve know that I would run it. After a number of texts and messages between us I was all set up to run it.

12 eventually booked in and the draw was done in the car park area aside peg 8.

On the drive over I began to question myself again as to why I was travelling .... was it necessary?
Speaking to a couple of others they had the same thoughts.

I collected all the entry fee from everyone via a pole cup on the end of a long bank stick in order to keep a safe distance and had latex gloves on.

I briefed everyone at the start concerning some basic health and safety rules to reduce risk and also performed the draw for all, I would also do the weigh in plus record the weights.

I have to say everyone co-operated 100%.

I was last but one to draw and blow me I ended on peg 6 for the 3rd time over my 8 attendances at the dock.

Two feeder rods set up as per previous visits and the same approach which has seen me frame 3 times now.

At the start small roach (I say small but they would be more than welcome anywhere else) were hitting the bait just after the feeder hit the bottom and on the way down. You need the skimmers and bream to win at the moment so instead of 3 dead reds I changed over to worm and that made a difference. You had to wait a bit longer for the bite but it was the only way. My skimmers were not that big (around 4 - 6oz) and I needed some better quality ones but they didn't come to me.

You would get a run of them and then they would back off and despite trying a different line I found them hard to find bites were also a bit finicky.

It was a lovely bright sunny day but the north easterly played its part in keeping weights down but everyone enjoyed the day out.

I was paying top 4 as that what Steve tries to do as well as the £50 golden peg but that was carried over.

I didn't take any photos of the weigh in as I was already doing 2 jobs and it would have delayed the process but Clive Branson captured most of the day via his Vlog and I have attached the link below....

https://youtu.be/9EdgEGJFpVU

Also attached is the weigh board

As you can see it was a close affair with only ounces separating the top 4, I ended up 5th but 6lb off the pace.

Well that's the last match blog done for a while until the situation improves with this virus. I have decided to follow what my conscience is telling me and stop for now.

I may post the odd bit of news from the past to keep the blog going.

Dydd Sul 15fed Mawrth - Dociau Port Talbot yn taro i fyny

It was back to the Principality for a "knock up" at Port Talbot Docks. I booked in quite early in the week and there appeared to be little interest mainly due to the weather forecast. The forecast did improve and a few more added there names to the list giving us 8 in total.
Given the quality of the breakfast at the draw, the fishing and access I do find it a bit strange that more people don't give it a go.

As Clive Branson was fishing I messaged him to bring me a couple of bags of Gold Medal Black Bream Mix (2 for £5). It's a lovely mix and does appear to bring fish into your swim, a lot of the guys who fish Port Talbot use it now.
I had already done my feeder mix the night before which was 1.5 kg of the above mix with 1 kg of dark fishmeal. The other spare 0.5 kg of black bream was mixed with leam on the dock for balling in.

Steve O'Mara done the draw for everyone to reduce any cross contamination, he also done the draw for the ''golden peg'' worth £50 which was peg 16, a great peg. One of the last to book in, Jan Van Mazyk had that one!

As there was only 8 of us we were well spread out from peg 1 to peg 20 so huge amount of room and you could sneeze and cough your heart out.

I did fancy anything from 16 onwards but was drawn peg 6, one I have had a few weeks ago and I done OK from it.

When we got to the dock the level was up a bit and probably due to a ship coming in at some point. The ship was actually docked alongside the cement work opposite our pegs.

Where I was a lot of anglers fish behind the boards but I like to get in the water, it takes a while to set up the box due to the rocks on the bottom and there is only a small ledge but once your in its much more comfortable.

I had the whip with me but never set it up due to the stiff breeze so 2 feeder rods it was. Both 30gram feeders one with size 12 B560 and the other a 14 in the same pattern. 20 turns out on one, 15 on the other, simples.

We were fishing 10 til 4 today as the afternoon forecast was favourable so no rush. Last week there was a few 30lb plus weights so needed a few proper bream.

9 balls went in on the short line and I started off on the longer line with 4 maggots on the size 12 just to see what was about.

After the first hour I only had about 4 small skimmers and a roach so things were looking hard. The anglers to my left and right (they were the only other 2 I could see) also appeared to be struggling. 

At this point I decided to put on half a dendra worm tipped with a caster and sit it out to see if there were any better fish around, I had been putting chop and caster through the feeder.  It seemed to do the trick and a run of better skimmers followed but the action was far from hectic.

2 hours must have went by and any action there was slowed so I came in on the short line with the 14 hook. Just double dead reds on the hook and had a bite immediately. There were no bank walkers so it was hard to judge how it was fishing. The guys left and right were not catching a lot and the fish they had were the same stamp as mine.

It was a case of swapping lines and baits just to get a bite but they were hard to hit.

The scales came from end peg 20 where Alan Godrich was leading with 22lb odd. 

Mine weighed 19lb 15oz

 End peg 1 Mick Fraser had over 25lb so won the match.

The view was there was a high concentration of salt in the dock after the ship came in and then went back out. 

Not a bad day though for the middle of March and the weigh sheet shows everyone had a few fish.

Sunday 1st March - St. Davids Day Open, Port Talbot Dock

I did intend to fish my local river in a knock up today but knew at the start of the week it would be a mess after looking at the forecast so back across to the Principality to fish my current favourite venue with my Celtic Cousins.
I let good friend Steve and team mate Chris know that I was going over and they also booked in. Then towards the end of the week Jack Jones messaged me saying he was thinking about booking in as well and after talking to me he did. So 3 more newbies to the venue. I also had another angler contact me asking about the venue for a friend of his so word is getting around about this fantastic deep water venue.

The 3rd storm in as many weeks threatened to put a few off but all 13 who were booked in turned up. It was 1 degree when I left home and hail stones were lying on the windscreen. During the drive over there was a bit of wind in places as well as more hail but it was an improving forecast later in the day.

Draw was in Bro's Cafe as usual and a hearty breakfast was very welcome. Prior to the day the plan was to fish 6 hours but due to the cold etc it was reduced to 5.

Golden peg today was end peg 20 and newcomer Jack drew that, I had already put him right on how far out to fish and I did fancy his chances. Chris and Steve were also on decent pegs toward the end of the line up. I drew 13, not a peg I have had before during the 5 previous visits. Team mate Clive Branson told me it was a great summer peg .... err it's fecken March!!!
Anyway, job to do and 4 pay outs today.

Two bags of Clive's Gold Medal Black Bream mix were already mixed up but I scooped out 5 hand fulls to mix with leam for balling in.
Two feeder rods set up, same as last week, 25 turns and 15. Bait tray dead reds, corn caster, live reds and worm.
It was cold but the wind was manageable.

Ready to ball in, rock to keep the bowl on the box

Right hand side

Left hand side. The other side of the big jetty is where Clive won last week with 53lb, organiser Steve O'Mara was on it today, peg 16

On the whistle I put all the balls in sort of halfway between my 2 lines with a view to fishing just either side of them. 

Starting off on the longer line with 3 reds and caster and dead reds in the feeder it took about 30 minutes to get my first knock which I missed, I also missed the next few bites as well. The wind was getting up and straight in my face, bloody cold. 

I eventually snared a roach followed by a few more, one or two I didn't see the bite.

Looking left and right no one was catching and then 45 minutes or so in a few landing nets were going out but they were not big fish.

The second hour was a little better and I had a couple of skimmers on the short line, it was still slow either side of me as well. The water wasn't cold but there was a lot of cold water coming in from a few rivers and it was a brackish brown colour which seemed to put the fish off feeding.

I added a few small fish here and there but in the final hour I unclipped and went out a bit further which brought me a few little hybrids and roach on double live reds.

When the all out was called I wasn't sorry as I was shivering with cold and my fingers could barely squeeze the ground bait into the feeder.

I packed up and walked up to see the weigh in. Clive had already weighed by the time I got to the scales and he had weighed 6lb. It appears the whole dock had fished hard, worst I have seen it.

I weighed 7lb 6oz which was enough for 3rd overall, really....

Hard to see the fish but then again there wasn't much in the net anyway.

As I predicted Jack won the match off the end peg which was also the golden peg but with 10lb, Chris managed 4th.

It was good to see Paul Cole picking up 2nd with just over 8lb on the whip after his nightmare last week.

Jack with his wining envelope plus £50 for the golden peg

Full results as follows plus a summary of the match from Steve O'Mara.....

Hi lads, quick report for today's St Davids Day match.

Windy, cold and rain were the main theme of the day. Difficult conditions above the water were not the main factor for the results though. Below the surface, the fish were not playing either. Anglers reporting plenty of liners was evidence of the presence of the fish, but they were reluctant to get their heads down and feed. The water was very coloured, and usually, a good sign that the fish will get amongst the bait, but not today.

Bristol angler Jack Jones won the match on his first-ever visit to the dock. Not only that, he had drawn the golden peg too.

Jack had drawn peg 20 (end peg on the day) and brought 10lb exactly to the scales. A mixed bag of bream, roach and eels made up the catch and was enough for the win and a golden peg cash bag of £50.00 as well as the match.

Second place went to Swansea angler Paul Cole. Fair play to him, he decided to whip fish and also caught a few bream roach and eels, for 8lb 5oz. Paul admitted he was about to leave the match and go home due to the conditions, but glad he stuck to it. Well done Paul.

Third and fourth places also went to Bristol-based anglers.
Ivan Currie with 7lb 6oz and Chris Hook with 6lb 12oz respectively. So well done to the Bristol lads taking 3 of the 4 places on St Davids day...ouch..

Will try and get out in the week then it's a Team Qualifer Match with Nomads at Evesham next Sunday.

Stay warm all....

Sunday 23rd February - Port Talbot Dock Open

With only 3 booked in for our Clevedon Club match on the River Kenn and a bad forecast our Match Secretary called it off. I booked in again for the Port Talbot Docks Open for the second week running despite a forecast of strong winds again.

Gloucestershire angler Tim Frampton contacted me via Facebook regarding the venue and after some messages back and forth he also booked himself in. Team mate Clive Branson done a road show last Friday night in Bristol and I bumped into Ben Rendall who also told me he fancied it. I gave him some info and he asked me to book him in. On Saturday 11 were booked in but this dropped to 10 on the Sunday morning.

The forecast was 45 mph westerly winds up until about 11:30 and then an average of 23 mph after that but the good thing was there was not much chance of rain.

Driving over it was quite difficult and the Prince of Wales Bridge and most of the M4 to Port Talbot was restricted to 50 and 40 mph. Last week the wind was stronger but a south westerly which was ok to be honest.

Bro's Cafe done the business again and Draw Master Steve O'Mara got the draw underway. One of the waitresses pulled out the Golden Peg which was peg 20 and worth £50 on top of the £80 first prize.
Venue virgin Tim Frampton pulled out peg 20 and had every chance of winning from there.

When it came to my turn I drew peg 6 which I haven't been on before but was told that its very deep close in and I wouldn't need a long chuck.

Paul Cole was on the next peg to my left (peg 8) and Steve O'Mara to my right was on 2 so plenty of room.
The peg was very comfortable and I was able to get the box right down in the water. There was a bit of a chop but more than manageable.

I bought a few bags of Clive's Gold Medal Ground Bait ''Black Bream'' on Friday night so mixed 2kg up with some left over green fish meal. I put enough aside for the feeder and then added leam to the remainder making up 8 big balls for putting in on the whistle laced with corn, dead reds and caster.

I had plumbed up one feeder rod at 20 turns and the other at 12, 4 balls went in on each line at the start.

Starting off on the longer line with 5 red maggots on a size 12 B560 it didn't take long to get a pull which I hit, result a 1lb skimmer. I was feeding caster and corn through the feeder and 20 minutes in after casting every 5 minutes I felt the swim was coming on nicely after catching a few hybrids. I stuck with the red maggots for the first hour just to keep putting something in the net pretty fast. 

Paul to my left was having a bit of a nightmare with his tackle, line breaking, line tangling within the reel etc.

I rang the changes by putting a worm on the hook tipped with a maggot or caster and the quality of the fish improved. A few baby bream appeared along with net skimmers. I had to compress the ground bait and particles in the feeder quite a bit to prevent in emptying part the way down and thus attracting roach which would hit the bait on the way down.

After a couple of hours Paul came up and asked if I had much. I said into the teens and he seemed surprised. He walked up to Steve and came back and told me he'd had quite a few bream and skimmers. No worries as still half the match left.

I was thinking about coming in on the short line when the tip went around and stayed there, bream on, lovely. I decided to simply stay on the longer line and upped the feed a bit. Good move as more big skimmers followed along with a cracking rudd. I lost two bream at the net after the hook pulled out, always a risk as you bring them up in the deep water and I thought that this would cost me.

I had a great days fishing and weighed 26lb 6oz. Clive easily won the match on the tip from peg 16 with 52 lb 2oz, Steve O'Mara was 2nd with 29 lb and Martin Thomas was 3rd with 28 lbs. 

So I narrowly missed out on a pick up.

Lovely net

One of the rudd

Clive with his winning bag

Steve had a nice net for 2nd place

Full results

Tim and Ben enjoyed their first visit to the dock and I think they will be back again, after all where could you go to have a bath provided behind your peg lol!

Hope to get out on the river on Tuesday so watch this space.

Sunday 16th February - Port Talbot Docks Match / Knock Up

Team mates Sam Johnson, Chris Hook and I booked in for this match at the beginning of the week. As the week progressed the weather forecast did not look good with ''Storm Dennis'' coming in from the Atlantic.
I tormented myself all week looking at different weather forecasts hoping for a change in the forecast.

14 were booked in and this was the limit due to another Club having a small match on the dock as well.
Chris decided to pull out on Thursday due to the extreme weather forecast, plus he had never fished it before. Sam and I hung on, I think we were both waiting for the other to say they weren't going. On Friday I had a text from Sam saying ''we've got to go now as I've got my bait''. That was it then, fully committed lol.

Steve O'Mara who organises the matches posted in facebook that the 14 booked in had been reduced to about 4 due to the weather. Fair play he told me it wouldn't be a problem if we cancelled due to the weather and the distance we had to travel.

We still said we'd go, mad or what!

Sam was making his own way over so I planned to leave home around 06:00. I left home and went on my usual route to join the M5 at Gordano but didn't get far due to the police blocking the road after a tree came down in the storm. I turned around and gave Sam a call saying what had happened, he was on the road heading up the M5 from Weston Super Mare. I told him I would take another route.

To be honest it was windy but not too bad for driving and there was the odd heavy shower.

I got to Bro's Cafe were the draw is held at 08:45 and Sam was parked up. A quick natter before going in for a great breakfast at 08:00.

Steve was already in the Cafe and confirmed there was only 4 of us. But....£45 for 1st and £15 for 2nd  plus another £45 in the golden peg. We drew for pegs 1 to 4 with the view we would decide were to fish in a row when we went over to the dock and a view to get the wind on our backs.

When we got on the bank fishing with the wind off our backs was not an option due to the height of the water, apparently the highest its been for 20 years.

I ended up on end peg 21, Steve on 20, Sam on 18 which was the golden peg and Chris Bradley on 16.

I only set up one feeder rod with a 45 gram feeder to punch it through the wind paired up with 6lb mono, size 12 B560 to 0.16. I was on a shallower peg than the rest but Steve advised me to go out 26 turns into the deeper water.

After we set up the dock level dropped about 3 foot and I ended up repositioning my box etc.

Here's a little clip showing the conditions, this was the calmest part of the day lol

With fishmeal ground bait combined with casters, corn, dead red and chopped worm I started off with 3 reds on the hook just to get a bite. 

The 2oz glass tip was OK for the job although it took a while to figure out whether or not to leave it slack or tighten up in order to see the bite. After a bit of trial and error I started to get some small fish up to 6oz, roach, skimmers and hybrids.

It wasn't fast and furious but the odd fish was going in the net. The wind was getting stronger and it was raining as well. Waves were rolling in and hitting me and the rod rest had to be brought up higher to avoid them.

Sam turned up behind me after a hour or so and said he only had one roach. I told him I had about 7 fish.

About 12:00 I started putting worm on the hook which brought on a run of net skimmers. It was a horrendous day but I was enjoying it.

A positive pull around and I connected with a better fish but it turned out to be an eel. 

At 13:00 the fish were responding better and getting their heads down and I lost what felt like a good bream when the feeder snagged in the nearside shelf rocks. I also noticed Steve was getting a few better fish, proper bream.

I started putting on bigger hook baits i.e 2 worms withe ends nipped off and tipped with a couple of casters. That seemed to make a difference and the bites became more positive. 

I plugged away and was rewarded with a proper bream followed by more skimmers. 15 minutes from the all out the reel line got tangled under the spool and that was it for me.

Chris was the first to weigh and had 9lb 10oz.

Sam had 5lb 7oz

Steve had a great net of quality bream for 31lb

I done better than I thought weighing 16lb 9oz

Despite the weather I was glad I went, it's a great venue.

Not sure about this week, keeping an eye on the weather, Club match on the Kenn next Sunday weather permitting as well as number of entries.

Sunday 19th January - Port Talbot Dock

First of all Happy New Year everyone.

Its been over 6 weeks since my last proper outing. Early December saw me spending 5 days up in Scotland followed by a flight to Singapore and staying 4 nights and then off to New Zealand arriving back home on 13th January.

I got over my jet lag fairly quickly and decided to get out on the bank somewhere. A small match was advertised on Port Talbot Docks via Facebook and I noticed from the list of names already down an old friend of mine Mike Endicott was going to fish. I contacted him after I had booked in and we agreed to meet up at Gordano Services near Avonmouth so he could follow me over. Team mate Sam Johnson also decided to go for the first time.

I suggested we all meet at 06:00 and take a steady drive over due to the forecasted hard frost.

I was up at 05:15 and it was flipping cold, minus 3 in fact which was a far cry from 31 in Singapore and up to 26 in New Zealand. When I pulled open the van door handle it just stayed out. Even the maggots didn't want to come out of the fridge.

Mike and Sam were already in the services when I pulled in just after 06:00. Mike was in his shorts!!!

A steady drive over the 2nd Severn Crossing and a drive through the Principality saw us arrive at Bro's Cafe for the draw and breakfast after one wrong turn. Water in the pot holes was frozen over and inside the Cafe was freezing as well but the breakfast was top dollar as usual.

Organiser Steve O'Mara got the draw underway there were 13 down to fish but I think 2 dropped out.
Mike and Sam drew a couple of decent pegs, 18 Sam and Mike 19 so chance of bream and skimmers if they fed. I drew 15 which is average I think (only my 3rd time on the dock). Regular Steve Shaw was on end peg 20 which we thought would win it.

Parked up aside my peg and as I was unloading the van I could see Mike still in his shorts and polo shirt. I had 5 layers on my upper body and 3 below.

This is Mike.
Mike is standing on frost covered grass.
It's minus 1.
Mike fished the whole match in shorts and polo shirt.
Mike is nuts!

I planned to simply fish the 5 metre whip and feeder short.
At 5 metres I had over 4 metres of water. My rig was a 3 gram Sensas Alberto float to 0.17 with 2 number 8's as bulk above the hook length. Hook length was 0.12 with a wide gape series 18 tubertini hook. Ground bait for the whip line .... Gros Gardons, River, Black crumb and heavy leam.
Feeder rig was a 30 gram with a B560 14 hook to 0.15. Ground bait was as above but no leam.

At the start I put 4 big balls in on the whip line laced with maggot, caster and hemp plus a sprinkling of corn. Starting off on the feeder at 25 turns it took about 15 minutes to get the first bite which was a 2 oz roach. A few more followed including a 6 oz hybrid. The fish appeared to have move in and were taking the bait on the drop, because they were quite small they were hard to hit and it became frustrating so the feeder rod went up the bank.

The whip line was full of fish, not big by any means but at least I could hit them. Corn on the hook did result in slightly better fish but a kept getting snagged in-between the rocks that make up the bed and side of the dock so had to stick with the maggot.

I feed small balls every other fish and thought I was doing ok judging by what was happening to my right.

The water was quite clear and pike were predicted to be a nuisance. I only had one on and did land it on the whip, a fish of around 6lbs but they don't count.

Weather wise it did turn out a nice day in the warm sunshine although it was difficult to see the float the last 1.5 hours.

The all out came at 15:30 and I was quite tired,  the back was aching a bit due to being out of practice.

Steve O'Mara won the match with 29lb made up with a few bream and skimmer off point peg 8, fair play to him. It was tight for the rest of the field.

Sam did well on his first visit coming joint 3rd.

my 16lb 12oz, an enjoyable day

Port Talbot Docks Match Fishing have their own Facebook Page, its only 1 hour 20 mins away, you can park behind your peg and theres always plenty of bites. I'll be back again soon.

Wednesday 31st July - Staverton & Sunday 4th August - Port Talbot Docks

Staverton,

Back to Staverton for the popular Wednesday afternoon / evening match. I drew peg 21 this time and when I got there I knew it was the peg that Tony Gilbert was on when we had a Super League Match a few weeks ago. Tony weighed 8lb plus for 2nd in the section. I had to do a bit of gardening again as there were lots of lily pads right in front of me. Took about 20 minutes but worth it.
I was only going to set up 2 waggler rods and a block end feeder so didn't take long.

All the flow was right across and when testing the waggler rigs the flow pulled it into the far bank more alongside some trees. It was a nice run down and a long trot was able to be had.

Plumping up I had about 6 foot right across but it shallowed up towards the end of the trot so fished a few inched off the bottom. The other wag was at half depth. Wind was quite strong at times and changed from upstream to in your face but i was able to cast hard into a gap across sink the line and the flow took more control of the float than the wind so was able to present ok.

I decided on the Gary Etheridge approach and just feed and fish maggot to catch anything that swims.

Starting off on the shallow set up I had some small barrel chub straight away which is typical for the venue. Bites were fairly regular and I was putting fish in the net.

Around the half way mark I decided to feed further downstream as well which was a good call as I started to catch a few roach and in the final 30 minutes 2 puppy chub.

I ended up with 8lb 11oz for 3rd in the match beaten by a 10lb chub catch and Gary who won it with 15lb. Gary had 2 big bream and some bits. I think he lost a couple of bream as well. They seem to follow him around at the moment but fair play to him.

Port Talbot Docks

I could have fished a Super League Practice Match on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge on the Sunday but having seen how it fished the previous Sunday on a Riverfest Qualifier and along with some of the comments from those who took part decided to give it a miss and return to see my Celtic Cousins across the bridge in South Wales to join Clive Branson and Clive Roberts on Port Talbot Docks.

I drew peg 14 this time which was in an area known as the board and was told to expect pike trouble. Team mate Clive R was next to me on 13 and Clive B drew 21 which was an end peg with bream form. He is doing very well at the moment, last week he was 2nd in the Riverfest Qualifier picking up £260.
At 6 metres out it was a little shallower than last week but still very deep. Rig from last week adjusted so didn't take long.
2 feeder rods set up again same as last week.
Starting off on the longer feeder line I skimmers straight away and a few roach after balling in a bucket of ground bait. Clive was catching short on the pole but I couldn't make it work properly so went on the short on the feeder.
In summary bites all day, had 5 pike on didn't see one of them. Had the fight of my life with a nice 5lb 5oz mullet, first one I have every caught as well as a small bass. Ended up with 24lb plus so doubled my weight from the previous week.

Clive B won the match with 62lb of bream with Steve O'Mara 2nd with 53lb off the next peg.
Lots of 20lb plus weights.

What a venue, I will definitely be back.

No midweek match this week but Newbridge on Sunday...could be a bream match as rain is forecast.

Sunday 28th July - Port Talbot Docks ....isn't it

With no match to fish locally this Sunday I decided to have a visit to Port Talbot Docks and fish a small match. I was able to get pretty genned up on the venue as there are a few You Tube posts from Clive Branson on there and some facebook posts from some of the regulars.

It was easy to book in as the have their own facebook page administered by Steve O'Mara. The route planner suggested it was 70 miles with a 1 hour 20 minute journey. Breakfast and draw was at Bros Cafe near the dock.

I left home just before 6 a.m. and was in Port Talbot by 07:40 as I took it steady with the van running in a new DPF system. The postcode for the cafe took me to a railway siding and didn't have a clue where I was so punched in the postcode for the fishing area and phone Steve to give me directions to the cafe. Fortunately he was just around the corner and came and got me.

Breakfast was fantastic and a good price.

Soon the rest of the anglers were turning up and very friendly they were as well although at time there was a bit of a language barrier with them as well as me repeating ourselves. There were only 8 fishing but 2 golden pegs worth £100 each plus pool money.

I recognised a couple of anglers namely Ian Drisscol who has fished with Nomads and Mal Entwistle who I had met many years ago on Iniscarra Res in Co. Cork.

I was last to draw and the 2 golden pegs had already gone. I ended up on peg 18, the favoured pegs were 21 and 22 in the shallower part of the dock and they had a lot of weed in them as well but good for holding fish i.e. bream. Steve was next to me on 19 and had won the match the previous week with 66lb of bream caught in the final 2 hours short on the feeder.

The fishing area was a short drive from the cafe and we entered the area through 2 locked gates. The fishing is leased from the dock authority by a guy called Dai and if you want to pleasure fish it he can be contacted on 07886 301754. I was introduced to Dai by Steve but I have no idea what he said, i just nodded at the right time I think lol.    ‬

my peg 18

As I was setting up I could smell sea weed and as you can see in the photo there is a sea going coaster ship opposite. Indeed they catch mullet, bass and crabs here as well as roach, rudd, tench, bream, perch, hybrids and pike. 

I had already tied some deep rigs i.e. top 7 to hand, 0.17 rig line to 0.15 hook length, 4 and 5 gram floats. Double bulk style i.e. 3 number 8's 6 inched above the hook which were 16's and 14's and the the olivette, serious rigs. I also had 2 feeder rods, one for 30 turns and one for 20 turns.

2 buckets of ground bait with 3 tins of corn, dead reds and a pint of caster, chopped worm was also added.

Plumbing up on the pole I had top 6 deep close in just past the old stantions that used to form the side of the dock, so top 6 to hand it would be then fishing a foot and a few inches of the deck as it was very rocky. Feeder set up was braid on one and 0.20 mono on the other, both with size12 hooks to 0.17.

I balled in a full bucket at the start half and half on both lines, the short feeder line would be fished over the pole line.

Starting off with the longer feeder line and worm I had a small hybrid first chuck and then a tidy perch. A few more knocks over the next 20 minutes but nothing positive. 

I came in on the pole line with 3 maggots and had a small roach straight away. Lots of small fish on the maggot about 3 oz each. Steve suggested I fish with corn but it was very slow and I was missing bites due to the small fish simply dragging it along.

I kept having a look on the feeder lines but it was very quiet. Steve said it was fishing usually hard. All the time I spent on the feeder I was loose feeding corn as well as the odd ball of ground bait.

About halfway through I had a few lovely roach on the corn so stepped up the loose feed. Steve then had 3 proper bream short on the feeder as well as a couple of big eels but then it went quiet. I decided to stay on the pole and the roach just got better but it was too late. 

I weighed 12lb plus and didn't shame myself as a first timer as you will see by the weights.

My first effort

Mal won it with 28lb plus of an end peg and golden peg picking up a tidy some of cash the other golden peg money is still up for grabs,

Winner Mal, no big bream but some nice skimmers

Organiser Steve O'Mara came third with just over 15 mainly 3 bream

Full results below....

I did enjoy fishing the dock and as we only have a practice match at Newbridge in amongst the swimmers and the boats I am returning to the dock instead armed with a bit more info and experience.

Staverton again this Wednesday.....chub peg please...