Air Ambulance Open Bristol Avon Staverton and Barton Farm nr Trowbridge

This was my first trip out on a river this season. I had intended to fish the local River Kenn but work has been too busy for me lately due to covering 2 jobs including nights away from home. The match was a Charity Open but also a practice for the next SW Super League match this weekend on the same waters. 5 of us attended the match as none of us had really seen the venue before let alone fish it. Draw was at the brand new Trowbridge Town Rugby Club which apparently cost £3m and what a great facility it is execept no licence after 4 p.m. on a Sunday so the results were back at the Kings Arms pub. 63 Anglers booked in, there were only 2 access points, Bradford on Avon Railway Station for Barton Farm and a Racecourse Farm for Staverton. 3 of us drew Staverton and Nicky Collins lead us to the access point. On the Staverton water I have never seen such quality pegging and swim clearing on a river. Each peg had a scaffold pole in the ground with a black number on a yellow background and you could park behind every peg. The bank was flat and strimmed, quality or what. The Barton Farm access also had a concrete path all the way along the river. A few stars were on the bank, ex world champ Clive Branson, regular river angler Richard Chave and the Thatchers guys. As I drove to my peg (22) I could see the far bank had a lot of trees but the width did vary from peg to peg, Nicky Collins peg looked a dream and apparently held big chub. A local angler above me said bream also showed from time to time. The Wednesday match on the same stretch was won with 17lb roach. Here is my peg looking straight across and downstream.

So a fairly bare far bank but there were fish topping although very small. Plumbed up on the pole at 13 meters and found I had about 12', 1.5 grm rig ran through quite nice as this is were the flow was. 3AA waggler was ok for the far bank starting at 4' deep, feeder also set up but not used. Weather not ideal as very bright and warm but just enoyed being on the river again. On the all in I could here others balling in either side of me and beyond, I decided to cup in 4 balls of magic and noire laced with pinkie, caster and chopped worm. Decided to leave this line alone and went on the wag loose feeding caster right across. Bleak, bleak, more bleak followed but the a few small roach started to show and at least I was putting fish in the net. After an hour and 15 I went on the pole, first trot down the float buried and a 4 oz roach was netted, more followed but it died after about 30 mins, I re-fed and went back on the wag. This is how it went for the whole match. I weighed in 4lb 4oz, guy above DNW, local angler below had 5lb 5oz. Team mates Don and Sam on the same stretch weighed 5lb odd and 2lb 10oz, best in our stretch was 9lb (Richard Chave) but futher up Gary Etheridge had 12lb 6oz of small fish. Down at Barton Farm Team mate Jame Gunter also had 4lb odd but captain Chris Hook had 2 bream and some bits for 12lb 5oz enough for 4th on the day and £100. It is a cracking venue and looking forward to Sunday, team meeting was last night and we have a plan lol, lets see.

Sunday 15th June - fluff chucking at Hawkridge Res

I had not been out for a couple of weeks due to a weekend in London with the wife and as part of a birthday gift and a thank you from our daughters for various bits and pieces we have supported them with. Saw the Committements in the West End, fab show. So back to today, no club match scheduled and a day to early to go out on the river I was some what torn what to do. A fairly busy day on Saturday meant I had little time to prep or get bait so a bit of fly fishing it was to be. I had planned to go on Chew but decided after I got in the car to head down the M5, off at Bridgwater and out to Hawkridge Res where I had some success last year. Bank fishing is good and it goes very deep a few paces out. Not in any rush I took a steady drive down and got there around 09:00, had a chat with the Ranger who said bank results were mixed due to the bright weather and the water was christle clear but he said I should get a few fish. I headed away from the Lodge, driving down to the next lay-by and parked up, a step over a low wall and I was on the bank. Two other guys where there but had not had a pull in the hour they were there but fish were showing on the top. The far bank looked inviting and there were no other angler so I walked around to the far side through some woods and carried on until I was more or less opposite the Lodge. Given the clear water and the fish not wanting to come that close I set up with an 18' leader, Booby on the point (which floats) and then a Black Buzzer and a Green Dawl Bach as droppers meaning I would be just fishing under the surface. It took an hour to get my first pull but it was half hearted and did not result in a take. The wind was coming down the lake which made it difficult to keep a tight line so I had to cast at 2 o'clock. About 11:30 I saw a fish rise in front of me about as far out as I could cast, a quick retieve and back out to where it showed resulted in a take as soon as the Booby hit the water, a nice rainbow about 3lb. I moved up towards the Dam a bit and could see a couple of guys out in a boat doing a quick retrieves which meant they must be on lures, they were getting a few fish as well. I change the Booby to a little gold head Hares Ear to get the flies down in the water to have a look. First cast and about 5 rod lengths out while pulling back a little faster than I had been resulted in a very agressive take on the Dawl Bach and the fish headed toward the middle of the lake. I managed to get it under control and as it came close I could see it was a decent brownie. Got it in and it was a lovely fish, weighed later on it went 3lb 14oz, best on I have had. I chopped and changed flies the rest of the day and finally had my 5 fish limit at 14:15 which I was happy with, back was killing. Heres the 5 fish, when weighed together came to 17lb 5oz not bad and freezer topped up again.

May try and get on the Kenn one evening this week but new job is full on at the moment. If not its the Bristol Avon at Barton Farm near Trowbrige for the practice match which is also a charity event prior to the next round of the SW Super League so some prep to do.

Sunday 1st June - South West Super League Gloucester Canal

This is was the second year Maver Cadbury Angling entered the SW Super League, the Team finished in a reasonable position last year, I did not fish for the team until September so this was my first year in the competition.

The league consists of 8 Teams of 8, teams entering this year are....
Diawa Gordon League
Sensas Thyers
Garbolino Blackmore Vale
Preston Thatchers
Maver Lobys
Cardiff Sensas Nomads
Frenze SW
Maver Cadbury Angling

Venues are Gloucester Canal, Bristol Avon Staverton, River Huntspill (2), Bristol Avon Newbridge, Bristol Avon Crane, 6 in total and spread out over the summer with a few practice matches as well.

The Team met at McDonalds, Quedgeley just off Junct 12 M5 for breakfast, not an enjoyable experience but I ate it, I say it as I was not totaly sure what it was. Then it was off to Gordon League Rugby Club for the draw. Apart of Hempstead the venue is still a bit of an unknown to me so I wasn't really bothered where I was placed as the main objective was to try and beat 7 other anglers in the section. I drew peg 30 at Sims bridge and followed team mate James Gunter to the parking spot, I only had a short walk and there was plenty of bank space above me to separate my gear from all the walkers, runners and cyclists. The far bank had cover as well. Fishing was 11:00 - 16:00. Based on instructions give I set up the pole at 5 meters to fish at 10:00 and 14:00, depth here was top 3 so nice and compfortable, another pole line was set up for 11 meters straight out in front. Last but not least the feeder for fishing across. Groundbait was a mix of Fishmeal, Noire and Black Lake, I had plenty of worm and caster alog with mag and pinkie.

At the all in I fed all my pole line quite heavy and then went across on the feeder with chop and caster with 3 pinkies on the hook, during the first hour and a half I had 1 perch, 1 ruff and 1 bootlace for about 5 oz. It was difficult to say but I could see anyone else catching so stuck at it topping up the pole lines with loose fed caster and maggot for the line at 12:00. I had a small roach and another few perch, bank walkers indicated the section was fishing rock hard with 2lb being the best weight after 3 hours! I came in on the short pole line and had a small eel followed by another small perch. There were plenty of boats going up and down as well as rowers but heres a massive jolly boat full of Sunday after noon drinkers that came down the canal and you needed to make sure your keepnet was secure.



With an hour to go and just after this big boat had passed I decide to stick it out on the feeder for the rest of the match, I had one more small perch and missed a tiny bite.

At the weigh in there was one Did Not Weigh, Tony Davis Cardiff Nomads had 2 bream for 7lb odd, the there was a 2lb 9oz followed by me with 14oz for a Section 3rd, happy with that. Here is the section weights and shows how hard it was.

Back at the Rugby Club most of the Team had come back which is always a good sign, Ian Hudson was 2nd in his section (Hempstead) with 9lb odd, Chris and Sean had also come 3rd in their sections and Sam fourth I think, total points around 36 with one of the team blanking. Overall we came 4th on the day, not bad and not a disaster by any means. Maver Lobbys won the day so fair play to them.

Top weight was 19lb ish

No fishing next week, off to London for the weekend.

Thursday 29th May - update

Been very quiet on the fishing front over the last few weeks. I have only been out the once. That once was the Gloucester Canal for a practice as the Super League is about to start. I drew peg 63 at Hempstead and did not have a bite all day. Next to me was Sensas Thyers Captain Lance Tucker who did not have a bite either. Team mate Sam had 4oz (small zander) only 3 anglers in the section of 10 caught! Lets hope its better on Sunday. I have also been over to N Ireland to walk up a mountain in memory of my brother and raise money for Marie Curie. Not quite sure how I made it but there was some red meat and guinness consumed in quantity in the evening. The river season will soon be here so looking forward to that.

Sunday 11th May Clevedon blind pairs match Shiplate Farm - West and Hawthorn Pools

Press report as follows (I was rubbish)

Clevedon Freshwater Angling Club had a match with a difference down at Shiplate Farm between Loxton and Weston Super Mare. A pairs completion was held on West and Hawthorn Canal Lakes but anglers did not know who they were paired with until the draw was made. Although there were very strong winds on the day they did not present too much of a problem as the majority of anglers had their backs to it. In form angler Andy Hembrow and Cadbury Anglings James Gunter were the top pair on the day with a combined weight of 113lb 14oz. James came second on West Lake with just over 33lb and Andy won on Hawthorn with 80lb plus of carp caught on pole fished meat. Not far behind was the pairing of another in form angler, Adie Baker who came second on Hawthorn and lee Williams who won on the West Lake with 59lb.

Andy Hembrow

James Gunter

Gloucester Canal this Sunday.

Friday 10th May - Wild Brown Trout on the River Lyd Devon

For my 58th Birthday my wife treated me to some wild brown trout fishing down on the Tamar system and 2 nights in the Arundell Arms Hotel which fully caters for anglers (game fishermen). I have not done this since I was in my early teens and was looking forward to the change. The Arundell Arms controls about 20 miles of river fishing as well as have their own lake. Here is an overview of what water they cover.

Due to the heavy rain the Tamar was very dirty and unfishable but I was allocated Beat 20 on the River Lyd so had about a mile and a bit to myself. When I show one of the coaches my 9; 6'' rod he fell about laughing and loaned me a nice 8' one with a box of trout flies and light leaders. When I did get to the river, about 6 miles away from Lifton I could see why the 9' 6'' rod would be no use.

Here are some pictures of the surroundings, absolutely beautiful.

River is here somewhere



Found it

An open space at last

The River was averaging about 2 foot deep in the pools but a lot of it was less than 6'' deep, very clear so had to stalk the fish as they were easily spooked. I was keeping eye on the fish and creeping around so much I was not looking where I was going and suddenly slide down a bank of wild garlic on my backside and ended up in the river with a wader full of water ''oh dear'' I said, not lol. Not to be put off I emptied the water out and carried on. Finally I got a take, look at this fine specimen.



ok if you are on a diet!

Slightly better fish followed, here are some samples.....

 

After about 5 hours when I went back down the beat to catch up with my wife who sat among the blue bells all day reading a big deer bolted out right in front of me, I nearly filled the other wader but it wasn't with water!!!

All in all a lovely days fishing and a great birthday present.

Sunday 4th May - Clevedon Club Match Avalon Fishery

I have only fished Avalon 3 times in the last 10 years and never done that well. We were on the main Match Lake, Moors which has 48 pegs and approximately 5 acres with an average depth of 6' - 7'. Plenty of room between pegs and central mature islands.

The venue is part owned by Mosella UK Boss Vic Bush who used to be a good angler on the Bristol Avon many years ago and before the Commercial Fishery trend began.

16 booked in today which was very good considering there was a Kev Perry Series Match on at Acorn, included in the 16 was a couple more new members and Darren Vowles, aka 'Nuddy' made his first appearance since the Boxing Day Pairs Match when together we made 3rd place. Darren has been down on the White Acres matches so fully fired up today ready to bag up on carp on the pellet waggler and method feeder. He was also dressed in 'plantation lake' green (gardeners uniform).

Adie read out the rules (as some anglers embarassed us last time) and Vic done the draw, I drew peg 9 with pegs 8 and 10 not put in! All of us were pegged down one side.

Moors peg 9

I started off on the striaght lead and snared 3 carp in the first hour and lost 2 foul hookers casting just shy of the island with 8mm banded pellet. I feed the 14 meter line with pellet via the catapult while waiting for the to go around plus some micro in each margin. Nuddy was off to a flier in the first hour catching on the waggler but not much elase was happening up my end (that I could see). First put in on the 14 meter line with banded 8mm the float sailed away and I took a carp around 4lb, it didn't half go and the elastic was like a washing line going across the lake. I took a few more smaller carp in the next 2 hours before trying the right hand margin with paste. After 10 minutes the float went under and a munter was on, took me for a merry dance under the platform, back out, back in, into the reeds and in an effort to get it out this was the result.

Top 2 now an top 3 and a finger full of carbon splinters!

So that was the end of that. I stuck on the 14 meter line the rest of the match and added the odd fish. my total weight was 35lb odd.

The wind was blowing down the lake for most of the day and the end pegs reaped the benefits.

1st Peg 23 Andy Hembrow 134lb 04ozs

2nd Peg 22 Mike West 102lb

3rd Peg 20 Adie Baker 84lb 13oz

4th Peg 5 John Woolstencroft 65lb 11oz

Silvers Dave Wride Peg 11 19lb 3oz

Weigh sheet.

Need some rest and a quiet place to recover as 'Nuddy' did not shut up all day.

Off to do some river trout fishing in Devon on Friday and then we have the blind pairs match at Shiplate on Sunday.