Sunday 17th January - Viaduct Teams of 5 League

I was asked if I was interested in fishing this league by Team Captain Chris Hook. I have not fished the venue for about 15 years and am aware there are anglers in the league that virtually fish nowhere else. In the end I agreed to fish the first two and team mate Lewis Walker would fish the last three. 19 Teams of 5, 95 anglers in total spread over 5 lakes and rotate on the lakes as the league progresses.
Trouble is with the first match you don't know which lake you will be on until the draw, after that you can sort of prepare a bit more.
I had been looking at the weather reports all week but on the day it did not resemble anything that was forecast even by the Saturday. On the Saturday itself cat ice was over the lakes but by the Sunday morning it had gone and there was light rain, temperature was not too bad. The car park was absolutely rammed by the time the draw came around and due to all the wet weather we have had most anglers and their tackle looked as if they had just finished taking part in the 6 Nations, mud everywhere and on everything.
Don had been framing on a regular basis at the venue so he was sent to draw for the Team and came back with peg 1. This put me on 110, Campbell Lake, a corner peg and one that Chris had bagged up on a few weeks ago putting 100lb plus in the net. He took me to the peg and pointed out where to fish.
Plan was to fish the lead with bread, corn and meat and feed nothing. I set up a wag to fish halfway with the same bait, a skimmer rig at 13 meters and a heavier rig again at 13 meters down the left hand edge for munters. All the lakes were full and there was very few empty pegs, The water was clear and very cold and out in the middle I had barely three feet.
On the all in I cast straight out with popped up bread and waited. Andy Neil opposite me done the same and must have landed on a carps nose having one withing a couple of minutes. After a couple of casts and within 15 minutes I had a wrap around as well and was glad I was on a 0.15 hook length as it went off like a rocket in the shallow water. I hit a snag bringing it in and thought I had lost it but after giving some slack it swam out,  a nice 6lb er. A few carp started to be caught and most were getting liners. The lad on 112 was starting to catch well on the wag and Andy Neal continued to catch on the lead. The angler immediately to my right was casting a lead to the aerator and nicking the odd one on the meat. I tried meat and added another one around noon. I had fed the left hand margin with a bit of meat and corn to gave it a go. After about 10 mins the float slide away and a carp was hooked on the meat, it was around 5lb but went straight in the brambles. A bit of gentle tugging saw it come out and it was carefully played to the net. Within the next hour on the same line I lost another two and the area went dead due to the disturbance. So with just over an hour to go I decided to stick it out on the lead. It was a good call and two more were caught on the meat and that was it.
While packing up the jungle telegraph was telling me a lot had struggled and a few had bagged up. No surprises there then due to the time of year and the temperature.
I put just over 29lb on the scales and was rewarded with 10 points out of a maximum 19 so could have been worse. Team wise we finished 13th, not great but not a blow out like some, difficult day.

Team results, individuals and section as follows:

Teams on the day

Individuals

Sections

No match planned this weekend so far, will definitely be out somewhere, perhaps the River Kenn or the Tone. Next Viaduct match is the weekend after when I am due to fish Carey.

Sunday 10th January - Somerset Teams of 4 League Bridgwater and Taunton Canal

This was the last match in the series. It was the reserve date due to a match on the River Tone being cancelled before Christmas. We all were hoping the Tone would be fishable for the last match but it was not to be and a real shame. So the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal it was then and down at the Taunton end again as there are not enough fishable pegs at the more prolific Bridgwater sections. The team of 4 was Sam, Sean, Glen and myself. The draw was in the Princess Royal Pub again not far from the County Cricket Ground and the Sections were already on display.

3 Sections were put in at Creech St. Michael where I got lost last time and it did fish quire well with lots of roach showing, although last time there was only one section in.
The 4th Section was somewhere called Charlton, I didn't want o draw this area as I was sure to get lost again. Chris Parr (aka Gappy) put it in as he was finding it hard to identify a Section without too much pull on it and colour due to all the rain so a bit of an unknown to us.
Guess which Section I drew..... yep 'Charlton' peg 47 but hey I had a postcode so what could possibly go wrong! Setting off out of Taunton on the Bridgwater Road I was soon (according to Sat Nav) driving across fields due to a huge brand new development that was not on my Sat Nav yet. Getting back onto a recognised road I came across a sign saying Charlton something and a stop and a chat with some lady joggers in very (very) tight lycra confirmed there was indeed a canal at the end of the road.
Parking was fine and I was soon on the canal bank with Mike Owens downstream of me on 48 and Steve Kedge upstream of me on 46, above him was Gappy who confirmed our end of the Section was better than those around the bend but not sure if the roach would show.

Some views around the peg as follows:

Flooded fields behind me and cars were actually driving directly behind us as there were houses at one end.

Very pretty area looking downstream

 

Peg 47 looking across

Tactics were in very simple, bread punch down the track over liqqy and worm or maggot over chop for far and near shelf. Lcould see Mile and Steve setting up light wagglers and a whip. Apprarently they set up a wag just in case they have to chase fish down the peg. I didn't have a wag with me and I do not own a whip (must get one though) and I have note the value of a wag on this venue (due to flow).

I know I lost valuable time on the last canal match due to not having a whip missing out on an envelope by a few grams.

I started off on the punch and soon had a couple of blades and very small roach but after 30 mins noticed fry were scattering and jumping out of the water probably being chased by perch or pike so I put on a maggot in the hope of catching a perch. Instead I got bleak after bleak after bleak and more bleak. I looked around and could not see much being caught so stuck with it. Gappy then took 2 decent perch fishing across to the bottom of the far shelf and I heard Steve on 46 chopping up worm on a regular basis. Steve then took what looked like a huge perch to it was over my worm lines for a look. Not a sign over my worm line throughout the match. I even tried a tail of a worm jigging it all over the peg, a bit like dobbing bread but nothing. Steve then took another good perch and lost one about 30 minutes from the end.

I had the scales so saw the whole Section. The pegs around the bend from Gappy fished really hard with one angler weighing in 100 fish for 600 grams others were not much better with 1kg 100grms being the best.  Just above Gappy and on the bend was Brian Slipper who had a large number of small fish for 1kg 300grms  think (gave him 3rd in the Section) next was Gappy with 2kg plus mainly made up of those 2 early perch. Steve Kedges perch were right lumps and he put 3kg plus for a runaway Section win. I had 900 grms which was about 6th out of a 12 man Section. Mike above me had just over 1kg for 4th.

On refection and had I knew what the Section was going to be like I would have sat it out with the worm, although there were only 4 perch caught. 

The other Sections fished a lot better with 7kg winning overall backed up by 6kgs and 5kg weights made up of quality roach and some big rudd.

We finish 6th on the day out of 12 so ok ish and 10th overall in the League but we have learned a lot about the T & BW Canal. One of the Sensas Team won the League not sure which one as there was about 3. We did walk away with some groundbait and towels provided by Sensas M5 so thanks to them as well as Gappy and his mates for organising the events.

Next Sunday I am at Viaduct for the Teams of 5 League. Not confident as I have not fished there for about 15 years and have no idea of the pegs, should be interesting.

Sunday 3rd January - Clevedon Pairs Open Paddock Lake Acorn Fishery

This match was billed as the Boxing Day Pairs Match in the calendar, I guess it must have been held on Boxing Day at some point but more recently it has been on the Sunday following Boxing Day due to most people having family committments. It is not normally an 'Open' but it was decided to and in the main invite the SW Over 55's and Disabled Club to take part as they fish the lake most weeks a few of them took part in our Christmas Match as well. On another note it fills the pegs and reduces the advantage of some having too much room.
Weather wise when I left the Nailsea area it did not seem too bad but by the time I got to Kingston Seymour it was blowing a hooley and raining hard.
I think we started off with 24 anglers but on the morning this increased to 27 making the pairs a little difficult but Match Secretary Adie worked out a way and it meant that one angler was paired up twice giving them two bites at the cherry. Adie and SW Over 55 match organiser worked out which pegs would be paired up and the draw took place as normal. I was surprised of the reasonably high number of anglers given the conditions. The top 3 pairs were to be paid out based on total weight. I tried willing myself to draw peg 6 again but it did not happen and I was not that pleased with drawing 18 but I soon cheered up when I found my partner was young Lewis Jones who is a bit of a carp slayer and he had drawn a good bridge peg... 34.
I was able to drive around to my peg with care and had to do a few manouvers along the way to let others pass and you could not drive on the grass as it was so soft. I had a blank peg to my right (17) and club colleague Scott Smallwood was on 16, to my left was SW DAC member Geoff Stone. The wind was severe and the rain was lashing down to sitting it out was the only option but at least it would put our new team gortex clothing to the test. I set up one rig to fish half way at about 2 o'clock with dead maggot over micro and dead maggot, another about a meter out from the pallet on 17 to fish banded pellet at the bottom of the near shelf and a popped up bread rig for the lead across or anywhere else to search around the peg. This seemed the only sensible options due to the wind. Feed was to be very little and not that often. Popped up bread on the lead was the first line of attack on the all in while I watched others struggle on the pole across. Over on pegs 1 and 2 I noticed that Paul Faires and Mark Bromhall were into fish straight away.  After a few casts and 15 minutes in I had a liner and then another before and after 30 minutes the tip flew around a a 3lb common was safely netted but that was it on the tip and after an hour I tried the middle line were I had put in a few dead reds and mirco at the start of the match. The wind was still strong and I had to look twice as the float sailed away and a solid thump was experienced followed by the number 10 hollow streaming out as the fish woke up. It was a bit hairy due to the wind but another half tidy common was landed. I put in again in the same place and the float went under again but I lost that one just before the net, I was only using an 18 hook. I persevered with this line for about an hour but no more indications. A look opposite the pallet on peg 17 produced a sail away bite on the banded 4 mm pellet and after a short scrap another common of around 4lb was netted, again nothing more on this line afterwards.
About just over halfway through the match the wind eased and the rain went off so I set up another rig for the far shelf to dob bread. I had one dip but it look more like a liner from a passing fish. I adjusted my banded pellet rig for the bottom of the far shelf and drip feed in a pinch of micros, the float dipped and a crucian of around a 1lb was had, that was my match really. Either side of me weighed in .... peg 16: 8oz, peg 19: 8lb 2oz, My 3 carp and crucian went 11lb 2oz and out of the 9 pegs on my bank I was the 4th best weight, peg 25 was the best with 27lb odd.
Lewis came over to see how I got on and I found out he had done 50lb plus on the bread. Listening to other anglers and the weights that had been caught I felt we were in with a chance of framing.
I gave Adie a hand to tally up the pairs weights and the results were as follows......

1st   Lewis Jones Sensas Thyers and Ivan Currie Maver Cadbury Angling 61lb 10oz and £120
2nd  Brian Slipper and Kev Perry Sensas Thyers 57lb 9oz and £90
3rd  Paul Faires Sensas Thyers and Matt Roden Clevedon 54lb 4oz and £60

1st Lewis and I, he is happy honest

2nd the Sensas twins Kev and Brian

3rd fellow Royal Mail Colleague Paul and his partner (not civil) Matt

Weight sheets as follows:

Next Sunday is the last round of the Somerset Teams of 4 League, was hoping the River Tone would not be flooded but as I write this the rain continues to fall so more than likely on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal which I quite like.

Happy New Year all.

Sunday 20th December - Clevedon Christmas Open, Paddock Lake Acorn Fishery

Last year we doubled up with the SW over 55 Club for our Christmas Match but this year it was run as an Open. It did attract 34 anglers but with one dropping out we ended up with 33 which by today's standards is very good and just right on the 40 pegs available on Paddock Lake (one of our current waters). Payout was fr top 4 and 4 sections, 3 of 8 and 1 of 9. I had been looking at the results during the last 3 weeks from the Over 55 Club which regularly fish the venue and came to the conclusion that 30lb to 40lb would be needed to frame. The few times I had fished the venue this year under match conditions I had done well and from a variety of pegs. I had it in my head that I would want peg 6 or 40. The draw commenced on time (08:30) and I was about halfway in the rabble of a que. Some of those into the draw bag ahead of me looked not best pleased with their draw.... not me when I pulled out ping pong ball number 6 (the power of the mind is a wonderful thing especially from an Irishman)  and I had parked almost behind the peg as well before breakfast... happy days I thought.
I won off peg 6 earlier in the year but that was in the summer, I like the peg because there are plenty of options as well as space.

Peg 6

For company on peg 7 I had long serving club member Andy Law who enjoys coming to the odd match and done well on the Christmas Match last year. Andy had a spare peg to his left so the both of us had enough room. I set up 3 rigs, 1 for the far shelf right in the corner between the bank and the bridge where there was about 2' 6'' and a stretch of about 13.5 meters, 1 for the bottom of the far shelf straight across at about 12 meters where it was about 3' 6'' and finally 1 for up against the middle of the bridge where is was around 4' 6''.  My far margin rig also was good enough for my nearside which I did not target in the end. I had lot of different baits with me but only ended up putting micro pellet, 4's and live maggot on the tray.

The all in went about 5 minutes early which took Andy and I by surprise. No worries I was more or less there and took my time doing a few final adjustments before feeding all of my lines with micro and red maggots. For the first 30 minutes i had to fish in the shadow in the middle of the bridge as the sun was blinding me if I went across to the 2 lines straight in front of me. I had a couple of dips but did not connect with anything. The angler on the other side of the bridge on peg 40 appeared to be having the same problem. Kev Perry on 39 had 3 or 4 carp in the first 30 - 40 minutes though and was taking an early lead. The sun finally allowed more visibility for fishing straight across but it wasn't ideal and I had the float shotted right down. I tried the bottom of the far shelf first and drip fed a few and I mean a few more micros in, I wasn't sure if the float went under or not but struck anyway and the number 11 hollow came racing out, its been a while since I hooked a carp but took it steady and landed a common of around 3lb. Visibility became better as the sun went round and I got the odd knock before the float went under suffering a few foul hookers which I didn't land, just a couple of scales. I done a minor adjustment to the rig and caught a few more carp all around between 3lb and 4lb. Looking around I thought I was doing quite well as far as I could see and Kevin had slowed up. I started to get quite a few knocks but without the float disappearing so decided to shallow up. This made the difference and I had a good run of fish. At around 13:00 it went a bit quite so went all the way over on top of the shelf by the bridge and soon had one around 3lb but that was it from there. I knew the carp were moving along the bottom of the shelf so decided to stick it out there for the remainder of the match which was a good move putting a few more fish in the net as well as loosing a few along the way. Banded pellet in various sizes was the method, the maggot brought me nothing.

The all out sounded at 7 mins to 15:00 by mine and Andy's time pieces! Andy thought I had done enough but I wasn't sure as we couldn't see the bottom end of the lake very well.

The scales in my section (pegs 1 to 9) started on island peg 1, Bob Warren didn't have many fish but they were big fish and went 30lb 12oz, Nick Harvey also on the island done him by 2oz with 30lb 14oz, they were the best two weights off the 5 island pegs. My turn came and I knew I probably had more fish than the island pegs but they were a smaller stamp. Pleasingly mine went 45lb 8oz but Rich Lovering in my section on peg 10 done me by 2lb 8oz. 

My 45lb 8oz

As the weight sheets were handed over to Match Secretary Adie Baker on the bank I had a quick look and it was confirmed I had done enough for second place, those lost fish had cost me but Rich had probably lost some as well. 

 Winner Rich Lovering

We all went back to the Bridge Inn in Yatton for the prize giving, raffle and chip butties however the bread I had for bait was in better condition than the plastic stuff supplied  by the Inn. There were great raffle prizes alough I won bugger all! I did pick up £55 cash, £30 Tesco Gift Card and a bottle of plonk for 2nd place.

John Sallis and his partner took control of the raffle but there were so many prizes John lost the plot toward the end calling out ''green 652 pink'' wtf lol.

Well done to Adie and Steve for organising the match and thanks to Cadbury Angling and Reel Fun for donating prizes.

Top 4 as follows:

1st  Rich Lovering Cotswold Angling 48lb 

2nd Ivan Currie Maver Cadbury Angling 45lb 8oz

3rd Mike Owens Sensas Thyers 31lb 8oz

4th Nick Harvey Sensas Thyers 30lb 14oz

Here are the positions and weights on the day (one angler DNW)

There may be a knock up on the River Kenn on 27th Dec but it is unlikely I will fish as my daughter is home from Uni. The next match for me will be the Boxing Day Pairs on 3rd Jan which is on Paddock ;Lake again.

Peg 6 or 40.... Peg 6 or 40...

Finally folks have a great few days off over Christmas.

 

Somerset Teams of 4 - Taunton and Bridgwater Canal (Taunton end)

This match was scheduled for the River Tone but due to the heavy rain it was chocolate brown on the Wednesday so the decision to switch to the Canal was made.
I had never fished the Taunton end of the Canal but after making enquiries it was likely to turn out to be a roach match as most of the bigger skimmers and bream plus tench are at the Bridgwater end. Although I fished the Grand Western Canal the previous week I had to do a bit of prep as 4 of my rigs got trashed due to the strong winds. I enjoy fishing a canal, I think it is a great leveller. Our team was made up of captain Chris Hook, Sam Johnson, Lewis Walker and myself. Another Team tried to poach Lewis in the week.......cheek of it.
I met up by accident with Sam in MacDonald's in Taunton for breakfast, he also had a look at the Tone and said it appeared to be OK, not so sure the 'fast stretch' would have been though. A phone call from Chris around 07:50 telling us he had just woke up but was on his way.
I did not have a clue were the section were but fortunately Chris Parr had postcodes on display in the pub.

Chris arrived just in time for the draw and young Lewis done the honour's for us. I was in D Section at Creech St Michael wherever that was but no panic Sat Nav would get me there!
I let the stampead leave the car park first and programmed Sat Nav which gave me a travelling time of 12 minutes, no worries and headed back toward the M5, underneath it, then left turn toward Creech St. Michael, all the while Sat Nav updating me. The flag soon appeared and I turned of as instructed and then continued to go around the houses even though I could see the canal on the display I could not get anywhere near it. Went back on the main road to try and find someone to ask but as my mum used to say 'there was not a sinner about'. A phone call to Chris to see if he had Chris Parrs number to be guided in. Chris didn't but someone else said he did and gave me the number off his own phone. I called it and got some guy out of bed, not happy. Phoned Chris back and explained, checked the number again and yes I had phoned the number given! Chris managed to find another angler who talked me from where I was to the canal. I had to go up a lane and at the end was a car park, as I entered I saw one angler heading through a gate to the toe path, lovely. After I loaded up I went the same way, could not see another angler (I knew they were there somewhere). A walker came from my right and confirmed there were no anglers from where he had been so left it was then and after 10 mins who is on the end peg but Chris Parr who I was trying to talk to. Good effort but improvement required on directions. I had about 45 mins to set up and was pretty pissed off as well as hot and bothered.
I got to my peg (41) and it was a bit narrow compared to the rest and as such the canal was pulling a little faster left to right but it did look inviting.
I set up a punch rig for the middle which was really 'V' shaped and about 3 foot and two rigs for the bottom of the far shelf where it was about 2 foot intending to fish worm, caster or maggot in the hope of a bonus fish.
I was just about ready at 10 o'clock and feed two lines across, one at 12 o'clock with chop and caster and the other a bit longer at 2 o'clock with just caster. In went a cup of liqqy in the middle and I soon had a small roach, looking up and down the canal others were in to small fish quickly and using the whip (I don't have one). The roach kept coming on the punch and when they backed off a little I put on a maggot and got a few more regularly feeding small balls of liqqy. I did bump a decent fish about a pound but most were in the 2oz to 3oz range, I was happy with my lot.
After about two hours I was intending to try the far lines and had topped them up sparingly but a few swans came along and took a liking to the bait.

I did manage to shoo them on by putting the pole cup over them but the damage was done. I did top up the lines and had the odd look but nothing.
The middle it was then and looking up and down I thought I was doing ok and in the last hour I had the odd better roach putting out a 10mm piece of punch.
The two end pegs done 5kg plus and one peg from the end done 3kg 340grms. I was more or less in the middle and was happy with my 3kg 120grms compared to the anglers each side of me.

My section.

The top weight on the day was 6kg plus. We finished 4th out of 11 on the day with Sam having a section 2nd and Lewis weighing the same as me and also getting a section 4th. Chris was 6th or 7th in his.

Somerset Angling won on the day and Thyers Silver I believe are top of the league.

Once I found the place I enjoyed it.

No fishing this weekend and the week after its the Clevedon Christmas Match on Paddock Lake Acorn Fisheries.

Heads up ...........Clevedon Christmas Match

The popular Clevedon Christmas Match is on 20th December, details as follows:





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fjQQXdq9P4

Sunday 29th November - Tiverton Christmas Match Grand Western Canal

Its been nearly 4 weeks since my last outing, I did arrive back from St. Lucia on the 17th November but a combination of jet lag, going from 31 degrees to 5 and deciding to decorate a bedroom kept me away from the bank.
Team mate Sam Johnson and I fished the Tiverton match last year and really enjoyed it. It is one of the best traditional Christmas matches I have fished in a long time with really good quality prizes and a number of large hampers with turkey, ham and beef joints, the raffle prizes are just as good to. I had booked Sam and myself in via text but then two of Sam's mates Mark Thorn and Matt Colpin from the Weston Super Mare Club also decided to join us, they are not match anglers but decided to give it a go.
Draw and a hearty breakfast was at the Mid Devon Indoor Bowls Club in the town and much better than the Football Club last year.
Paul Elworthy Match Secretary gave the rules before the draw and mentioned that pike count.... remember this comment for later.
I was about a third the way down in the que, Sam was already near the front (he was excited). I drew 53 which was down near Manley Bridge, years ago this used to to be a great area in the early part of the season and I think threw up a tidy weight last year on the Christmas Match. Did not have a clue how to get there and sought the assistance of a local angler by following him out that way (approx 15 min drive). Fellow bloggers have mentioned the weather conditions on the day and in North Devon it was just as bad with strong winds and heavy showers.
After a 15 minute walk I arrived at my peg in a wooded area, bits were flying off the oak trees and was glad to get out of them and into a fairly clear spot.

Peg 53

There were about 3 anglers below me (these were the final pegs) and one above me just before a small bridge and a bend.

Looking downstream

Looking upstream

It is a lovely bit of canal and no boat trouble. Downside is it's quite shallow, I had just under 3' max in the middle and then it shallowed up very quickly to about 1' of the far shelf which did look inviting. All the other anglers around me were locals and most just sat up on rig for fishing a big piece of punched bread over liqqy in the middle, simples! We had seen them do this last year as well to good affect. I set up 2 rigs, one for the middle and one for the nearside and far shelf and fished at about a 10 o'clock angle to combat the wind. Liqqy went in on the middle line and caster and a few pinkies on the shelf, the water was surprisingly clear.

I was fishing an 8mm piece of punch and was surprised when the float dipped quickly and when I struck a see through roach of about minus 1oz flew out of the water. a few more followed and looking down the canal the 3 anglers below seemed to be getting the same stamp of fish. As I looked up the canal the angler above was just putting his landing net back down so was unsure what he had caught. After an hour I went across with red maggot and the float shot under, result a 3 oz roach, that'll do I thought and couple more followed and then it went dead. I re-fed and they came back and I had a few more then dead. The next 2 hours were very and I mean very quiet and it was the same above and below me. I did nick the odd small fish now and then. At about 13:45 I spotted some small fry jumping out of the water and thought perch or pike some feed half a cup of chopped worm in the middle and left it for 10 minutes. When I went over it with a small worm the float sailed away and a 4 oz perch was netted and couple more smaller ones followed then a small pike of about 6 ozs, it went dead again so re-fed and manage another small perch before the all out at 15:00. Oh how I wish I had fed and fished worm earlier.

Out of the 4 other anglers aside me I beat 3 of them with 920 grms, just over 2lbs in old money.

Word coming down the bank was it had fish hard all the way through.

As I was loading my car back at Manley Bridge Sam's mate Mark Thorn appeared, I asked how he got on. 1 kilo was the reply, I had a pike in my swim and couldn't get it with the plug! I said what do you mean a plug.... well he said pike count.....yes I said but you can't spin for them..... oh he said I didn't know. OMG.

Back at the Bowling Club I told Sam who looked at me with disbelief. Apparently Matt Coplin his other mate went to his van during the match and bolied the kettle for a cuppa! They said they didn't match fish.

I did not get the result sheets but the top 2 anglers had 3 kilo plus each (both locals), the next 2 had 2 kilos plus each then it dropped away so it did fish hard. 

Collectively we done well in the raffle and Matt (aka the kettle) had the last laugh by winning the last raffle prixe, an enormus turkey and all the trimmings... fantastic.

My prizes

Next up is the Somerset League Teams of 4 schedule for the river Tone on Sunday.